scholarly journals Introduction FEDERALISM, RECONCILIATION, AND POWER-SHARING IN POST-CONFLICT SOCIETIES

2011 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Neophytos Loizides ◽  
Iosif Kovras ◽  
Kathleen Ireton

This special issue examines the interplay between reconciliation in postconflict societies and alternative mechanisms of political accommodation. In our introductory article, we define and explore the central concepts used in post-conflict studies while investigating the potential linkages between reconciliation and federal or power-sharing arrangements. We argue that addressing issues of justice, reconciliation and amnesty in the aftermath of conflict frequently facilitates cooperation in establishing successful institutional mechanisms at the political level. We also examine the degree to which reconciliation at the grassroots level should be seen as a prerequisite of consolidating power-sharing arrangements among elites particularly in the form of federal agreements. Finally, we discuss the individual contributions to the special issue and highlight the importance of incorporating insights from the literature of transitional justice and post-conflict reconciliation to the study and practice of federalism.

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 459-481
Author(s):  
Nikolay Hakimov ◽  
Ad Backus

Abstract The influence of usage frequency, and particularly of linguistic similarity on human linguistic behavior and linguistic change in situations of language contact are well documented in contact linguistics literature. However, a theoretical framework capable of unifying the various explanations, which are usually couched in either structuralist, sociolinguistic, or psycholinguistic parlance, is still lacking. In this introductory article we argue that a usage-based approach to language organization and linguistic behavior suits this purpose well and that the study of language contact phenomena will benefit from the adoption of this theoretical perspective. The article sketches an outline of usage-based linguistics, proposes ways to analyze language contact phenomena in this framework, and summarizes the major findings of the individual contributions to the special issue, which not only demonstrate that contact phenomena are usefully studied from the usage-based perspective, but document that taking a usage-based approach reveals new aspects of old phenomena.


2021 ◽  
Vol 50 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-11
Author(s):  
Barbara Schulte ◽  
Marina Svensson

This special issue approaches information and communication technologies (ICT) visions and their realisation/implementation at various levels, among different actors and from various perspectives. Conceptually, we distinguish three different dimensions, even though those overlap in the individual contributions as well as in empirical reality – namely ideational, instrumental, and relational. The different contributions address both visions formulated by the Chinese state and by individual actors such as entrepreneurs. Even though the conditions for the use of ICT in China are deeply affected by state governance, this governance is in no way tantamount to one single government. As this issue’s contributions show, state attempts at building a stable cyber-governance are in need of allies and, depending on the allies’ visions and other, competitive visions, the outcomes of these dynamics are seldom truthful realisations of one original grand masterplan.


2011 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 241-261 ◽  
Author(s):  
Janine Natalya Clark

AbstractMuch of the literature on transitional justice suffers from a critical impact gap, which scholars are only now beginning to address. One particular manifestation of this aforementioned gap, and one which forms the particular focus of this article, is the frequently-cited yet empirically under-researched claim that "truth" fosters post-conflict reconciliation. Theoretically and empirically critiquing this argument, this article both questions the comprehensiveness of truth established through criminal trials and truth and reconciliation commissions (TRCs) and underscores the often overlooked problem of denial, thus raising fundamental questions about the reputed healing properties of truth in such contexts. Advocating the case for evidence-based transitional justice, it reflects upon empirical research on South Africa's TRC and the author's own work on the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY).


2021 ◽  
pp. 074355842110069
Author(s):  
Gabriel Velez

In post-conflict and transitional settings, adolescents are important civic and political actors as potential peacebuilders. Policy and programming often focus on promoting prosocial outcomes for these younger generations, but there has been growing attention to their perspectives and psychological development. Drawing on theory in developmental psychology, adolescents interpret and respond to context in forming ideas about key concepts like peace, understanding society and their place in it, and constructing their orientations toward peace. This study extends current literature by exploring how Colombian adolescents describe peace within the context of a peace process in their country. Ninety-six 15- to 18-year-olds in and around Bogotá, Colombia, were interviewed about peace. Their responses were analyzed inductively using an adapted thematic analysis. Findings indicated that the individual was central to how respondents talked about peace; that is, peace begins and depends on the internal states. From this basis, individuals then created peace through interpersonal relations. There were some differences by respondents’ SES, such as in how respondents described peace as requiring equality in society, but none found for gender or age. This study demonstrates the need to provide concrete opportunities for these adolescents to see individual contributions and broader interpersonal peace as possible.


