Political Repression Research Articles

Rege Ribaldum: Participatory Punishment in the Pursuit of Urban Justice in Late Medieval Southern France

Abstract Utilizing the lens of popular control to assess criminal sentences highlights the significance of effective public agency in the later Middle Ages, instead of political oppression, especially in the urban realm. The people who inhabited cities played a participatory role in setting the parameters involved in the spectacles of judicial chastisement by accepting or rejecting what unfolded before them. And this became a way in which neighbors surveilled and corrected both the residents who lived in their midst, and the agents of authority expected to orchestrate restitution through performative executions. This article unpacks jurisdictional disputes from the city of Toulouse, in order to analyze the notion of accountability among the inhabitants and of citizens over judicial officers, especially in crimes involving contested sexuality. In 1332, for example, a customary punishment known as a rege ribaldum (where authorities forced a criminal to run the streets of the town) spiraled out of control at the hands of one of the spectators, resulting in a gruesome disfigurement. Rather than dismiss this event as senseless mob violence, concepts of popular control shed light on the cooperative element of the officers and their people as it informed the distribution of punishment, rooted in principles that were sometimes congruent, and sometimes not.

EMPOWERING EDUCATION: INTEGRATING CRITICAL PEDAGOGY INTO TRANSFORMATIVE TEACHING STRATEGIES

The objective of this study is to explore the implications and effectiveness of critical pedagogy in fostering social justice and empowering students in educational settings. This research adopts a qualitative approach, employing literature review to examine the implementation and outcomes of critical pedagogy in various educational contexts The study findings reveal that critical pedagogy serves as a powerful tool for challenging societal norms, empowering marginalized individuals, and promoting social justice within educational settings. Through student-centered learning, collaborative problem-solving, and the development of 21st-century skills, critical pedagogy equips students with the tools and mindset necessary to critically evaluate their surroundings and take action to address oppressive conditions in society. Furthermore, the research highlights the pivotal role of teachers in facilitating critical inquiry, fostering dialogue, and promoting social justice within the classroom. By engaging in self-reflection and transformative practice, educators can create inclusive learning environments that empower students to become active agents in their education and advocates for positive change in society. he contribution of the results of this research to the development of the scientific field lies in providing insights into the practical application of critical pedagogy in classrooms, highlighting its capacity to equip students with critical thinking skills and a sense of agency to address oppressive conditions, thereby advancing the discourse on transformative education practices and social justice within educational contexts.

KIEŚLOWSKI’S ARTISTIC REBELLION IN CAMERA BUFF (1979): REFLECTIONS ON THE MORAL ANXIETY CINEMA

This study focuses on Krzysztof Kieślowski’s socio-political commentary and artistic expression in Camera Buff (Amator, 1979). The reason for mapping Kieślowski’s political stance stems from his deep engagement with subtle and profound cinematic expression within the Cinema of Moral Anxiety, where directors skillfully forged artistic avenues as a counter to the dominant narrative and censorship imposed by the socialist realist doctrine. This creative defiance birthed not only a novel approach to filmmaking but also a distinct mode of political assertion in a restrictive environment. Directors within this movement stand as exemplars of conscious opposition to state intervention, fostering unique artistic practices in defiance of oppressive systems. Amidst a political climate marked by censorship and stringent controls, the emergence of the Cinema of Moral Anxiety holds significant political and artistic weight. Within Cinema of Moral Anxiety movement Kieślowski’s Camera Buff reflects his resistance to the dominant political order and its censorship mechanisms. To analyze the distinctive features of Kieślowski’s political cinematic expression and the ways through which he dismantles the system in Camera Buff, this study proceeds in two steps. First, it examines how socialist realism is juxtaposed with the ethos of the Cinema of Moral Anxiety. Second, it examines how Kieślowski employs self-reflexivity and metaphor to reflect the themes of the Cinema of Moral Anxiety in Camera Buff. In both steps, metaphor and self-reflexivity are underlined as potent forms of political stance and expression. This essay concludes by demonstrating how Camera Buff embodies the principles of Moral Anxiety Cinema, offering a critique of societal norms and political oppression through self-reflexive storytelling.

