Political Opposition Research Articles

It’s new, it’s revolutionary, and it’s modern: Vietnamese indie music in the age of digital streaming platforms

ABSTRACT In Vietnam, ‘indie music’ is an internet-based phenomenon that began in late 2015, spearheaded by a generation of young GenZ artists on the music sharing platform SoundCloud. As a contribution to the current special issue, this article examines the relationship between Vietnamese indie music and streaming platforms. It shows how the genre was formed through the technological affordances of platforms such as SoundCloud and YouTube, and how it changed with the entry of Spotify. The findings show that Vietnamese indie music is co-produced on digital platforms through three means: users’ interaction, algorithmic recommendation system, and platform curation. These factors come together to deliver to listeners a sense of a new cultural formation that is different from how popular music has been traditionally produced and delivered in the past. When Spotify launched in the country in 2018, Vietnamese indie musicians saw it as a means to publish, to protect their copyrights, and to get publicity, something that domestic institutions or infrastructures did not provide. From this perspective Vietnamese indie music can be seen to represent the musicians’ entrepreneurial desires, rather than the oppositional politics that have historically been associated with indie music elsewhere.

The Case of the DOXA Four: A Year in the School of Political Prisoners

AbstractThis paper explores media strategies used by the four former editors of the Russian independent student‐run journal DOXA during their year of pre‐trial domestic confinement between April 2021 and April 2022. This high‐profile case ended only two months after the beginning of Russia’s full‐scale war in Ukraine and the intensification of repressions against the internal political opposition. It also concludes a decade‐long phase in the conflict between the Russian state and its increasingly politicized youth. By maintaining a public presence during their house arrest despite the official prohibition, the DOXA Four entered into a media competition with police: Both groups were trying to reach an audience of Russian youth and shape the public image of oppositional students. While the state strove to intimidate, infantilize, and isolate the young people, the DOXA editors promoted collectivist forms of feeling and imagination to encourage political mobilization. In doing so, they aimed to break with the prevailing culture of ironic aestheticization of state violence and to re‐articulate political aesthetics for its generation.

Platform liability, hate speech and the fundamental right to free speech

ABSTRACT In contemporary society, the rise of social media has dramatically transformed the sharing of information, bypassing traditional editorial and governmental controls. This shift has enabled rapid global information sharing but also raised concerns about the influence of social media platforms, even in democratic societies. Legislative responses, such as Germany's Network Enforcement Act of 2017, mandated swift removal of illegal content, influencing over twenty other nations to enact similar laws. These regulations often target hate speech but risk suppressing political opposition, particularly in authoritarian regimes. The European Union’s Digital Services Act came into force in 2024 and imposes stringent removal obligations on platforms. This enhanced platform regulation pushes companies towards the use of automated content moderation for purposes of meeting those obligations. A 2024 report found a substantial majority (87.5% to 99.7%) of deleted comments on Facebook and YouTube in France, Germany, and Sweden were legally permissible, suggesting that platforms, pages, or channels may be over-removing content to avoid regulatory penalties. Against the backdrop of this recent data, the paper examines the possible impact of stringent platform liability legislation on free speech in the ambit of hate speech, focusing on the delicate balance between regulation and freedom of expression.

Dangerous remembering in volatile spaces: Activist memory work in the Iranian context

This article studies the interrelations of memory work and activism in the Iranian context by focusing on the way remembering victims of state violence informs political activism. Due to constant repression, the recurrence of state violence and the criminalisation of oppositional activities and non-conforming lifestyles, the Iranian context is saturated with contentious memories that cannot be brought into public space. Oppositional memory work, especially regarding the victims of direct state violence, has thus become dangerous, counts as defiance and requires alternative spaces for taking shape. This article maps out and explains how activist memory work in this context entails carving out activist memoryscapes and intertwines personal suffering with acts of remembering the other and how memory is used as a resource in broader modes of oppositional politics, justice-seeking and endeavours towards social change. Examples of activist memory work in the Woman, Life, Freedom protests, a short documentary film and a commemorative exhibition are analysed in the article to showcase the different mnemonic dynamics at stake and to highlight the importance of mediation and cultural forms in the formation of activist memory work.

