Political Civil Research Articles

Locating Gramsci in Delhi’s Shaheen Bagh: Perspectives on the iconic women’s protest in India

The Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), 2019, in India was widely contested by both political parties and various civil society formations. Shaheen Bagh, a sit-in protest demonstration which continued for over a hundred days in the nation’s capital from mid-December 2019 to late March 2020, occupied the central position within the corpus of these protest demonstrations. The protests at Shaheen Bagh were led by poor, Muslim working-class women, who had come out on the streets protesting and asserting their rights amidst the dominant ruling-class communal politics. The Shaheen Bagh protests were a potent force of the working-class and oppressed minorities of the country. The paper brings in Marxist and Gramscian perspectives to explain how Shaheen Bagh has contributed to Indian left-wing politics. The paper argues that the women in Shaheen Bagh have been successful in bridging the gap between the civil society and political society in the country and has to an extent, altered the very nature of Indian politics. Moreover, the assertive nature of the Muslim women regarding their religion and the support which they garnered from the Indian left, widely accused by many of being Islamophobic in nature, has wide repercussions as far as political and social alliances between the left and Muslim politics in India is concerned. The present paper locates the protest within the notion of subaltern unity and tries to analyse the possible impacts of the support for the protests, within and beyond the anti-CAA protest movement, from the Indian left.

The Imaginary Species

Abstract This article is a work of theory that establishes a fundamental mental basis for the diversity of worldviews that underlie every seemingly unsolvable conflict between nations, political parties, organizations, and individuals. The four-part typology postulated here is found, with different labels, throughout the history of human philosophy and underscores four basic worldviews people use to view their understanding of, and relationship with, the world. These four types fundamentally underlie cultural values and beliefs. Understanding this fundamental fact about human mentality will illuminate why persistent conflicts around the world are seemingly unsolvable and why populations can become so deeply polarized that political repression or civil war can come to seem to be a rationally conceivable way to rectify the situation.

Civility, gender, and gendered nationalism in the age of Trump

ABSTRACT Using an original national survey, I examine the impact of gender on attitudes about political civility two years into Donald Trump’s presidency. I find that women have less tolerance for uncivil behavior than men, although Republican women express the lowest tolerance for incivility. Republican women are no less likely than Republican men to rate Trump’s behavior as uncivil – and are much less likely to do so than Democratic women or men. While partisanship exerts a strong countervailing force on Republican women when it comes to considering Donald Trump’s civility, also important is the role of gendered nationalist attitudes, which are linked to both tolerance of uncivil behavior and positive perceptions of Trump’s civility. Men who embrace gendered nationalist views are more tolerant of incivility and are more likely to rate Trump’s behavior as civil. Women who agree that America has become too soft and feminine also give Trump higher civility marks than those women who do not. Notably, Republican women’s greater endorsement of this concept of gendered nationalism likely contributes to their belief that Trump is civil and sheds greater light on how threats to masculinity have become politicized in the Trump era.

The Brazilian Perception of China’s Belt and Road Initiative

This paper presents an assessment of the perception of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) in Brazilian society, with particular attention to the views of experts, the media, and Parliament. This assessment is relevant in light of the movement between countries and the speculation concerning Brazil's entry into the BRI, even if the country has kept a deliberate distance from the initiative. In this context, the success of a potential adhesion to the BRI by Brazil – a pluralist and multiparty democracy – largely depends on the degree of consensus on the issues at play, whether in formal decision-making arenas or with the public opinion. We analyzed 43 publications in the specialized literature between 2015 and 2019; 266 articles/ news reports/opinion columns in the main Brazilian media vehicles between 2017 and 2019; and the archive of speeches and debates in Brazil’s Senate and Congress. We arrived at the conclusion that there is currently a high degree of unfamiliarity about the BRI and that the subject arouses little interest among parliamentarians and academics. This presents a special opportunity for initiatives that seek to shape BRI's image among sectors in Brazilian society – business, decision makers, academia, members of government, the political class, civil society, and public opinion. On the other hand, we should bear in mind that the current elevated social and ideological polarization in Brazil makes consensus building especially challenging.

