Political Grievances Research Articles

Dimensions of Participation and Populism in Times of Discontent: A Theory- and Data-Driven Approach

We know that populism influences turnout and vote choice. Yet, we know surprisingly little about how populism drives broader participation patterns. In this study, we argue that populist citizens are more likely to participate in politics beyond the electoral arena because they hold specific political grievances. Extant literature highlights the multidimensionality of participation but remains ambiguous about how many or what dimensions it entails. We rely on an unprecedented 16-item participation battery from a comparative survey in nine European countries to design distinct theoretical and empirical lenses through which to examine the relationship between populist attitudes and political participation. The former relies on operationalisations from the literature that are confirmed by confirmatory factor analysis, while the latter relies on latent class analysis. Both frameworks return similar results, highlighting that populist citizens are effectively more likely to participate across the board, regardless of the form or classification of political participation.

Women’s engagement with the Syrian opposition: Pathways, perspectives, and participation

In its early months, the Syrian uprising included a diverse array of participants, including many from communities that the regime had previously assumed to be loyal, whether because of their sectarian identity, where they lived, or family ties to the military. The experiences of women from these communities can shed light on important aspects of the Syrian uprising, and test some of our key assumptions about women’s participation in contentious politics and the gendered aspects of political violence. Based on interviews, this article engages with the work on gender and conflict in examining family connections and political grievances that drew many women to the opposition, the specifically gendered risks that they faced, and the advantages that some women felt their gender and sectarian identities gave them as organizers and activists.

Losing support to democracy: Political socialization, popular conceptualizations, and the formation of political grievances among marginalized youth in Tunisia

ABSTRACT Given incumbent-led autocratization in Tunisia, the article investigates support to democracy among youth in historically marginalized regions and the likelihood they will prefer the authoritarian alternative. Putting forth a framework for micro-level assessment of the cognitive and interpretive dynamics generating loss of popular support to democratic transition, the research problematizes the relationship between political socialization, the conceptualization of democracy, and the formation of political grievances. Drawing on 12 focus group discussions held in six cities in early 2021, the article finds that political learning occurs through observation of unfolding processes via the media/social media in a highly polarized public sphere. As a result, youth understand democracy as the substantive outcome of extended rights, , and judge democracy based on what these extensions produce. The research finds three primary political grievances that are framed as anti-establishment and not as a preference for authoritarianism. Nonetheless, the research also finds that within their conceptualization of democracy are preferences for its limitation in both procedural and substantive dimensions. The article extends the research agenda on support to authoritarian backsliding by demonstrating how modes of political learning shape popular understandings, and assessing the implications of these understanding in terms of authoritarian legitimation.

Islamic Faith as an Ethnic Identity Marker: Overview of Sri Lanka Muslim Identity Formation, Politicization, and Violence

Since the late-19th century, for political expediency, the Sri Lankan Muslims have used Islam as a marker of identity difference which has suffered due to the tensions of religious and ethnic identity markers. Unlike Tamils and Sinhalese ethnic groups, Sri Lanka Muslim elites did not choose language as their primary identity marker but sought to differentiate themselves based on the practices and traditions of Islamic faith. These tensions have manifested in several ways, however, following the 2019 Easter Sunday attacks, there has been a great strain placed on Muslim representation as questions have been asked as to whether the religious identity has laid the foundations for the radicalization of the Muslims, especially in the wake of global Islamophobia and concerns about security. Therefore, it is important to answer questions related to Islamic identity manifestation in Sri Lanka: What is the role of an Islamic religious identity in radicalizing Sri Lankan Muslims? Why did Sri Lanka become a convenient place for IS’ activities? Did religious identity alone cause the radicalization of some Muslims? This article would attempt to answer these questions by (1) revisiting the Muslim community’s identity formation before the independence, (2) explaining Islamic identity in the post-independence Sri Lanka and the political representation to win votes and mobilize support during the ethnic civil war between Tamils and Sinhalese, and (3) analyzing factors that contributed to the radicalization of Muslims, and Islam. Drawing mostly on secondary sources, the article attempts to situate Sri Lanka Muslims’ identity formation in Sri Lanka’s ethnic conflict and reconciliation. Using answers from interviews conducted through Zoom, WeChat, and WhatsApp, the article assesses the behavior of Sri Lanka Muslims in the face of the 2019 terrorist attack by some Muslims. The article finds that religious identity alone is not sufficient to trigger violence, as evidence suggests that underlying socio-economic as well as political grievances produce polarization and radical actions. We argue that long-standing arguments tying radical actions solely to religion may require substantial revision and need to be situated within a wider frame of national reconciliation especially if it does not consider existing contexts.

