Master in Global Studies

GS2321: PM Seminar #3

2010-10-25T11:00:00.001+02:00

This seminar will be held on Thursday, October 28 at the School of Global Studies.

GS2321: Report from Exercise on Participatory Methods and Action Research

2010-10-25T10:56:00.002+02:00

The report will be made on Thursday, October 28 from 10.00-12.00 at the School of Global Studies.

Exercise directions are included in the PowerPoint on "Transdisciplinary Research Methods" and are posted on GUL (https://gul.gu.se/courseId/41279/courseDocsAndFiles.do).

GS2321: Introduction to Exercise in Policy and Project Evaluation

2010-10-25T10:52:00.002+02:00

This introduction will be held on Tuesday, October 26 from 13.00-15.00 in SA 326. The following directions are posted on GUL (https://gul.gu.se/courseId/41279/showMessage.do?id=495029&tableSortBynoticeboard=lastChanged):

Exercise IAGG: Evaluation Design
Anna Persson & Martin Sjöstedt

With the point of departure in Sida’s Evaluation Manual “Looking Back, Moving
Forward”, design an evaluation of one of the development policies described in the
document “Government Communication 2004/05:4 – Sweden’s Global Development
Policy”. The proposed evaluation design should include purpose, evaluation criteria (i.e.
effectiveness, impact, relevance, sustainability, or efficiency), specific evaluation
questions, design, methodology, and material. The assignment should be carried out in
the groups described below. Each participant should contribute to the assignment and
each group should be prepared to orally present their evaluation in front of the class on
October 29th (15 minutes per group maximum).

GS2321: Borrowing Methods from Unexpected Sites

2010-10-24T10:22:00.002+02:00

Christine Sylvester

- Professor Sylvester is a visiting chair who will be at the School of Global Studies for this academic year.
- She is a social scientist who has combined her research interests in international relations with her love for the arts.

The Social Science/ Humanities Divide
- Social science tends to separate itself from the humanities.
> This can be traced back to the Enlightenment.
> The social sciences only recently integrated quantitative methodology.

- Art was inappropriate because it was seen as the realm of the sublime, the emotional.

- Many people employ "throw-away" expressions in the social sciences such as "the art of diplomacy" or "the art of war."
> These terms do not signal a relationship between art and the social sciences.
> These terms, however, do imply that there are places where social science methodologies cannot go.

- Art is the gap between what the social sciences know and what it doesn't.

- Art/ Museums: International Relations where you least expect it
> Professor Sylvester wrote this book to address the (artificial) divide between the social sciences and the humanities.
> One of her arguments is that the site of the Twin Towers will always by the museum of international relations in the early 21st century.

- Today we will discuss how art can add humanity to your research.

Art and the Social Sciences
- Art gazing is a form of seeing, feeling, and visiting a work of art.
> It is differentiated from reading and listening.

- James Elkins, Painting in Tears

- Who and what is the art? The painting/ play/ sculpture or the audience and their reactions?

Fiction/ Literature and the Social Sciences
- Experiencing reality is often comparable to inhabiting a novel.

- A major problem in social science research is that written words cannot replicate the feelings and textures of lived experience. Literature, however, has the power and ability to do this.

- "People themselves are bits of imaginations, imagined by other people." (Zimbabwe author in exile)

- How can you let your informants speak and get away from you researching you researching them?

- Sylvester overcame this problem by borrowing from post-colonial literature by local authors.
> These works allowed her to give voice to her informants in Zimbabwe.
> Sylvester employs this method in Producing Women in Progress in Zimbabwe.

- Development studies never considers that poor, disempowered people are creating art in their minds.
> Social scientists often simply envision women in developing countries as poor, uneducated, wretched problems.

- Excellent book: Writers Writing about Conflicts and War in Africa
> The introduction is amazing.
> Art interacts with society and society with art.

GS2321: Action Research

2010-10-24T10:21:00.001+02:00

Stellan Vinthagen

Lecture Outline
- Today we will discuss a slightly unusual and unconventional form of research: action research.
- We will first talk about the basics and then I will tell you about my (Stellan's) own experiences.

Action Research: The Basics
- Action research is not very well established and, as a result, is not as systematized as other research avenues.
- The suggested literature for this lecture can give you some ideas of how to use action research in your master’s thesis.
- Action research is the way that we experience and study the world, or at least that's what Stellan thinks.
- The action research cycle: plan, act, review/ reflect, repeat (This is how children interact with the world around them.)
- It is an exploratory method that combines both action and research.
- This may seem strange since traditional research methods discourage researcher/ subject interaction.
- However, a researcher can find out more through intervention then passive observation.
- Action research combines planned intervention with the resulting responses.
- The researcher necessarily involves his or herself in the process.
- This is the best way to find out how a social system really works.
- However there are problems. For example, how do you differentiate between your intervention(s) and the normal functioning of a social organization?
- Action research allows the researcher to take in information and challenge that information as well as the contradictions.
- Is action research ethical? In other words, is it ethical to intervene and/or challenge a social organization? Is it ethical to check up on the space between what people say they do and what they actually do?
> These are difficult questions to answer. However, you may overcome these ethical dilemmas by trying to help people and/or to support groups in achieving their goals.
- Action research is a method for reaching a deeper understanding of what's really going on.
- By challenging laws/ rules/ customs, you can make social norms visible.
- You don't know how strong a norm is until you challenge it. (Example: Buffet experiment in Norway.)
- Action research opens up a new world, a new approach to research.
- We live with the basic dichotomy of research as external observation--- this is the traditional approach taken from the natural sciences--- versus self-reflective practice--- this has long been regarded as an illegitimate research approach even though self-reflection is inherently social and human.
> I think (act, react, rethink), therefore I am.
- Action research is research through action.
- Action research is also known as social experimentation, collaborative research, and experiential learning.
- Action research is a way of doing research that creates a lot of data.
> It is messy and time consuming and thus is not always appropriate.
- In action research, it is necessary to be clear about what you are studying, the aspects on which you will focus, existing theories and models, and then initiate a creative intervention.
- For Stellan, action research is a way of making a contribution toward democracy, equality, liberty, and social change.
- How can you make action research acceptable?
> It's risky.
> People will inevitably criticize your involvement.
> But you can do things to help yourself out like reflecting on your assumptions and where you can find contradictory evidence which speaks against your assumptions; find several sources of data and methods for data gathering; when you have completed a preliminary analysis, go to the people you are studying and elicit their feedback; continuously engage in planning, action, and reflection.

Stellan's Action Research Experiences
- Non-violent direct action against arms factories and military bases
> Stellan and friends destroyed/ disarmed weapons at various locations.
> At the time, Stellan didn't see this as a form of research but it could have been.
> Later, this activist group formed a research group which made Stellan realize that research and action could be combined.
> Stellan wrote a book as a result of his involvement in this organization.

- Nonviolent resistance in South Africa
> Stellan interviewed members of the nonviolent resistance as well as the armed resistance--- which was an attempt to generate contradictory evidence.
> Stellan did his research as a non-participate.
> However, he had quite a lot of knowledge of the activities undertaken by the activists he interviewed because he had engaged in similar activities.

- World Bank/ IMF protests in Prague
> Stellan was a distant participant.
> He only focused on his research interests.
> He protested but he also took notes and photographs.
> In other words, he tried to observe and participate.
> He used his own experiences as an activist to help him understand what was going on.
> It became clear that one needs to be familiar with the activist culture in order to understand it.
> In other words, it is vital to be familiar with the environment you study.

GS2321: PM Seminar 2

2010-10-19T15:02:00.002+02:00

The following instructions can be found in the course guide:

The students shall continue to think through their research interests (and passions!) and their proposed research project for their Master's thesis. They should come prepared to the seminar with at least two A4 pages in which they have (re)formulated their research area, research problem and some possible research question(s). Additionally, the students should begin to think through their theoretical framework (as motivation for the research problem and question? As guideline for the operationalization of their research question?) We suggest that the students have begun reading (or rereading) relevant literature to help them with this task. If, for example, a student wants to write about processes of democratization, then literature on theories of democracy and democratization would be appropriate. At the seminar, we will discuss these and begin to play with the chosen research question and theoretical framework in relation to text analysis. What happens to the research question when, for example, the chosen method is discourse analysis? What kinds of texts would be most appropriate? What kinds of questions would one ask of a text? The students shall think about their research interests (and passions!) and formulate... [sic]

***Please note that all groups are meeting at the School of Global Studies from 10.00-12.00 on Thursday, October 21.***

GS2321: Exercise Report in Discourse Analysis and Argumentation Analysis

2010-10-19T14:55:00.003+02:00

The following instructions are posted in the course guide:

Students will divide up into small groups of 3-6 people and conduct first an argumenentation analysis and then a discourse analysis on the same short text (to be posted on the course portal).
Here is the text (http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=24992):

Good morning. I'm Laura Bush, and I'm delivering this week's radio address to kick off a world-wide effort to focus on the brutality against women and children by the al-Qaida terrorist network and the regime it supports in Afghanistan, the Taliban. That regime is now in retreat across much of the country, and the people of Afghanistan -- especially women -- are rejoicing. Afghan women know, through hard experience, what the rest of the world is discovering: The brutal oppression of women is a central goal of the terrorists. Long before the current war began, the Taliban and its terrorist allies were making the lives of children and women in Afghanistan miserable. Seventy percent of the Afghan people are malnourished. One in every four children won't live past the age of five because health care is not available. Women have been denied access to doctors when they're sick. Life under the Taliban is so hard and repressive, even small displays of joy are outlawed -- children aren't allowed to fly kites; their mothers face beatings for laughing out loud. Women cannot work outside the home, or even leave their homes by themselves.

The severe repression and brutality against women in Afghanistan is not a matter of legitimate religious practice. Muslims around the world have condemned the brutal degradation of women and children by the Taliban regime. The poverty, poor health, and illiteracy that the terrorists and the Taliban have imposed on women in Afghanistan do not conform with the treatment of women in most of the Islamic world, where women make important contributions in their societies. Only the terrorists and the Taliban forbid education to women. Only the terrorists and the Taliban threaten to pull out women's fingernails for wearing nail polish. The plight of women and children in Afghanistan is a matter of deliberate human cruelty, carried out by those who seek to intimidate and control.

Civilized people throughout the world are speaking out in horror -- not only because our hearts break for the women and children in Afghanistan, but also because in Afghanistan we see the world the terrorists would like to impose on the rest of us.

All of us have an obligation to speak out. We may come from different backgrounds and faiths -- but parents the world over love our children. We respect our mothers, our sisters and daughters. Fighting brutality against women and children is not the expression of a specific culture; it is the acceptance of our common humanity -- a commitment shared by people of good will on every continent. Because of our recent military gains in much of Afghanistan, women are no longer imprisoned in their homes. They can listen to music and teach their daughters without fear of punishment. Yet the terrorists who helped rule that country now plot and plan in many countries. And they must be stopped. The fight against terrorism is also a fight for the rights and dignity of women.

In America, next week brings Thanksgiving. After the events of the last few months, we'll be holding our families even closer. And we will be especially thankful for all the blessings of American life. I hope Americans will join our family in working to insure that dignity and opportunity will be secured for all the women and children of Afghanistan.

Have a wonderful holiday, and thank you for listening.

GS2321: Transdisciplinary and Participatory Methods

2010-10-19T14:54:00.001+02:00

Per Knutsson

Please see PowerPoint posted on GUL.

GS2321: Discourse Analysis (take two)

2010-10-13T13:50:00.006+02:00

Maria Stern

Introductory Note
- The following is a basic, general overview of approaches and tools used in critical discourse analysis.

- It is important to remember that there is no single way to do discourse analysis.

Theoretical Underpinnings
- Discourse analysis usually coincides with a constructivist way of thinking.
- That is, those using this method typically believe that the relationship between reality and language is socially constructed or that language produces reality and/ or provides access to reality.
- To do discourse analysis is to question the production of meaning/ 'reality.'
- There are competing versions of the world.
- Discourses are considered systems of representation in which meaning is constructed through difference among other things.
- How you delimit your study is dependent upon what you want to find out. That is, which 'discourse' are you looking for?

Helpful Guiding Questions
- How is it that this particular story appears instead of another?
- What is taken for granted?
- Why does it make sense?
- What holds the story together?
- How can you (as a researcher) make the familiar strange?
- What are the underlying assumptions?
- What is left out? / What are the ghosts?

Important Theorists
- Fairclough offers a systematic way of coding and is commonly referred to in the literature. However, discourse analysis doesn't have to be so technical.
- Foucalt: genealogy
- Derrida: deconstruction
- Laclau and Mouffe

An Example of Discourse Analysis: The History of Sexuality by Foucalt
- In this text, Foucalt uses genealogy to question the seemingly 'natural' assumptions of the social world.
- In doing so, Foucalt identifies contingencies or things that could have gone differently / choices that were made.
- He also analyzes specific historical relations of power.
- Foucalt also asks how the discourse constitutes it's objects. As well as what are the modes of objectification, what are the mechanisms of inclusion and exclusion; and what are the discursive strategies?

Conclusions / General Observations about Discourses
- Regimes of power overlap.
- Discourses strive for cohesion. In other words, people want their stories to make sense.
- Most good stories 'cover up' all of the discursive strategies in play.

