Foreign investment,black economic empowerment and militarised patronage politics in Zimbabwe

This paper seeks to analyse Zimbabwe's economic empowerment policy. It argues that while there is a felt need for Zimbabwe to redress colonially induced injustices and racial imbalances in the ownership of the means of production, a ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach to the indigenisation of the economy is fundamentally flawed as it deters investors and may further damage the country's already extremely fragile economy. The implementation of the land reform programme contributed to the decline of Zimbabwe's economy: lessons learnt from the programme and related economic policies of the past 15 years highlight the problems of empowerment policies that are intertwined with patronage politics. The government's negation of basic economic principles and failure to open spaces for critical engagement with all relevant stakeholders epitomises an ill-advised indigenisation and economic empowerment strategy. The policy will not promote and retain foreign investment;nor are there sustainable prospects of internally oriented accumulation strategies on the horizon.     

Intraregional Migration,Direct Action Land Reform,and New Land Settlements in the Brazilian Amazon

This article analyses migration histories of residents in rural settlements of the Brazilian Amazon that resulted from direct action land reform (DALR), which involves organised land occupations. Our analysis evaluates two hypotheses. The ‘urban migration’ expectation asserts that urban experience is important for DALR participation, which links rural and urban areas via migration for land occupations. The ‘DALR efficacy’ hypothesis argues that migration and DALR are complementary livelihood strategies, such that participation in DALR obviates the need for further migration. Our findings support both hypotheses and bear implications for regional development and environmental change in the Amazon.     

Changing Narratives of Race and Environment in the Nineteenth‐Century and Early‐Twentieth‐Century Brazilian Amazon

The Amazon has been the object of numerous reflections upon the relationship between the natural environment and the categories of human society. This article analyses Brazilian writers who considered the relations between space and race over the course of the nineteenth century and early twentieth century. It focuses on João Henrique de Mattos, José Veríssimo and Euclides da Cunha, placing them in relation to each other and within local, national and international discourses on race, nature and development. Its aim is to examine how a racialised geographical understanding of the Amazon changed over the course of the nineteenth century and was tied to Brazilian nation‐building.     

从泰国军人干政看发展中国家政治制度危机

军事政变不仅是一种军事行动,更是一种政治行动.本文试图通过对泰国军事政变的分析,探讨在发展中国家军人干政的原理.本文认为,政变的发生取决于一个国家的社会结构因素和政治制度因素,其中政治参与的无序化与领导人退出机制的不完善是引发军事政变的最重要原因.虽然军人干政在历史上曾经起过积极作用,但在现代社会,军人干政已经不适应甚至危害民主政治的发展.为解决这个问题,发展中国家应该从调整社会结构、扩大政治参与和提升政治制度化水平等三个方面持续地付出努力.     

韩国政治社会化的历史分析及启示

政治社会化是政治文化的传播、维持和改变。一国政治文化主要依赖于内部诸条件的相互作用与耦合,但外部因素也是影响政治文化乃至政治社会化进程的重要变量。由于特殊的历史原因,韩国社会经历过多次传统社会的价值观和生活规范的解体、分化与重组。韩国政治文化及其社会化受外部因素的影响特别大,尤其是受中国、日本和美国的影响巨大。从历史的角度考察三国对韩国政治文化和政治社会化的影响,分析韩国政治社会化的历史与现实,将为包括中国在内的诸多发展中国家走向政治现代化提供有益借鉴与启示。     

Politics,Violence and Drugs in Kingston,Jamaica

The involvement of gangs, guns and ganja (marijuana) in Jamaica has, since independence in 1962, largely been confined to the capital, Kingston, and more specifically to the downtown, impoverished sections of the city known locally as the ghetto. This paper examines the characteristics of the ghetto; the context that it provides for political patronage among Kingston's most marginalised citizens; the evolution of certain downtown constituencies into garrison communities; and the separation between politics and drug violence that has marked the last twenty years, as Colombian cocaine has displaced locally‐produced ganja as the key drug to be consumed and traded.     