Author(s):  
Gerbert Kraaykamp ◽  
Zeynep Cemalcilar ◽  
Jale Tosun

Are attitudes toward work and perceptions of the benefits of work transmitted from parents to youth similarly across a variety of cultural contexts? What determines the centrality of work to one’s life? How are intrinsic work values (intangible rewards such as autonomy, learning opportunities, and self-fulfillment) and extrinsic work values (such as status, income, and financial safety) shaped; and how do these work attitudes have consequences in the political, economic, and well-being domains? Are the determinants of work values robust across countries, and do the consequences of having certain work values differ by country? These research questions guide this issue of The ANNALS. This introductory article clarifies key concepts underlying the volume and provides an overview of the data sources and analytic approaches addressed in the individual contributions. Most importantly, we provide a broad theoretical framework with notions from various disciplines aimed at giving readers a fuller grasp of the multifaceted significance of work values.


2019 ◽  
Vol 63 (2) ◽  
pp. 143-150 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aparecida Vilaça

This afterword offers a commentary on the concept of relations discussed in the introduction and the individual contributions to this special issue by critically reflecting on the key concepts that have emerged in it. It contributes to the discussion with a reflection on the use of the term parente in Amazonia, showing how its exclusive use in inter-ethnic contexts indicates a play of perspective in the way that relations between different groups of people are experienced.


Societies ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 20
Author(s):  
Sarah Harrison

Electoral psychology is defined as any model based on human psychology that is used to explain any electoral experience or outcome at the individual or aggregate level. Electoral psychology can also be an interface with other crucial aspects of the vote. For example, the interface between electoral psychology and electoral organization constitutes electoral ergonomics. The very nature of the models tested in electoral psychology has also led scholars in the field to complement mainstream social science methodologies with their own specific methodological approaches in order to capture the subconscious component of the vote and the subtle nature of the psychological processes determining the electoral experience and the way in which it permeates citizens’ thoughts and lives. After defining electoral psychology, this introductory article scopes its analytical roots and contemporary relevance, focuses on the importance of switching from “institution-centric” to “people-centric” conceptions of electoral behavior, and notably how it redefines key concepts such as electoral identity and consistency, and approaches questions of personality, morality, memory, identity, and emotions in electoral psychological models. Then, it discusses some of the unique methodological challenges that the field faces, notably when it comes to analyzing largely subconscious phenomena, and addresses them, before explaining how the various contributions to this Special Issue give a flavor of the scope and approaches of electoral psychology contributions to electoral studies.


Journalism ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jelle Mast ◽  
Roel Coesemans ◽  
Martina Temmerman

This paper introduces the Special Issue’s central theme of ‘hybridity and the news’, defining the scope and setting the scene for the multiple issues and debates covered by the individual contributions in this collection. Opposing both relativist positions that discard hybridity as an analytically useless concept, and preconceived notions that construe hybridity as intrinsically negative or positive, it is argued to move beyond binary thinking and to approach hybridity as a particularly rich site for the analysis of forms and processes of experimentation, innovation, deviation and transition in contemporary journalism. In order to profoundly understand these developments, which come in many forms, manifest themselves on different levels, and serve multiple purposes, a comprehensive, multi- and interdisciplinary perspective is needed. The Special Issue aims to contribute to this research agenda by looking closely into blending categories and interaction patterns in journalistic forms, genres, and practices, encompassing theoretical frameworks and methodological approaches from various disciplinary backgrounds including political and communication sciences, sociology, linguistics, cultural studies, and history. While taking different angles on the subject and being variously located on the macro and micro levels of analysis, the articles assembled here all engage in a careful assessment of ‘hybridity and the news’ through profound conceptualizations and empirical analyses, connecting with and shedding new light on long-standing debates about the nature and meaning of journalism.


