final Flashcards
1
Q
what is the concept of intersectionality?
A
- a way to understand how groups and individuals social and political identities result in both discrimination and privilege
- when it comes to gender it is important to remember that women come from diverse backgrounds and therefore experience very different life outcomes even in the same country
e.g. in South Africa white urban-dwelling women have different experiences with key indicators like employment, health-care, education and childbirth compared to rural dwelling, black fellow citizens
2
Q
how has colonisation impacted gender in the developing world?
A
- colonial powers often codified gender inequality into law
- e.g. in India customary marriage laws were made into law that granted legal authority over women to male elders
3
Q
in terms of gender, what is descriptive vs. substantive representation?
A
descriptive: the number of women in positions of power and whether this mirrors their share of the population
substantive representation: the promotion of women’s interests
just because women are present in politics does not mean there is greater advocacy on behalf of women’s rights
4
Q
name four countries in which women have been important members of insurgent groups fighting against colonial or authoritarian regimes
A
Zimbabwe, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Guetemala
they have to both fight against oppressive regime and against gender discrimination
5
Q
what case study can be used for women in guerilla armies?
why did they join?
A
- women’s mobilisation into the Salvadoran guerilla army, the FMLN
- 30-35% of combatants in FMLN were women
- they joined due to ties to the group before mobilisation, biographical availability (like motherhood, family completeness) and whether they had experienced repression
6
Q
how can gender be linked to the causes of civil war?
A
- most scholars explain the politics of civil wars as based on elites’ motivations and ignore grassroots
- women play key roles in mobilising struggles against colonial or authoritarian regimes
- after contributing to winning the struggle they are often marginalised in government
7
Q
WHY do social movements emerge?
A
- to champion a cause that can’t be addressed through existing channels e.g. a lack of democracy
- they are not institutionalised but demands can be integrated into existing institutions
8
Q
WHEN do social movements emerge?
A
- when there are tectonic shifts in the state and society, especially in an authoritarian context where free speech is limited
- movements are reluctant to act in the open but when the state shows cracks it can be a trigger for the sudden emergence of a social movement
they can also emerge when a government suddenly experiences a drop in legitimacy such as in a foreign war
9
Q
what is a real life example of a social movement emerging and what caused it?
A
- the brutal junta in the 70s and 80s in Argentina that chose war with the UK over the falkland islands
- it lost the war causing mass protests and the regime to step down
social movements grabbed the momentum of the failed war to bring down the regime
10
Q
what is a vital factor to the success of social movements?
A
international allies
- social movements need domestic popularity but also global popularity
- this brings greater political pressure as well as resources from the global north
11
Q
what are the limits and challenges of attracting international allies for social movements?
A
- there is the idea that the global civic society only has a limited amount of sympathy, attention and willingness to devote resources and they often choose one or a few causes to focus on, not spread it equally over all movements
- social movements therefore have to be sort of ‘marketed’
- if groups fail to calibrate their messages to trendy causes or lack a charismatic leader capable of expressing grievances in a major western language their cause might fail
12
Q
what is the case study used for social movements?
A
Mexico’s EZLN, zapatista national liberation army
- a social, not rebel, movements as their guns were not used for military purposes
- their demands were for the Mexican poor for housing, food, healthcase and education
13
Q
what caused the zapatistas emergence?
A
- the 1980s debt crisis in the global south saw the widespread privatisation of national industries in Mexico and the removal of constitutional labour practices
- this saw rising poverty levels and low democratic representation
- the zapatistas launched their uprising in 1994, in time with the launch of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) to give them international resonance
14
Q
what was the zapatistas strategy
A
- they never violently attacked Mexican officials, tactics were symbolic
- their anti-globalisation movement resonated worldwide because of their lack of violence
- subcomandante Marcos was a clever tactic for international attention and garnered support
15
Q
what were the impacts of the zapatista uprising?
