International politics in eighteenth- and nineteenth-century central Asia: beyond anarchy in international-relations theory

Using historical analysis of relations between city-states and other international actors in Central Asia during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, this article evaluates new structural theories of international politics, chiefly those of David Lake and Jack Donnelly. Pre-colonial Central Asia offers a usefully tough case for structural theories, since it so little resembles the modern international order that these theories were developed to describe. Empirically, the article proceeds by evaluating the region's city-states' relations with three groups of actors: one another; neighbouring empires; and the many non-state actors present at the time. It concludes with an assessment of the merits of the new structuralisms, and a discussion of their value for constructivist international-relations theories of international change.     

The world bank,health policy reforms and the poor

Over the years, since the mid-1990s, World Bank-prescribed health policy reforms have successfully introduced market-based private-managed healthcare model in the developing world. This article presents a portrait of the private healthcare model, explores the factors that facilitated the introduction of this model in developing countries and examines the impact of the model on the health rights and health conditions of the poor. It argues that health reforms designed to promote private-managed care in developing countries affect the poor severely and violate their basic health rights, the rights to stay disease-free and lead a healthy life. A host of factors produced by the private-managed care model, most notably reduced social spending on public health, dismantling of public health systems and the ever expansionary grip of private sector health services have effectively diminished the health rights of the poor.     

'Good Governance': The Rise and Decline of a Policy Metaphor?

This study aims to explore the conditions under which the criterion of 'good governance' first became adopted as a donor policy metaphor and now seems likely to get eclipsed. Why did it emerge at the time it did, and what, since then, has been its track record? Particular attention will be given in this regard to successive shifts in the relevant policy thinking within the World Bank. Moreover, the study discusses whether good governance is likely to keep drawing the same level of attention as it has done hitherto.     

The Communist Ideological Legacy and Serb–Albanian Relations in Kosovo∗

This article uses Central Asian examples to challenge theories of ethnic nationalism that locate its origins in intellectual activism (Hroch), state modernization processes (Gellner), or the rise of mass media (Anderson). Modern Uyghur cultural politics and traditional Central Asian dynastic genealogies reveal related processes used in constructing modern nationalist symbols and pre-modern ideologies of descent. Modern territorial states with ideals of social unification and bureaucratic organization rely upon nationalist discourses to elaborate and rework cultural forms into evidence for the ethnic nation. The state links citizens to institutions through nationalist content used in political discourse, schooling, and public performances. Because such content is presented as authentic but used instrumentally, its contingency and fabrication have to be concealed from view: the culturally intimate spaces of bureaucratic production of culture and narratives are separated from public performances. The creation of genealogies used to legitimate pre-modern states are similar: compositional processes and goals are kept offstage, and little is disclosed in the public historical narratives and performances.     

The religious factor in the reification of “neo-ethnic” identities in Kyrgyzstan

This paper studies how religions, Islam in particular, play a part in the attempted reifications of “neo-ethnic” identities in Kyrgyzstan, a Turkic-speaking republic with a nomadic tradition and a Muslim majority (Hanafî Sunni Islam). In a context characterized by brutal transformations (decline in living standards, widening social inequalities, etc.) and by an increasingly failing central state whose autocratic rule appears ineffective, Islam intervenes as a paradoxical resource that is subjected to contrary uses. The traditional social link between collective identity and Islam is in fact reinvested ideologically within the framework of the new state construction. As a result a key question is what function the re-emergence of religion on the Kyrgyz political scene fulfils, especially considering broad disenchantment with politics. Islam is first re-emphasized as a national element by the authorities and, in the process, it becomes the subject of a drive towards territorialization that aims at erasing any transnational and/or pan-Islamist dimension from this universalist religion. Yet Islam and ethnicity are reinvested again in a new mode, the mode of subjectivization of religious belief, which gives rise, outside state control, to overlapping and often contradicting Islamic identities.     

One size does not fit all: choosing methods to inform area development

There have always been debates about the methods that should be used to inform and assess development programmes. Experimental methods have become highly advocated as agencies seek rigorous ways to show programme value. However, the benefits and appropriateness of these methods are frequently overstated. We use the Aga Khan Development Network's Quality of Life studies to show that periodic mixed methods approaches are useful to analyse programme contributions and inform area development. We argue that experimental methods should not be idealised, and that research questions and organisational learning should guide pragmatic methodological choices to inform development intervention in real-life contexts.

Une taille unique ne convient pas toujours : comment choisir des méthodes pour éclairer le développement des régions

Il y a toujours eu des débats sur les méthodes qui devraient être employées pour éclairer et évaluer les programmes de développement. Les méthodes expérimentales sont devenues très préconisées dans le cadre de la quête par les organisations de manières rigoureuses de démontrer la valeur de leurs programmes. Cependant, les avantages et le caractère approprié de ces méthodes sont souvent exagérés. Nous utilisons les études sur la qualité de la vie de l'Aga Khan Development Network pour montrer que les approches périodiques basées sur des méthodes mixtes sont utiles pour analyser les contributions des programmes et éclairer le développement des régions. Nous soutenons que les méthodes expérimentales ne devraient pas être idéalisées, et que les questions des recherches et l'apprentissage organisationnel devraient orienter des choix méthodologiques pragmatiques afin d'éclairer les interventions en matière de développement dans les contextes réels.