Legislative Pioneers: The Brave South Korean Women Spearheading Change Against Gender Discrimination, Violence, and Inequality Through Progressive Laws

In South Korea, women have a long history of fighting against injustice. This includes brutality and discrimination based on gender. This study looks at how South Korean women led the way. The aim of this writing is to examine the critical role played by female lawmakers in South Korea as they lead the charge in passing progressive legislation to fight inequality, violence, and gender discrimination. The study explores the historical background of women's political engagement in South Korea, stressing the rise of women's rights movements and the difficulties experienced by female activists in promoting gender equality. This study proposes to search for the roles of "Legislative Pioneers" in South Korea. It does this by drawing on a thorough assessment of the literature. The paper explores the impact of South Korean women's legislative activism on gender equality through interviews, historical analysis, and official data as mixed approach by both quantitative as well as qualitative methodology. The transformative impact of women legislators in driving legislative reforms aimed at addressing gender-based violence, promoting gender equality in the workplace, and enhancing women's political representation and participation is examined in this paper through an analysis of legislative initiatives and policy outcomes. The conversation also looks at the obstacles and difficulties faced by female parliamentarians, such as institutional impediments in the political system and opposition from conservative forces. Notwithstanding these obstacles, female lawmakers persist in promoting progressive reforms, capitalizing on global connections and partnerships to propel gender parity and women's entitlements in South Korea. In summary, the study illuminates the noteworthy accomplishments of legislative trailblazers in South Korea and underscores their pivotal function in cultivating a society that is more comprehensive and just for every person.

Europe after the crises: toward an optimum financial area?

ABSTRACT Europe’s policymakers embarked on an ambitious experiment in institution building after the last crisis – to make banks safer, to make financial markets more efficient, and to pool resources to respond to collective losses when the markets move against them. The goal is to construct a financial area that is resilient to the usual ups and downs in financial market performance and that can remain integrated even when systemically important institutions or sovereign finances run into trouble. The problem, policymakers complain, is that they know what to do, but they cannot overcome powerful political opposition to those new institutions or reforms. We use the examples of the United Kingdom, the United States, and Canada to show, that this problem is not unique. Building an ‘optimal financial area’ is no easier within countries than between them.

Care at the centre of the post-pandemic sustainability of grassroots cultural centres and culture-led urban regeneration. A comparison of western and eastern perspectives

ABSTRACT The redevelopment and management of brownfield sites by grassroots cultural organizations have been shown to have a transformative role on communities and cities, implementing bottom-up culture-led urban regeneration rather than top-down models which often lead to gentrification. Based on analyses and interviews with actors from major grassroots cultural centres in Berlin (ufaFabrik) and Bratislava (Nová Cvernovka), this study challenges previous research on cultural brownfields focusing on temporary artistic interventions, arguing instead that long-term commitment, care, participation and cooperation between cultural organizations and local administrations can lead to more sustainable regeneration models in which cultural brownfields operate as commons-based ecosystems of care. The study also offers a unique insight into the “western” vs. “eastern” specifics, highlighting the fact that post-socialist administrations can serve as a barrier to a successful redevelopment through stigmatized public-NGO relationships, where artists and communities are often perceived as a “political opposition”.

Mobilising youth for elections: electoral inclusion of youth in Turkey under competitive authoritarianism

Scholars have paid scant attention to how state–society relations are shaped in contexts where democratic and authoritarian institutions co-exist under new forms of authoritarianism. Furthermore, the realm of youth citizenship in such regimes is a nascent area warranting deeper exploration. This study draws on the case of Turkey to address these gaps by investigating why political parties, which previously marginalised young voters, have fervently mobilised youth during elections that paradoxically coincided with the process of autocratisation. We employ a content analysis of party programmes, election manifestos, and social media campaign content of major political parties, as well as secondary sources on Turkish and youth politics spanning from 1983 to 2023, to address this puzzle. Our analysis unveils three key findings. Firstly, transformative events such as the Gezi Park Protests and digital activism have invigorated youth political involvement, compelling both government and opposition parties to prioritise youth electoral engagement. Secondly, the shift from a parliamentary to a presidential system has heightened political parties’ focus on securing the youth vote to win elections. Lastly, political parties strive to align youth political values with their own ideologies, and the process of election campaigning provides ample opportunities for such a goal.

Counterterrorism in Ethiopia: source of threat or security to the people?

ABSTRACT The objective of the counterterrorism policies of Ethiopia as reflected in the anti-terrorist proclamations was to protect the right of people to live in peace, freedom and security at all times from the threat of terrorism. However, in practice, the counterterrorism policies followed the designation of opposition political forces as terrorist organisations and unprecedented crackdown on political opposition and critical voices. Therefore, this emancipatory study examines the theory and practice of Ethiopia’s counterterrorism policies with the objective to unravel its political use and abuse, and hence demystify its security referent. Data were obtained through in-depth interviews, and the analysis of the anti-terrorist proclamations, explanatory notes, speeches, terrorism files and records, and reports of international human rights organisations. The analysis revealed that counterterrorism in Ethiopia remains the source of threat rather than security to the people in the country.

