Minority Politics Research Articles

On Institutional Pluralization and the Political Genealogies of Post-Yugoslav Islam

Over recent decades, Islamic institutions and Muslim communities in the successor nation-states of former Yugoslavia have taken shape against a variegated political and historical topography. In this article, we examine the discourses and politics surrounding Islamic institutions in four post-Yugoslav nation-states: Kosovo, Macedonia, Croatia, and Slovenia. Our analysis moves in two directions. On the one hand, we illuminate the historical legacies and institutional ties that unite Muslims across these four contexts. As we argue, this institutional history continues to mandate a singular, hegemonic model of Sunni-Hanafi Islam that pre-emptively delegitimizes Muslim communities outside of its orbit. On the other hand, we also attend to the contrasting national politics of Islam in each of our four contexts, ranging from Islamophobic anxiety and suspicion to multiculturalism, from a minority politics of differentiation to hegemonic images of ethno-national religiosity.

Queer as American Folk

ABSTRACTThe groundbreaking British TV series Queer as Folk (1999) and its US rewriting by the same title (2000) have played a prominent role in redefining the boundaries of queer visibility in mainstream television at the turn of the millennium. Aiming at giving a sophisticated and mature portrayal of the LGBT community, the narrative arcs of the two series reflect however divergent views on the practical viability of queer-affirmative political action, and ultimately result in different takes on the meaning of queerness itself. Both Queer as Folk-UK and Queer as Folk-USidentify the question of futurity as a crucial one for the elaboration of queer subjectivities that powerfully advocate for the possibility of reshaping society around principles of inclusiveness (or the rejection of inclusion as a desirable goal), new models of affections, and a radical re-thinking of family itself in western societies. Yet, a comparative reading of significant moments from the two series highlights how the American version tackles the debate about futurity alongside a close examination of the defining principles behind the shared notion of national identity that is mobilized by mainstream US culture to contain the dissenting politics of sexual minorities. This probing and negotiation of the newly defined boundaries of acceptability mark therefore a decisive shift from the utopian, transnational oppositionality of Queer Nation to the pragmatic horizon of US politics, a shift that can be fully appreciated by comparing the remake to the British original.

Women, peace and international security: the Havana Agreement for peace in Colombia

Armed conflicts have different impacts on women. In this regard, women’s civil society organizations are inserted in the international political arenas in order to guarantee their rights in warfare contexts. In the case of conflicts in Colombia, women are identified not only as combatants and victims, but also as members of women civil organizations for peacebuilding. These organizations played a prominent role in the elaboration of the peace agreement between the Government of Colombia and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) in Havana, Cuba, between 2012 and 2016. This article proposes an analysis of the theoretical production on peace, international security, feminism and subalternity, to present the specific case of the conflict in Colombia and its gender perspectives. The results indicate that peace agreements can be instruments of political inclusion and reparation for women affected by armed conflicts. In highlighting the role of political minorities in the international peace negotiations in Colombia, this research contributes to the development and expansion of critical perspectives —feminist and subaltern— on international security and studies for peace. Moreover, building upon the specific analysis of the Havana Agreement, this paper aims to contribute to the inclusion of a gender perspective in future peace agreements.

Europeanisation as Legitimacy to Identify as a ‘National Minority’: The Turkish Community in Greece

The issue of national minorities has never ranked high on the European Union’s (eu’s) agenda. No legal or policy measures to protect Europe’s national minorities have been developed, reducing scholarly attention on the potential of Europeanisation of national minority politics to the minimum. This article addresses this misconception and argues that Europeanisation of national minority politics does occur, however, not where originally expected. By shifting attention to a poorly studied area - minority actors and their activities at the eu level – the article illustrates how minority actors create own change, how they are influenced by their own ‘usages of Europe’ and how this process helps to advance our knowledge of Europeanisation of today’s national minority politics.

Pluralism to a Fault: Jewish Political Organizations in Interwar Poland

ABSTRACTJews, unlike Belarusians, Ukrainians, and Germans, did not pose a direct, irredentist threat to interwar Polish territorial integrity. They were not a territorially concentrated group with border revision claims against the Polish state, nor was a neighboring government prepared to intervene on their behalf. In this sense, Jews presented the least tangible threat to Polish national security. Yet this article will illustrate that, despite the fundamental difference between Jews and other minorities, the Polish Ministry of Interior still pursued a divide and rule scenario with respect to Jewish political organizations – an insight overlooked in existing literature. By combining the theoretical insights and systematic research design of social scientific work with the empirical reality of historical research, this article examines a new facet of interwar minority politics, and contributes to the political science literature on state management of minority opposition.