A policy feedback and socio-technical approach to e-participation (PFSTEP): A cross-national analysis of technology and institutions to explain e-participation

ABSTRACT This paper aims at explaining the difference in e-participation (or online public participation) across countries using a conceptual model that is quantitatively analyzed using panel data. The model is based on the theories of policy feedback and socio-technical approach in the participation literature and explores the mediating and moderating role of technology on institutions. The technology variable is measured along four dimensions of information and communication technology (ICT), namely, infrastructure, affordability, skills, and usage. The institutions variable is measured along the two dimensions of political and regulatory environment and political rights and civil liberties. The study is significant as it quantitatively analyzes a complex longitudinal relationship between institutions, technology, and e-participation and finds support for institutions’ role as antecedents to technology. Findings inform that ICT skills play a mediating role while ICT infrastructure and usage act as moderator for institutions’ impact on e-participation.

서 재필 시민 정치론의 형성과 구조에 관한 연구 - 시민 중심 정치사 정립을 위하여

이 논문은 정치사 서술의 상대주의 문제를 극복하고 기존의 권력 정치와 이념 정치를 극복할 수 있는 사상적 자원을 찾으려는 목적으로 작성되었다. 이를 위해 이 논문은 우선 대안으로서 ‘시민 정치’ 개념을 탐구하고 이를 분석적으로 재구성했으며, 우리의 근대 시민 정치론의 기원으로서 서 재필 정치관의 형성 과정과 논리 구조를 탐구했다. 연구 결과를 요약하면 다음과 같다. 첫째, 기능론, 갈등론, 전통론, 구원론 등의 경쟁하는 정치 개념이 모두 권력 정치의 속성을 전제한다는 것을 밝혀내고 그 대안으로 일상의 정치 과정에서 시민의 의사소통적 참여를 강조하는 시민 정치론을 개념화했다. 둘째, 서 재필의 시민정치론은 과거 갑신정변 전에 김 옥균과 후쿠자와 유키치의 영향하에 형성되었던 엘리트와 국가 주도의 개혁론에 대한 반성과 미국 망명 과정 중 자치의 시민 문화 체험과 교육등을 통해서 숙고한 결과 형성되었다. 셋째, 서 재필 시민 정치론의 핵심은 정치 주체로서 시민이 연합하여 정치 과정에 참여하는 데 있다. 계몽된 시민의 탄생 전까지는 시민정치론에 시민 교육론의 성격이 부가되었다. 넷째, 계몽과 정치를 계기적으로 결합한 서재필의 시민 정치론은 공론장에서 토론과 숙의의 훈련을 통해 정치 개혁의 주체를 양성해낸 시민 운동론으로서, 1차 만민공동회를 통해서 한국사에서 조숙한 시민 정치의 출현을 가능하게 했다.

Analysis on the Relationship between the Construction of the Ruling Party and Consultative Democracy

Deliberative democracy is not only the Chinese people's summary of China's historical experience, but also the urgent requirement of building China's political civilization. Strengthening democratic construction includes the establishment of inner-party democracy and the construction of people's democracy, and the promotion of people's democracy by inner-party democracy. The democratic politics of the consultative party and the deliberative democracy of the masses are an important part of people's democracy. In order to strengthen the construction of the ruling party, we must strengthen the construction of consultative democracy and promote the further development of people's democracy. This paper mainly analyzes the relationship between the construction of the Communist Party and deliberative democracy.

Social welfare politics of inequality: focusing on Corona 19 and Basic Disaster Income