Practical Steps in Discourse Analysis
1. Choose your text(s) and delimit them.
> This is related to your research question and your theoretical underpinnings.

2. Map the representations.
> What are the dominant representations?
> What are the limits of the representations?
> What representations are repeated?
> What picture is being drawn?
> What are the lines of distinction?

3. Analyze the construction of the discourse.
> What is uniting/ differentiating?
> What are the dominant, normal understandings?
> What are the underlying assumptions?
> What signs are so normalized that it is difficult to recognize them?
> How are signs given meaning in relation to other signs?
> How are subject positions allotted/ defined/ delineated?
> What is excluded/ silenced?
> How are myths employed?
> What are the nodal points or main themes that organize the discourse?
> What are the master signifiers?
> What happens when and if you take a nodal point out and replace it?

Deconstruction, Derrida
- Deridda suggests that one should first conduct a double reading.
> Opposition relies on illusion.
> Seeks to reveal the process of construction.
> This has to do with hierarchies in language which are written through violence.
- A double reading consists of brings out the assumptions of the main story and reinstating the binary with a reversal.
> This helps determine the condition of possibility. In other words, when you speak about a man, the conditions of possibility are everything else.
> The 'other' is defined as not 'us' and vice versa.
- Derrida also suggests that one look for the points of condensation or where arguments and values are brought together.
> One should also look for 'ghosts' or silences.

How can you validate a discourse analysis?
- By asking if it makes sense.
- Above all, a discourse analysis must be systematic and explicit.

GS2321: Report for Excerise in Participant Observation and Interviews

2010-10-13T13:48:00.003+02:00

The following directions are posted on GUL (https://gul.gu.se/public/courseId/41279/lang-sv/publicShowMessage.do?id=476530):

Part 1. What is meant by ”insider’s perspective”?

Each student should read and reflect on four texts from the course literature: Clifford,
Geertz, Abu-Lughod and Wikan. Be prepared to discuss the following issues:

1. Give each one in the group the opportunity to argue, using the texts you have
read, for or against the idea that ethnographic fieldwork can capture the insiders
perspective.
2. Have a discussion about how you would define “insiders’ perspective”. (terms
and concepts that might be debated: partial truths, understanding – translating,
resonance, individual experience – collective representations, ethnographic
present, Western conceptions, social position – identity, halfie, meaning, practice,
norms)
3. Can you find any common traits in each different author’s arguments?
4. What seems to be the main issue they are arguing against (that is not necessarily
explicit in all articles)?

Part 2. Constructing an interview guide

Each student should prepare an interview guide for a semi-structured interview that is
supposed to last for about 45 minutes. Take as a point of departure that you are going to
interview one of your fellow students about their thoughts (and experiences, worries,
expectations, preparations etc) on climate change due to global warming. Imagine that the
interview is part of a research project that aims to grasp the ways young people
understand and try to influence their future in an uncertain world.

GS2321: PM Seminar #1

2010-10-13T13:44:00.006+02:00

The following instructions are posted on GUL (https://gul.gu.se/public/courseId/41279/lang-sv/publicShowMessage.do?id=480580):

Purpose of the PM seminars:
During the three PM seminars, students discuss methodological and design problems and questions in relation to their individual research design task. Each student shall work continuously on their PM during the course. The idea behind these seminars is for the students to have the opportunity to think and work through their research design in relation to the course content on methodology and methods throughout the course in preparation for the writing of their master thesis.

Individual preparation for the seminar:
The students shall think about their research interests (and passions!) and formulate the basic idea of their proposed research project for their Master's thesis. They should come prepared to the seminar with at least an A4 page in which they formulate their research area (preferably based on a limited, preliminary literature review), research problem (preferably based on a limited, preliminary literature review) and some possible research question(s) (feel free to formulate more than one!).

During the seminar, each student should be prepared to give a short (maximum 5 minutes) presentation of her or his proposed research area, research problem and possible research questions, and to comment/give feedback on the presentations made by the other students in the seminar group (see GUL for information on seminar groups).

Furthermore, during the seminar each student is expected to be able to discuss how her or his research problem and/or research questions could be approached through participant observation, ethnographic analysis, in-depth interviews and/or semi-structured interviews.

Organization of the seminar:
There will be 8 seminar groups of which 1, 2, 4 and 6 meet 08 – 10 and group 3, 5, 7 and 8 meet 10 – 12 (please refer to GUL to see which seminar group you should participate in and which group room you should be in). The discussions in each seminar group will be lead by a seminar leader (a PhD-student or a lecturer).

GOOD LUCK!

GS2321: Argumentation Analysis

2010-10-13T13:44:00.001+02:00

Please see PowerPoint posted on GUL.

GS2321: In depth/ Unstructured Interviews

2010-10-13T13:43:00.004+02:00

Nina Gren, School of Global Studies

Introductory Film
"Growing Pains," a film about an Angolan migrant in Portugal

Literature
- Bryman (2008), Chapter 18
- Creswell, pg. 87-92

Traits of an Effective Interviewer
- Social
- Friendly
- Flexible
- Trustworthy

An unstructured interview in practice: An informal interview in a Palestinian refugee camp
- Nina interviewed a former prisoner about his prison experiences and how he felt after he was set free.
- The interviewee was male, a father, and in his mid- 50s.
- The interviewee had lived abroad and spoke English well. He also had a university degree.
- The interviewee was held in an Israeli prison for fifteen years.
- He was also involved in political resistance and had experience being interviewed by scholars and journalists.

- Advantages of this method in this case: Nina collected a beautiful story in which the informant expressed his ideas and experiences in a very academic way.

- Disadvantages: He was more a less a professional informant delivering a polished narrative.

- In retrospect, Nina wondered if she was a bit too awestruck/ impressed with this particular informant.

What should you do with your field material?
- Transcribe
- Search for themes/ key words
- Index subjects
- Write a preliminary summary of your findings.

Eastmond on Life Stories
- Narratives are subjective/ inter-subjective truth.
> Life as lived.
> Life as experienced.
> Life as told/ narrated as a story.
> Life as text.
> Life as understood by the reader.

- Narratives need context!

- Interviewees often reconstitute themselves in a certain way, for example as a moral person or hero.

Transgressions of Ethical Principles
- Try not to harm the participants.
- Make sure to obtain informed consent. This can be done through verbal or written agreement. This should be viewed as an ongoing negotiation which is revisited throughout the research process.
- Protect your informants privacy by, for example, changing their names in your transcripts.
- Protect your data.
- Anticipate problems such as what you will do when and if people tell you secrets or sensitive information.

Important Questions
- Can a researcher ever be ethical?
- Should a researcher ever hide what he or she knows?
- Can research be used in unintended and/or harmful ways?

GS2321: Semi-Structured Interviews

2010-10-13T13:42:00.004+02:00

Nina Gren, School of Global Studies

Literature
- Bryman (2008), Chapters 18 and 19
- Wikan (1992)

Important Points about Qualitative Interviewing
- This method can yield rich, detailed answers to important and interesting questions.
- It both demands and provides flexibility.
- The researcher is not in full control over the interview or the interview answers.
- Power relations exist in an interview.
- It is advisable to allow the researcher/ interviewee to go off an tangents because this provides opportunities for the discussion of context, values, and what the interviewee sees as important.
- The same person can be interviewed multiple times.
*** The interviewee and his or her knowledge should always be in focus.***
- The interviewee should speak most of the time.
> A researcher must be aware of the above at all times.
> The interviewee should produce the knowledge.

Semi-Structure vs. Unstructured Interviews
- A researcher may conduct semi-structured interviews because time is limited or because he or she must work with and/ or rely on an interpreter.
- It is easier to compare information generated/ constructed in semi-structured interviews than unstructured interviews in the context of multi-case studies.
- The researcher may opt for semi-structured interviews in order to maintain a clear focus or because more than one person will carry out fieldwork in the same study.

Semi-Structured Interviews in Practice: Nina's Fieldwork in Palestine
- Initially, Nina conducted semi-structured interviews according to themes.
- Later, she conducted more informal, unstructured interviews.
- Nina's second set of semi-structured interviews were more focused and pertained to the Occupation.
> This raised the issue of sensitivity. More specifically, Nina had to think about the sensitive nature of this topic and the fact that some of her informants may be related to martyrs.
- Nina's third set of semi-structured interviews were conducted to fill gaps in her previous research. As a result, she primarily interviewed men about gender-related issues.
- Finally, Nina conducted focus-group interviews on provocative, political issues.
> In doing so, Nina had to think about how to form groups to example according to age, gender, vocation, etc.
> Nina found that people were more talkative in focus groups. She believes this was because the situation was less intimidating than one-one-one interviews.

Interview Checklist
- Kind of information
>What do you want to know? Is this information accessible?

- Kind of interviews
> Time? Level of control? Resources?

- Interviewees
> Who? How will you find them?

- Relationships
> What kinds of relationships can you create or already have with the interviewees?

- Adjustments
> How can you improve your relationship / inter-personal skills?

- Setting
> Where and how will you hold the interviews?

- Equipment
> What kinds of equipment will you use? What are the advantages and disadvantages of using this equipment?

- Themes
> What types/ kinds of information do you want to gather?
> What are your main ideas/ topics of inquiry?

- Do No Harm
> What precautions can you take to safeguard yourself and your informants?

Preparing for the Interview
- Know your subject.
- Prepare your questions/ interview guide/ themes.
- Learn your questions by heart.
- Test your interview guide on someone else and refine your questions as needed.
- Contact the people you would like to interview.

Before the Interview
- Explain yourself and the purpose of your research clearly and succinctly.
- Tell the interviewee how he or she was selected.
- Ask the interviewee if you can take notes and/ or record the interview.
- Explain how the information generated during the interview will be used and how the data will be handled and stored.
- Explain why the interviewee and his or her knowledge is important.

Interview Guides
- An interview guide typically consists of a list of topics and questions as well as alternate or follow-up questions.
- An interview guide can result from a mind map of the key themes that the researcher would like to explore.
- It is important that the interview guide contains clear, comprehensible language.
- It is important to be aware of leading questions which are sometimes okay.
- Typically, open-ended questions are best.
- Remember to collect biographical data so that information generated during the interview can be contextualized.

Example Interview Guide
- Please see PowerPoint presentation posted on GUL.
- The example interview guide contained eight topics and approximately 3 questions for each topic.

Kinds of Questions, Bryman p. 445-446
- introducing
- follow-up
- probing
- indirect
- structuring
- specifying
- direct
- leading
- silence
- interpreting--- These questions are typically asked at the end of the interview.

Important
- Always take notes! Take notes even if you are recording the interview, your recording device may not work properly.

After the Interview
- Transcribe your interview notes as soon as possible.
- Make notes about the interview setting and your impressions as well as how the interviewee acted.
- Take your time! (Be relaxed and focused. It takes a lot of time to transcribe.)

Sampling
- Be honest/ transparent.
- Consider how many people you will interview and how those people were selected.
- Will you use key informants, snowballing, or random sampling?

Focus Group Interviews
- These interviews must be recorded.
- A focus group typically consists of three or four participants with the researcher acting as the moderator.
- It is important to think about when to intervene when a participant monopolizes the conversation.
- Cases/ provocations/ stimuli are always ways to get people talking.
- It is important to keep in mind that groups often negotiate and create consensus and this can yield misleading results.
- Problems associated with focus group interviews can be addressed through individual follow-up interviews.

GS2321: Participant Oberservation and Ethnographic Analysis

2010-10-13T13:41:00.000+02:00

Coming Soon...

GS2321: Introduction to Part II, Qualitative Research

2010-10-13T13:40:00.001+02:00

Please see course information posted on GUL.

Thesis Writing in Global Studies

2010-10-13T13:37:00.002+02:00

During this lecture, Jorgen introduced the thesis writing course and answered related questions. In addition, several professors associated with the School of Global Studies presented on-going research projects and made suggestions about ways in which a masters student could become involved by writing a related thesis.

GS2321: Seminar 3

2010-09-26T11:33:00.003+02:00

This seminar will be held on Tuesday, September 28.

Directions posted on GUL (https://gul.gu.se/courseId/41279/showMessage.do?id=456149&tableSortBynoticeboard=lastChanged):
"You are individually requested to prepare, in writing, a proposed research design and a discussion of pros and cons of different research designs, in relation to the given research task (as described in the instructions). As with the previous seminars, you are only requested to hand in the written assignment if you fail to attend the seminar or fail to actively participate in the seminar (e.g. attending the seminar without having prepared for it). During the seminar you will discuss your proposals and their pros and cons."

GS2321: Quantitative Analysis--- An example using secondary data

2010-09-26T11:05:00.004+02:00

Marcia Grimes

This lecture was presented via PowerPoint and will hopefully be posted on GUL. The lecture explored the methodology of a paper recently published by the presentor:

Grimes, M. and Lena Wängnerud (2010). Curbing Corruption through Social Welfare Reform? The Effects of Mexico’s Conditional Cash Transfer Program on Good Government. The American Review of Public Administration. http://arp.sagepub.com/content/early/2010/05/12/0275074009359025.full.pdf

GS2321: An Introduction to Multivariate Statistical Analysis

2010-09-26T11:05:00.003+02:00

Agnes Cornell

According to the course description, "This lecture gives an introduction to the potentials of using multivariate statistical analysis in social science research. The aim is to provide the basic skills needed to read, interpret and evaluate results presented in research articles based on statistical methods. Furthermore it discusses some methodological (and design) challenges in this type of research such as the relation between theory and data, issues of correlation and causation, measurement validity, and data availability and reliability."

