Democratic Movement Research Articles

National Origins of International Solidarity Movements: Nationalism and International Solidarity for East Timor in Post-Cold War Southeast Asia

Abstract The international solidarity movement for the East Timorese was developed in Southeast Asian nations during the 1990s as ‘the issue of East Timor’ became a primary concern for the ASEAN countries’ civil society. Proponents of liberal democracy have assumed that international solidarity movements for human rights and democracy during the 1990s resulted from the powerful momentum of liberal democracy that universally linked foreign people. However, Michael Hardt, Antonio Negri and their marxist followers have explained these transnational movements as a transnational network that overcomes national borders against the capitalist Empire. Nevertheless, the political history of transnational solidarity movements from East Timor to Southeast Asia in the post-Cold War 1990s makes clear that nationalism has continued to be an ideological driver to link people from different nations. Focusing on the international solidarity for the East Timorese independence struggle, this paper demonstrates a transnational function of nationalism through which international solidarity movements are created, resonate and function. The East Timor international solidarity struggle successfully created a transnational platform through the APCET conferences held in the Philippines, Malaysia and Thailand in the 1990s. Socio-historical analysis of APCET reveals that nationalists in Southeast Asia shared collective memories of national struggles beyond their spaces and times to create a transnational force to support self-determination for the East Timorese. Through its analysis, this article extends the theoretical framework of nationalism that has explained nationalist movements to serve as a more powerful tool to explain international solidarity in the age of globalisation. (247 words)

Cultural Conflict and Disappointment: Hongkongers’ Sentiments Toward Taiwanese Authorities Amid Cross-Strait Tensions

The failure of the democratic movement during 2014–2020 prompted tens of thousands of Hongkongers (~40,000) to reluctantly leave their hometown and migrate to Taiwan to seek a freer future. Taiwan’s cultural similarity to Hong Kong, together with Taiwan’s democracy and geographic proximity, are commonly recognized as pull factors of migration. However, the intensifying cross-strait tensions since late 2021 have witnessed Taipei tighten its approval of Hongkongers’ applications for permanent residency mainly in fear of the infiltration of Chinese agents. Based on mixed-methods in-depth interviews (N = 15) and an online survey (N = 147) with Hong Kong migrants, this paper reveals their complex experience in adapting to the Taiwan way of life, becoming frustrated by Taipei’s attitudinal change, and contemplating onward migration. The findings reveal underlying cultural differences between Hong Kong and Taiwanese societies—manifesting as a cultural conflict—amid fears of an encroaching communist China.

From Victory to Democracy: The “Democracy” in Thailand’s Victory Monument

Abstract This paper discusses the symbolic transformation of Thailand’s Victory Monument in the Thai public memory, from embodying militarism to representing the complicated concept of Thai democracy. In the beginning, the monument had an indirect connection to democracy. However, due to the spatial agency, such as protest activities occupying this structure, it has turned into one of Bangkok’s democratic spaces. By looking at the stories of contentious politics and narratives surrounding this structure, this study reveals that the development of the Victory Monument’s meanings mirrors the democratic struggles of the Thai people. It also applies prevailing discourses on Thai democracy to elucidate the connection between the monument and democratic movements. This research provides an understanding of Thailand’s democratic struggles through a different lens, promotes historical awareness, and preserves public memory by emphasizing the role of public monuments in Thai history, society, and democracy.

Islamic Movements Face an Emerging Threat and Tunisian Political Environment: Presidential Coup, Democracy, and Aristocracy

In 2011, the popular revolt brought about change in the Tunisian presidential palace as it transitioned from authoritarianism to a condition of liminality. However, following the Tunisian President's proclamation, only the democratic success story of the Arab Spring is under jeopardy after ten years of democratic transition. This article seeks to show how the President has increased his authority by invoking Article 80 of the Constitution. It also explains how this action violates the constitution and has a detrimental effect on the political environment. As a result, Tunisia's Islamic movement has dominated the political landscape of the nation since the 2011 uprising and is seen as the leader of the Islamic identity and democratic movement. Finally, it comes to a conclusion that a coup from the Tunisian president occurred amid Rashid Al-Ghannouchi, the Movement's founder and speaker of the Parliament, showing leniency toward Islamic doctrine. Although it appears that the situation is still precarious, Al-Nahda leadership is once again playing a crucial role in fostering a stable political environment through discussion. The main and secondary data in this article have been evaluated using the Discourse Analysis method and its Critical Discourse Analysis method.

