Politics Of State Formation Research Articles

Lynching and the Politics of State Formation in Post-Revolutionary Puebla (1930s–50s)

AbstractA number of scholars have analysed lynching in Latin America as a response to the recent upsurge in insecurity and crime in the region. This article turns our attention to historical and deeper socio-political undercurrents behind this practice. Drawing on several cases of lynching that took place in post-revolutionary Puebla, the article argues that, rather than signalling state absence, the occurrence of lynching expressed communities’ reactions towards a state presence that was perceived as intrusive and illegitimate. It furthermore shows that lynchings emulated the brutality and visibility of extralegal forms of violence perpetrated by public officials at the local level.

Telangana and the politics of State formation in India: Recognition and accommodation in a multinational federation

ABSTRACTThis article examines the politics of State formation in India by taking up the case of Telangana. Drawing from the emerging literature on the politics of recognition and territorial accommodation in multinational federations, I argue that territorial accommodation of Telangana was made possible by the convergence of strategic interests and role of multiple actors to recognize Telangana’s distinctive territorial identity and accommodate its Statehood demand when an opportune ‘political opportunity structure’ emerged in the late 1990s till 2014. It extends the insights of ‘actor-centred’ institutionalism and contributes to an emerging literature which emphasizes the ‘multi-centred origins’ of border change and State formation in India in particular, and in multinational federations in general. By underscoring State formation as a complex process, this article cautions against a simplistic reading of the politics of State formation in India as an act of one-upmanship whereby the Centre can unilaterally make or break State borders.

Book Review: International Relations: External Intervention and the Politics of State Formation: China, Indonesia and Thailand, 1893-1952

Book Review: International Relations: External Intervention and the Politics of State Formation: China, Indonesia and Thailand, 1893-1952

The Generalization of Particularized Trust. Paramilitarism and Structures of Trust in Colombia

This paper examines the relation between the politics of state formation and the accompanying appearance of traps based on the example of Colombia. It shows that egregious exceptions to the rule of law, exemplified by the parapolitica and false positives scandals, are themselves a result of social traps, which are generated by the generalization of particularized trust. The generalization of particularized trust entails the incorporation of a closed trust network in the effort of monopolizing the means of violence against an internal insurgency.

Contested boundaries

This article examines a 20-year border dispute between two adjacent southern interior municipalities in Nicaragua. The dispute acts as window into the politics of state formation and the consolidation of the dictatorship of Anastacio Somoza García (1936–1956). This conflict was waged by locally based “state actors” who contested each other's attempts to stake and extend spatially based claims to authority. Contending parties developed a shared language of contention that I call “administrative disorder”, which tracked closely with accusations of invasion and abuse of authority. Administrative disorder discourses were representational practices that contributed to the discursive construction of the state. They were also the means by which representatives of the state sought to justify or normalize their own activities. As such, these discourses concealed political tensions rooted in patronage networks, municipal formation, land privatization, and ethnic assimilation, which shaped the contours and longevity of the dispute, but remained lurking silences in administrative disorder discourses.

Southeast Asia. External intervention and the politics of state formation: China, Indonesia and Thailand, 1893–1952. By Ja Ian Chong. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2012. Pp. x + 293. Maps, Tables, Figures, Bibliography, Index.