Refusing bilingualism, appropriating languages

This paper analyses a trial held in 2020 in the court known as ‘Audiencia Nacional’ (Madrid), against 12 Galician pro-independence activists accused of ‘glorification of terrorism’. Through the linguistic strategies of the different actors, and the bilingual interaction produced in that space, we can identify the ideologisation processes and political opposition movements existing in the (cross)examination. While previous research has especially focused on community bilingualism and bilingual interaction in institutional contexts such as the courtroom from a perspective of feedback effect, I explore the refusal to switch languages by bilingual speakers (the accused) against the monolingual counterpart (the court). This struggle over language appropriateness is discursively constructed along in-the-moment uses of linguistic difference and cultural history. Finally, since this trial was live-streamed for the media and society, I consider the interdiscursive hybridity triggered by this ‘third party’ in which juridical and political messages are being exchanged.

Autopsy of a futures market failure: Japan’s Dojima rice futures in the early 21st century

Futures markets promise improved price transparency and risk mitigation for staple commodities important to many developing countries, but they can fail even in developed economies with modern financial institutions. We investigate rice futures trading in Japan at the Osaka Dojima Exchange to identify the reasons underlying its failure in 2021. Our analysis reviews the multiple necessary conditions for a successful commodity futures market. We find the Japanese rice market did not meet many of these conditions. The spot market was fragmented with heterogeneous goods and a single dominant firm. Futures trading was unable to facilitate price discovery or effective hedging activity. To the extent it was traded, the Dojima rice futures contract was instead used as a forward contract for making and taking physical delivery. In addition, there was political opposition and regulatory uncertainty around futures trading. Using detailed data on trader positions in the futures market, we show how these factors contributed to diminished interest in futures trading from firms who handle physical commodities. The lessons from the Japanese case are useful for traders, exchanges, and policy makers, especially those in countries where futures markets may face similarly unfavorable economic and political conditions.

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.

한국 정치인 테러양상과 요인경호대책

Politics is a process through which stakeholders negotiate and states determine policies to enhance citizen welfare and establish optimal public policies for societal stability and prosperity. At its core, this process involves politicians striving to attain power to realize their beliefs, and it must be democratic. Consequently, terrorism against politicians, being both undemocratic and violent, must be rigorously condemned. An examination of the terrorism patterns targeting South Korean politicians reveals a persistent inclination to suppress opposition through violence—a vestige of regressive tendencies not yet fully eradicated since the post-liberation period. This study finds that security of key personnel for major politicians opposing current power structures are significantly inadequate. Therefore, we propose the urgent establishment of a “Security of Key Personnel Law” to strengthen national security for key political figures. Additionally, given the frequency of terrorist attacks on domestic politicians, it is crucial to expand the number of security personnel and enhance their training. Moreover, adopting socially inclusive policies towards political opposition and reinforcing the roles of media and popular culture are essential for fostering a more advanced political culture.

Health Insurance, Medicine, and Society in Taiwan: Chinese Authoritarianism, Taiwanese Ethnicities, and Global Actuarial Science

This article explores the history of the Chinese Nationalist Party (Kuomintang KMT) government’s expansion of health insurance in Taiwan from 1950 to the 2010s through the lens of ethnicity, politics and medicine. I argue that the KMT party-state’s expansion of health insurance privileged government employees who were the core supporters of the ruling party. By comparing the history of the insurance programs for government employees and laborers, the article makes the case that KMT provided better coverage, lower premiums, and less medical gatekeeping for Chinese waisheng government employees who fled to Taiwan with the KMT than for ordinary Taiwanese bensheng laborers. Global actuarial science experts from the United Nations International Labor Organization also buttressed such a discriminatory process. This China-centered approach towards universalizing healthcare on the island became increasingly challenged by provincial legislators, labor activists, and the emerging political opposition that promoted local Taiwanese concerns on healthcare equity and access. This article concludes that this dual process of KMT’s population management and leveraging of United Nations actuarial expertise as the Republic of China became symbolic of the bio-geopolitics that animated the history and development of health insurance in Taiwan.

Disputes over the figures of the COVID-19 pandemic: Epistemic diversity, dissemination of science, and political opposition.

The health policies imposed by multiple national governments after the emergence of SARS-CoV-2 were publicly justified by official figures on the deaths that the new virus would have caused and could cause in the future. At the same time, however, groups of people from different countries expressed their scepticism about those figures. Although they were categorised as 'anti-science', 'spreaders of misinformation' or 'conspiracy theorists' in some media, many of those sceptics claimed to be based on scientific evidence. This article qualitatively analyses a sample of the content published by sceptics on their social media between 2020 and 2022. More specifically, it examines the shared documents supposedly coming from the scientific community. We find very diverse content ranging from unsubstantiated assumptions to documents produced by prestigious scientists inviting questions about the fatality rates, the mathematical models anticipating millions of deaths, and the real numbers of people who died from COVID-19. The disputes surrounding the official figures lead us to a reflection about the relationship between, epistemic diversity, the dissemination of science, censorship, and new forms of political opposition. We also touch upon the nature and ethics of scientific controversy in times of a 'war' against 'misinformation'.

