Sean Chabot and Stellan Vinthagen
The emerging synthesis between nonviolent action and contentious politics studies has yielded important insights. Yet it also reproduces the dichotomy between politics and culture…
Abstract
The emerging synthesis between nonviolent action and contentious politics studies has yielded important insights. Yet it also reproduces the dichotomy between politics and culture that continues to haunt both fields. Extending recent work by Jean-Pierre Reed and John Foran, our contribution introduces the political cultures of nonviolent opposition concept to forge a new synthesis, one that recognizes the politics of nonviolent culture and the culture of nonviolent politics. We apply our theoretical framework to two empirical cases, the Indian independence movement and the Landless Workers Movement in Brazil (known as Movimento Sem Terra or MST), and conclude with ideas for further research on political cultures of nonviolent opposition.
Commenting on the Mexican Revolution in 1938, Trotsky argued that the country might achieve “national independence,” understood as a break with dependency relations. Whether this…
Abstract
Commenting on the Mexican Revolution in 1938, Trotsky argued that the country might achieve “national independence,” understood as a break with dependency relations. Whether this might occur depended – Trotsky continued – on “international factors.” Though not engaging with Mexico, Antonio Gramsci made a similar theoretical point. It is hence from this perspective that this chapter analyses the Mexican Revolution, asking whether it led to a break in dependency relations and the attainment of “national independence” or what I refer to as “relative geopolitical autonomy.” Presenting a framework of analysis largely based on the work of Gramsci that highlights its continuity with the thought of Marx, the chapter will answer negatively to this question. The chapter starts from the idea that Porfirio Díaz’s regime was unable to adapt the economic structure (still pre-capitalist) to the complex superstructures (capitalist), that is, to realize an historic bloc. It would be this job that the emergent Mexican bourgeoisie sought to finish. However, the situation is complicated by the powerful emergence of social movements from below, constituted largely by landless peasants, and to a lesser extent, the industrial proletariat. I will therefore argue that the revolution has been both “passive” and “bounded.” The term passive revolution will be applied to the last phase of the revolution as the emerging bourgeoisie successfully coopted the demands of the popular masses thereby “passivizing” them. But crucially, the revolution was also “bounded” because international factors, and especially US influence, played a conditioning role throughout the revolutionary process. At the same time, it would be the very “passive” nature of the revolution that would contribute to the reproduction of relations of dependency. Hence the chapter concludes that the period Trotsky commented upon (the Cárdenas period) is the highest level of “independence” Mexico achieved, only to decrease again over the years.
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Asbjorn Osland and Joyce S. Osland
The purpose of this case study is to illustrate the global risks facing an award‐winning company known for best practices in sustainability and HRM that, nevertheless, is…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this case study is to illustrate the global risks facing an award‐winning company known for best practices in sustainability and HRM that, nevertheless, is challenged by a contentious land dispute with indigenous communities and numerous stakeholders.
Design/methodology/approach
This is a case study based primarily on secondary sources, such as reports and web sites of the company and its stakeholders.
Findings
Aracruz Celulose SA, a Brazilian pulp company founded by a Norwegian, owns legal title to land claimed by indigenous communities. As a result, they face a complex array of additional stakeholders with contradictory perspectives: local and international non‐governmental organizations, various Brazilian and Norwegian Government entities, the World Bank, and investors. The company runs the risk of losing land and assets, reputation, and investors. There are few simple solutions to the dilemma of unresolved property rights and agrarian reform problematic in much of Latin America. Even Aracruz's hoped – for court ruling may not guarantee an end to conflict without a creative solution.
Research limitations/implications
The controversy is ongoing and the outcomes are not yet determined. Based on one case, limited generalizations can be made.
Originality/value
Numerous best practices in the operational areas under a company's control cannot completely protect firms from risks related to larger societal dilemmas and the need to negotiate win‐win solutions with stakeholders.
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One of the intractable problems in all democracies is how to deal with the paradox of political equality alongside economic inequality. All democracies uphold political and civil…
Abstract
One of the intractable problems in all democracies is how to deal with the paradox of political equality alongside economic inequality. All democracies uphold political and civil equality, yet they all maintain material inequality. A host of constitutional rights and liberties makes everybody in a democracy equal in a formal-legal way. Simultaneously, all democracies protect private property. Since property is always unequally distributed it follows that constitutional guarantees of property rights may undermine efforts to ensure material equality. If, as in South Africa, land was acquired by settlers through colonialism, then constitutional protection of property rights provides a legal sanction for colonial land theft.
In this paper, we deal with one form of bonded labour generating under the brokerage system. We have led a qualitative survey in a small village of South India to study the…
Abstract
In this paper, we deal with one form of bonded labour generating under the brokerage system. We have led a qualitative survey in a small village of South India to study the phenomenon of brokerage. In this village, labourers are seasonal migrants who in order to migrate, take advance from brokers. The village is characterised by a high number of brokers who are in competition to attract labourers to their team. In this environment, labourers have the bargaining power to demand high amount of advance. Therefore, brokers bond them in order to reduce their bargaining power and to avoid competition.