External intervention and the politics of state formation: China, Indonesia and Thailand, 1893-1952 By JA IAN CHONG Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2012. Pp. x+293. Maps, Tables, Figures, Bibliography, Index. doi: 10.1017/S0022463413000684 Given the recent examples of United States' involvement in Afghanistan and Iraq, this is a timely look at the effect of external influence on state-building in non-Western societies. Chong's analysis begins with the question of how polities outside the modern European state came to organise themselves as sovereign states by the mid-twentieth century. While acknowledging the merits of explanations involving nationalism, institutional commitment, and capital accumulation, the book argues that scholars have overlooked the relationship between external intervention and sovereign statehood. Contrary to accepted notions that foreign involvement in the affairs of weak governments will lead to either subjugation or political fragmentation, Chong asserts that such outside interference can also lead to the creation of a modern independent state. According to Chong, foreign powers intervene in the affairs of peripheral countries to increase their own access to local resources and/or deny similar access to rivals. The book contains tables that present foreign policy as the product of net cost analysis, but the emphasis lies on the effect of collective outside meddling on the development of the state. If imperialist governments mutually anticipate that the costs of intervention will be low, the polity in question will likely disintegrate under combined pressure; if the perceived cost is high, external actors pursue the development of a cooperative local interest that can ensure access to all parties. If there is no consensus on opportunity costs, the divergent approaches to intervention can generate 'cross-cutting forces' that lead to feudalisation. External intervention purports to study state formation in China, Indonesia, and Thailand--three case studies he describes as 'least likely' to support his argument (although precisely why they are 'least likely' is unclear). Although the title refers to three case scenarios, this book is a study of state formation in China. Paradoxically, Chong credits external intervention for both China's period of feudalisation (1893-1922) and its later period of slow but steady centralisation (1922-52). During the first period, the high reward/low cost dynamic enticed many imperialist powers to interfere in China's affairs. …

External intervention and the politics of state formation: China, Indonesia, and Thailand, 1893-1952

1. Molding the institutions of governance: theories of state formation and the contingency of sovereignty in fragile polities 2. Imposing states: foreign rivalries, local collaboration, and state form in peripheral polities 3. Feudalizing the Chinese polity, 1893-1922: assessing the adequacy of alternative takes on state reorganization 4. External influence and China's feudalization, 1893-1922: opportunity costs and patterns of foreign intervention 5. The evolution of foreign involvement in China, 1923-52: rising opportunity costs and convergent approaches to intervention 6. How intervention remade the Chinese state, 1923-52: foreign sponsorship and the building of sovereign China 7. Creating Indonesia, 1893-1952: major power rivalry and the making of sovereign statehood 8. Siam stands apart, 1893-1952: external intervention and rise of a sovereign Thai state 9. Domesticating international relations, externalizing comparative politics: foreign intervention and the state in world politics.

External Intervention and the Politics of State Formation: China, Indonesia, and Thailand, 1893–1952

External Intervention and the Politics of State Formation: China, Indonesia, and Thailand, 1893–1952

Reseñas/Book Reviews

ERLACS – European Review of Latin American and Caribbean Studies is an Open Access, scientific journal. It publishes peer-reviewed articles in English and Spanish. Contributions reflect substantial empirical research and/or are theoretically innovative with respect to major debates within social science research (understood in the broadest sense, including history and economics) on Latin America and the Caribbean. In addition to research articles, ERLACS includes 'Explorations' (a section in which new themes are presented and new debates are stimulated), review essays, book reviews, and film reviews. Articles are published online soon after they have been accepted.Sign up for our newsletter and read our latest issue!Special Collections:Heritage, protests and coloniality in contemporary Latin AmericaViolent configurations of power in MexicoVenezuela's crisis from global perspectivesElite and popular responses to a left in crisisMega-projects, contentious action, and policy change in Latin America ERLACS – Revista Europea de Estudios Latinoamericanos y del Caribe es una revista científica de Acceso Abierto. Difunde artículos bajo la revisión de pares en inglés y español. Las contribuciones reflejan la investigación empírica sustancial y/o son teóricamente innovadoras con respecto a los grandes debates dentro de la investigación social (en el sentido más amplio, incluyendo la historia y la economía) en América Latina y el Caribe. Además de los artículos de investigación, ERLACS incluye 'Exploraciones' (una sección en la que se presentan los nuevos temas con el fin de estimular nuevos debates), ensayos de reseña, reseñas de libros, y críticas de cine. Los artículos se publican en línea poco después de haber sido aceptados.¡Suscríbase a nuestro boletín de noticias y lea nuestro último número!Números especiales: Heritage, protests and coloniality in contemporary Latin AmericaViolent configurations of power in MexicoVenezuela's crisis from global perspectivesElite and popular responses to a left in crisisMega-projects, contentious action, and policy change in Latin America

Pistoleros and Popular Movements: The Politics of State Formation in Postrevolutionary Oaxaca - by Smith, Benjamin T.

