Jonas Wolff is professor of political science with a focus on transformation studies and Latin America at Goethe University Frankfurt as well as head of the research department "Intrastate Conflict" and executive board member of the Peace Research Institute Frankfurt (PRIF). Address: https://www.hsfk.de/en/staff/employees/jonas-wolff/
The last ten years have seen an emerging debate about targeted violence against social activists,... more The last ten years have seen an emerging debate about targeted violence against social activists, with a focus on the killings of human rights defenders, environmental activists, and representatives of civil society organizations broadly speaking. Whereas violence against civilians in (civil) war contexts is an established field of study, research on this type of violence – which is being observed mainly outside of conventional armed conflict settings in countries such as Brazil, Colombia, Honduras or the Philippines – is much less developed and rather fragmented. In this TraCe Working Paper, we bring together existing data and research to identify what we know – and do not know – about the targeted, lethal violence against civil society activists, including its characteristics and causes. In doing so, we also discuss the question of whether and to what extent this phenomenon can be considered as reflecting a transformation of the (violent) repression of civil society actors. Throughout the paper, we draw on cross-national and comparative research on the one hand, and existing studies on the specific case of Colombia on the other, since this is the case for which the best data and most systematic and in-depth research exists. In this paper, though, we are not interested in analyzing the recent wave of assassinations of social activists in Colombia per se, but in discussing insights from Colombia as relevant contributions to the broader, comparative debate.
The year 2023 in Ecuador was characterized by a political crisis that erupted in the midst of esc... more The year 2023 in Ecuador was characterized by a political crisis that erupted in the midst of escalating criminal violence. While the political crisis was eventually solved by means of new elections, the security crisis has persisted and even worsened during the first months of the presidency of Daniel Noboa. In response, in January 2024, the newly elected president proclaimed a state of “internal armed conflict” and declared 22 criminal gangs as terrorist groups. Against this background, the article reviews recent development in Ecuador as well as the corresponding academic scholarship to discuss two questions: Why and how has Ecuador – in such a short period of time – moved from being among the most peaceful countries in the region to one of the most violent ones? Which consequences of this escalating security crisis can we already observe for Ecuadorian politics and the democratic regime in more general terms? To make sense of Ecuador’s shift from a relatively peaceful to a violence-ridden country, we identify three interrelated sets of causal factors: Ecuador’s increasing role in the transnational drug business; the reconfiguration of Ecuador’s criminal groups; and the social and political context in Ecuador.
Resumen: El año 2023 en el Ecuador se caracterizó por una crisis política que estalló en medio de una escalada de violencia criminal. Si bien la crisis política se resolvió mediante nuevas elecciones, la crisis de seguridad ha persistido e incluso empeoró durante los primeros meses de la presidencia de Daniel Noboa. En respuesta, en enero del 2024, el recién elegido presidente proclamó el estado de “conflicto armado interno” y declaró a 22 bandas criminales como grupos terroristas. Ante este panorama, el artículo examina los acontecimientos recientes en Ecuador, así como los correspondientes estudios académicos, para analizar dos preguntas: ¿Por qué y cómo ha pasado Ecuador, en tan poco tiempo, de ser uno de los países más pacíficos de la región a uno de los más violentos? Y, ¿qué consecuencias de esta escalada de la crisis de seguridad podemos observar ya para la política ecuatoriana y el régimen democrático en general? Para entender el cambio de Ecuador de un país relativamente pacífico a uno plagado de violencia, identificamos tres conjuntos de factores causales interrelacionados: El creciente papel de Ecuador en el negocio transnacional de la droga; la reconfiguración de los grupos criminales ecuatorianos; y el contexto social y político en Ecuador.
International Journal of Comparative Sociology, 2024
Social movement studies clearly suggest that trust matters for processes of social mobilization: ... more Social movement studies clearly suggest that trust matters for processes of social mobilization: When engaging in costly, and potentially risky, contentious collective action on a common goal, activists and groups rely on the expectation that fellow protestors and allies will not fail them. To date, however, we lack research that explains which types of trust shape the emergence and evolution of social movements. Trust, we argue, is not simply an independent variable influencing mobilization, but is itself shaped-built, stabilized, weakened, or even destroyed-over the course of collective contentious action. To set the stage for a corresponding research agenda, this introduction to the special issue "Trust and Social Movements" bridges the gap between research on trust and social movement studies and clarifies the complex conceptual relationship between various types of trust and the dynamics of social mobilization. Furthermore, we identify overarching research questions, summarize the contributions to the special issue, and discuss key findings.
In this contribution, we discuss the South–South traveling of concepts as an ignored dimension in... more In this contribution, we discuss the South–South traveling of concepts as an ignored dimension in the Area Studies (AS) debate and one that we think should be seen as an essential part of a comparative AS research agenda. Focusing on social movement studies (SMS), we argue that this research field has seen lively debates on whether and how northern-centered theories should be applied to different regions of the Global South but has yet to tap into the potential offered by the deliberate appropriation of concepts developed with a view to one region of the Global South by scholars working on another region.
The contribution is part of the forum "Contextualizing the Contextualizers: How the Area Studies Controversy is Different in Different Places", by Jan Busse, Morten Valbjørn, Asel Doolotkeldieva, Stefanie Ortmann, Karen Smith, Sérgio Costa, Irene Weipert-Fenner, Jonas Wolff, Saskia Schäfer, and Norma Osterberg-Kaufmann.
Zeitschrift für ausländisches öffentliches Recht und Völkerrecht / Heidelberg Journal of International Law, 2023
The comment reviews and critically assesses the current EU debate on how to respond to foreign in... more The comment reviews and critically assesses the current EU debate on how to respond to foreign interference. We start by analysing the legal framework for restricting foreign interference, in particular by considering recent judgments by the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) and the European Court of Justice (ECJ) that limit the range of legitimate restrictions. Then, we discuss the political risks associated with an overall broad and vague EU approach to restricting foreign interference. In the concluding section, we summarise our criticism and suggest a more cautious approach to foreign interference.
Zeitschrift für Menschenrechte / Journal for Human Rights, 2023
The academic essay discusses the relationship between human rights and peace in the context of th... more The academic essay discusses the relationship between human rights and peace in the context of the controversy over the phenomenon of shrinking civic spaces, that is, the global trend of increasing restrictions on the capacity, autonomy and collective action of civil society actors. Analyzing the recent wave of civic space restrictions from a political science perspective on both human rights and peace, the contribution particularly points to the complex, and at times counterintuitive, relationship between civic space restrictions, human rights, and peace.
Andares: Revista De Derechos Humanos Y De La Naturaleza, 2023
Resumen: En las últimas décadas, la región andina ha experimentado avances importantes en la cons... more Resumen: En las últimas décadas, la región andina ha experimentado avances importantes en la construcción de sistemas de pluralismo jurídico. Esta “obra en curso”, sin embargo, ha sido y sigue siendo objeto de duras disputas sociales, jurídicas y políticas. El artículo explora una perspectiva teórica que destaca la relación entre el conflicto y la (des)confianza para analizar estas disputas sobre el reconocimiento legal de la justicia indígena y la construcción política de sistemas de pluralismo jurídico en la región andina. Basado en estudios previos y con enfoque particular en los casos de Bolivia y Ecuador, se plantean cuatro hipótesis. Primero, la desconfianza ha sido y es un factor clave en la resistencia al reconocimiento de los sistemas de justicia indígena. Por ende, segundo, una posible deconstrucción de la desconfianza en la justicia indígena requiere de un conflicto manifiesto sobre tal reconocimiento, que permita a las élites tradicionales y a la población general desarrollar una visión más informada y diferenciada sobre el tema. Sin embargo, tercero, tal conflicto abierto sobre la justicia indígena de todas formas puede contribuir a reproducir, o incluso reforzar, la desconfianza. El hecho de que los conflictos faciliten la deconstrucción o la reproducción de la desconfianza depende, por último, del tipo de conflicto y su articulación con una conflictividad sociopolítica más generalizada.
Abstract: During the last decades, the Andean region has moved significantly towards constructing systems of legal pluralism. This “work in progress”, however, has been and continues to be heavily contested in the judicial and the political sphere as well as within society at large. The article explores a theoretical perspective that emphasizes the relation between conflict and (mis-)trust in order to analyze the disputes about the legal recognition of indigenous justice and the establishment of legal pluralism in the Andean region. Based on existing studies and with a particular focus on the cases of Bolivia and Ecuador, four hypotheses are put forward: First, mistrust has been and is a key factor shaping the resistance against the recognition of indigenous justice. Therefore, second, a possible deconstruction of this mistrust requires open conflict that enables traditional elites and the general population to develop an informed and differentiated opinion on the matter at hand. Third, however, such open conflict over indigenous justice can also contribute to reproducing, or even reinforcing, mistrust. Whether conflicts actually facilitate the deconstruction or rather the reproduction of mistrust depends, fourth, on the type of conflict and its articulation with broader socio-political controversies.
During the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, governments across the globe implemented severe r... more During the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, governments across the globe implemented severe restrictions of civic freedoms to contain the spread of the virus. The global health emergency posed the risk of governments seizing the pandemic as a window of opportunity to curb (potential) challenges to their power, thereby reinforcing the ongoing, worldwide trend of shrinking civic spaces. In this article, we investigate whether and how governments used the pandemic as a justification to impose restrictions of freedom of expression. Drawing on the scholarship on the causes of civic space restrictions, we argue that governments responded to COVID-19 by curtailing the freedom of expression when they had faced significant contentious political challenges before the pandemic. Our results from a quantitative analysis indeed show that countries who experienced high levels of pro-democracy mobilization before the onset of the pandemic were more likely to see restrictions of the freedom of expression relative to countries with no or low levels of mobilization. Additional three brief case studies (Algeria, Bolivia and India) illustrate the process of how pre-pandemic mass protests fostered the imposition of restrictions on the freedom of expression during the pandemic.
In this article, we address the question of how policy orientation shapes academic research from ... more In this article, we address the question of how policy orientation shapes academic research from a sociological perspective. Policy orientation involves the mobilization of scientific resources and the “mobilization of the world.” Our analysis is based on Bourdieusian field theory and focuses on democracy promotion research (DPR). It shows that DPR is a heterogeneous academic field characterized by the field-specific demand for policy orientation. (Western) Scholars and, particularly, scholar-practitioners occupy central positions, and field-specific practices of policy orientation include stocktaking, evaluation, problem identification, and critical intervention. While we derive these insights from analysis of DPR, our findings are useful for the study of policy orientation in similar academic fields. For the reflexive and systematic analysis of how policy orientation shapes, for example, development studies and human rights research, we suggest a focus on interrelations between academic fields, field-specific struggles, and relationships with the respective policy fields.
En este artículo abordamos la cuestión de cómo la orientación normativa conforma la investigación académica desde una perspectiva sociológica. La orientación normativa implica la movilización de recursos científicos y la «movilización del mundo». Nuestro análisis se basa en la teoría de campo bourdieusiana y se centra en la investigación para la promoción de la democracia (IPD). El análisis muestra que la IPD es un campo académico heterogéneo, así como la demanda específica de orientación normativa. Los académicos (occidentales) y, en particular los académicos que se dedican también a la práctica profesional en sus respectivos campos de investigación ocupan posiciones centrales, y las prácticas de orientación normativa específicas de cada campo incluyen el balance, la evaluación, la identificación de problemas y la intervención crítica. Aunque estas conclusiones se derivan del análisis de la IPD, nuestros resultados son útiles para el estudio de la orientación normativa en campos académicos similares. Con el fin de realizar un análisis reflexivo y sistemático de cómo la orientación normativa conforma, por ejemplo, los estudios sobre desarrollo y la investigación sobre derechos humanos, sugerimos un enfoque centrado en las interrelaciones entre los campos académicos, las luchas específicas de cada campo y las relaciones con los respectivos campos normativos.
Dans cet article, nous nous intéressons à la question suivante : comment l'orientation politique façonne-t-elle la recherche académique d'un point de vue sociologique ? L'orientation politique implique la mobilisation de ressources scientifiques et la « mobilisation du monde ». Fondée sur la théorie de la pratique bourdieusienne, notre analyse se concentre sur la recherche sur la promotion de la démocratie (RPD). Elle montre que la RPD constitue un domaine académique hétérogène, mais correspond aussi à la demande d'orientation politique spécifique à ce domaine. Les chercheurs (occidentaux) et, plus particulièrement, les professionnels-chercheurs occupent des postes importants. Les pratiques d'orientation politique spécifiques au domaine incluent la réalisation d’état des lieux, d’évaluations, d'identifications de problèmes et d'interventions critiques. Bien que nous tirions ces informations d'une analyse de la RPD, nos conclusions se révèlent aussi utiles dans l’étude de l'orientation politique dans des domaines académiques similaires. Dans le cadre de l'analyse réflexive et systématique de la façon dont l'orientation politique façonne, par exemple, l’étude du développement ou la recherche sur les droits de l'homme, nous suggérons un accent sur les interrelations entre les domaines académiques, les défis spécifiques à un domaine et les relations avec les domaines de politique respectifs.
The threat of continued violence is a primary concern in post-conflict societies. This article co... more The threat of continued violence is a primary concern in post-conflict societies. This article contributes to the literature on post-conflict violence by analyzing a specific phenomenon that has characterized Colombia since the signing of the 2016 peace agreement: the assassination of social leaders. Building on explanations that emphasize state weakness, illicit economies, and the role of illegal armed actors, we argue that the assassination of social leaders also responds to efforts by local elites to sustain local competitive authoritarian orders in the face of bottom-up threats to their power by sociopolitical actors mobilized around the local implementation of the peace agreement. Using a cross-sectional dataset of Colombian municipalities, we find that assassinations of social leaders are more likely and more frequent in municipalities with intermediate levels of party fragmentation and low levels of voter turnout—that is, in municipalities with restricted electoral competition. Furthermore, a higher share of votes for leftist parties, which signals the presence of challengers to local elites, correlates with a higher probability and a higher number of assassinations. Overall,
this article suggests that the nature of local political orders constitutes a key dimension shaping the micro-dynamics of violence and repression in post-conflict contexts.
Violence in post-conflict settings is often attributed to a post-war boom in organized crime, fac... more Violence in post-conflict settings is often attributed to a post-war boom in organized crime, facilitated by the demobilization of armed groups and the persisting weakness of the state. The article argues that this is only one pathway of post-conflict violence. A second causal pathway emerges from the challenges that peace processes can constitute for entrenched local political orders. By fostering political inclusion, the implementation of peace agreements may threaten subnational political elites that have used the context of armed conflict to ally with armed non-state actors. Violence is then used as a means to preserve such de facto authoritarian local orders. We start from the assumption that these two explanations are not exclusive or competing, but grasp different causal processes that may well both be at work behind the assassination of social leaders (líderes sociales) in Colombia since the 2016 peace agreement with the FARC guerrilla. We argue that this specific type of targeted violence can, in fact, be attributed to different, locally specific configurations that resemble the two pathways. The article combines fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis with the case studies of the municipalities of Sardinata and Suárez to empirically establish and illustrate the two pathways.
In recent years, democracy has been facing increasing challenges. How has comparative regime rese... more In recent years, democracy has been facing increasing challenges. How has comparative regime research responded? Focusing on the Varieties of Democracy (V-Dem) project, this paper argues that the perception of serious threats to democracy in general and liberal norms in particular has given rise to a convergence around the liberal conception of democracy, reversing a previous turn towards recognising its conceptual contestability. In tracing V-Dem’s discursive turn from the contestation to the decontestation of democracy, the paper reconstructs two mechanisms that concern the ways in which academic research relates to the outside world and that have jointly pushed V-Dem scholars towards embracing unequivocally liberal conceptions of regime type and regime change. As a response to the crisis of democracy, this gradual abandonment of a pluralist conceptualisation of democracy is understandable but also deeply problematic as it contributes to downplaying the inherent limitations of liberal democracy.
