Arenen des demokratischen Experimentalismus. Zur Konvergenz von nordamerikanischem und französischem Pragmatismus

In their works on The public and its problems and Politics of nature John Dewey and Bruno Latour develop theoretical models of a democratic experimentalism. Taking their assumptions as a base, this paper examines the thesis of a convergence of North American and French pragmatism. This thesis is supported not only by further analogies in the works of Dewey and Latour, but also by the pragmatic sociology of justification upheld by Luc Boltanski and Laurent Thévenot, which can be on the one hand integrated into the frame-work of Latour’s theory on democratic experimentalism. On the other hand, comparisons can readily be drawn to the pragmatic theory of social worlds and arenas of Anselm L. Strauss. The theories differ in respect to their expectations as to whether, where and how social arenas are formed, once different social worlds and conventions come into critical conflict with each other and need to be rearranged by experimental processes. However, any remaining disparity in the assumptions regarding such arena figurations of democratic experimentalism could definitely have a stimulating effect on their empirical cartography and analysis.     

Contesting Landscapes in Thailand: Tree Ordination as Counter-territorialization

Recently, authors Vandergeest and Peluso have discussed the process of territorialization in Siam/Thailand, where the state has gradually expanded its control over natural resources through its legal machinery and associated classifications of the natural environment. While Vandergeest and Peluso focus on the process of territorialization from the perspective of the Thai State, this article examines the same process from the perspective of nongovernmental organizations and forest--dwelling farmers. Of particular interest is a project launched by the Northern Farmer's Network to “ordain” 50 million trees in community forests throughout Northern Thailand in 1996 to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the king's accession to the throne. This essentially Buddhist ceremony has since been conducted in numerous Buddhist as well as non-Buddhist rural communities. The authors argue that these communities apply the tree ordination ceremony as a tool to counter the territorialization of the Thai state by reasserting local identities and environmental responsibilities. By invoking Buddhist symbols and the honor of the king, the rural groups–many of which fear eviction from forested areas classified as national parks–identify themselves positively with modern Thai society in order to contest their public depiction as “enemies of the nation.” This article analyzes the process of territorialization and counter-territorialization in Thai society by discussing classifications and associated landscapes in the environmental debate in Thailand. Furthermore, the tree ordination project undertaken by the Northern Farmers' Network is analyzed based on cases from the Mae Chaem district in Chiang Mai Province.     

Training on a Battlefield: Iraq as a Training Ground for Global Jihadis

This article aims to describe and analyze the training that foreign jihadis in Iraq have received, how this may impact on the future of the insurgency in Iraq, and the potential spillover effect from the Iraqi jihad scene. The nature of the training in Iraq has been influenced by the difficult conditions the jihadis were operating under, and much has consisted of on-the-job training inside safe houses. The foreign jihadis were dependent on the support of the local Iraqis in order to conduct training, but the increasing use of suicide attacks has turned their erstwhile allies against them.     

The Dynamics of Svalbard Diplomacy

While Norway claims coastal state jurisdiction and exclusive rights to the natural resources in the maritime zones adjacent to the Svalbard archipelago, other states have presented reservations and/or objections against the Norwegian claim through diplomatic correspondence. With this hitherto largely undisclosed diplomatic correspondence as a point of departure, this study addresses the dynamics of foreign policies toward this contested Arctic area. It explores the origins of foreign policies and policy change, and finds that new policies toward the area over the last decades have emerged in distinct epochs. Recurrently, new policies have followed changes in Norwegian legislation and enforcement practice or followed diplomatic efforts by Norway to muster international support.     

Local Party System Nationalisation: Does Municipal Size Matter?

Local party systems are not necessarily copies of their country's national party system. Some national parties do not field candidates in all municipalities, while in other municipalities there are non-partisan lists/local parties. In this article it is hypothesised that the larger the municipality (in number of inhabitants), the more the local party system will resemble the national party system (and vice versa). The hypothesis is tested using data from the 2001 local elections in Denmark. For this purpose, an index of local party system nationalisation is developed. The index is formulated in general terms so as to make it applicable in other settings and in comparisons between countries and over time.     

Portfolio Allocation or Policy Horizons? Determinants of Coalition Formation in Danish Local Government

It is widely assumed that policy considerations are important when parties form government coalitions. But if this is so, and if coalitions are negotiated in multi-dimensional policy spaces with no majority parties, then a rapid turn-over of coalitions should be observed, cf. the chaos theorem. However, we rarely witness this. Here we analyse two of the most prominent theories that address this puzzle: Laver and Shepsle's portfolio allocation model; and Warwick's policy horizon hypothesis. We do not analyse the ‘usual suspects’ (i.e. national government formations in Europe), but present a new empirical testing ground: Danish local governments. We rely on Laver and Shepsle's Winset programme to identify ‘strong parties’ in the portfolio allocation model but develop a new measure of Warwick's policy horizons that better deals with problems of multi-dimensionality. In a conditional logit analysis of survey data from 3000 local councillors, we find support for the policy horizons model, but not for the portfolio allocation model.