Workers Party Research Articles

New Developmentalism Under Neoliberalism: The Case of Brazil

This study provides a comprehensive analysis of Brazil's socioeconomic policies and growth models under the Brazilian Workers Party from 2003 to 2016. It examines two key growth models implemented in this process: namely, primary-export led and domestic consumption-oriented growth models. By utilizing official statistics and secondary sources, it shows that primary exports were the driving force behind economic growth in Brazil until 2006. It also indicates that after 2006, despite not being the main facilitator of economic growth, the exporting sectors continued to support the current account balance in Brazil, thanks to increasing global demand and prices for Brazilian primary commodities. Nevertheless, the post-2006 period in Brazil witnessed an increasing weight of domestic consumption in growth dynamics. This mainly results from expanding social transfers and income distribution programs, growing employment, and increasing minimum wages. The study demonstrates that Brazil's inclusive growth model was not sustainable due to the strong dependence of domestic accumulation on foreign capital inflows and external demand.

The business and moral image of the party officials of the "second echelon" of the Bashkir ASSR in the era of "Khrushchev's reformism"

The article examines the business and moral qualities of the party managers of the "second echelon" of the period of the "Khrushchev reforms" in the context of one of the major national republics of the RSFSR – the Bashkir ASSR. The authors reconstruct the appearance of middle-level party officials who adhered to double standards in their party management activities. The phenomenon of the formation of a "new-moral" communist party subject with a pronounced focus on wealth is also concretized, which contradicted the official discourse of a highly moral socialist personality, who is not only a party worker, but, above all, a disinterested communist. The new trend observed among the party officials of the "Khrushchev set" – industrial and moral emancipation, which did not entail the irreversibility of severe punishment, was one of the manifestations of the complex institutional process of the era of "Khrushchev reformism". We are talking about a change in the value paradigm in the form of the refusal of party officials from rigid stoicism and orientation towards satisfying their personal interests. The research methodology is based on the principles of critical research understanding of the activities of the BASSR party apparatus in 1953-1964. The structural and functional method made it possible to reconstruct the managerial and business portrait of the BASSR party members of the Khrushchev era.

Municipal Politics and the PKK in the early 1970s: A citizenship perspective

This paper examines the Kurdistan Workers Party’s (PKK) municipal politics in the late 1970s through the lens of citizenship politics. The article introduces two concepts—activist citizenship and fugitive citizenship to analyse the PKK’s mobilisation in this period, before the 1980 military coup in Turkey. Activist citizenship challenges the restrictive boundaries of state-sanctioned citizenship, while fugitive citizenship creates alternative political spaces for marginalized groups. Both concepts highlight how individuals and groups, such as the PKK, can assert their political agency in contexts where they are denied formal citizenship. The research questions linear understandings of the PKK’s emergence as a political movement inevitably destined to become an insurgent movement.

THE POSITION OF THE TWO IRAQI KURDISH PARTIES (PDK, PUK) ON THE SINJAR AGREEMENT 2020

On October 10, 2020, the Sinjar agreement was signed to restore stability and normalise the situation between the federal government in Baghdad and the Kurdistan Regional Government-Iraq after a disagreement and conflict between the two parties on how to manage the district in terms of administration and security. Following the deteriorating situation that the Sinjar district has become after its liberation from the terrorist organisation ISIS in 2016, the agreement the territory. This study aims to indicate the official position of both Kurdish parties on the aforementioned agreement. The analysis also assumes that there is a difference in their positions on the deal based on several reasons. However, this agreement dates back to the situation in the district before the occupation of ISIS and the returning of the Kurdish influence to the region. However, the position of the two Kurdish parties was different regarding the agreement. The Kurdish Democratic Party (KDP) was more interested in the agreement and its implementation compared to the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), and this comes because the performance of the agreement will restore the influence of the KDP to the district exclusively and will remove the impact of the allies of the PUK from the militias of the Kurdistan Workers Party PKK and the Popular Mobilization Forces PMF from it.