From Mimeographs to Self-organization

Abstract This essay unpacks how Beijing-based workers’ handbills and posters during the 1989 democracy movement functioned as a counterinstitution that enabled everyday workers to translate economic demands into political self-organization through groups like the Workers’ Autonomous Federation. In contrast to liberal dissident writing at the time by the likes of Fang Lizhi and Liu Xiaobo, workers’ organizing strategies and political vision have seldom been analyzed. The author argues that these writings represent an important effort to create an inchoate civil society under authoritarian conditions, while going beyond these conditions by empowering workers to ground a broader struggle for democracy in reorganizing the control of society and productive industries through independent politics.

The Intersectionality of State Violence, Gender Violence, and Historical Victimization: Focusing on Sexual Violence against Women by Martial Law Forces during the May 18 Democratization Movement

The Intersectionality of State Violence, Gender Violence, and Historical Victimization: Focusing on Sexual Violence against Women by Martial Law Forces during the May 18 Democratization Movement

Scholars as political influencers: celebrity, social media and political movements in Thailand

ABSTRACT The early twenty-first century witnessed a significant surge in democratisation movements against unjust dictatorships worldwide. In Thailand, political protests across the nation have captured considerable attention in recent years, primarily led by students and young people advocating for democratic reforms, with support from scholars and professionals. Despite this, studies of Thai politics have largely overlooked the role played by Thai scholar celebrities. While some critics have examined the rise of influencers in the online era, few have contextualised them within the political sphere. This article aims to address these gaps by elucidating the concept of celebrity culture within the political arena. The paper comprises three main sections. The first section delves into the notion of celebrity, celebrity culture, and, more specifically, scholar celebrities. Following this, a concise overview of the Thai socio-political landscape is provided, with particular emphasis on the ongoing political conflict dating back to 2006. The third and final section scrutinises Thai scholars as political influencers, exploring their relationship with and contribution to the Thai political movement. Additionally, it investigates the distinctive characteristics of these social media political influencers compared to traditional media influencers, particularly regarding their interactions with their fan bases. Contrary to prevailing beliefs regarding the negative ramifications of celebrity and fame, this study posits that scholar celebrities, irrespective of public agreement or dissent, serve to spotlight specific issues and instigate public discourse or national dialogue, thereby conferring a vital advantage to political movements.

Paine's Yellow Fever": Opposition Politics and Pandemic Disease in the Early Republic

Abstract: This article examines the disruptive impact of Philadelphia's 1793 yellow fever outbreak on the Democratic-Republican societies that opposed the Washington administration. It demonstrates how the outbreak abruptly suspended the celebrations of the French Revolution as well as the organizing and publishing activities of the emerging opposition. People's energies were directed towards physical survival rather than political mobilization during the outbreak. Philadelphia's democratic movement lost some key leaders to the fever and it also lost momentum in building a Philadelphia-centered national opposition. After the outbreak, Democratic-Republicans regrouped, but the organizational energy had dissipated and circumstances had shifted. However, Federalists, who already had seen opposition as a diseased faction, mobilized the language of disease to denounce their political foes with a new intensity, as yellow fever became linked to transatlantic radicalism and political subversion amid the ongoing threat of yellow fever outbreaks in the 1790s and beyond.

