The Dynamics of Criminal Governance: Networks and Social Order in Rio de Janeiro

2006 ◽  
Vol 38 (2) ◽  
pp. 293-325 ◽  
Author(s):  
ENRIQUE DESMOND ARIAS

Academic analyses of crime and policing in Latin America have generally focused on the failure of state institutions to guarantee a rule of law. This study, however, argues that the persistently high levels of violence in Rio's favelas [shantytowns] result not from the failure of institutions but, rather, from networks that bring criminals together with civic leaders, politicians, and police. These contacts protect traffickers from state repression and help them build political support among the residents of the where they favelas operate. Rather than creating ‘parallel states’ outside of political control, then, these networks link trafficker dominated favelas into Rio's broader political and social system.

Author(s):  
Silja Häusermann ◽  
Bruno Palier

Recent research on the development of social investment has demonstrated reform progress not only in different regions of Europe, but also in Latin America and South-East Asia. However, the specific substance of the social investment agendas varies strongly between these regions. Why have social investment ideas and policies been more developed in some regions and countries than in others? Building on the theoretical framework of this volume, our chapter suggests that the content of regional social investment agendas depends on policy legacies in terms of investment vs consumption-oriented policies and their interaction with structural pressures. In a second step, we argue that the chances of social investment agendas to be implemented depend on the availability of political support coalitions between organizational representatives of the educated middle classes and either business or working-class actors. We illustrate our claims with reference to family policy developments in France, Germany, and Switzerland.


2020 ◽  
Vol 70 (4) ◽  
pp. 471-491
Author(s):  
Paul Hare

AbstractKornai's earlier works embodied the idea that state institutions formed a system with a strong tendency to reproduce itself, and hence to resist minor reforms. Thus, at the end of socialism, huge changes were needed in politics, economics, and the law to build a new system oriented towards the market-type economy, which would again be stable, self-reinforcing and self-sustaining. Transition promoted the development of new states in Eastern Europe that conformed to the Copenhagen criteria for the EU accession. Were we too hasty in thinking that we had succeeded? The new systems are not returning to the previous one, and only in a few areas have the basic norms of a market-type economy been set aside in Hungary or Poland. But concerns arise at the interface between politics, law and economics – to do with the rule of law, the nature and role of the state, and the interactions between parliament, the executive and the judiciary. Unavoidably, there is also an interesting international dimension here, represented by the shift from the Warsaw Pact and CMEA to NATO and the EU. This paper explores these issues in the light of some of Kornai's recent analysis of developments in Hungary, while also drawing on his very insightful earlier works.


Author(s):  
Cristian Lorenzo

The domestic political support was one of the main grounds of Argentina´s foreign policy to Latin America in biofuels, during Néstor Kirchner (2003-2007) and Cristina Fernández´s (2007-2011) governments.


2016 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 19
Author(s):  
Patrícia Silveira de Farias

Resumo: Este artigo apresenta uma discussão sobre as noções de democracia, democracia racial e ordem social, a partir da análise do processo de construção de duas pesquisas efetuadas sobre um mesmo espaço: a orla do Rio de Janeiro, Brasil – em dois momentos distintos: a virada do século XX para o XXI e os anos 10 de século XXI. As noções acima citadas são estudadas a partir dos pontos de vista dos diversos segmentos sociais que frequentam e trabalham no local, inclusive agentes do Estado, no caso do segundo momento, que privilegia a ação de segurança pública intitulada “Choque de Ordem”. Para isso, usou-se metodologia qualitativa, através de entrevistas em profundidade e etnografia, além de levantamento documental de leis, ordenamentos e pesquisa bibliográfica sobre tais temáticas. Como conclusões, salienta-se que as formas de entendimento do que seja democracia e ordem dependem da posição que cada grupo social ocupa na sociedade brasileira mais ampla, e são atravessadas e modeladas por critérios étnico-raciais e de classe. Observa-se também a importância política que o espaço público praia assume para dar visibilidade às disputas de sentido em torno de questões como igualdade, liberdade e hierarquias de classe e de cor na sociedade brasileira.Palavras-chave: praia; ordem social; “Choque de Ordem”; democracia. ***Abstract:  This paper is intended to discuss the notions of democracy, racial democracy and social order, by analyzing the building process of two researches which focused the same place: Rio de Janeiro’s beaches, in Brazil. These two researches took place at distinct historical moments; one, at the last years of XX century, and the other, in the first decade of the XXI century. The notions cited above are studied from the perspectives of the various social segments that frequently go or work there, especially State agents which are part of the public policy named “Choque de Ordem” (a kind of “Order Assault”). In order to do this, these researches are based on qualitative methodology, with interviews and ethnography, and also on documental study of the laws which inflects on this public territory, and bibliographic research on these issues. As a conclusion, the article points out that the way people understand democracy and social order will depend on the position each group has in the broader Brazilian society, and that these ideas are tied to and are modeled by ethnic and class criteria.  Its stresses also the political relevance that this public space, the beach, assumes, in order to give visibility to the dispute around the meaning of equality, freedom and hierarchies of color/race and class in Brazilian society.Key words: beach; social order; “Choque de Ordem”; democracy. ***Resumen:Este paper presenta una discusión de las ideas de democracia, democracia racial y orden social, a partir de la análisis del proceso de construcción de dos pesquisas efectuadas en lo mismo local: las playas de Rio de Janeiro, en Brasil, en dos momentos distintos: fines del siglo XX e mediados del siglo XXI. Las dichas nociones son analizadas a partir del punto de vista de los diversos segmentos sociales que van o trabajan en este local, incluso agentes del Estado, en lo segundo momento, que se detiene en la acción de seguridad publica denominada el “Choque de Ordem”. Para eso, se usó la metodología cualitativa, con base en entrevistas y etnografía, y también en las leyes, ordenamientos e demás estudios sobre tales temáticas. Como conclusiones, enfatizase que las formas de comprenderse el significado de democracia y de orden dependen de la posición que cada grupo social tiene en la sociedad brasileña más amplia, y son travesadas y modeladas por criterios etnicoraciales y de clase social. Observase también la importancia política que éste espacio público, la playa, asume en dar visibilidad a las disputas de sentido sobre asuntos como igualdad, libertad y jerarquías de clase y de color en la sociedad brasileña.Palabras clave: playa; orden social; “Choque de Ordem”; democracia.       