Wolff, Jonas 2020: Nach Morales: Bolivianische Restauration?, in: Blätter für deutsche und internationale Politik 10/2020, 41-44, Oct 2020
Wenn die bolivianische Bevölkerung am 18. Oktober an die Urnen tritt, um ein neues Staatsoberhaup... more Wenn die bolivianische Bevölkerung am 18. Oktober an die Urnen tritt, um ein neues Staatsoberhaupt und das Parlament zu wählen, geht es um nichts weniger als das Erbe der Regierung von Ex-Präsident Evo Morales, der das Land zwischen 2006 und 2019 geführt hat. Gelingt dessen Movimiento al Socialismo (MAS) ein knappes Jahr nach Morales‘ überraschendem Sturz die triumphale Rückkehr in den Präsidentenpalast? Oder verleiht der Sieg eines Anti-MAS-Kandidaten dem putschähnlichen Ende der damaligen Regierung im Nachhinein demokratische Weihen und besiegelt damit endgültig das Ende der Ära Morales?
Since the turn of the century, an increasing number of governments around the world has introduce... more Since the turn of the century, an increasing number of governments around the world has introduced or tightened restrictions on civil society organizations (CSOs). Attempts by local CSOs and external actors to counter this trend of shrinking civic spaces have been mostly unsuccessful. In a few notable cases, however, civic space restrictions have been reversed or even prevented from being adopted in the first place. Focusing on resistance to so-called NGO laws, this paper explores the strategies, causal mechanisms and scope conditions that help explain the successful defense of civic space. In a first step, the paper develops a theoretical framework by drawing on research on the diffusion and promotion of international norms, civic resistance and social movements. Second, it looks at two cases-Kenya (2013) and Kyrgyzstan (2013-2016)in which governmental attempts to impose legal restrictions on foreign-funded NGOs were effectively aborted. The analysis finds that successful resistance in both cases was based on domestic campaigns organized by broad alliances of local CSOs, which were able to draw on preexisting mobilizing structures and put forward a socioeconomic narrative to lobby against civic space restrictions. In Kyrgyzstan, but not in Kenya, external actors also played a significant role.
Zeitschrift für Friedens- und Konfliktforschung, 2020
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, a majority of countries worldwide have introduced severe li... more In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, a majority of countries worldwide have introduced severe limitations on the freedom of assembly, if not an outright lockdown, in many cases complemented by restrictions on further civil and political rights. Although restrictions were generally considered necessary to save lives and protect health care systems from overburdening, they also pose the risk of government overreach, that is, governments may use the pandemic as a convenient opportunity and justification to impose restrictions for political purposes. In this sense, COVID-19 may give yet another substantial boost to a global trend that has been unfolding since the early 2000s: the shrinking of civic spaces, which is characterized by an increase in government restrictions that target civil society actors and limit their freedoms of assembly, association, and expression. The aim of the paper is to assess civic space restrictions that have been imposed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic with a view to exploring their immediate consequences as well as their potential mid-term implications for civil society organizations in general and contentious civic activism in particular. We do so by, first, providing evidence from multiple data sources about the global spread of COVID-19-related restrictions over time and across countries. Second, we identify key dynamics at work in order to assess the immediate consequences and the potential mid-term implications of these restrictions. These dynamics are illustrated by looking at experiences from individual countries (including Cambodia, Germany, Hungary, and Lebanon).
In Bolivia, the year 2019 marks the end of an era: In November, after almost 14 years in power, E... more In Bolivia, the year 2019 marks the end of an era: In November, after almost 14 years in power, Evo Morales was forced to prematurely leave the presidency and, shortly thereafter, also the country. This dramatic event was preceded by contentious elections, allegations of electoral fraud, massive post-electoral protests, and the switching of sides by the police and the military. Rather than pacifying the situation, Morales' resignation led to a further escalation of the conflict, involving violent clashes between protesters and security forces. In the end, however, a negotiated solution of the crisis was reached that enabled the controversial interim president Jeanine Áñez to call new elections. In an attempt to make sense of this remarkable chain of events, the article (1) summarizes key causes that have made the once invincible MAS government so vulnerable and (2) analyzes the October elections as well as the sociopolitical dynamics that unfolded afterwards with a focus on key controversies surrounding the elections (electoral fraud?) and the fall of Morales (a coup?). Finally, (3) the article briefly assesses the dynamics under the current interim government and looks at the forthcoming general elections, which are scheduled for 6 September 2020.
En Bolivia, el año 2019 marca el fin de una era: En noviembre, tras casi 14 años en el poder, Evo Morales fue forzado a dejar prematuramente la presidencia y, poco después, también el país. Este acontecimiento dramático fue precedido por elecciones controvertidas, denuncias de fraude electoral, protestas postelectorales masivas y el cambio de bando de la policía y las Fuerzas Armadas. En lugar de calmar la situación, la renuncia de Morales provocó una nueva escalada del conflicto, con enfrentamientos violentos entre los manifestantes y las fuerzas de seguridad. Sin embargo, finalmente se llegó a una solución negociada de la crisis que permitió a la polémica presidenta interina Jeanine Áñez convocar nuevas elecciones. En un intento por entender esta extraordinaria cadena de acontecimientos, el artículo (1) resume las principales causas que han hecho tan vulnerable al otrora invencible gobierno del MAS y (2) analiza las elecciones de octubre así como la dinámica sociopolítica que se desarrolló después, centrándose en las principales controversias en torno a las elecciones (¿fraude electoral?) y la caída de Morales (¿golpe de estado?). Finalmente, (3) el artículo evalúa brevemente la dinámica bajo el actual gobierno interino y considera las próximas elecciones generales previstas para el 6 de septiembre de 2020.
European Review of Latin American and Caribbean Studies , 2019
With the ebbing of the pink tide, the MAS government in Bolivia remains as one of the most succes... more With the ebbing of the pink tide, the MAS government in Bolivia remains as one of the most successful leftist governments that had been elected throughout Latin America since the late 1990s. In order to better understand this surprising success story, this paper analyses the political economy of the post-neoliberal model that has taken shape under MAS rule. More specifically, it looks at the interaction between the strategic orientation and the specific features of economic policy-making in Bolivia, on the one hand, and the evolving relationship of the MAS government with the country's economic elites, on the other. The paper argues that Bolivia's specific version of post-neoliberalism has facilitated increasingly cooperative relations between the government and economic elites, while the latter have themselves contributed to the consolidation of the former. At the same time, the analysis of the political economy of Bolivian post-neoliberalism also reveals its inherent fragility.
Resumen: La economía política del postneoliberalismo boliviano: Política y elites Con el flujo de la marea rosa, el gobierno del MAS en Bolivia sigue siendo uno de los go-biernos izquierdistas elegidos más exitosos de toda América Latina desde finales de los años noventa. Para comprender mejor esta sorprendente historia de éxito, este artículo analiza la economía política del modelo post-neoliberal que ha tomado forma bajo el gobierno del MAS. Más específicamente, analiza la interacción entre la orientación estratégica y las ca-racterísticas específicas de la formulación de políticas económicas en Bolivia, por un lado, y la relación en evolución del gobierno del MAS con las élites económicas del país, por otro. Se argumenta que la versión específica del post-neoliberalismo de Bolivia ha facilitado rela-ciones cada vez más cooperativas entre el gobierno y las élites económicas, quienes han contribuido a la consolidación de las primeras. Al mismo tiempo, el análisis de la economía política del posneoliberalismo boliviano también revela su fragilidad inherente.
The paper analyses why Egypt’s labour movement, while having played a significant role in the run... more The paper analyses why Egypt’s labour movement, while having played a significant role in the run-up to the 2011 revolution, has been increasingly marginalised politically ever since, failing to achieve either significant labour-specific gains and/or broader objectives related to the overall process of political transformation. It does so by investigating Egypt’s movement of independent trade unions, the most dynamic element within the country’s labour movement, from a comparative perspective. Specifically, the paper uses the experience of Brazil’s New Unionism in the 1980s as a contrasting case, identifies the factors that have enabled and constrained what is arguably the most successful example of a New Unionist movement in the Global South, and applies this explanatory framework in an in-depth study on the trajectory of Egypt’s New Unionism since 2011. The study identifies four key differences between the Brazilian and the Egyptian case that help explain the post-revolutionary trajectory of independent labour in the latter: the different sequencing of neoliberal reforms and political liberalisation; the revolutionary character of the Egyptian uprising; the different role of individual movement entrepreneurs; and the lack of significant socio-political allies in the Egyptian case.
Colombia's peace process with the FARC-EP has brought a significant reduction in the national lev... more Colombia's peace process with the FARC-EP has brought a significant reduction in the national levels of violence. Yet, in certain regions of the country the demobilisation of Colombia's former largest guerrilla has been accompanied by rising rates of violence. The municipality of Tumaco in the extreme south of the country's Pacific coast is a case in point. In this paper, we demonstrate that a historical and socio-geographic perspective on the shifting dynamics of the armed conflict helps shed light on current developments in Tumaco. In particular, the analysis reveals a specific co-evolution of the FARC-EP presence and of the drug economy in the region, which helps explain key features of violence in the contemporary post-conflict context. The study provides important insights into Colombia's current peace process as well as, generally speaking, into the complex territorial dynamics of crime and violence during transitions to peace.
This article makes the case for why we should turn to studying democracy promotion negotiation, o... more This article makes the case for why we should turn to studying democracy promotion negotiation, outlines the research questions guiding this special issue, identifies overarching findings and summarizes the individual contributions. After outlining the rationale for more attention to the issue of negotiation, which we understand as a specific form of interaction between external and local actors in democracy promotion, we outline three basic assumptions informing our research: (1) Democracy promotion is an international practice that is necessarily accompanied by processes of negotiation. (2) These negotiation processes, in turn, have an impact upon the practice and outcome of democracy promotion. (3) For external democracy promotion to be mutually owned and effective, genuine negotiations between ‘promoters’ and ‘local actors’ are indispensable; the term ‘genuine’ here being understood as including a substantial exchange on diverging values and interests. The article, then, introduces the three research questions for this agenda, concerning the issues on the negotiation table, the parameters shaping negotiation processes, and the results of democracy promotion negotiation. We conclude by presenting an overview of the overarching findings of the special issue as well as with brief summaries of the individual contributions.
The last ten years have seen an emerging debate about targeted violence against social activists,... more The last ten years have seen an emerging debate about targeted violence against social activists, with a focus on the killings of human rights defenders, environmental activists, and representatives of civil society organizations broadly speaking. Whereas violence against civilians in (civil) war contexts is an established field of study, research on this type of violence – which is being observed mainly outside of conventional armed conflict settings in countries such as Brazil, Colombia, Honduras or the Philippines – is much less developed and rather fragmented. In this TraCe Working Paper, we bring together existing data and research to identify what we know – and do not know – about the targeted, lethal violence against civil society activists, including its characteristics and causes. In doing so, we also discuss the question of whether and to what extent this phenomenon can be considered as reflecting a transformation of the (violent) repression of civil society actors. Throughout the paper, we draw on cross-national and comparative research on the one hand, and existing studies on the specific case of Colombia on the other, since this is the case for which the best data and most systematic and in-depth research exists. In this paper, though, we are not interested in analyzing the recent wave of assassinations of social activists in Colombia per se, but in discussing insights from Colombia as relevant contributions to the broader, comparative debate.
The year 2023 in Ecuador was characterized by a political crisis that erupted in the midst of esc... more The year 2023 in Ecuador was characterized by a political crisis that erupted in the midst of escalating criminal violence. While the political crisis was eventually solved by means of new elections, the security crisis has persisted and even worsened during the first months of the presidency of Daniel Noboa. In response, in January 2024, the newly elected president proclaimed a state of “internal armed conflict” and declared 22 criminal gangs as terrorist groups. Against this background, the article reviews recent development in Ecuador as well as the corresponding academic scholarship to discuss two questions: Why and how has Ecuador – in such a short period of time – moved from being among the most peaceful countries in the region to one of the most violent ones? Which consequences of this escalating security crisis can we already observe for Ecuadorian politics and the democratic regime in more general terms? To make sense of Ecuador’s shift from a relatively peaceful to a violence-ridden country, we identify three interrelated sets of causal factors: Ecuador’s increasing role in the transnational drug business; the reconfiguration of Ecuador’s criminal groups; and the social and political context in Ecuador.
Resumen: El año 2023 en el Ecuador se caracterizó por una crisis política que estalló en medio de una escalada de violencia criminal. Si bien la crisis política se resolvió mediante nuevas elecciones, la crisis de seguridad ha persistido e incluso empeoró durante los primeros meses de la presidencia de Daniel Noboa. En respuesta, en enero del 2024, el recién elegido presidente proclamó el estado de “conflicto armado interno” y declaró a 22 bandas criminales como grupos terroristas. Ante este panorama, el artículo examina los acontecimientos recientes en Ecuador, así como los correspondientes estudios académicos, para analizar dos preguntas: ¿Por qué y cómo ha pasado Ecuador, en tan poco tiempo, de ser uno de los países más pacíficos de la región a uno de los más violentos? Y, ¿qué consecuencias de esta escalada de la crisis de seguridad podemos observar ya para la política ecuatoriana y el régimen democrático en general? Para entender el cambio de Ecuador de un país relativamente pacífico a uno plagado de violencia, identificamos tres conjuntos de factores causales interrelacionados: El creciente papel de Ecuador en el negocio transnacional de la droga; la reconfiguración de los grupos criminales ecuatorianos; y el contexto social y político en Ecuador.
International Journal of Comparative Sociology, 2024
Social movement studies clearly suggest that trust matters for processes of social mobilization: ... more Social movement studies clearly suggest that trust matters for processes of social mobilization: When engaging in costly, and potentially risky, contentious collective action on a common goal, activists and groups rely on the expectation that fellow protestors and allies will not fail them. To date, however, we lack research that explains which types of trust shape the emergence and evolution of social movements. Trust, we argue, is not simply an independent variable influencing mobilization, but is itself shaped-built, stabilized, weakened, or even destroyed-over the course of collective contentious action. To set the stage for a corresponding research agenda, this introduction to the special issue "Trust and Social Movements" bridges the gap between research on trust and social movement studies and clarifies the complex conceptual relationship between various types of trust and the dynamics of social mobilization. Furthermore, we identify overarching research questions, summarize the contributions to the special issue, and discuss key findings.
In this contribution, we discuss the South–South traveling of concepts as an ignored dimension in... more In this contribution, we discuss the South–South traveling of concepts as an ignored dimension in the Area Studies (AS) debate and one that we think should be seen as an essential part of a comparative AS research agenda. Focusing on social movement studies (SMS), we argue that this research field has seen lively debates on whether and how northern-centered theories should be applied to different regions of the Global South but has yet to tap into the potential offered by the deliberate appropriation of concepts developed with a view to one region of the Global South by scholars working on another region.
The contribution is part of the forum "Contextualizing the Contextualizers: How the Area Studies Controversy is Different in Different Places", by Jan Busse, Morten Valbjørn, Asel Doolotkeldieva, Stefanie Ortmann, Karen Smith, Sérgio Costa, Irene Weipert-Fenner, Jonas Wolff, Saskia Schäfer, and Norma Osterberg-Kaufmann.
Zeitschrift für ausländisches öffentliches Recht und Völkerrecht / Heidelberg Journal of International Law, 2023
The comment reviews and critically assesses the current EU debate on how to respond to foreign in... more The comment reviews and critically assesses the current EU debate on how to respond to foreign interference. We start by analysing the legal framework for restricting foreign interference, in particular by considering recent judgments by the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) and the European Court of Justice (ECJ) that limit the range of legitimate restrictions. Then, we discuss the political risks associated with an overall broad and vague EU approach to restricting foreign interference. In the concluding section, we summarise our criticism and suggest a more cautious approach to foreign interference.