The Catalans in Sardinia and the transformation of Sardinians into a political minority in the twelfth to the fifteenth centuries

ABSTRACTThis article outlines relations between the Catalan-Aragonese and the Sardinians, between the twelfth and fifteenth centuries, encompassing the integration of Sardinia first into the Crown of Aragon and then into the Crown of Spain. There was a political minority in the Giudicato of Arborea, a polity that was the last institutional heir to the ancient Arconate/Giudicato of Sardinia. This group was probably part of the oligarchy of the Giudicato; from the 1380s to the 1410s, it tried to overthrow the government of the Bas Serra dynasty and return to the allegiance of the kings of Aragon. It has been argued that the population of Arborea supported the policy of war against the Aragonese kings led by the judges of Arborea until the disappearance of the Giudicato. The political and social dynamics within Arborea and between the Giudicato and the Aragonese kings demonstrate the role of the discourse of the political minority.

The Beautiful Jewess as Borderline Figure in Europe's Internal Colonialism: Some Remarks on the Intertwining of Orientalism and Antisemitism

European Orientalism had different societal and cultural frames in France and Great Britain. These were the main objects of investigation in Said's book Orientalism, a process which Said treats as an explicit political-colonial setting and colonial discourse. According to Said's widely criticized thesis, Germany, a country without many colonies, played no important role in the scholarly and political enactment of orientalism. Referring to the prestigious German orientalist and biblical scholarship, and also to processes of internal orientalization as tools of Germany's “colonial fantasies” and minority politics, this contribution explores discourses on the “Orient” as a prominent way in which to form a discursive construction of the Jews as internal Others. Moving beyond Said's dictum that orientalism is “a strange, secret sharer of Western anti-Semitism,” I investigate the plural history of topical discourses, hybrid figures and recurrent narratives that symbolize internal religious and cultural differences. The Jews have often been regarded in the Western world as occidental and oriental. The liminal position of the Jews in European imagination is all the more relevant when it comes to the gendered dimension of orientalist discourse. This article focuses on the figure of the “beautiful Jewess,” analyzed as the gendered and affective embodiment of the Jewish Question. Starting from the presupposition of her situatedness on a border zone between religions and cultures, I focus on her depiction in literature. I analyze how literature explores the ambivalences of the stereotype and opens up third spaces of reflection. Narrative and scenic discourses on the “Orient” are analyzed as a multi-layered and ambivalent ensemble of relational references. A special focus is on the role of gender in the representation of the Jews as “internal Orientals.”

Hollywood’s Global Expansion and Racialized Film Industry

A theory on the political economy of image production argues that the U.S. film industry, namely, Hollywood, prioritizes financial considerations over racial justice or political correctness. Decisions made in the production and marketing processes are to minimize financial risks, but they often limit the representation of racial–ethnic minority filmmakers and actors. At the same time, Hollywood incorporates foreign-born directors and actors to reach international audiences. This article assesses how Hollywood’s “going global” impacts local racial–ethnic minority politics in the U.S. film business. As a part of a larger study examining the 100 top-grossing films in the United States from 1995 to 2014, we closely examine films where racial–ethnic minorities comprise the majority of the cast or films where minorities are the lead actors. We argue that the incorporation of foreign-born directors and actors undermines U.S. racial–ethnic minority filmmakers’ efforts to tell cinematic narratives from a critical perspective. Also, Hollywood fails to promote black films and black actors based on the assumption that they cannot appeal to international audiences, but our findings illustrate that black films directed by black directors perform well domestically and they show great potential with more support from Hollywood.

Who you know: Local party presidents and minority candidate emergence

There is growing attention to the descriptive representation of racialized minorities in politics. Because of a systematic lack of data on nomination contestants’ racial backgrounds, most research looks at outcomes on election day, thus ignoring the crucial stages that help to shape minority candidate emergence. Using a unique data set on nomination contestants and local party presidents in a recent Canadian election, this study demonstrates that while district diversity is one determinant of minority candidate emergence, the presence of a racialized local party president is also substantively important. The findings show that racialized party gatekeepers play a key role in the emergence of minority candidates, and these networks matter most in districts with lower levels of racial diversity. The findings further suggest that the general pattern of left-center parties facilitating minority candidate emergence may not apply in the Canadian context.

Why ethnic parties? A new theory of ethnic minority political strategy in Europe

AbstractWhy do some ethnic minority groups in Europe form ethnic minority parties (EMPs), while others work within established, mainstream parties? I argue that an ethnic minority group's historical background influences its political engagement strategies. I propose that native groups (those that inhabited the territory of the modern‐day state in which they reside prior to that state's establishment), groups with territorial attachment (historical concentration in particular regions of the state) and groups with historical experiences of autonomy are more likely to form successful parties. Groups perceiving themselves as native to their state and that have enjoyed autonomy are more likely to feel entitled to the unique form of representation provided by an EMP. I test my theoretical expectations on an original data set of elections in European states in the period 1990 to 2012, finding that the three historical variables working in conjunction exert a strong positive influence on EMP entry and success.

