Labelling and Legitimization: Justifying Political Violence in the Basque Country

This article focuses on the role of labelling in the discourse employed by the Left-Wing Nationalist movement in the Basque Country to legitimize the use of violence for political ends. The approach in this article goes beyond classic labelling theory. I demonstrate that radical Nationalists do not passively undergo their being labelled as deviants (fanatics, terrorists) by society, but develop counter-labels instead to define their opponents and re-label themselves.     

A political settlements lens onto Egypt’s critical junctures and cyclic violence (2011–2014)

Abstract

While there is a copious body of literature explaining Egypt’s political trajectory post-Mubarak through the lens of democratisation and transition theory, this paper argues that by using a political settlements lens, a less linear reading of the events can be offered, which highlights several attempts through both peaceful and violent means of arriving at negotiated agreements. The paper analyses the forging of three political settlements, one informal (2011) and two formal (2012, 2013) following the demise of the Mubarak regime in Egypt and the influence of intrinsic, instrumental and resultant violence on power configurations. It argues that the formal political settlement forged in Egypt in 2013 following the ousting of President Morsi cannot be read independently of the exclusionary outcomes of the informal political settlement forged in 2011 and the demise of the Fairmont Agreement of 2012. The paper relies on empirical data, including survey and focus groups undertaken in 2013–2014, complemented with secondary literature in Arabic and English.     

Preventive action and conflict mitigation in Nigeria’s 2015 elections

Prior to the 2015 Nigerian general elections, there were concerns that the fierce political contest would lead to electoral violence in the country. However, the elections were conducted peacefully, with fewer disputes and election-related deaths than previous elections. This study accounts for the fall in the level of electoral violence in Nigeria and discusses the lessons that Nigeria’s experience presents. It argues that the avoidance of destructive electoral disputes in Nigeria was the result of preventive action taken by the country’s electoral commission, civil society groups, and development partners. The specific preventive actions taken include innovations in election administration aimed at enhancing electoral transparency and credibility, election security measures such as early warning and peace messaging, and preventive diplomacy urging the main candidates and the political elite to embrace peace. The key lesson that can be drawn from Nigeria’s experience is that a well thought out conflict prevention strategy should be an integral part of electoral governance, especially in countries with a high risk of electoral violence.     

No more bullets for ETA: the loss of internal support as a key factor in the end of the Basque group’s campaign

The Basque separatist organisation ETA laid down its arms in 2011 after 40 years of an armed campaign for independence. It was not a consequence of political negotiations. The Basque group did not achieve its goals. Yet, it unilaterally decided to end its armed activity forever. This article analyses why and how ETA ended its armed campaign. It clarifies the events from the collapse of the last peace process in June 2007 to the announcement of the definitive end of ETA’s campaign in October 2011. It identifies the causal factors that led the Basque group towards its end. This article contends that the end of ETA’s campaign is a case of transformation triggered by its constituency’s withdrawal of support for the armed struggle. The leadership and social base of the political movement to which ETA belongs concluded that political violence was not effective anymore and, furthermore, was damaging for the Basque pro-independence movement. After an internal struggle, in which the faction advocating for exclusively political means prevailed, ETA was driven towards a unilateral abandonment of armed struggle.     

论刑法中危害行为的有意性特征

刑法中危害行为的概念应舍弃意思要素,是近年来部分学者提出的一种颇有影响的观点。本文对该观点所依据的几点理由进行了分析,认为有意性仍然是刑法中危害行为的必然要素,并将刑法中危害行为的有意性与作为犯罪构成主观要件的故意与过失区别开来,认为危害行为的有意性是指行为人对其行为本身所持有的心理态度,而作为犯罪构成主观要件的故意与过失是指行为人对其行为引起的危害结果所持有的心理态度,二者在内容、性质、功能以及法律后果等四方面存有显著的区别。此外,本文还对二者在司法实践中的表现形式进行了归纳分类。     

企业伦理行为的经济力

企业伦理行为与企业资金、技术等一样影响着企业的全面发展,它们形成合力,共同推动企业前进。企业伦理行为不能再被误解为非经济因素,其本身就是直接的经济力量。我国企业伦理行为自救模式有多方面的出路,而最根本的是发挥企业伦理行为的经济力。     

政策执行的委托代理困境及其化解思路

由于政策制定者与政策执行者的相对分开,使得政策制定权与政策执行权产生分离,导致政策执行过程中委托代理关系的形成,使政策执行极易陷入委托代理困境,从而导致政策执行失败.其主要原因是政策制定者与执行者之间存在着信息的不对称、利益的不一致和权责的不对等.通过对政策执行者的监督、激励以及对其败德行为的惩罚,可以有效地化解政策执行中的委托代理困境从而防止政策执行失败.     

Environmental Harm or Natural Hazard? Problem Identification and Adaptation in U.S. Municipal Climate Action Plans

A number of cities in the United States have devised climate action plans (CAPs) to mitigate the effects of climate change. However, few of these plans address strategies to adapt to the long term effects of climate change that will occur in the near and distant future. The research presented in this article examines why cities choose to embed adaptation provisions in their CAPs. Our study codes the content of CAPs for all cities (N = 98) in the United States with populations greater than 50,000. We find cities that frame problems associated with climate change in the language of hazards are more likely to include adaptation strategies in their CAPs than cities that focus on other types of environmental harm. Our findings suggest that more robust efforts to plan for climate change will require the activation of communities of interest beyond those that have been instrumental in setting the current climate agenda.     

Women’s experiences of peacebuilding in violence-affected communities in Kenya

Despite the attention to gender and conflict in empirical positivist peace research, and the interest in local agency in recent peacebuilding literature, women’s understandings and lived experiences of peacebuilding are not necessarily well accounted for. This article, drawing on interviews, focus groups and observation research with 57 female victims/survivors of post-election violence in Kenya, provides an ethnographic study of women’s largely informal peacebuilding activities, ranging from mediation and dialogue to economic empowerment. It analyses women’s constructions and ways of making sense of being peacebuilders, demonstrating that, while participants employed dominant gender frames, they exerted considerable transformative agency in their communities. It argues that their ‘gendered responsibility for peace’ at community level is simultaneously empowering and disempowering. The research aims to increase understanding of the gendered nature of peacebuilding and the ways in which women exercise peacebuilding agency through a focus on their own voices and lived experiences.     

Conflict dynamics and agonistic dialogue on historical violence: a case from Indonesia

This article contends that the type of high-level political consensus needed to reach a peace agreement is often insufficient for rebuilding and transforming wider social relations. Consensus-focused processes tend to suppress divergent views and experiences of conflict, particularly among grassroots conflict actors, and risk deepening social divides by homogenising diverse memories of past violence, with potentially dangerous consequences. In response to these concerns this article advances an understanding of agonistic dialogue and explores an example of such dialogue in communal conflict in Indonesia. Building on an understanding of effective dialogue as sustained, intensive and relational, this article also underscores the need for effective dialogue to have politico-institutional support and to be locally driven and owned by actors who are legitimate and trusted in the eyes of conflict protagonists.