Post-authoritarian Period Research Articles

Rethinking Post-Authoritarian Chile through Its Popular Music

AbstractThis article is a study of Chilean popular music produced during the 1990s, the first decade following the end of the Pinochet dictatorship. The return of democracy and a period of strong economic growth contributed to a boom in the Chilean music industry. A wealth of music was recorded and the opportunities for listening to live music multiplied. The article's main objectives are to illuminate the ways in which Chilean popular music addressed democracy's inspiring promises and frustrating limits and to consider how Chileans used popular music to foster new post-authoritarian identities. First, it argues that music was used to reclaim national symbols that had been coopted by the dictatorship. Second, it considers the music of two generations of musicians who returned to the country after living in exile. Finally, it focuses on punk and hip-hop, the styles that produced the most significant examples of protest music in the post-authoritarian period.

Queer Korea

Queer Korea

Governing through Informal Mechanisms

In their post-authoritarian period, civilian governments in transitional democracies have often been battered by unelected power centers. Where do these unelected forces derive their power? This article addresses this question through a case study of Pakistan. Since the 2018 elections, a decade after leaving formal political office, the Pakistani military has asserted greater control over civilian government. Using the concept of informal institutions of political participation as an analytical framework, we argue that when formal forms of control become untenable due to legitimacy and/or functional constraints, the military turns into a Janus-faced institution, visibly acting as a formal state organ while invisibly protecting its institutional interests through what we call “informal mechanisms.” The article explains how Pakistan’s pre-2018 political situation dictated a quasi-military regime more suited to the military’s interests than direct military rule.

DEFENDING “LIBERAL DEMOCRACY”? WHY OLDER SOUTH KOREANS TOOK TO THE STREETS AGAINST THE 2016-17 CANDLELIGHT PROTESTS*

Through the case of anti-impeachment rallies held in South Korea in 2016-2017, this article examines why the large-scale, rightwing mobilization emerged in the midst of democratic and peaceful demonstrations. Analyzing the widespread emotions and narratives shared by protesters, I argue that rightwing elites and intellectuals mobilized civil society by evoking specific historical experiences that arouse intense fear and outrage among older citizens. Capitalizing on positive and successful historical experiences of anticommunist nation building and national modernization, the South Korean right has tried to rebuild its political legitimacy and symbolic power during the postauthoritarian period (1987-present). Drawing from ethnographic observations and in-depth interviews undertaken in Seoul, I emphasize the prominence of Cold War geopolitics and authoritarian legacies in shaping the discourse and mobilization strategies of the South Korean right. This article enhances a critical understanding of the internal workings of rightwing mobilization in existing Western-centric scholarship on the far right.

Движение за демократию в Республике Корея (1970-е–1990-е гг.)

Author analyzes the pro-democracy movement in the Republic of Korea at authoritarian and post-authoritarian period. The paper analyzes the prerequisites for the formation of the movement, its participants, their main ideological attitudes and group interests, as well as the process of institutionalization of the socio-political movement in the Republic of Korea in the post-authoritarian period.

The 2019 midterm elections in the Philippines: Party system pathologies and Duterte’s populist mobilization

The May 13, 2019 midterm elections were generally seen as a referendum on the first three years of the presidency of Rodrigo R Duterte. The elections tested and consolidated the political strength of Duterte as the country’s populist strongman president. Most of the national and local candidates he endorsed won their contests for the 18,066 national and local positions. The election also resulted in a victory for the administration’s nine senatorial candidates (out of 12 seats) and a majority of its governors, mayors, and local legislators. The results follow the historical patterns of midterm elections in the post-authoritarian period. But unlike previous Philippine presidents, Duterte did not personally endeavor to consolidate his political support under his dominant party solely through the systematic mobilization of patronage. Duterte eschewed patronage-based political party building in favor of populist mobilization or the rallying of mass supporters toward contentious political action with minimum institutional intermediation. With a record high trust rating, Duterte was not only an active endorser of candidates, but he was also both a staunch defender of his allies and a relentless attacker of the opposition. In the end, the biggest winners in the 2019 midterm elections were not the candidates but Duterte himself.

Political party–interest group linkages in Greece before and after the onset of the economic crisis

Greece’s traditional system of state corporatism and polarized party system were the bases of very tight linkages between interest groups and political parties in the post-authoritarian period. Owing to governing policy shifts which negatively affected the strongest interest groups, a weakening of such tight linkages occurred, culminating during the economic crisis, when interest groups challenged austerity policies. This confrontation helped bring the collapse of the old party system and the rise of Syriza to power. The disentanglement of interest groups from parties was more visible with regard to their policy-related ties than organizational or leadership ties. Thus, despite their weakening, ties between interest groups and parties have not been completely severed.