Zeitschrift für Menschenrechte / Journal for Human Rights, 2023
The academic essay discusses the relationship between human rights and peace in the context of th... more The academic essay discusses the relationship between human rights and peace in the context of the controversy over the phenomenon of shrinking civic spaces, that is, the global trend of increasing restrictions on the capacity, autonomy and collective action of civil society actors. Analyzing the recent wave of civic space restrictions from a political science perspective on both human rights and peace, the contribution particularly points to the complex, and at times counterintuitive, relationship between civic space restrictions, human rights, and peace.
Andares: Revista De Derechos Humanos Y De La Naturaleza, 2023
Resumen: En las últimas décadas, la región andina ha experimentado avances importantes en la cons... more Resumen: En las últimas décadas, la región andina ha experimentado avances importantes en la construcción de sistemas de pluralismo jurídico. Esta “obra en curso”, sin embargo, ha sido y sigue siendo objeto de duras disputas sociales, jurídicas y políticas. El artículo explora una perspectiva teórica que destaca la relación entre el conflicto y la (des)confianza para analizar estas disputas sobre el reconocimiento legal de la justicia indígena y la construcción política de sistemas de pluralismo jurídico en la región andina. Basado en estudios previos y con enfoque particular en los casos de Bolivia y Ecuador, se plantean cuatro hipótesis. Primero, la desconfianza ha sido y es un factor clave en la resistencia al reconocimiento de los sistemas de justicia indígena. Por ende, segundo, una posible deconstrucción de la desconfianza en la justicia indígena requiere de un conflicto manifiesto sobre tal reconocimiento, que permita a las élites tradicionales y a la población general desarrollar una visión más informada y diferenciada sobre el tema. Sin embargo, tercero, tal conflicto abierto sobre la justicia indígena de todas formas puede contribuir a reproducir, o incluso reforzar, la desconfianza. El hecho de que los conflictos faciliten la deconstrucción o la reproducción de la desconfianza depende, por último, del tipo de conflicto y su articulación con una conflictividad sociopolítica más generalizada.
Abstract: During the last decades, the Andean region has moved significantly towards constructing systems of legal pluralism. This “work in progress”, however, has been and continues to be heavily contested in the judicial and the political sphere as well as within society at large. The article explores a theoretical perspective that emphasizes the relation between conflict and (mis-)trust in order to analyze the disputes about the legal recognition of indigenous justice and the establishment of legal pluralism in the Andean region. Based on existing studies and with a particular focus on the cases of Bolivia and Ecuador, four hypotheses are put forward: First, mistrust has been and is a key factor shaping the resistance against the recognition of indigenous justice. Therefore, second, a possible deconstruction of this mistrust requires open conflict that enables traditional elites and the general population to develop an informed and differentiated opinion on the matter at hand. Third, however, such open conflict over indigenous justice can also contribute to reproducing, or even reinforcing, mistrust. Whether conflicts actually facilitate the deconstruction or rather the reproduction of mistrust depends, fourth, on the type of conflict and its articulation with broader socio-political controversies.
During the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, governments across the globe implemented severe r... more During the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, governments across the globe implemented severe restrictions of civic freedoms to contain the spread of the virus. The global health emergency posed the risk of governments seizing the pandemic as a window of opportunity to curb (potential) challenges to their power, thereby reinforcing the ongoing, worldwide trend of shrinking civic spaces. In this article, we investigate whether and how governments used the pandemic as a justification to impose restrictions of freedom of expression. Drawing on the scholarship on the causes of civic space restrictions, we argue that governments responded to COVID-19 by curtailing the freedom of expression when they had faced significant contentious political challenges before the pandemic. Our results from a quantitative analysis indeed show that countries who experienced high levels of pro-democracy mobilization before the onset of the pandemic were more likely to see restrictions of the freedom of expression relative to countries with no or low levels of mobilization. Additional three brief case studies (Algeria, Bolivia and India) illustrate the process of how pre-pandemic mass protests fostered the imposition of restrictions on the freedom of expression during the pandemic.
In this article, we address the question of how policy orientation shapes academic research from ... more In this article, we address the question of how policy orientation shapes academic research from a sociological perspective. Policy orientation involves the mobilization of scientific resources and the “mobilization of the world.” Our analysis is based on Bourdieusian field theory and focuses on democracy promotion research (DPR). It shows that DPR is a heterogeneous academic field characterized by the field-specific demand for policy orientation. (Western) Scholars and, particularly, scholar-practitioners occupy central positions, and field-specific practices of policy orientation include stocktaking, evaluation, problem identification, and critical intervention. While we derive these insights from analysis of DPR, our findings are useful for the study of policy orientation in similar academic fields. For the reflexive and systematic analysis of how policy orientation shapes, for example, development studies and human rights research, we suggest a focus on interrelations between academic fields, field-specific struggles, and relationships with the respective policy fields.
En este artículo abordamos la cuestión de cómo la orientación normativa conforma la investigación académica desde una perspectiva sociológica. La orientación normativa implica la movilización de recursos científicos y la «movilización del mundo». Nuestro análisis se basa en la teoría de campo bourdieusiana y se centra en la investigación para la promoción de la democracia (IPD). El análisis muestra que la IPD es un campo académico heterogéneo, así como la demanda específica de orientación normativa. Los académicos (occidentales) y, en particular los académicos que se dedican también a la práctica profesional en sus respectivos campos de investigación ocupan posiciones centrales, y las prácticas de orientación normativa específicas de cada campo incluyen el balance, la evaluación, la identificación de problemas y la intervención crítica. Aunque estas conclusiones se derivan del análisis de la IPD, nuestros resultados son útiles para el estudio de la orientación normativa en campos académicos similares. Con el fin de realizar un análisis reflexivo y sistemático de cómo la orientación normativa conforma, por ejemplo, los estudios sobre desarrollo y la investigación sobre derechos humanos, sugerimos un enfoque centrado en las interrelaciones entre los campos académicos, las luchas específicas de cada campo y las relaciones con los respectivos campos normativos.
Dans cet article, nous nous intéressons à la question suivante : comment l'orientation politique façonne-t-elle la recherche académique d'un point de vue sociologique ? L'orientation politique implique la mobilisation de ressources scientifiques et la « mobilisation du monde ». Fondée sur la théorie de la pratique bourdieusienne, notre analyse se concentre sur la recherche sur la promotion de la démocratie (RPD). Elle montre que la RPD constitue un domaine académique hétérogène, mais correspond aussi à la demande d'orientation politique spécifique à ce domaine. Les chercheurs (occidentaux) et, plus particulièrement, les professionnels-chercheurs occupent des postes importants. Les pratiques d'orientation politique spécifiques au domaine incluent la réalisation d’état des lieux, d’évaluations, d'identifications de problèmes et d'interventions critiques. Bien que nous tirions ces informations d'une analyse de la RPD, nos conclusions se révèlent aussi utiles dans l’étude de l'orientation politique dans des domaines académiques similaires. Dans le cadre de l'analyse réflexive et systématique de la façon dont l'orientation politique façonne, par exemple, l’étude du développement ou la recherche sur les droits de l'homme, nous suggérons un accent sur les interrelations entre les domaines académiques, les défis spécifiques à un domaine et les relations avec les domaines de politique respectifs.
The threat of continued violence is a primary concern in post-conflict societies. This article co... more The threat of continued violence is a primary concern in post-conflict societies. This article contributes to the literature on post-conflict violence by analyzing a specific phenomenon that has characterized Colombia since the signing of the 2016 peace agreement: the assassination of social leaders. Building on explanations that emphasize state weakness, illicit economies, and the role of illegal armed actors, we argue that the assassination of social leaders also responds to efforts by local elites to sustain local competitive authoritarian orders in the face of bottom-up threats to their power by sociopolitical actors mobilized around the local implementation of the peace agreement. Using a cross-sectional dataset of Colombian municipalities, we find that assassinations of social leaders are more likely and more frequent in municipalities with intermediate levels of party fragmentation and low levels of voter turnout—that is, in municipalities with restricted electoral competition. Furthermore, a higher share of votes for leftist parties, which signals the presence of challengers to local elites, correlates with a higher probability and a higher number of assassinations. Overall,
this article suggests that the nature of local political orders constitutes a key dimension shaping the micro-dynamics of violence and repression in post-conflict contexts.
Violence in post-conflict settings is often attributed to a post-war boom in organized crime, fac... more Violence in post-conflict settings is often attributed to a post-war boom in organized crime, facilitated by the demobilization of armed groups and the persisting weakness of the state. The article argues that this is only one pathway of post-conflict violence. A second causal pathway emerges from the challenges that peace processes can constitute for entrenched local political orders. By fostering political inclusion, the implementation of peace agreements may threaten subnational political elites that have used the context of armed conflict to ally with armed non-state actors. Violence is then used as a means to preserve such de facto authoritarian local orders. We start from the assumption that these two explanations are not exclusive or competing, but grasp different causal processes that may well both be at work behind the assassination of social leaders (líderes sociales) in Colombia since the 2016 peace agreement with the FARC guerrilla. We argue that this specific type of targeted violence can, in fact, be attributed to different, locally specific configurations that resemble the two pathways. The article combines fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis with the case studies of the municipalities of Sardinata and Suárez to empirically establish and illustrate the two pathways.
In recent years, democracy has been facing increasing challenges. How has comparative regime rese... more In recent years, democracy has been facing increasing challenges. How has comparative regime research responded? Focusing on the Varieties of Democracy (V-Dem) project, this paper argues that the perception of serious threats to democracy in general and liberal norms in particular has given rise to a convergence around the liberal conception of democracy, reversing a previous turn towards recognising its conceptual contestability. In tracing V-Dem’s discursive turn from the contestation to the decontestation of democracy, the paper reconstructs two mechanisms that concern the ways in which academic research relates to the outside world and that have jointly pushed V-Dem scholars towards embracing unequivocally liberal conceptions of regime type and regime change. As a response to the crisis of democracy, this gradual abandonment of a pluralist conceptualisation of democracy is understandable but also deeply problematic as it contributes to downplaying the inherent limitations of liberal democracy.
Wolff, Jonas 2020: Nach Morales: Bolivianische Restauration?, in: Blätter für deutsche und internationale Politik 10/2020, 41-44, Oct 2020
Wenn die bolivianische Bevölkerung am 18. Oktober an die Urnen tritt, um ein neues Staatsoberhaup... more Wenn die bolivianische Bevölkerung am 18. Oktober an die Urnen tritt, um ein neues Staatsoberhaupt und das Parlament zu wählen, geht es um nichts weniger als das Erbe der Regierung von Ex-Präsident Evo Morales, der das Land zwischen 2006 und 2019 geführt hat. Gelingt dessen Movimiento al Socialismo (MAS) ein knappes Jahr nach Morales‘ überraschendem Sturz die triumphale Rückkehr in den Präsidentenpalast? Oder verleiht der Sieg eines Anti-MAS-Kandidaten dem putschähnlichen Ende der damaligen Regierung im Nachhinein demokratische Weihen und besiegelt damit endgültig das Ende der Ära Morales?
Since the turn of the century, an increasing number of governments around the world has introduce... more Since the turn of the century, an increasing number of governments around the world has introduced or tightened restrictions on civil society organizations (CSOs). Attempts by local CSOs and external actors to counter this trend of shrinking civic spaces have been mostly unsuccessful. In a few notable cases, however, civic space restrictions have been reversed or even prevented from being adopted in the first place. Focusing on resistance to so-called NGO laws, this paper explores the strategies, causal mechanisms and scope conditions that help explain the successful defense of civic space. In a first step, the paper develops a theoretical framework by drawing on research on the diffusion and promotion of international norms, civic resistance and social movements. Second, it looks at two cases-Kenya (2013) and Kyrgyzstan (2013-2016)in which governmental attempts to impose legal restrictions on foreign-funded NGOs were effectively aborted. The analysis finds that successful resistance in both cases was based on domestic campaigns organized by broad alliances of local CSOs, which were able to draw on preexisting mobilizing structures and put forward a socioeconomic narrative to lobby against civic space restrictions. In Kyrgyzstan, but not in Kenya, external actors also played a significant role.
Zeitschrift für Friedens- und Konfliktforschung, 2020
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, a majority of countries worldwide have introduced severe li... more In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, a majority of countries worldwide have introduced severe limitations on the freedom of assembly, if not an outright lockdown, in many cases complemented by restrictions on further civil and political rights. Although restrictions were generally considered necessary to save lives and protect health care systems from overburdening, they also pose the risk of government overreach, that is, governments may use the pandemic as a convenient opportunity and justification to impose restrictions for political purposes. In this sense, COVID-19 may give yet another substantial boost to a global trend that has been unfolding since the early 2000s: the shrinking of civic spaces, which is characterized by an increase in government restrictions that target civil society actors and limit their freedoms of assembly, association, and expression. The aim of the paper is to assess civic space restrictions that have been imposed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic with a view to exploring their immediate consequences as well as their potential mid-term implications for civil society organizations in general and contentious civic activism in particular. We do so by, first, providing evidence from multiple data sources about the global spread of COVID-19-related restrictions over time and across countries. Second, we identify key dynamics at work in order to assess the immediate consequences and the potential mid-term implications of these restrictions. These dynamics are illustrated by looking at experiences from individual countries (including Cambodia, Germany, Hungary, and Lebanon).
In Bolivia, the year 2019 marks the end of an era: In November, after almost 14 years in power, E... more In Bolivia, the year 2019 marks the end of an era: In November, after almost 14 years in power, Evo Morales was forced to prematurely leave the presidency and, shortly thereafter, also the country. This dramatic event was preceded by contentious elections, allegations of electoral fraud, massive post-electoral protests, and the switching of sides by the police and the military. Rather than pacifying the situation, Morales' resignation led to a further escalation of the conflict, involving violent clashes between protesters and security forces. In the end, however, a negotiated solution of the crisis was reached that enabled the controversial interim president Jeanine Áñez to call new elections. In an attempt to make sense of this remarkable chain of events, the article (1) summarizes key causes that have made the once invincible MAS government so vulnerable and (2) analyzes the October elections as well as the sociopolitical dynamics that unfolded afterwards with a focus on key controversies surrounding the elections (electoral fraud?) and the fall of Morales (a coup?). Finally, (3) the article briefly assesses the dynamics under the current interim government and looks at the forthcoming general elections, which are scheduled for 6 September 2020.
En Bolivia, el año 2019 marca el fin de una era: En noviembre, tras casi 14 años en el poder, Evo Morales fue forzado a dejar prematuramente la presidencia y, poco después, también el país. Este acontecimiento dramático fue precedido por elecciones controvertidas, denuncias de fraude electoral, protestas postelectorales masivas y el cambio de bando de la policía y las Fuerzas Armadas. En lugar de calmar la situación, la renuncia de Morales provocó una nueva escalada del conflicto, con enfrentamientos violentos entre los manifestantes y las fuerzas de seguridad. Sin embargo, finalmente se llegó a una solución negociada de la crisis que permitió a la polémica presidenta interina Jeanine Áñez convocar nuevas elecciones. En un intento por entender esta extraordinaria cadena de acontecimientos, el artículo (1) resume las principales causas que han hecho tan vulnerable al otrora invencible gobierno del MAS y (2) analiza las elecciones de octubre así como la dinámica sociopolítica que se desarrolló después, centrándose en las principales controversias en torno a las elecciones (¿fraude electoral?) y la caída de Morales (¿golpe de estado?). Finalmente, (3) el artículo evalúa brevemente la dinámica bajo el actual gobierno interino y considera las próximas elecciones generales previstas para el 6 de septiembre de 2020.
European Review of Latin American and Caribbean Studies , 2019
With the ebbing of the pink tide, the MAS government in Bolivia remains as one of the most succes... more With the ebbing of the pink tide, the MAS government in Bolivia remains as one of the most successful leftist governments that had been elected throughout Latin America since the late 1990s. In order to better understand this surprising success story, this paper analyses the political economy of the post-neoliberal model that has taken shape under MAS rule. More specifically, it looks at the interaction between the strategic orientation and the specific features of economic policy-making in Bolivia, on the one hand, and the evolving relationship of the MAS government with the country's economic elites, on the other. The paper argues that Bolivia's specific version of post-neoliberalism has facilitated increasingly cooperative relations between the government and economic elites, while the latter have themselves contributed to the consolidation of the former. At the same time, the analysis of the political economy of Bolivian post-neoliberalism also reveals its inherent fragility.
