Temporary and circular migration in the construction of European migration governance

Increased interest and debate in Europe and at European Union (EU) level about the potential utility of ‘temporary’ and ‘circular’ forms of migration is accompanied by a certain elusiveness about the meaning of these terms. This elusiveness has actually created some opportunities for interactions at EU level to flesh out the meaning of these terms and inform policy development at member state and EU levels. By focusing on information gathering and the role of knowledge, the article develops a practice-based approach to analyse the relationship between research and policy, the role of the Commission and the activities of European Migration Network (EMN) in the quest for the meaning of temporary and circular migration. Information gathering and knowledge creation at EU level are shown to serve instrumental purposes by informing policy choices (‘evidence-based policymaking’) but it is also shown that existing policy choices cast a long shadow, shaping the context within which knowledge is developed (policy-based evidence-making), while information gathering and knowledge development can legitimate institutional roles, such as the Commission (policy-based institution-building).     

Clear and Present Strangers: The Clash of Civilizations and International Conflict

Huntington's (1993a, 1993b, 1996) clash of civilizations thesis suggests that states belonging to different civilizations are more likely to become involved in conflict with one another. To evaluate the empirical accuracy of Huntington's claims, we examined the relationship between civilization membership and interstate war between 1816 and 1992. We find that civilization membership was not significantly associated with the onset of interstate war during the Cold War era (1946–1988), which is consistent with one aspect of Huntington's thesis; however, we also find that for the pre–Cold War period (1816–1945) states of similar civilizations were more likely to fight each other than were those of different civilizations, which contradicts Huntington's thesis. Most importantly, our analysis reveals that during the post–Cold War era (1989–1992), the period in which Huntington contends that the clash of civilizations should be most apparent, civilization membership was not significantly associated with the probability of interstate war. All told, our findings challenge Huntington's claims and seriously undermine the policy recommendations that devolve from his clash of civilizations thesis.     

Negotiating one position: Switzerland at the Global Forum on Migration and Development

The paper explores intra-governmental processes in migration policy-making, using the example of Switzerland and examining its preparations for chairing the Global Forum on Migration and Development 2011. Switzerland's “one joint position”, presented at the forum, required intensive negotiations and cooperation between different Swiss federal offices. The paper highlights how and why Switzerland achieved this joint position. It analyses the intra-governmental tensions between national securitisation and global migration and development debates and how they were overcome. This experience of a “whole-of-government approach” offers an insight into politics underlying migration and development debates within donor countries, and its implications for global migration debates.     

World communications after UNESCO

Abstract

The withdrawal of the United States from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) represented an abrupt change in the long debate over the role of mass media, especially the so‐called New World Information Order. The NWIO issue itself was not a justification to withdraw, but other factors—corruption and incompetence within UNESCO and ill‐conceived programs— were. The debate, however, did spark a renewal of interest in the role of communications, particularly telecommunications, to promote Third World economic and political development. It also produced a modest but important commitment by U.S. government and private mass media to increase technical assistance and training programs. Despite the UNESCO rhetoric, support for the Western tradition of independence between mass media and government remains strong among Third World journalists.     

Disputing the geopolitics of the states system and global capitalism

Alex Callinicos's intervention in the debate on the geopolitics of the states system and capitalist modernity provides a crucial wake-up call to International Relations theory and practice. Yet, within the contending positions he outlines disputing the political economy of geopolitical conflict, inter-state rivalry and capitalist imperialism, the insights of Antonio Gramsci are notably absent. This article contributes to the debate by elaborating how the theory of passive revolution reveals the political rule of capital, thereby internally relating the states system to capitalist modernity within a focus on uneven development. This concern is evident in Gramsci's analysis of the labour process of Anglo-Saxon capitalism and the geopolitics of the states system contained within his survey of 'Americanism and Fordism'. Theorization on the passive revolution of capital might then provide a fruitful basis from which an empirical research agenda on social development could be advanced with reference to post-colonial state formation processes.