Within and Beyond: Indie Magazines and the Asian Diasporic Subject

As a resident of New York City during my twenties and early thirties, I lived through a cascade of cultural eras that exemplified America’s complex and oftentimes contradictory character. Certain palpable shifts coincided with major political events: my time in the city was bookended by the election of Barack Obama as president in 2008 and Donald Trump’s last year in office in 2020. Other changes were more subtle or cumulative in nature, broader trends that took shape around me as I grew into my adult identity and found footing within various communities. Millennials and Generation Z began to stake positions in public discourse with their idiosyncratic worldviews and economic or political grievances, all while Internet 2.0 developed in step with the proliferation of smartphones and the rise of social media. Amidst this wholesale reshaping of human experience by technology, I started to become aware of the independent magazine as a site of representational discourse and collective identity formation, especially for the Asian American community.

Application of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (Georgia v. Russian Federation Dispute)

Four days later aftermath of the armed conflict that broke out between the Parties in the Georgian territories of South Ossetia and Abkhazia (on August 8, 2008), on August 12, 2008 the Republic of Georgia instituted proceedings before the International Court of Justice (hereinafter - the Court) against the Russian Federation relating to “its actions on and around the territory of Georgia in breach of CERD (the 1965 International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination)” [1].
 Georgia alleged that Russia “practised, sponsored and supported racial discrimination through attacks against, and mass-expulsion of, ethnic Georgians” in the two territories in violation of Russia’s obligations under the CERD. Georgia’s Application was accompanied by a Request for the indication of provisional measures in order “to preserve its rights under CERD to protect its citizens against violent discriminatory acts by Russian armed forces, acting in concert with separatist militia and foreign mercenaries”.
 On 15 August 2008, having considered the gravity of the situation, the President of the Court, acting under Article 74, paragraph 4, of the Rules of Court, urgently called upon the Parties “to act in such a way as will enable any order the Court may take on the request for provisional measures to have its appropriate effects”. Following public hearings that were held from 8 to 10 October 2008, the Court issued an Order on the Request for the indication of provisional measures submitted by Georgia. The Court also indicated that “each Party shall refrain from any action which might prejudice the rights of the other Party in respect of whatever judgment the Court may render in the case, or which might aggravate or extend the dispute before the Court or make it more difficult to resolve”. Finally, the Court ordered each Party to “inform it as to its compliance with the ... provisional measures” [2].
 Although the Court has concluded, by ten votes to six, that it has no jurisdiction under CERD to give a judgment on the merits, the dispute nevertheless retains historical significance as the first dispute involving Russian Federation that has come before the International Court of Justice. It was also the first time that the International Court of Justice was directly called upon to interpret the provisions of CERD.
 They were not prepared to address the key issue that the centrality of this dispute had very little to do with racial discrimination. It was an incidental question in the context of a dispute that was overwhelmingly about the use of force. The International Court does not have jurisdiction over the use of force questions, and that finding should have disposed of the dispute once and for all. It was clear in this case that the possibility of a judgment on the merits was unlikely and that the International Court was, at best, being used as a convenient platform for the public articulation of a political grievance, or to draw international attention to Georgia’s plight, without any intention of engaging the judicial function in the actual settlement of the dispute.
 The Georgia v Russian Federation case, as formulated before the Court, it is suggested, fell precisely in the category of disputes that the Court should have struck out summarily as an abuse of process. This argument is strengthened by the fact that Georgia had brought proceedings broadly on the same subject matter before the European Court of Human Rights, arguably a more suitable forum for the adjudication of human rights than the ICJ.