both positive and negative
A
- 1996 San Andres Accords with the Mexican government strengthened indigenous rights
- they inspired indigenous reforms elsewhere
- but the government increased military deployment, imposing curfews
- foreign investment into Mexico was also reduced
- the zapatistas insisted on boycotting elections that meant they missed opportunities for increased representation
16
Q
what is democracy as a normative good
A
- normative = what should happen or what ought to happen
- political science assumes democracy is a good thing as they safeguard human rights and have accountability mechanisms
17
Q
what is the ‘third wave’ of democracy
A
- coined by Samuel Huntington
- began with the fall of the Salazar regime in Portugal
- accelerated throughout the 1980s and after the end of the Cold War in Latin America, Africa and Eastern Europe
18
Q
how has democratisation theory evolved?
A
1950s-60s: modernisation theory, economic development needs to come before democratisation else outcomes are messy
19902-now: democratic transitions, education for the masses and the welfare state are a consequence of democracy rather than a precondition
links back to Amartya Sen
19
Q
what are semi-authoritarian regimes?
A
- they retain democratic features while being governed by leaders that disregard democratic rules
- there is still a political playing field with more than one team but the ruling party has the upper hand
- they seek to prevent the emergence of competing political organisations rather than defeating them in elections
- they control the flow of information to citizens and manipulate institutions and constitutions to their own advantage
20
Q
what is an example of a competitive authoritarian regime?
A
- Hugo Chavez of Venezuela 1954-2013
- launched a failed coup then was elected in 1998
- widely seen as a ‘robin hood’ for spending oil wealth on social services for the poor
- he got cancer and endorsed the FM Maduro who narrowly wins elections in 2013 (fraud?)
- the economy shrinks and opposition wins in 2015 causing widespread poverty
- protests erupt, hundreds killed
- Maduro holds a rigged election
21
Q
what is competitive authoritarianism?
A
a kind of semi-authoritarianism
- imprisons opposition figures and rivals
- uses excessive force against protestors
- uses electoral fraud
22
Q
what is the gray zone of democracies?
A
- democratic transitions are not always linear and are often slow
- gray zone countries are in transition but not quite there yet
- scholars assumed that there is a linear path to democracy and the gray zone is temporary
- but in reality many remain in this zone as not fully authoritarian but not fully democratic
23
Q
what are the two causes of human rights abuses?
A
rational incentives and exclusionary ideologies
24
Q
what are rational incentives for human rights violations?
A
- low levels of democracy
- poverty
- war
- social threats or dissent (real of perceived acts of resentment towards the government)
25
how do exclusionary ideologies cause human rights violations?
- exclusionary ideologies define the conditions under which it is deemed appropiate and even necessary to violate human rights norms
- e.g. in the name of national security, this is the most common way in which governments use violence against their national population
- national security is used often alongside broader ideologies of discrimination (like racism or sexism which are important types of exclusionary ideology
26
what is an example of a government using exclusionary ideology to justify human rights abuses?
- the Argentine junta mentioned when talking about competitive authoritarianism
- they killed 30,000 people
- in the argentine government they expanded those who they thought they could legitimately target
- a terrorist was classified as anyone who spread ideas 'contrary to western and christian civilisation'
- this expanded the target beyond a small number who were actually engaged in armed resistance to including their families and anyone ideologically likeminded
27
another example of difficulty in holding human rights abusing regimes accountable?
- Argentina transitioned to a civilian government in 1983
- the president sought the militaries support and so pardoned all members of the military junta
- but the Supreme Court pushed back and revoked the pardons however the wheels of justice turn slowly and many did not live to see their attackers brought to justice or others died before they were prosecuted
## Footnote
holding human rights abusers accountable is a very lengthy and painful procedure
28
how does reform around human rights come about?
