Political History Research Articles

Examining Factors Contributing to the Entrenchment and Collapse of Authoritarianism Through the Lens of the Arab Spring

Abstract: This paper hopes to examine the reasons contributing to the failure of the Arab Spring to culminate in a lasting change in political reform and democratisation. The article utilises frameworks by previous authors to explain the phenomenon of the short-lived democracies in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) as well as provide additional insights of the author in obtaining a comprehensive understanding of the reason why autocratic states are so entrenched within MENA. At the end of this, the aim is to provide political substantiations regarding the failure of the Arab Spring, as opposed to the current focus surrounding violence and civil war as the driver to stunted democratic growth and autocratic resurgence. The article concludes that MENA countries are uniquely situated by their social, political and economic institutions and history that make democratic growth difficult unless as a means to achieve another priority, such as economic prosperity. This can be extrapolated towards analysing the behaviours of a variety of other states, democratic or autocratic, in their interactions with their population and foreign states.

“Workers in Saskatchewan Now Have a Clear-Cut Bill of Rights”

This paper examines the politics surrounding the construction, implementation, and administration of the Saskatchewan Trade Union Act (stua) between 1944 and 1950. The act is important because it reflects the first attempt by a social democratic government in North America to construct a system of labour law that ostensibly aligned socialist ideas with the rights of workers to form trade union freedoms. This makes the stua unique in Canadian labour and political history because the legislation demonstrated the policy priorities of the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (ccf) and the Canadian Congress of Labour as both organizations were attempting to solidify their places in postwar Canada. This history reflects the fact that the ccf and the unions, like the left in general throughout the 1940s and 1950s, defined the working class narrowly, focusing attention on white and male breadwinners with women and racialized workers very much on the periphery. The history also demonstrates the inherent contradiction within social democratic reform politics, as the act extended numerous rights to workers to organize and collectively bargain but when those same workers pushed back against government decision-making during the province’s first public-sector strike in 1948, political tensions found many of those same social democrats acting in similar manners to their private-sector counterparts. These tensions within social democratic approaches to labour relations – so evident in the Saskatchewan experience – have become a central contradiction of the movement throughout the postwar period and continue today.

Fuel, Fear, and Fault: Mass Media and Cartel Criticism During the German Coal Crisis of 1900

This article examines the role of the mass media in driving anticartel debates during a coal crisis in Germany in 1900. Threatening the fuel supplies of millions of people, the nationwide energy shortage marked the beginning of the anticartel movement, adding a decisive thrust to antimonopoly sentiment toward the cartelized Ruhr coal industry. While hitherto overlooked, this symbolic chapter of German antimonopoly history was profoundly shaped by daily newspapers, a medium that revolutionized public communication during this period. By cross-referencing newspaper articles with records of the coal industry, this paper investigates how newspapers raised public concern for the fuel shortage and thereby forged narratives blaming the coal industrialists as well as how the coal producers responded to the ever-intensifying public scrutiny. As such, this study would serve to identify the mass media as a key determinant in the broader history of cartels and cartel politics in the twentieth century.

INCLUSION OF PERSONAL DATA PROTECTION IN THE BRAZILIAN CONSTITUTION: REFLECTIONS ON FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS AND GUARANTEES

The Constitution of the Federative Republic of Brazil of 1988, known as the Constitution of the Federative Republic of Brazil, represents a milestone in Brazilian legal and political history, establishing a wide range of fundamental rights and guarantees. This article aims, first, to analyze such rights and guarantees, discussing their importance and implications for the protection of human dignity and the consolidation of Brazilian democracy. Then, the intersection between fundamental rights and guarantees and the protection of personal data, the General Data Protection Law and Constitutional Amendment No. 115 was made. The methodological approach used was based on a review of the legal literature and constitutional provisions. Finally, it is concluded that Constitutional Amendment No. 115/2022 is a crucial step in strengthening the right to the protection of personal data in Brazil, aligning itself with international trends and reaffirming the country's commitment to defending the privacy and dignity of its citizens. With this change, the Federal Constitution begins to reflect more clearly and directly the importance of protecting personal data, establishing a solid constitutional basis for the development and application of public policies and regulations related to the topic.