Blood gambit: how autocratizing populists fuel ethnic conflict to reverse election setbacks – evidence from Turkey and Israel

ABSTRACT Through a comparative study of Turkey and Israel, this article highlights a specific strategy that autocratizing populist incumbents in ethnically divided societies utilize when they face election setbacks. A “blood gambit” entails fomenting violent conflict to keep the opposition divided along identitarian cleavages, while creating a rally-around-the-flag effect to help the incumbent win a renewed election. After failing to secure a parliamentary majority in June 2015, Erdoğan ended the Kurdish peace process and engineered repeat elections amidst heightened nationalist fervour and renewed conflict with the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). These elections gave the Justice and Development Party (AKP) a majority and marked the beginning of its alliance with the ultranationalists. Following Israel’s March 2021 elections, Netanyahu increased state repression of Palestinians, which triggered interethnic violence and renewed confrontation with Hamas. The violence threw a wrench into coalition-building efforts between ideologically and ethnically diverse opposition parties. The comparison of Israel and Turkey as two countries with different majority religions, ethnic compositions and socioeconomic levels shows that “blood gambit” is not a parochial strategy. Our analysis also demonstrates that the outcomes of these strategies are shaped by differing institutional and political contexts, in particular, the extent of executive aggrandizement and the level of party fragmentation.

Success Story or Traumatic Experience? An Attempt to Integrate Trauma Theory with Oral History Research for the Interpretation of First-Person Stories

This article focuses on the following issues: (1) how a narrator describes life under political repression in a retrospective first-person story; (2) the extent to which such a story can be analysed from the perspective of trauma theory; (3) what the use of trauma theory in combination with the methods of folk narrative and oral history research can offer for a more diverse interpretation of such a story. The story selected for observation was written in 2001, focusing on events in Soviet Estonia (1940–1941, 1944–1991). At the time of telling this story, the Soviet era was publicly interpreted as a period of interruption of Estonian cultural and political continuity. Social scientists observed the Soviet period from the perspective of cultural trauma. In this way, the narrator presented complex past events in a framework that points to the restoration of historical justice. Although this story represents a positive attitude towards historical and cultural developments in Estonia, the analysis of this story indicates that traces of trauma can be found at the levels of the story that reflect the formation of the narrator’s identity.

Communist Prison Camps as Sites of Memory and Legacies of Dissent: Belene and Goli Otok in Bulgarian and Croatian Cultural Memory

This article investigates how two Communist forced labour camps, Belene in Bulgaria and Goli Otok in Croatia, became sites of memory and remain icons of political repression and state-organized torture. The article discusses how the public memory of the two camps has been shaped through vivid depictions in former inmates’ memoirs and in works of fiction. It analyzes recent debates about the preservation and institutionalization of these sites of memory and about what, whom, and how to commemorate. As a further step, it investigates how the camp sites have attracted visitors interested in so-called dark tourism. The article explores the creation of a literary tradition of memory by tracing the writings that have helped to establish Belene and Goli Otok as sites of memory of political repression in Bulgaria and Croatia, and it examines the processes involved in the construction of the physical sites as heritage sites and tourist attractions.

From the Closet to the Center

The Amy Morris Homans Cotillion and Pre-Cotillion created unique and liberatory spaces for many lesbian and allied women attending the American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance (AAHPERD) convention between 1982 and 2014. In this article, we draw on feminist and queer theories to consider the multiple meanings embedded in Cotillion goers’ lived experiences. Memories of planning and participating in these events linger for attendees decades later. The impact of attending ranged from lighthearted appreciation to profound gratitude. The Cotillion events disrupted the oppressive status quo at the AAHPERD convention and within kinesiology in favor of community building, joy, and the celebration of lesbian identities. We explore the disruption of heteropatriarchal norms and the creation of alternative community spaces to learn better from the past and to help create liberatory futures for practitioners and scholars in kinesiology.