Women Mayors in Portugal: A Case Study in Political Representation and Citizenship

Abstract Introduction The article presents a historical analysis of the participation of women in Portuguese politics and reveals the positive effects of the introduction of the parity law in 2006. In the 2015 national elections, for the first time one third of the elected the Members of the Portuguese Parliament were women. However, in municipalities there is still a long way to go to reach this level of female political representation. Does the political system limit women’s access only to elected positions? Thus, important questions remain: why are women still a minority in local politics? What obstacles do they encounter? And what can be done to improve the situation? Materials and Methods For this investigation, data were collected on the electronic pages of municipalities and political parties, as well as in the press, to monitor the evolution of the presence of women in Portuguese local government, initially as members of the administrative commissions appointed to manage municipal councils from 1974 to the first elections that took place on December 12, 1976 and then as elected representatives from 1976 to the latest 2017 local elections, comparing this level with central government. Results The study of this group reveals higher educational levels and more specialized jobs among women than among men, particularly in teaching and management. There is also discussion of partisan membership and it is revealed that left-wing parties invest more in women for local government than do right-wing parties. Discussion Although four decades have passed since the democratic regime was established, the representation of women in politics is still incipient. We present some examples of policy actions that can encourage the presence of women in local government and increase their role as active citizens.

Legislative Design and the Controllable Costs of Special Legislation

Legislation that singles out an identifiable individual for benefits or harms that do not apply to the rest of the population is called “special legislation.” In previous work, I have argued that the text, history, and jurisprudential underpinnings of the Constitution suggest that special legislation is constitutionally suspect. In this Article, I explore the normative consequences of special legislation, assessing both the costs it imposes and the benefits that it can provide. Drawing on constitutional theory, public choice theory, and the history of special legislation in state legislatures, I argue that the enactment of special legislation leads to the corruption of the political process, low-quality legislation, unjustifiably unequal treatment, and legislative encroachment on the judicial and executive functions. By contrast, special legislation is more normatively attractive when it addresses a problem that is unique, when it addresses matters of general concern, when it reduces rather than exacerbates disuniformity in the law, and when it provides for relief for underrepresented political minorities. After considering these costs and benefits, I conclude by suggesting modifications to the legislative process that will diminish the costs associated with special legislation while still preserving some of its benefits.

A. Badiou ankstyvoji subjekto teorija ir kovingo subjekto iškilimas

[only abstract in English; full article and abstract in Lithuanian] In the article, while differentiating between the resistance theories of Badiou, Deleuze, and Guattari, the attempt is made to emphasize Badiou’s critique of the theory of asubjective becoming and desire as well as his attempt to develop it into the dialectics between the insurgent students and what Deleuze and Guattari call the “missing people”. Badiou’s theory of the subject, based on the works of Hegel, Lenin and Mao, is regarded as a counterpoint to the theories of revolutionary desire. The revolutionary strategies of Lenin and Mao, based on Hegel’s philosophy, allow them to create the concepts of totality as the unity of the opposites, as the split One, as well as to determine the conflictual dialectical process that conditions the rise and existence of a revolutionary subject – party. While relating the dialectical concepts of the above mentioned authors with Badiou’s concepts of scission, torsion and periodization, Badiou’s logic of the subject is explained. It allows revolutionary forces to constantly resist the institutional practices of placement, destroy stability and immerse into the new cycles of struggle instead of undergoing the process of recuperation and return to the system. The above mentioned concepts meaningfully supplement the vocabulary of social movements and minor politics. Allowing them to spread beyond their comfort zones and to aim at what for them is still a “noumenon”: the sphere of everyday strugglesfor dignity and survival. We, not the “missing people”, have to be the protagonists of such struggles.

Contested cooperation: the ethnic-German welfare cooperatives in the Vojvodina (1930s)

Although the ethnic-German cooperative union in the Vojvodina, operating as a branch of the political minority movement, was designed to embrace as many economic and social organizations with ethnic-German members as possible, it did not remain united. The discord began with the establishment of welfare cooperatives as successors to former voluntary burial associations. The central organization of the ethnic-German welfare cooperatives, the Zewoge, was founded under the auspices of the ethnic-German cooperative union in 1931 and became the focal point for the former burial associations as well as newly established local welfare cooperatives. The driving force behind this development was Johann Wüscht who came into conflict with the physicians’ section of the ethnic-German cultural organization. This began a process of separation of the Zewoge from the ethnic-German cooperative union. The Serbian union of welfare cooperatives assisted the Zewoge in gaining and securing its independence from the ethnic-German cooperative union in Novi Sad. This was surprising since Wüscht, the top manager of the Zewoge, announced that the ethnic Germans were involved in a demographic struggle with the Serbs in the Vojvodina. For strengthening the position of the minority, he advocated measures spanning from social hygiene to eugenics.