The Italian bourgeoisie succeeded in organizing its state not so much through its own intrinsic strength, as through being favoured in its victory over the feudal and semi-feudal classes by a whole series of circumstances of an international character (Napoleon III's policy in 1852-60; the Austro-Prussian War of 1866; France's defeat at Sedan and the development of the German Empire after this event). – Antonio Gramsci, `Origins of the Mussolini Cabinet', Letter to the Fourth World Congress of the IIIrd International (20 November 1922).     

构建亚洲共享文明——从文化视角看中印崛起

过去人们往往从政治、经济的角度研究中印两国，更多地看到中印发展中的排他性、对抗性、竞争性和消极因素，较忽视对文化、文明的研究。而作为四大文明古国的中印文明，不仅在过去，而且在现在和将来对两国发展都具有独特的地位和作用。本文将从文化视角出发，强调发展中印同质文化的重要性，提出构建亚洲共享文明的理念，指出中印崛起，不仅有利于中印两国的共同发展，而且将对亚洲和世界各国的发展起积极的作用。     

Migration and the EU Global Strategy: Narratives and Dilemmas

Migration did not figure in the European Security Strategy of 2003. Never mentioned as a threat, it was not even mentioned as a risk. Thirteen years later, migration is widely cited in the new European Union Global Strategy. Much richer than the previous security document and global in aspiration, the Global Strategy treats migration as a challenge and an opportunity, recognising the key role it plays in a rapidly changing security landscape. However, this multi-faceted perspective on migration uncovers starkly different political and normative claims, all of which are legitimate in principle. The different narratives on migration present in the new strategic document attest to the Union’s comprehensive approach to the issue but also to critical and possibly competing normative dilemmas.     

Formal and Informal Consociational Institutions: A Comparison of the National Pact and the Taif Agreement in Lebanon

Abstract

In the past decades, New Institutionalism in political science has rekindled an interest in the role of institutions and has theorized the interaction between formal and informal institutions. Unfortunately, little of this has made its way into the consociational literature. This article brings together the two bodies of work, focusing on the case of Lebanon because it allows for a unique analysis over time of the different ways in which consociational features have been institutionalized. The National Pact of 1943 was a gentleman’s agreement between the political leaders of the two main religious communities. It formed the basis of a consociational system that lasted for decades. After the civil war, the Taif Agreement reintroduced consociationalism, but this time more institutions were constitutionalized. However, it would be mistaken to view this as a simple contrast between informal (pre–civil war) versus formal (post–civil war) consociationalism, because even today the most important consociational institution is informal. This article traces the development and interaction of informal and formal consociational institutions in Lebanon. In doing so, it contributes not only to the consociational literature and the debate about the merits of liberal versus corporate consociations, but also to New Institutionalism and questions about the relative strength of formal versus informal institutions.     

“东北亚区域秩序研究”笔谈

进入21世纪,东北亚国际关系波谲云诡,成为全球地缘政治的热点。如何透过纷繁复杂的现象,探寻东北亚区域秩序变迁的历史轨迹,三篇文章试图从不同的视角回答这一问题。"从帝国到霸权:东北亚区域秩序的现代转型"以帝国与霸权为切入点,解读了两者在东北亚区域秩序的形成及转型过程中发挥的作用;"后冷战时代东北亚的民族主义与区域秩序"从民族主义入手,探讨了东北亚各国民族主义对塑造东亚均势秩序的影响,以及走向法理秩序的可能;"中华帝国转型与东北亚区域形成"回溯近代以来中华帝国与区域世界的互动,中国从农业帝国向现代主权国家的转变是东北亚区域形成的核心动力所在。     

The problem of gender quotas: women's representatives on Timor-Leste's suku councils

This article examines the experiences of women occupying reserved seats on the suku councils of Timor-Leste (each of which represents a number of small villages). The limited political participation of these women is often ascribed to patriarchal ideas within rural areas, and the need for capacity development. This article argues, however, that there are further structural issues at play, whereby the interaction between traditional and modern governance makes it difficult for women occupying reserved seats to make their mark. While gender quotas can be a useful tool to encourage women's political participation, these structural issues need to be recognised and addressed in order to truly empower women.     