Современная цивилизация китайской нации в творческой трансформации традиционной культуры

Since the 18th National Congress of the CPC, General Secretary Xi Jinping has insisted on combining the basic tenets of Marxism and Chinese outstanding traditional culture, promoted the creative transformation and innovative development of outstanding Chinese traditional culture, and determined the direction of building the modern civilization of the Chinese nation. General Secretary Xi Jinping deeply understands the outstanding continuity of Chinese civilization, and uses elements of traditional culture to develop the core values of socialism. It promotes the humanistic spirit embodied in traditional culture, forming the spiritual family tree of Chinese communists, realizes the unity of Chinese civilization, constantly improves the socialist state system with Chinese characteristics, develops the potential of party workers, promotes the peaceful and inclusive character of Chinese civilization, and pursues the policy of building a Community of Shared Destiny humanity, proposes a Chinese global governance program.

Rural Construction of Rule of Law in Rural Areas from the Perspective of Rural Revitalization

The rural revitalization strategy is a strategy put forward in the report of the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China.With regard to the fundamental issue of the national economy and people's livelihood, the implementation of the rural revitalization strategy is the top priority of the Party's work. At present,In this era, the construction of rural grassroots is the key to orderly promoting the strategy of rural revitalization, and rural governance and the rule of law cannot be partition, give full play to the leading and promoting role of the rule of law in the rural revitalization strategy, and give full play to grassroots self-governing organizations and the role of judicial organs to truly implement the guiding ideology of rural revitalization and the rule of law to high-quality rule of law we will ensure rural revitalization.

Research on the Construction Path of Rural Public Cultural Space from the Perspective of Rural Revitalization---- Based on the investigation and thinking of the Rural Cultural Auditorium in Zhejiang

In the new era, solving "agriculture, rural areas and farmers" problems is the top priority of the Party's work. We should adhere to the important measure of "rural revitalization strategy". Rural revitalization requires both shaping and casting the soul. Cultural revitalization is not only an important part of rural revitalization, but also the source and soul of vitality to realize comprehensive rural revitalization. As an important carrier and external manifestation of rural cultural revitalization, rural public cultural space plays an important role in the construction of rural spiritual civilization. Based on this, through field investigation, questionnaire survey and data analysis of the representative rural public cultural space carrier-rural cultural auditorium in Zhejiang Province, this paper analyzes the achievements and problems of the construction of rural public cultural space in Zhejiang Province, which are mainly reflected from the following aspects. In view of three kinds of problems in the process of constructing rural public cultural space, they are unreasonable spatial planning and resource utilization in physical dimension, incomplete mechanism and shallow value connotation in spiritual dimension, as well as one-way output of culture and single and isolated participants in social dimension, this paper puts forward corresponding construction paths and methods. First, we should scientifically plan space and integrate spatial resources in the process of constructing physical space; second, we should build a long-term mechanism and create cultural symbols in the process of constructing spiritual space; third, in the process of constructing social space, we should realize the transformation to two-way interaction mode and cooperate with multiple power subjects to participate in the construction of rural public cultural space.

Study on the Co-Development Path between the Ideological and Political Thinking of Physical Education Curriculum and the Consciousness of the Chinese Nation Community in the Frontier Minority Areas

Cast firmly the Chinese nation community consciousness, is to safeguard the fundamental interests of the ethnic groups is the inevitable requirement of realizing the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation is the inevitable requirement of consolidating and developing equality unity mutual assistance harmonious socialist ethnic relations is the inevitable requirement of the party's ethnic work to open up new prospects. Yunnan is located in the southwest border of the motherland, is one of the most ethnic minority species and multi-ethnic cultural resources in the region. Yunnan border universities must integrate ideological and political education teaching resources, guide students to cast firmly the Chinese nation community consciousness, cultivate national feelings, enhance national confidence and pride, promote social common development. Based on this, this article will start from the perspective of ideological and political education in physical education courses, explore the mechanism of ideological and political education in physical education courses to cast firmly the Chinese nation community consciousness, discuss the strengthening of education on the national college students in Yunnan to cast firmly the national community consciousness, guide the youth of all ethnic groups to forge ahead, maintain national unity, build a beautiful home, which has practical significance for the high-quality, leapfrog development of Yunnan, and explore its practical path.

