scholarly journals Dancehall music and urban identities in Zimbabwe – A constructive postmodern perspective

2016 ◽  
Vol 72 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Zorodzai Dube
Keyword(s):  
Status Quo ◽  
Economic Uncertainty ◽  
State Institutions ◽  
Political Events ◽  
The Status ◽  
Dancehall Music

Dancehall music may be seen as a commentary over the socio-political events that are unfolding in Zimbabwe since 2008, a period characterised by political and economic uncertainty. The study focuses on how this genre of music reflects identities that emerge from the context characterised by the disintegrating state institutions and fragile households. With such a context, dancehall music may be interpreted as offering hope and courage. Notably, the music carries a unique theological injunction where God is called upon to witness and offer strength, not to punish or change the status quo. I call this genre of music wilderness music to explain that the music provides spaces of hope and courage to fragile and less certain identities.

Democracy Assistance for Botswana: Maintaining the Status Quo in a Peripheral Capitalist Country

2019 ◽  
Vol 35 (2) ◽  
pp. 205-229
Author(s):  
Kebapetse Lotshwao ◽  
Robert Imre ◽  
Jim Jose
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Status Quo ◽  
Political Regime ◽  
Democratic Institutions ◽  
Capitalist Country ◽  
State Institutions ◽  
Democracy Assistance ◽  
Multilateral Institutions ◽  
The Status ◽  
The Cost

Given that Botswana is considered a stable democracy, the need for democracy assistance does not at first glance seem necessary. Yet, democracy assistance is an important feature of Botswana’s political regime. The rationale for democracy assistance is couched in terms of strengthening the country’s democratic institutions, enhancing the state’s capacity, and bolstering Botswana’s civil society. However, contrary to these stated objectives, this article reveals that democracy assistance serves the agenda of Western donor countries and certain multilateral institutions—an agenda concerned with keeping Botswana politically stable and its state institutions efficient so that the country is attractive to investors. This agenda is pursued at the cost of not making certain long overdue political reforms.

Bosnia’s Perpetual Purgatory: The Inability to Fulfill EU Accession Requirements

2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-18
Author(s):  
Gabrielle Regimbal
Keyword(s):  
European Commission ◽  
Ethnic Groups ◽  
Historical Context ◽  
Status Quo ◽  
Eu Accession ◽  
State Institutions ◽  
The Status ◽  
Accession Process ◽  
The Eu ◽  
Made In

This paper argues that Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) should not begin the European Union’s accession process, and should instead remain on the ‘potential candidates’ list due to their continuous inability to meet the EU acquis. While some progress was made in 2020 towards meeting this goal, such as moderate candidate victories in the November election (over the reigning populist politicians) and the first elections being held in Mostar in December, BiH has failed to address the root of the issues. By examining the European Commission reports for BiH and researching the historical context surrounding the flawed state institutions, the following conclusion was determined. Due to BiH’s failure to comply with EU accession’s political, legal, and economic requirements, they are unable to be considered for induction, and the status quo should remain. Instead, the EU should foster methods of reconciliation for the three ethnic groups that dominate Bosnian society to help build consensus and foster compromise to fulfill accession requirements.

Grievances and Opportunities: Religious Violence across Political Regimes

2014 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 684-705 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Muchlinski
Keyword(s):  
Religious Freedom ◽  
Status Quo ◽  
Conventional Wisdom ◽  
Religious Violence ◽  
Religious Groups ◽  
National Data ◽  
State Institutions ◽  
The Status ◽  
Religious Actors ◽  
Cross National

AbstractStudies of religious violence have established that when states restrict religious freedom, the probability of religious violence increases. Conventional wisdom holds that religious violence is primarily a result of religious grievances. When religious groups are denied religious freedom, they seek to revise the status quo in their favor though the use of violence. This study challenges this narrative. It finds, rather than being caused only by grievances, religious violence is also fueled by moments of opportunity. Utilizing cross-national data for the years 2008 and 2001–2005, it is found that religious violence occurs most frequently in anocratic regimes marked by weak and decaying state institutions. Hence, the current narrative is incomplete. Studies analyzing religious violence need to consider how various regimes provide or stifle the opportunity for religious actors to engage in violence as well as how those regimes fuel religious violence through restricting religious freedom and increasing religious grievances.

scholarly journals Dialogic Struggle in the Becoming of the Cultural Revolution: Between Elite Conflict and Mass Mobilization

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiaohong Xu
Keyword(s):  
Rational Choice ◽  
Cultural Revolution ◽  
Status Quo ◽  
Mass Mobilization ◽  
Teleological Explanation ◽  
Political Events ◽  
Chinese Cultural Revolution ◽  
The Status ◽  
Cultural Repertoires ◽  
Politics Of Interpretation

This article addresses the becoming of contentious political events through the case of the Chinese Cultural Revolution (1966). The conditional theory of structural causa- tion and the rational choice conception of agency that have complemented each other in current scholarship have left missing links between elite conflict and mass mobilization. Examining the dialogic struggle among various actors involved in the process helps to overcome the teleological explanation of the rise of the Cultural Rev- olution and brings to light the politics of interpretation in constructing its meaning. The perspective shows ideological contradictions in the status quo ante to be important sources for change in an uncertain and destabilizing situation. The event thus did not result from the realization of actors’ fixed goals but was an emergent process of the disarticulation of structural contradictions, in which actors’ active appropriation and changing deployment of cultural repertoires were critical.

scholarly journals How International Actors Help Enforce Domestic Deals

2020 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 357-383 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aila M. Matanock
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Research Agenda ◽  
Civil Conflict ◽  
Status Quo ◽  
The Political ◽  
State Institutions ◽  
Electoral Campaigns ◽  
The Status

International actors at times seek to help bring peace, democracy, and human rights. Studies of how international actors help enforce political bargains between incumbent governments and their domestic opponents are proliferating. They show that opposition groups have trouble trusting incumbents to adhere to the political bargains they strike because incumbents can use their familiarity with state institutions and can use their asymmetric hold on power during bargain implementation to violate terms by retaining more of the status quo than agreed. International actors can overcome these “reversion problems,” however, by using monitoring mechanisms (often focused on electoral campaigns) and incentives conditioned on compliance. Reversion problems, and enforcement by international actors as a solution, are common across issue areas—arising when domestic actors try to end civil conflict, open elections, and reduce repression—but the literatures in these issue areas have largely remained segregated. This review proposes advancing this research agenda by unifying them and (re)examining the conditions under which this solution works best.

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