The lecture was presented via PowerPoint which will hopefully be posted on GUL and was a close analysis of:

Dunning, Thad. 2004. "Conditioning the Effects of Aid: Cold War Politics, Donor Credibility, and Democracy in Africa." International Organization 58 (02):409-23

GS2321: Comparative Analysis-- Regionalism

2010-09-26T11:04:00.005+02:00

Fredrik Söderbaum

This presentation was made via PowerPoint and will, hopefully, be posted on GUL.

GS2321: Discourse Analysis

2010-09-26T11:04:00.004+02:00

Maria Stern

This lecture explored discourse analysis as used by Maria Eriksson Baaz in her PhD dissertation and Maria Stern in the article, "Gender and Race in European Security Strategy: Europe as a Force for 'Good' ". Maria Stern said that both of these papers were posted on GUL but, unfortunately, I cannot find them.

Example 1: The Paternalism of Partnership by Maria Eriksson Baaz
- Interest/ Passion/ Curiosity
● donor identities within a post-colonial context
● donor identities and their manifestations
● How is development aid playing out in an African context?

-Research Problem
● How are donor identities constructed?
● How do aid workers see themselves in relation to their work with African partners in Tanzania?
● The above is relevant to development studies, aid, and post-colonialism and is both researchable and needed because it addresses gaps in the literature.

-Aim
● The construction of self in relationship to "partners".

-Methods
● Open-ended interviews of aid workers dealing with procedures and daily practices.
● Maria first created the interview texts and then used discourse analysis to analyze them.

-Theoretical underpinings
● Social constructivism
● Divisions between self and other
● The work of Stuart Hall who argues that identity is chosen as well as not chosen.
● Post-colonialism: Traces of colonial discourses are reproduced in current discourses.

-Delimitations
● The study is delimited via the theoretical underpinings.

-Operationalization
● Embedded in theories of post-colonialism
● It is possible to categorize identities such as how the self is represented through the other.

***Note: There is always a risk of finding what you are looking for.***

- Conclusions
● Discourses are complex and not simply post-colonial.
● Partnership neither replicates nor breaks from colonialism but is marked by a colonial past.

Example 2: ""Gender and Race in European Security Strategy: Europe as a Force for 'Good' " by Maria Stern

- Please see article.

GS2321: Ethnography and Life History Interviews

2010-09-26T11:03:00.003+02:00

Marita Eastmond

This presentation was made via PowerPoint and will, hopefully, be posted on GUL. The article that Marita references throughout the presentation is posted at:

https://gul.gu.se/courseId/41279/showMessage.do?id=454444&tableSortBynoticeboard=lastChanged

Woefully behind...

2010-09-25T11:26:00.001+02:00

Hi Everyone!

I'm so sorry that I have not updated the blog recently. I shall remedy the situation shortly.

Take care!

GS2321: Seminar 2

2010-09-20T12:36:00.002+02:00

The following instructions are posted on GUL, https://gul.gu.se/public/courseId/41279/lang-sv/publicShowMessage.do?id=456149:

Purpose of Seminar 2:
The main purpose of the seminar is to assess and compare the research design of two different studies: one qualitative and one quantitative.

Individual preparation for the seminar:
Each student shall read both the papers uploaded at GUL (entitled seminar paper 1, and seminar paper 2). Each student should write a short report, comparing the two papers, based on the following questions (you don’t have to cover all questions, but can focus on those which you find useful in your comparison):
1. Please describe, according to your own understanding, the epistemology of the paper.
2. Is the research question/s well formulated and motivated? Why/why not? Is the research question answered during the course of paper? How?
3. Which are the case/cases of the study? How are they selected? Is the selection clear and well motivated?
3. How is theory used in the paper (in relation to the research problem/research question/s? In the analysis? In the form of a theoretical framework?). In what way/s, if any, does theory add to the quality of the paper?
4. Is the choice and implementation of the research method/s well formulated and motivated? How/why not?
5. How are the conclusions of the paper drawn? Do you agree with the conclusions? Are the conclusions firmly based on the empirical data presented in the thesis? What about the generalizability of the results?
6. Is this a thesis of high quality? Why/why not? (e.g. according to which criteria is the thesis good/not so good?)

If you participate actively in the seminar (e.g. contributing to the seminar discussions based on your individual preparation), you don’t have to submit your written report. However, if you fail to participate actively (being at the seminar unprepared or being absent from the seminar) you are requested to submit a written report of 2 – 4 pages (12p Times New Roman, 1,5 line spacing) to Per Knutsson (per.knutsson@globalstudies.gu.se).

Organization of the seminar:
There will be 8 seminar groups of which 4 meet 10 – 12 and 4 meet 13 – 15 (please refer to GUL to see which seminar group you should participate in and the course guide or schedule for information on which group room you should be in. The discussions of each seminar group will be lead by a seminar leader (a PhD-student or a lecturer).

GOOD LUCK!

GS2321: Mixed Methods

2010-09-11T13:08:00.002+02:00

Per Knutsson

This lecture was delivered via PowerPoint. While this PowerPoint file has not yet been uploaded to GUL it is feasible that it will be unloaded in the near future.

GS2321: The Qualitative/ Quantitative Divide

2010-09-11T13:06:00.001+02:00

Anna Persson

This lecture was delivered via PowerPoint. While this PowerPoint file has not yet been uploaded to GUL it is feasible that it will be unloaded in the near future.

GS2321: Comparative Case Studies

2010-09-11T13:03:00.000+02:00

Martin Sjöstedt, Department of Political Science

Please see PowerPoint at https://gul.gu.se/public/courseId/41279/lang-sv/publicNoticeboard.do (Not yet posted)

GS2321: Single Case Studies

2010-09-11T13:02:00.001+02:00

Joakim Öjendal, Department of Peace and Development, Gothenburg University
031-7864675

Lecture Outline
1. What is a case study?
2. Research Design (Abstract/ Concrete)
3. Example of a case study
4. Pro's and Con's of cases studies
5. Controversial aspects of case studies

What is a case study?
- A case study is a study of a specific case.
● This is the most simplistic definition of a case study.

- What key words are associated with case studies?
● Explore: A case study is exploratory and not a matter of hypothesis testing.
● Event/ Activity/ Process: Case studies are not limited to a village or a country and often include analysis of an event, activity, etc.
● Bounded in Space and/or Scope: The boundaries of a case must be defined.
● Detail/ Depth Oriented: A case study is a "thick" empirical study.
● History/ Time/ Chronology: The case must be understood in its own right and include exploration of history.

- Case studies are a common approach in the social sciences.

- Case studies are typically within the qualitative tradition
● In other words, case studies are usually not large, statistical studies.

-Case studies are done on something, somewhere, and in some place.

- Case studies are descriptive.
● They are also analytical but the approach is principally descriptive or "thick".
● Never the less, conclusions are and can be drawn from a case study.

- Case studies do entail "trial and error" and "learn as you go" approaches.
● A researcher does not always know what he or she is looking for at the outset.
● Knowledge/ theory is often generated as a result of the study.
● The case study may lead to the development of better research questions rather than a conclusion.

- Case studies are inductive and not, necessarily, driven by a theoretical framework.
● The data generates theory rather than the theory generating data.

- The goal of a case study is in-depth understanding and they are often very focused.

- Case studies are a way of getting away from journalism because they are framed, focused, comprehensive, in depth, and beyond generalization.

-All methods are applicable to case studies but life histories, interviews, participant observation, etc. are typical methodological approaches in certain academic traditions.

- If done well, a case study can yield more than an outsider's perspective of the case.

Weaknesses
- You do not start with a hypothesis.

- Case studies are often messy and seemingly lacking in a red thread.

- It is difficult to produce a coherent narrative.

- Case studies are risky because the researcher may not come up with anything important.

- Representation is a major problem.
● It is important to ask: what does one case actually represent?
● A hypothesis is generated as a result of the study.
● Representation is strengthened through multiple case studies.
● As a result, a researcher must be careful of generalizing.

- It is difficult to determine the boundaries of the case or where it begins and ends.
● The boundaries of the case must be constantly questioned and justified.
● Anything and everything can and will be contested by the audience of the case study.
● However, anything goes as long as it is justified.

-When should a researcher select single/ multiple case studies as a key methodological approach?
● Single case studies are the dominate approach in qualitative research.
● Multiple case studies are a reasonable approach in qualitative research.
● Statistical analysis doesn't (usually) make sense in qualitative research.
● Single case studies don't (usually) make sense in quantitative research.
● Multiple case studies are a reasonable approach in quantitative research.
● Statistical analysis is the dominate approach in quantitative research.

Research Design Checklist
i) Passion is absolutely essential!
ii) The research problem is the key to everything and must be coherent with the research design.
iii) Case studies can be used to delimit/ focus the research problem.
iv) Operationalization
v) Theory: There must be a correlation between theory, the case study, and the research problem.
vi) Method: A case study is a part of a methodological design but is also governed by methods.
vii) Ethics become increasingly important in a case study and a researcher must ask, Who could I hurt/ abuse? Who could I anger? Will I traumatize people with my questions?
viii) Framework: What does it all mean?/ How does the case study feed into the larger analytical questions?
ix) Writing/ Voice: What can I say in my case study? What does my audience want to hear?

Example of a Case Study
- Joakim studied development in Cambodia in relation to food production and, more specifically, water management.

- He believes that there is a huge need for improved water management in rural Cambodia as well as a need to research effective water management systems.

- Research question: Can small scale water management improve water access?

- In selecting cases, Joakim tried to avoid extremes.
● He did this in an effort to make his conclusions more likely and generalizable.

- He ended up with three cases and spent 4-6 weeks studying each in turn.

- One thing he took away from the experience: There is always excess data that cannot be explored and does not fit into the analytical frame.

- Some of Joakim's personal conclusions:
● No study is ever ideal.
● Studies are limited by time, access, funding, etc.
● Often only weak comparisons can be made between cases which can be intentional and incorporated into the research design.
● Joakim was a little too analytical from the outset and was criticized by colleagues as a result.
● Overall, though, it was a successful study despite the fact that the findings could not be generalized.

- The bottom line: Be humble in your ignorance.

GS2321: Seminar 1

2010-09-04T14:45:00.001+02:00

Thursday, September 9, 10.00-12.00 or 13.00-15.00 at the School of Global Studies

The following is posted on GUL, https://gul.gu.se/public/courseId/41279/lang-sv/publicShowMessage.do?id=456149

Purpose of Seminar 1
There are two main purposes of the seminar. The first is to assess and discuss research design (including epistemological and ontological considerations) in a given thesis, based on the initial lectures of the course and the literature assigned to these lectures. The second purpose the seminar is to discuss the criteria by which we assess the quality of a master thesis.

Individual preparation for the seminar
Each student shall read one of the three master theses uploaded at GUL (entitled master thesis 1, 2 and 3) intensively (in detail) and the other two more extensively (you should be able to follow discussions on the research design of these master theses during the seminar). Each student should write a short report on the thesis which they have read in detail, based on the following questions:
1. Please describe and reflect upon the underlying epistemological and ontological assumptions of the thesis, according to your own understanding,.
2. Is the research question/s well formulated and motivated? Why/why not? Is the research question answered during the course of thesis? How?
3. How is theory used in the thesis (in relation to the research problem/research question/s? In the analysis? In the form of a theoretical framework?). In what way/s, if any, does theory add to the quality of the thesis?
4. Are the choice and implementation of the research method/s well formulated and motivated? How/why not?
5. How are the conclusions of the thesis drawn? Do you agree with the conclusions? Are the conclusions firmly based on the empirical data presented in the thesis?
6. Is this a thesis of high quality? Why/why not? (e.g. according to which criteria is the thesis good/not so good?)

If you participate actively in the seminar (e.g. contributing to the seminar discussions based on your individual preparation), you don’t have to submit your written report. However, if you fail to participate actively (being at the seminar unprepared or being absent from the seminar) you are requested to submit a written report of 2 – 4 pages (12p Times New Roman, 1,5 line spacing) to Per Knutsson (per.knutsson@globalstudies.gu.se).

GS2321: Introduction to Research Design

2010-09-04T14:41:00.000+02:00

Maria Stern, International Relations

Introductory Note
Research may appear simple until you start doing it yourself. It is important to keep in mind that confusion and frustration are absolutely normal.

Review
- Epistemology: How we can know (which has an impact on methods and research questions)

- Ontology: How we understand the world / What are the relevant units of analysis?

- Method: What are our tools of research and analysis?

- Ethics: The rights and responsibilities that govern the relationship between researcher and subject

- Methodology: How epistemology, ontology, method, and ethical responsibilities work together

Research Design
-Step One: Interest / Passion / Curiosity
● Interest, passion, and curiosity about your topic and research question are absolutely vital.
● They help you to identify a problem, topic, and/or a theoretical puzzle.
● Your problem, topic, and our theoretical puzzle must be justified/ defended, ideally in the introduction of your thesis. In other words, you must specify the motivation of your study as well as the relevance (in relation to "reality" and/ or in relation to other research theories), the contribution (in relation to existing literature and/ or academic debates), and aim (what is the point of your research).