코로나19의 위기에 대해 재난기본소득이 대안으로 논의되고 있다. 본 논문은 코로나19가 기존과 다른 새로운 위기이고, 재난기본소득은 이에 대한 한국사회의 맥락에서 볼 때 파격적인 대안이라고 본다. 이런 상황에서 본 논문은 사회복지정치의 방향을 논의하고자 한다. 이를 위해, 본 논문은 코로나19의 맥락과 기본소득의 맥락을 검토하고 복지정치의 방향을 제시하고자 한다. 전염병의 원인을 돌진적 근대화에서 찾는다. 즉 자본주의는 이윤을 추구하는 과정에서 인간, 자연, 동물을 착취했다. 이 과정에서 생기는 위험을 단지 부수현상으로 취급했다. 하지만 이윤추구의 대상은 이제 위험을 지구화시키고 있다. 그런데 이 위험은 모두에게 민주적으로 배분되는 듯이 보이지만, 사실은 특정 계급과 계층에 집중된다. 본 논문은 카뮈의 <페스트>를 통해 전염병을 <스핀햄랜드제도>의 통해 기본소득을 복지정치의 맥락에서 해석한다. 그리고 재난기본소득이 대안이 되기 위해서는 복지정치에 포섭되어야 한다고 주장한다. 이때 복지정치는 자연과 인간에 대한 착취와 불평등을 문제삼고, 전문가주의를 비판하고, 위험에 대한 정의를 재정의하면서 세계시민으로서의 연대성을 가져야 한다.Disaster Basic Income is being discussed as an alternative to Corona 19. This paper begins with a question about is disaster basic income an alternative? To reveal this, we examine the context of Corona 19 and the context of basic income. Find the cause of the epidemic in rush modernization. In other words, capitalism exploited humans, nature, and animals in the process of seeking profit. The risks of this process were treated only as side effects. However, the pursuit of profit is now globalizing risk. However, while this risk seems to be distributed democratically to all, it is actually concentrated in a specific class and class. This paper interprets the epidemic in the context of civil politics through Camus s <The Plague> and the epidemic through the ‘Spinhamland System’. He also argues that disaster basic income must be embraced by welfare politics in order to be an alternative. At this time, welfare politics should have solidarity as a global citizen, taking issue with exploitation and inequality about nature and humans, criticizing professionalism, and redefining the definition of risk.

Construction of Cultural Identity through Language Education of Junior-Senior High Schools in China during 1949-1997

The construction of cultural identity is a very complex issue and is affected by many factors, one of which is education. To make Chinese people acknowledge their own political civilization and cultural tradition, after the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949, the Chinese education departments integrated Marxist education by using Chinese language courses in junior-senior high schools (JSHSs) as a medium. To achieve such integration, Chinese language courses must teach language knowledge while disseminating Marxism. A large number of works with Sinicized Marxism content was included in textbooks and interpreted according to relevant theories. Additionally, teachers of Chinese language courses must have high literacy regarding Marxist theory. Judging from the current social reality, the Chinese language courses in China’s JSHSs have prompted the adherence, identification and internalization of Marxism among JSHS students since the founding of the People’s Republic of China and have laid the foundation for the formation of a socio-political culture guided by Marxism in the general public.

Court Administration at a Time of Uncertainty

This issue of the Journal comes during a time of great uncertainty and change. As the old Chinese curse goes, ‘may we live in interesting times’ (although the saying appears to be apocryphal, as no actual Chinese source has ever been cited, according to the reliable editors at Wikipedia). But these are interesting times indeed. We have compiled a collection of articles on court-related themes that have lurked in the background over the last few years, but have been pushed to the fore as a result of the global pandemic. These include the judiciary’s perennial quest for independence, the erosion of political freedoms and civil liberties across the world, the increasing use of technology and artificial intelligence and their positive as well as negative impacts on society in general and court systems in particular.

Towards Democratic Consolidation? Ukraine After the Revolution of Dignity

AbstractThis paper explores the challenges and opportunities of post-Maidan Ukraine’s democratic consolidation, with a focus on its attitudinal, behavioral and institutional dimensions.The study suggests that Ukraine’s transition from a hybrid regime to a consolidated democracy involves addressing a series of societal and institutional issues, ranging from transformation of paternalistic culture to institutional development of political parties and civil society organizations (CSO). Institutionalization is essential for shifting from charismatic appeal or rule to well-established institutions that translate leader’s vision into policies sustained by appropriate structures, rules, and procedures. The study enquires into the intricacies of democratic consolidation in post-Soviet countries, amid constraining conditions stemming from deep-rooted authoritarian legacies.

Are civil liberties contagious? Analysis of determinants of de facto civil rights protection in post-socialist countries

In this paper, we contribute to the debate on determinants of civil liberties protection by extending the standard approach using spatial components. Our analysis highlights three categories of civil liberties–private civil liberties, political civil liberties and physical integrity rights. The focus of the paper is the region of post-socialist countries in Central and Eastern Europe. Our results imply the existence of institutional diffusion of de facto civil liberties protection between countries. What is more, we identify clusters of civil rights protection relevant for post-socialist states. The conclusions are based on an empirical study (a spatial panel Durbin GMM model and Local Moran I statistic).

