The Political Economy of Self-Help: Kenya's “Harambee” Institutes of Technology

This article explores the neo-Gramscian concept of hegemony by investigating what the author refers to as multiple layers of hegemony existing and interacting with one another. Moreover, an empirical analysis of the South African Communist Party's (SACP's) role in the post-apartheid political landscape will be conducted in order to elucidate the key theoretical points under consideration. The article suggests that there are at least three relatively distinct layers, or forms, of hegemony that influence the post-apartheid political struggles of the SACP: global, national, and organizational. Engaging with the notion of hegemony in this manner, the author seeks to more clearly understand and explain the case study at hand, and also begins a conversation regarding the theoretical implications of engaging with the concept of hegemony in this manner.     

Romania and the Third World during the heyday of the détente

Abstract

All Warsaw Pact countries developed intense relations with Third World countries during the 1970s, following in Moscow’s footsteps, allegedly supporting the struggle against Western imperialism while making profitable arms deals. One Warsaw Pact country, though, saw things differently: it was both American and Soviet imperialism that had to be fought off. This paper reassesses the origins and nature of Romania’s Third World policy in the context of the Soviet–American détente of 1972. Détente was perceived in Bucharest as a risk to the country’s independent foreign policy and a consolidation of the existing bipolarity which is why Romania tried to mobilise small and medium states of the Third World in a fight against hegemony and underdevelopment. Although they adhered to the developmental debates and tried to join the Group of 77, the Romanians viewed underdevelopment not necessarily in structural terms but rather as a product of political obstructions exerted by the superpowers. Refusing the take the Soviet side in the Third World, Romania tried to convince Third World leaders that unity and cooperation among the ‘unprivileged’ were a shield against foreign interference and a guarantee of development.     

Jewish-Palestinian Relations in Israel: From Hegemony to Equality?

This article focuses on the relationships between the Jewish majority and the Palestinian minority in Israel. Opening with a historical perspective that emphasizes the marginality of the minority, the article proceeds to describe empirically that minority's inferior and subservient condition. The third section proposes an elaborate conceptual framework for analyzing politics in deeply divided societies and then applies it to the Israeli case. The final part addresses the possibility of transforming Israel's political system from one that is ethnically hegemonic and democratically flawed into a polity that is open, inclusive, and genuinely democratic. The article identifies ways for effecting such a systemic transformation through individual-based approaches (especially liberal democracy) and group-based designs (consociationalism, multinationalism, federalism, cantonization, and autonomy).     

中国与国际秩序笔谈:观念与战略

国际秩序是世界政治中最具全局性、长期性和战略性的重大问题。国际秩序的走向本质上是“世界向何处去”的问题。习近平主席指出:“当今世界处于百年未有之大变局”“人类又一次站在了十字路口。合作还是对抗?开放还是封闭?互利共赢还是零和博弈?如何回答这些问题,关乎各国利益,关乎人类前途和命运。”对此时代之问,追求民族复兴并已深度融入世界的中国,理应做出自己的回答。正值新冠肺炎疫情肆虐、大国竞争加剧、国际秩序“分”“合”未定之际,南京大学亚太发展研究中心会同《国际问题研究》《外交评论》和《国际展望》三本杂志,以“中国与国际秩序”为主题,邀请近二十位学者分别从历史与理论、观念与战略、议题与实践等不同路径和维度尝试进行跨学科、全方位讨论,旨在聚焦中国在国际秩序进程中的地位与作用,思考中国与世界之关系,鉴往知今、展望未来。     

Of Wild and Cultivated Politics: Conflict and Democracy in Argentina

This is a study of cultural change within democratization. It uses conflict theory to understand the culture of conflict escalation and management, taking Argentina as its example. Beginning with the most extreme dictatorships, The Dirty War and the Rosas period, and then looking at other periods of governance, the essay illustrates that Argentina has an authoritarian culture of conflict. The essay suggests why these patterns have developed in Argentina. It asks whether it is possible to change such cultural patterns and whether the current democratizing effort includes efforts at change. It concludes that the democratization efforts since 1983 have included attempts to change culture, as well as electoral and institutional movement toward democracy.     

Post-hegemony and Gramsci: a bridge too far?