Digital Diaspora Activism at the Margins: Unfolding Rohingya Diaspora Interactions on Facebook (2017–2022)

This study maps the Rohingya diaspora’s digital engagement on Facebook and explores how their participation has transformed over the years. Using the CrowdTangle analytics platform, this mixed-methods study presents the Rohingya community’s collective engagement on Facebook across six years, from January 2017 to December 2022. It comprises 47 Rohingya diaspora FB pages that published 34,905 posts and received nearly 8 million user interactions. Revealing their yearly transformation in interactions on Facebook, this study uncovers their contextual embodiment—within the increasingly complex and ever-changing regional and global socio-political landscape. Three key insights emerged from our findings. First, memories of loss, suffering, and longing for home intertwine in Rohingya transnational digital connectivity. In this remembrance process, Arakan (Rakhine) remains the place of reference and the center of gravity in their multi-layered identity formation and political mobilization. Second, as a gateway to seek global attention and articulate their political grievances, Rohingyas compose a coherent, unified, and human rights-based discourse on Facebook. Through such framing, they create an oppositional consciousness, drawing positive attention to their plight and the injustice they have endured for decades. Third, Islam, Muslim solidarity, and the narrative of Muslim victimhood emerge as indisputable markers in their identity (re)construction and manifesting political resistance. Anchoring on Islam, they build bridges between the scattered diaspora members and transcend their local struggle to the global audience, cementing the nexus between their Muslim identity and discrimination by the Buddhist-majority Myanmar government.

Lifestyle for social change? Exploring framing and lifestyle politics in the Chinese zero waste movement

The politicisation of everyday life and the proliferation of lifestyle movements have far-reaching consequences on processes of social change. Based on 45 in-depth interviews and virtual ethnography of lifestyle communities, this article reveals how sustainable lifestyle is interpreted and promoted in relation to pro-environmental social change in the ‘zero waste’ movement in urban China. Building on the framing perspective in social movement studies, I use ‘participant frames’ as a heuristic device to uncover bottom-up processes of meaning-making in lifestyle movements. The results reveal that frames constructed by citizen-consumers transitioned from a political and systemic diagnosis to a cultural and communal prognosis, and ultimately centre on a ‘call to action’ that emphasises individual and private actions. The ‘dissonance’ in framing, which involves promoting depoliticised actions while being motivated by political grievances and desires for systemic change, illustrates how citizens navigate structures of opportunities and constraints in China. Through deliberate depoliticisation, lifestyle activism leans towards constructive engagement with institutional actors rather than contentious confrontation and relies on the diffusion of sustainable lifestyle among the general public as the primary tactic for change. By incorporating methodological innovation and presenting new empirical findings from a non-Western context, this article advances the ongoing discussions surrounding political consumption and lifestyle politics.

ԵՎՐՈՊԱԿԱՆ ԳՈՐԾԻՔԱԿԱԶՄԸ ԷԹՆՈՔԱՂԱՔԱԿԱՆ ԼԱՐՎԱԾՈՒԹՅՈՒՆՆԵՐԻ ՀԱՂԹԱՀԱՐՄԱՆ ՃԱՆԱՊԱՐՀԻՆ / EUROPEAN TOOLS FOR OVERCOMING ETHNO-POLITICAL TENSIONS

The European Union, apart from being a large and influential structure, is also a single, common integration roof for different cultures and ethnic groups. And this difference is often the basis of various ethno-political conflicts within the Union. These conflicts are the result of tensions, economic inequality and political grievances carried over from the historical past to the present day and have a significant impact on political stability, social cohesion as well as economic development. The purpose of this article is to explore the European toolkit to identify how European states and international organizations use existing mechanisms to prevent or mitigate ethno-political tensions, promote peace and stability. In order to achieve the goal, the task was set to study the main factors of the emergence of ethno-political tensions in the EU, including historical, economic, political and social influences. The methodological approach of the article is based on a combination of analytical, comparative, practical case studies, historical and documentary analysis methods. It has been argued that ethno-political tensions are often caused by economic inequality, historical disputes, national identity issues and migration processes, which require a multi-faceted and comprehensive approach to manage. The conclusion is that the effective management of ethno-political tensions in the EU requires a unified policy based on ethnic diversity and cultural integration, including mechanisms for the separation of power and the protection of minority rights, as well as the strengthening of global and regional cooperation to mitigate the impact of external factors.