-Step Two: Purpose Statement
● You must state the purpose of your research.
● You must also state a central question. It is important to note that this central question can and will be reformulated throughout the research process. If you are conducting a quantitative study, your central question is likely to be a hypothesis. If you are a conducting a qualitative study, your central question is likely to be a theme.
● You must also state researchable sub-questions that delimit your study.

- Step Three: Theoretical Underpinnings
● Your theoretical underpinnings must be made explicit.
● These are usually based on or derived from the literature review.
● They are used to motivate your research problem.
● They also help you to formulate researchable questions.
● Most importantly, theoretical underpinnings provide a theoretical framework for your analysis and must be explicitly stated.

- Step Four: Method
● Method is an account of what you are going to do and why. In selecting a method, you should consider the following questions:
→ How does your choice relate to your aim, questions, and the theoretical underpinnings of your study?
→ Do you need to use more than one method?
→ How feasible are your methods?

- Step Five: Ethical Considerations
● The Swedish Research Council has established guidelines and these will (probably) be posted on GUL.
● It is important to consider ethics but not to get too bogged down by them. If you do, it is virtually impossible to complete your study.

- Step Six: Writing Process
● It is important to consider and understand your audience.
● It is also important to consider your voice. In other words, how present will you be in the text? This is related to method as well as epistemology and ontology.

Concluding Remarks
- The steps detailed above are simply a guideline and subject to change. If you follow them sequentially, you are in a small minority.
- It is virtually impossible to complete all of these steps perfectly so don't be too hard on yourself.

GS2321: Ontology and Epistemology

2010-09-04T10:29:00.000+02:00

Erik Andersson, International Relations

What is the nature of research?
- To do research is to produce meaning and knowledge.

- Research is expensive but is accorded a high status in society.

-Why then do universities invest so much money in research?
● Research appeals to certain principles including openness with regard to sources, methodology, and theoretical framework; accessibility to criticism which helps to determine reliability and validity; and collective ownership of the information and conclusions.
● These principles are upheld so that research can contribute to "development".
● Research happens within a contextof epistemology and ontology.

Ontology
- The Oxford English Dictionary defines ontology as, "the branch of metaphysics dealing with the nature of being."

-Ontology varies between academic disciplines.
● In international relations, for example, some say that the primary entity is actors while others such as nation-states while other contend that it is structures.
● International relations research must relate to these ontologies.

-Depending on your adopted onotology, you will produce different research.
● History: Imminence ↔ Intention
● Identity: Primordialism ↔ Constructivism (J. Butler)
● Philosophy: Dualism (mind/matter) ↔ Holism

Epistemology
- The Oxford English Dictionary defines epistemology as, "the theory of knowledge especially with regard to methods and validity."

Qualitative ↔ Quantitative Epistemologies
- The divisions between qualitative and quantitative epistemologies was the subject of intense academic debate for centuries. However, now, most agree that both are imporatnt and scientific.
● In other words, one cannot understand the social phenomena of divorce without interviews (qualitative research) and statistical analysis (quantitative research).
● Most also agree that you can't engage in quantiative analysis without first thinking about meaning and ideas.
● The reverse is also true; qualitative analysis necessitates quantitative analysis.
● Thus, qualitative research can be and is often conducted on the foundation of a quantative notion.
● See more information see Alvesson and Deetz.

Subjectivity ↔ Objectivity
- Can a researcher divorce themselves from their research and be objective? Yes and no.
● A subjective researcher can attempt to be more objective by being open and transparent about their biases.

- Is there any pure/objective "data"?
● "Data" is always approaced through onological and epistemological lenses.
● "Data" in the social sciences is usally constructed and interpreted according to specified frameworks.

Induction (discovery) ↔ Deduction (hypothesis testing)
- Pure induction does not exist but is related to ontology, epistemology, and worldview.

- These are useful general approaches.

Paradigms
- Paradigms are small, scientific discourses in regard to how experiements are conducted and how research is done.

- Discourse is a similar concept.

- Different paradigms have different languages.
● Language itself is not neutral and, as a result, must be considered and analyzed.
● Economists of a certain kind speak and write in specific ways.

- Language relates to and is influneced by ontologies and epistemologies.

- Language is what we use to tell the "truth" and express and interpret "data".
● "Truth" is always preliminary to some and always valid to others.

Methodology
- The Oxford English Dictionary defines methodology as, "the science of method or body of methods used in a particular branch of science."

- It is important to distinguish between empirical and analytical methods.
● For example, in your thesis, it is useful to specify that you did one thing in the field and something else when you got home because...

Coherence
-A thesis must be coherent on all levels!
● In other words, don't mix ontological concepts with incompatible epistemological procedures.

-Coherence is created through theory.
● Theory helps the research with positioning, analytical "tools"/ framework, and contribution.
● Positioning is done through literature review and details how your research will contribute to and build upon previous research. (It is important to express agreement as well as disagreement with previous research.)
● Analytical "tools"/ framework can be conceptual and eclectic in which you take bits and pieces from established theories in order to construct your own as well as to define variables.
● Contribution helps show validity, reliability, etc. and outlines how your research alters the ways in which we see the world.

GS2321: Research Design and Methods, Introduction

2010-09-04T10:26:00.000+02:00

Per Knutsson, School of Global Studies

Learning Outcomes
- Students will understand the power and limitations of various research methods.
- Students will evaluate the validity and reliability of secondary data.
- Students will evaluate and design data collection methods.
- Students will assess ethical issues.
- Students will design and plan an independent research project using quantitative and/or qualitative methods.
- Students will critically reflect on the coherence of research designs.

Course Structure
- Part one: Research Design and Methods (planning and overarching questions.
- Part two: Either Quantitative or Qualitative Methods

Content
- Students will work towards writing a master thesis through exploration of the following:
● Ontology and Epistemology
● Introduction to research design
● Single and comparative case studies
● Quantitative/ Qualitative divide
● Mixed methods
● Crash course on quantitative and qualitative research designs, methods, and data analysis

Seminars
- 1st: Evaluate and discuss the research design of a master thesis.
- 2nd: Evaluate and discuss research design and selection of cases in research papers.
- 3rd: Propose a research design based on a specific research theme/ question.

Course Coordinators
- Per Knutsson, "the spider in the web"
- Maria Stern
- Anna Persson
- Martin Sjöstedt

Part Two: Qualitative Methods
- ethnography and participant observation
- interviews
- discourse and argumentation analysis
- action research and trans-disciplinary methods
-policy and project evaluation

Part Two: Quantitative Methods
- Evaluate correlations
- Estimate regressions
- How to interpret results

What's Expected in a Master Thesis?
- One of the principal expectations is a coherent argument running throughout the thesis.
- The thesis must unfold logically.
- Conclusions must be theoretically and empirically based.
- The thesis must have a well-defined, viable, relevant, and feasible research question.
- It is essential that you "live" with your research question.
- The thesis must be no more than 25,000 words in length.

Final Examination

2010-05-29T13:06:00.000+02:00

Question
If one would like to argue that some peace initiatives have been taken in the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict (and some agreements have been signed), how would you describe the transformation of the conflict dynamic? Also, what possible solutions have been discussed concerning the overarching, as well as the key issues, and what causes to the remaining gaps can we identity?

Instructions
Answer the question with reference to the obligatory literature. You shall use a maximum of 4,000 words in order to answer the above question. Make an elaborated analysis where you both are referring to and have critical standpoints on the various authors of the obligatory literature. The examination must be submitted to Michael's Urkund address no later than 10.15 on 4 June 2010. (Do not submit a hard copy.)

Exercise #5: Is Peace Possible?

2010-04-28T12:15:00.000+02:00

Michael Schulz

This exercise will occur on Friday, May 28, 2010 from 10:15-12:00 in room 407.

The following directions are posted on the course portal:

Göteborg 2010-05-28

EXERCISE 5

RS2235, The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict, 15 higher education credits
SPRING 2010

Is peace possible?
Make use of the book by Mahler et al. Also, if possible “google” on the net, and try to analyse the common grounds/bridges of different proposals in the conflict? Which one is closest in the sense that it builds common ground between the parties? Which is most difficult? How have the proposal dealt with the key issues of the conflict? Do you have any recommendations for improvement of a proposal you think has most potential, and in such case, what changes do you suggest? You will be divided into groups that discuss the arguments, and in the end of the seminar you will have a plenary discussion.

Good Luck!

Exercise #4: Oral Presentations

2010-04-28T12:13:00.000+02:00

Michael Schulz

Oral presentations will be held on Monday, May 17, 2010 from 13:15-15:00 in room 325.

The following directions are posted on the course portal:

Göteborg 2010-05-12

EXERCISE 4

RS2235, The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict, 15 higher education credits
SPRING 2010

Assignment (oral presentation)
The students shall individually and independently search for and compile information about a specific topic (chosen by the student) within the fields presented below. The work will be presented orally to the other students at the seminar on May 17, 13-15. The idea is to both develop the skills to search relevant scientific information and material concerning an issue linked to the “research-front”. You will be divided into groups and present for each other.

• Historical perspectives of the conflict

• The war of 1948-49, 1956, 1967, or 1973

• The Palestinization of the conflict

• Israeli and/or Palestinian societies

• Negotiations and conflict resolution attempts

• First and/or second intifadas

Good Luck!

Exercise #3: Israeli Society

2010-04-28T11:10:00.001+02:00

This is what we came up with during the exercise...

Melting-pot

Unit of analysis:
Intra Jewish relations in Israel

Yes:
- Everyone has a say
- International view Israel as a unified Jewish community

No:
- No group is willing to make concessions to become more like other groups
- Extremely stratified, divisive; between Jews, excluding Arabs
- External actors

Pluralist

Unit of analysis:
Intra Jewish relations and Arab Jewish relations and secular-religious relations

Yes:
- Seems to represent the principle cleavages in Israeli society
- Distribution of power between ethnic groups

No:
- Intra Arab relations
- Gender
- External actors

Class/Ethnicity

Unit of analysis:
Intra Jewish relations in Israel between Ashkenazim and Oriental

- Economic-ideological

Yes:
- Economic Jewish structural divisions
- Ideological division (Ashkenazi more secular )

No:
- Internal divisions within these two groups as well
- Secular-religious division is now more important (unitary view of the communities) esp. settler movement

Jewish-Arab relations
- Economic political
- External actors

Yes:
- Economic Arab-Jewish institutional divisions

No:
- Unitary view of Arabs
- External actors

Multi-melting pot

Unit of analysis:
Israeli “ethnic” relations

Yes:
- Fills the ethnic “gaps”
- Address the globalization of culture

No:
- Leaves out religious relations
- External actors (Iraq, Iran, US)

Post-multi-melting pot (This is a theory our group created to address minor gaps in the Multi-melting pot theory.)

Unit of analysis: Israeli global-socio-political relations (including ethnicity, religion, gender, ideology, class relations, culture, etc.)

Yes: See above

No: See above

Exercise #2: Prospects for Peace after 1967

2010-04-28T11:09:00.002+02:00

This is what I prepared for the exercise...

What do we know about the Six Day/June War?

● Israel attacked first on June 5, 1967, attacking the Egyptian air force.

● Israel termed the attack “pre-emptive” in response to what they deemed an imminent
attack by Arab military forces including forces from Egypt, Syria, Jordan with less
substantial troop contributions from Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, Morocco, and Algeria.

● Egypt had amassed more than 100,000 troops in the Sinai as well as expelled UN
peacekeepers and closed the Straits of Tiran prior to Israel’s attack.

● Syria’s army was amassed in the Golan Heights on their border with Israel.

● Jordan (reluctantly) amassed forces in the West Bank which they had occupied since 1948.

● Israel easily won the war in 6 days, claiming the Gaza Strip and the Sinai Desert (from
Egypt), the West Bank and Jerusalem (from Jordan), and the Golan Heights (from Syria).

● Israel latter “traded” the Sinai Desert “for peace” with Egypt but annexed the Golan
Heights and Jerusalem and continue to occupy the West Bank and the Gaza Strip—
though the occupation of the Gaza Strip is to a lesser degree than the occupation of the
West Bank.

● On September 1, 1967, the Arab League met in Khartoum, Sudan and passed the
Khartoum Resolution which stated “no peace with Israel, no recognition of Israel, no
negotiations with it, and insistence on the rights of the Palestinian people in their own
country” (Article 3).

● Israel has long sided the Khartoum Resolution as evidence that there is no one of the
Arab side with which to negotiate.

● Egyptian President, Anwar Sadat, broke with the Khartoum Resolution when he visited
Jerusalem (November 1977) and subsequently signed the Camp David Accords in 1978 which “traded land for peace”--- in this case, the Sinai Desert was returned to Egypt in exchange for peace with Israel. In addition, Israeli ships were granted passage through the Suez canal and the Strait of Tiran, the Gulf of Aqaba and the Taba—Rafah straits were recognized as
international waterways.

Was Israel ready for peace after 1967?--- Yes.
From Myths and Facts by Mitchell G. Bard, http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/myths/mf7.html#e

MYTH
“After the 1967 war, Israel refused to negotiate a settlement with the Arabs.”