Writing about the Middle East in a Postmodern Era. A Critique

In this paper the complexities of ongoing conflicts in the MENA region are scrutinized through a critical lens. Acknowledging the influence of multiple actors and factors in shaping political history, the paper challenges the prevailing use of postmodern and post-colonial paradigms in framing and assigning responsibility for these conflicts. While recognizing their contributions, the paper argues against their limitations in providing a nuanced understanding of the underlying dynamics and roots of MENA conflicts. The paper argues that postmodern and post-colonial lenses oversimplify conflicts by presenting them in binary terms and focusing solely on the role of Western colonialism. Instead, it advocates for a broader perspective that considers the complexities of the region's history, including the legacies of the Ottoman Empire and local social structures and actors. It suggests a contextual realist approach analysing conflicts at both internal and external levels, examining state formation processes and regional dynamics. While acknowledging the challenges, it asserts that with the right analytical and methodological tools, a deeper understanding of the region's conflicts and the underlying dynamics of its political landscape is possible.

(Re)configurations of public education: marketisation, teacher professionalism, and individual rights of students and educators in Norway and Sweden

ABSTRACT This article studies the (re)configurations of ‘public education’ in Norway and Sweden by empirically unpacking connections between marketisation, teacher professionalism and schools’ mandate to secure the individual rights of students and teachers. These countries share considerable common cultural and political history; however, they display varying trajectories and configurations in both educational policy and practice. This makes these cases particularly useful for comparing how ‘publicness’ and ‘public education’ are (re)configured in the two Nordic welfare states. This comparative exploration is framed by four dimensions of public schooling regarding national policy set-ups expressed through control, access, funding, and teaching. The data includes official policy documents, such as legislation and government reports. We unpack and discuss commonalities and differences by relating them to multiple issues of (re)configured ‘publicness’ and its implications. Moreover, we argue that the differences in the degrees to which inflows have shaped the Norwegian and Swedish education systems (despite their similarities) offer valuable opportunities for exploring (re)configurations of the notion of publicness.

Historian Ilya Evgenyevich Zelenin as shown through his scientific library

The article analyses the scientific biography of Ilya Evgenyevich Zelenin – an outstanding agrarian historian, Doctor of Historical Sciences, Professor, leading researcher of the Institute of Russian History of the Russian Academy of Sciences. The main source used are copies of books presented to Zelenin, devoted to the agrarian and political history of Russia in the twentieth century. On their basis, a conclusion is made about the key elements of the historian's research credo, namely: painstakingness in working out the historiography of the issue, a wide archival search, accuracy of scientific terminology and understanding of the formality of ideological stamps. There are two stages in the author's scientific work, connected with the study of the history of state farm construction in the USSR and the history of agrarian policy of I. V. Stalin and N. S. Khrushchev, in each of which the historian achieved serious successes.

Imagen y poder: debates historiográficos en la reconstrucción del rostro de Bolívar (1825-2012).

Through the exhumation of Simón Bolívar's remains in 2010, two historically established facts were sought to be reformulated: the cause of his death and his corresponding physiognomy. The replacement of the portrait made by Gil de Castro in 1825 with a 3D image was part of a strategy in which scientific procedures and historical discourses were used to strengthen a nationalist mythology. From political history and visual studies, this article addresses the two faces of the Liberator, as well as the debates between historians and politicians, in order to reflect on the role of images in the reconfiguration of the events of the past in light of the political ideologies of our time.