Perceptions of church leaders on the integration of migrant youth into South Africa: The case of refugees in the refugee camps managed by churches at Musina

Southern Africa has a long history of intra-regional migration, dating back to the mid-19th century. An increasing number of people migrated to escape poverty, seek livelihoods or escape from political upheavals and civil strife, such as the Mozambican and Angolan civil wars. The patterns and scale of these population movements across the globe are constantly in flux. In spite of South Africa being a signatory to all African Union and Southern African Development Community protocols, little has been achieved with regard to the integration of migrants into mainstream welfare services. This qualitative study aimed to explore and describe the perceptions of church leaders on the integration of migrant youth in Musina into South Africa. The new economics theory of migration was used to understand migrant youth’s conditions from their host countries, which predisposed them to migrate and end up having challenges of being integrated into South Africa. A descriptive case-study design was used to purposively select two church leaders who are the key informants for migrant youth in their churches. Semi-structured interviews were followed, and data were analysed thematically through Nvivo software. Findings show that many problems migrant youth face start with problems around documentation, which leads to their inaccessibility to government services, poor living conditions and starvation. Findings also show that migrant youth face challenges of rejection and discrimination by local citizens. Therefore, stakeholders in Musina should be empowered to collaborate their services for the integration of immigrants into the mainstream activities of South Africa.

Cross-movement alliances against authoritarian rule: insights from term amendment struggles in West Africa

ABSTRACT When former president Abdoulaye Wade of Senegal tried to bypass constitutional limitations on renewing his candidature, tens of thousands took to the streets. The success of this mobilisation has been largely attributed to the newly created youth movement, Y’en a marre. Burkina Faso witnessed similar events, when the country saw hundreds of thousands protest against the potential continuation of former president Blaise Compaoré – the action being led by the social movement Balai Citoyen, whose public image also heavily featured music artists. Examining these large-scale mobilisations against term extensions by heads of state from a contentious politics perspective, however, reveals that a large number of actors from civil society and politics were involved in the protests. In both cases, we find cross-movement mobilisations, with none of them forming stable or enduring alliances. I will argue that the reasons for this go back to competitive relations among Senegalese actors, and ideological polarisation in the case of Burkina Faso. My concluding remarks outline the role and relative importance of these social movements within their broader societal contexts, and point at future pathways for research.

Beauty for Harmony

Abstract Beauty can be a source of self-making within a political community, and that self can display moral autonomy via publicly visible and invisible practices while still adhering to a community. At a time of transition during the early 2000s from militarized resistance to urban civil politics, radical democracy, and gender ideals, older militarized notions of the Kurdish self, body, and beauty were changing. In a context of heightened visibility within the movement, women active in the Kurdish movement responded by recrafting their femininities, using beautification practices as a modern, urban, and empowering political tool. But beautification of the new self also entailed often sticky negotiations over the moral boundaries between the self and the movement, producing anxieties over what and who should constitute the moral. As women's actions, public roles, and visibilities became important indicators of the Kurdish movement's political success, their beauty practices and beautiful visibilities came to be viewed through the urgent need for moral unity. Central to Kurdish women activists' experience of and response to the political and social transformations going on around them, the integration of beauty practices into their politics placed moral autonomy at the center of the construction of new models of Kurdish femininity.

Facebook Discourse Analysis of US President Donald Trump

SNSs, such as Facebook, focus all their attention more on politician communication than institutional communication (political party, government, parliament, presidency, etc.), which encourages the implementation of communication strategies for personalized campaigns. Thus, most of the times, one can reach the paradox that the image of the politicians is more visible than the image of the party, and the personalized aspects of the strategy of the political actor can even contradict the strategies of the communication structures of the political parties. Personalized communication in social media is also highlighted by the use of tagging, most political leaders using this tool to create image links with other political personalities or civil society (ministers, political groups of the same political party, political activists or even political opponents), seeking so that the original post is reproduced and disseminated by those mentioned, in their social groups, forming conversation communities with users that confirm existing convictions. This study focused on analyzing the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) that facilitate Social Media Communication of Donald Trump, the President of United States of America (number of fans, types of posts, interactions etc.) and analyzing Donald Trump's Facebook speech and identify the most commonly used expressions in Social Media during the term of President. The monitoring period is 20.01.2017 - 16.08.2019.