Argentine exiles in Spain: Translation as a practice of solidarity

s part of its solidarity activities with Chilean, Uruguayan, and Argentine exiles in Catalonia, the NGO Agermanament led by Father Josep Ribera and the Lliga dels Drets dels Pobles published a register of exiles organized according to their professional activity in the magazine Agermanamentin 1979. The categories included in the list were “visual artists, doctors/psychologists, psychoanalysts and psychiatrists, musicians, actors and singers, publicists, jurists, architects, and photographers”. Translatorswere not included in the list, even thoughtheirprofessional status had been recognized by the UNESCO in 1976 and thousands of Latin American exiles who had fled dictatorships and arrived in Spain without refugee status were working as translators. Due to the toll on the publishing sector, heavily damaged by political and cultural repression, numerous exiled Latin American intellectuals and writers entered the Catalan publishing industryas translators, proofreaders, and editors. Thisarticle aims to shed light on the quantitative and qualitative importance of translation as a practice of solidarity within the publishing sector during the Spanish transition to democracy. I want to show that members of the Latin American diaspora contributed to the constitution of a transnational publishing space, which was possible thanks to the solidarity of local publishers and exiles who created a labor network through the commission of translations.

The psychological impact of torture and state repression in Türkiye between 2015 and 2018: Reports from Turkish refugees seeking asylum in Germany.

Torture seeks to undermine not only the physical and emotional well-being of an individual, but to damage the coherence of entire communities. Thus, torture and state repression are used to weaken entire subpopulations. After the failed coup d'état in Türkiye in 2016 and during the subsequently following state of emergency that lasted until 2018, allegations of torture and other degrading treatment in Türkiye spread widely. Since then, the number of asylum-seekers in Germany has risen considerably. This paper analyses the reports of twenty Turkish citizens that fled to Germany to seek asylum in the aftermath of the events. In semi-structured interviews held in Turkish, we assessed the experiences of torture and state repression, psychological consequences, and the current well-being and living situation. All interviewees described illicit violence of state authorities and government supporters, especially while under arrest. Though the methods varied, there was a constant pattern of imbalance of power. The psychological impact of these methods were present after relocation to Germany and included signs of PTSD, anxiety disorders, and major depression. The reports of torture, state repression, and their psychological impact emphasise the importance for policy makers to address the prevention of human rights violations and support the needs of survivors.

Redrawing Gender Boundaries in Selina Hossain’s River of My Blood

This study seeks to examine and reinterpret gender roles shown in the book River of My Blood (Hangor Nodi Grenade, titled in Bangla) by Selina Hossain. Hossain's (2016) work is a compelling story that questions conventional standards by emphasizing the changing experiences of its three central female characters, Boori, Nita, and Ramija. These people live in a society allegedly to be puritanical and misogynistic, in which women have little independence. They are faced with thoughtful questions on the political and sexual persecution of women as well as the differences in political processes. The book, set against the backdrop of the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War, offers an authentic and detailed account of a significant historical event. Through the characters in this book, the author, Selina Hossain, demonstrates her skill in examining the issue of identity while questioning stereotypical gender norms. This study examines the book's potential to inspire readers by challenging gender stereotypes and presenting perspectives on identity and social roles. This study employed a qualitative research approach, with thematic analysis being the primary method used for data collection. The study showed how the book challenges gender stereotypes and presents perspectives on identity and social roles.

A hidden form of mass event: the law, politics, and practice of single pickets in Russia

ABSTRACT Single picketing, in which an individual stands in public holding a sign, emerged as a new form of protest in Russia in recent years under the context of increased political repression, and is the last form of protest that does not require prior authorization from authorities. In this article, I develop an understanding of single pickets by examining the evolving dynamics between the state and protestors. I argue that the current practice of single pickets developed as the result of increasingly harsh legal restrictions on public gatherings, and while the Russian state seeks to manage public political action through legal means, protesters continuously find ways to work around or exploit loopholes in the law, in turn shaping new forms of legality in daily life. My analysis is based on tracing the evolution of the laws governing single pickets and online ethnography I conducted during 2020–2021.

Defending the Candid Gaze: Theory, the Archive, and Depolicing Street Photography

Abstract Since practically the dawn of photography, there have been concerns over street photography’s invasive and potentially exploitive nature, from late nineteenth-century tropes of pests and “sneaky characters” trailing women in public parks to more recent panics over “camera fiends” and even state security warnings of the need to be vigilant of photographers potentially casing infrastructure for terrorist attacks. This article argues, using potted history and critical theory, that such straw-man arguments distract from the real dangers that the policing and curtailment of public photography pose, characteristic, as they are, of authoritarian regimes where control over taking and circulating images is an integral part of oppressive state and corporate apparatuses. Street photography’s implicit role in the construction of an archive of aesthetic and documentary value can be understood as a type of resistance to such threatened microfascisms.