Pistoleros and Popular Movements: The Politics of State Formation in Postrevolutionary Oaxaca - by Smith, Benjamin T.

Pistoleros and Popular Movements: The Politics of State Formation in Postrevolutionary Oaxaca

Pistoleros and Popular Movements: The Politics of State Formation in Postrevolutionary Oaxaca

Regimes, constituencies and the politics of state formation: Zimbabwe and Botswana compared

This article analyses state formation in Botswana and Rhodesia/Zimbabwe in the light of general theories of state formation. It seeks to explain why Botswana became a strong state, while state power in Rhodesia/Zimbabwe has eroded. Three main arguments are made. First, Zimbabwe’s experience shows that security threats and compulsion to collect revenue are not sufficient conditions for establishing a strong state. Second, the Botswana case indicates that the formation of a strong state may be possible even in the absence of such compulsions. Third, both cases reveal that patterns of state formation ultimately depend on the interests of ruling regimes, and on their ability to promote those interests. The creation of a strong state requires that regimes must have an interest in a strong state as well as the power to carry out a project of state building. This depends on the relationship between regimes and their constituencies. The article concludes by pointing out the need for expanding the framework described by security-based and fiscal theories, to include considerations about how state formation is related to the underlying social forces on which state power is based.

Paths to Polarization in East Asia

Paths to Development in Asia: South Korea, Vietnam, China and Indonesia. By Tuong Vu. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2010. 294 pp., $85.00 hardcover (ISBN-13: 978-0-521-76180-2). Paths to Development in Asia: South Korea, Vietnam, China and Indonesia is an ambitious title, and this new book by Tuong Vu does not disappoint when it comes to offering bold theories of development politics in the region. Unfortunately, the author's penchant for grand theorizing is not always supported by careful argumentation and a balanced assessment of the evidence. In the author's own words, “[t]he aim of the book is to show how state formation politics was responsible for the emergence of developmental states in some Asian contexts” (p. 2). Based on an analysis of the Republic of Korea, Vietnam, China and Indonesia, Vu argues that the capacity of emerging states to build cohesive governing structures is determined by intra-elite and elite-mass interactions at the time of state formation. Elite polarization and “elite unity” are conducive to the creation of cohesive states, while elite compromise and fragmentation are not. Similarly, “controlled mobilization” or suppression of mass demands produces state cohesion and accommodation does not. The idea that specific patterns of state formation give rise to state structures that are linked to future state capacities is not new. Huntington's Political Order in Changing Societies (1968) warns of the dangers of accommodating social pressure from below, while David Waldner's State Building and Late Development (1999) shows that elite conflict can also block the development of modernizing state institutions. In East …

Pistoleros and Popular Movements: The Politics of State Formation in Postrevolutionary Oaxaca. By Benjamin T. Smith (Lincoln, University of Nebraska Press, 2009) 578 pp. $35.00

<i>Pistoleros and Popular Movements: The Politics of State Formation in Postrevolutionary Oaxaca.</i> By Benjamin T. Smith (Lincoln, University of Nebraska Press, 2009) 578 pp. $35.00

Pistoleros and Popular Movements: The Politics of State Formation in Postrevolutionary Oaxaca. By Benjamin T. Smith. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2009. Pp. vii, 578. Maps. Photographs. Tables. Notes. Bibliography. Index. $35.00 paper.