FACT
After its victory in the Six-Day War, Israel hoped the Arab states would enter peace negotiations. Israel signaled to the Arab states its willingness to relinquish virtually all the territories it acquired in exchange for peace. As Moshe Dayan put it, Jerusalem was waiting only for a telephone call from Arab leaders to start negotiations. But these hopes were dashed in August 1967 when Arab leaders meeting in Khartoum adopted a formula of three noes: "no peace with Israel, no negotiations with Israel, no recognition of Israel...." As former Israeli President Chaim Herzog wrote: "Israel's belief that the war had come to an end and that peace would now reign along the borders was soon dispelled. Three weeks after the conclusion of hostilities, the first major incident occurred on the Suez Canal."

Was Israel ready for peace after 1967?--- No.

From Elon, Amos (2002), “Israelis and Palestinians: What Went Wrong” The New York Times Review of Books, December 19, 2002, Accessed 14 April 2010, Available at http://www94.homepage.villanova.edu/peter.knapp/What%20went%20wrong.pdf.

● Israel immediately sought to settle, colonize and annex parts of the West Bank, the Gaza
Strip and the Golan Heights.

● Israel never had any intention of ceding the Gaza Strip and the West Bank for peace.

● Israel’s victory had humiliated Soviet allies, thus the U.S. was not interested in a peaceful
resolution of the conflict.

● Israel believed it held a far superior position to the Arab states and thus were determined
to hold their ground until the Arabs gave in.

● Israel was unwilling to cede any part of Jerusalem to Jordan in exchange for peace.

● According to Michael Ben Yair, Israel's attorney general in the Rabin government, “The
Six-Day War was forced on us; but the war's Seventh day, which began on June 12,
1967—continues to this day and is the product of our choice. We enthusiastically chose
to become a colonialist society, ignoring international treaties, expropriating lands,
transferring settlers from Israel to the occupied territories, engaging in theft and finding
justifications for all this.” (cited by Amos 2002: 13).

Were the Arab states ready for peace after 1967?--- Yes.

● King Hussein began negotiations with Israel in 1970 and was ready to trade peace if
“Israel withdrew from much of the West Bank as well as from East Jerusalem and if the
Muslim and Christian holy places in the Old City were restored to Jordan” (Amos 2002:
11).

● Egypt, Syria, and Jordan never received offers of peace from Israel that were supposed to by conveyed via the United States. According to these offers, Israel would return the Sinai Desert to Egypt, the Golan Heights to Syria, negotiate with Jordan over the Eastern
border in exchange for peace. (This is a highly controversial point.)

● Egypt and Jordan accepted UN Resolution 242 which called for Israeli withdrawal from
occupied territories in exchange for peace--- that is, recognition of the state of Israel and
an end to belligerency.

Were the Arab states ready for peace after 1967?--- No.

● Jews were persecuted and expelled from Arab states notably in Egypt, Yemen, Lebanon,
Tunisia, Morocco, and Iraq.
From Myths and Facts by Mitchell G. Bard, http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/myths/mf7.html#e

MYTH
“The Arab states and the PLO accepted Resolution 242 whereas Israel rejected it.”

FACT
The Arab states have traditionally said they accepted 242 as defined by them, that is, as requiring Israel's total, unconditional withdrawal from the occupied territories.
In a statement to the General Assembly October 15, 1968, the PLO, rejecting Resolution 242, said "the implementation of said resolution will lead to the loss of every hope for the establishment of peace and security in Palestine and the Middle East region."
By contrast, Ambassador Abba Eban expressed Israel's position to the Security Council on May 1, 1968: "My government has indicated its acceptance of the Security Council resolution for the promotion of agreement on the establishment of a just and lasting peace. I am also authorized to reaffirm that we are willing to seek agreement with each Arab State on all matters included in that resolution." It took nearly a quarter century, but the PLO finally agreed that Resolutions 242 and 338 should be the basis for negotiations with Israel when it signed the Declaration of Principles in September 1993.

MYTH
“The Palestinians were willing to negotiate a settlement after the Six-Day War.”

FACT
The Arab League created the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) in Cairo in 1964 as a weapon against Israel. Until the Six-Day War, the PLO engaged in terrorist attacks that contributed to the momentum toward conflict. Neither the PLO nor any other Palestinian groups campaigned for Jordan or Egypt to create an independent Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza. The focus of Palestinian activism was on the destruction of Israel. After the Arab states were defeated in 1967, the Palestinians did not alter their basic objective. With one million Arabs coming under Israeli rule, some Palestinians believed the prospect for waging a popular war of liberation had grown. Toward that end, Yasser Arafat instigated a campaign of terror from the West Bank. During September-December 1967, 61 attacks were launched, most against civilian targets such as factories, movie theaters and private homes. Israeli security forces gradually became more effective in thwarting terrorist plans inside Israel and the territories. Consequently, the PLO began to pursue a different strategy — attacking Jews and Israeli targets abroad. In early 1968, the first of many aircraft was hijacked by Palestinian terrorists.

Exercise #1: What are the Historical Facts?

2010-04-28T11:09:00.001+02:00

This is what I prepared for the exercise...

Overarching Questions

● How can we judge the validity of historical accounts?

A. Can scientific conclusions be reached through analysis of declassified Israeli documents and little to no analysis of classified Arab documents?
B. Are eye-witness accounts trustworthy?
C. Is analysis based on primary or secondary source material?
D. Is there a boundary between historical writing and journalistic writing as claimed by Shapira?

● As social scientists, how should we critically evaluate each researcher’s contribution?

A. We should try to determine their political bias as well as whether they have analyzed and/or presented edited versions of historical documents. (Khalidi claims that the Kimche brothers only published excerpts of Plan D.) We should also attempt to replicate their conclusions through rigorous analysis. (A scientific conclusion is not valid unless it can be replicated.)

Palestinian Refugees

● What do historians claim to be the cause of the Palestinian refugee problem?

A. Arab evacuation orders
B. Systematic ethnic cleansing via Plan Daled
C. Israeli initiated whisper campaign
D. The Dar Yassin massacre (April 1948)
E. Israeli evacuation broadcasts
F. Collusion between Israel and Trans-Jordan

● Where do the historians disagree/ agree?

Areas of disagreement:
A. The occurrence and/or significance of Arab evacuation orders
a. Jon and David Kimche: the Arabs issued evacuation orders to ethnic Arabs so that they could “push the Jews into the sea.”
b. Walid Khalidi: Arab evacuation orders are a ‘red herring’ (Khalidi, 1988:5).
c. Morris: There is no evidence of evacuation orders.
d. According to Khalidi, Morris does not recognize the connection between the “expulsion” of the Arab population and Plan Daled (Khalidi, 1988:5).
e. According to Khalidi, Morris contends that fleeing Palestinians “brought permanent exile upon themselves” (Khalidi, 1988:6).
f. According to Khalidi, Morris argues that the expulsion of the Arab population and the destruction of “abandoned” villages was not planned by the Israeli government but extemporaneous. (Khalidi, 1988:6).
g. Khalidi claims that there is no evidence of Arab evacuation orders in the back files of the British (BBC) and American monitoring stations in the Near East (Khalidi, 1988:6).
h. Upon scrutinizing the BBC monitoring station back files, Khalidi found that “not only was there no hint of any Arab evacuation order, but the Arab radio stations had urged the Palestinians to hold on and be steadfast whereas it was the Jewish radio stations of the Haganah and the Irgun and Stern Gang which had been engaged in incessant and strident psychological warfare against the Arab civilian population” (Khalidi, 1988:6).
i. Childers reached the same conclusion (above) about the lack of Arab evacuation orders (Khalidi, 1988:6).
j. Arab war aims (Shlaim 1995:299).
B. The defensive/ offensive nature of Plan Daled
C. Planned ethnic cleansing

Areas of agreement:

A. Palestinians did flee en mass during the War of 1948.
B. Plan Daled exists.
C. All of the Arab states, except Jordan, rejected the U.N. Partition Plan (Shlaim 1995:299).
D. Seven Arab armies invaded Palestine on May 15, 1948 (Shlaim 1995:299).

Plan Daled

● What do we know about Plan Daled?

A. It was written by the Jewish underground army, the Hagannah, the predecessor of the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) in 1947.
B. The plan was revised in December 1947 and March 1948.
C. It was drafted as a “defensive” plan to ward off Arab invasion into “the borders of the Hebrew state” (Assignment of Duties, (f) ).
D. It contained language that authorized the “destruction of (Arab) villages…especially those population centers which are difficult to control continuously.”
E. It prescribed actions “in the event of resistance” including the “destruction of villages” and the expulsion of the Arab population “outside the borders of the state” (Assignment of Duties, (b) 4).
F. Plan Daled also stated that “enemy cities” must be besieged through attack of transportation arteries and the disruption of “vital services, such as electricity, water, and fuel…” (Assignment of Duties, (e) 1 and 3).

● How is Plan Daled related to the Palestinianization of the conflict?

A. Plan Daled has been interpreted as a plan of ethnic cleansing.
B. Plan Daled has also been interpreted as targeting civilians.

● How is Plan Daled related to Israeli and/or Palestinian societies?

Israeli society

A. Khalidi claims “that the Zionist emphasis on Arab evacuation orders is in fact a skillful propaganda tactic with manifold purposes: it shifts the moral responsibility for the refugees on the Arabs themselves, puts them on the defensive, and shoulders them with the burden of refutation. Above all it directs the attention from the primary of the derivative: from the actual course of events in 1948 in Palestine to the realm of patience-consuming allegation and counter-allegation” (Khalidi, 1988:9).
B. Also according to Khalidi, “the ideological premises of Plan D are to be found in the very concept of Zionism” (Khalidi, 1988:9). That is, Zionists were in search of a land that they could call their own. If the Zionists had to dispel the indigenous population of the land they sought, it was a lesser even that perpetuation of the Jewish problem (Khalidi, 1988:9). Herzl, one of the founding fathers of Zionism, supported the expulsion of the indigenous population of land claimed for the Jews.
C. Land was needed to accommodate large scale Jewish immigration to the newly established stated of Israel (Khalidi, 1988:12-13).

Palestinian society

A. Plan D reinforces the premise that the Zionists intended to create a Jewish majority in Palestine via the transfer of ethnic Arab inhabitants.
B. Plan D is evidence of the Zionists’ master plan.

● How is Plan Daled related to negotiations and conflict resolution attempts?

A. The Palestinian “right of return” is one of the biggest obstacles to the creation of a lasting peace.
B. The Palestinians claim an unconditional “right of return” while Israelis are unwilling to allow for the return of the Palestinian population because Arabs would then constitute the ethnic majority in Israel.

● How is Plan Daled related to the first and/or second intifadas?

Plan C

“K (3). The operations mentioned in 1 above will be carried out by damaging the service stations along that route, or by sabotaging its vehicles, or by stopping one or more vehicles on the road, evacuating the passengers, and destroying them.”

“Q. Propaganda will have a large effect on the extent to which incidents are publicized and on the deterrent value this will have on the Arab masses. Therefore, an extensive propaganda network must be organized by the following means:
1. Radio.
2. Leaflets.
3. Whispering campaigns diffused by Arabs or Arabists.
Each of our countermeasures should be widely publicized and reverberate in every Arab village.”

Lecture #14: Renewed Violence and Missed Opportunities

2010-04-27T11:21:00.000+02:00

Michael Schulz

The following notes are based on a powerpoint presentation. I assume the presentation will be posted at http://kursportal.student.gu.se/inst/S2GLS%7C_%7CNONE/RS2235/filuppladdning/browse2.php?dir=Kursmoment%2FLecture+notes+and+ppt
in the near future.

Negotiations Preceding and During the Al Aqsa Intifada
The al Aqsa intifada erupted in September 2000. But even as the bloodiest of two popular uprisings continued to claim lives on the streets of Israel, Gaza, and the West Bank, peace agreements were sought by top level officials.

Camp David, 2000
- After approximately one hundred years of conflict, this was the first time top level leaders met to discuss key issues.
-Arafat was blamed for the breakdown of negotiations.

Taba
- At this point, there was little to no public support for a peace treaty.
- Barak withdraws from negotitations because his mandate is coming to an end.
- The Israeli public wanted the government to get tough on the occupied territories and thus elected Sharon.

The Conflict Escalates
- The conflict reached a level of violence not experienced since the 1930s.
- All Palestinian groups participated in the al Aqsa intifada.
- Some viewed the uprising as a criticism of the PLO.

Israel and Southern Lebanon
- Israel unilaterally withdraws from southern Lebanon in 2000 and Hezbollah takes over.
- Hezbollah emerged during Israel's war with Lebanon (1982-1985).
- Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon in 2000 is viewed as a humilitation in Israeli society.

Oslo II, 1995
- Areas A, B, and C established
- More and more checkpoints
- Palestinian movement is severely limited.
- As a result, Hamas initiates suicide attacks

Israel's Response to the al Aqsa Intitifada
- The al Aqsa intifada is marked by increasing confrontration.
- Israel pressures Arafat to control all Palestinian groups including terrorists.
- Israel initiates the "security wall".
● This was previously unthinkable.
● The goal was to isolate Arafat and stop suicide bombers.

The Process After 2001
- Arafat put under house arrest in Ramallah.
- Israel invades the West Bank.
- In August 2005, Israel withdraws unilaterally from the Gaza Strip and evacuates all settlers.
- Sharon views Araft as the "big problem" and a primarily obstacle toward resolution of the conflict.

- In 2002, the Arab League offers Israel a peace plan.
● This peace plan was initiated by the King of Saudi Arabia.
● Israel almost completely ignored the proposal.