MODERN FRENCH AND AZERBAİJANİ POETRY AT THE LEVEL OF COMPARATİVİSTİCS

In the article, the stages of development of Azerbaijani poetry from the 19th century to the 20th–21st centuries, which were accompanied by fundamental changes, were reviewed. It has been noted that the wars that took place at the beginning of the 20th century and the strict rules and regulations applied by the Soviet regime had an undeniable influence on our literature. It was at that time, during the years of Repression, prominent representatives of Azerbaijani poetry were subjected to political oppression and persecution, exiled and shot. The names of the poets who played a special role in the development of Azerbaijani poetic thought during the Soviet period were mentioned, and at the same time, the genre and form innovations they brought to our poetry were shown. Starting from the 60s, poets and writers began to deepen their view of man and his spiritual world. This movement, which began in literature for the sake of freedom of speech and thought, political thought, pluralism, national independence, and social justice, was continued in the 70s and 90s, and finally achieved its prospective goals with the acquisition of political sovereignty and state independence of Azerbaijan. The trend of critical realism that prevailed in Azerbaijani poetry in the 19th century was replaced by socialism- realism in the 20th century. The names of the leading representatives of this current have been mentioned. The article compares the similarities and differences of both French and Azerbaijani poetry of the 20th century in terms of literary trends, form, content, and genre, citing the names of poets and showing examples. In particular, the poems of the French surrealist poet Jacques Préver are compared to the poems of Rasul Rza and Huseyn Javid and Adil Mirseyid. The article also examines the form and content of the newest poets distinguished by their innovation in 21st century Azerbaijani poetry.

Expanding Protected Areas Globally Post-2020: A Critical Perspective from Thailand, with Implications for Community Forestry

ABSTRACT The Convention on Biological Diversity’s post-2020 Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) includes targets to formally protect thirty percent of Earth by 2030 and stimulate financialization of biodiversity conservation. This paper foregrounds potential risks and limitations of the GBF in Thailand. It examines the historical context of state-run protected areas, including their role in facilitating state territorialization and dispossession, political and cultural persecution, and deleterious economic agendas. It then shows that implementation in Thailand could displace residents of more than 200 villages and supplant roughly forty percent (3,951 square kilometers) of all state-registered community forest lands, which provide various livelihood, cultural, and conservation benefits. The paper challenges three assumptions: that parties to the Convention will recognize the rights and agency of Indigenous Peoples and local communities; that state-run protected areas are managed for biodiversity conservation and not for economic growth; and that perpetual economic growth and modernization are compatible with conservation. Effective and equitable conservation in Thailand and elsewhere requires more socially and ecologically responsive community rights-based approaches that empower (rather than supersede) customary institutions and transcend unsustainable political-economic imperatives for privatization and perpetual economic growth.

“The Stranger at Home”: Dissent, Prejudice, and Mary: A Fiction

ABSTRACT This essay explores Wollstonecraft’s experimental first novel, Mary: A Fiction (1788) in the context of Dissenting preoccupation with prejudice. It shows how Wollstonecraft shared the Dissenters’ analysis that prejudice was the source of political and social oppression, and how she extended that insight into her account of the situation of women. She shared with Dissent a belief in education and in print culture as tools to combat prejudice, but her experimental textual strategies differ significantly from, for instance, that of Dissenter Anna Laetitia Barbauld, in her “Address to the Opposers of the Repeal of the Corporation and Test Acts” (1790). Where Barbauld replicates in print the rhetorical strategies of public and political discourse, Wollstonecraft, in key moments in Mary, draws on the model, from Edward Young, of authentic, persuasive enthusiasm, to “steal into the soul” of her readers. Early in her writing career, she can thus be seen seeking to turn affective transport to political effect, and experimenting with the resources and registers of print culture to combat prejudice, and enact dissent.