혁명과 저항권에 관한 소고 - 헌법전문의 개정과 관련하여

This article identifies the legal characteristics of historical events after the March 1st Movement, such as the Jeju 4·3 incident, the Daegu 10·1 incident, the Yeosu·Suncheon 10·19 incident, and the Buma Democratic Uprising, the May 18 Gwangju Democratization Movement, and the June 10th Uprising, and suggests the direction of the revision of the full text of the constitution. I think the March 1st Movement should be called a revolution, not a movement, because it has several characteristics that are different from many existing domestic uprisings. During the independence revolution of the United States, the US Declaration of Independence signed by 33 representatives did not separately specify the right to revolution and resistance, but only the right to resistance. During the war of independence against Japanese imperialism, Korea followed the example of the United States, the world's first civil revolution, and signed the Declaration of Independence. Second, the Jeju April 3rd Incident, the Daegu October 1st Incident, and the Yeosu/Suncheon October 19 incident correspond to insurrection or uprising, not rebellion or riot. The focus should be on the slaughter of civilians by public power. Constitutional theory would correspond to the exercise of the right to resist illegal power. Third, April 19 overturned the regime and instilled the spirit of democracy in Korean citizens. April 19 was the first victory of Korean democracy and was a revolution of great political significance in that it was the first direct power in modern history. So political scientists point out that if August 15 liberation was the 'first liberation', the April Revolution was the 'second liberation'. However, legally, it is more appropriate to understand the legal nature of April 19 as the exercise of the people's right to resist Syngman Rhee's illegal power rather than a revolution for active purposes such as socio-economic system transformation. It is true that language is familiar with the expression April 19 Revolution, but apart from appreciating its meaning politically, it is considered unreasonable to view it as a revolution legally. The full text of the constitution has never been described as the April 19 Revolution in our constitutional history. Fourth, I think it is correct to view the legal nature of the Buma Democratic Uprising, the May 18 Gwangju Democratization Movement, and the June 10 Uprising as the exercise of the people's right to resist illegal power. There is a need to revise the full text of the constitution to clarify the national identity and the values the state should aim for. Whether to add new constitutional facts and present new constitutional values in a future-oriented manner should be decided after much discussion. The fact that the repetition of the May 18 distortion can be fundamentally solved is the full text of the May 18 Constitution, and I think one way is to push for amendments even if the ruling and opposition parties have formed a consensus. However, it is a problem that including the democratization movements after April 19 in the full text of the constitution, such as the Buma Democratic Uprising, the June 10 Uprising, and the candlelight protests, may harm the simplicity of the specialist. Gwangju, where the May 18th Movement took place, is the parent of all democratization movements that have taken place since 1980.

‘No status – no census!’ The causes and consequences of the 1971 and 1981 Northern Ireland census boycotts

ABSTRACT Despite Northern Ireland having been established on the basis of statistics from the 1911 census and the centrality of religious demography to many accounts of its conflict, little has been written about the political history of census-taking there. This paper contributes to addressing this oversight by exploring two related controversies in that history: the 1971 and 1981 census boycotts. Through use of archive materials, it demonstrates how concerns about the privacy of personal information collected by the census against the backdrop of the Troubles, were mixed with broader motivations whereby the census was seen as a symbolic target for protest and boycott in the context of discrimination against Catholics and the republican movement’s campaign for political status for its prisoners, with the 1981 boycott taking place during the hunger strike of that year. Despite a perhaps surprisingly low rate of overall non-response to the census given calls for it to be boycotted, the boycotts did have a significant impact and a legacy that lasted into the 1990s—by which time republicans’ attitude towards the census had changed for the positive.

