The Democracy Development Machine

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicholas Copeland
Keyword(s):  
Rural Politics ◽  
Radical Class ◽  
Class Politics ◽  
Historical Ethnography ◽  
Post Conflict ◽  
San Pedro ◽  
Authoritarian Populism ◽  
Conflict Settings ◽  
Self Interest ◽  
The Town

What forces hinder decolonization efforts on the neoliberal terrain? In the aftermath of a genocidal scorched earth campaign, Mayas in the town of San Pedro Necta encountered a formidable democracy-development machine designed to displace radical class politics into private market advancement and local, indigenous-led electoral politics. Sampedranos regarded neoliberal democracy and development not as empty, depoliticized forms or colonial impositions, but as hard-won victories that met immediate needs and echoed revolutionary and local struggles. This historical ethnography examines how these governmentalized spaces fell short, simultaneously enabling and disfiguring an ethnic resurgence that fractured in a dispiriting atmosphere of pessimism, self-interest, deception, and mistrust. These dynamics fueled authoritarian populism but also radical reimaginings of democracy and development from below. These findings shed new light on rural politics in Guatemala and across neoliberal and post-conflict settings.

scholarly journals Fit-for-Purpose Land Administration in Violent Conflict Settings

Land ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 139
Author(s):  
Clarissa Augustinus ◽  
Ombretta Tempra
Keyword(s):  
Transitional Justice ◽  
Democratic Republic ◽  
Democratic Republic Of Congo ◽  
Violent Conflict ◽  
Peace Building ◽  
Land Administration ◽  
Post Conflict ◽  
Conflict Settings ◽  
Displaced People ◽  
Fit For Purpose

According to the United Nations (UN) Refugee Agency, there were 79.5 million forcibly displaced people worldwide by the end of 2019. Evictions from homes and land are often linked to protracted violent conflict. Land administration (LA) can be a small part of UN peace-building programs addressing these conflicts. Through the lens of the UN and seven country cases, the problem being addressed is: what are the key features of fit-for-purpose land administration (FFP LA) in violent conflict contexts? FFP LA involves the same LA elements found in conventional LA and FFP LA, and LA in post conflict contexts, as it supports peace building and conflict resolution. However, in the contexts being examined, FFP LA also has novel features as well, such as extra-legal transitional justice mechanisms to protect people and their land rights and to address historical injustices and the politics of exclusion that are the root causes of conflict. In addition, there are land governance and power relations’ implications, as FFP LA is part of larger UN peace-building programs. This impacts the FFP LA design. The cases discussed are from Darfur/Sudan, Democratic Republic of Congo, Honduras, Iraq, Jubaland/Somalia, Peru and South Sudan.

scholarly journals Health care workers in conflict and post-conflict settings: Systematic mapping of the evidence

PLoS ONE ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (5) ◽  
pp. e0233757
Author(s):  
Lama Bou-Karroum ◽  
Amena El-Harakeh ◽  
Inas Kassamany ◽  
Hussein Ismail ◽  
Nour El Arnaout ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Health Care Workers ◽  
Systematic Mapping ◽  
Post Conflict ◽  
Conflict Settings ◽  
Care Workers

scholarly journals Bridging Gaps: From a Descriptive to a Practical Mid-Space Actor Typology?

2021 ◽  
pp. 59-80
Author(s):  
Anna Deekeling ◽  
Dahlia Simangan
Keyword(s):  
Social Network ◽  
Practical Application ◽  
Skill Sets ◽  
Post Conflict ◽  
Sustainable Peace ◽  
Conflict Settings ◽  
Local Actors ◽  
Specific Skill ◽  
Favourable Environment ◽  
Bridge Building

AbstractThe concept of hybridity sheds light on the complexity of conflict settings. It helps to analyse the participation of all parties and actors involved and entangled in a social network of normative and political power, while avoiding theoretical binaries that over-simplify the process of post-conflict peacebuilding. What lacks, however, is a practical application of hybridity in peacebuilding that actively engages with bottom/local or grassroots, top/national and international actors through mediation in the mid-space to create sustainable peace. Given this practical shortcoming of hybridity, this chapter examines mid-space actors as gatekeepers and their capacities to enable dialogue among opposing parties. The aim is to offer insights for the international community, as outside intervenors, in promoting the bridge-building potentialities of gatekeepers. Specifically, externally led efforts to engage with the specific skill sets of mid-space local actors are explored. It is argued in this chapter that such engagement provides a favourable environment for sustaining peace by overcoming power struggles in and around the mid-space.

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