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1471. Globalized Islam: Arab Identity Sous Rature

Author:
Salam Hawa
Publication Date:
06-2006
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Institute on Globalization and the Human Condition, McMaster University
Abstract:
A combination of the current “global war on terror” and political developments in the Middle East has brought forth deep interest in what scholars have identified as the “Arab Condition,” which recognizes the lack of political autonomy of Arab countries, whose citizens are seen to suffer from political disengagement and a lack of coherent political identity that is based on shared language, culture, and history (articles by Edward Said in Al-Ahram Weekly Online 22-28 May 2003; 21-27 August 2003). Alternate analyses view this absence of political identity from a religious (as opposed to linguistic/cultural) perspective, believing it to be at the base of the radicalization of Islamic religion, which has been responsible for the upsurge in terrorist activities around the globe (Ajami 1992; 1998; Wall Street Journal, 28 March 2004; Lewis 2002; 2003). It has been successfully argued (Bennison 2002; Roy 2004) that the Islamic ummah (collective Islamic identity) was at the basis of a global system until the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire in the early twentieth century. However, little or no work has been undertaken to study the complex relation that exists between language/culture and religious affiliation, more particularly for the Arab-speaking nations whose language is directly identified with the doctrines and laws of Islam. As a result, in attempting to understand the current political climate, lines drawn between what is Islamic, what is Arabic, and what is indeed a combination of the two have often been blurred, adding confusion to what has hitherto been a relatively unfamiliar religion and culture in the West.
Topic:
Islam and Politics
Political Geography:
Middle East and Arabia

1472. Empire Writes Back: Between Dreams of Trespass and Fantasies of Resistance

Author:
Alina Sajed
Publication Date:
11-2006
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Institute on Globalization and the Human Condition, McMaster University
Abstract:
This paper attempts to address the issues of what is at stake in reading between East and West, and how orality might pose a challenge to the legitimized academic views of doing research and of attaining knowledge. Indeed, I find myself situated somewhere in the middle between East and West. I come from an Eastern European country, in which the mélange of Western and Eastern elements can be confusing at best. Romanian culture (if one can talk of a unified and homogeneous cultural system which would bear the unambiguous mark of Romanian-ness) has been profoundly influenced both by its Eastern neighbours (influence which sometimes materialized into lengthy occupation by the Ottoman Empire) and by Western ideas and practices that have been imported both by foreign travellers and by the local intelligentsia. Boasting rich and captivating oral traditions, Romanian culture has also been under the tyranny of the written sign. It has sometimes tried to negotiate between the two, but not without doing violence to the richness of the former, while acknowledging the modern necessity and superior expediency of the latter.
Topic:
Globalization, Politics, and Post Colonialism
Political Geography:
Europe and Romania

1473. E-Activism: New Media and Political Participation in Europe

Author:
Óscar García Luengo
Publication Date:
12-2006
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
CONfines de Relaciones Internacionales y Ciencia Política
Abstract:
The demonstrations in Spain on March 13th, 2004 following the terrorist attacks in Madrid present an interesting challenge for political communication research. For the first time in the history of Spain, people employed communication technologies in order to create the dynamics of peaceful civil disobedience. Research on political communication has traditionally paid attention to the classic outlets in order to analyze the impact of media exposure on political affectation. Taking the cited framework as the main reference, this article compares the connection between political activism and the consumption of new and old media in European countries. Analyzing the use of these technologies is important because research on political communication has traditionally only focused on the classic media techniques to analyze the impact of media exposure on political disaffection. Therefore, using the March 13th demonstrations, this article compares the connection between political activism and the consumption of new and old media in European countries.
Topic:
Civil Society, Politics, and Science and Technology
Political Geography:
Europe and Spain

1474. Constitutional Article 59 and 20th Century Mexican Authoritarianism: An Explanatory Explicative Synthesis

Author:
José Ramón López Rubí Calderón
Publication Date:
06-2006
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
CONfines de Relaciones Internacionales y Ciencia Política
Abstract:
If the principal components of Mexico's 20th century authoritarianism were a strong president and a hegemonic party loyal.to it, we need to ask: What were the causes of the creation of the binomial system that was in fact successfully supported and articulated. From the perspective of neoinstitutionalism, this text explores not only the causal connections between the implementation and the workings of no-reelection in the federal Congress, but also the creation and persistence of the authoritarian regime. In fact, such an institution (institutional rule) contributed to the concentration of power in one single party that then contributed to the concentration of power in one single figure, the president.
Topic:
Development, Government, and Politics
Political Geography:
Mexico

