The Political Economy of Ending Headhunting in Central Borneo: Inter-colonial and Kenyah perspectives on the 1924 Kapit Peacemaking Agreement and its aftermath

2017 ◽  
Vol 51 (4) ◽  
pp. 1070-1098
Author(s):  
DAVE LUMENTA
Keyword(s):  
Political Economy ◽  
State Formation ◽  
Successful Outcome ◽  
The Political ◽  
Commodity Chains ◽  
Archival Research ◽  
Colonial State ◽  
Cross Border ◽  
State Boundaries ◽  
Dutch Colonial

AbstractThis article, largely based on archival research, highlights two contradictory outcomes of colonial state formation in central Borneo. The first is characterized by territorial consolidation and efforts to neatly sedentarize peoples within each colonial territory, while the second is characterized by pacification that unwittingly liberalized the flows and movements of people and commodities transgressing colonial state boundaries. The 1924 Kapit Peacemaking Agreement in colonial Sarawak is often noted for its significance in bringing a final end to the practice of inter-ethnic headhunting, principally between the Iban of Sarawak and the Kenyah from Dutch Borneo. While it marked the successful outcome of a long phase of colonial pacification and territorial consolidation for both colonial states in Borneo, the agreement's outcome simultaneously highlights the contradictory inter-colonial motives and expectations regarding the resulting increase of cross-border flows of people and commodities. The presented case highlights challenges facing Dutch colonial state formation when attempts to subjugate and sedentarize riverine peoples, who were geographically tied to fluid commodity chains and flows, directly undermined the former's own efforts to establish authority in its borderland frontier.

Sounds without borders: Exploring the cross-national expansion of commercial European Radio Groups

2021 ◽  
pp. 026732312110121
Author(s):  
Montse Bonet ◽  
David Fernández-Quijada
Keyword(s):  
Political Economy ◽  
The Political ◽  
Cultural Industries ◽  
Cross Border ◽  
National Market ◽  
The Cross ◽  
National Champions ◽  
Cross National ◽  
Expansion Strategies

This article aims to study how private European radio is becoming commercially international through the expansion of radio brands beyond their national market. It is the first ever analysis of the expansion strategies of radio groups across Europe, including their footprint in each market in which they operate, from the political economy of cultural industries. The article maps the main radio groups in Europe, analyses cross-national champions in depth and establishes three main types. This study shows that, thanks to the possibilities of a deregulated market, strengthening the role of the brand and the format, and the agreements with other groups, broadcasting radio has overcome the obstacles that, historically, hindered its cross-border expansion.

Imperial Presidency and the Neo-patrimonialization of Disorder in post-Authoritarian Nigeria

1970 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 57-77
Author(s):  
Adeniyi S. Basiru
Keyword(s):  
Political Economy ◽  
Historical Context ◽  
Theoretical Framework ◽  
The Political ◽  
Colonial State ◽  
Imperial Presidency ◽  
Political Struggles ◽  
Presidential Democracies ◽  
Data Source ◽  
Public Disorder

The president and the network of offices that are linked to him, in modern presidential democracies, symbolize a neutral state that does not meddle in order-threatening political struggles. It however seems that this liberal ideal is hardly the case in many illiberal democracies. Against this background, this article examines the presidential roots of public disorder in post-military Nigeria. Drawing on documentary data source and deploying neo-patrimonial theory as theoretical framework, it argues that the presidency in Nigeria, given the historical context under which it has emerged as well as the political economy of neo-patrimonialism and prebendalism that has nurtured it, is a central participant in the whole architecture of public disorder. The paper recommends, among others, the fundamental restructuring of the Nigerian neo-colonial state and the political economy that undergird it.Keywords: Imperial Presidency; Neo-patrimonialism; Disorder; Authoritarianism; Nigeria.

