Securing the nation through the politics of sexual violence: tracing resonances between Delhi and Cologne

2020 ◽  
Vol 96 (5) ◽  
pp. 1189-1208
Author(s):  
Billy Holzberg ◽  
Priya Raghavan
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Abuse ◽  
Sexual Violence ◽  
National Security ◽  
Female Body ◽  
The State ◽  
The Political ◽  
Black Feminist ◽  
Post Colonial ◽  
New Year’S Eve

Abstract Postcolonial and black feminist scholars have long cautioned against the dangerous proximity between the politics of sexual violence and the advancement of nationalist and imperial projects. In this article, we uncover what it is in particular about efforts to address sexual violence that makes them so amenable to exclusionary nationalist projects, by attending to the political aftermaths of the rape of Jyoti Singh in Delhi in 2012, and the cases of mass sexual abuse that took place during New Year's Eve in Cologne in 2015. Tracing the nationalist discourses and policies precipitated in their wake, we demonstrate how across both contexts, the response to sexual violence was ultimately to augment the securitizing power and remit of the state—albeit through different mechanisms, and while producing different subjects of/for surveillance, control and regulation. We highlight how in both cases it is through contemporary resonances of a persistent (post)colonial echo—which enmeshes the normative female body with the idea of the nation—that sexual abuse becomes an issue of national security and the politics of sexual violence becomes tethered to exclusionary nationalisms. Revealing the more general, shared, rationalities that bind the nation to the normative female body while attending to the located political reverberations that make this entanglement so affectively potent in the distinct contexts of India and Germany helps distinguish and amplify transnational and intersectional feminist approaches to sexual violence that do not so readily accommodate nationalist ambitions.

“An Inside Thing to Live by”: Refusal, Conjure, and Black Feminist Imaginaries among Granny Midwives

Hypatia ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 1-23
Author(s):  
Lindsey Stewart
Keyword(s):  
African American ◽  
The State ◽  
The Political ◽  
Black Feminist ◽  
Politics Of Recognition ◽  
Black Liberation ◽  
Black Feminists ◽  
Conjure Woman ◽  
Birthing Practices ◽  
American Thought

Abstract “Granny midwives” often based their authority to practice midwifery on the spiritual traditions of rootwork or conjure passed down by the foremothers who trained them. However, granny midwives were compelled to give up their conjure-infused methods of birthing if they wanted to become licensed (that is, to get a “permit”) or be authorized by the state to continue their practice of midwifery. In response, some granny midwives refused to recognize the authority of the state in the birthing realm, willfully retaining rootwork in their birthing practices. In this article, I contrast the response of granny midwives, a politics of refusal, with another major tradition in African American thought, a politics of recognition, such as gaining citizenship and rights, permits, and licenses from the state. Due to the political stakes of the granny midwife's conflict with the state, I argue that black feminists often endow the figure of the granny midwife (or more broadly, the conjure woman) with the political significance of refusal in our emancipatory imaginaries. To demonstrate this, I will analyze the interventions in black liberation politics that two black feminist writers make through their invocation of granny midwives: Zora Neale Hurston's essay, “High John de Conquer,” and Toni Morrison's novel, Paradise.

scholarly journals LYNCHNING: EN SVØBE FOR MENNESKEHEDEN

2002 ◽  
Author(s):  
Finn Stepputat
Keyword(s):  
Civil War ◽  
National Security ◽  
The State ◽  
Political Agenda ◽  
The Political ◽  
Mob Violence ◽  
Political Field ◽  
Post Conflict ◽  
Violent Conflicts ◽  
Self Defence

The article explores the phenomenon of mob violence in predominatly Mayan towns in rural Guatemala. Since 1996, more than 100 people have been killed by crowds in rural towns. The victims have usually been young men accused of often minor criminal acts, or representatives of the state trying to protect the victims. The occurrence of mob violence coincides roughly with the area where the army organized civil self-defence patrols during the civil war from 1981-96 as part of the national security counterinsurgency program. The post-conflict transition has paradoxically brought security back to the top of the political agenda as political violence has been substituted and overshadowed by violence related to drug trafficking and other forms of criminality. The article shows how mob violence has been interpreted in the context of postconflict transformations where the elimination of violence and violent conflicts has been addressed as an object of development, and suggests that we, in addition to common sociological interpretations, may understand lynchings as an exclusive practice of communal sovereignty within a transnational political field of politics of in/security.  

scholarly journals Historical Policy in the context of Transformations of the National security Concepts in Belarus and Russia: theoretical foundations

2021 ◽  
pp. 120-129
Author(s):  
A.A. Mushta ◽  
◽  
T.V. Rastimehina ◽  
Keyword(s):  
National Security ◽  
Political Institutions ◽  
Security Policy ◽  
Historical Memory ◽  
The State ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Systems ◽  
The Individual ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Theoretical Foundations

The interrelated concepts of historical policy and memory policy are considered. The foundations of the relationship between the security policy of the individual, society and the state and the policy of memory are traced. The author notes the peculiarity of modern Russian and Belarusian historical politics, which is associated with the use of historical memory as a source of legitimacy of political institutions. The author shows the prerequisites for the securitization of historical and memory policy in the context of increasing risks and threats of an external nature and internal destabilization in relation to the political systems of Belarus and Russia.