1475. Legislative Performance and party difference in Mexico: the Chamber of Deputies, 2000-2003

Author:
Everado Rodrigo Daz Gmez
Publication Date:
05-2006
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
CONfines de Relaciones Internacionales y Ciencia Política
Abstract:
El artículo muestra los resultados de una investigación sobre el desempeño legislativo y la disciplina partidista en la Cámara de Diputados mexicana, durante la 58 Legislatura (2000-2003). El trabajo pone a prueba cuatro hipótesis provenientes de la bibliografía sobre gobierno sin mayoría en el caso mexicano. En particular, busca mostrar que, contrario a lo que se piensa comúnmente, las instituciones políticas mexicanas, y en especial el Congreso, no están en un estado de “parálisis” o crisis.
Topic:
Development, Government, and Politics
Political Geography:
Central America and Mexico

1476. ¡Bárbaros en Delfos! Geopolitical knowledge and International Relations before the 21st Century

Author:
Filibi López and Mariano Ferrero
Publication Date:
05-2006
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
CONfines de Relaciones Internacionales y Ciencia Política
Abstract:
The purpose of this article is to examine the connection between knowledge and power as well as scientific knowledge and politics. We use a sociology of knowledge perspective that provides a framework for the social and geopolitical situated nature of social science researchers and their academic communities. We will make sense of how the evolution of International Relations' (IR) knowledge production is tightly linked to the development of the international political context. From this point of view, American post-war hegemony came hand in hand with the Realist monopoly of the IR discipline. By the same token, the ongoing decentering process of academic spaces and theoretical approaches expresses the new world political landscape after the Pax Americana/Cold War era.
Topic:
International Relations, Civil Society, Politics, and Science and Technology
Political Geography:
America

1477. Haiti's New Government Faces Historic Dilemmas

Author:
Robert Perito
Publication Date:
05-2006
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
United States Institute of Peace
Abstract:
Two years after Jean-Bertrand Aristide's ouster by armed revolt, Haiti appears ready to turn a page in its turbulent political history. Earlier this month, the Haitian people successfully completed parliamentary elections with minimal violence or fanfare, two months after choosing their new president, René Préval. Once in office, Haiti's new leadership will face grave political challenges in governing a country that has been traumatized by chronic violence and instability.
Topic:
Development, Government, and Politics
Political Geography:
Central America and Haiti

1478. Syria and Political Change II

Author:
Scott Lasensky
Publication Date:
03-2006
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
United States Institute of Peace
Abstract:
This is the second in a series of USIPeace Briefings written by Scott Lasensky and Mona Yacoubian of USIP's Center for Conflict Analysis and Prevention. It is based on discussions at a recent seminar. The views expressed do not reflect those of USIP, which does not take policy positions. One year after the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri and facing mounting international pressure, the Syrian regime is consolidating its hold on power and adopting a more defiant stance, both in the region and toward the West. On December 12, Lebanese journalist Gibran Tueni—who had been staunchly opposed to Syrian involvement in Lebanon—was killed by a car bomb in Beirut. The attack occurred amidst continued Syrian intimidation of key witnesses as well as an orchestrated Syrian campaign to discredit the UN's Hariri investigation. Then, in a late December interview on al-Arabiya, former Syrian Vice President Abdel Halim Khaddam accused the Syrian regime of directly threatening Hariri just before his death. Khaddam is now openly calling for regime change, even reaching out to exiled leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood. In February 2006, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice criticized the Syrian government for encouraging violence and inflaming popular anger over the Danish cartoon controversy.
Topic:
Development, Politics, and United Nations
Political Geography:
Middle East and Syria

1479. Lebanon's Confessionalism: Problems and Prospects

Author:
Imad K. Harb
Publication Date:
03-2006
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
United States Institute of Peace
Abstract:
Over the past year and a half, Lebanon has witnessed tremendous political upheaval. In September 2004, Parliament extended the term of the country's president, Emile Lahoud, for three years after heavy-handed Syrian interference. Attempts were made on the lives of several public figures; among those killed was former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. A popular uprising forced Syria to withdraw the troops it had deployed in Lebanon since 1976. New parliamentary elections were held in May and June, 2005, and resulted in a new majority coalition of reform-minded, albeit sectarian, leaders who promised an overhaul of Lebanese politics.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, Development, and Politics
Political Geography:
Middle East, Lebanon, and Syria

1480. The Rise and Fall of Mass Taxation in Uganda

Author:
Ole Therkildsen
Publication Date:
09-2006
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Danish Institute for International Studies
Abstract:
Although Graduated Personal Tax (GPT) paid to local government in Uganda has caused numerous tax riots throughout the past century, it is only since the mid-1990s that competitive presidential elections have provided people with an effective way to express their dissatisfaction with it. Thus, greater political competition was instrumental in almost dismantling the GPT in 2001 and abolished in 2005. Positive governance effects will follow from this. As shown by the comparison of taxpayer rights and enforcement practices (in particular the use of imprisonment) for GPT and income tax paid to central government, the former has been collected with the use of much more coercion than the latter. Coercive approaches to taxation become more difficult to sustain with greater political competition.
Topic:
Economics, Government, and Politics
Political Geography:
Uganda and Africa