Mainstream Revolutionaries: Sinn Féin as a “Normal” Political Party?

Despite the seismic shift of Sinn Féin from being the “mouthpiece” of the Provisional Irish Republican Army to the largest nationalist force in Northern Ireland, the party continues to project its objectives within the revolutionary politics and tradition of 1916. Whilst various groups across the island of Ireland stress their loyalty to Irish independence and allegiance to their republican forefathers, 2016 also plays host to devolved assembly elections in Northern Ireland. The centenary of the Easter Rising is therefore a poignant moment to reassess republican politics, more specifically, the relationship between the armed revolutionary tradition and constitutionalism. Within the post-peace process era Sinn Féin have been accused of maintaining an autocratic culture and an intra-party framework that is more representative of a clandestine revolutionary organisation than a political party. Yet, simultaneously, Sinn Féin have not been immune to the pressures experienced by other modern political parties, bound by the laws of electoral competition and driven by office-seeking priorities. In order to explore Sinn Féin within the modern political arena, this article firstly examines the broader debate surrounding how armed groups make the transition into constitutional politics. Secondly, public opinion survey data is used to judge the basis of Sinn Féin's electoral appeal. Finally, internal party documents are used to examine party structure, intra-party democracy, and professionalisation in order to judge the extent to which Sinn Féin have completed the transition from being a “mouthpiece” to their armed counterpart, towards being a “normal” political party.     

Being European by Joining Europe: Accession and identity politics in Lithuania

Desire to belong to 'Europe', expressed primarily through the integration into the European Union, has been the dominant theme in the Lithuanian political discourse after the end of the Cold War. Remarkably, despite the perceived threat to sovereignty and further exposure to Western culture, Lithuanians have remained largely positive about the project. This article aims to explore the national identity constructions vis-a ¤ -vis Europe in this newly independent country where European integration has been largely perceived to anchor the processes of transformation. First, I analyse how European integration has been accommodated into the dominant version of national identity. Secondly, I look at the emerging conceptualisations of the EU and its future in the Lithuanian debate. Finally, I consider the debates about costs the integration process, particularly in relation to Ignalina nuclear plant and Kaliningrad oblast. This article concludes with a look at the future of the debate.     

A (short) history of the clash of civilizations

Where does the clash of civilizations thesis and its underlying us-versus-them mentality come from? How has the idea been engineered historically and ideologically in the ‘east’ and ‘west’? What were the functions of Christianity and Islam to these ends? These are some of the questions that will be discussed in this article that engages both the clash of civilizations thesis and the discourse of ‘Orientalism’ more generally. Dissecting the many manifestations of mutual retributions, the article establishes the nuances of the ‘clash’ mentality within the constructs we commonly refer to as ‘Islam’ and the ‘west’, showing how it is based on a questionable ontology, how it has served particular political interests and how it is not inevitable. What is presented, rather, is a short genealogy of this idea, dispelling some of its underlying myths and inventions along the way.     

The role and example of Chilean and Argentinian Mothers in democratisation

This paper explores the development issue of democratisation from a gendered perspective, emphasising the need to look for the building blocks of democracy within civil society sectors where women play a key role. Chilean and Argentinian women prove an important example for sustainable political development through their roles as Mothers, particularly in the 1980s in the movements to protest against political disappearances. The author seeks to demonstrate how these women's practical endeavours have made them an indispensable ingredient in the achievement of real democratic development at the grassroots level, and how they serve as a model for policymakers in developing countries elsewhere.     

Participation: the ascendancy of a buzzword in the neo-liberal era

Participation was originally conceived as part of a counter-hegemonic approach to radical social transformation and, as such, represented a challenge to the status quo. Paradoxically, throughout the 1980s and 1990s, ‘participation’ gained legitimacy within the institutional development world to the extent of achieving buzzword status. The precise manipulations required to convert a radical proposal into something that could serve the neo-liberal world order led to participation's political decapitation. Reduced to a series of methodological packages and techniques, participation would slowly lose its philosophical and ideological meaning. In order to make the approach and methodology serve counter-hegemonic processes of grassroots resistance and transformation, these meanings desperately need to be recovered. This calls for participation to be re-articulated within broader processes of social and political struggle in order to facilitate the recovery of social transformation in the world of twenty-first century capitalism.     