- human rights change is a long term process
- state-society relations need to accomodate human rights norms
- states face pressure internationally and domestically
29
what is a case study to show difficulty of holding human rights abusers accountable
Rodrigo Dutertes in the Philippines
- campaigned for national office on a tough on crime platform, he never denied human rights abuses but rather wore them as a badge to show he is tough on crime
- over 12,000 people were killed during his tenure
- low freedom of press but enjoyed high approval rating
- he has not been arrested and taken to the ICC
30
what is regime change
- unlike revolution it involves negotiations and compromise between two sides
- distinguished from a revolution because a lot of the old regime stays in place
- the old regime continues to retain at least some measure of political power into the future
31
why might leaders enter into regime change negotiations?
they may be willing to give political freedoms in exchange for no violence, immunity from prosecution and economic and political privileges
32
what is the role of the military in regime change?
- the military is the force most likely to undermine the process of transition and consolidation
- there's a risk that generals might take the decision away from the government
- the military is therefore seen as a kind of gatekeeper
- m
33
what is a successful first case study that can be used for regime change?
Chile
- democratic for 150 years but democracy overthrown by Pinochet over Allende (partically orchestrated by the US for being too socialist)
- Pinochet's brutal regime, neo-liberalism
- 1988 plebiscite was a referendum to see if he should stay in power, he was voted out and he was pushed out by military
## Footnote
so successfully transitioned to a democracy
34
what is a failed case study that can be used for regime change?
Burma
- Aung San Suu Kyi won the elections but was placed under house arrest by the military for pro-democracy activism
- she was awarded nobel prize for efforts
- after international pressure she was released and won the election
- but she has been reluctant to condemn the dictatorship especially for persecution of rohingya muslims
- she was then put back into house arrest again
## Footnote
failed transition to democracy
35
how does religion intersect with politics?
- provides politicians with a powerful organising principle
- political struggles like those over land or resources are linked to religion
- religious organisation provide social welfare networks and key services to the population where the state isn't providing them
36
you have to watch back the rest of the religion in the middle east lecture
37
what are the origins of Iraq's state weakness
- the 1916 Sykes-Picot agreement by France and the UK that agreed to carve up spheres of incluence in the Middle East
- from 1920 Iraq was assigned as a British protectorate
38
what was the 1920 Iraqi revolt?
- Iraqis revolted angered by British control
- British forces put down the revolt but only with great difficulty
39
what was Iraq's path from independence through the cold war?
1932: gained independence but Britain maintains presence
1958: military coup overthrows british aligned monarchy, installs secular Arab nationalist government
1960-75: Iraqi government wages war against separatist Kurdish population
1963,1968: succesive coups d'etat overthrow the regimes
40
what did Iraq look like under Saddam Hussein
- ruled 1979-2003
- incredibly brutal leader who ran a fierce, but not strong state
- promoted communal, ethnic and interreligious mistrust
41
what internal and external conflicts were there in Iraq?
arbitrarily drawn borders caused separatists seeking independence (kurds) or aligning with foreign powers (iran)
## Footnote
- 1960s-2003 Iraw waged a protracted low intensity war against the kurds
- 1980-88 Hussein launches a long and bloody war against Iran
- 1990 Hussein launches a military invasion into Kuwait
- 2003 UK and US invade
42
what is Iraq's population look like?
- historically the Sunnia and Shia muslims got along well but hussein played different groups against each other
- hussein's regime killed over 200,000 citizens
- the iran-iraq war killed over 1 million people
- the 2003 invasion killed thousands more
## Footnote
so now 50% of Iraqis are under the age of 19
43
what were the outcomes of the invasion of the Iraq 2003
- the invasion took down the regime but did nothing about stability in the country
- the Iraqi state has faced corruption, human rights abuses and deep sectarian divisions
- the economy has stagnated
- in 2014 the US trained Iraqi army was quickly defeated by ISIS due to lack of motivation
44
what is ISIS
- founded in 2006 in Iraq
- captured extensive territory in Iraq and Syria since 2014
- they have established a state of their own (caliphate)
- religious divisions between muslims have contributed to the conflict
45
what is the contemporary meaning of iraqi democracy
- although there are free and fair elections, there is chronic political violence
- although they can vote, Iraqi women are oin many ways worse off than in Hussein's time
46
what was Mexico's 'civil war democracy'
- after independence in 1821, Mexico was internally fragmented led by caudillos
- they also lost a lot in the war against the US
- from 1910-20 they went through a civil war which killed around 1.4 million people as regional factions sought greater rights against a predatory central government
47
what was Mexico's 'one-party democracy'?