Legal experts colluding with the political and economic elites in justifying corruption: the case of Malaysia’s Madani goverment

This paper examines the increasing centralization of power by the current ‘reformist’ Malaysian government through the co-optation of civil society organizations (CSOs) to bolster the moral legitimacy of the integral state. We argue that Anwar Ibrahim’s transition from a unifying figure in oppositional politics to his current role has inadvertently led to the muting of civil society actors (CSAs) and CSOs. This co-optation has significantly diminished the autonomy and influence of civil society in Malaysia’s political landscape. A comparative analysis of the socio-economic strategies employed by Anwar and his predecessor, Najib Razak, reveals that Anwar’s efforts towards wealth redistribution and empowerment of marginalized communities have been limited. This policy approach has disproportionately affected rural constituencies, potentially altering the dynamics of political support. Furthermore, the current administration under Anwar faces criticism for failing to fulfill its campaign promise of holding corrupt politicians accountable. This situation is exacerbated by the involvement of two prominent lawyers representing politicians across party lines, raising questions about conflicts of interest and the integrity of the judicial process. Drawing on Gramscian theory, this paper posits that legal professionals should be incorporated into the concept of the ‘integral state’ due to their capacity to interpret, manipulate, and shape laws in ways that often benefit the ruling elite. This theoretical expansion provides a more comprehensive framework for understanding the mechanisms of power consolidation in contemporary Malaysian politics.

Leadership And Democratization In Kazakhstan And Kyrgyzstan: Comparative Analysis Of Political Systems Of Post-Soviet Countries

This study aims to investigate the prospects of democratization in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan by comparing their political systems. The primary objective is to identify the factors influencing the varying degrees of democratic development between these two Central Asian countries, despite their similar socio-cultural and historical backgrounds. The methodology employed involves a systems analysis approach, examining both "input" and "output" functions of the political systems. Key variables include the levels of democracy as the independent variable, and political parties, leaders, resource distribution, and opposition suppression as dependent variables. Results indicate that Kazakhstan, under Nazarbayev, maintained a more controlled political environment through patronage networks and resource allocation, effectively limiting opposition and preserving stability. In contrast, Kyrgyzstan exhibited a more dynamic political landscape with multiple power shifts, driven by competitive party politics and less centralized control over resources. However, both countries face significant challenges, including regional fragmentation, corruption, and the influence of Islamist movements, which complicate their democratic trajectories. The findings suggest that while Kyrgyzstan shows potential for democratic development due to its parliamentary system and active civil society, Kazakhstan's path is hindered by entrenched authoritarian practices and elite control.

Opposition Attitudes of the Youth in the Polish People’s Republic

The main aim of this article is to discuss the opposition attitudes of the young people in the Polish People’s Republic (PRL). It is not a regular narrative. It is rather a review of selected phenomena, presented in several interlinked essays. The youth subcultures, underground organizations, some opposition attitudes (resistance, dissent and political opposition) and young people’s answer to the proposition of the Catholic Church were analysed in that work. Those attitudes were determined by the political, social and economic circumstances in the years 1945-1989, especially the lack of freedom of legal action outside of rulers’ control, the degree of integration within the regime and the relations of domination and subordination, as well as the associated with them level of frustration.

Authoritarianism, Popular Resistance and Regime Change in Zambia

Abstract In 1990, after 17 years of authoritarian rule under inaugural president, Kenneth Kaunda, Zambia looked to be on the precipice of prolonged instability and violence. Authoritarianism showed no signs of softening; the country’s economic decline continued to heap misery on a population where the vast majority were already living in poverty; and the banning of opposition parties in 1973 meant that there was no legitimate political opposition to challenge to Kaunda’s rule. Over the 1970s and 1980s, opposition to Kaunda found expression in various civil society organisations, eventually coalescing into a broad-church Movement for Multiparty Democracy (mmd). When the price of the national staple, maize, doubled overnight, protests quickly escalated into riots, killing dozens. However, instead of an escalation of violence, the mmd pushed Kaunda to engage in political reform. What followed was a decision by Kaunda to lift the ban on opposition parties, leading to his electoral defeat. How did the growing opposition rule precipitate a peaceful transition to multi-party democracy? In this article I argue that Kaunda’s inclusive ideology, which avoided the politicization of ethnicity allowed for a more inclusive and peaceful transition away from authoritarian rule.

Toward a Free Economy: Swatantra and Opposition Politics in Democratic India by Aditya Balasubramanian

Toward a Free Economy: Swatantra and Opposition Politics in Democratic India by <i>Aditya Balasubramanian</i>