Shrinking democratic space? Crisis of consensus and contentious politics in Uganda

Previously considered a reforming and promising African country, economically and politically, Uganda has in recent years suffered substantial shrinkage of democratic space. This article argues that two factors have been crucial: the gradual breakdown of minimum political consensus forged under a ‘broad-based’ government which climaxed in a relatively progressive constitution in 1995 and, second, the security imperative accentuated by the war on terror. These two are compounded by the exigencies of incumbent president Museveni’s determination to rule for life, the result being erosion of basic democratic institutions, securitisation of politics, criminalisation of political competition and upsurge in contentious politics.     

Russian Local Politics in the Putin–Medvedev Era

Political reforms and changes on the local level by the Putin–Medvedev leadership have resulted in an almost unprecedented turnover of leadership but they have aroused political conflict and even resistance by unsettling the political status quo throughout the 83 subnational units of the Russian Federation. The reforms have resulted in the marginalisation of the authority of city mayors, the recruitment from outside of chief executives of federation regions, and the polarisation of ethnic enclaves by national policies. Destabilising everything is the combination of a United Russia (Edinaya Rossiya) political party bent on national dominance, ambiguous liberal appeals and democratic reforms by President Medvedev, and a global economic recession.     

Why Humanitarianism Needs a Pacifist Ethos

ABSTRACT

Debates concerning the relationship between humanitarianism and the use of force are by no means a new phenomenon, yet humanitarian rationales for waging war have become more and more commonplace over recent decades. The commitment to humanitarian intervention, in particular, raises deep theoretical and practical questions about the foundational principle of political neutrality espoused by many humanitarian aid organisations. In this paper I will provide an overview of the literature on the relationship between humanitarianism and the use of force before advancing the argument that a genuine humanitarianism must necessarily be premised upon a pacifist ethos. A pacifist ethos, in this context, is presented as a commitment to non-violence and anti-war activism even while recognising the limits of such an aspiration. Such an understanding of pacifism in practice, inspired in part by realist ethics, allows humanitarian actors to take strong, principled, and sustained stands in support of universal values of peace and human well-being without losing sight of the material challenges posed by the very real violence of the arenas in which they operate.     

Confronting the Reality of Gender-based Violence in Northern Uganda

Two decades of conflict in northern Uganda have had a devastatingimpact on the lives of thousands of civilians. Like so manyof today's ‘dirty wars,’ gender-related crimes havebeen pervasive. While numerous disciplines over the past centuryhave developed sophisticated theories for understanding thenature and agency surrounding sexual offences, the nascent fieldof transitional justice is only just beginning to grapple withthese issues or design appropriate measures of redress. Thispaper is based on research undertaken to look at issues of gender-basedviolence (GBV) in four camps for the internally displaced innorthern Uganda in order to provide insight into the natureand prevalence of GBV within a specific context. The findingsshow that specific GBV dynamics need to be scrutinised withinzones of conflict and taken into consideration in the policiesadopted post-conflict. The paper both illuminates the natureof such abuses within the Ugandan context and points to theneed for concerted attention to be paid to the pervasive genderdimensions of violence when designing transitional justice mechanisms.     

The Mobilisation of the Intellectuals 1914–1915 and the Continuity of German Historical Consciousness

There is renewed historical interest in the role played by intellectuals in all belligerent countries in the period leading up to and during the First World War. Whereas prior to the war scholars from all countries engaged in civilised scientific discourse, immediately after the outbreak of war they appeared to re–discover their own fatherlands and became passionately patriotic, placing their expertise at the service of their respective countries for the prosecution of the war. On closer scrutiny, however, the case of the German intellectual elite appears significantly different from their counterparts in other belligerent countries. They perceived themselves, more than, say, the British academic community, and certainly earlier than these, as virtual prophets called to justify their nation's war policies. This paper investigates the perceptions of German intellectuals, their explanation for the war and their various war–aims programs. It is suggested that the intellectuals/academics contributed in no small way to the formation of German political will.     

Moving the Genocide Debate Beyond the History Wars*

The “History Wars” have paralysed the scholarly discussion on genocide in Australian history, because genocide is regarded as a politicized concept that distorts historical understanding. Both the public sphere and much historiography continue to regard genocide as a synonym for the Holocaust, framing public discussion of genocide in Australia as well as discouraging historians from engaging with the international comparative literature on colonial genocides. This article aims to stimulate reflection on these issues by explaining the origin and meaning of the term in intellectual and legal history. It suggests that thinking of genocide as a form of extreme counter‐insurgency helps us comprehend how colonial violence unfolds. Finally, it highlights some potential limitations of the concept in understanding the Indigenous experience of colonial genocide, before suggesting how historians can deploy it in the service of scholarship rather than “History Wars”.     

Who has led Russia? Russian regional political elites, 1954 – 2006

Quantitative measures are used to compare the age, tenure, gender and change of political elites in 18 Russian regions from 1954 to 2006. The study finds more similarities than differences between regional elites from the Soviet era and from the post-Soviet Russian era. The Russian regional political elite since 1992 is actually older than the Soviet elite and resembles it quite closely in terms of years in office and turnover, comparing both the total time spans of the elites of each era and at 10-year intervals from 1956 through to 2006. Even in relation to differences by region and gender since 1992, there has been a re-emergence of a regional political establishment in a similar pattern to that of the Soviet era.     

Black American women and work: Historical and contemporary strategies for empowerment—II

The American historical record shows that Black women heve been part of the American work force longer than any other group of women in the United States. Though consistently undereducated, underemployed, and underpaid, these women have endured and, in doing so, have created strategies for survival and change that have given them ‘cultural flexibility’ in the areas of socialization patterns for male and female children; interpersonal, kinship and marital relations; and professional and community involvement. The effects of both institutionalized racism and sexism on women's economic and personal choices are explored as well as the long range effect of labor market participation on family and community life.