Myths about Stalin in Georgian Politics and Georgian History School Textbooks

Abstract The theoretical framework of the paper is established through the concept of political myths. The research delves into the diverse viewpoints presented in the scientific literature concerning this matter, and depending on the chosen topic, great attention is paid to the phenomenon of historical myths. The paper employs the method of content analysis to examine history textbooks. The research discusses two textbooks from the Soviet period and 14 textbooks covering Georgian and world history that were published after the Soviet era. Considering that history is currently taught in schools using textbooks published in 2012 and onward, the paper includes a table that specifically shows the facts related to Stalin in these textbooks.

Divergence in smoking and drinking trends: Results from age-period-cohort analytical approach

BackgroundSmoking has dropped substantially over time while alcohol consumption has increased. Understanding how smoking and drinking relate to age, time-period or birth cohorts may improve public health measures. MethodThe cross-sectional Continuous Household Survey in Northern Ireland provided bi-annual, household-level data on smoking and drinking from 1985 to 2015. An age-period-cohort approach was employed using 10-year age groups and 9 birth cohorts. A descriptive analysis of smoking and drinking by birth cohort was performed and supplemented by a joinpoint analysis. An Intrinsic Estimator model was used to examine behaviour patterns defined separately by age, time-period, and cohort. ResultsAge effects showed that smoking and drinking peaked during adolescence and young adulthood (relative risk (RR) of age 25–34 vs. all ages: RR smoking = 1.59, RR drinking = 1.61, p < 0.001), followed by a progressive subsequent decline with age. Distinct secular trends were observed whereby smoking decreased over time but non-abstinence rates in relation to alcohol consumption increased substantially from 1985 to 2015. Cohort effects in smoking and drinking suggested that Generation X (born around 1961–1980) appeared to have a slightly higher likelihood of smoking and drinking but this converged with other cohorts over time. ConclusionThe absence of similar policy efforts for alcohol as given to smoking may explain the divergence in secular trends of smoking and drinking. Targeting interventions towards adolescents and young adults may offer the best chance of reducing smoking and drinking prevalence. Cohort effects suggest the need for further research about the relationship between drinking and Northern Ireland's political history.

The British Miner in the Age of De-industrialization: A Political and Cultural History

The British Miner in the Age of De-industrialization: A Political and Cultural History

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)

The treachery of writing about democracy (this is not an epilogue)

ABSTRACT The title of this article parodies the name of one of René Magritte’s most famous paintings called The Treachery of Images, which, underneath its hyperrealist rendition of a pipe denies it being a pipe (Ceci n’est pas une pipe). Pushing the boundaries of standard epilogue-writing conventions, the present philosophical section discusses our compilation of articles through the lens of apophasis, which recognizes the limits of language to accurately describe undefinable concepts such as ‘democracy’ and ‘the people’. As a rhetorical device that speaks something into being while negating this very possibility, apophasis is a key characteristic of negative theology. Because it accepts the impossibility of defining the divine, it leaves room for the denial of its existence. Yet, at the same time, the apophatic paradox affirms the divine’s existence precisely by acknowledging its transcendental unspeakable nature. Inspired by Jacques Derrida and Michel Foucault, who were themselves inspired by negative theology, scholars from various fields in the arts, social sciences, psychology, and the humanities have already developed useful apophatic-analytical tools in their methodological debates. My suggestion to employ a similar yet adapted lens for studying parliamentary history has been triggered by the thread that ties all contributions to this research anthology together. As they centre on parliamentary meta-discourse about tried and tested procedures, they feature negation, negotiation, and other apophatic rhetoric in the MPs’ struggles to define and perform their jobs as representatives. A more deliberate introduction of the apophatic lens – with an emphasis on apophatic rhetoric of materiality of parliaments in their interactions with the ineffable people – would take the concept quite paradoxically out of this discourse-analytical framework, to draw attention to political and colonial histories of experiences of the unspeakable.