Democratizing EEG: Embedding Electroencephalography in a Head-Mounted Display for Ubiquitous Brain-Computer Interfacing

Open hardware and the need for ecologically valid measurements drive the Electroencephalography (EEG) democratization movement—EEG has been steadily transcending the boundaries of clinical research, making its way into interdisciplinary fields. In Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), EEG is used to measure cognitive workload and infer cognitive processes for building cognition-aware systems. We describe and evaluate our BCIglass prototype where EEG electrodes are embedded in the frame of a mainstream Head-Mounted Display (HMD) to create a skull-peripheral topology. We devised a lab study with 34 participants who completed seven established cognitive tasks. Then, we conducted a pilot field study with one participant to test BCIglass in everyday-life settings. Our findings demonstrate that BCIglass captures EEG activity in a manner comparable to a research-grade EEG-cap system. Our topology infers the cognitive task at hand, and the underlying cognitive process(es) by proxy, with an accuracy of ∼80% and only three electrodes at the skull periphery. Embedding EEG electrodes in lightweight HMDs represents a promising approach in the quest to achieve ubiquitous brain-computer interfacing in real-world settings.

Outside GHQ: the union democratization movement in occupied Japan 1947–1948

The Japanese people played a much more important role in shaping events during the Allied Occupation of Japan (1945-1952) than is often recognized. This article examines the movement for democratization of the labor unions in order to demonstrate the extent to which the Japanese shaped their own destiny. Domestic politics is often overlooked due to an emphasis on the start of the Cold War in this period. Indeed, US policy is usually given the predominant role in narratives of the period and is blamed for the decline of mass movements such as the labor movement but an examination of the evidence for Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers (SCAP) involvement in the period reveals that the Occupation authorities, especially those in the General Headquarters (GHQ) of SCAP, played a much smaller role than has been alleged.

Post-Dissident Politics and the “Liberal Consensus” in East-Central Europe after 1989

This article’s central question is how former dissidents and their engagement in post-1989 nascent democratic politics contributed to the emergence of what was later retrospectively labelled the “liberal consensus.” I look at the earliest stages of this consensus before it started to lock in the conditionality of the EU accession process. To this end, I first discuss the “liberal consensus” from a retrospective and past prospective perspective. I define the notions of “post-dissent” and liberal politics emerging after 1989 on the dissident platform. I discuss the theoretical background and historical contours of the notion of dissident “politics of consensus.” The empirical core of the study is an analysis of the birth of post-dissident liberal parties in the process of the disintegration of broad consensual democratization movements of the 1989 revolutions. The study offers a comparison of the Czech, Slovak, Hungarian, and Polish cases, analyzing their similarities and less obvious but significant differences.

From morphology of human body to reshaping a morphology of the society: heritage in the field of pathology of infectious diseases of Wilhelm Ebstein and work of councilman Sigismund Asch. A story how to counteract epidemics and to transform feudal system into civil democracy.

Collected, primary resources enabled us to extract data that are scarcely present in medical literature of the two Breslauer morphologists of both the human body and - metaphorically - the society: Wilhelm Ebstein (1836-1912) and Sigismund Asch (1825-1901), particularly the latter, who described morphology of melanosis in his doctoral dissertation in 1846, to switch on reshaping social morphology of Wrocław (Breslau) in Virchow-like manner. In contrast to the main perspective of Ebstein's anomaly that has been finely described in past biographical papers, a primary aspect of infectious diseases is highlighted here in Ebstein's heritage. In 1869, his habilitation on recurrent typhus provided professional support for Asch. As Ebstein cared for the poor in shelters of Wrocław, Asch admitted poor patients from early morning hours to gain such a great esteem to be elected alderman. Asch's mentality corresponded to Ferdinand Lassalle's philosophy of the social democratic movement. In front of cholera epidemics, Asch contributed to medical control of meat, development of city canalization, establishment of green areas as well he deeply got involved in charity institutions for widows and orphans and was a model medical doctor to follow for much more famous Janusz Korczak who perished together with children from his orphanage in Nazi Concentration Camp in Treblinka. Asch was immortalized as "Doctor Klaus" in the popular play by Adolf L'Arronge and united people in progress from feudal discrimination to democracy and in fight for civil rights in industrial society to gradually replace aristocracy with meritocracy in the mainstream of development of modern society.