A Critical Analysis to the United Nations' Performance in the light of Contemporary Global Challenges

It is an undeniably fact that the United Nations plays an important role in our world. Since its establishment, its main aim is to be a beacon of international peace and security in all means. However, the organizations recently suffered from a lot of institutional, political and other problems, as well as problems within its significant organs like General Assembly, International Court of Justice and most importantly, the Security Council. The United Nations has showed a lot of failures and inactions in tackling and solving a lot of contemporary political conflicts, civil wars, and humanitarian crises that have been escalated since the Arab Spring’s revolutions in 2011. Moreover, the problems it suffers from have become more severe, overwhelming and have been threatening its integrity, objectivity, credibility and effectiveness in the eyes of a lot of scholars, international experts, countries and populations. Therefore, this paper gives a critical analysis to the current functioning of the United Nations organization. Firstly, it starts with an introduction to the organization and summary to the basic destinations that lead eventually to the establishment of the United Nations in 1945. Secondly, it explains in details the structure of the organization with all of its organs, related international and regional organizations, committees, councils, agencies, programmes, offices and departments. Thirdly, it tackles the significant successes and failures of UN in different fields since 1945 till recently. After that, the critical analysis begins to some articles of the charter and UN’s organs, particularly the significant ones like General Assembly, International Court of Justice and Security Council. In addition, the paper provides criticism to the Veto Power accompanies by real cases as well as giving a brief on the Collective Security System. Last but not least, it discusses the main problems of UN and challenges and allegations facing the peacekeeping operations. Eventually, it highlights the proposals submitted to reform the UN and the extent to which the implementation of these resolutions can be feasible, and ends with a conclusion.

Dwi Fungsi ABRI : Melacak Sejarah Keterlibatan ABRI dalam Kehidupan Sosial Politik dan Perekonomian Indonesia

This paper examines the historical roots of the emergence of the involvement of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Indonesia (ABRI) in the socio-political field, especially several reasons that form the basis of government policy to involve ABRI in the socio-political and economic fields, as well as ABRI’s own efforts to play a role in these fields. This historical approach research concluded that ABRI’s involvement in the socio-political field in Indonesia had begun since the government of Guided Democracy under President Soekarno. Politically, the reason for Soekarno’s inclusion of the military in his government structure was due to the failure of civilian politicians in formulating state ideology with no agreement between parties in the constituent assembly. This failure is considered to endanger national political stability and threaten the integrity of the country. For this reason, President Soekarno recruited the military to balance civilian politicians in his government. Along with its involvement in the socio-political field, ABRI also plays a role in socio-economics. Although at first, this role was limited to securing national private companies which were legacies of foreign companies, but during the New Order government, the dual function of ABRI was confirmed and its role was wider. Almost all strategic economic sectors are controlled by ABRI.

On Colonial Self-Perceptions: The European Union, Turkey and the “bad” leader

This essay explores the impact of Europe’s colonial past on the nature of the European Union’s engagement with Turkey as a candidate country, under the leadership of Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. It begins by arguing the European Union’s role as a normative power replicates a colonial trope of external engagement that assumes the world beyond the metropole is violent, barbaric and uncivil. Yet this perception is also self-referential whereby the “badness” of the colonized is meant to underline the metropole’s moral and material superiority. A similar assumption about the world that exceeds its territorial limits informs the “logic” of the European Union’s accession process as candidate countries like Turkey are expected to pursue and eventually embody European (“good”) values. In this regard, responding to Erdoğan’s severe crackdown on political dissent and civil liberties following a failed coup attempt in 2016, the European Union’s censorious rhetoric towards his “bad” conduct is expected and warranted. Yet, drawing on public statements made by the European Union justifying the eventual suspension of negotiations and accession talks with Turkey, this essay argues Erdoğan, as a “bad” leader, also helps furbish the European Union’s self-perception as a moral and ethical entity. That is to say, the “bad” Turkish leader serves as a contrasting background against which the European Union is able to present itself as a force for good.

Pro-gender Norms in Norwegian Peace Engagement: Balancing Experiences, Values, and Interests

AbstractThe national self-image of Norway is as a gender-equal and peace-promoting nation. Norwegian gender equality policies grew out of a strong social and political civil society engagement from below combined with equal rights laws as well as quota systems implemented from above by the state. In this paper, we explore the intersection of pro-gender norms and peace engagement in Norwegian foreign policy. While gender mainstreaming has been on the agenda of Norwegian development cooperation for decades, the introduction of pro-gender norms in peace engagement is a more recent phenomenon. How are gender equality norms and concerns understood and promoted by Norwegian peace facilitators in practice. And how are pro-gender experiences, values, and norms balanced in Norwegian peace engagement?