Coming to terms with neopatrimonialism: Soviet and American nation-building projects in Afghanistan

The author examines how patrimonial forms of domination, as conceived in a Weberian sense, came to pervade the formal bureaucratic apparatuses developed under both Soviet Marxist–Leninist (from the late 1970s) and American-coalition liberal designs (since 2001), creating hybrid states defined by neopatrimonialism. Drawing lessons from the survival and eventual collapse of the Najibullah regime following the 1989 withdrawal of Soviet forces, the article finds that the continued extension of aid and arms, and not the presence of foreign military forces, proved most effectual in sustaining the Afghan leader's patronage-based grip on power. Arguing that the contemporary regime of Hamid Karzai has likewise adopted a neopatrimonial-type rule, these findings have clear implications for current American policy in Afghanistan. America, Afghanistan's ultimate patron, can better ensure stability in the region by extending aid to Karzai than by continuing a large and costly military occupation of the region.     

Client‐ship and Citizenship in Latin America

This article explores the development of political relationships between people and politicians since around 1820 in Latin America. In particular, it develops the idea of client‐ship as a form of political agency and contrasts it to citizenship, linking both to 'natural' and 'historical' interpretations of inequality. The piece claims that client‐ship has dominated political relations and that its twin tools of charisma and votes‐for‐goods allows it to thrive today in the form of neo‐populism. In contrast, citizenship has been thwarted by the efforts of parties which control political agency by imposing norms of intellectual superiority and hierarchies of disdain. Throughout, I argue that issues of race, gender and class are central to political relationships which are the cultural terrain of power, and conclude that parties must begin to take citizens – and citizenship – seriously if they wish to avert a crisis of democracy.     

Weak links in the BEE chain? Procurement,skills and employment equity in the metals and engineering industries

The Department of Trade and Industry's 2003 strategy identifies ‘Black Economic Empowerment’ (BEE) as being broad-based, inclusive, and part of a sustainable long-term growth and development strategy. In this, it is consistent with the 2001 Black Economic Empowerment Commission report, the ANC 2002 conference resolution and ultimately the ANC's Reconstruction and Development Programme of 1994. We use firm-level information in the metals and engineering industries to examine the actual nature and extent of BEE across the dimensions of ownership, procurement, employment equity and training. Its aim is to examine the relationships between BEE concepts and provisions and the responses that firms took in practice. Direct pressure for BEE in metals and engineering firms arises from legislation and regulatory provisions governing employment equity, skills development and procurement. It also follows from procurement provisions applying to large companies that buy from metals and engineering firms, as well as to mining firms and State-Owned Enterprises such as Eskom and Transnet.     

泰国政治权力结构调整的动力、路径与困境

基于对政治利益集团权力斗争的分析,本文认为,近年来泰国政局持续动荡的根源在于政治权力结构调整所面临的转型困境。20世纪90年代以来,泰国在全球化外部风险与国内城乡发展失衡的双重压力下,形成对国家发展道路的重新选择要求。经济利益结构的改革压力,形成对"碎片化"政治权力结构的调整动力。1997年东亚金融危机爆发,成为推动泰国政治权力结构调整的契机。既得利益集团倾向于保留"碎片化"格局的改良方案,但代表新资本集团的他信派系倾向于政治改革,要求建构由其主导的"层级式"政治权力结构。他信派系得益于新资本集团与农民群体的政治联合,在"政治权力结构—经济利益结构"大循环调整过程中占据优势;既得利益集团得益于国王权威的支持,在"政治权力结构—政治文化传统"小循环调整过程中掌握主动。双方在政治权力结构的调整过程中相互制衡,从而使得泰国的政治秩序迟迟未能重建。     

转型时期泰国政治力量的结构分析

在发展中国家由传统社会向民主化转型过程中,国家政治力量结构呈现出新旧交替、传统与现代的博弈局面.作为国家政治结构的主要力量,官僚阶层、军队与政党之间存在着一种动态的三角关系.在泰国的政治结构中,官僚阶层是基本的和不变的常量,军队始终发挥着重要的干预变量角色,而政党是一种集合性变量.本文通过分析泰国三大政治力量的结构及相互关系,推演出泰国现当代政治格局发展的基本规律.     