Chiefdom

Focaal ◽  
2004 ◽  
Vol 2004 (43) ◽  
pp. 77-98 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Skalník
Keyword(s):  
The State ◽  
The Political ◽  
Rule Based ◽  
Colonial State ◽  
Post Colonial ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Generic Term ◽  
Political Form ◽  
New Generation ◽  
Indirect Rule

This article addresses the question of the universality of chiefdom as a political form that displays surprising longevity as a viable alternative to the state. Data from research on Africa show that chiefdom is a suitable generic term for the political centralization, which comprises 'kingdoms'. A New Indirect Rule, based on a balance between the chiefdom-like structures and the post-colonial state, could be a truly democratic solution for the protracted crisis of modern statehood in areas where it was imposed on consesual communities. The chiefdom model should also be tested on data about face-to-face non-state politics in contemporary societies. The purpose of the article is to call for a new generation of research on politics liberated from the teleology of the state.

scholarly journals The state, EndSARS protests and human rights violation in Nigeria

2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 57-92
Author(s):  
Kenneth Chinedu Asogwa ◽  
◽  
Herbert C. Ede ◽  
Anthony Chinonso Ajah ◽  
Paul Hezekiah Omeh ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Police Officers ◽  
The State ◽  
Youth Activism ◽  
Police Brutality ◽  
The Political ◽  
Military Rule ◽  
Post Colonial ◽  
Secondary Sources ◽  
Human Rights Violation

In November 2017, there was an online protest against police brutality and highhandedness in Nigeria. By October 2020, the citizens’ discontent and dissatisfaction with the activities of the police led to a mass revolt against the institution, specifically against the Special Anti-Robbery Squads (SARS) of the force. The response of the Nigerian state to the protest was total repression and subjugation of the demonstrators. Given the scale of the protest and the government’s response, this momentous event has attracted scholarly attention. The extant literature has identified governance deficit, illiteracy of police officers, the dynamics of the political economy and youth activism as factors that fueled the protest. The present study, therefore, explores the character of the state in the post-colonial society as a link towards the understanding of the fundamental issues that triggered the protests. Through the use of secondary sources of data collection and content analysis, the work found out that there is a trend and pattern of authoritarian governance and violation of human rights by the Nigerian state, which seems to have emanated from the long years of military rule and colonisation. The implication of the foregoing is that the state ought to imbibe democratic ethos as a condition for upholding the fundamental human rights of its citizens.

MODERNIZATION OF THE POLITICAL SYSTEM AND ATTEMPTS TO FORM THE NATIONAL SECURITY CONCEPT IN RUSSIA DURING 1992 - 1997

2014 ◽  
pp. 33-46
Author(s):  
Ye. B. Shturba
Keyword(s):  
National Security ◽  
Russian Federation ◽  
Political System ◽  
The State ◽  
The Political ◽  
Main Condition ◽  
Administration System ◽  
State Administration ◽  
The Russian Federation

The article considers the attempts to form the concepts of national security in the Russian Federation during 1992 – 1997 as the main condition for establishment of the new Russian statehood. The negative processes of 1991 – 1993 that led the state administration system to crisis have been discovered and analyzed from the standpoint of scientific criticism.

The Invisible Hand of the Royal Family in the Political Dynamics of Swaziland

2003 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 155-187 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mfaniseni Fana Sihlongonyane
Keyword(s):  
Political Change ◽  
The State ◽  
Colonial Period ◽  
Invisible Hand ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Transformation ◽  
Political Resistance ◽  
Royal Family ◽  
Post Colonial ◽  
Constructivist Perspective

AbstractWhy does Swaziland remain authoritarian despite the democratic political changes that have occurred in the other parts of the African continent since the 1990s? Does it mean that Swaziland is immune to political change? The answers to these questions are diverse and wide-ranging from the international relations view to the radical perspectives and to the functionalist view. But the tendency of these views is to analyse Swazi politics according to historically constructed and particularised contexts and dynamics without fusing the wide-ranging factors that play various roles in the politics of the country. One of the major assumptions by these views is that the state (royal family) and the nation (subjects) are the same as was the case in the pre-colonial period and that the state has a sole privilege to cultural instrumentalism. These views therefore have a tendency to explain political change in terms of class structure and capital relations without taking the multifunctional dimensions of culture into consideration. This paper brings together the various views to explain political resistance in the country in terms of a cleavage between the state and the nation. It provides a historical overview of the political transformation in the country within a framework of cultural nationalism. The thrust of the paper is to look at how the royal family has survived between a primordial and constructivist perspective to political change from the colonial to the post-colonial period. It subjects both the incumbent and the opposition onto a critical analysis and points out a possible direction for political resolve.