Youth Community Organizing Groups Fostering Sociopolitical Wellbeing: Three Healing-Oriented Values to Support Activism

Young organizers are increasingly calling for social movements to center healing alongside activism as they build political power. Campaigns that solely focus on policy wins or base-building can lead to burnout and frustration. Sociopolitical action is more likely to be sustained if accompanied by experiences of care, belonging, and mutual support. Such an approach makes sociopolitical wellbeing central to organizing. Although the research literature has offered conceptualizations of healing, and compelling evidence of health-related outcomes, we still lack empirical examples of what it looks like for youth community organizing (YCO) groups to weave a commitment to healing into sustained collective action. Drawing on qualitative data from the Powerful Youth, Powerful Communities International Study on Youth Organizing, we define and demonstrate three interconnected healing-oriented values that foster what we characterize as sociopolitical wellbeing. The three values, which we illustrate via fieldnotes and interview excerpts, are collectivized care, spiritual activism, and freedom dreaming. YCO holds promising implications for supporting youth engagement in democratic movements for education, racial, gender, economic, and environmental justice.

People's Multi-party Democracy: A Success Story of the Communist Movement of Nepal

The 1990s was a crucial time in the global communist movement that faced a serious setback after the collapse of the USSR and other East European communist and socialist governments. In Nepal, communist parties allied with the Nepali Congress, a democratic party to stage the people’s movement to end active monarchy and restore democracy. The call for the people’s movement by the parties appealed the people and they took part in the movement in a historic way. That movement succeeded to restore democracy and end the active monarchy. Madan Bhandari, the secretary-general of the Communist Party of Nepal (Marxist and Leninist) witnessed this unprecedented participation of the people in a peaceful democratic movement and realized the need to democratize the communist movement, so that, they could build people’s trust towards communist parties. In the general election held in 1991, communist parties won forty percent of the seats in the parliament and popular votes as well. In this context, Bhandari presented the document of people’s multi-party democracy in the fifth national congress of the Communist Party of Nepal (Marxist and Leninist) held in 1993, and it was passed overwhelmingly in the congress. This article attempts to make a textual analysis of the document of People’s multi-party democracy to examine the major aspects of the document and to see how successful it has become in democratizing the communist movement in Nepal.

A prominent Russian public figure of the XIX century N.V. Shelgunov and his pedagogical views. To the 200th anniversary of his birth

Annotation. The relevance of the research lies in the characterization of the pedagogical ideas of the prominent Russian pedagogical figure, progressive publicist of the second half of the XIX century N.V. Shelgunov (1824-1891), which are currently of theoretical and practical interest to workers in the field of education in connection with the reform of this most important sphere of the spiritual life of society. The purpose of the study is to analyze the content of Shelgunov's pedagogical views; critical assessments expressed by him in relation to a number of works by figures of Russian education of his time (I.I. Paulson, L.N. Tolstoy, V.I. Vodovozov, etc.) are given. An assessment of Shelgunov's contribution to Russian pedagogical thought is shown. The article was prepared in connection with the 200th anniversary of his birth. Materials and methods. The author uses methods of analysis of scientific and pedagogical literature and the biographical method, as well as historical and axiological (value) methodological approaches. During the work on the material, a number of sources of Russian and foreign researchers, as well as N.V. Shelgunov himself, were used. Results. N.V. Shelgunov entered Russian history as a prominent social democratic figure, as the author of deep, acute and interesting publications that were discussed by the advanced part of Russian society and to a certain extent contributed to the formation of public opinion in Russia in the second half of the XIX century, expressed both in the formulation of consciously expressed demands to the authorities from the progressive part of society, in particular, in the issue of opening new educational institutions, and in connection with the assessment of the quality of textbooks and teaching aids produced for the national school. Shelgunov noted positive sides of school books and their disadvantages. His sharp criticism of activities of the ministry of public education and its head, D.A. Tolstoy, stimulated the advanced part of the then Russian intelligentsia to practice in the interests of educational development. Up to the present time, Shelgunov's articles are of interest, characterizing in historical terms the path traversed by Russian education. Discussion and сonclusions. In his writings, Shelgunov analyzed methodological manuals and study books by I.I. Paulson, V.I. Vodovozov, L.N. Tolstoy and other scientists, gave them an objective, and sometimes critical assessment. He criticized also the state of women education in Russia, although by that time many educational institutions for women had opened. His articles "Letters on education", "What women don't know", etc., were highly appreciated by experts; they became the starting point for subsequent generations of Russian scientists and teachers to develop problems of education, including family education. Public figure and pedagogical publicist N.V. Shelgunov proved himself as one of the most prominent representatives of the revolutionary democratic movement in Russia in the second half of the XIX century. Having joined the organization "Land and Freedom", he carried out practical activities aimed, as he believed, at improving the lives of the people. His pedagogical works made a significant contribution to the treasury of pedagogical knowledge, primarily in the field of the history of education and organization of education of Russian citizens.