The United States facing allies’ populist blackmail: Why the Philippines and Turkey threatened to realign with China and Russia

Abstract Given China and Russia’s increasingly aggressive behaviour, balance of threat theory posits that formal US allies should close ranks behind the United States. The literature on alliance politics reinforces this logic by showing that alliances deter aggression and reduce the occurrence of war. Recent developments, however, have somewhat undermined these claims, as the president of the Philippines, Rodrigo Duterte, and the president of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, publicly threatened to break ranks with Washington and to realign with China and Russia respectively. How can we make sense of such defiant behaviour? This article argues that populist blackmail elucidates this phenomenon and compares it to three alternative propositions: conventional bandwagoning, bandwagoning for profit, and hard hedging. Based on empirical evidence, the article reveals that the provocative statements of Duterte and Erdogan were not a genuine push for realignment with Beijing and Moscow, but rather political strategies designed to enhance their bargaining power with Washington in the hopes of securing certain concessions, while simultaneously galvanising domestic support to justify their raison d’être and to secure their hold on power. Furthermore, the article infers that two concomitant factors – political grievances and the perceived lack of security assurance – propelled both presidents to resort to blackmail.

From confident subject to humble citizen: reimagining citizenship education in contemporary China

ABSTRACT Projecting itself as the inheritor of China’s past greatness, the CCP regime increasingly seeks to boost politico-cultural confidence in education and society and turn students and ordinary people into self-confident Chinese. This article identifies the oscillation of focus from victimhood to confidence in state nationalism and patriotic education and interrogates the politics behind the official push for self-confidence. Through the lens of Foucauldian governmentality and subjectivation, it argues that self-confidence serves as a governing technique for the party-state to subjugate people by individuating and subjectivising a verifiable feeling of certainty about the future, which depends on the CCP, pathologises political grievances, and precludes alternative political imaginaries. To be constructive as well as critical, this article draws upon contemporary political theory to suggest that education for humble citizenship, which centres on contingency, interdependence, and critique of the past and present, is key to citizenship education that strives for desubjugation and autonomy.

A THEORY OF RELIGIOUS GRIEVANCE: UNDERSTANDING THE CONFLICT IN AFGHANISTAN

Grievances have been an important source of conflict throughout human history. In this paper, we attempt to explain the conflict in Afghanistan beyond the economic reasons – a premise that dominated the development discourse in the post-2001 period, yet had limited impact in terms of reducing violence and countering insurgency. We present a theory of ‘religious grievance’ in understanding the conflict in Afghanistan which shows how individuals resort to insurgency in response to their perceptions of discrimination, political exclusion, and perceptions of threat to religious sovereignty. The theory explains how and when religious grievance turns into political grievance to engender conflict in societies where a political interpretation of religion is dominant. The paper concludes with a discussion of how radicalism can be contained by investing in and promoting alternative moderate discourses to delegitimize radical narratives that have been used as a conflict mobilization strategy.

NİJERYA'DA BOKO HARAM VE TERÖRİZM: KÖKEN, ETKİ VE HÜKÜMET TEPKİSİ ÜZERİNE YANSIMALAR

For over a decade, Boko Haram has emerged as one of the biggest security threats facing not only Nigeria, but the larger Sahel and Lake Chad Basin. Government efforts to counter the group are yet to prove successful in eliminating this threat. This article examines the emergence of Boko Haram from a historical perspective that draws attention to old patterns of political resistance dissimilar to other parts of the country from the colonial era. The study highlights the deep social, economic and political impacts of the organization and reflects on the nature of government response. This article argues that while the emergence of the group has strong attachment to economic and political grievances such as poverty, underdevelopment and political marginalization, it is the framing of these grievances into a radical ideology sustained by entrenched ethnoreligious prisms that sustains Boko Haram terror activities in Nigeria. While the article appreciates the counterterrorism, measures adopted the by government, it also provides a critic of those measures and attempts to offer recommendations on how they can be strengthened to be more effective.

EMERGING SECESSIONIST THREATS IN NIGERIA: A FOCUS ON THE ACTIVITIES OF IPOB AND UNKNOWN GUNMEN IN EASTERN NIGERIA

This study examines the reemergence of separatist movements in Nigeria, particularly in the Eastern region, and their impact on the security situation in the country. It reveals that the separatist groups, such as IPOB and Unknown Gunmen, have been able to mobilize support from the Igbo people by highlighting their historical, economic, and political grievances against the Nigerian state. The failure of the Nigerian state to address the legitimate grievances of ethnic minorities has contributed to the emergence of separatist movements. The analysis of reports and data sources shows that the activities of IPOB and Unknown Gunmen have had a significant impact on the security situation in the Eastern region of Nigeria. The findings of this study have important implications for the security and stability of Nigeria. The study concludes that secessionism in Nigeria has a complex and multi-layered history that is rooted in the country's colonial past and perpetuated by the failure of the Nigerian state to address the legitimate grievances of ethnic minorities. The recommendations include addressing the root causes of secessionism, promoting inclusive governance, and engaging in meaningful dialogue with separatist groups. These steps can help to find a peaceful solution to the issue of secessionism and ensure the security and stability of Nigeria.