Terrorism Financing Typologies: Comparison of PKK and ISIL in Turkey

This comparative case study investigated the financing typologies of Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) and Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in Turkey. PKK is a Marxist- Leninist organization that pursues ethnic separationist policies in Turkey, Iran, Iraq, and Syria. ISIL is a radical Wahhabi network that aspires to re-establish the Caliphate and restore the “glory” of Sharia by defeating the “near” and “far” enemies. These networks are chosen for this case study as they operate in close proximity along Turkish, Iraqi and Syrian borders. In addition to primary and secondary interviews, the research has been based on content analysis of unclassified documents and media coverage on counter PKK/ISIL investigations. This study indicated that both organizations have been highly skillful in exploiting the regional licit and illicit enterprises. Financing methods of PKK and ISIL were similar in complex regional underground economic infrastructure. However, PKK has been able to develop much more sophisticated financial infrastructure than ISIL due to a longer life span and existence of specialized cadres in the Middle East and Europe. Ideology had a significant impact on differences in state sponsorship and exploitation of non-profit organizations. Both the Marxists and radical İslamists encouraged illicit trade schemes not only to generate funds but also to avoid taxation by the “hostile” regimes. ISIL has failed to develop advanced financing infrastructure mainly due to a shorter life span, loss of territorial control and the UN-US sponsored international sanctions.

Research on the Impact of Rural Logistics on Regional Economy under the Background of Rural Revitalization: A Case Study of Anhui Province.

In the report of the 19th National Congress, Comrade Xi Jinping pointed out that the issues concerning agriculture, rural areas, and farmers are fundamental to national welfare and people's livelihood, and solving these "three rural issues" must always be the top priority in the Party's work. Implementing the strategy for rural revitalization is an important foundation for building a modern economic system, and promoting the development of rural logistics to drive regional economic growth is one of the important ways to achieve the strategy of rural revitalization. Against the backdrop of rural revitalization, this paper assesses the current state of rural logistics and regional economic development in Anhui Province, analyzing the present situation of rural logistics and regional economy in Anhui Province. Firstly, taking Anhui Province as the case study area, this research constructs an index evaluation system and establishes a comprehensive evaluation model by surveying recent data on rural logistics and economic development from 16 cities within the province. Then, based on statistical data, the comprehensive evaluation index, correlation, and synergy of both are calculated, and an analysis is made accordingly. This paper examines the coupling relationship between the development of rural logistics and regional economic development in Anhui Province from both temporal and spatial dimensions, arriving at the following conclusions: From the temporal dimension, it is evident that since 2010, both the development index of rural logistics and regional economic development index in Anhui Province have been rising continuously, showing a good development trend. The development indexes of Anhui Province's rural logistics and regional economy have shown the same upward trend, indicating a coupling in their development. From the spatial dimension, the development of rural logistics is linked to the level of economic prosperity, and the regional economy has a spatial expansion effect on promoting rural logistics, which in turn facilitates urban economic development and is also influenced by the population base. By summarizing the conclusions on the relationship between rural logistics and regional economic development, this paper provides valuable suggestions for effectively promoting rural economic development, increasing farmers' income, and achieving the strategy of rural revitalization sooner.

Dynamics of Disruption: Ethnographic Practice in Contemporary Turkey

This roundtable explores how recent social and political upheavals in Turkey have impacted ethnographic research in and about the region. We propose that an analysis of ethnographers’ experiences in contexts of disruption and uncertainty can offer important insights into both research methodologies and contemporary politics and society in Turkey. The past twenty years have been a time of transformation and, arguably, disruption in the Republic of Turkey. In 2003, the Justice and Development Party (Adalet ve Kalkınma Partisi; AKP) rose to power under the leadership of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. As the following decade heralded a period of rapid economic growth and development, social and political changes also began to reshape institutions in consequential ways. In 2008, top military leaders were charged with participating in a conspiratorial deep state in what would come to be known as the Ergenekon trials. While these prosecutions were framed by the ruling party as critical to securing democratic governance in Turkey, they also marked a turning point in the AKP's efforts to secure and consolidate its hold on the state. After the AKP won its third general election in 2011, their efforts to consolidate power grew, and over the following decade Turkey would devolve from being recognized as a model Middle Eastern democracy to an illiberal democracy and finally an authoritarian regime. This political transformation was punctuated by key events, from the 2013 Gezi Park protests and the attempted coup of July 2016 to the resumption of armed conflict with the Kurdistan Worker's Party (Partiya Karkerên Kurdistanê PKK) in 2015 and the government's crackdown on Academics for Peace.

