Nationalism And State Building

'The Imaginary Topographies of the Megali Idea: National Territory as Utopia', (Co-authored with Anastasia Stouraiti)

by Alexander Kazamias

Spatial Conceptions of the Nation: Modernizing Geographies in Greece and Turkey. Ed. by Diamandouros, N., Dragonas, T., and Keyder, C., London, I.B.Tauris, 2010, pp.11-34

Cemil Boyraz from Istanbul Bilgi University wrote about this essay:
"The authors’ short theoretical... more Cemil Boyraz from Istanbul Bilgi University wrote about this essay:
"The authors’ short theoretical discussion in the last page of the article carries crucial importance as criticism of the widely held assumption that “the nation is thought to be an entity linked to a specific geographical area marked by clearly defined boundaries".
Turkish Studies, 11:3, Sept. 2010, p.498.

Belarus 2012: The Paradox of Europe and its Relations with the EU and Russia

by Sotirios Karampampas

published in Research Program on Foreign Policy, Defence & Security, Center of Russia, Eurasia & Southern Europe (CERE), Institute of International Relations (IIR), vol. 6, pp. 10-15.

‘The British State and the Anglo-French Wars Over Antiquities, 1798-1858’, Historical Journal, 50:1 (2007), 1-24

by Holger Hoock

Employing the Youth to Build Peace: The Limitations of United Nations Statebuilding in Sierra Leone

by Luisa Enria

published in Human Welfare 2012

The establishment of the United Nations Peacebuilding Architecture (PBA) institutionalised recent developments in... more The establishment of the United Nations Peacebuilding Architecture (PBA) institutionalised recent developments in international thinking and practice regarding war torn-states in the developing world. The transformation of conflict-affected societies and the rebuilding of effective states that can deliver socio-economic progress to their citizens have therefore become crucial to international efforts to ensure sustainable peace. In recognition of the interrelatedness and complexity of threats to peace, the PBA brings together development and security actors for the achievement of holistic statebuilding strategies. Sierra Leone was one of the first countries to be placed on its agenda. An innovative focus on youth employment reflects the attempt to conjoin security and socio-economic development in the
reconstruction of a peaceful Sierra Leone.

This paper analyses the PBA’s distinctive approach, focusing on its youth employment component. It views the statebuilding process as made up of three dimensions, which are often driven by different internal logics: policy- making, operationalisation, and state-society relations. Applying this framework, it outlines the PBA’s development of a statebuilding policy narrative and its integration of the employment question in it and then discusses the translation of this policy approach into a youth employment project on the ground. Finally, it presents the outlook of a community of unemployed youth in Freetown on their relationship to the post-war state. Contrasting these dimensions sheds light on the stark discrepancies between the exigencies and constraints faced by international organisations and the lives and perspectives of young people on the streets of Freetown. These discrepancies expose the limitations of the peacebuilding approach to international engagement in war-torn states.

2012 “Transnational State,” in George Ritzer, eds, The Wiley-Blackwell Encyclopedia of Globalization, First Edition (Malden, MA and Oxford: Blackwell Publishing Ltd).

by Jeb Sprague

The theory of an emergent transnational state (TNS), as coined by sociologist William I. Robinson (2001), claims that... more The theory of an emergent transnational state (TNS), as coined by sociologist William I. Robinson (2001), claims that through globalization a nascent political, juridical and regulatory
network is coming into existence worldwide. This notion rests upon the idea that a dominant social force, a transnational capitalist class (TCC), propels globalization through transnational corporations (TNCs) (Robinson & Harris 2000). The TCC, to promote and ensure its power, requires a concomitant political project. Such a political project would involve, for example: (i) promoting investor confidence in the global economy, (ii) setting up mechanisms and institutions for responding to economic, political, and military crises that threaten the stability necessary for global markets, and (iii) establishing a degree of macroeconomic policy uniformity across borders.

“Entre la Guerra de castas y la ladinización. La imagen del indígena en la Centroamérica liberal, 1870-1944” en Revista de Estudios Sociales (Universidad de los Andes, Colombia), No. 26 (abril del 2007), pp. 58-72.

by David Diaz-Arias

“La invención de las naciones en Centroamérica“, Boletín AFEHC, No. 15 (4 de diciembre del 2005)

by David Diaz-Arias

La felicidad prometida y sus límites. Desarrollo institucional, inclusión/exclusión social y el legado colonial en Centroamérica, 1770-1870

by David Diaz-Arias

(Con la colaboración de Ronny Viales Hurtado) en: Independencias, Estados y política(s) en la Centroamérica del siglo XIX. Las rutas históricas del bicentenario (San José: Centro de Investigaciones Históricas de América Central, 2012), pp. 45-62.

Pequeños patriotas y ciudadanos: infancia, nación y conmemoración de la independencia en Costa Rica, 1899-1932

by David Diaz-Arias

Araucaria. Revista Iberoamericana de Filosofía, Política y Humanidades, Año 13, No. 25 (primer semestre del 2011), pp. 86-107.