Settler colonial incorporation and inheritance: historical sciences, indigeneity, and settler narratives in post-WWII Taiwan

ABSTRACTIn this article, I argue that the incorporation and inheritance of indigeneity is central to the making of settler colonialism. While scholars in settler colonial studies predominantly focus on the erasure and silencing of indigenous experience and history, I analyze how indigeneity can be selectively incorporated and inherited into settler-centric narratives of the nation. I examine such settler colonial incorporation and inheritance in postwar Taiwanese historical sciences, in particular, anthropology and archaeology. I investigate how anthropological and archaeological discourse has interpreted the presence of indigenous peoples in relation to nationalist projects across two different periods: the Kuomintang authoritarian period (1949–1987) and the postauthoritarian period (1987–present). In both periods, I argue, anthropologists and archaeologists have been complicit with nationalist narratives in justifying and claiming settler belonging on invaded land. For this purpose, they have incorporated and inherited indigeneity, rather than simply erase it.

Metapolitefsi: From the Transition to Democracy to the Economic Crisis, Athens, 14–16 December 2012

<p>The conference on “Metapolitefsi: From the Transition to Democracy to the Economic Crisis”, organised by Historein in collaboration with the Free University of Berlin and held in Athens on 14–16 December 2012, sought to offer a first systematic account of the historical period from the fall of the Greek military dictatorship (1974) to the recent economic crisis. This postauthoritarian period in Greek politics and society is frequently referred to as the metapolitefsi.</p>

The internet subculture of Indonesian face-veiled women

The article analyses internet usage by Indonesian face-veiled women ( cadari). Such women desire to return to a true Islam, and are often understood by mainstream Muslims as oppressed. Taking advantage of the freedom of speech that has emerged in Indonesia’s post-authoritarian period, they use media strategically for their own purposes in ways quite different from those motivating the internet habits of mainstream Muslims in Indonesia. The article analyses how the women create and maintain subcultures through the internet. Specifically, it focuses on the mailing list of one group of Salafi women, and a virtual business enterprise run by a cadari. While the existing literature tends to emphasize those aspects of the internet that can contribute to the creation of civil society, the internet has enabled cadari to fashion differing trajectories compatible with their subcultures.

El debate entre la educación republicana y la neoliberal en Chile

Este artículo forma parte de un proyecto de investigación sobre la concepción neoliberal de la educación comparándola con la republicana y la de Dewey. El movimiento estudiantil chileno combina masivas manifestaciones contra el actual sistema educativo con una propuesta de un nuevo proyecto, concitando el apoyo mayoritario de la ciudadanía. Los conservadores defienden el sistema actual, basado en la concepción neoliberal de Hayek y Friedman, instaurada durante la dictadura de Pinochet y perfeccionada en el período postautoritario. Los dirigentes estudiantiles y los sectores críticos luchan por una educación pública gratuita y de calidad, y por el fin del lucro en la educación privada. Esta postura articula el republicanismo de la historia nacional con el de las tradiciones europeas libertarias.

From eco-catastrophe to zero deforestation? Interdisciplinarities, politics, environmentalisms and reduced clearing in Amazonia

SUMMARYBrazil's rate of deforestation has declined by more than 70% since 2004, a dynamic unimaginable even a decade ago. Even the worst drought in more than 100 years (2010) produced a flat clearing profile from 2009–2010, an unexpected result, since dry periods usually have clearing spikes. While deforestation continues throughout the tropics (and Amazonia), and the recent change in Brazil's Forest Code has produced a modest increase in deforestation, there are significant processes that are slowing clearing and fostering woodland recovery. This paper outlines the multiplicities and interdisciplinarities of political ecologies, policies, politics scientific approaches and technologies that have moderated forest conversion and shaped Amazonia's unusual, and unusually effective development and conservation conjunctures in Brazil's post-authoritarian period. New institutional framings, ideologies, political decentralization, globalizations and an expanded arena for new social movements and civil society provided the context for this transformation. Changing environmental institutions, discourses and the relatively redistributive social pact that underpinned President Ignacio (Lula) da Silva's administration had a significant role in promoting more resilient land uses, monitoring, compliance and new markets, while regional social movements and national and international commodity boycotts affected more damaging ones. Finally, other forms of payment for environmental services, such as REDD (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation) and REDD+ are changing the value of standing forests. This paper describes how complex interdisciplinarities shaped the politics, policies and practices that slowed forest clearing. However, Amazonia's politics are extremely dynamic: destabilizing processes, violence and indifferent national leadership could still reverse this remarkable turnaround.