Resumen: La economía política del postneoliberalismo boliviano: Política y elites Con el flujo de la marea rosa, el gobierno del MAS en Bolivia sigue siendo uno de los go-biernos izquierdistas elegidos más exitosos de toda América Latina desde finales de los años noventa. Para comprender mejor esta sorprendente historia de éxito, este artículo analiza la economía política del modelo post-neoliberal que ha tomado forma bajo el gobierno del MAS. Más específicamente, analiza la interacción entre la orientación estratégica y las ca-racterísticas específicas de la formulación de políticas económicas en Bolivia, por un lado, y la relación en evolución del gobierno del MAS con las élites económicas del país, por otro. Se argumenta que la versión específica del post-neoliberalismo de Bolivia ha facilitado rela-ciones cada vez más cooperativas entre el gobierno y las élites económicas, quienes han contribuido a la consolidación de las primeras. Al mismo tiempo, el análisis de la economía política del posneoliberalismo boliviano también revela su fragilidad inherente.
The paper analyses why Egypt’s labour movement, while having played a significant role in the run... more The paper analyses why Egypt’s labour movement, while having played a significant role in the run-up to the 2011 revolution, has been increasingly marginalised politically ever since, failing to achieve either significant labour-specific gains and/or broader objectives related to the overall process of political transformation. It does so by investigating Egypt’s movement of independent trade unions, the most dynamic element within the country’s labour movement, from a comparative perspective. Specifically, the paper uses the experience of Brazil’s New Unionism in the 1980s as a contrasting case, identifies the factors that have enabled and constrained what is arguably the most successful example of a New Unionist movement in the Global South, and applies this explanatory framework in an in-depth study on the trajectory of Egypt’s New Unionism since 2011. The study identifies four key differences between the Brazilian and the Egyptian case that help explain the post-revolutionary trajectory of independent labour in the latter: the different sequencing of neoliberal reforms and political liberalisation; the revolutionary character of the Egyptian uprising; the different role of individual movement entrepreneurs; and the lack of significant socio-political allies in the Egyptian case.
Colombia's peace process with the FARC-EP has brought a significant reduction in the national lev... more Colombia's peace process with the FARC-EP has brought a significant reduction in the national levels of violence. Yet, in certain regions of the country the demobilisation of Colombia's former largest guerrilla has been accompanied by rising rates of violence. The municipality of Tumaco in the extreme south of the country's Pacific coast is a case in point. In this paper, we demonstrate that a historical and socio-geographic perspective on the shifting dynamics of the armed conflict helps shed light on current developments in Tumaco. In particular, the analysis reveals a specific co-evolution of the FARC-EP presence and of the drug economy in the region, which helps explain key features of violence in the contemporary post-conflict context. The study provides important insights into Colombia's current peace process as well as, generally speaking, into the complex territorial dynamics of crime and violence during transitions to peace.
This article makes the case for why we should turn to studying democracy promotion negotiation, o... more This article makes the case for why we should turn to studying democracy promotion negotiation, outlines the research questions guiding this special issue, identifies overarching findings and summarizes the individual contributions. After outlining the rationale for more attention to the issue of negotiation, which we understand as a specific form of interaction between external and local actors in democracy promotion, we outline three basic assumptions informing our research: (1) Democracy promotion is an international practice that is necessarily accompanied by processes of negotiation. (2) These negotiation processes, in turn, have an impact upon the practice and outcome of democracy promotion. (3) For external democracy promotion to be mutually owned and effective, genuine negotiations between ‘promoters’ and ‘local actors’ are indispensable; the term ‘genuine’ here being understood as including a substantial exchange on diverging values and interests. The article, then, introduces the three research questions for this agenda, concerning the issues on the negotiation table, the parameters shaping negotiation processes, and the results of democracy promotion negotiation. We conclude by presenting an overview of the overarching findings of the special issue as well as with brief summaries of the individual contributions.
This chapter presents the rationale and the topic of the book, the questions that are addressed, ... more This chapter presents the rationale and the topic of the book, the questions that are addressed, and the state of research on which it is based. It critically reflects upon the contentious politics approach as applied in the book, and elaborates the analytical framework that is used to systematically study socioeconomic contention in Egypt and Tunisia. It also gives a brief overview of socioeconomic contention in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) beyond Egypt and Tunisia and lays out the rationale and the limitations of the interregional comparison with Latin America. The chapter concludes with an overview of the contributions compiled in this volume.
This paper outlines a research program on the development of political violence. Political violen... more This paper outlines a research program on the development of political violence. Political violence in its many formsfrom riotous protests to war between states-remains ever-present and has immense moral and political implications. However, the overall development of political violence remains poorly understood. Examining existing research, we identify three general positions: political violence has either declined, escalated, or taken different forms. However, due to diverging definitions and specifications as well as partially ambiguous evidence, no clear assessment has as yet been made. Hence, the paper provides a basic framework to better group existing approaches, examine available findings, and to enable the design of further research to better understand the development of political violence. Surveying the conceptual literature, we find narrower and broader definitions of political violence which, respectively, allow for more focused and for more wholistic investigations. We also distinguish three crucial aspects of political violence: its forms and patterns, the role of political institutions, and its social construction and justification. Surveying the literature on the state and transnational groups, we also propose a basic typology on the direction, basic entities, and forms of political violence. Jointly, these definitions, aspects and basic concepts form a general framework with which to break new ground on the development of political violence by affording connection and communication between various strands of research from diverse disciplinary perspectives.
Violence in post-conflict settings is often attributed to a postwar boom in organized crime, faci... more Violence in post-conflict settings is often attributed to a postwar boom in organized crime, facilitated by the demobilization of armed groups and the persisting weakness of the state. The article argues that this is only one pathway of postconflict violence. A second causal pathway emerges from the challenges that peace processes can constitute for entrenched local political orders. By fostering political inclusion, the implementation of peace agreements may threaten subnational political elites that have used the context of armed conflict to ally with armed nonstate actors. Violence is then used as a means to preserve such de facto authoritarian local orders. We start from the assumption that these two explanations are not exclusive or competing, but grasp different causal processes that may well both be at work behind the assassination of social leaders (líderes sociales) in Colombia since the 2016 peace agreement with the FARC guerrilla. We argue that this specific type of targeted violence can, in fact, be attributed to different, locally specific configurations that resemble the two pathways. The article combines fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis with the case studies of the municipalities of Sardinata and Suárez to empirically establish and illustrate the two pathways.
In recent years, democracy has been facing increasing challenges. How has comparative regime rese... more In recent years, democracy has been facing increasing challenges. How has comparative regime research responded? Focusing on the Varieties of Democracy (V-Dem) project, this paper argues that the perception of serious threats to democracy in general and liberal norms in particular has given rise to a convergence around the liberal conception of democracy, reversing a previous turn towards recognising its conceptual contestability. In tracing V-Dem’s discursive turn from the contestation to the decontestation of democracy, the paper reconstructs two mechanisms that concern the ways in which academic research relates to the outside world and that have jointly pushed V-Dem scholars towards embracing unequivocally liberal conceptions of regime type and regime change. As a response to the crisis of democracy, this gradual abandonment of a pluralist conceptualisation of democracy is understandable but also deeply problematic as it contributes to downplaying the inherent limitations of liberal democracy.
Violence in post-conflict settings is often attributed to a postwar boom in organized crime, faci... more Violence in post-conflict settings is often attributed to a postwar boom in organized crime, facilitated by the demobilization of armed groups and the persisting weakness of the state. The article argues that this is only one pathway of postconflict violence. A second causal pathway emerges from the challenges that peace processes can constitute for entrenched local political orders. By fostering political inclusion, the implementation of peace agreements may threaten subnational political elites that have used the context of armed conflict to ally with armed nonstate actors. Violence is then used as a means to preserve such de facto authoritarian local orders. We start from the assumption that these two explanations are not exclusive or competing, but grasp different causal processes that may well both be at work behind the assassination of social leaders (líderes sociales) in Colombia since the 2016 peace agreement with the FARC guerrilla. We argue that this specific type of targeted violence can, in fact, be attributed to different, locally specific configurations that resemble the two pathways. The article combines fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis with the case studies of the municipalities of Sardinata and Suárez to empirically establish and illustrate the two pathways.
Socioeconomic Protests in MENA and Latin America, 2019
This chapter presents the rationale and the topic of the book, the questions that are addressed, ... more This chapter presents the rationale and the topic of the book, the questions that are addressed, and the state of research on which it is based. It critically reflects upon the contentious politics approach as applied in the book, and elaborates the analytical framework that is used to systematically study socioeconomic contention in Egypt and Tunisia. It also gives a brief overview of socioeconomic contention in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) beyond Egypt and Tunisia and lays out the rationale and the limitations of the interregional comparison with Latin America. The chapter concludes with an overview of the contributions compiled in this volume.
Crabtree, John/Durand, Francisco/Wolff, Jonas 2024: Estado y poder empresarial en Bolivia, Ecuador y Perú. Un estudio comparativo, Lima/La Paz/Quito: Fondo Editorial PUCP/Plural/Abya-Yala., 2024
En este libro, John Crabtree, Francisco Durand y Jonas Wolff investigan el rol político de las él... more En este libro, John Crabtree, Francisco Durand y Jonas Wolff investigan el rol político de las élites económicas en Bolivia, Ecuador y Perú desde una perspectiva histórico-comparativa.
Crabtree, John/Durand, Francisco/Wolff, Jonas 2023: Business Power and the State in the Central Andes: Bolivia, Ecuador, and Peru in Comparison, Pittsburg, PA: University of Pittsburgh Press., 2023
This coauthored monograph examines how business groups have interacted with state authorities in ... more This coauthored monograph examines how business groups have interacted with state authorities in the three central Andean countries from the mid-twentieth century through the early twenty-first. This time span covers three distinct economic regimes: the period of state-led import substitutive industrialization from the 1950s through the 1970s, the neoliberalism of the 1980s and 1990s, and the post-neoliberal period since the earlier 2000s. These three countries share many similarities but also have important differences that reveal how power is manifested. Peru has had an almost unbroken hegemony of business elites who leverage their power over areas of state activity that affect them. Bolivia, by contrast, shows how strong social movements have challenged business dominance at crucial periods, reflecting a weaker elite class that is less able to exercise influence over decision-making. Ecuador falls in between these two, with business elites being more fragmented than in Peru and social movements being weaker than in Bolivia. The authors analyze the viability of these different regimes and economic models, why they change in specific circumstances, and how they affect the state and its citizens.
Geographie der Gewalt. Macht und Gegenmacht in Lateinamerika, 2022
In Teilen Lateinamerikas hat Gewalt eine scheinbar unaufhaltsame Eigendynamik entwickelt. Die Gre... more In Teilen Lateinamerikas hat Gewalt eine scheinbar unaufhaltsame Eigendynamik entwickelt. Die Grenzen zwischen dem Legalen und Illegalen, zwischen Staat und organisierter Kriminalität, verrechtlichtem und rechtlosem Leben verschwimmen. Im Gegensatz zur politischen Gewalt desvergangenen Jahrhunderts hat diese neue Gewalt keine klar erkennbaren Schaltzentren und oft kein erkennbares Ziel. Sie ist expliziter und zugleich undurchschaubarer, lokaler und globaler: scheinbar jede:r kann ihr Akteur oder Opfer sein, vermeintlich überall. Wie können wir die Beziehungen zwischen Ebenen und Orten unserer gewaltsamen Gegenwart denken – vom Körper bis zum Globalen, von Europa zu Lateinamerika? Wo und von wem wird Macht heute organisiert und ausgeübt? Welchen Zweck erfüllt die Gewalt, und wie können wir ihre globale Verstrickung entschlüsseln? Wie können wir über sie sprechen, wie sie darstellen, was dagegen tun?
This book studies the justice concerns of political actors in important international regimes and... more This book studies the justice concerns of political actors in important international regimes and international and domestic conflicts and traces their effects on peace and conflict. The book demonstrates that such justice concerns play an ambivalent role for the resolution of conflicts and maintenance of order. While arrangements that actors perceive as just will provide a good basis for peaceful relations, the pursuit of justice can create conflicts or make existing ones more difficult to resolve.
Weipert-Fenner, Irene, and Jonas Wolff, eds.: Socioeconomic Protests in MENA and Latin America: Egypt and Tunisia in Interregional Comparison, London: Palgrave Macmillan., 2020
This edited volume presents a detailed account of the dynamics of socioeconomic contention in Egy... more This edited volume presents a detailed account of the dynamics of socioeconomic contention in Egypt and Tunisia since 2011. Combining quantitative and qualitative methods, it analyses what has happened to the socioeconomic grievances that played a key role in the mass mobilizations of 2010 and 2011. The book is based on an original data set of socioeconomic protests in the two countries and on in-depth case studies that cover the two most important types of socioeconomic contention: labor protests and protests by socioeconomically disadvantaged people outside the formal economy. Drawing on a systematic review of comparative research on Latin America, the authors argue that the dynamics of socioeconomic contention in contemporary Egypt and Tunisia reflect a deep-seated crisis of popular sector incorporation. This work promises to enrich the scholarly and the political debates on Egypt and Tunisia, the MENA region and on contentious politics in times of political change.
Special Issue of Democratization (26: 5, 2019), coordinated by the German research network "Exter... more Special Issue of Democratization (26: 5, 2019), coordinated by the German research network "External Democracy Promotion "(EDP) and co-edited by Annika E. Poppe, Julia Leininger and Jonas Wolff. All articles are available open access at https://www.tandfonline.com/toc/fdem20/26/5.
"While there has been scholarship on democracy promotion, there is still little comparative and t... more "While there has been scholarship on democracy promotion, there is still little comparative and theoretically-based work on the protagonists of democracy promotion.
This book investigates the motives that drive democracy promotion in a comparative and theoretically oriented manner, exploring how democracy promoters deal with conflicting objectives and the factors that shape their behaviour. It also addresses the more policy-oriented debate on the contemporary challenges to democracy promotion. Empirically it focuses on the US and German policies towards three pairs of target countries: Bolivia and Ecuador, Turkey and Pakistan, Belarus and Russia. In each case, the focus is on particular periods in which political developments in the recipient countries led to conflicting objectives on the part of democracy promoters. The analysis and comparison of situations in which democracy promoters have to deal with competing objectives and make tough decisions provides powerful evidence as to the determinants of democracy promotion.
This important book will be of interest to students and scholars of international relations, comparative politics, democratization studies and foreign policy."