scholarly journals Demographic Threats to National Security in the Political Discourse of the Russian Federation (1992–2019)

2021 ◽  
pp. 255-272
Author(s):  
Ekaterina Vasilieva ◽  
◽  
Tamara Rostovskaya ◽  
Ebulfez Süleymanlý ◽  
◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
National Security ◽  
Russian Federation ◽  
Political Discourse ◽  
Birth Rate ◽  
The State ◽  
The Political ◽  
Bric Countries ◽  
Political Management ◽  
The Russian Federation ◽  
Demographic Policy

Introduction. Population growth in the world is uneven: while in some countries the population has been growing for a long time (China, India), in Russia and in many EU and BRIC countries, the birth rate has been declining in recent years; and if this does not affect the population, then only by increasing life expectancy and migration. Abrupt changes – both growth and decline – in the population are a threat to the national security of the state. The purpose of this work is to evaluate the effectiveness of political management (strategies and tools) aimed at solving demographic problems and increasing the birth rate in the Russian Federation, as well as to identify the stages of the formation of demographic policy in the Russian Federation in 1992–2019. Methods and materials. Based on the qualitative analysis of normative documents, the frame analysis of speeches of political leaders the main factors that influenced the coverage of demographic problems are revealed (the authors used official electronic versions of the following publications: “Sobranie Zakonodatelstva Rossiyskoy Federatsii” (Collection of Legislation of the Russian Federation) and “Byulleten normativnykh aktov federalnykh organov ispolnitelnoy vlasti” (Bulletin of Normative Acts of Federal Executive Authorities). Analysis. The proposed research strategy allowed identifying demographic threats to national security articulated by political actors and presented in official documents, statements of officials, as well as to compare the political decisions taken in the Russian Federation with the decisions taken in some European countries. Strategic documents that ensure national security of the Russian Federation by including the demographic agenda in political discourse are considered as a tool of political management. Results. The article assesses the effectiveness of political management in solving demographic problems and increasing the birth rate in the Russian Federation, identifies the stages of the formation of demographic policy in the Russian Federation in 1992–2019, as well as the features of the articulation of demographic problems in the political discourse of Russia, and describes demographic threats. The analysis of the regulatory framework as a tool for political management, demographic threats prevention, as well as the basis of the state strategy for increasing the birth rate in the Russian Federation allowed identifying policy decisions that can be used to develop new measures within the framework of programs to increase the birth rate in the Russian Federation.

scholarly journals Powering the state: The political geographies of electrification in Mozambique

2018 ◽  
Vol 37 (3) ◽  
pp. 498-518 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marcus Power ◽  
Joshua Kirshner
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
The State ◽  
Rural Electrification ◽  
The Political ◽  
Energy Access ◽  
Post Colonial ◽  
State Institutions ◽  
Important Means ◽  
Discursive Power

This paper explores the role of electricity infrastructures in helping to create, expand or limit the contours of the state in post-colonial Mozambique. Through a focus on recent electrification campaigns and attempts to improve sustainable energy access, we argue that the extension of electricity infrastructures helps to counter the state’s ‘blindness’ and to provide a more permanent visibility for the state whilst potentially enhancing its capacity to order, arrange and ‘read’ its territory and citizenry (particularly in contested rural peripheries). We argue that the material and symbolic work of large-scale infrastructural works around rural electrification and grid extension constitute an important means through which the state performs and narrates its presence and role in order to gain meaning and importance in the lives of rural residents and to forge connections with them. Aside from extending the power and reach of state institutions and their territorial authority, we contend that the development of electricity infrastructures also helps to create neoliberal subjectivities and advance neoliberalisation whilst creating lucrative opportunities for elite accumulation. We examine the different forms of institutional, material and discursive power that influence why some ways of organising energy are privileged over others and reflect on the resulting implications for energy access inequalities and state–citizen relations.

scholarly journals EDUCATION AS A FACTOR TO SUPPORT THE NATIONAL SECURITY OF THE STATE

2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (48) ◽  
pp. 146-159
Author(s):  
Oleksandr Yuriiovych Panfilov ◽  
Olga Oleksandrivna Savchenko
Keyword(s):  
Critical Thinking ◽  
Young People ◽  
National Security ◽  
The State ◽  
The Political ◽  
Highly Qualified ◽  
Management Personnel ◽  
Political Views ◽  
The Social

The article specifies the role of education in supporting the national security of the state. It is substantiated that national security significantly depends on the state of education since it takes on the most important tasks for society to train the elite of society, management personnel, and highly qualified specialists in all sectors of the economy, affects changes in the social structure of society, and forms the political views of young people. The role of education in the development of critical thinking in young people is analyzed, which is especially important in the context of information war.

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