This article expands upon the theory of post-hegemony so as to maintain the multitude as an operative political category alongside the State. Ironically, it does so by returning to Antonio Gramsci. It argues that the multitude – or, for Gramsci ‘civil society’ – is constitutive of statal politics in two specific ways: (1) the multitude as a constitutive outside or alterity that the State carries; and (2) constitutive in its positivity, as a productive immanence that affects the social field from which the State is drawn. This relationship of constituent participation – not representation – is demonstrated by investigating changes in politics-as-usual in Venezuela.     

More continuity than change? US strategy toward Cuba under Obama and Trump

This article examines the policies implemented by both the Obama and Trump Administrations toward Cuba to evaluate the claim that the ‘Thaw’ of relations between Washington and Havana represents a significant change in US foreign policy toward the island nation. Despite the appearance that the change in policy is a fundamental shift, I argue that the changes in US policy toward Cuba under both Obama and Trump represent changes in the means for pursuing the same historical objectives pursued by the Washington for the past few decades. In other words, the overall strategy and objective of US hegemony in Cuba is the same, with the only change being the means for achieving these ends. The central implication of this is that the ‘Thaw’ in relations between Cuba and the US represents a new, more ‘consensual’ means to instigating the same objective of provoking American-orchestrated political, economic, social and ideological changes in the island nation.     

Populist liberalism as dominant ideology: Competing ideas and democracy in post-authoritarian Argentina, 1989–1995

This article identifies a new dominant political ideology, populist liberalism, which emerged in Argentina after 1989. This elite-constructed discourse (combining some neo-liberal ideas with old populist emphases) emphasized leadership more than institutions; glorified grand transformation rather than incremental change; stressed economic efficacy more than political representation and participation; and elevated liberty over equality and solidarity. This ideology, a contributing cause and consequence of the Menemist transformation of the Argentine political economy, is assessed against democratic norms and contrasted with its main ideological competitors in Argentina, populist nationalism, democratic nationalism, and democratic liberalism. The article concludes with a comment on the relationship between populist liberal ideology and the uneven democratization of post-authoritarian Argentine politics.     

Export-Oriented Populism: Commodities and Coalitions in Argentina

A new form of populism, combining broad-based benefits for urban workers with export promotion, emerged in Argentina under Néstor Kirchner (2003–2007). This article argues that changes in agricultural production created the conditions for this “export-oriented populism.” Historically, Argentina’s main exports, beef and wheat, were also the primary consumption goods of urban workers. Scholars such as Guillermo O’Donnell have argued that this linkage increased rural-urban conflict, resulting in shifting coalitions and recurring crises. Today, soybeans have replaced beef and wheat as the country’s leading export. Because soybeans are not consumed by the working class, Kirchner could both promote and tax their export, generating fiscal revenue for populist programs while not harming the effective purchasing power of urban workers or provoking a balance-of-payments crisis. Export orientation thus provided the basis for a new variant of Argentine populism. This study offers a new argument within the classic research tradition on the interaction between politics and various types of export growth. It likewise provides an additional basis for arguing that populism, as a form of politics, can arise in diverse economic circumstances. Furthermore, this article contends that, rather than uniformly promoting political stability, the effect of export booms is conditioned by the nature of economic linkages between the export sector and the domestic economy.

Mestizaje,Córdoba's patria chica: beyond the myth of black disappearance in Argentina

This article examines the ‘disappearance of the black population’ by moving beyond the more traditional explanation of the blanqueamiento (whitening) movement at the end of the nineteenth century. In shifting the temporal framework to the republican period, 1820–1853, a more colorful explanation arises to address how the black population was first lightened which would lead to it being whitened during the second half of the nineteenth century. Ultimately because of mestizaje (racial mixture), blacks and other castas (a person who was not a Spaniard and often of a mixed racial heritage) became pardos. Pardos at first included those of mixed heritage with an elite status among other castas in the colonial period. As Córdoba joined the nation-building process, pardo encompassed all people of color, especially the growing, free black population. In order to explain this process, I traced African descendants who were originally labeled negro and changed to pardo in the 1813, 1822, and 1832 city censuses     

Electoral Risk and Redistributive Politics in Mexico and the United States

What strategy does a rational party follow in allocating discretionary expenditure? This article conceives redistributive politics as an investment strategy where expenditure allocations respond to electoral risk. To show the effects of risk, it provides evidence from Pronasol in Mexico and an analysis of New Deal spending in the United States. The analysis finds that the federal administrations in both countries responded to systematic electoral risk. Spending diversification into risky voters was a rational response to chances of losing elections. The analysis hence connects electoral volatility with redistributive spending.