Gramsci,Counter-hegemony and Labour Union–Civil Society Organisation Coalitions in Malaysia

The dramatic outcome of the Malaysian 2008 elections has been interpreted within a Gramscian framework. It has, for example, been suggested that the hegemony created by the Malaysian ruling class is being contested, leading to a weakening of its legitimacy, and that an active class of organic intellectuals is emerging and helping to develop potential bases for counter-hegemonic participation. We employ an alternative Gramscian approach, restoring relevant aspects of Gramsci's theories to the centre of analysis. We, therefore, focus on mutual perceptions in coalitions between civil society organisations and trade unions as a key indicator of the strength of counter-hegemonic forces. We conclude that accounts that claim that “counter-hegemony” is developing are questionable at best. Fundamental differences exist between these central institutional actors which sit uneasily with claims that the construction of counter-hegemony is under way.     

Subalterns and the State in the Longue Durée: Notes from “The Rebellious Century” in the Bhil Heartland

Abstract

Focusing on recent debates over the ways in which subaltern groups engage with the state in India, the article proposes that it is imperative to historicise our conceptions of subaltern politics in India. More specifically, the argument is made that it is imperative to recognise that subaltern appropriations of the institutions and discourses of the state have a longer historical lineage than what is often proposed in critical work on popular resistance in rural India. The article presents a detailed analysis of Adivasi rebellions in colonial western India and argues that these took the form of a contentious negotiation of the incorporation of tribal communities into an emergent “colonial state space.” The conclusion presents a sketch of a Gramscian approach to the study of how subaltern politics proceeds in and through determinate state–society relations.     

越南:新世纪新气象

与9·11事件世界经济下滑的情况相反,2001年越南国内生产总值的增长率达到了6.8%,经济发展取得了骄人的成就.为了实现其工业化的目标,越南在世纪之交规划了今后发展的宏伟蓝图并积极发展同世界主要大国和周边邻国的关系.     

略论尼克松政府的越南战争政策

越南战争是美国外交史上的一次大失败。1969年1月上台的尼克松政府为了结束这场不得人心的侵略战争,采取了软硬兼施的两手政策,试图以武力为后盾,实现所谓“体面的和平”,结果却陷入了进退两难的尴尬境地,最终不得不回到谈判桌上,用和平手段来实现停战。尼克松政府的越南政策再一次证明了武力威胁的限度。     

Civil society and state-centred struggles

This article is about civil society and state-centred struggles in contemporary Zimbabwe. I first identify and outline three current understandings of civil society. Two understandings (one Liberal, one Radical) are state-centric and exist firmly within the logic of state discourses and state politics. A third understanding, also Radical, is society-centric and speaks about politics existing at a distance from the state and possibly beyond the boundaries of civil society. This civil society-state discussion frames the second section of the article, which looks specifically at Zimbabwe. It details civil society as contested terrain (from the late 1990s onwards) within the context of a scholarly debate about agrarian transformation and political change. This debate, which reproduces (in theoretical garb) the key political society (or party) fault-lines within Zimbabwean society, has taken place primarily within the restricted confines of state-centred discourses.     

La sociedad civil de adentro hacia afuera Comunidad,organización y desafío de la influencia política

Having developed conceptually and analytically civil society as a sociological category (based on a conceptual reflection stemming from a theoretical-epistemological dialogue between the collectivist and liberal perspectives), this article accounts for the implications that allow us to understand the potential of civil society in contributing to democratization. Throughout this work the dynamics that characterize the ambiguous relationship between civil society and community –ambiguous in as much communities with exceptionally strong ties between its members can provide both elements for the strengthening of civil society as well as obstacles to its growth– are analyzed. It is argued that the role of communities in relation to civil society in the social construction and civil strengthening of citizenship will depend on several factors, particularly the mechanisms available to build consensus within the community. The threat stemming from neopluralism as a novel discourse of interest intermediation, both for the community and civil society, is explored. In the final section, the implications of this discourse for democracy are discussed.     

Vietnam’s and China’s Diverging Industrial Relations Systems: Cases of Path Dependency

ABSTRACT

This article explains why Vietnam and China, one-party states that allow only one official trade union, are traversing different paths in their trade unions’ institutional structures, the state’s and trade union’s attitudes towards strikes, their willingness to allow independent trade unions and willingness to engage with the international labour union movement. These will be examined in terms of the path dependency of their recent histories, in which changes have been incremental on a path laid down by pre-existing entrenched institutions, until each national system no longer operated properly and new contingencies obliged the leadership to revamp the system. As a consequence of China’s and Vietnam’s divergent path dependencies, when external contingencies finally forced institutional change, countries have veered onto divergent trajectories – the Trans-Pacific Partnership energising Vietnam to debate the acceptance of autonomous trade unions, while Xi Jinping in China has intensified Party control over industrial relations.     

The Changing Spaces of Local Governance in Nicaragua

This article considers the new spaces for the participation of civil society organisations (CSOs) in local governance that have emerged in Nicaragua between 2000 and 2009, and how government and CSOs interact in these spaces. It discusses the significant changes that have taken place in Nicaraguan local governance during this period, and highlights the challenges for CSOs to engage with these spaces at different points in time. It finds that grassroots CSOs in Managua that based their engagement with the Bolaños government through these spaces on citizenship have been drawn into a more clientelist relationship with Ortega's government.     

The Jammed Democracy: Bolivia's Troubled Political Learning Process

The fact that even the moderate and broadly respected president Carlos Mesa was forced to step down in Bolivia in June 2005 suggests that the country's crisis goes beyond a conflict on specific policies. A longstanding practice of excluding large sectors of the population from all real influence in politics, despite the existence of formal democracy, has produced a crisis of belief in democracy, affecting both governing bodies and the party system. President Mesa was unable to reverse the generalised distrust of politics. This distrust, combined with persisting political stalemate, is currently tending towards societal disintegration, which makes the recovery of genuine democratic practices even more difficult.     

Invisible and slow: small business and the “civic-ness” of Russia's regions, 1991–2009

This article suggests that incremental small business development across Russia's regions has been associated with greater “civic-ness” as defined by civil society activism, diversity, and independence of regional press and media, greater transparency in regional and municipal policy deliberations, and greater dispersion of power among governors, mayors, legislatures, and courts. A retrospective analysis of regional variation over the period 1991–2009 allows for a theoretically informed inquiry into the mutuality of property rights, entrepreneurship, norms of citizenship, and liberal democracy. While Russia has become more authoritarian at least since the mid 2000s, the variation in governance across regions remained significant, creating a promising basis for exploring the reasons for this variation. Might democratization viewed comparatively across regions be associated with the extent of liberalization of regional economies and specifically with the extent of small business development?