Contents:
Section I: A Comparative Perspective on Democracy Promotion: Germany and the US
1. Determinants and Conflicting Objectives of Democracy Promotion Jonas Wolff and Hans-Joachim Spanger
2. "Freedom Fighter" Versus "Civilian Power": An ideal-type comparison of the US and Germany Annika E. Poppe, Bentje Woitschach and Jonas Wolff
3. Norms Versus Interests: Determinants across the cases Daniel Schewe and Jonas Wolff
Section II: Case studies on German and US democracy promotion
4. Democracy Promotion in Bolivia: The "democratic revolution" of Evo Morales Jonas Wolff
5. Democracy Promotion in Ecuador: The "citizens’ revolution" of Rafael Correa Jonas Wolff
6. Democracy Promotion in Turkey: The rise of political Islam Cemal Karakas
7. Democracy Promotion in Pakistan: The rise and fall of General Musharraf Niels Graf and Iris Wurm
8. Democracy Promotion in Belarus: "Europe’s last dictatorship" Azer Babayev
9. Democracy Promotion in Russia: The ambivalent challenge of Putinism Hans-Joachim Spanger
Section III: Results and Conclusions
10. Democracy Promotion as International Politics: Comparative analysis, theoretical conclusions and practical implications Jonas Wolff
ABSTRACT Wie ist das Überleben der Demokratie unter widrigen Bedingungen zu erklären? Im Zentrum ... more ABSTRACT Wie ist das Überleben der Demokratie unter widrigen Bedingungen zu erklären? Im Zentrum der Studie steht mit Südamerika eine Region, die wie keine andere Demokratie, Massenarmut und extreme soziale Ungleichheit vereint. An den Beispielen Argentiniens und Ecuadors wird untersucht, wie Demokratien, die von demokratietheoretischen Idealen drastisch abweichen, nach schweren Krisen politische Stabilität und sozialen Frieden wiederherstellen. Die Arbeit sichtet kritisch die Forschung zum Verhältnis von Demokratie und sozialem Frieden, analysiert die Zusammenhänge des demokratischen sozialen Friedens „niedriger Intensität“ in Südamerika und wendet diese Perspektive auf Argentinien und Ecuador an. Die Untersuchung der Konfliktdynamiken in den beiden Ländern enthält detaillierte Analysen der argentinischen Arbeitslosenbewegungen und der indigenen Bewegung Ecuadors. Die Diskussion der Kontrastfälle Bolivien und Chile erhärtet das Ergebnis: Demokratie- und Friedenstheorie müssen informelle Politikmuster und politökonomische Hintergrunddynamiken in den Blick nehmen, wollen sie den demokratischen sozialen Frieden in Südamerika verstehen. Das Werk ist Teil der Reihe Studien der Hessischen Stiftung Friedens- und Konfliktforschung, Band 1.
Wie kommt ein Land dazu, freiwillig seine Währung zu Gunsten eines fremden Geldes aufzugeben und ... more Wie kommt ein Land dazu, freiwillig seine Währung zu Gunsten eines fremden Geldes aufzugeben und damit auf jegliche eigenständige Geld- und Währungspolitik zu verzichten? Welche Konsequenzen hat eine solche offizielle Dollarisierung? Diesen Fragen geht die vorliegende Arbeit auf den Grund. Sie stellt die Strategie der Dollarisierung in den Kontext der internationalen Geld- und Währungsbeziehungen. Sie analysiert und diskutiert die zentralen Argumentationsstränge der Dollarisierungsdebatte. Und sie verfolgt am Beispiel der Dollarisierung Ekuadors, wie die konkreten gesellschaftlichen und politischen Prozesse in einem von einer schweren Wirtschaftskrise geschuettelten Land zur Aufgabe der nationalen Währung führen.
Schließlich wird ein von Anthony Giddens' Theorie der Strukturierung angeleiteter Erklärungsansatz für das Phänomen Dollarisierung angeboten, der die Übernahme einer Fremdwährung als periphere Umgangsform mit den ambivalenten "Anforderungen" der aktuellen Konstellation neoliberaler Globalisierung versteht: Im "confidence game" (Paul Krugman) der internationalen Finanzmärkte, in dem sich die strukturelle Unsicherheit demokratischer Prozesse zunehmend als Manko an Glaubwürdigkeit darstellt, bietet sich die Übernahme einer harten Währung geradezu an. Gleichwohl ist die Dollarisierung alles andere als eine konsistente Antwort auf die Finankrisen der 90er Jahre. Während sie zwar die Gefahr von Währungsspekulation und -krise überwindet, beseitigt sie keineswegs deren Ursachen. Im Gegenteil: Kehrseite der monetären Stabilisierung ist insbesondere eine dauerhafte und anwachsende Konstellation der Überbewertung. Der Zielkonflikt zwischen einer überbewerteten Währung zur Attraktion externer Finanzmittel und einer unterbewerteten Währung zur Steigerung der internationalen Wettbewerbsfähigkeit des Produktionsstandorts, vor dem die Länder der Peripherie in Zeiten neoliberaler Globalisierung verschärft stehen, wird einseitig und absolut zu Lasten der industriellen Konkurrenzfähigkeit entschieden. Die Aussicht auf breite wirtschaftliche Entwicklung rückt so in weite Ferne.
Die Arbeit basiert auf einem eklektischen politökonomischen Ansatz, der monetär-keynesianische Analysen, Einsichten der neogramscianischen Internationalen Politischen Ökonomie, der Regulationstheorie und der Theorien Internationaler Beziehungen (Regimetheorie, Sozialkonstruktivismus, Globalisierungsanalysen) zu verbinden sucht.
La (des)regulación de la riqueza en América Latina: Lecturas interdisciplinarias en tiem-pos de pospandemia, 2024
Mucho se ha escrito en los últimos años sobre el impacto del neoliberalismo en América Latina en ... more Mucho se ha escrito en los últimos años sobre el impacto del neoliberalismo en América Latina en las décadas de 1980 y 1990, de la reversión en algunos países a un modelo de desarrollo más estatista en las dos décadas posteriores y la dificultad de cambiar significativamente las estructuras socioeconómicas que se han caracterizado por múltiples desigualdades profundamente arraigadas. En este contexto, estudios académicos también han comenzado a observar más de cerca la configuración, el poder y el rol de agentes que cumplen las élites económicas, analizando sus estrategias políticas y su influencia en la formulación de políticas en toda la región. En este capítulo, que surge de la investigación realizada por los autores para su nuevo libro (Crabtree, Durand y Wolff, 2023), buscamos analizar los patrones, cambios y consecuencias del poder empresarial en Bolivia, Ecuador y Perú desde la década de 1980. Las trayectorias político-económicas de estos tres países de los Andes Centrales a partir de la década de 1980 han experimentado variaciones que se han presentado de manera inesperada, convirtiéndolos en su conjunto en países que ameritan compararlos con mucho interés.
Wolff, Jonas 2021: Talking about self-determination: Contested conceptions and political implications of an undisputed concept, in: Ish-Shalom, Piki (ed.): Concepts at Work: On the Linguistic Infrastructure of World Politics, Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press, 24-42., 2021
The chapter analyzes the characteristics, historical evolution, contemporary usages and political... more The chapter analyzes the characteristics, historical evolution, contemporary usages and political implications of the concept of self-determination in international relations. It identifies the concept’s descriptive core and further characteristics. Then, the chapter looks at competing conceptions of self-determination, both in historical perspective and with a view to contemporary debates. Finally, it discusses political implications for contemporary debates in international politics, focusing on the issue of external interference in the name of democracy and human rights. The analysis shows that the virtually uncontested descriptive core of the concept of self-determination, which is inextricably linked with strong normative connotations, enables and drives an infinite struggle between competing conceptions that are shaped by different world views and political purposes. At the same time, this same core delimits the range of plausible conceptions and, thereby, constrains the range of policies that can be justified in terms of the concept.
Nuevo Mapa de Actores en Bolivia: Crisis, polarización e incertidumbre (2019-2020), 2020
En este trabajo trato de analizar el reposicionamiento político de las élites económicas bolivian... more En este trabajo trato de analizar el reposicionamiento político de las élites económicas bolivianas en la última fase del gobierno del Movimiento al Socialismo (MAS), durante la crisis y caída de este gobierno en octubre y noviembre del 2019 y en el contexto actual. El enfoque se centrará en las representaciones institucionales más importantes del empresariado, es decir en las diferentes asociaciones y cámaras clave.
The Routledge Handbook to the Political Economy and Governance of the Americas, ed. by Olaf Kaltmeier, Anne Tittor, Daniel Hawkins, and Eleonora Rohland, 2020
Democracy is one of those essentially contested concepts that, in W. B. Gallie’s famous dictum, “... more Democracy is one of those essentially contested concepts that, in W. B. Gallie’s famous dictum, “inevitably involve endless disputes about their proper uses on the part of their users” (1956, 169). Combining the Greek words for “people” (demos) and “to rule” (kratein), democracy literally means to rule by the people. Here the conceptual disputes start: Which entity constitutes “the people”? (In Ancient Greece it was, of course, a tiny minority of free, native and male citizens.) What does “to rule” mean? (In today’s liberal democracies it does not include collective control over the means of production.) How are the people to rule itself? (Directly or indirectly, or by consensus or majority decisions?) Are there any constitutional preconditions of democracy (that enable a people to rule itself) that are outside the reach of the very exercise of democracy (that is, not subject to the rule of the people)? Gallie’s crucial insight that turns his argument about democracy being essentially contestable into an important academic and political intervention is the following: The internal complexity of the very concept of democracy makes it impossible to identify, by way of systematic reasoning, one “correct” or superior conception of democracy. There is simply no single, somehow logically deducible answer to any of the above questions. Still, empirically speaking, democracy is not always actually contested and, at any given point in time, one particular understanding of the concept may be hegemonic. Thus, any specific conception of democracy is always contestable in principle, but it may well become decontested – that is, taken for granted and assumed common sense status – in a given socio-historical context. In this sense, the long 1980s (between the late 1970s and the early 1990s) were not simply the years during which most Latin American countries moved from authoritarian to democratic regimes . They were also characterized by important ideological shifts that included the decontestation of democracy in terms of a limited, liberal, representative, and market-oriented conception. This conceptual development enabled, and was further consolidated by, the almost region-wide establishment of democracy (see Smith 2011). Furthermore, the convergence of a narrow, Dahlian notion of democracy as polyarchy was actively supported by the U.S. government (Robinson 1996) and also characterizes the scholarship on the transitions to democracy in Latin America (Guilhot 2005, chapters 3-4; Munck 2012, 5). Recent years, however, have seen a significant revival of contestation of democracy across the region associated with the so-called leftist turn in Latin America. Like the previous period of decontestation, these ongoing disputes over the parameters of democracy encompass internal struggles over the transformation of democracy within Latin American countries (Cheresky 2006; Dargatz and Zuazo 2012; Escobar 2010), conceptual disputes over the meaning of democracy at the level of inter-American relations (Heine and Weiffen 2015; Legler et al. 2007; Whitehead 2008), as well as a renewed academic interest in enrichments of, and outright alternatives to, liberal democracy (Arditi 2005; Avritzer 2002; Cameron et al. 2012; Lissidini et al. 2014; Wolff 2013). To large extent, political developments and related academic debates in the Americas can be read as processes of contestation and decontestation of democracy. In the meantime, a new dynamic of contesting democracy has emerged from the recent turn to the political right in various American countries, e.g. in Argentina with the election of Macri in 2015, Trump in the USA in 2016 and Bolsonaro in Brazil in 2018.
Weipert-Fenner, Irene, and Jonas Wolff, eds.: Socioeconomic Protests in MENA and Latin America. Egypt and Tunisia in Interregional Comparison, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2020
Taking the different case studies of the book together, one general observation stands out: Key a... more Taking the different case studies of the book together, one general observation stands out: Key agents of socioeconomic contention, including movements by organized labor and the unemployed that were important in the run-up to the uprisings and that saw their political opportunities open up in the immediate aftermath of the revolutions, have since been effectively marginalized as political actors. The concluding chapter reflects on the causes of this weakness of socioeconomic contention by identifying comparative insights that emerge from the contributions to this volume and by situating them in the context of broader comparative and theoretical debates on the relationship between social movements and political change. More specifically, the chapter first discusses Egypt’s and Tunisia’s post-revolutionary trajectories from a comparative perspective. Second, it discusses these comparative findings in the light of experiences in Latin America. Third, drawing again on comparative scholarship on Latin America, the chapter offers a theoretical interpretation of some of the main dynamics observed in Egypt and Tunisia based on the notion of a popular-sector incorporation crisis. Fourth and finally, the chapter concludes with general implications and an outlook.
Contested Extractivism, Society and the State: Struggles over Mining and Land, edited by Bettina Engels and Kristina Dietz. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan., 2017
The contributions to this volume add to the existing scholarship in confirming that natural resou... more The contributions to this volume add to the existing scholarship in confirming that natural resource extraction on a massive scale is not only a constitutive feature of the national political economies of a number of countries, in particular in the global South, which justifies the talk of extractivism as a development model. This development model and the extractive activities that are associated with it are also very much contested. The contestation over extractivism is, therefore and without a doubt, a politically important topic. But studying the interactive practices through which extractivism is contested across different world regions is also academically challenging. In this concluding chapter, I want to reflect on three overarching questions that are crucial in this regard. First, I take the notion of contested extractivism seriously, briefly discuss the types of contestation over extractivism that are highlighted in the literature and suggest a specific way of conceptualising this object of research. Second, addressing this volume’s focus on state-society relations, I consider the complex relationship between contestation over extractivism and democracy. While much research has addressed the problems that extractivism as a development model might pose for democracy, I argue that contestation over extractivism also raises complicated questions for which democratic theory and democratic procedures offer no clear-cut solutions. Third and finally, I reflect on a normative tension that is associated with an academic approach that combines a critical perspective on extractivism with the empirical study of its contestation by those affected.
Wolff, Jonas2018: The delegitimization of civil society organizations: Thoughts on strategic responses to the “foreign agent” charge, in: César Rodríguez-Garavito/Krizna Gomez (eds.): Rising to the Populist Challenge: A New Playbook for Human Rights Actors, Bogotá: Dejusticia, 129-137., 2018
The phenomenon of closing civic space essentially reflects a political struggle over the legitima... more The phenomenon of closing civic space essentially reflects a political struggle over the legitimate role of civil society organizations in public affairs as well as over the legitimate role of the state in regulating such civil society activities. The public sphere is a key site in which this struggle is waged. In general, in the context of closing spaces, governments publicly define increasingly narrow limits as to what kinds of civil society organizations and activities are to be considered appropriate. Based on such a definition of standards of appropriateness, governments may then publicly criticize individual civil society organizations (CSOs) with a view to designating them as, in one way or another, outside the realm of legitimate civic behavior. The chapter reconstructs the basic logic of what is called “reputational attacks against civil society actors” and suggests a set of strategic responses available to CSOs.
published in: Roger Duthie and Paul Seils, eds.: Justice Mosaics: How Context Shapes Transitional Justice in Fractured Societies, New York: International Center for Transitional Justice (ICTJ), 2017, pp. 344-369.
Examining the Role of Labor Unions in Argentina, South Africa, and Tunisia:
In Argentina, the la... more Examining the Role of Labor Unions in Argentina, South Africa, and Tunisia: In Argentina, the labor movement’s contributions to transitional justice reflected its ambivalent role in the 1976–1983 military dictatorship and its own organizational interests. Thousands of labor leaders had been imprisoned, forcibly disappeared, or killed by the military regime, and labor played a significant role first in the transition to democracy and then as subjects of transitional justice. Prominent cases addressed by the National Commission on the Disappearance of Persons, for example, included those of victimized labor leaders and delegations. But some labor leaders had also collaborated with the regime. Ultimately, labor’s stance towards transitional justice was shaped by its political alliances. In South Africa, the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) suffered intense repression under apartheid, but its proximity to the ruling political party, the African National Congress, since the transition has led it to take ambivalent positions towards transitional justice processes. COSATU was present at the country’s truth commission’s hearings as both subject and participant, and it called for reparations from corporations that profited from the apartheid system. But it has also followed the government line by opposing litigation against corporations. In Tunisia, labor’s relations with the regime were ambivalent, as the Tunisian General Labor Union was aligned with the Ben Ali regime but not fully coopted by it. The union has since played an important mediating role in the process of democratization, and its participation in transitional justice processes has focused on violence committed against its members. It directly participated in the National Dialogue on Transitional Justice, but it later withdrew from official transitional justice processes in dissatisfaction, preferring to use its own channels to influence politics and policy.