“Jura y conjura en el naciente Estado costarricense: las representaciones del poder en la jura de la Constitución de 1844 y la rebelión de las autoridades militares en San José y Alajuela“, Boletín AFEHC, N°44, publicado el 04 marzo 2010

by David Diaz-Arias

Gender Ideology and Turkish Nationalisms

by Karl Griggs

A general overview of the development of modern Turkish nationalism from Ottomanism and its fundamental intersection with gender identities. In this paper, I challenge the seemingly ubiquitous assumptions about the links between 'secularity' and women's rights, and the inverse association of 'Islamism' with oppression.

The Repertoire of Reconstruction – Addressing Weaknesses of the Japanese State through Development of the Third Sector and Civil Society

by Russell Kabir

Submitted to the Midwest Conference on Asian Affairs in June 2011. Thesis, Bachelor's in International and Area Studies-Asian Studies at the University of Oklahoma.

Japan has a long history of disaster experiences due to its geographic location along the Pacific Ring of Fire, whose... more Japan has a long history of disaster experiences due to its geographic location along the Pacific Ring of Fire, whose fault lines have created a number of devastating earthquakes. These earthquakes and their aftermaths have posed challenges to Japan’s state capacity for disaster management. Pitfalls in the administration of political goods during crises have exposed weaknesses in the Japanese state, specifically an inadequacy by bureaucracy to react with relief in a timely and effective manner. Japanese civil society has responded to this with a push in participation, volunteerism and advocacy for non-profit and non-governmental organizations, collectively known as the “third sector,” as alternative methods for allocating and appropriating resources during disasters. In this way, the third sector has been adaptive to roles and institutions not provided or adequately addressed by the Japanese state, a political unit often characterized by its post-World War II developmental model and wealth of welfare services that made it a global industrial power that boasts the world’s highest life expectancy. Analyzing the repertoire of disaster management through comparisons between the Great Hanshin Earthquake of 1995 and the current manifold crises of the Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami of 2011 is an effective method for observing the way that weaknesses of the Japanese state have led to the growing engagement of civil society and consequently called for the development of the third sector.

Travelling between Two Worlds-the Tergdaleulebi, their Identity Conflict and National Life

by Oliver Reisner

Travelling between Two Worlds-the Tergdaleulebi, their Identity Conflict and National Life

by Oliver Reisner

CONCLUSION: NEITHER BUILT NOR FORMED – THE TRANSFORMATION OF POST-CONFLICT STATES UNDER INTERNATIONAL INTERVENTION

by John Heathershaw

Statebuilding and State-Formation: The political sociology of intervention, Edited by Berit Bliesemann de Guevara,Published 17th February 2012 by Routledge
This is a pre-print version. Get the book via the link above.

Book review- Elena Barabantseva, Overseas Chinese, Ethnic Minorities and Nationalism: De-Centering China, London, Routeledge, 2010.

by VANESSA FRANGVILLE

The 2012 Coup in Guinea-Bissau: CPLP, Portugal, Angola, Brasil and…wait…Guinea!

by Daniel Rio Tinto

Blog Post from the Imminent Crisis Blog, 2012.

Available at: more Available at: http://imminentcrisis.wordpress.com/2012/04/21/the-2012-coup-in-guinea-bissau-cplp-portugal-angola-brasil-andwaitguinea/

Please access the text on the blog and leave your comments to improve discussion! Thank you!

Piece written for the Imminent Crisis Blog - http://imminentcrisis.wordpress.com/

TartariaMag_issue1-2012

by Nikolay Tsyrempilov

Mark of Cain(ada): Racialized Security Discourse in Canada's National Newspapers

by Naava Smolash

This essay compares coverage in two of Canada's national newspapers, the Globe and Mail and the National Post, of two... more This essay compares coverage in two of Canada's national newspapers, the Globe and Mail and the National Post, of two high-profile anti-terrorism cases: Project Thread (2003) and the Toronto 18 (2006). I read these media stories as narratives, open to literary analysis, that allow us to pry open and critique Canada's dominant national security discourse. These national newspaper narratives, I argue, mobilize racialized signs of otherness that legitimate and naturalize national security discourses, even when accusations are withdrawn by officials. This raises urgent questions about the ways in which media may naturalize state violence against Muslim, Arab, and South Asian citizens and non-citizens within Canada's borders.

JOURNAL ARTICLE - Fresh Views on the Old Past: The Postage Stamps of the Mexican Bicentennial

by Henio Hoyo

Published in: Studies in Ethnicity and Nationalism 12(1):19-44. [2012]

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1754-9469.2012.01158.x/abstract

The year 2010 in Mexico marked both the 200th anniversary of the start of its independence movement and the 100th... more The year 2010 in Mexico marked both the 200th anniversary of the start of its independence movement and the 100th anniversary of its revolution. Besides several public events, a number of items including commemorative coins, banknotes, and stamps were produced to mark the occasion. This article analyses the postage stamps issued to commemorate the Mexican bicentennial. It does so by comparing these stamps with the ones issued for previous independence anniversaries, and then tracking changes and continuities in their messages. It is found that, on the one hand, the bicentennial postage stamps of Mexico promoted a particular narrative regarding the historical, territorial, and ethnic features of the Mexican independence process, which in many ways departs from previous, long-established nationalist narratives. But on the other hand, bicentennial stamps also demonstrate the influence of traditional interpretations of the national past – particularly those related to the Partido Revolucionario Institucional's (Institutional Revolutionary Party, PRI) revolutionary nationalism doctrine – which are still being reproduced even after the 2000 democratic transition.