La unitalla no le queda a todos: seleccionando métodos que informen el desarrollo de áreas

Siempre han existido debates en torno a los métodos que deben usarse para fundamentar los programas de desarrollo y valorarlos. A medida que las agencias han buscado métodos rigurosos para demostrar el valor de sus programas, ciertos métodos experimentales han sido altamente promovidos. Sin embargo, los beneficios y lo apropiado de tales métodos a menudo se ha exagerado. En el presente artículo, los autores utilizan los estudios sobre la Calidad de Vida realizados por la Red de Desarrollo Aga Khan, con el fin de mostrar que los enfoques de métodos mixtos aplicados periódicamente resultan útiles para analizar los aportes de los programas y para potenciar el área de desarrollo. Asimismo, sostienen que no deben idealizarse los métodos experimentales y que las inquietudes de investigación y el aprendizaje organizacional deberán guiar las opciones metodológicas pragmáticas orientadas a fundamentar las acciones de desarrollo en la vida cotidiana.

Um único tamanho não serve para todos: Escolhendo métodos para informar a área de desenvolvimento

Tem havido frequentemente debates sobre os métodos que deveriam ser utilizados para informar e avaliar programas de desenvolvimento. Métodos experimentais têm sido altamente defendidos quando as agências buscam formas rigorosas de mostrar o valor do programa. Porém, os benefícios e adequação destes métodos são frequentemente superestimados. Utilizamos os estudos sobre Qualidade de Vida da Aga Khan Development Network para mostrar que abordagens de métodos mistos periódicos são úteis para analisar as contribuições dos programas e informar o desenvolvimento de área. Argumentamos que métodos experimentais não devem ser idealizados e que questões de pesquisa e aprendizado organizacional devem orientar escolhas metodológicas pragmáticas para fornecer informações à intervenção de desenvolvimento em contextos da vida real.     

Curbing Corruption in India: An Impossible Dream?

This article analyses the serious problem of corruption in India by examining its causes and the various anti-corruption measures employed by the government from the formation in 1941 of the first anti-corruption agency, the Delhi Special Police Establishment, which was expanded to form the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in April 1963. India's ineffective anti-corruption strategy can be attributed to the lack of political will of its leaders and its unfavourable policy context, which has hindered the enforcement of the anti-corruption laws. The lack of political will in fighting corruption is manifested in the lowest per capita expenditure and least favourable staff-population ratio of the CBI when compared to those of its counterparts in Singapore, Hong Kong, South Korea and Thailand. To enhance the CBI's effectiveness, it should be removed from the jurisdiction of the police and be established as an independent agency dedicated solely to curbing corruption. The Constitution of India should also be amended to empower the CBI to investigate corruption cases at the state level without obtaining the consent of the chief minister of the state. In view of the lack of political will, this article concludes that curbing corruption in India remains an impossible dream in the foreseeable future.     

Trust Management in the Finnish Ministries: Evaluation of Management Systems

Abstract

Our purpose was to find out to what extent civil servants—managers, specialists, and experts—in 13 Finnish ministries have confidence in their management systems. We defined trust as a kind of deep sentiment, more fundamental than mere acceptance, satisfaction or legitimacy. Trust and mistrust are strong motivators for cooperation and collaboration. They are logical outcomes of social interaction in terms of management systems and context. We found out that civil servants are more likely to trust management if it acts professionally with no emphasis on political factors. Ministers, for instance, can efficiently earn their trust with administrative experience and behavior norms. Our analysis showed that there are both well‐trusted and ill‐trusted components in management systems implicating that management must be the object of continuous development. As a whole civil servants have more confidence in work community than in strategy, structure, people policies, and administrative processes of the ministries.     

Enforcing consensus? The hidden bias in EU democracy promotion in Central and Eastern Europe

Democracy is a primary export norm of the European Union (EU). It has also played a key role in the conditionalities that have governed the accession processes of new member states in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). The EU has often been accused of offering little guidance regarding the specifics of desirable democracy models and the means of their consolidation. But are these accusations justified? In the first part of this article a detailed examination of European Commission opinions and reports reveals that it has consistently promoted a specific model of democracy in future member states. It shows a strong bias in favour of Lijphart's model of consensus democracy, which is indiscriminately advocated for prospective member states. The second part of the article draws attention to the serious obstacles which exist in the region to the realization of this model. We question the wisdom of the Commission's one-size-fits-all democratic model given these obstacles and the real-life diversity of political contexts in the region.     

Potential,freedom and space: reflections on Agamben’s potentialities in the West Bank

A special kind of infrastructure has emerged around the West Bank, which lays bare Israel's capacity to spatialise its colonial power and to constantly solidify its presence. Reading these spatial devices through Agamben's work, this paper proposes a reflective attempt to read this site of contemporary occupation through a “resistant” lens as a novel take on Agamben's spatial topology and political aesthetics. The paper offers preliminary remarks on the search for alternative theoretical construction of Agamben “potentialities”. The paper allow speculations on the heterotopian nature of Israeli produced infrastructures, perceived at once as actualised potentials in space, and spaces of potential.