Dass Bolivien im Umbruch ist, ist seit der Wahl von Evo Morales zum ersten indigenen Präsidenten ... more Dass Bolivien im Umbruch ist, ist seit der Wahl von Evo Morales zum ersten indigenen Präsidenten des Landes amtlich. Im Dezember 2005 siegten Morales und sein MAS (Movimiento al Socialismo) mit absoluter Mehrheit über den konservativen Konkurrenten Jorge Quiroga (PODEMOS; Poder Democrático Social). Dieses Ergebnis war in mehrfacher Hinsicht erstaunlich. Zum ersten Mal seit der Transition zur Demokratie in den 1980er Jahren konnte sich ein Kandidat im ersten Wahlgang die Mehrheit der Stimmen sichern. Zudem war Evo Morales nicht irgendein Kandidat. Er gehört der seit Jahrhunderten unterdrückten und vielfach diskriminierten indigenen Bevölkerungsmehrheit an und stammt selbst aus armen Verhältnissen. Er ist Repräsentant der seit Jahrzehnten vom Staat bekämpften Kokabauern und Vertreter der seit der neoliberalen Wende 1985 vom politischen Geschäft weitgehend ausgeschlossenen Gewerkschaften. Und er ist die Gallionsfigur einer Allianz sozialer Bewegungen und Organisationen, die sich seit Mitte der 1990er Jahre in offener Opposition zum Grundkonsens der bolivianischen “paktierten Demokratie” formiert hat: gegen die neoliberal orien¬tierte Restrukturierung von Staat und Ökonomie und konkret gegen die Privatisierungspolitik der 1990er Jahre sowie gegen den US-getriebenen War on Drugs. Die Wahl von Evo Morales allein bedeutete also ohne Zweifel einen politischen Umbruch. Zugleich war der Wahlerfolg vom Dezember 2005 aber selbst Ausdruck und Ergebnis bedeutender soziopolitischer Veränderungen, die für ein Verständnis der Regierung Morales von unmittelbarer Relevanz sind. Während also der Antritt des neuen Präsidenten per se einen Umbruch darstellte, der zudem aus einem bedeutenden Umbruch in der bolivianischen Demokratie folgte, so war es von Beginn an der Anspruch der Regierung Morales, diese Umbrüche für eine umfassende „Neugründung“ Boliviens zu nutzen. Der Beitrag nimmt sich der Frage des Umbruchs in diesen drei Dimensionen an.
Published in: Tobias Debiel, Thomas Held, and Ulrich Schneckener (eds.), Peacebuilding in Crisis: Rethinking paradigms and practices of transnational cooperation, Abingdon: Routledge, 73-90., 2016
International peacebuilding is usually discussed as liberal peacebuilding. Indeed, the implementa... more International peacebuilding is usually discussed as liberal peacebuilding. Indeed, the implementation of liberal-democratic norms and institutions constitutes a core element of mainstream peacebuilding as practiced since 1990. Yet international activities aiming at democracy promotion go beyond the specific field of peacebuilding. Since 1990, they have become standard elements of the foreign and development policies of established democracies and international organizations. In looking at contemporary challenges to democracy promotion, the chapter suggests that the crisis discussed in this volume is tied to a crisis of the very normative premises and conceptual underpinnings of the overall liberal template that guides both peacebuilding and democracy promotion.
The 1990s rise of democracy promotion as an aim and a strategy of the foreign and development pol... more The 1990s rise of democracy promotion as an aim and a strategy of the foreign and development policies of the established democracies in the global North-West was premised on the assumption that in supporting the global spread of democratic regimes, finally, ‘values and interests reinforce each other’, as Strobe Talbott put it in 1996. The ‘third wave of democratization’ and the end of the Cold War combined with paradigmatic shifts in academic and political debates to suggest that promoting democracy would contribute to a host of other goods, such as peace and stability, economic development and poverty reduction. Taking issue with the notion that, in democracy promotion, all good things go together, the paper argues that the well-known dilemmas inherent to democratization imply that external democracy promotion is systematically confronted with conflicting objectives – conflicting objectives that concern both the overall business of democracy promotion and the specific field of civil-society support.
Review of Negretto's "Making Constitutions. Presidents, parties, and institutional choice in Lati... more Review of Negretto's "Making Constitutions. Presidents, parties, and institutional choice in Latin America" (Cambridge University Press, 2013) published in the journal Democratization.
Review of Burron's "The New Democracy Wars. The Politics of North American Democracy Promotion in... more Review of Burron's "The New Democracy Wars. The Politics of North American Democracy Promotion in the Americas" (Ashgate, 2012)”, published in the Journal of Latin American Studies.
Review of Mainwaring and Scully's "Democratic Governance in Latin America" (Stanford University P... more Review of Mainwaring and Scully's "Democratic Governance in Latin America" (Stanford University Press, 2010).
Reconstruir el tejido social es uno de los desafíos más grandes en los procesos de construcción d... more Reconstruir el tejido social es uno de los desafíos más grandes en los procesos de construcción de paz, especialmente cuando se trata de superar conflictos armados internos prolongados. Este policy brief presenta los principales resultados de un proyecto de investigación que, con base en más de 1200 encuestas realizadas en siete municipios con AETR (Antiguos Espacios Territoriales de Capacitación y Reincorporación), demuestra que los contactos entre comunidades aledañas y excombatientes reducen la distancia social y, además, promueven un mayor apoyo por parte de la población tanto a la implementación del Acuerdo de Paz en general como al proceso de reincorporación en particular. Estos hallazgos proporcionan evidencia significativa para que se protejan y promuevan medidas e iniciativas que fomenten la interacción entre firmantes de paz y comunidades de acogida, en pro de garantizar la sostenibilidad del proceso de paz.
Ein zentrales Element des kolumbianischen Friedensprozesses mit der FARC-Guerilla bildet die koll... more Ein zentrales Element des kolumbianischen Friedensprozesses mit der FARC-Guerilla bildet die kollektive Wiedereingliederung der ehemaligen Kombattant:innen in eigens dafür eingerichteten „territorialen Reinkorporationsräumen“. Eine Umfrage in sieben ländlichen Gemeinden deutet darauf hin, dass dieser Reinkorporationsprozess zu einem erkennbaren Abbau von sozialer Distanz und Misstrauen in der lokalen Bevölkerung geführt hat und so zur Wiederherstellung des sozialen Zusammenhalts beiträgt. Diese Erfolge sind allerdings begrenzt und – angesichts der andauernden Gewalt in den marginalisierten Regionen Kolumbiens – teils akut gefährdet.
Ein zentrales Element des kolumbianischen Friedensprozesses mit der FARC-Guerilla bildet die koll... more Ein zentrales Element des kolumbianischen Friedensprozesses mit der FARC-Guerilla bildet die kollektive Wiedereingliederung der ehemaligen Kombattant:innen in eigens dafür eingerichteten „territorialen Reinkorporationsräumen“. Eine Umfrage in sieben ländlichen Gemeinden deutet darauf hin, dass dieser Reinkorporationsprozess zu einem erkennbaren Abbau von sozialer Distanz und Misstrauen in der lokalen Bevölkerung geführt hat und so zur Wiederherstellung des sozialen Zusammenhalts beiträgt. Diese Erfolge sind allerdings begrenzt und – angesichts der andauernden Gewalt in den marginalisierten Regionen Kolumbiens – teils akut gefährdet.
A central element of the Colombian peace process with the FARC-EP guerrillas is the collective re... more A central element of the Colombian peace process with the FARC-EP guerrillas is the collective reintegration of former combatants in specially designated “Territorial Spaces for Training and Reincorporation.” A survey conducted in seven rural municipalities suggests that this reintegration process has led to a significant reduction in the perceived social distance and mistrust among the local population, contributing to the reconstruction of the social fabric. However, these successes are limited and, given the ongoing violence in marginalized regions of Colombia, are at grave risk in several cases.
This PRIF Working Paper reviews and discusses the scholarship on the political economy of macroec... more This PRIF Working Paper reviews and discusses the scholarship on the political economy of macroeconomic stabilization and neoliberal structural adjustment, focusing on Latin American experiences during the 1980s and early 1990s. It discusses controversies, arguments and findings on a couple of key issues: the role of regime type (democratic versus authoritarian) for the adoption and implementation of economic reforms; the interplay of economic reform struggles and processes of political transformation; the relevance of international forces and factors; the role of domestic structures and actors; the dynamics of international negotiations over economic reforms; as well as the causes, characteristics and consequences of "IMF riots" and "austerity protests". The aim of the paper is not to present a coherent set of findings but rather to give an overview of a literature that has produced a diverse range of insights, ideas and open questions that are helpful to take into consideration when studying contemporary dynamics of economic reform struggles.
La violencia ejercida contra líderes y lideresas sociales después del Acuerdo de paz no solo es e... more La violencia ejercida contra líderes y lideresas sociales después del Acuerdo de paz no solo es el resultado de la presencia de grupos criminales y economías ilegales: sigue también una lógica política: actores políticos locales delegan en grupos armados ilegales el uso de la violencia contra rivales políticos y líderes sociales que amenazan con desarticular formas de autoritarismo competitivo local. En este sentido, los asesinatos de líderes sociales son más probables en municipios donde hay menor participación electoral, mayor concentración de votos en pocos par-tidos y mayor fuerza electoral de la izquierda.
Ever since the conclusion of the peace deal between the Colombian government and FARC guerrilla i... more Ever since the conclusion of the peace deal between the Colombian government and FARC guerrilla in late 2016, the number of social leaders murdered has risen sharply-something that even the latest developments surrounding the Covid-19 pandemic have had little bearing on. These acts of violence are frequently attributed to the presence of armed non-state actors and their fight for control over illegal economies. And yet, the situation has an unmistakably political side to it, reflecting the very modus operandi of local authoritarian orders in Colombia. For counterstrategies to be developed, it is crucial to acknowledge the political logic behind the violence.
PRIF Spotlight 10/2018, co-authored with Solveig Richter, 2018
Con el acuerdo de paz con la guerrilla de las FARC-EP a finales de 2016, Colombia tiene la oportu... more Con el acuerdo de paz con la guerrilla de las FARC-EP a finales de 2016, Colombia tiene la oportunidad histórica no sólo de dejar atrás un conflicto armado que ha durado más de 50 años, sino también de poner en marcha cambios sociales a largo plazo. Sin embargo, a principios de agosto, Iván Duque, un político que representa a los críticos conservadores del acuerdo y que desea modificarlo, asumió la presidencia. Para actores externos como Alemania y la UE, esto plantea la cuestión de cómo se puede equilibrar el respeto por un gobierno elegido democráticamente y el compromiso con un proceso de paz que ellos consideran acertado e importante.
PRIF Spotlight 10/2018, co-authored with Solveig Richter, 2018
The peace agreement that Colombia sealed with the FARC-EP guerrillas in late 2016 offers the coun... more The peace agreement that Colombia sealed with the FARC-EP guerrillas in late 2016 offers the country the historic opportunity to leave behind an armed conflict that has lasted for over 50 years and to initiate long-term social changes. In early August, however, Iván Duque, a conservative politician who represents critics of the agreement and who wants to change it, assumed the presidency. External actors – including Germany and the EU – must figure out how to balance respect for a democratically elected government with commitment to a peace process that they regard as right and important.
PRIF Spotlight 9/2018, co-authored with Solveig Richter, 2018
Mit dem Ende 2016 besiegelten Friedensabkommen mit der FARC-Guerilla bietet sich Kolumbien die hi... more Mit dem Ende 2016 besiegelten Friedensabkommen mit der FARC-Guerilla bietet sich Kolumbien die historische Chance, nicht nur einen über 50 Jahre währenden bewaffneten Konflikt hinter sich zu lassen, sondern auch langfristige gesellschaftliche Veränderungen anzustoßen. Anfang August hat nun allerdings mit Iván Duque ein Politiker die Präsidentschaft angetreten, der die konservativen Kritiker des Abkommens repräsentiert und dieses ändern will. Für externe Akteure und namentlich für Deutschland und die EU stellt sich damit die Frage, wie der Respekt vor einer demokratisch gewählten Regierung und der Einsatz für einen als richtig und wichtig erachteten Friedensprozess ausbalanciert werden können.
The political changes in certain South American countries, including most notably the case of Bol... more The political changes in certain South American countries, including most notably the case of Bolivia, could act as inspirations in the ongoing search for locally grown, hybrid variants of a post-liberal peace.
Wolff, Jonas 2016: Democracy Promotion and Power, Post on the EDP Wire, 29 February 2016, http://www.external-democracy-promotion.de/democracy-promotion-and-power., Feb 29, 2016
International democracy promotion is, in many ways, concerned with power. By supporting local age... more International democracy promotion is, in many ways, concerned with power. By supporting local agents of democratic change, external democracy promoters shape domestic balances of power. In trying to get governments in target countries to embark on democratic reforms they would not otherwise pursue, democracy promoters also themselves exercise power. In order to project such political power, democracy promoters need the capacity to do so, that is: they require corresponding relative power vis-à-vis the targets. This multiple relation between power and international democracy promotion is rooted in the very subject matter. On the one hand, democracy as a system of political rule “is above all a matter of power,” and democratization is basically a process of redistributing political power. On the other hand, democracy promotion – as a unidirectional relationship between a promoter and a “recipient” or “target” – almost by definition mirrors asymmetric international power relations. Given the unresolved debate about the concept of power in the discipline of International Relations (IR), it does not come as a surprise that there is no consensus view on the role and relevance of “power” in the international promotion of democracy. What is surprising, however, is the limited attention scholars have so far paid to this issue when studying democracy promotion. In a recent article on “Power in democracy promotion”, I address this research gap by suggesting a way forward towards a systematic consideration of power in the academic study of democracy promotion. In the article, I do so by critically reviewing the existing scholarship on democracy promotion that explicitly deals with power and by proposing a multidimensional perspective on power as a way to improve our understanding of the international politics of democracy promotion. In this EDP wire post, I focus on the conceptual argument.
Wolff, Jonas 2015: Die große Ernüchterung: Starke neue Mächte, schwächelnde alte Modelle: Der globale Siegeszug der Demokratie ist vorerst gestoppt, in: Welt-Sichten 8/2015, 12-17., Aug 3, 2015
Der globale Siegeszug der Demokratie, der in den 1990er Jahren unaufhaltsam schien, ist vorerst g... more Der globale Siegeszug der Demokratie, der in den 1990er Jahren unaufhaltsam schien, ist vorerst gestoppt. Das liegt nicht nur an neuen Mächten wie Russland und China: Europa und Nordamerika haben als Modell an Glaubwürdigkeit verloren.
Unter Präsident Rafael Correa durchläuft Ecuador einen tiefgreifenden Prozess politischer Transfo... more Unter Präsident Rafael Correa durchläuft Ecuador einen tiefgreifenden Prozess politischer Transformation. Nachdem seit 1996 kein gewählter Präsident seine Amtszeit beenden konnte, wurde Correa im April 2009 mit absoluter Mehrheit
im Amt bestätigt.
Im September 2008 stimmten 64% der Bevölkerung für eine neue Verfassung, die das politische System Ecuadors grundlegend umgestaltet. Präsident Correa und das Regierungsbündnis PAIS dominieren das politische Geschehen, während die traditionellen Parteien weitgehend von der Bildfläche verschwunden sind.
Die vorliegende Studie untersucht, wie sich die »Landschaft« soziopolitischer Akteure seit der ersten Wahl von Correa Ende 2006 verändert hat. Der Schwerpunkt der Analyse liegt auf dem Regierungsbündnis PAIS sowie den Parteien und sozialen
Organisationen des Mitte-Links-Spektrums.
Das Regierungsbündnis PAIS zeigt sich als heterogenes Sammelbecken, das in verschiedene Strömungen zerfällt und vor allem von der Bindekraft des Präsidenten zusammengehalten wird. Die Organisationen des Mitte-Links-Spektrums außerhalb von PAIS sind ihrerseits hochgradig fragmentiert und schwanken zwischen der kooperativen Einordnung ins und der konfrontativen Abgrenzung
vom Regierungslager.