Indonesia's Postcolonial Regional Imaginary: From a ‘Neutralist’ to an ‘All-Directions’ Foreign Policy

AbstractThis paper will examine the various ways in which the regional imaginary has been conceptualized and developed in maritime Southeast Asia, primarily focussing on Indonesia. Utilizing the recent debate on the notion of a ‘Postcolonial International Relations,’ this paper examines the role of imperialism and the colonial experience on the development of Indonesian ‘ideas’ of region and regionalism. This paper is structured into four sections. First of all, it explores the link between postcolonial theory and regionalism studies. Second, it takes into account early ideas of regionalism in the post-independence era. This includes President Sukarno's ‘neutralist’ foreign policy culminating in Indonesia's hosting of the Bandung Conference as well as President Suharto's endorsement of ASEAN. The third and final section examines Indonesia's foreign policy orientation and practices in the post-authoritarian period, particularly under President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. With its embrace of democracy in the post-New Order era, the concluding discussion suggests that Indonesia appears to be increasingly prepared to expand its regional engagement concentrically beyond the immediate Southeast Asian region. The question of the ‘imperial’ role of the US – which has its own foreign policy ambitions in the region – is instrumental in this regard, and can be usefully understood from a postcolonial framework.

Indonesian Political Islam: Capitalist Development and the Legacies of the Cold War

This article explores the genesis of Indonesian political Islam and its interactions with the nationalist secular state in the immediate post-colonial era while examining some of the origins of the ‘radical’ stream that has garnered much attention in the current post-authoritarian period. It puts forward the idea that, rather than an outcome of Indonesian democratisation, this stream was in fact the product of authoritarian New Order rule. The article also considers some parallels in the trajectories of political Islam more generally in Indonesia, the Middle East and North Africa, especially as a kind of populist response to the tensions and contradictions of global capitalism. It addresses the city of Surakarta (Solo) as a case study and highlights the importance of Cold War politics in moulding political Islam in Indonesia and elsewhere. The approach emphasises historical and sociological factors shaping political Islam that have tended to be relegated to the background in prevalent security-oriented analyses concerned with issues of terrorism and violence.

The initial post-authoritarian period in Portugal (197482) and Spain (197582): A suitable framework for a sports democratization process of shared similarities and characteristics

In an international context of economic recession, a transitional process towards democracy in Portugal (1974) and Spain (1975) began within the framework of the third wave of democratization. Until then, the Portuguese and Spanish dictatorships had conditioned the political, social and economic development of both countries and prevented, for instance, the adoption of a welfare state model. Similarly, the spread of sport among the population was postponed for several decades. The development of a separate transition process facilitated the incorporation of sport among the habits of the population. In this process, the association movement and governmental sports policies were very important, the latter mainly after the approval of the Portuguese Republic Constitution (1976) and the Spanish Constitution (1978). This article aims to highlight some key similarities and common features of the development and dissemination of sport during Portugal's Ongoing Revolutionary Process (197476) and first constitutional governments (197682) and the Spanish Transition to Democracy (197582).

The Politics of Labor Reform in Latin America: Between Flexibility and Rights

The Politics of Labor Reform in Latin America: Between Flexibility and Rights. By Maria Lorena Cook. University Park: The Pennsylvania State University Press, 2007. 231p. $45.00.This is a very ambitious work, meticulously researched and studiously written, often presenting a dazzling display of intricate information. It is quite unusual for a single author to show such mastery over various country contexts. The book could easily have been written by several authors as it carefully covers and interprets labor laws in six Latin American countries, focusing mainly on the period in which flexibilized labor policies were implemented. Maria Lorena Cook couples countries that share historical and institutional similarities, namely: Argentina and Brazil are chosen as having legacies of state corporate systems; Chile and Peru represent postradical regimes; and Mexico and Bolivia experienced revolutionary pasts. Introductory overviews on labor reform in Latin America and concluding comments on where these countries stand today between flexibility and rights act as bookends for the paired country chapters. This is a skillful exegesis of pertinent documents, voluminous secondary literature, and expert testimony concerning two decades of labor laws after the restitution of democracy in the postauthoritarian period in these countries—unfinished as that process continued to be in Peru and Bolivia (at the time of the book's completion in 2005).

CABINET DETERMINANTS OF STRUCTURAL REFORMS IN LATIN AMERICA, 1985–2000

Little research has been devoted to the analysis of how different characteristics of the executives affect structural reforms. This article analyzes the impact of cabinet fragmentation and the presidential ideological position on the scope of structural reforms in nine Latin American presidential democracies of the postauthoritarian period. In so doing, it treats cabinets as conglomerates of actors that are accountable both to the president and to their parties, with nonpartisan ministers being only accountable to the president. It shows that the higher the percentage of nonpartisan ministers, the lesser the costs associated with bargaining a reform within the executive. When presidents build governing coalitions, they limit their capacity of acting unilaterally. However, they are better able to advance their structural reform proposals than single‐party governments are. Data on cabinet composition were collected by the authors and data on the dependent variable structural reform comes from Lora (2001).