This study explores the simultaneous transitions in Palestine/Israel and South Africa at the end of the 20th century through an analysis of the shifting geography of Johannesburg…
Abstract
This study explores the simultaneous transitions in Palestine/Israel and South Africa at the end of the 20th century through an analysis of the shifting geography of Johannesburg and Jerusalem. After analyzing the relationship between political, economic and spatial restructuring, I examine the walled enclosures that mark the landscapes of post-apartheid Johannesburg and post-Oslo Jerusalem. I conclude by arguing that these walled enclosures reveal several interconnected aspects of the relationship between neo-liberal restructuring and the militarization of urban space. They also exemplify different configurations of sovereignty under conditions of neo-liberalism and empire.
Higher economic growth is necessary to reduce the level of poverty and improve the living standard of population. But higher economic growth requires greater use of natural…
Abstract
Higher economic growth is necessary to reduce the level of poverty and improve the living standard of population. But higher economic growth requires greater use of natural resources and environment which in turn leads to their degradation and eventual decay. Increased population pressure on natural resources also contributes to their degradation. Hence, higher growth may not necessarily lead to sustainable development unless it is accompanied by environmental protection. An efficient demand management policy by emphasizing conservation and prudent use of environment can also increase the supply of reserves. One alternative is to attempt to conserve resources via community management of such resources. But community management cannot succeed in absence of appropriate property rights of the community and of women and appropriate institutions to enforce such rights. These in turn require the presence of an activist developmental state which can engage in a participatory system of environmental conservation and management.
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Eric K. Kaufman and Rick D. Rudd
With millions of dollars being invested in adult rural leadership development, it is essential that research be conducted to determine the effectiveness of this investment. Such…
Abstract
With millions of dollars being invested in adult rural leadership development, it is essential that research be conducted to determine the effectiveness of this investment. Such research can validate the investment and provide guidance for future programming. However, an extensive review of literature in Cambridge Scientific Abstracts yielded only 15 relevant research articles over a decade of publication. Among these articles, sub-topic areas identified included Partnerships, Political Shifts, Safety & Health, Gender Equity, Public Discourse, Statewide Program Impact, and Continuing Education. All of these areas lacked adequate saturation of research. The effectiveness of rural leadership development is severely threatened by this lack of published research. With increasingly limited resources, those engaged in rural leadership development programming must address significant deficiencies in the research and share findings for the betterment of all.
Jennifer Earl and Jessica L. Beyer
We analyze reactions to the U.S. government-led repression of WikiLeaks in late 2010 by actors such as Anonymous and the Pirate Parties to argue that the potential for backlash…
Abstract
We analyze reactions to the U.S. government-led repression of WikiLeaks in late 2010 by actors such as Anonymous and the Pirate Parties to argue that the potential for backlash, which has been so prominent offline, is also a potential repercussion of repression online. In doing so, we use existing research to identify different ways in which bystanders might be pulled into conflicts, and examine our case for evidence of any of these forms of backlash. We also hypothesize that the net observed effect of repression is really the result of competing and/or amplifying backlash and deterrence effects; when this net effect is in favor of backlash, we call it a “net backlash effect” to indicate that there was more backlash than deterrence. We argue that net backlash occurs when repression recruits more bystanders into a conflict than it is able to deter in terms of already active participants. We also argue that backlash is a very likely outcome when Internet activism is repressed.
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In March 2002, the Bush administration unveiled what it deems to be a “new global development compact”: the Millennium Challenge Account (MCA). This new compact builds upon the…
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In March 2002, the Bush administration unveiled what it deems to be a “new global development compact”: the Millennium Challenge Account (MCA). This new compact builds upon the Millennium Development Goals, e.g. halving world poverty by 2015, put forward by 189 countries at the Millennium General Assembly at the United Nations in September 2000. However, and in stark contrast with the latter strategy, which is aimed at addressing human security issues, the MCA is tied to the objectives of the 2002 National Security Strategy of the United States. As such, the MCA is primarily aimed at bringing excluded states (or, “failed states”) into the bounds of disciplinary role of capital. For instance, one of the most novel, and coercive, features of this development compact is the “pre-emptive” method in which it will administer aid. Under the MCA, only countries that govern justly, invest in their people, and open their economies to foreign enterprise and entrepreneurship will qualify for funding. In what follows, I argue that while the form of the MCA represents an unabashed articulation of U.S.-led imperialism vis-à-vis the poorest regions in the South, witnessed by the growing privatization of development aid and military intervention, its content reflects the same goals and interests that underlie the proceeding development agenda (i.e. the Washington consensus), namely promoting the idea that the “only” path to increased growth and prosperity is to be found in countries’ willingness and ability to adopt policies that promote economic freedom and the rule of law.