2009 ◽  
Vol 68 (1) ◽  
pp. 55-100 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonathan K. Ocko ◽  
David Gilmartin

This paper uses the concept of the “rule of law” to compare Qing China and British India. Rather than using the rule of law instrumentally, the paper embeds it in the histories of state power and sovereignty in China and India. Three themes, all framed by the rule of law and the rule of man as oppositional yet paradoxically intertwined notions, organize the paper's comparisons: the role of a discourse of law in simultaneously legitimizing and constraining the political authority of the state; the role of law and legal procedures in shaping and defining society; and the role of law in defining an economic and social order based on contract, property, and rights. A fourth section considers the implications of these findings for the historical trajectories of China and India in the twentieth century. Taking law as an instrument of power and an imagined realm that nonetheless also transcended power and operated outside its ambit, the paper seeks to broaden the history of the “rule of law” beyond Euro-America.


2121 ◽  
Author(s):  
Betsy Forero Montoya ◽  

Foreign Otherness in Japanese Media analyzes contemporary Japanese society by examining the ways in which Japanese media portrays Latin America and therefore how Japanese readers construct their idea of it. Offering a detailed methodology and results from field research, and based on concepts such as otherness, cultivation analysis and the theory of the autopoietic social system as a framework, this book considers the impact of mass media on the construction of non-dominant foreign cultural subjectivities in Japan, and explores the dynamics of otherness in the country. As such, it is apt for scholars in Japanese studies, media studies, and anyone interested in the interaction between foreigners or Latin Americans and Japan, or in relations between mainstream society and minority groups.


2021 ◽  
Vol 63 (4) ◽  
pp. 45-73
Author(s):  
Gino Pauselli

ABSTRACTThe literature on aid allocation shows that many factors influence donors’ decision to provide aid. However, our knowledge about foreign aid allocation is based on traditional foreign aid, from developed to developing countries, and many assumptions of these theories do not hold when applied to southern donors. This article argues that south-south development cooperation (SSDC) can be explained by the strength of development cooperation’s domestic allies and foes. Specifically, it identifies civil society organizations as allies of SSDC and nationalist groups as opponents of SSDC. By using for the first time data on SSDC activities in Latin America, this article shows the predictive strength of a liberal domestic politics approach in comparison to the predictive power of alternative explanations. The results speak to scholars of both traditional foreign aid and south-south development cooperation in highlighting the limits of traditional theories of foreign aid motivations.


2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 190-211
Author(s):  
Fareed Moosa

Under the Tax Administration Act, 2011 (TAA), taxpayers enjoy a right to privacy of information disclosed to the South African Revenue Service (SARS). This note shows that tax officials are obliged to protect the secrecy thereof. It is argued that the Commissioner for the SARS correctly resisted compliance with a subpoena issued by the Public Protector for access to the records of former President Jacob Zuma. If it acquiesced without objection, shock waves would have reverberated through South Africa’s tax community. It is contended that the Commissioner’s decision to maintain taxpayer secrecy under pain of a potential criminal sanction contributed to restoring some of the lost confidence and respect for the SARS which has, in recent times, endured reputational damage owing to internal squabbles which morphed into public scandals. This note hypothesises that CSARS v Public Protector is good authority for the proposition that governmental departments and state institutions not expressly mentioned in s 70 of the TAA do not have statutory rights of access to taxpayer information and must, to gain access, follow due process. This note argues that the judgment in casu is not only a victory for taxpayer rights but also for the rule of law.


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