- U.S. President George W. Bush endorses a two state solution.
● This is significant because no previous U.S. president had done so.
● Although there was global support for a two state solution after Oslo, Rabin never stated that the Oslo Peace Process would result in a two state solution. However, a majority of Israelis believed this would be the outcome.

- Hamas initiates a cease-fire agreement to end the al Aqsa intifada.

- In November 2004, Arafat dies and this transforms the situation on both sides.
- In January 2005, Abbas becomes President as well as chairman of Fatah and the PLO.
- Abbas did not want Hamas to join the PLO.

- Palestinian municipal elections are held in 2005.
● Hamas participates and de facto recognizes the Oslo Peace Process.

- National elections are held in January 2005 and Hamas wins a majority of seats.
● Hamas' platform is change and reform.
● The West boycotts Hamas.
● Israeli society is shocked by the election of a "terrorist" organization.
● The Israeli left feels betrayed and disappointed.
● This was a turning point in Palestinian democratic development.But, unfortunately, Fatah could not accept the results of the election and a Fatah Hamas power struggle ensued.
● Hamas forms a government and even considers acknowledging Israel's right to exist. However, Hamas efforts were stymied by international isolation and condemnation.

- Violence continues to escalate until the Saudi's come into the picture in Spring 2007.
● This was a great oppotunity but was, ultimately, yet another missed opportunity.
● A joint government was briefly formed in Gaza and the West Bank but, soon, negotiations broke down and intra-Palestinian violence escalated.
● As a result, two governments emerge with Fatah controling the West Bank and Hamas in charge of the Gaza Strip.
● An internal rift between Fatah and Hamas persists to this day.

- The Separation Fence in April 2007
● The fence made Israelis feel more secure and less vulnerable to suicide attacks while it made Palestinians feel more isolated.
● The fence creates a lot of problems for Palestinian society. Students are separated from schools, families are separated from eachother, farmers are separated from their lands, etc.

- Paradox: It is becoming increasingly difficult for people to meet but Track I negotiations continue to occur.

Hamas
- Ahmad Yasin (1936-2004) is viewed as the founder of the movement.
- Yasin is assassinated in 2004 along with many other top Hamas leaders.

- Hamas is comprised of a social branch, a military branch, and an intelligence section.
- The political structure is democratic with a Shura council.
- The identity of Hamas leaders is often veiled in secrecy however, Khaled Mishal is known to have served as the chair.
- Within the political structure there is an increasing rift between insiders residing in Gaza and outsiders. There is also a rift between hardliners and moderates.

- Hamas doesn't see democracy as conflicting with Islam.
● This illustrates how democracy is a global phenomenon with diverse local interpretations and forms of implementation.

- Hamas' 1988 charter is often quoted as evidence of the group's violent intents.
- Article 9 and 10
● "The rights of our people" are paramount but signed agreement can be honored.

- In 2007, Hamas states that they agree with the Beirut Position from 2002 which means that they are prepared to make a truce with Israel in exchange for land. However, many Israelis believe this is merely a tactical move rather than a genuine gesture toward peace.

The Gaza War (December 27, 2008- January 19, 2009)
- Violence erupts after Hamas takes control of the Gaza Strip in 2007.
- In September 2007, Israel declares Gaza as a war zone and initiates a naval blockade.
- A truce is declared but ends on December 18, 2008. This is when Hamas starts to fire Qassem rockets into southern Israel.
● As a result, Israel invades and launches a major military operation called Operation Cast Lead.
- Internationally, fear mounts that Syria, Hezbollah, and Jordan might enter the war.
- Hamas may have won the war "militarily" but many Palestinians blame them for heavy causalties suffered during the conflict.

Potentials for Peace

- The Olmert Plan: land swaps to accomodate Israeli settlements. This plan is acceptable to most Palestinians.
- Even the division of the Old City of Jerusalem has gained support within Palestinian society.

- Paradox: While more and more technical solutions are being proposed, peace remains ellusive

- Today, both sides continue to distrust eachother.
- Continued disagreements persist between Fatah and Hamas which is disappointing to many Palestinians some of whom do not support either party.

- Hamas is not against non-violence per se but finds it an inefficient method.
- "The Third Wave" is a Palestinian group that supports secular, non-violent resistance and is gaining support.

- The most complicated issue that is still unresolved is "The Right of Return".
● Although there was a figure on the table at Camp David, it was not accepted by Arafat.

- Although most Palestinians view "The Right of Return" as individual right, if Fatah and Hamas work together on this issue a compromise could be reached.

- Schulz contends that the refugee issue should be tabled until other, less controversial issues are resolved beginning with Jerusalem.

- There is a global consensus on a two state solution and peace principles but a deal has not been reached and civil society is becoming increasingly radicalized.

- Possible avenues for peace include:
● civil society
● Track II negotiations (Of course, this is difficult because the EU and the US have labeled Hamas as a terroritst organization.)

***It is important to note that Fatah never abadoned the use of violence. So, in this respect, there is no philosophical difference between Fatah and Hamas.***

Lecture #13: The Use and Meaning of Violence

2010-04-16T13:19:00.001+02:00

Nina Gren, Social Anthropology

Please see powerpoint posted entitled, "MAViolence2010Isr-Pal.pdf" posted at:

http://kursportal.student.gu.se/inst/S2GLS%7C_%7CNONE/RS2235/filuppladdning/browse2.php?dir=Kursmoment%2FLecture+notes+and+ppt

Lecture #12: Negotiations: from 1990-2002

2010-04-16T13:17:00.000+02:00

Michael Schulz

Please see powerpoint posted at:
http://kursportal.student.gu.se/inst/S2GLS%7C_%7CNONE/RS2235/filuppladdning/browse2.php?dir=Kursmoment%2FLecture+notes+and+ppt

Opening Note
- In previous lectures, we discussed the first intifada and its impact on society and desires for peace.

- Today, we will begin with the 1990s when parties were closest to peace.

- Today, we will also lift forward some Track II concepts and take about why parties have lost faith in the Track II approach.

1990-1991
- The Cold War was over and a new geopolitical order emerged.

- The Gulf War

- 1991, Madrid Conference
● Bilateral talks occur per the wishes of the Israeli government with the goal of finding a political solution.
● Multilateral talks occur per the wishes of the Arab governments with the goal of discussing major issues including the refugee problem, water, etc. These issues concerned all parties.
● Israel, Likud government: "Facts on the ground"
● Shamir: I will negotiate toughly and pursue "facts on the ground"
● Unfortunately, Shamir was not ready for peace and was, at best, willing to give Palestinians limited autonmy which he and Rabin has offered Palestinians in 1989.
● The concept of "Gaza First" was first presented at the Madrid Conference. Gaza was a big problem for the Israelis due to its high population density, it was the place that the first intifada erupted, it had/ has high unemployment, and Israel was dependent upon day labor from its residents.
● Ultimately, the negotiated were stalled and no Israeli-Palestinian deal was reached.

The Early 1990s
- Shamir wanted to build settlements in the West Bank to accomodate immigrants from the former USSR.
- However, these immigrants were not willing to live in a conflict zone.
- The US repsonded critically to plans for further settlement.
- In 1992, the election went to Rabin.
- In 1992, Rabin had a direct confrontation with Hamas (a newly emerging political force)
● A young Israeli girl was killed.
● Rabin sent Hamas leaders to southern Lebanon.
● Sending leaders to southern Lebanon was a grave error because Hamas leaders were trained in suicide bombing techniques by Hezbollah.
- After his election, Rabin pursued peace with Syria.
● Rabin asked a US mediator to offer Syria the Golan Heights but it didn't work due to a miscommunication. As a result, Israel did not believe that the US was a serious broker.
- Rabin also pursued negotiations with Palestinians.

Oslo Negotiations
- These negotiations were conducted in secret on a small scale with Track II participants.
- One of the principle aims was the breakdown of enemy images.
- Gaza First was proposed at the beginning of negotiations.
- Rabin did not know about Oslo.
● He was initially furious when he learned about the secret negotiations but he soon realized that it was the only viable track left.

Oslo, Declaration of Principles
- Symbolic recognition
- Self-rule during the interim period
- Time schedule of five years with 1999 as the deadline for a final peace agreement
- Difficult issues (such as Jerusalem, refugees, settlements, security, borders, etc.) should be solved later.

-Arafat made too many demands, stifling the process.
- However, both sides agreed to recognize each other as enemies which was significant.

Gaza/ Jeriko "First"
- Gaza/ Jeriko "first", May 1994
- Limited self rule of people not land
- Some sectors
- Palestinian Authority established
- Arafat and the PLO to Gaza, July 1994
- Palestinians allowed to establish a police force which was not a military but resembled one.

The Process
- There was strong grassroots support on both sides.
- But there was also strong and loud opposition/ religious inspired nationalists.
- Hebron Massacre, February 1994
- Hamas "Martyrs", April 1994
● Hamas attacks Israeli civilians for the first time.
- Continued opposition/ violent spoilers
- The mood among negotiators was collegial.

1995, Peace Agreement between Israel and Jordan
- Warm peace
- Still exists

Oslo II, 1995
- This agreement was drafted (signed?) on September 24, 1995.
- The agreement stipulated expanded self-rule for cities in the West Bank.
- As a result of the agreement, most Palestinians came under a different kind of rule.
● The West Bank was divided into Area A (Palestinian cities), Area B (Palestinian villages), and Aread C (Israeli settlement, military areas, and state lands).

- Rabin us assassinated by a right-wing religious extremist.
● He is killed after a peace rally in Tel Aviv.
● Israel is shocked because an Israeli should not kill another Israeli.

- The PLO holds elections in the West Bank in 1996
● International observers thought that the elections were relatively free and fair.
● Arafat won a landslide victory for President, receiving approximately 90% of the vote.

- This was a time period when there was support and euphoria about the peace process.
● Something like 70% of Israelis supported the peace process.

1996, Changing Winds
- Ayash killed by Israel followed by Hamas wave of "martyrs".
- Israeli elections
- Netanyahu elected Prime Minister, advocating peace and security
- Cold peace
- Increased violence
- In September 1996, relations deteriorate.
- Settlement activities
- Palestinian mobility decreases as Israel responds to terrorist attacks by closing points of entry.
- Netanyahu pressures Arafat to control Hamas

1997-2000
- 1997, Hebron
● Netanyahu wanted to renegotiate the Hebron Agreement.
- 1998, Wye River Agreement
● Minor changes to Oslo II
● Increased expansion of settlements
● Trust between parties deteriorates further
- 1997, first debate about corruption in the Palestinian government
- 1999, Labor returns to power in Israel
● Barak becomes Prime Minister
● Netanyahu admits to making mistakes which was a brilliant political move on his part and allowed him to return politics later.
● Barak promises peace within one year
● Barak intiates peace agreement with Syria but no agreement is reached.
- 2000, Camp David (II)
● Barak refuses to meet Arafat and Clinton accepts this.
● Clinton was ill-prepared and had to rely on his advisors.
● Parties spoke about key issues including Jerusalem and settlements.
● Barak offers approximately 94% of the West Bank to Palestinians including 90% of East Jerusalem. Unfortunately, this deal was only offered verbally and was later withdrawn.
● Negotiations broke down and Israelis and Palestinians were furious.
- The al-Aqsa intifada breaks out
● Confrontations occur all over the West Bank and Gaza.
● It is the most violent period to date.

Taba
- Egyptian and Jordanian leaders present.
- Lack of grassroots support on both sides
- A political solution was on the table but could not be signed.

- This was a very complicated period.
- There was increasingly a global consensus on a two state solution.
- George W. Bush accepts a two state solution which is significant because no other president and had done so.

2002, Roadmap to Peace
- Accepted by the UN Security Council
- Leaders from both sides (Palestine and Israel) were pressured to accept
- Track I approach (top-down)
● This is probably why it has not succeeded thus far.

Lingering Questions
- Are approximately 5,000 violent, radical Israeli settlers holding the peace process hostage?
- Can land swaps compensate for areas annexed by Israeli settlers?
- What will be the fate of holy sites?
- Is there a Palestinian right to return?
● Should Palestinians be allowed to return to Israel proper?
● Should those that do not or cannot return be compensated?
● Who is responsible for refugees?
- Can Track II negotiations work?
- Likewise, can secret meetings work?
- Will Israel accept a two state solution?
- How can Israel solve the paradox between the Jewish and democratic nature of the state of Israel while allowing for the return of Palestinian refugees?
- Is a two state solution a step toward a single state?

Lecture #11: Israeli Identity Politics

2010-04-16T13:16:00.000+02:00

Michael Schulz

Please see powerpoint entitled, "Israeli ID politicsRS2235 vt10.ppt" at http://kursportal.student.gu.se/inst/S2GLS%7C_%7CNONE/RS2235/filuppladdning/browse2.php?dir=Kursmoment%2FLecture+notes+and+ppt

Here are my notes:

Opening Note
- Isabell discussed Israeli identity politics during her previous lecture so we will approach the topic from a slightly different angle by discussing ethnic identity and Israeli national identity. In other words, today we will discuss Israeli society.

- In 1996, I (Schulz) wrote my dissertation on Israeli national identity and ethnic identity and the interlinkages between the two concepts.

What is ethnic identity?
- Ethnicity is a difficult concept to define.
¤ There are many schools of thought.
¤ Currently, the constructivist school of thought is dominant.