Wolff, Jonas/Schützhofer, Timm B. 2010: Gegen große Widerstände. Die „demokratischen Revolutionen“ in Bolivien und Ecuador sind noch nicht abgeschlossen, in: Welt-Sichten 7/2010, 17-20., Jun 18, 2010
Bolivien und Ecuador waren lange Zeit von einer kleinen Elite beherrscht. Nach dem Amtsantritt „l... more Bolivien und Ecuador waren lange Zeit von einer kleinen Elite beherrscht. Nach dem Amtsantritt „linker“ Präsidenten haben beide Länder neue Verfassungen erhalten. Soziale Gruppierungen, Gewerkschaften und Indigene haben sich Mitbestimmung erkämpft. Die Ausbeutung von Rohstoffen geht jedoch ungebremst weiter. Und die charismatischen Präsidenten sind zwar beliebt, neigen aber zu einem autoritären Politikstil.
En el presente documento se analizan las dinámicas territoriales del conflicto armado y la violen... more En el presente documento se analizan las dinámicas territoriales del conflicto armado y la violencia registradas en el municipio de Tumaco, Nariño, desde una perspectiva histórica y geográfica (1990-2017). Se analiza el comportamiento espacial interrelacionado de variables como la presencia de actores armados, la confrontación armada, la economía basada en el narcotráfico y la violencia registrada en contra de la población civil. Se evidencia que los territorios del municipio de Tumaco que registran altos niveles de confrontación armada y violencia después de la firma de paz entre el gobierno y la guerrilla de las FARC-EP, han sido los mismos espacios en disputa en el pasado, proveedores de economías ilícitas y corredores estratégicos de grupos residuales y narcotraficantes. Las disputas territoriales y violencia registrada en el área urbana de Tumaco son un reflejo directo de las tensiones armadas entre grupos irregulares por el control de economías criminales y las Fuerzas del Estado por controlarlas en la zona rural de Tumaco. El documento ofrece información crucial sobre los desafíos clave que enfrenta el actual proceso de paz en Colombia, pero también contribuye al conocimiento general sobre la compleja dinámica del crimen y la violencia durante la transición a la paz.
How can protesters and dissenting voices of civil society and opposition effectively resist democ... more How can protesters and dissenting voices of civil society and opposition effectively resist democratic backsliding? What sources of trust do protesters build upon and how does trust evolve during mobilization? What strategies of opposition do activists choose if autocratisation proceeds speedily or more slowly, and when democratic institutions are dismantled, the division of powers abolished, and protesters and judges are being arrested? This digital panel co-organized by ConTrust (GU/PRIF) and CoMMonS (UCPH) discusses country case studies and transnational connections between social movements resisting autocratisation. Focusing on current protest events in Hungary, Israel and Tunisia, researchers critically discuss local tactics and cultural repertoires of strategies as well as knowledge exchange between pro-democratic movements worldwide. Given the global rise of alliances between authoritarian leaders, how do oppositional voices resist internal repression when they lack international support? How do ideologically diverse pro-democracy movements sustain or build mutual trust relationships in the face of ongoing, lasting dismantling of democratic institutions by government actors? Which role does distrust play in the failure of coalition-building, also with a view to trade unions and allies within institutions? How do prodemocracy activists use transnational networks and connections to resist repression? Panelists will discuss these questions based on ongoing research and critical analysis in the fields of peace and conflict studies, protest, democracy, gender and research on autocratisation.
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we bring together existing data and research to identify what we know – and do not know – about the targeted, lethal violence against civil society activists, including its characteristics and causes. In doing so, we also discuss the question of whether and to what extent this phenomenon can be considered as reflecting a transformation of the (violent) repression of civil society actors. Throughout the paper, we draw on cross-national and comparative research on the one hand, and existing studies on the specific case of Colombia on the other, since this is the case for which the best data
and most systematic and in-depth research exists. In this paper, though, we are not interested in analyzing the recent wave of assassinations of social activists in Colombia per se, but in discussing insights from Colombia as relevant contributions to the broader, comparative debate.
Resumen: El año 2023 en el Ecuador se caracterizó por una crisis política que estalló en medio de una escalada de violencia criminal. Si bien la crisis política se resolvió mediante nuevas elecciones, la crisis de seguridad ha persistido e incluso empeoró durante los primeros meses de la presidencia de Daniel Noboa. En respuesta, en enero del 2024, el recién elegido presidente proclamó el estado de “conflicto armado interno” y declaró a 22 bandas criminales como grupos terroristas. Ante este panorama, el artículo examina los acontecimientos recientes en Ecuador, así como los correspondientes estudios académicos, para analizar dos preguntas: ¿Por qué y cómo ha pasado Ecuador, en tan poco tiempo, de ser uno de los países más pacíficos de la región a uno de los más violentos? Y, ¿qué consecuencias de esta escalada de la crisis de seguridad podemos observar ya para la política ecuatoriana y el régimen democrático en general? Para entender el cambio de Ecuador de un país relativamente pacífico a uno plagado de violencia, identificamos tres conjuntos de factores causales interrelacionados: El creciente papel de Ecuador en el negocio transnacional de la droga; la reconfiguración de los grupos criminales ecuatorianos; y el contexto social y político en Ecuador.
The contribution is part of the forum "Contextualizing the Contextualizers: How the Area Studies Controversy is Different in Different Places", by Jan Busse, Morten Valbjørn, Asel Doolotkeldieva, Stefanie Ortmann, Karen Smith, Sérgio Costa, Irene Weipert-Fenner, Jonas Wolff, Saskia Schäfer, and Norma Osterberg-Kaufmann.
Abstract: During the last decades, the Andean region has moved significantly towards constructing systems of legal pluralism. This “work in progress”, however, has been and continues to be heavily contested in the judicial and the political sphere as well as within society at large. The article explores a theoretical perspective that emphasizes the relation between conflict and (mis-)trust in order to analyze the disputes about
the legal recognition of indigenous justice and the establishment of legal pluralism in the Andean region. Based on existing studies and with a particular focus on the cases of Bolivia and Ecuador, four hypotheses are put forward: First, mistrust has been and is a key factor shaping the resistance against the recognition of indigenous justice. Therefore, second, a possible deconstruction of this mistrust requires open conflict that enables traditional elites and the general population to develop
an informed and differentiated opinion on the matter at hand. Third, however, such open conflict over indigenous justice can also contribute to reproducing, or even reinforcing, mistrust. Whether conflicts actually facilitate the deconstruction or rather the reproduction of mistrust depends, fourth, on the type of conflict and its articulation with broader socio-political controversies.
responded to COVID-19 by curtailing the freedom of expression when they had faced significant contentious political challenges before the pandemic. Our results from a quantitative analysis indeed show that countries who experienced high levels of pro-democracy mobilization before the onset of the pandemic were more likely to see restrictions of the freedom of expression relative to countries with no or low levels of mobilization. Additional three brief case studies (Algeria, Bolivia and
India) illustrate the process of how pre-pandemic mass protests fostered the imposition of restrictions on the freedom of expression during the pandemic.
En este artículo abordamos la cuestión de cómo la orientación normativa conforma la investigación académica desde una perspectiva sociológica. La orientación normativa implica la movilización de recursos científicos y la «movilización del mundo». Nuestro análisis se basa en la teoría de campo bourdieusiana y se centra en la investigación para la promoción de la democracia (IPD). El análisis muestra que la IPD es un campo académico heterogéneo, así como la demanda específica de orientación normativa. Los académicos (occidentales) y, en particular los académicos que se dedican también a la práctica profesional en sus respectivos campos de investigación ocupan posiciones centrales, y las prácticas de orientación normativa específicas de cada campo incluyen el balance, la evaluación, la identificación de problemas y la intervención crítica. Aunque estas conclusiones se derivan del análisis de la IPD, nuestros resultados son útiles para el estudio de la orientación normativa en campos académicos similares. Con el fin de realizar un análisis reflexivo y sistemático de cómo la orientación normativa conforma, por ejemplo, los estudios sobre desarrollo y la investigación sobre derechos humanos, sugerimos un enfoque centrado en las interrelaciones entre los campos académicos, las luchas específicas de cada campo y las relaciones con los respectivos campos normativos.
Dans cet article, nous nous intéressons à la question suivante : comment l'orientation politique façonne-t-elle la recherche académique d'un point de vue sociologique ? L'orientation politique implique la mobilisation de ressources scientifiques et la « mobilisation du monde ». Fondée sur la théorie de la pratique bourdieusienne, notre analyse se concentre sur la recherche sur la promotion de la démocratie (RPD). Elle montre que la RPD constitue un domaine académique hétérogène, mais correspond aussi à la demande d'orientation politique spécifique à ce domaine. Les chercheurs (occidentaux) et, plus particulièrement, les professionnels-chercheurs occupent des postes importants. Les pratiques d'orientation politique spécifiques au domaine incluent la réalisation d’état des lieux, d’évaluations, d'identifications de problèmes et d'interventions critiques. Bien que nous tirions ces informations d'une analyse de la RPD, nos conclusions se révèlent aussi utiles dans l’étude de l'orientation politique dans des domaines académiques similaires. Dans le cadre de l'analyse réflexive et systématique de la façon dont l'orientation politique façonne, par exemple, l’étude du développement ou la recherche sur les droits de l'homme, nous suggérons un accent sur les interrelations entre les domaines académiques, les défis spécifiques à un domaine et les relations avec les domaines de politique respectifs.
this article suggests that the nature of local political orders constitutes a key dimension shaping the micro-dynamics of violence and repression in post-conflict contexts.
das Land zwischen 2006 und 2019 geführt hat. Gelingt dessen Movimiento al Socialismo (MAS) ein knappes Jahr nach Morales‘ überraschendem Sturz die triumphale Rückkehr in den Präsidentenpalast?
Oder verleiht der Sieg eines Anti-MAS-Kandidaten dem putschähnlichen Ende der damaligen Regierung
im Nachhinein demokratische Weihen und besiegelt damit endgültig das Ende der Ära Morales?
En Bolivia, el año 2019 marca el fin de una era: En noviembre, tras casi 14 años en el poder, Evo Morales fue forzado a dejar prematuramente la presidencia y, poco después, también el país. Este acontecimiento dramático fue precedido por elecciones controvertidas, denuncias de fraude electoral, protestas postelectorales masivas y el cambio de bando de la policía y las Fuerzas Armadas. En lugar de calmar la situación, la renuncia de Morales provocó una nueva escalada del conflicto, con enfrentamientos violentos entre los manifestantes y las fuerzas de seguridad. Sin embargo, finalmente se llegó a una solución negociada de la crisis que permitió a la polémica presidenta interina Jeanine Áñez convocar nuevas elecciones. En un intento por entender esta extraordinaria cadena de acontecimientos, el artículo (1) resume las principales causas que han hecho tan vulnerable al otrora invencible gobierno del MAS y (2) analiza las elecciones de octubre así como la dinámica sociopolítica que se desarrolló después, centrándose en las principales controversias en torno a las elecciones (¿fraude electoral?) y la caída de Morales (¿golpe de estado?). Finalmente, (3) el artículo evalúa brevemente la dinámica bajo el actual gobierno interino y considera las próximas elecciones generales previstas para el 6 de septiembre de 2020.
Resumen: La economía política del postneoliberalismo boliviano: Política y elites Con el flujo de la marea rosa, el gobierno del MAS en Bolivia sigue siendo uno de los go-biernos izquierdistas elegidos más exitosos de toda América Latina desde finales de los años noventa. Para comprender mejor esta sorprendente historia de éxito, este artículo analiza la economía política del modelo post-neoliberal que ha tomado forma bajo el gobierno del MAS. Más específicamente, analiza la interacción entre la orientación estratégica y las ca-racterísticas específicas de la formulación de políticas económicas en Bolivia, por un lado, y la relación en evolución del gobierno del MAS con las élites económicas del país, por otro. Se argumenta que la versión específica del post-neoliberalismo de Bolivia ha facilitado rela-ciones cada vez más cooperativas entre el gobierno y las élites económicas, quienes han contribuido a la consolidación de las primeras. Al mismo tiempo, el análisis de la economía política del posneoliberalismo boliviano también revela su fragilidad inherente.
we bring together existing data and research to identify what we know – and do not know – about the targeted, lethal violence against civil society activists, including its characteristics and causes. In doing so, we also discuss the question of whether and to what extent this phenomenon can be considered as reflecting a transformation of the (violent) repression of civil society actors. Throughout the paper, we draw on cross-national and comparative research on the one hand, and existing studies on the specific case of Colombia on the other, since this is the case for which the best data
and most systematic and in-depth research exists. In this paper, though, we are not interested in analyzing the recent wave of assassinations of social activists in Colombia per se, but in discussing insights from Colombia as relevant contributions to the broader, comparative debate.
Resumen: El año 2023 en el Ecuador se caracterizó por una crisis política que estalló en medio de una escalada de violencia criminal. Si bien la crisis política se resolvió mediante nuevas elecciones, la crisis de seguridad ha persistido e incluso empeoró durante los primeros meses de la presidencia de Daniel Noboa. En respuesta, en enero del 2024, el recién elegido presidente proclamó el estado de “conflicto armado interno” y declaró a 22 bandas criminales como grupos terroristas. Ante este panorama, el artículo examina los acontecimientos recientes en Ecuador, así como los correspondientes estudios académicos, para analizar dos preguntas: ¿Por qué y cómo ha pasado Ecuador, en tan poco tiempo, de ser uno de los países más pacíficos de la región a uno de los más violentos? Y, ¿qué consecuencias de esta escalada de la crisis de seguridad podemos observar ya para la política ecuatoriana y el régimen democrático en general? Para entender el cambio de Ecuador de un país relativamente pacífico a uno plagado de violencia, identificamos tres conjuntos de factores causales interrelacionados: El creciente papel de Ecuador en el negocio transnacional de la droga; la reconfiguración de los grupos criminales ecuatorianos; y el contexto social y político en Ecuador.
The contribution is part of the forum "Contextualizing the Contextualizers: How the Area Studies Controversy is Different in Different Places", by Jan Busse, Morten Valbjørn, Asel Doolotkeldieva, Stefanie Ortmann, Karen Smith, Sérgio Costa, Irene Weipert-Fenner, Jonas Wolff, Saskia Schäfer, and Norma Osterberg-Kaufmann.
Abstract: During the last decades, the Andean region has moved significantly towards constructing systems of legal pluralism. This “work in progress”, however, has been and continues to be heavily contested in the judicial and the political sphere as well as within society at large. The article explores a theoretical perspective that emphasizes the relation between conflict and (mis-)trust in order to analyze the disputes about
the legal recognition of indigenous justice and the establishment of legal pluralism in the Andean region. Based on existing studies and with a particular focus on the cases of Bolivia and Ecuador, four hypotheses are put forward: First, mistrust has been and is a key factor shaping the resistance against the recognition of indigenous justice. Therefore, second, a possible deconstruction of this mistrust requires open conflict that enables traditional elites and the general population to develop
an informed and differentiated opinion on the matter at hand. Third, however, such open conflict over indigenous justice can also contribute to reproducing, or even reinforcing, mistrust. Whether conflicts actually facilitate the deconstruction or rather the reproduction of mistrust depends, fourth, on the type of conflict and its articulation with broader socio-political controversies.
responded to COVID-19 by curtailing the freedom of expression when they had faced significant contentious political challenges before the pandemic. Our results from a quantitative analysis indeed show that countries who experienced high levels of pro-democracy mobilization before the onset of the pandemic were more likely to see restrictions of the freedom of expression relative to countries with no or low levels of mobilization. Additional three brief case studies (Algeria, Bolivia and
India) illustrate the process of how pre-pandemic mass protests fostered the imposition of restrictions on the freedom of expression during the pandemic.