The political economy of insecure property rights: insights from the Kingdom of Sicily

2019 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 233-249 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rosolino A. Candela
Keyword(s):  
Political Economy ◽  
Property Rights ◽  
State Formation ◽  
Rule Of Law ◽  
The Political ◽  
Market Exchange ◽  
Credible Commitment ◽  
The Rule Of Law ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
The 19Th Century

AbstractHow did the evolution of the rule of law become stunted in Sicily during the 19th century? The work of economist Yoram Barzel, particularly his property-rights approach to understanding the political economy of state formation, is uniquely suited to understanding the failure of Italy's unification process to secure the rule of law in Sicily during the 19th century. This failure can be explained by a lack of a credible commitment to the rule of law in the state formation process. I argue that this lack of credible commitment manifested itself in the abolition of previously existing parliamentary institutions as an independent collective action mechanism, as well as prior constitutional agreements that existed in the Kingdom of Sicily. The resulting uncertainty over the security and legal definition of property rights over land raised the transaction costs of competing for resources through productive specialization and market exchange. In turn, it reduced the relative costs of competition for land ownership and the use of enforcement through other means, such as rent seeking or organized crime.

The racial fix and environmental state formation

2020 ◽  
pp. 001139212091309
Author(s):  
Ian Carrillo
Keyword(s):  
Political Economy ◽  
State Formation ◽  
Building Blocks ◽  
Policy Formation ◽  
Three Dimensions ◽  
Ecological Modernization ◽  
The Political ◽  
Race And Racism ◽  
Treadmill Of Production ◽  
The Relationship

Theories of the environmental state – treadmill of production and ecological modernization – have dominated discussion of the political economy of environmental change. While the former contends that the state’s mitigation of labor–capital relations engenders ecological instability, the latter posits that the state’s use of business-friendly incentives can goad producers and consumers to adopt sustainable practices. However, these theories largely focus on dynamics related to class, labor, and markets, and thus overlook the role that race and racism play in the political economy. In contrast, this article argues that racial politics are not peripheral influences, but rather are central to the political economy in which environmental policy formation occurs. The author advances the argument with the concept of the racial fix, which refers to the idea that race and racism are mechanisms for circumventing barriers that slow the treadmill of production. Synthesizing long-standing and emerging research, the author outlines three dimensions – spatial, political, and cognitive – that constitute the racial fix. Overall, this article not only shows how race and racism serve as building blocks for environmental state formation, but also articulates new theoretical paths for studying the relationship between race and environment.

Settler State, Guerrilla War and Rural Underdevelopment in Rhodesia

1979 ◽  
Vol 9 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 56-62
Author(s):  
Michael Bratton
Keyword(s):  
Political Economy ◽  
Community Development ◽  
Rural Development ◽  
International Relations ◽  
The Political ◽  
Colonial State ◽  
Guerrilla War ◽  
The Future

[The designation “Rhodesia” is used to distinguish the colonial state, with which this article is concerned, from the future decolonized “Zimbabwe”. Readers interested in a less theoretical but more closely documented version of the arguments presented in this paper, plus analysis of the options and prospects for the administration of rural development in Zimbabwe, are referred to Beyond Community Development: The Political Economy of Rural Administration in Zimbabwe (London, Catholic Institute for International Relations, 1978, 64 pp.) by the same author.]

Conclusions

2021 ◽  
pp. 138-162
Author(s):  
Kate J. Neville
Keyword(s):  
Political Economy ◽  
Scaling Up ◽  
Contentious Politics ◽  
The Political ◽  
Commodity Chains ◽  
Energy Technologies ◽  
Crisis Events ◽  
New Energy ◽  
Political Economies

The final chapter revisits the intersection of political economy and multiscale protest around biofuels and fracking, offering an integrated look at the campaigns that have emerged around these new energy sources. It considers the implications of the book’s findings about the political economy dimensions of contentious politics for other resource debates, with particular attention to other emerging energy technologies: wind, solar, and hydro. Further, the concluding chapter interrogates the technological optimism and commitment to economic growth that underpins these developments. It pays attention to alternative political economies, including social and Indigenous economies and models of degrowth, with consideration of how these models might advance environmental justice. The chapter considers the ways in which scaling up energy production—often justified as a response to crisis events—increases distance in commodity chains by dislocating control from local communities, externalizing local costs, and separating the accrual of benefits from the bearing of burdens.

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