- What are the different schools of thought?
¤ Primordialist (Essentialist)- ethnic identity is given by biology or birth; this school of thought refers to an objective criteria; this school of thought is called into question by biological data that suggests we are all very similar biologically.
¤ Intrumentalist- ethnic identity is useful for political purposes, ie. the indigenous peoples' movement; unlike primordialists, instrumentalists refer to a subjective criteria.
¤ Constructivist- ethnic identity is perceived and dependent on relationships, situations, and contexts; identity is fluid and shifting because we are constantly learning from our experiences.

What is identity?
- Identity is also a hotly constested concept.
- There are two aspects of identity that are easy to accept:
¤ There are universal human attributes.
¤ But humans are also unique individuals.

- The idea that individuals share common attributes with members of a particular group, however, is contesteted.

How are ethnic identities formed?
- Ethnic identity is a social categorization.
- The social theory that you adapt has implications for social analysis because each theory has a direct link to perceptions of identity.

Class
- This theory originated with Karl Marx.
- According to this theory, there is an overlap between class and ethnic identity.
- Societies can be racist and/or oppresive.
- The dominant ethnic/ class group dominates society at the expense of other groups.

Pluralist
- This theory was developed as a criticism of the class and melting pot theories.
- Social groups create and maintain distinct systems but live together and interact with members of other groups.
- Both class differences and integration exist.
- Integration and separation are empirical questions and change over time.

Melting-Pot
- This theory was formulated in the 1950s.
- Ethnic identity is seen as backward/ tribal.
- National identity is modern and more desirable.

What is national identity?
- See Thomas Hylland Erikson
- Media creates a sense of national belonging even though members of a nation may never meet.
- Ethno-nationalists groups are in between ethnic groups and the nation-state.
¤ These groups possess a vision/ political ambition of a state.
¤ The state is viewed as a social project.
¤ Acceptance of a national identity implies the right to establish a state.
¤ Israelis did not accept the Palestinian national identity for decades because that acceptance would imply that Palestinians are entitled to create a state.

What is a nation-state?
- The nation-state is:
¤ territorially defined, and
¤ has a monopoly over the legitimate use of force, and
¤ possesses authority over a specific population, and
¤ ideally develops into a homogenous identity/ common nationality, and
¤ the constitutent population possesses certain rights, duties (military service, taxes), and benefits (material welfare).

- All of the above must be fulfilled to create a successful nation-state.

How can ethnic identity be preserved over a period of time?
- Conversely, why do identities disappear?
- What institutions maintain ethnic identity?
- In the case of Judaism, Jewish ethnic identity was maintained by the synagogue.
- In the nation-state project, some succeed and some fail.

What are the four predominant positions in Israeli society?
1. Religious Zionists
- This group increasingly attained political power after 1967/1973.

2. Religious Non- Zionistists
- Israel is satanic.
- This group is losing power in Israel.

3. Non-religious Zionists
- Members of this group perceive Israel as a Jewish nation.
- Members of this group constitute the majority of Israeli society.

4. Non-Religious Non-Zionists
- This group conceives of Israel as a civic state.
- Israeli identity does not equal Jewish identity.

(- There are three categories listed in an Israeli passport: religious, civic, and national.)

Israeli Ethnicities and Social Stratifications
- See powerpoint

- Global links also greatly influence social identity.
¤ Russian immigrants from the former Soviet Union have pushed for improved relations between Israel and Europe.

- There are differences and divisions among members of each social group.

- Today, there is a different kind of Ashkenazi dominance.

-Schulz examined 4 dimensions in his disseration:

1. identification- Israeli, Arab, Jew, etc.

2. amalgamation- friendship and marriage patterns; social and biological intereactions

3. acculturation- feelings and sense of common identity and feelings and sense of belonging to s sib-identity; support for the political system and Israeli culture

4. socioeconomic and political issues- how are key political positions allocated among different groups; what are the perceived class/ethnic differences

- When asked about Israeli society, the most dominant answers were that it should be a mixed society or that the current social arrangement is the best arrangement.
¤ The first answer is evidence of some tolerance for difference in Israeli society.

- When Schulz conducted his research, he found that there were class differences along ethnic lines.

Jews (Israelization - Judaization)
- civic secularlists (approx. 12%)
- secularists (approx. 35%)
- civic nationalists (approx. 9%)
- nationalists (approx. 30%)
- confessionalists (approx. 14%)
¤ settlers / extremists

- Over time, those of the left move more towards the left and those on the right move more towards the right.

- In other words, Israeli society is polarized.

Arabs (Israelization - Polarization)
- civic secularists (approx. 13%)
- secularists (approx. 20%)
- civic confessionalists (approx. 15%)
- Islamists (approx. 17%)
- Arab/ Palestinian nationalists (approx. 35%)

- Opinions are more narrow/ clustered among Arabs.

- When Schulz conducted his research, Arabs primarily identified themselves as Israeli-Christians, Israeli-Druze, Israeli-Muslims, etc.
¤ However, this may not be the same today.

- Many Arabs say that they believe in the current political system. That is, they accept Jewish majority rule.

- Marriage between Arabs and Jews is almost non-existent.

- Arab integration into Israeli society has increased tensions between men and women and led to an increase in divorce rates. In other words, classic hierarchical structures have been challenged.

- The Druze are the most privileged among the Arab groups while the Muslims are the least priveleged.

Conclusion
- Integration does exist even among Israeli Arabs.
- Melting exists but is not, necessarily, conducted according to the melting pot theory.
- However, there are socioeconomic gaps along ethnic lines.
- Also, group identitifications shift all the time.
- Among Jews, in times of peace, Israelization prevails while in time of conflict, Jewishization prevails.

Lecture #10: Palestinian Identity and Diaspora

2010-04-16T13:14:00.000+02:00

Helena Lindholm Schulz

Please see powerpoint (soon to be) posted at: http://kursportal.student.gu.se/inst/S2GLS%7C_%7CNONE/RS2235/filuppladdning/browse2.php?dir=Kursmoment%2FLecture+notes+and+ppt

Here are my---not very complete--- notes:

Background
- The Palestinian population is disbursed throughout the world due to "normal" migration and al Nakba or the catastrophe in which Palestinians left historical Palestine in 1947/1948.

-The focus of today's lecture is how Palestinian identity is and has been shaped.

- Palestinian identity has primarily been shaped by displacement, exile, and fragmentation.

- "The Land" is incredibly important due to the forced absence of Palestinians from the land of Palestine.

Diaspora Concept
- A diaspora is a population which departed from the "home" country by force or other means and now resides in two or more countries.

Patterns of Migration
- The ultimate focal point of Palestinian identity is Al-Nakba, 1947/1948.
¤ This serves as the begining of many individual's stories of expulsion.
¤ Approximately 700,000 Palestinians fled at this time.

- 1967, Six-Day War
¤ Approximately 300,000 Palestinians fled and/or were prohibited from returning to Palestine.

- Migration did occur prior to and after 1947 and 1967.
¤ Christian Palestinians migrated to the Americas.

- The Palestinian condition is very much shaped by migration.
- It is difficult to count the numebr of Palestinians in a given country because they are often considered stateless or citizens of other Middle Eastern countries.
¤ Many Palestinian refugees living in Sweden come from Lebanon.
¤ Migration to Sweden occured after the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 1982.

Al-Nakba
- This is a formative event for Palestinian identity.
- As a result of Al-Nakba, Palestinians became the "wanderers of the earth" and participants in an "endless journey".

Refugees
- The Palestinian refugee question is one of the oldest refugee questions of modern times.
- The United Nations (UN) established the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) in 1950 to help Palestinian refugees.
¤ Palestinians are the only refugee group handled by an exclusive UN agency.

- In order to be counted as a refugee after 1948, Palestinians had to have lost both their homes and their means of livelihood.
¤ This is an inherited status.

- There are approximately 4.767 million registered Palestinian refugees throughout the world including those living in the West Bank and Gaza.

- Palestinian refugees are accorded different rights and status depending on their country of residence.
¤ In Lebanon, Palestinians are "foreigners" whereas, in Jordan, many Palestinians are citizens.

Rootlessness/ Homelessness
- Displacement causes an intense search for a lost place.
- Identity is formed out of place/ homelessness/ constant journey.
- Fragmentation/ rootlessness is constitutive of Palestinian identity.
¤ This is a paradox in comparison to other national(ist) narratives.)

Immobility/ Denial/ Confinement
- Palestinians are restricted from moving freely.
¤ There are checkpoints, fences, road blocks, etc.
¤ Many Palestinians are confined due to a lack of valid travel documents.

- Many Palestinians speak of life as a prison.
¤ Gaza: world's largest civilian prison
¤ The "barrier" wall resembles a prison wall.

Return
- Return is an important focal point in Palestinian politics.
- Land is romanticized and idealized.
- There is a strong need to reclaim history and/or claim the right to history.
- PLO: did/do not want Palestinians to integrate into Arab countries of residence.

Home
- Home has a special meaning which has been lost and is difficult to recreate in exile.
- Stories about "home" are fictious and nostalgic but also very important.

Time
- Many await a time in the near future when they may return.
- Refugees born in exile do not have memories of their own.
¤ They have/ had to rely on the stories of their family members.
¤ They do not experience a loss but a lack.

Struggle
- In the decades after al-Nakba, it was difficult for Palestinians to organize.
- The PLO was formed under an Egyptian initiative.

- The ultimate aim of Palestinian struggle: to return, to change from refugees to returnees.
- PLO: Palestinians should be active in shaping their own destinies. In other words, they should turn passive suffering into active struggling.

- There are two poles of Palestinian identity:
¤ Suffering
¤ Struggling, including armed struggle

- Romanticized notions of return have helped fuel struggle.

- PLO: feared integration would erode the Palestinian right to return to historic Palestine.

Transnationalism
- Generations of Palestinians have been born and have grown up in exile. These generations have no memories or personal images of Palestine.
- Five decades of exile have had an impact on Palestinian identity.
- Are Palestinians slowing forgetting or adding and adjusting?
- Transnationalism is something overlooked (until recently) by integration scholars in Western societies.

Palestinian Nationalism
- Palestinian nationalism was created out of exile and expulsion.
- Territory and land are important focal points.
- Palestinian nationalism is defined both by hyper-mobility and absolute confinement.

Maintaining Contact
- Many Palestinians who have the means and the documents, vacation in the West Bank.
¤ These Palestinians may send their children to Palestine to learn Arabic and to receive a cultural education.

- Of course, contact with family abroad has many costs including time, money, and effort.

- Today, complementary identities may be a better description of Palestinian identities--- rather than hybrid identities.

J. Clifford
- "This consitutive suffering coexists with the skills of survival...Diaspora consciousness lives loss and hope as a defining tension."

Lecture #9: Family and Gender

2010-04-16T13:13:00.000+02:00

Maria Malmstrom

Please see powerpoint posted at: http://kursportal.student.gu.se/inst/S2GLS%7C_%7CNONE/RS2235/filuppladdning/browse2.php?dir=Kursmoment%2FLecture+notes+and+ppt

(Unfortunately, this powerpoint was not posted as of Thursday, 6 May but it should be posted soon.)

Lecture #8: Israeli Society

2010-04-16T13:12:00.000+02:00

Isabell Schierenbeck, Department of Political Science

The powerpoint file will be posted shortly at http://kursportal.student.gu.se/inst/S2GLS%7C_%7CNONE/RS2235/filuppladdning/browse2.php?dir=Kursmoment%2FLecture+notes+and+ppt

Opening Note: Isabell began this lecture in March. As a result, she briefly reviewed what she had already covered before moving on to the cleavage between Jews and Palestinians in Israeli society.

Cleavages in Israeli Politics
- Jews-Palestinians (approximately 20% of the Israeli population consists of Arab Israelis.)
- Ashkenazim (European/ American/ Russian Jews)- Mizrachim (Middle Eastern and North African Jews)
- Religious (Ultra-orthodox and orthdox Jews and Muslim Arabs)- Secular
- Sabra (Native-born Israelis)- Immigrants
- Left- Right

- In exploring each of the above cleavages, we will discuss what the conflict of interest is about, who is represented in each group and where they live, as well as forms of mobilization and political behavior.

Is the Israeli case exceptional?
- No.
- Although many see the Israeli case as exceptional it is not.
- Israeli is no more special than other countries and should not be treated as unique.
- If Israel were exceptional, it would be much more difficult to resolve the conflict.

Jews-Palestinians

Conflict of Interests
- land
¤ internal refugees
¤ 70% of Palestinian land has been confiscated and continues to be confiscated. This is due, in part, to the traditional practice of not using written land contracts. the Israeli government also confiscated land for "security reasons" and because it is considered "abandoned."
¤ In addition, Palestians cannot live and build where ever they want.
- work
¤ Many Palestinian farmers had land confiscated and had to find other work in low skill professions and jobs.
¤ However, Palestinians are doing better and better economically.
¤ Nevertheless, discrimination still exists.
- immigration
¤ Jews have "the right of return".
¤Palestinian citizenship is strictly limited and regulated.
¤ Palestinian citizenship is limited in order to maintain a Jewish majority.
- discrimination in general (cp military service)
¤ Palestinians do not have the right to participate in military service for "security reasons".
¤ Unfortunately for Palestinians, many social benefits are tied to military service and military service is incredibly important in Israeli-society and politics.
¤ Although Palestinians are taxed at the same level as non-Palestinians, they receive vastly unequal access to and funding for social services such as education, infrastructue, etc.