En este artículo abordamos la cuestión de cómo la orientación normativa conforma la investigación académica desde una perspectiva sociológica. La orientación normativa implica la movilización de recursos científicos y la «movilización del mundo». Nuestro análisis se basa en la teoría de campo bourdieusiana y se centra en la investigación para la promoción de la democracia (IPD). El análisis muestra que la IPD es un campo académico heterogéneo, así como la demanda específica de orientación normativa. Los académicos (occidentales) y, en particular los académicos que se dedican también a la práctica profesional en sus respectivos campos de investigación ocupan posiciones centrales, y las prácticas de orientación normativa específicas de cada campo incluyen el balance, la evaluación, la identificación de problemas y la intervención crítica. Aunque estas conclusiones se derivan del análisis de la IPD, nuestros resultados son útiles para el estudio de la orientación normativa en campos académicos similares. Con el fin de realizar un análisis reflexivo y sistemático de cómo la orientación normativa conforma, por ejemplo, los estudios sobre desarrollo y la investigación sobre derechos humanos, sugerimos un enfoque centrado en las interrelaciones entre los campos académicos, las luchas específicas de cada campo y las relaciones con los respectivos campos normativos.
Dans cet article, nous nous intéressons à la question suivante : comment l'orientation politique façonne-t-elle la recherche académique d'un point de vue sociologique ? L'orientation politique implique la mobilisation de ressources scientifiques et la « mobilisation du monde ». Fondée sur la théorie de la pratique bourdieusienne, notre analyse se concentre sur la recherche sur la promotion de la démocratie (RPD). Elle montre que la RPD constitue un domaine académique hétérogène, mais correspond aussi à la demande d'orientation politique spécifique à ce domaine. Les chercheurs (occidentaux) et, plus particulièrement, les professionnels-chercheurs occupent des postes importants. Les pratiques d'orientation politique spécifiques au domaine incluent la réalisation d’état des lieux, d’évaluations, d'identifications de problèmes et d'interventions critiques. Bien que nous tirions ces informations d'une analyse de la RPD, nos conclusions se révèlent aussi utiles dans l’étude de l'orientation politique dans des domaines académiques similaires. Dans le cadre de l'analyse réflexive et systématique de la façon dont l'orientation politique façonne, par exemple, l’étude du développement ou la recherche sur les droits de l'homme, nous suggérons un accent sur les interrelations entre les domaines académiques, les défis spécifiques à un domaine et les relations avec les domaines de politique respectifs.
this article suggests that the nature of local political orders constitutes a key dimension shaping the micro-dynamics of violence and repression in post-conflict contexts.
das Land zwischen 2006 und 2019 geführt hat. Gelingt dessen Movimiento al Socialismo (MAS) ein knappes Jahr nach Morales‘ überraschendem Sturz die triumphale Rückkehr in den Präsidentenpalast?
Oder verleiht der Sieg eines Anti-MAS-Kandidaten dem putschähnlichen Ende der damaligen Regierung
im Nachhinein demokratische Weihen und besiegelt damit endgültig das Ende der Ära Morales?
En Bolivia, el año 2019 marca el fin de una era: En noviembre, tras casi 14 años en el poder, Evo Morales fue forzado a dejar prematuramente la presidencia y, poco después, también el país. Este acontecimiento dramático fue precedido por elecciones controvertidas, denuncias de fraude electoral, protestas postelectorales masivas y el cambio de bando de la policía y las Fuerzas Armadas. En lugar de calmar la situación, la renuncia de Morales provocó una nueva escalada del conflicto, con enfrentamientos violentos entre los manifestantes y las fuerzas de seguridad. Sin embargo, finalmente se llegó a una solución negociada de la crisis que permitió a la polémica presidenta interina Jeanine Áñez convocar nuevas elecciones. En un intento por entender esta extraordinaria cadena de acontecimientos, el artículo (1) resume las principales causas que han hecho tan vulnerable al otrora invencible gobierno del MAS y (2) analiza las elecciones de octubre así como la dinámica sociopolítica que se desarrolló después, centrándose en las principales controversias en torno a las elecciones (¿fraude electoral?) y la caída de Morales (¿golpe de estado?). Finalmente, (3) el artículo evalúa brevemente la dinámica bajo el actual gobierno interino y considera las próximas elecciones generales previstas para el 6 de septiembre de 2020.
Resumen: La economía política del postneoliberalismo boliviano: Política y elites Con el flujo de la marea rosa, el gobierno del MAS en Bolivia sigue siendo uno de los go-biernos izquierdistas elegidos más exitosos de toda América Latina desde finales de los años noventa. Para comprender mejor esta sorprendente historia de éxito, este artículo analiza la economía política del modelo post-neoliberal que ha tomado forma bajo el gobierno del MAS. Más específicamente, analiza la interacción entre la orientación estratégica y las ca-racterísticas específicas de la formulación de políticas económicas en Bolivia, por un lado, y la relación en evolución del gobierno del MAS con las élites económicas del país, por otro. Se argumenta que la versión específica del post-neoliberalismo de Bolivia ha facilitado rela-ciones cada vez más cooperativas entre el gobierno y las élites económicas, quienes han contribuido a la consolidación de las primeras. Al mismo tiempo, el análisis de la economía política del posneoliberalismo boliviano también revela su fragilidad inherente.
Wie können wir die Beziehungen zwischen Ebenen und Orten unserer gewaltsamen Gegenwart denken – vom Körper bis zum Globalen, von Europa zu Lateinamerika? Wo und von wem wird Macht heute organisiert und ausgeübt? Welchen Zweck erfüllt die Gewalt, und wie können wir ihre globale Verstrickung entschlüsseln? Wie können wir über sie sprechen, wie sie darstellen, was dagegen tun?
Chapter 10 of this book is available open access under a CC BY 4.0 license at https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-030-19621-9.
This book investigates the motives that drive democracy promotion in a comparative and theoretically oriented manner, exploring how democracy promoters deal with conflicting objectives and the factors that shape their behaviour. It also addresses the more policy-oriented debate on the contemporary challenges to democracy promotion. Empirically it focuses on the US and German policies towards three pairs of target countries: Bolivia and Ecuador, Turkey and Pakistan, Belarus and Russia. In each case, the focus is on particular periods in which political developments in the recipient countries led to conflicting objectives on the part of democracy promoters. The analysis and comparison of situations in which democracy promoters have to deal with competing objectives and make tough decisions provides powerful evidence as to the determinants of democracy promotion.
This important book will be of interest to students and scholars of international relations, comparative politics, democratization studies and foreign policy."
Contents:
Section I: A Comparative Perspective on Democracy Promotion: Germany and the US
1. Determinants and Conflicting Objectives of Democracy Promotion Jonas Wolff and Hans-Joachim Spanger
2. "Freedom Fighter" Versus "Civilian Power": An ideal-type comparison of the US and Germany Annika E. Poppe, Bentje Woitschach and Jonas Wolff
3. Norms Versus Interests: Determinants across the cases Daniel Schewe and Jonas Wolff
Section II: Case studies on German and US democracy promotion
4. Democracy Promotion in Bolivia: The "democratic revolution" of Evo Morales Jonas Wolff
5. Democracy Promotion in Ecuador: The "citizens’ revolution" of Rafael Correa Jonas Wolff
6. Democracy Promotion in Turkey: The rise of political Islam Cemal Karakas
7. Democracy Promotion in Pakistan: The rise and fall of General Musharraf Niels Graf and Iris Wurm
8. Democracy Promotion in Belarus: "Europe’s last dictatorship" Azer Babayev
9. Democracy Promotion in Russia: The ambivalent challenge of Putinism Hans-Joachim Spanger
Section III: Results and Conclusions
10. Democracy Promotion as International Politics: Comparative analysis, theoretical conclusions and practical implications Jonas Wolff
Schließlich wird ein von Anthony Giddens' Theorie der Strukturierung angeleiteter Erklärungsansatz für das Phänomen Dollarisierung angeboten, der die Übernahme einer Fremdwährung als periphere Umgangsform mit den ambivalenten "Anforderungen" der aktuellen Konstellation neoliberaler Globalisierung versteht: Im "confidence game" (Paul Krugman) der internationalen Finanzmärkte, in dem sich die strukturelle Unsicherheit demokratischer Prozesse zunehmend als Manko an Glaubwürdigkeit darstellt, bietet sich die Übernahme einer harten Währung geradezu an. Gleichwohl ist die Dollarisierung alles andere als eine konsistente Antwort auf die Finankrisen der 90er Jahre. Während sie zwar die Gefahr von Währungsspekulation und -krise überwindet, beseitigt sie keineswegs deren Ursachen. Im Gegenteil: Kehrseite der monetären Stabilisierung ist insbesondere eine dauerhafte und anwachsende Konstellation der Überbewertung. Der Zielkonflikt zwischen einer überbewerteten Währung zur Attraktion externer Finanzmittel und einer unterbewerteten Währung zur Steigerung der internationalen Wettbewerbsfähigkeit des Produktionsstandorts, vor dem die Länder der Peripherie in Zeiten neoliberaler Globalisierung verschärft stehen, wird einseitig und absolut zu Lasten der industriellen Konkurrenzfähigkeit entschieden. Die Aussicht auf breite wirtschaftliche Entwicklung rückt so in weite Ferne.
Die Arbeit basiert auf einem eklektischen politökonomischen Ansatz, der monetär-keynesianische Analysen, Einsichten der neogramscianischen Internationalen Politischen Ökonomie, der Regulationstheorie und der Theorien Internationaler Beziehungen (Regimetheorie, Sozialkonstruktivismus, Globalisierungsanalysen) zu verbinden sucht.
Gallie’s crucial insight that turns his argument about democracy being essentially contestable into an important academic and political intervention is the following: The internal complexity of the very concept of democracy makes it impossible to identify, by way of systematic reasoning, one “correct” or superior conception of democracy. There is simply no single, somehow logically deducible answer to any of the above questions. Still, empirically speaking, democracy is not always actually contested and, at any given point in time, one particular understanding of the concept may be hegemonic. Thus, any specific conception of democracy is always contestable in principle, but it may well become decontested – that is, taken for granted and assumed common sense status – in a given socio-historical context.
In this sense, the long 1980s (between the late 1970s and the early 1990s) were not simply the years during which most Latin American countries moved from authoritarian to democratic regimes . They were also characterized by important ideological shifts that included the decontestation of democracy in terms of a limited, liberal, representative, and market-oriented conception. This conceptual development enabled, and was further consolidated by, the almost region-wide establishment of democracy (see Smith 2011). Furthermore, the convergence of a narrow, Dahlian notion of democracy as polyarchy was actively supported by the U.S. government (Robinson 1996) and also characterizes the scholarship on the transitions to democracy in Latin America (Guilhot 2005, chapters 3-4; Munck 2012, 5).
Recent years, however, have seen a significant revival of contestation of democracy across the region associated with the so-called leftist turn in Latin America. Like the previous period of decontestation, these ongoing disputes over the parameters of democracy encompass internal struggles over the transformation of democracy within Latin American countries (Cheresky 2006; Dargatz and Zuazo 2012; Escobar 2010), conceptual disputes over the meaning of democracy at the level of inter-American relations (Heine and Weiffen 2015; Legler et al. 2007; Whitehead 2008), as well as a renewed academic interest in enrichments of, and outright alternatives to, liberal democracy (Arditi 2005; Avritzer 2002; Cameron et al. 2012; Lissidini et al. 2014; Wolff 2013). To large extent, political developments and related academic debates in the Americas can be read as processes of contestation and decontestation of democracy. In the meantime, a new dynamic of contesting democracy has emerged from the recent turn to the political right in various American countries, e.g. in Argentina with the election of Macri in 2015, Trump in the USA in 2016 and Bolsonaro in Brazil in 2018.
First, I take the notion of contested extractivism seriously, briefly discuss the types of contestation over extractivism that are highlighted in the literature and suggest a specific way of conceptualising this object of research. Second, addressing this volume’s focus on state-society relations, I consider the complex relationship between contestation over extractivism and democracy. While much research has addressed the problems that extractivism as a development model might pose for democracy, I argue that contestation over extractivism also raises complicated questions for which democratic theory and democratic procedures offer no clear-cut solutions. Third and finally, I reflect on a normative tension that is associated with an academic approach that combines a critical perspective on extractivism with the empirical study of its contestation by those affected.
criticize individual civil society organizations (CSOs) with a view to designating them as, in one way or another, outside the realm of legitimate civic behavior. The chapter reconstructs the basic logic of what is called “reputational attacks against civil society actors” and suggests a set of strategic responses available to CSOs.
In Argentina, the labor movement’s contributions to transitional justice reflected its ambivalent role in the 1976–1983 military dictatorship and its own organizational interests. Thousands of labor leaders had been
imprisoned, forcibly disappeared, or killed by the military regime, and labor played a significant role first in the transition to democracy and then as subjects of transitional justice. Prominent cases addressed by the National Commission on the Disappearance of Persons, for example, included those of victimized labor leaders and delegations. But some labor leaders had also collaborated with the regime. Ultimately, labor’s stance towards transitional justice was shaped by its political alliances.
In South Africa, the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) suffered intense repression under apartheid, but its proximity to the ruling political party, the African National Congress, since the transition has led it to take ambivalent positions towards transitional justice processes. COSATU was present at the country’s truth commission’s hearings as both subject and participant, and it called for reparations from corporations that profited from the apartheid system. But it has also followed the government line by opposing litigation against corporations.
In Tunisia, labor’s relations with the regime were ambivalent, as the Tunisian General Labor Union was aligned with the Ben Ali regime but not fully coopted by it. The union has since played an important mediating role in the process of democratization, and its participation in transitional justice processes has focused on violence committed against its members. It directly participated in the National Dialogue on Transitional Justice, but it later withdrew from official transitional justice processes in dissatisfaction, preferring to use its own channels
to influence politics and policy.
Die Wahl von Evo Morales allein bedeutete also ohne Zweifel einen politischen Umbruch. Zugleich war der Wahlerfolg vom Dezember 2005 aber selbst Ausdruck und Ergebnis bedeutender soziopolitischer Veränderungen, die für ein Verständnis der Regierung Morales von unmittelbarer Relevanz sind. Während also der Antritt des neuen Präsidenten per se einen Umbruch darstellte, der zudem aus einem bedeutenden Umbruch in der bolivianischen Demokratie folgte, so war es von Beginn an der Anspruch der Regierung Morales, diese Umbrüche für eine umfassende „Neugründung“ Boliviens zu nutzen. Der Beitrag nimmt sich der Frage des Umbruchs in diesen drei Dimensionen an.
Given the unresolved debate about the concept of power in the discipline of International Relations (IR), it does not come as a surprise that there is no consensus view on the role and relevance of “power” in the international promotion of democracy. What is surprising, however, is the limited attention scholars have so far paid to this issue when studying democracy promotion. In a recent article on “Power in democracy promotion”, I address this research gap by suggesting a way forward towards a systematic consideration of power in the academic study of democracy promotion. In the article, I do so by critically reviewing the existing scholarship on democracy promotion that explicitly deals with power and by proposing a multidimensional perspective on power as a way to improve our understanding of the international politics of democracy promotion. In this EDP wire post, I focus on the conceptual argument.
im Amt bestätigt.
Im September 2008 stimmten 64% der Bevölkerung für eine neue Verfassung, die das politische System Ecuadors grundlegend umgestaltet. Präsident Correa und das Regierungsbündnis PAIS dominieren das politische Geschehen, während die traditionellen Parteien weitgehend von der Bildfläche verschwunden sind.
Die vorliegende Studie untersucht, wie sich die »Landschaft« soziopolitischer Akteure seit der ersten Wahl von Correa Ende 2006 verändert hat. Der Schwerpunkt der Analyse liegt auf dem Regierungsbündnis PAIS sowie den Parteien und sozialen
Organisationen des Mitte-Links-Spektrums.
Das Regierungsbündnis PAIS zeigt sich als heterogenes Sammelbecken, das in verschiedene Strömungen zerfällt und vor allem von der Bindekraft des Präsidenten zusammengehalten wird. Die Organisationen des Mitte-Links-Spektrums außerhalb von PAIS sind ihrerseits hochgradig fragmentiert und schwanken zwischen der kooperativen Einordnung ins und der konfrontativen Abgrenzung
vom Regierungslager.