The Michigan militia: Political engagement or political alienation?

The split within the Michigan Militia leadership highlights a disagreement between competing factions about the role militia groups should play in the political system. Norm Olson, the deposed commander of the group, rejects political participation entirely and focuses on the militia's paramilitary role. The leadership that replaced him under Lynn VanHuizen and Tom Wayne actively engages the political system, using tactics resembling those of modern interest groups. Despite continued challenges to VanHuizen and Wayne's leadership, the Michigan Militia has maintained this focus. Ada Finifter's classic conception of the multiple dimensions of political alienation is utilized as a framework from which to understand these different views of political participation. Strategies that restrict or stigmatize traditional forms of political participation by militia groups may, in certain cases, increase the likelihood of violence and should be carefully considered in light of this risk.     

Engaging disengagement: The political reintegration of Sierra Leone's Revolutionary United Front

The conflict between the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) and the Sierra Leonean government represents a highly instructive study for reintegration projects. Far from being a conventional political insurgency readily lending itself to peaceful political transformation, the RUF possessed within the ranks of its young and brutalised recruits a fundamental rejection of Sierra Leone's political structures. As such, Sierra Leone presented a unique challenge for reintegration efforts, requiring not only the immediate reconciliation of ex-combatants with victims and civil society, but also the long-term political incorporation of a group of youths defined by their very disengagement from and distrust of the political system. This article argues that the Sierra Leone experience demonstrates that successful political reintegration does not simply amount to political participation per se, but rather requires specific forms of political participation, which reinforce the primacy of peaceful political interaction over and above other means for affecting change. In this regard, this article concludes that despite progress in many key areas, former fighters of the RUF have yet to be fully politically reintegrated.     

Bogus Refugees? The Determinants of Asylum Migration to Western Europe

This article analyzes the determinants of asylum migration to Western Europe. Potential asylum seekers balance the costs of staying versus the costs of migrating. Estimation results confirm that economic hardship and economic discrimination against ethnic minorities lead to higher flows of asylum seekers. However, political oppression, human rights abuse, violent conflict, and state failure are also important determinants. Migration networks and geographical proximity are important facilitators of asylum flows as predicted by theory and colonial experience, religious similarity, and casual contact with the developed world (aid, trade, and tourism) are not. Natural disasters and famines are also not statistically significant determinants. These events are typically short term and unexpected, whereas asylum migration to Western Europe requires preparatory planning. If Western European countries want to tackle the root causes of asylum migration, then they need to undertake policy measures that promote economic development, democracy, respect for human rights, and peaceful conflict resolution in countries of origin.     

Human security as power/knowledge: the biopolitics of a definitional debate

This article interrogates the parameters of the human security debate as a site of biopolitics in order to gain an understanding of how it has been possible to shape the debate in certain ways and not others. The role of cosmological realism in grounding knowledge claims within the debate is explored. By privileging objectivist claims to knowledge of human (in)security, it is argued that empiricism and rationalism, as forms of cosmological realism, foster the production of logics which facilitate forms of biopolitical intervention. The quest for precision, measurement, causality and policy relevance that define the production of human security knowledge is shown to have important political effects beyond the definitional debate itself in terms of agency, normalcy, and the scope for intervention. Therefore, this article demonstrates how the demarcation of human security as a field of knowledge is a process pregnant with relations of power that are important to understanding contemporary political dynamics.     

当代哈萨克精英与社会转型

本文以哈萨克政治中的精英为研究对象,以历史脉络为线索,对哈萨克精英的形成过程、组成方式等进行分析,并探讨哈萨克社会转型与精英变迁之间的关系.在哈萨克汗国成立至今的五百多年间,哈萨克社会经历了两轮根本性的政治和社会转型,即苏维埃时期的社会主义化与独立后的资本主义化.而哈萨克精英则在此转型过程当中经历了三轮演变、两轮危机与...