Ethnography under Authoritarianism: Notes from Medical Anthropological Fieldwork

What is perceived today as “living in an unknown moment” with global pandemics and ecological disasters has long become the “new normal” that structures everyday life at the margins of Europe and the Middle East, particularly in places with rising authoritarian regimes. As scholars working in and on Turkey, for instance, we have witnessed or experienced firsthand several moments of crisis over the recent years. We have seen the collapse of peace negotiations between the Turkish state and the Kurdistan Worker's Party (Partiya Karkeren Kurdistane; PKK) in 2015 and the resulting surge in state violence in Turkey's Kurdistan, the 2016 coup attempt against the Justice and Development Party (Adalet ve Kalkınma Partisi; AKP) government by the Gülen movement, and the long-standing suppression, criminalization, and incarceration of dissent affecting, among others, students, politicians, journalists, and academics. These divergent yet interlinked moments of crisis have reshaped and often complicated, if not completely stopped, our research as ethnographers of Turkey. These moments of crisis have also pushed us to develop creative strategies and analytics to continue our fieldwork and provided opportunities to hone our research questions and methodologies in more nuanced ways.

The 2022 State Elections in Uttar Pradesh and the RSS-isation of the BJP

Since 2014, the BJP has become increasingly dominant in Uttar Pradesh, India, a state where, as recently as 2012, its vote share had slumped to 15 percent. This paper examines, through ethnographic field research with party workers and others, the reasons for the turnaround in the party’s fortunes. A large part of the answer lies in the increasing strength of BJP party organisation, modelled on an RSS template, as well as the increasing coordination between the RSS and the BJP, with RSS personnel frequently seconded to the BJP. This intense closeness between the RSS and the BJP is a new post-2014 feature, something that did not characterise earlier periods of the BJP in power. A second key factor, building on the BJP’s increased organisational capacity, and one long advocated by the RSS, is the mobilisation of state welfare benefits by the party and the concerted effort to convert welfare recipients, coming from all communities, into supporters. A third key factor, at which the BJP is increasingly adept and where RSS organisational skills provide a significant advantage, is the micromanagement of caste dynamics and religious polarisation as and when required to gain and maintain a political advantage.

Revisiting post-Islamism a decade after the Arab Spring

The Arab Spring uprisings marked a watershed moment in regional politics, significantly impacting Islamist movements in terms of strategies, ideologies, and organizational structures. Accordingly, this paper examines whether these dramatic events strengthened or weakened the post-Islamist evolution of traditional political Islam movements, focusing on the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood (E-MB) and the Tunisian Ennahda Movement Party (EMP) as case studies. The proposed hypothesis is that the Arab Spring has variably influenced Islamists. In Egypt, it initially weakened the post-Islamist turn of the E-MB. However, owing to the 2013 coup and subsequent repression, the E-MB was politically excluded and weakened, creating a vacuum that was filled by various forms of less political or non-ideological forms of Islamic activism. The Tunisian Islamists had a different story. The Arab Spring seems to have strengthened their transition to post-Islamism. In its tenth conference, the EMP declared its exit from political Islam, adopting the new concept of Muslim Democracy. Even after the presidential takeover in July 2021, which resulted in the political exclusion of the EMP, the Work and Achievement party that defected from it maintained clear post-Islamist features.

The many lives of writer Jef Last (1898-1972) Anti-fascist, socialist, humanist and gay rights activist

Writer, poet, painter, journalist, translator and compelling speaker: Jef Last roamed the globe, fought in the Spanish Civil War, joined the Dutch resistance during the Nazi occupation, and became an outspoken gay rights activist during and after World War II. His political journey started in 1917 when he joined the Social Democratic Workers Party. From there he had brief yet tumultuous stints in the Revolutionary Socialist Party of Henk Sneevliet and the Dutch Communist Party. Disappointed with socialism and the Soviet Union, he identified as a humanist in later life. Last was controversial yet appealing, and both selfish and selfless. Difficult to categorise, Last insisted on the indivisibility of his identity and experiences as an antifas- cist fighter and a gay man. This biographical article explores the many social identities of Jef Last.