The decline of citizen participation in electoral politics in post-authoritarian Chile

Turnout among registered voters remains high in post-authoritarian Chile, but valid votes as a percentage of the voting-age population have fallen significantly in the post-authoritarian period and blank/null voting, non-registration, and abstention are on the rise. Why? This article tests three rival explanations: (1) lack of political support; (2) depoliticization; and (3) a generational shift in political culture. These theories are not mutually exclusive, but rather explain distinct contours of this electoral phenomenon. Compared to valid voters, blank/null voters exhibit less support for the political system, are less politicized, and more likely to have reached legal voting age during the democratic transition. Although non-registrants also exhibit less political support and are more depoliticized than valid voters, their behaviour is largely explained by a new political culture that stresses individual as opposed to collective participation. In addition to shedding light on this Chilean puzzle, the findings enhance the debates over electoral participation, mandatory voting, and quality of democracy in Latin America and other nascent democracies.

The Military and Politics in Postauthoritarian Chile (review)

Reviewed by: The Military and Politics in Postauthoritarian Chile Brenda Elsey The Military and Politics in Postauthoritarian Chile. By Gregory Weeks. Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press, 2003. ISBN 0-8173-1232-3. Notes. Bibliography. Index. Pp. 208. $19.95. In this work, Gregory Weeks provides a valuable account of the relations between the armed forces and civilian administrations in Chile, beginning with the democratic transition in 1989 until 2002. Weeks engages scholarly debates surrounding the strength of Latin American militaries in postauthoritarian political life. He argues that despite the efforts of civilian governments, the Chilean armed forces maintain an active role in politics and wield considerable influence, and cautions that the military, particularly the army, have only conditionally accepted their subservience to civilian rule. According to Weeks, the circumstances of Chile's transition period, the coherence of military doctrine, the symbolic fusion of the military and the nation, and public opinion concerning Augusto Pinochet's dictatorship have provided conditions for the military to retain its powerful position. The military's ability to avoid formal channels of contact with civilian administrations demonstrates that they had maintained enough legitimacy to assert their interests within political circles even after the transition period. The beleaguered Ministry of Defense serves as an important example that although the military has increased its interaction with formal institutions, it refuses to accept them as primary vehicles for civilian-military relations. At the same time, however, Weeks identifies areas where the civilian administrations exerted their authority over the armed forces, particularly in regards to military budgets, imprisonment of DINA director Manuel Contreras, and finally, the arrest of Pinochet. In the final analysis, Weeks warns that the military has not abandoned the idea of itself as the savior of the nation, nor has the public unanimously condemned the military's rule. He argues that the functioning of formal contact points constitutes a central component in the supremacy of the civilian government and the continuation of Chile's democratic system. Weeks successfully discusses the strategies and reactions of the armed forces while taking into account the diversity of military interests. This work's strength is the clarity with which the author identifies points of difference between military branches, generational divisions, ideological factions, and conflicting interests. Occasionally these interests appear too self-evident, but Weeks's firm grasp of the history of the Chilean military prevents his analysis from appearing static or functional. Although he makes a clear argument about the continuation of military power in relation to civilian government, social movements of the 1980s and 1990s deserve further consideration. These organizations played a critical role in the relations between the military and civilian administrations, while also influencing public opinion toward the dictatorship in the postauthoritarian period. [End Page 1019] In constructing his arguments, Weeks draws upon an impressive range of sources, including newspapers, government documents, congressional records, and interviews. Given the diversity of sources, a discussion of his methodological approach to their interpretation would have been informative. The prose is clear and intelligible, making this an excellent candidate for use in the classroom. In addition, the timeliness of the book and its subject matter will be of interest to a wide audience. Overall, Weeks has made a commendable contribution to the literature on militaries in postauthoritarian Latin America. Brenda Elsey State University of New York Stony Brook, New York Copyright © 2004 Society for Military History

Discursos cruzados: telenoticiários, HPEG e a construção da agenda eleitoral

O Horário de Propaganda Eleitoral Gratuita (HPEG) faculta aos candidatos um espaço de comunicação autônomo, em que suas mensagens não têm que passar pelo crivo dos grupos de mídia. O paper discute a eficácia do HPEG, em contraposição ao telejornalismo, e analisa a evolução da relação entre os dois nas quatro eleições presidenciais brasileiras do período pós-autoritário. Em 1989, os telenoticiários mostravam-se receptivos à agenda proposta pelos partidos em seus programas de TV, mas há um nítido fechamento nas eleições seguintes. Em 2002, os principais candidatos preferiram aderir à agenda e aos enquadramentos dominantes, reconhecendo a incapacidade do HPEG para alterar a pauta da mídia.