Errata

Previous articleNext article FreeErrataOriginal articleThe Grecanici of Southern Italy Governance, Violence and Minority Politics by Stavroula PipyrouPDFPDF PLUSFull Text Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditEmailQR Code SectionsMoreIn the book review section of the November 2017 issue (123 [3]: 951), the book reviewer for Stavroula Pipyrou’s The Grecanici of Southern Italy was misidentified. The book review was written by Ana Maria Preoteasa, not Anita Preoteasa as listed. We regret the error. Previous articleNext article DetailsFiguresReferencesCited by American Journal of Sociology Volume 124, Number 2September 2018 Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/699002 © 2018 by The University of Chicago. All rights reserved.PDF download Crossref reports no articles citing this article.Related articlesThe Grecanici of Southern Italy Governance, Violence and Minority Politics by Stavroula Pipyrou6 Dec 2017American Journal of Sociology

Political Fit as a Component of Neighborhood Preference and Satisfaction

We examine the role party identification plays in moderating people's perception of place. Do people rely on heuristics to gauge neighborhood partisan composition? If so, those estimates may influence their perception of fit and neighborhood satisfaction. We find that in the absence of concrete, detailed information, people make quick judgments. Republicans, compared to Democrats and non–partisans, are more likely to develop impressions based on the specific location characteristics presented here. When perceived to be a political minority in an area, people are less likely to feel that they belong. In addition to conventional economic and life–cycle factors, political perceptions also affect judgments about the suitability of prospective neighborhoods.

Estudio de los partidos de izquierda en Santa Cruz (1983-2015)

El objetivo del trabajo es analizar las formaciones partidarias de izquierda en la provincia de Santa Cruz como espacios de discusión en el entramado político, teniendo en cuenta su estructuración como partido, la forma de organización y su accionar partidario en los diferentes escenarios. El trabajo se basa en una búsqueda en diferentes diarios provinciales, recopilación de resultados electorales y realización de entrevistas a los protagonistas. Con ello se pretende llegar a conocer la dinámica de organización interna y el entramado de relaciones que tejieron estos partidos, para luego mantenerse como minoría activas en el escenario político santacruceño.

Analyzing the Fragmented Sri Lankan Muslim Politics in Post-Ashraff Era

The traditional Muslim politics in Sri Lanka transformed with the formation of Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) and its active communal politics under its founder-leader, M.H.M.Ashraff. While representing the interests of the Muslim community, particularly those living in the north-eastern region, SLMC through its politics of bargaining and consensus voiced and advocated for the interests, rights and privileges of the Muslim community as well as contributed to their socio-economic and cultural upliftment at the crossroad of ethnic conflict and civil war. Although SLMC received popular mandate from the Muslim community, the party fell into fragmentation with the unexpected demise of its founder-leader in 2000, and splits were instigated shortly. This fragmentation caused a severe effect in the distinct path of Muslim politics in Sri Lanka. This study examines the fragmented nature and the trends of Muslim politics, particularly the politics of SLMC in post-Ashraff era and their impact. This study reveals that the fragmentation within SLMC caused leadership crisis and emergence of many Muslim political parties that promoted ugly politics of opportunism. This trend ultimately reduced the bargaining strength of Muslim politics, negatively influenced representative politics, leading to the negligence and marginalisation of Muslims’ concerns and grievances in national politics. The leadership crisis and regionalism also negatively influenced the politics of SLMC and other Muslim parties in post-Ashraff era. This study also finds that unifying splinter-groups, reforming party structure and procedures, and redefining goals and path of achieving them would not only strengthen the politics of SLMC and other Muslim political parties but also would give a new brand for Muslim minority politics in Sri Lanka.

Kawaii Asian Girls Save the Day! Animating a Minor Politics of Care

Kawaii Asian Girls Save the Day! Animating a Minor Politics of Care

Opposition to Israel’s first Qadiya

ABSTRACTIn 2017, following a fraught 22-year struggle, Israel appointed the first female judge (sing. qadiya, pl. qadiyat) to its Islamic (shari’a) courts. This contrasts with the earlier appointments of qadiyat around the world, most notably in the Palestinian Authority in 2009. The Israeli shari’a courts’ jurisdiction over family law, a field of law which engages in women’s issues, makes the introduction of qadiyat particularly salient. This article is among the first to focus academic research on the issue of qadiyat within Israel and is based on field interviews with practitioners and academic experts, as well as documentary primary and secondary sources. This article finds that the obstacles that delayed the appointment of Israel’s first qadiya were a manifestation of the political impact Muslim minority status had on the country’s Muslim and Jewish establishments.