2018 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-8 ◽  
Author(s):  
James Wesley Scott ◽  
Filippo Celata ◽  
Raffaella Coletti

This special issue of European Urban and Regional Studies maps out a move from a strictly geopolitical to more socio-political and socio-cultural interpretations of the European Union’s (EU’s) ‘Mediterranean neighbourhood’. In doing this, the authors propose a dialogic understanding of neighbourhood as a set of ideas and imaginaries that reflect not only top-down geopolitical imaginaries but also everyday images, representations and imaginations. The introduction briefly summarizes conceptualizations of ‘neighbourhood’ provided by the individual contributions that connect the realm of high politics with that of communities and individuals who are affected by and negotiate the EU’s Mediterranean borders. Specifically, three cases of socio-spatial imaginaries that exemplify patterns of differential inclusion of the ‘non-EU’ will be explored. The cases involve Italy–Tunisia cross-border relations, the EU’s post-‘Arab Spring’ engagement with civil society actors and the case of Northern Cyprus. The authors suggest that ‘neighbourhood’ can be conceptualized as a borderscape of interaction and agency that is politically framed in very general terms but that in detail is composed of many interlinked relational spaces. The European neighbourhood emerges as a patchwork of relations, socio-cultural encounters, confrontation and contestation, rather than merely as a cooperation policy or border regime.


Author(s):  
Brandon D. Lundy ◽  
Edwin Njonguo

Conflict management and resolution are processes for dealing with discord or facilitating peaceful and satisfactory cessations to conflict, and even potentially its transformation. Ideas and actions about how disputes are handled within various historical, geographic, political, economic, and cultural contexts and structures come from a range of positions, people, and institutions, with some approaches having empirical, experiential, precedential, authoritative, or intuitive support. The aggregation, analysis, and dissemination of these processes have led to the development of related fields within peace and conflict studies. Identified approaches to conflict management and resolution include, but are not limited to, alternative dispute resolution (negotiation, facilitation, mediation, case analysis, early neutral evaluation, conciliation, and arbitration), peacebuilding, and diplomacy. As an interdisciplinary field, scholarship is drawn from a broad range of academic disciplines, including social psychology, law, economics, and political science. These theories and processes are often systematically designed toward specific ends (e.g., management, analysis, resolution, transformation) and get applied at the individual, community, institutional, regional, state, and/or international levels. Through an analysis of the extant African studies resources focusing on conflict management and resolution, emergent themes fall into two broad categories: applied mechanisms of conflict management and resolution, and conflict issues affecting the continent. The African continent has seen its fair share of violent and intractable conflicts, both intra- and interstate. From the Arab Spring in Tunisia, Egypt, and Libya beginning in 2010 to the Niger Delta conflict and Boko Haram insurgency in Nigeria, Kenyan presidential election violence, or South African water shortages, conflict and the need for its management, analysis, and resolution are abundant. Engagement (not isolation) and active dialogue, collaboration, and conflict sensitivity (i.e., do no harm) are essential keys to studying, managing, resolving, and transforming the diverse range of conflict situations found throughout Africa. External, internal (i.e., indigenous or localized), and hybrid models can open and sustain pathways to peace. Many scholars now argue that conflict management, analysis, and resolution must address root causes, take an interdisciplinary approach, not conflate conflict and violence, use multiscalar perspectives (i.e., individual, group, state, interstate), and employ multicultural sensitivities attuned to cultural contexts and global sources of conflict. Scholars and practitioners must investigate and better understand the origins, causes, resolution, and consequences of conflicts in contemporary Africa in relation to their postcolonial contexts. Concerns include ethnic, religious, political, and environmental conflict factors, as well as demographic pressures. The stakeholder roles in post-conflict reconciliation and reconstruction should also be determined and continually evaluated to ensure effectiveness in African conflicts.


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