- the institutional revolutionary party (PRI) held power for 70 years in the country from 1929-2000
- it rigged elections establishing hegemonic control at all levels of gov
- it distributed resources to allies in exchange for their loyalty
48
how did Mexico undergo a democratic transition and see electoral reform?
- the economic crisis of the 1980s weakened the PRI's control
- the national action party (PAN) became increasingly powerful
- in 2000 the PAN candidate won the presidency
- Mexico then remodeled its electoral institutions to bring back a more solid democracy
49
how has modern Mexican politics been shaped by 'economic civil war'?
- the drug cartels have economic, not political aims
- they behave like rebel movements but are not seeking to take power but rather establish economic dominance
- since the 1980s Mexico has replaced Colombia as the centre of the drug trade in the west
- p
50
what has been the impact of drug wars in Mexico?
- Mexico has a functioning democracy with well-established institutions but in practice most citizens do not feel protected by the law (whether that's accesss to justice, protection from abuse of power etc.)
51
how have patterns of violence emerged in Mexico in the present day?
- homicide rates have doubled from 20016 to 2011 and remain high
- targeting cartels' leadership only causes more splinter groups
- 2012-18 the President largely neglected the problem which worsened the situation
- there have been mass disappearances with corrupt security forces
- Seinbaum has been better?
52
what is Fukuyama's 'end of history'
- end of the cold war has seen a new era of peace
- western economic and political ideals are spreading across the world as poorer countries will eventually catch up
- this is the best way to govern ourselves so this is basically the end
53
what is Sen's 'democracy as a universal value'?
- he regards the rise of democracy as the most important thing to happen in the 20th century
- but he agrees with evolution theorists: a country doesn't have to be deemed fit for democracy but rather becomes fit through democracy
- this goes hand in hand with the growth of gender equality across the globe
## Footnote
democracy is something for everyone, everywhere, they do not need to wait
54
what country can be seen as an example of democracy as a universal value?
- India
- Britain was reluctant to grant them independence because they didn't think they were ready to govern themselves
- they have many divisions such as region, religion, ethnicity and class
- but democracy has worked out remarkably well there (defo faced challenges but everything has improved under democracy)
## Footnote
proves Sen's theory right, the country didn't need to wait to solve its issues to democratise
55
how is democracy linked to human security?
- there have been debates over whether democracies or authoritarianism is better at promoting economic growth
- but Sen argues we need look beyond economic growth and rather focus on economic and social security
- democracy should be a safeguard for major economic disasters
56
how does democracy prevent famine?
- Sen argues that no substantial famine has ever occurred in any independent and democratic country with a relatively free press
- this is because a responsive government intervenes to alleviate hunger
- a democractic government faces pressure to take action
57
what was the bengal famine of 1943
- an estimated 3 million Indians died
- the British took clear steps that led to the famine, it was not just climate factors
- they refused to provide aid as they thought it was a part of nature for famine to eliminate some of the population and they didn't want India to become dependent on them
58
what are the three mechanisms in the value of political and social freedoms?
1. political and social participation has intrinsic value for human well being showing us our voices matter
2. it has instrumental value in enhancing people's political voice and their ability to raise awareness
3. it gives citizens the opportunity to learn from one another, forming societies values and priorities
59
how did Kerala in India deal with coronavirus
## Footnote
as a case study to show the value of political and social freedoms
- the state has historically had a left leaning government with welfare programmes and gender equality
- it has strong state-funded schools and medical infrastructure with some of the highest literacy rates in India
- it closed most schools for social distancing
- it had school lunches to prevent malnutrition but after schools shut the state gov provided rice for 2.6 million kids
60
what are issues with GDP as a way to measure poverty?