State Legitimacy, Governance, and TTP's Enduring Terrorism

There is a divided opinion in the existing scholarship about the role of poor governance including socio-economic marginalization and political grievances and their causal link with the occurrence of terrorism. Some scholars argue that socioeconomic deprivation such as poverty and political exclusion are not related to terrorism, while others argue that they provide an enabling environment where terrorist organizations or terrorism thrives. This article argues that peoples' perceptions of socioeconomic grievances and political exclusion or marginalization play a significant role in allowing a terrorist organization to thrive and excel. The TTP has accelerated its terrorist campaign by taking advantage of the weak governance structure in the ex-FATA region and the government's inability to alleviate the suffering of the people due to poor socioeconomic conditions. The TTP highlighted the grievances of the people to enlist their support in fomenting terrorism in Pakistan.

The emotional fabric of populism during a public health crisis: How anger shapes the relationship between pandemic threat and populist attitudes

AbstractWhile conventional wisdom connects crises and external threats to increasing support for populism, several questions remain unanswered. Following insights of affective intelligence theory (AIT), we posit that anger and fear elicited by pandemic threat relate differently to populist attitudes. While such relations have already been explored in the context of other hazards (such as financial turmoil, terrorism, or immigration), our study allows us to evaluate the emotional bedrocks of populism in the context of a threat that is not apparently connected to the classical political grievances underlying populism. Expanding the literature on psychological underpinnings of populism and on the political consequences of the pandemic, our analyses of original survey data support our contentions that pandemic threat-induced anger is positively related to populist attitudes while fear is negatively linked to populist stances. This holds in particular for anti-elitism and the Manichean outlook inherent in populism. Altogether, we provide new comparative evidence to the puzzle about the emotional bedrocks of populism by illuminating a domain that has not been systematically explored before.

Ideological crystallization: rethinking the alternative-mainstream binary in times of populist politics

This paper assesses if and how alternative news media manifest their counter-hegemonic potential within the current conjuncture of populist politics in Western liberal democracies. Based on the method of critical discourse analysis, it compares the ways in which the yellow vests movement is discursively (re)constructed by two Flemish legacy newspapers and five alternative news media. Analytically, it engages with an agonistic pluralist perspective. Findings show how both newspapers and alternative media reproduce the same discursive constructions that legitimize the yellow vests’ socio-economic and political grievances. What distinguishes alternative from traditional media is not so much their counter-hegemonic potential but their ideological crystallization, as they reproduce only one discursive construction each. With legacy media now also operating as sites of contestation, this paper makes the importance of the role of political context all the clearer in the assessment of the counter-hegemonic potential of alternative news media.

Post-Materialism and Political Grievances: Implications for Protest Participation in Hong Kong

In recent decades, Hong Kong witnessed a number of protest movements that drew high levels of participation, most of which revolved around political issues. Why did ordinary citizens protest? What were the underlying factors that motivated Hongkongers to protest? We argue that post-materialism and grievances toward the government increase the selective expressive benefits for individuals to participate in protests. We illustrate that the two factors contribute to the protest movements in Hong Kong in general. Using the World Values Survey data, we found that post-materialism interacted with grievances toward the political system to increase Hongkongers’ propensity to protest. Our findings have important implications for the 2019 Anti-Extradition Law Movement in Hong Kong.

Trust and Distrust: Corruption in Office in Britain and its Empire, 1600‐1850. By MarkKnights. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 2021. 512 pp. £35. ISBN: 978‐0‐19879‐624‐4.

Trust and Distrust: Corruption in Office in Britain and its Empire, 1600‐1850. By MarkKnights. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 2021. 512 pp. £35. ISBN: 978‐0‐19879‐624‐4.

Who Buys the “Big Lie”?: White Political Grievance and Confidence in Electoral Outcomes

Who Buys the “Big Lie”?: White Political Grievance and Confidence in Electoral Outcomes