Komitety uczelniane PZPR w systemie władzy. Przykład środowiska gdańskiego (do 1980 roku)

This article contributes to the history of the development of Polish United Workers Party university committees on the example of the Tricity academic community. The goal of the communist party’s actions at universities was to seize control over academic affairs while simultaneously bringing students into the political mainstream through ongoing ideological and instructional initiatives. As a result, higher education’s independence was reduced and subjugated to political agendas. Recruitment of students into the PZPR ranks was not given much importance at first; it wasn’t until the 1960s that it started to receive significant attention. As a result, duties delegated by higher authorities were formalized, and there was more control over how they were carried out. Despite intensive activities aimed at increasing youth participation in party life, until the end of the existence of the Polish People’s Republic, the scope of the PZPR’s influence among students was limited. The only measurable criterion of the party’s offensive in the academic community was quantitative, not qualitative.

O relație dificilă. Social-democrații, comuniștii și conflictele politice din România postbelică, 1944-1947

The Social Democratic Party and the Romanian Communist Party developed a very sinuous and difficult political relation after the events of August 1944. The origins of this relation were complicated since 1921, when the RCP separated itself from the SDP and adhered to the International Bolshevik. This essay briefly pinpoints some of the major divergencies between the two parts that culminated in 1946 with the split of the SDP and, in early 1948, with the dissapearance of the entire social-democratic movement through its absorption within the newly emerged Romanian Workers Party (RWP).

The Punisher's Dilemma: Domestic Opposition and Foreign Policy Crises

Abstract Existing work on the democratic accountability of foreign policy suggests that when an incumbent incurs foreign policy losses, including but not limited to standing down in a crisis, making costly compromises, or accepting defeat abroad, opposition politicians at home weigh criticizing the government with the national interest. But this work has largely been developed with a view to explaining oppositional behavior in consolidated democracies. I argue that while electorally competitive oppositions in weakly institutionalized regimes can and frequently do criticize elected incumbents for costly foreign policy reversals, they are less likely to do so if they believe this criticism may negatively affect democratic stability and potentially invite irregular leadership turnover, as this would prevent the opposition from coming into office. I find support for this hypothesis, which I term oppositional pragmatism, in a survey experiment on 430 political party workers affiliated with Pakistan's biggest political party and directionally consistent effects on a smaller but highly elite sample of 202 Pakistani legislators.

Lubelski Komitet Wojewódzki Polskiej Zjednoczonej Partii Robotniczej a październik 1956 r.

In October of 1956, the Polish People’s Republic went through a serious political crisis, which was partially caused by rivalry between fractions in the Central Committee of the Polish United Workers’ Party. The events in Warsaw influenced the lower party structures, namely the voivodeship committees. In the October period, the Lublin Voivodeship Committee of the Polish United Workers Party experienced turmoil and staff rotation. The text shows the processes that took place in the local center of power of the Lubelskie Voivodeship. It concerns personnel changes in the executive and the position of the first secretary. The analysis of the October events also takes into account characteristics of the processes that took place on the political map of Lublin.

Unemployed vanguard: problems of employment of former workers of the CPSU apparatus (based on socio-political periodicals)

The article considers the problem of employment of the former party nomenclature of the CPSU as a political and social problem. The data of labor exchanges, which appeared in the public domain, materials of socio-political periodicals and a number of archival documents were involved. The legal basis for the dismissal of party cadres, strategies for finding a new social niche, the main points of social tension, as well as the opinions of contemporaries on this problem are considered. Attempts have been made to identify specific features of unemployment among party cadres, depending on age, position in the former party hierarchy. A separate problem was technical workers who were connected with the CPSU only by labor relations, but who also suffered from political decisions. It is concluded that the employment of former party workers was a political rather than a social problem, and despite the state's interest in neutralizing the political ambitions of the social stratum removed from power, the fundamental features of its former position gave rise to a number of problems, on the one hand, hindering normal employment, and on the other – leading to its close integration. in a new establishment, in a new, now economic role, which can also be seen as a destabilizing factor. It is concluded that the employment of former party workers was a political rather than a social problem, and despite the state's interest in neutralizing the political ambitions of the social stratum removed from power, the fundamental features of its former position gave rise to a number of problems. On the one hand, these peculiarities prevented the normal employment of a large part of this stratum, and on the other hand, led to the close integration of its minority into the new establishment, but now in a new, economic role.