Specific challenges of researching stress in the context of quiet political repression

Political repression beneath the threshold of criminal prosecution is a phenomenon of past and present, predominantly authoritarian, regimes. This so-called quiet repression includes measures such as the limitation of freedom of speech, surveillance of (perceived) political opponents, or the spreading of rumors to socially isolate targets. Such experiences of chronic stress show significant psychological and physiological health consequences in affected individuals. However, societal awareness of quiet repression measures remains limited, hindering victims' access to support and complicating healthcare interventions. In the current paper, we present the design of a study conducted with individuals who endured quiet repression measures in the former German Democratic Republic (GDR), a socialist state closely aligned with the former Soviet Union. We discuss the challenges encountered over the course of the study, and present the solutions found. Although every study population has their unique challenges and needs, we wish to inform future sensitive research within the realm of quiet political repression. Given the limited understanding of the phenomenon, there is a pressing need for further investigation aiming to improve acceptance and care for past and future victims.

Loyalty Signaling, Bureaucratic Compliance, and Variation in State Repression in Authoritarian Regimes

In autocracies, why are certain bureaucrats more heavy-handed in their use of force than others during repression? In this article, we propose an incentive-compatible theory that explains the uneven compliance of bureaucrats in repressive campaigns. We argue that bureaucrats from less trusted backgrounds tend to implement repressive tasks more fervently to credibly display loyalty and bolster their career prospects. We provide evidence for our theory using China’s Anti-Rightist Campaign (1957‐1959), a repressive campaign launched by Mao Zedong against alleged critics of his rule. We find that officials who were former undercover partisans, a faction considered untrustworthy by Mao, tended to prosecute more “rightists” in their jurisdictions and imposed harsher penalties on them. This study contributes to the literature by revealing the motivations of coercive agents.

Fighting for Tyranny: State Repression and Combat Motivation

We utilize over 100 million declassified Red Army personnel records from World War II to study how state repression shapes soldiers’ motivation to exert effort in fighting. Exploiting multiple complementary identification strategies, we find that soldiers from places with higher levels of prewar repression under Stalin’s rule were more likely to fight until death and less likely to shirk their duties, but they also received fewer decorations for personal bravery. The coercive incentives created by repression appear to have induced obedience at the expense of initiative and increased the human costs of war. (JEL D74, F51, H56, J45, N34, N44, P26)

Pakistan's Coming Crisis

Abstract: Pakistan's 2024 elections delivered a shocking surprise. Imran Khan's PTI won the largest number of seats amid heavy state repression. With this result, well-worn political patterns—whereby military favor virtually guaranteed a party's electoral success—were upended. This essay argues that Pakistan's 2024 election is not a "black swan" event but instead signals a coming crisis of governability that grows out of three structural changes: the rise of an aspirational middle class, the erosion of traditional authority patterns, and an intensifying economic and climate crisis. Consequently, a historic loss of military legitimacy is unlikely to abate in years ahead.

THE ORIGIN OF THE RULE OF LAW; APPLIED RESEARCH ON IRAQI LAW AND INTER-RELIGIOUS LAWS

Political systems adopt the principle in some of its manifestations and not others. The transformation into a state of law is gradual, passing through several systems of government in which the state develops and transforms into civilized democratic systems subject to the law and respecting the principle of the rule of law. On this basis, the state of law is one that subjects its public authorities to all legal rules in all actions and behaviors issued by it. This commitment is what takes it out of the category of oppressive states in which the ruling authority has absolute freedom to take whatever actions and procedures it deems appropriate in confronting individuals to achieve whatever goals it pleases without being bound by the provisions and rules of the law. Some constitutional law scholars have distinguished between the principle of the state’s submission to the law and the principle of the rule of law. They say that the principle of the state's submission to the law means subjecting all authorities in the state, and it is a legal principle that aims to protect the rights and freedoms of individuals in the face of the state or the administration. As for the principle of the rule of law, it means the supremacy of the legislative authority over the executive authority, and the inability of the latter to take any action unless it is in implementation of the law or with the authorization of the law. It is a political idea that originated from the fact that parliament represents the will of the nation. The rule of law means the supremacy of the provisions of the law in the state; such that the provisions and rules of the law are superior to all wills in the state (the wills of the rulers and the ruled together).