The Social and Sociological Province of Climate Change: Introduction

AbstractDespite its importance and prominence in public debates, including in many social science-related disciplines such as political science, anthropology, geography, and history, climate change has been unevenly addressed within critical sociology. In the tradition of critical theories, a critical sociology approach could contribute to climate science by discussing, for instance, what it means for societies and individuals to live together in times of ecological crisis and how this interplays with other crises and challenges of our time. As we face various transformations caused by climate change, sociology can inquire about social relations in the Anthropocene, including the critique of this concept and its alternatives, such as Capitalocene. This introductory article explores the intersection of sociology and the climate crisis, examining the sociological significance of the latter. It also discusses the importance for sociology, at both theoretical and empirical levels, to climate-related debates. It highlights the need for pluralistic approaches that can contribute to framing and addressing climate change, encompassing diagnosis, alternatives, science, and politics. The papers in this special issue seek to engage with and contribute to the abovementioned debate by covering theoretical and empirical perspectives on climate crisis, drawing attention to themes such as the relationship between critical theory and climate change, theories of modernity, the notion of (post)sustainability, just transitions, the role of media systems in fostering sustainable transformations, and the contribution of social movements to socioecological transformation, with a particular focus on the 'Global South'.

Politics and city growth in Italy: Do connections matter?

AbstractIn this paper, I assess the existence of a political connection premium for Italian municipalities during the so-called “Second Republic” (1991–2011). The early 1990s witnessed a seminal event in Italian political history with the “Mani Pulite” (“Clean Hands”) investigation following the fall of the Berlin Wall. Subsequently, major political parties dissolved, culminating in a bipolar political landscape characterized by cyclical alternation between center-right and center-left factions (extending until at least 2011). Exploiting population data on small and medium-sized Italian municipalities between 1991 and 2011, I found that “politically connected” municipalities showed a population premium of about 2.5% compared to “non-politically connected” ones. The results are robust to NUTS-3 fixed effects, to a comprehensive set of controls, and to a full set of robustness checks. The relationship is confirmed using aggregate municipal income data as an additional proxy of local economic growth. Over and above this, social capital and the quality of local institutions seem to play a pivotal role in enabling the political connection. Election-related checks suggest the connection as two-way: using municipal data from the 2013 and 2018 general elections, I found that the treated municipalities depicted a higher turnout and fewer populist votes.

Resource nationalism: the intersection of politics and economics

Resource nationalism has a complex economic, political, and cultural history and reality. The evolution of the supply and demand structure of the global mineral metal market influences it. It is closely linked to the “economic-political” system within resource-rich countries. We analyze the ‘economic-political’ logic of resource nationalist behavior using the two-tier game theory. We examine 261 cases of resource nationalism since 1990 and test the theoretical hypotheses using quantitative techniques. The results show that rising mineral prices are the main trigger for contemporary resource nationalism. However, ideology, institutional quality, social climate, and economic dependence within resource countries play a non-negligible role. Resource wealth dependence in host countries makes it difficult for policymakers to escape national resource interventions. We argue that (1) The global economic trading system imbalance is the root of resource nationalism. (2) Resource nationalism is an endeavor by resource-rich countries to seek entitlements from mineral resource endowments. (3) Resource nationalism is not a zero-sum competition in the national economic trading system. In the face of the potential risks posed by resource nationalism to the global supply of minerals, the relevant interest groups should have sufficient strategic reserves to cope with the possible game of interests.

Literary form and historicised relationality: theorising the city as text in Teju Cole’s novels

ABSTRACT This essay explores the representation and theorisation of the city in Teju Cole’s novels – Every Day Is for the Thief (2007), Open City (2011), and Tremor (2023). It argues that Cole’s writing articulates a new grammar of city-ness premised on historicised relationality and comparative thinking, thus challenging paradigms of urban representation that universalise the Western city. In particular, I propose that Cole’s novels offer a rewriting of Lagos and New York as specifically textual constructions, in which histories of modernity and colonisation get crystallised into their social geographies and cultural infrastructures. By close reading these texts and by drawing from the insights of postcolonial and literary urban studies, I analyse the formal devices – from variations in perspective to restricted focalisation – that Cole employs to textualise the city and its political histories. Through form, Cole’s novels raise crucial questions, both ethical and narrative, about representability, language, and historical violence in urban settings.