THE LEADER OF THE MOVEMENT OF KAZAKHS OF THE STEPPE REGION IN THE STRUGGLE FOR LAND IN THE LATE XIX AND EARLY XX CENTURIES – MAMBETALI SERDALYULY (HISTORIOGRAPHICAL ASPECT)

The article discusses the stages of the formation of the civil personality and fighter path of Mambetali Serdalyulu, a prominent representative of the Alash National Democratic Movement, who raised the struggle of Kazakhs for land in the Steppe region to a new level in the late XIX-early XX centuries, and the life and work of the fighter for land in a historiographical aspect. In modern historiography, the socio – political history of the Akmola - Kokshetau region in this period and the XX century from this region. it should be noted that research works on the figures of the national liberation struggle in the first quarter are still rare. The main purpose of the article is to reveal in the historiographic aspect the main stages of the formation of a well-known figure of northern Kazakhstan. Mambetali Serdalin as a person, the essence of his socio-political activity. Mambetali Serdalyulu is mentioned in studies and journalistic articles about representatives of the Alash political movement. The personality of Mambetali Serdalyulu is known to the general public mainly only through works of fiction. These articles are autobiographical, their socio-political views and activities are revealed in detail and are not studied from the point of view of modern historical knowledge. These arguments indicate that the personality of such a socio-political figure as Mambetali Serdalyulu, who occupied a large place in the socio – political life of the Steppe region at the beginning of the twentieth century, was not an object of special study.

The rise of nativism in populist political communication: A case study of the Facebook communication strategy of Freedom and Direct Democracy during the 2021 Czech parliamentary elections

Abstract The 2021 elections to the Chamber of Deputies of the Parliament of the Czech Republic brought a shift in populist political communication. While previous research has shown that the emphasis is on accentuating the theme of migration, the 2020 Senate elections have indicated that attention is shifting to patriotic themes. This was confirmed by the 2021 elections to the Chamber of Deputies, when nativism became a key element of populist political communication in the Czech Republic. The research included data from the hot phase of the campaign and two election days (8 and 10 October 2021) and focused on the populist political communication of the Freedom and Direct Democracy movement on Facebook.

The Influence of Media Democracy on Attitudes towards Homosexuality in Taiwan and China

Abstract Using data collected in the seventh wave of the World Values Survey, this article examines how traditional and new media consumption have had very different effects on attitudes towards homosexuality in Taiwan and China. It further explores how such differences reflect each society’s media democracy. A historical analysis of the democratic movements and their relations to media freedom in Taiwan and China is presented, which provides the research background and theoretical foundation for our assumptions as part of the literature review. The ensuing statistical analysis verifies these assumptions in depth. Our findings show that the effect of new media is generally positive in both societies, whereas that of traditional media varies: it is very negative in China yet statistically insignificant in Taiwan. Based on these results, we argue that the more democratised the media space, the more likely it is to promote tolerance of homosexuality.