Pistoleros and Popular Movements: The Politics of State Formation in Postrevolutionary Oaxaca. By Benjamin T. Smith. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2009. Pp. vii, 578. Maps. Photographs. Tables. Notes. Bibliography. Index. $35.00 paper. - Volume 67 Issue 2

Benjamin T. Smith, Pistoleros and Popular Movements: The Politics of State Formation in Postrevolutionary Oaxaca (Lincoln NE and London: University of Nebraska Press, 2009), p. x+578, £22.99, pb.

Benjamin T. Smith, Pistoleros and Popular Movements: The Politics of State Formation in Postrevolutionary Oaxaca (Lincoln NE and London: University of Nebraska Press, 2009), p. x+578, £22.99, pb. - Volume 42 Issue 3

Pistoleros and popular movements: the politics of state formation in postrevolutionary Oaxaca

The postrevolutionary reconstruction of the Mexican government did not easily or immediately reach all corners of the country. At every level, political intermediaries negotiated, resisted, appropriated, or ignored the dictates of the central government. National policy reverberated through Mexico’s local and political networks in countless different ways and resulted in a myriad of regional arrangements. It is this process of diffusion, politicking, and conflict that Benjamin T. Smith examines in Pistoleros and Popular Movements. Oaxaca’s urban social movements and the tension between federal, state, and local governments illuminate the multivalent contradictions, fragmentations, and crises of the state-building effort at the regional level. A better understanding of these local transformations yields a more realistic overall view of the national project of state building. Smith places Oaxaca within this larger framework of postrevolutionary Mexico by comparing the region to other states and linking local politics to state and national developments. Drawing on an impressive range of regional case studies, this volume is a comprehensive and engaging study of postrevolutionary Oaxaca’s role in the formation of modern Mexico.

Norms and Politics of State Formation in the International System: The Case of Current Political Map of Eastern Europe

The emergence of state system in the history of mankind brought alongside issues that border on the modalities for its existence. There has actually not been any known rigid formula for its emergence. This has been eliciting excitement and, on many occasions, conflicts among proponents and opponents of rigid state system devoid of birth of new ones as the case may be. The onus of this paper is to ascertain that states are formed from time to time by way of disintegration or merger. In doing this, historical, legal and political factors are taken into consideration.

Between National Security and Ethno-nationalism

Although scholarly interest in Northeast India is growing there is still relatively little discussion of the high levels of poverty in the region and the failures of development. When mentioned they are viewed instrumentally as causes and/or symptoms of ongoing insurgency and counter-insurgency. However this does not fully explain how a region that receives an extraordinarily large amount of development funding from the Indian Government, has its own development ministry, has some of India’s highest human development indicators, and has an array of institutional layers assuring autonomy and decentralisation has poverty levels well above the Indian national average. Using the state of Meghalaya, this article examines the factors underpinning the development agenda in the region and the political space for contesting this agenda. The argument presented is three-fold; the regional development agenda is underpinned by national security imperatives which characterise relations between the various levels of governance ensuring minimal deviation, contestation of the development agenda is limited by national security from above and ethno-nationalism from below narrowing the political space for negotiating development alternatives, and this situation is the result of material and ideational factors embedding development in the politics of state-formation and ethnic identity.

The Politics of State Formation: Contradictions and Conditions of Possibility

This article discusses the prospects of state building in contemporary weak states. It seeks to address the following question: what are the conditions of state formation in the contemporary world? Against the background of theories of state formation, the author discusses how regime interests and struggles for political survival determine political developments in weak states. More than anything else, it is argued that the prospect of state formation depends on the nature of domestic power relations. What makes state building so difficult is that regimes in weak states may not have an interest in creating a stronger state. Moreover, the particular combination of internal power relations and external constraints faced by weak states makes the task extremely difficult. Given the class structure of most existing weak states (weak bourgeoisie, weak working class, informal economy, peasant societies), the very sections of society with whom regimes might align themselves to build a stronger state have nothing ...