试析新教参与韩国政治的过程及特点

宗教对韩国政治有着重要作用。解放之后,新教在政治上处于有利地位,在政治和组织化方面相对完备,美国及韩国的反共主义与对宗教的刻意扶植模糊了宗教与政治的分野。到20世纪60年代之后,宗教与政治的关系出现一定的疏远,宗教内部也出现了对立与竞争,宗教界的政治参与在各种宗教内部保守与进步势力的相互牵制下表现出各种不同的形态。在民主化时代,韩国宗教界政治参与的最大特征表现为保守阵营的大反攻,宗教界出现大范围的保守化。这种保守化的另一个发展方向就是政治势力化,各派之间组成相应的政治组织或政党,以更大限度地集中政治力量。     

Identifying with the Nation: Spain's Left-Wing Citizens in an Age of Crisis

This study analyses the extent, sense, and strategies employed by sympathisers with Spanish state-wide left-wing parties to ‘reconstruct’ their affective ties with the Spanish nation after the ‘monopolisation of patriotism’ by Franco's regime. Such an undertaking is further complicated within the context of economic crisis and intensified peripheral nationalism found in Catalonia and the Basque Country. This article applies qualitative analysis to the discourse of left-wing participants from 11 focus groups held in March 2012 amidst the economic (and political) crisis. As expected, this context of crisis favoured the emergence of explicit discourse on the Spanish nation, providing an opportunity to gain a better understanding of its nature. Findings show that welfare nationalism and social patriotism define the kind of attachment developed by the interviewees towards Spain better than the concept of constitutional patriotism, or any kind of ethnic-cultural feeling of belonging.     

2009年马来西亚政局述评

本文从经济与民生基本状况、政治力量结构、政治事件、公共政策等视角,尝试对2009年马来西亚政局的基本脉络做出分析,并提出关于今后马来西亚政局走向的若干判断.     

民主与政治稳定:印尼局势动荡与政权更迭的政治解读

印尼的局势动荡和政权更迭表明 ,在民主体制下 ,领导人个人的道德品行如何及对民主原则的认同与否、政党是否成熟、具体的体制设计与现实政治力量分布是否相互协调是影响一个国家政治稳定的重要因素。     

伊斯兰教与马来西亚政治民主化

马来西亚是伊斯兰国家,其政治发展与种族关系和伊斯兰教息息相关,在政治民主化进程中,种族政治和宗教政治都发挥了重要作用.本文主要通过安瓦尔事件以及伊斯兰党的理念和实践研究伊斯兰教在马来西亚政治民主化中的作用,进而探讨伊斯兰原教旨主义与政治民主化的关系,探讨伊斯兰教能否推动伊斯兰国家的民主化进程.     

马来西亚华人社团大选诉求事件探析

在1999年马来西亚大选前夕,马来西亚2095个华人社团共同向参与竞选的各政治派别提出了一系列的社会政治诉求,旨在改变那些他们认为是不公平的社会政策,特别是种族间的不平等。诉求运动取得了一定的成就,但也引发了一定范围内华巫种族关系的紧张。为消除这种紧张关系,双方互有妥协,部分关键诉求最终被迫搁置。该诉求是一次典型的政治参与运动,有着特殊的历史与现实背景。新经济政策实施以后,华社已有多次诉求提出,1999年的大选和巫统的分裂则为其再次提供了现实机遇。然而,由于诉求提出的民间性、偏向性、时效性等特征,该运动因遇到诸多问题并未坚持久远。不过,诉求事件为华社政治参与留下了宝贵的经验教训,使之日益成熟。     

精英互动与缅甸的政治发展:2011年缅甸的政治与外交

2011年缅甸政府与国内外精英的互动有力地推动了缅甸的政治发展。通过与政治反对派的互动,政府修改了政党登记法,赢得了政治反对派的初步信任,为更广范围分享政治权力扫清了障碍。通过与少数民族武装的互动,政府赢得了少数民族武装的信任,与绝大部分少数民族武装签订了和平协议,为更公平地在民族间分享资源创造了可能。通过与外国政要的互动,政府赢得了西方国家的信任,西方开始逐步解除对缅甸的制裁,为缅甸生产和提供更好的公共产品提供了条件。政府叫停密松电站建设可以看做是缅甸政府与国内外精英互动的一个顺理成章的结果。2011年缅甸的精英互动与政治发展表明:即使为结构所限,精英的认知和互动也可以推动一个国家的政治发展。     

俄国知识分子与社会革命党政治恐怖主义路线

知识分子是俄国社会革命党领导阶层的重要组织部分,他们以极大的热情投身革命事业,但由于认识上的局限性和政治思维出现的偏差,他们片面而偏激地宣传政治恐怖主义.正是这种政治思维所导致的错误惯性断送了社会革命党的政治生命.