Forms of perpetuating the historical memory of the Heroes of the Soviet Union in urban toponymy (using the example of commissar Moskovsky Street in Tambov)

Importance. The activities of the Tambov city authorities, public organizations and institutions, their motives in the work on the preservation of military historical memory in the urban enviro nment during the second half of the 20th – beginning of the 21th century on the example of perpetuating the memory of the first Hero of the Soviet Union from Tambov region – A.N. Moskovsky, are considered. The importance of the research lies in the fact that the use of trends in modern historical science, namely, an interdisciplinary approach to research, political history and historical urbanism, allows us to obtain qualitatively new knowledge about the activities of the Russian cities authorities (based on Tambov materials) to preserve military historical memory in urban toponymy and objects of monumental art during the second half of the 20th century – the beginning of the 21th century.Materials and Methods. The methodological basis of the research is based on the principles of consistency, historicism, and objectivity. Comparative historical, problem and chronological methods are used. The research is based on such general scientific methods as analysis, synthesis, generalization, and systematization. The main sources of the research are archival materials stored in the State Archive of Tambov Region, the State Archive of Socio-political History of Tambov Region, published and posted on the Internet, as well as materials in the funds of the Museum and Exhibition Center of Tambov Region.Results and Discussion. The features of the ideological work of local authorities on the development of military historical memory are analyzed. The patterns and continuity of approaches in the military historical work of the city authorities at different chronological stages are revealed. The mechanisms of preserving the memory of a particular hero, senior political instructor, commissar A.N. Moskovsky, are investigated. The forms of historical and patriotic information about the objects of urban toponymy and monumental art created during the development of the urban environment, concerning the perpetuation of the memory of A.N. Moskovsky, are highlighted.Conclusion. As a result of studying the problem, conclusions are drawn about the multi-faceted approach in the work of city authorities, institutions and public organizations for the preservation of military historical memory in the region.

The English Studies Interview with Alan Hollinghurst: In Conversation with Dominic Dean

ABSTRACT Alan Hollinghurst is the author of seven novels including The Swimming-Pool Library (1988), The Stranger’s Child (2011), The Sparsholt Affair (2017), and The Line of Beauty (2004), with the latter winning the 2004 Man Booker Prize. He is widely celebrated for his distinctive style, his tragicomical explorations of English life in the twentieth and early twenty-first centuries, and his introduction of richly imagined and humanely observed gay themes to mainstream literary fiction. His latest novel is Our Evenings (2024). Alan Hollinghurst spoke with Dominic Dean about Our Evenings, its themes, inspirations and treatment of social and political history; the role of buildings and material objects in his fiction; his style and formal innovations and influences; and his relationships with TV adaptations and with the literary academy.

Metamorphosis of Turkey’s political landscape: unveiling the evolving party system in the aftermath of the presidential system shift and the 2023 elections

ABSTRACT The May 2023 elections in Turkey—comprising both parliamentary and presidential races—represented a pivotal moment in the country’s political history. These elections provided a crucial evaluation of the hyper-presidential system instituted after the 2017 constitutional transition. This article delves into the impact of the 2023 electoral outcomes on Turkey’s party system within the context of Turkey’s transition to a presidential system. It examines the ramifications of institutional changes, such as the introduction of winner-takes-all dynamics and alliance laws, on party system dynamics. Our findings indicate substantial transformations in key aspects of the party system, including increased polarization, heightened fragmentation, enhanced volatility, and intensified personalization. Through empirical analysis, showcasing the evolving dynamics of these challenges within the Turkish party system and their consequences for both the party system’s structure and the broader political regime, we offer insights into potential future trajectories for Turkey’s political landscape.