- historically it has been through monetary measures but this is arbitrary, what about those living just above it
- modernisation theorists used GDP which shows how a country's economy is growing over time but this doesn't mean it is benefiting everyone equitably
- a lot of the time a growing economy means the rich are getting richer
- you can have growing GDP but declining food security and the undermining of traditional ways of life
61
what are non-monetary poverty measures?
## Footnote
alternatives to GDP
- infant mortality, life expectancy and literacy rates tend to be more robust
- countries with less gender equality are usually less developed as well
- poverty is intertwined with ecological factors which has led the UN to adopt the sustainable development goals in 2015 which represent the idea that it's not all about economic growth
62
what is an example of a UN sustainable development goal?
access to banking for women, seen in Brazil's bolsa familia
## Footnote
- poverty is generational so under Lula the programme was implemented in 2003
- it's provides financial aid in exchange for parents sending their children to school and vaccinate them
- whenever possible financial aid was given to the female head of the house as this increased the likelhood it would be spent responsibly
63
what role does path dependency play
- histories of colonisation, war and development policy play key roles in determining levels of wealthy and inequality
- this shapes factors like human capital and natural capital
64
when did South Africa get independence from Britain?
1910
65
what is apartheid
state sanctioned racism encoded in the laws and norms of state and society
## Footnote
- came into law in 1948
- power lay in the broederbond
66
what caused the ANC to undertake violent struggle
the sharpevill massacre in 1960
67
what did the ANC's armed struggle look like?
- ANC's armed wing was MK
- they received weapons and training from the Soviet Union and other communist-bloc countries in the context of the cold war
- they got diplomatic support from nordic countries and canada
- guerillas were based in northern angola with no common border with SA making operations tricky
68
what did the ANC's/MK's struggle look like?
- they targeted oil refineries, power plants and military bases
- the rise of the united democratic front launched protest movements and labour strikes
- UDF protests combined with MK attacks causes the regime to declare a state of emergency and deploy military troops
## Footnote
MK didn't single handedly defeat the regime but it did help contribute
69
how did the international state system respond to apartheid
- the UK had a keen economic and strategic interest in its former colony
- NATO countries had cultivated strong ties with the apartheid regime
- the US, UK, France, West Germany and Italy sold South Africa weapons and kept the regime afloat through trade and loans
70
how was 'black on black' violence a key apartheid strategy
- the apartheid regime turned Zulus against the ANC which was led by mostly Xhosa
- the regime trained Zulu impis in the caprivi strip that formed the base of the the Inkatha freedom party (IFP)
- these militants waged war against the ANC killing thousands
71
how did apartheid come to an end?
- de Klerk unbans the ANC, starts repealing apartheid laws, releases Mandela from prison and enters the negotiated transition
- nevertheless 1990-94 was the most violent period in SA history with 16,000 killed
72
what is the greed vs grievance debate
asks whether rebels fight because they feel marginalised and are fighting against the state or whether they are fighting for greed with a profit driven motivation
## Footnote
early literature on civil wars emphasised grievance as rebel motivation but after the cold war scholars increasingly understood rebels to bemotivated by greed
73
what is the contemporary stance on the greed vs grievance debate?
- they are far more intertwined than they have been treated historically
- wars may have started for grievance motivations but are then continued by greed
- looting can be easier than getting a job but this may be because employment prospects are scarce
74
what is a case study for a civil war/greed vs grievance debate?
- Colombia
- the civil war saw guerilla warfare, fight for natural resources, paramilitary groups, violence targeting civilians and peace negotiating
- the pretext to the civil war was la violencia that was the assassination of the left wing bogota mayor by a right wing death squad leading to massive urban riots and a period of civil strife
75
how did rebel groups emerge in Colombia during the civil war?
- FARC emerged alongside smaller leftist groups like the National Liberation Army (ALN) and the Maoist People's Liberation Army (EPL)
- grievance and poverty framed in leftist ideology was the primary rebel motivation
- but by the 1980s groups who had started with grievance motivations started profiting from drugs
76
what role did gender play in the Colombian civil war?
- FARC rebels calimed to fight on behalf of the rural poor and other marginalised groups (indigenous groups, LGBTQ+, women)
- the deliberately did this aligned with leftist thought to outcompete rival rebel movements to be the most inclusive
- by 2000 30-40% of FARC combatants were women
77
what role did paramilitaries play in the Colombian civil war?
- colombian troops could defeat rebels but couldn't hold territory
- paramilitaries instead operated permanently in an area
- the army could outsource a key aspect of its war against the rebels
- this means violence isn't directly linked to the government and they can claim ignorance of human rights violations
78
what was the US's role in the Colombian civil war?
- General Yarborough sent a special forces team to train colombian forces in 1962
- this was part of US foreign policy to put an end to the spread of communism
- in 2000 the US implemented plan colombia to combat drug gangs and leftist rebels
79
what were the motivations to join the Colombian paramilitary groups?
- Arjona and Kalyvas reading
- interviewed Colombian paramilitary officers
- showed greed and grievance were not mutually exclusive
80
what are the two theories of human decision making?
**contingent choice:** people make decisions as they go along in a kind of chaotic manner
**rational choice:** assumes people are risk averse utility maximisers who make decisions on a cost benefit assessment
81
how did the Colombian civil war come to an end?
- through the 2016 colombian peace deal
- the government and FARC reached a peace deal after 57 years of fighting and nearly 220,000 dead (one of the longest civil wars in history)
- it ended hostilities and put in places measures to support FARC
82
after the civil war what does Colombia look like today?
- violence continues killing dozens fo FARC members who accuse the government of failing to protect them
- violence from smaller rebel groups has continued and paramilitary violence persists in resource-rich areas
83
how was Brazil pursued south-south relations?
- sought a greater international profile
- got a seat on the UN security council and a greater voice in the World Trade Organisation
- they have also chosen a path between orthodox US capitalism and new socialism in much of Latin America
- p
84
how has India pursued south-south relations
- India was one of the three founding members of the non-aligned movement (NAM)
- it sought to chart a path for newly-independent nations to steer clear of either superpower during the cold war
- it is also now a net creditor to the IMF meaning it puts money into it
- they contribute to the world food programme as well as providing forces to the UN around the world which has typically been dominated by western countries
85
what are the BRICS countries
- developing or newly industrialised countries with a growing international influence
- they account for over 40% of the world's population and 22% of GDP
- their economies and populations are growing faster than the global average
86
what is BRICS' global economic outlook
- they sought to transform the IMF so its no longer a purely western organisation
- they founded the New Development Bank as an alternative to the IMF
## Footnote
- however the NDB has been criticised for a lack of transparency and ecologically harmful projects
87
how have the BRICS countries respondeed to international events?
- they aim to counter Western countries traditional power to shape development priorities
- after Russia invaded Crimea in 2014 rallied behind Russia
- in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine african countries abstained in the UN vote to condemn Russia and there have been close ties and visits between Russia and South Africa
88
how is climate change a security threat?
- reduces the availability of water
- accelerates desertification, soil erosion and loss of arable land
- developing countries are hit hardest
89
what are the two ways climate change threats are addressed?
## Footnote
the changing ways
**distributional**: addressing threats within a states' current economy, with climate change as a future threat like carbon tax
**existential**: addressing threats as a present danger like combatting forest fires
90
what has bolsonaro's response to climate change been?
- took office in 2019 and since forest fires have increased by 80%
- he has encouraged logging and the burning of rainforests for pasture
- there have also been the murder of environmental activists
- ,
91
what are the impacts of the Amazon burnings
- up to 10% more carbon in the global atmosphere
- leading to more drought and higher temperatures
92
who was Berta Caceres
- an indigenous human rights activist from Honduras
- she organised rural communities against a dam project
- international investors worked with local authorities to 'control, neutralise and eliminate any opposition' and she was murdered in 2016