Mobilization and Political Parties/ Organizations
- 1948-1966: military control over the Israeli-Palestinian population.
- 1967, Six-Day War: greater awareness about the "Palestinian Question", different Arab parties emerge.
- Land Day, 30 March 1976: protest over land confiscation in the Galilee.
- Human rights groups emerge, mainly after the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 1982
- 1990s: Katzir case; Beduin campaigns
- Palestinians experienced limited political mobilization prior to 1966.

From Zionist Parties to Arab Parties
- In the 2006 election, 70% of Israeli-Arabs vote for Arab parties.

- Democratic Arab Party (DAP), moderate
- Hadash (former communist party, oldest "Arab" party), Jewish-Arab, moderate, secular
- Balad (Azmi Bishara), nationalist, "radical"
- Islamic movement, division between the north and south, the south with DAP

- The number of Arab parties and fragmentation of these parties is problematic and stiffles unity but it could also be thought of as a sign of a healthy difference of opinion among Arab voters.
- In Israel, a party only needs 2% of the vote to get into the Knesset. (In comparison, a party needs 4% of the vote in Sweden.)
- However, no party can be anti-Zionist.

Ashkenazim-Mizrachim
- All Israelis know which of the above groups they belong to.
- 50% of Israelis born in Israel today are Ashkenazim and 50% are Mizrachim.
- Mizrachim predominantly live in the south.
- In general, Ashkenazim are better educated and more priveleged.

Conflict of Interests
- Ashkenazim hegemony; Mizrachim marginalization
- assimilation politics (maabarot), cultural marginalization
- development towns, socioeconomic marginalization
- educational system (50s reform, no place for traditional Mizrachim)
- renewed conflict due to post-Cold War immigration

Mobilization and Political Parties/ Organizations
- Black Panthers, 1970s
¤ Mizrachim youth movement to raise awareness about inequality.
¤ Many arguments leveled against Golda Meir.
- Likud (Menachem Begin, 1977)
¤ Begin realized this was a social issue and sought to politicize it.
¤ Begin focused on unemployment.
- Shas (1984, ultra-orthodox split)
¤ ethnic origin before religious identification
¤ Shas is a political success story.
¤ Even non-orthodox Mizrachim will vote for Shas.

Religious-Secular
- Ultra-orthodox (Haredim): 10% of the Israeli population
- Orthodox: 10%
- Traditional: 30%
- Secular: 50%

- The above groups intermix regularly with the notable exception of the ultra-orthodox.
- There are two large ultra-orthodox communities in Israel, one is Jerusalem and one in Tel Aviv.
- Ultra-orthodox Jews constitute and very poor segment of society.
- Ultra-orthodox Jews typically have very large families with approximately 10 children per family.
- The image of the ultra-orthodox Jew seems very different from the image of the "New Israeli".
- Ultra-orthodox Jews have their own educational systems where they primarily study the Torrah.
- In ultra-orthodox communities, the position of women is relatively low.

Conflict of Interests
- Zionism
¤ Ultra-orthodox Jews are not Zionist; they do not accept the state of Israel because it was not created by the messiah.
- Military service
¤ Ultra-orthodox Jews do not complete military service.
¤ Leftist Israelis who advocate peace must serve in the military but ultra-orthodox settlers are exempt.
- Family law
- Conversions and immigration

Mobilization and Political Parties/ Organizations
- Shift from strictly ultra-orthodox to religious Zionist
¤ This occured after the Six-Day War.
- Agudat parties: religious Zionist parties
- Anti-religious parties: Ratz, Meretz, Shinui
¤ The Shinui party refuses to sit in government with Shas.

(-There are 120 seats in the Knesset, thus a majority consists of 61 seats.
- The inclusion of a religious party is essential to building a coalition government.)

Sabra-Immigrants
(We did not have enough time to discuss this cleavage. Please see powerpoint for more information.)

Left-Right
- Israeli politicians are not particularly concerned about the environment or the economy, they are primarily concerned with the fate of the Occupied Territories which become a central issue after the Six-Day War.
- The right contend that Israel must keep the territories for security and religious reasons.
- The left (Labor) was held responsible for failures during the Yom Kippur War in 1973.
- After 1973, Israeli politics shifted to the right.

The Left (Doves)
- Hadash
- Meretz (Ashkenazi)
- Labor

- Arab parties

The Rights (Hawks)
- Right-wing extremists
- Religious nationalists (Mafdal, Gush Emunim)
- Likud

- Russian parties, Shinui

Lecture #7: Palestinian Society

2010-04-16T13:11:00.000+02:00

Michael Schulz

Please see powerpoint entitled, "Palestinian SocietyRS2235 vt10.ppt" at http://kursportal.student.gu.se/inst/S2GLS%7C_%7CNONE/RS2235/filuppladdning/browse2.php?dir=Kursmoment%2FLecture+notes+and+ppt

Here are some of the highlights:

- Throughout today's lecture we will discuss the major cleavages in Palestinian society. Unfortunately, we will not have time to discuss gender and family but that will be covered in assigned readings and subsequent lectures.
- We will also focus on society within the West Bank and Gaza Strip. However, it is important to keep in mind that Palestinians live in other states in the Middle East including Israel and that millions of Palestinians live in the diaspora in Europe and the U.S.

What is society and what relationship does does have to the state?
- There are many theories about the nature and role of society as well as links between the state and society, the state and government, and the state and nation.
- For the sake of our discussion, it is important to understand prevalent social arrangements in Middle Eastern states.
¤ Families often control important state positions.
¤ Certain ethnicities are priveleged above others.
¤ The closer an ethnicity is to the state apparatus, the more powerful the ethnicity is within society.

Social Images
- Israeli military incursions, closers, and threats of violence
- Separation wall and loss of income
- Lack of mobility

How has the conflicted affected Palestinians?
- Many Palestinians suffer from depression, insomnia, bedwetting, nightmares, phobias, separation anxiety, inability to concentrate, etc.
- Overall, Palestinians have poor general health.
-The occupation has had a profound impact on Palestinians both physically and psychologically.
- Domestic violence and child abuse are endemic.
- Palestinians have a general feeling of insecurity as a result of the ever present prospect of home demolitions and land confiscation.
- The Palestinian population has dramatically increased in the last 20-30 years.
- Today, approximately 75% of the population is below the age of 20. (Demography is similar in other Arab states.)
- There is also an extremely high population density.

Who is Who in Palestine?
- Top level: political and miliary leaders
- Middle level: bureaucrats, academics, religious leaders, national NGO leaders
- Lower level: local activists, local NGO leaders, community leaders
- Palestinian society is extremely hierarchical.
- Few are at the top but those at the top are extremely wealthy.
- Socio-economic stratification leads to great frustrations within society.

Civil Society
- Palestine does contain a well functioning civil society but only about 11% of the population participates.
- Lack of participation may be explained by control exerted by top leaders.
- Palestinian civil society is highly politicized which makes things complicated especially if you believe that political parties are not a part of civil society.
- After Oslo, civil society was restructured and new categories emerged including the peace industry, Islamic organizations, and organizations linked to the PLO.
- While Islamic organizations are grass roots oriented, the peace industry and PLO affliated organizations are not.

Religiousity, September 2009
- Palestinian society is very religious and the vast majority are Muslim.
- Most Christians have emigrated because they possess greater opportunities to do so.

Work, September 2009
- Approximately 67% of Palestinians are unemployed. (But this percentage is heavily dependent on how one defines employment.
- Unemployment is higher in the Gaza Strip than the West Bank.
- Approximately 6% of Palestinans work as farmers.
- The clan system/ family structure helps to ensure that family members' needs are met.
- Huge socio-economic disparities exist within society.

Material Standard, September 2009
- Approximately 90% of Palestine families have satelite dishes and mobile phone but almost no one has a dishwasher. (This is explained, in part, by priorities and gender roles.)

Newspapers, September 2009
- Approximately 30% of the population read newspapers.
- The majority of those who read newspapers read al-Quds.

Radio/ TV, September 2009
- Most people get their information from radio or television.
- al Jazeera is the most watched television network.
- Most Palestinians do not follow Israeli news, the BBC, or CNN.
- Editorial note: It is sad that Palestinians do not follow Israeli news because it is often balanced and each group could learn a lot from each other.

Israeli Occupation, September 2009
- 9.4% of Palesitnians have been wounded by Israeli forces.
- 10.2% have been imprisoned in Israel.
- 14.7% have had land confiscated from their family since 1967.
- Editorial note: Statistics about violence are difficult to interpret given the prevalence of violence in Palestinian society in general.

Democracy, September 2009
- 32% believe that a Palestinian state should not be modeled according to any existing state system.
- 16% believe that Jordan's "democratic" system is worth emulating.
- More than 70% of Palesitnians view themselves as democraitc, at least ideologically.
- WHo are the anti-democrats?
¤ The answer to this quesiton is unclear.
¤ Religious people who are not a part of Hamas or the Muslim brotherhood do not consider themselves as political.
- Most Palestinians do not believe that democracy and Islam are mutually exclusive. This was evidenced by the election of Hamas in 2006.

Trust levels, September 2009
- Palestinians tend to trust organizations of civil society more than state organizations.
- 61.4% trust universities but this percentage represents a decrease since the previous survey.
- 45.6% in the West Bank and 28.1% in Gaza trust the courts.
- 50.9% trust the Palestinian press.
- Security reforms have increased trust in certain state organizations such as the courts, police, and security forces from 2006-2009.
- Trust in state leaders and organizations is generally decreasing in the Gaza Strip.

Cleavages
- Insiders - outsiders
- West Bank - Gaza Strip
- Israelis - Palestinians (This is the biggest and most consequential cleavage.)
- Fatah - Hamas
- Cleavages within the PLO (This is linked to the diaspora, particularly in Syria and Lebanon.)
- Cleavages within and between clan and family system
- Class differences
- Muslims - Christians
- Generations
- Resources (This is linked to the occupation.)

Final Note
- The majority of the people are waiting for the next new movement to emerge and serve their interests.
- Unfortunately, this new movement does not currently exist.

Lecture #6: From Camp David to the First Intifada

2010-04-16T13:10:00.000+02:00

Michael Schulz

Background: The Arab League and a Changing Middle East
- The Arab League was formed for two reasons:
o It was a response to Zionism.
o It was a response to the creation of independent Arab states in the 1920s.
- Dramatic changes occurred in the Middle East in the 1950s.
o There were many coups and regime changes.
o Ethnic divisions became increasingly important.
o There was a build-up of military capacity (The military was the only social space with the prospect of mobility.)
o “Weak” states
o Internal conflict
- There were two reasons Arab unity:
o To unite under a single Arab state, and
o To fight against Zionism.
- The Cold War
o USSR was allied with radical Arab states including Syria and the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO).
o In the 1960s, the US formed an alliance with Israel.
o In the 1950s, West Germany was helping Israel and Israel received military support from the USSR.
- Wars in 1956 and 1967 dramatically changed the map and the conflict.
- Israel and the Arab states held irreconcilable positions from 1967-1973.
- In 1973 there was a shift in the conflict dynamic.
o Political solutions were now a possibility.
o Even the PLO was willing to engage in (limited) political negotiations.
- In 1972, Sadat threw out military advisors from the USSR signaling to the West that Egypt might be ready for negotiations.
The Camp David Accords (1978-1979)
- As a result of the accords, Israel returns the Sinai Desert to Egypt in exchange for peace/ recognition.
- An all out war becomes less likely between Israel and the Arab states.
- During the accords, Israel was confronted with the Palestinian refugee dilemma.
- Arab states were very angry with Egypt for its participation in the accords and Egypt was banned from the Arab League for 10 years.
- The most tricky issue: Israeli Prime Minister Begin had sworn an oath to God that he would not give up any territory to the Arabs.
- Carter persuaded Begin to allow the Knesset to vote about the issue.
- Carter was instrumental in the success of the accords.

Iran
- Iran also impacted the dynamics of the conflict.
- In 1979, Iran experienced revolution and the overthrow of the Shah.
- Iran was a cornerstone of US foreign policy after World War II.
- US and Israel had supported the ousted Shah.

Iraq
- The revolution in Iran threatened to spread to Iraq.
- Iran and Iraq went to war in 1980 over a border dispute.
o Saddam Hussein saw an opportunity to claim territory after the Islamic Revolution.
o Iraq was supplied and supported by the USSR, other Arab states, and the US.
o Iran was supplied and supported by North Korea, China, and Israel.
o The war resulted in 1.5 million casualties.
o An armistice was signed in 1988.

Palestine
- In 1967, the PLO was formed under the leadership of Yasser Arafat.
- The PLO was headquartered in Jordan until 1970. In October 1970, the PLO was expelled after it was viewed as a state within a state by the leadership of Jordan.
- After 1970, the PLO used Lebanon as a base.
- The PLO experienced internal conflict in 1983 and was split with Arafat and others moving to Tunis.
- In 1987, the first Palestinian Intifada (uprising) break out.

Key Questions
- How did the PLO and Israel become involved in the Lebanese civil war?
- What were the effects of the Lebanese civil war for the Arab-Israeli conflict?
- How does the emergence of Hezbollah alter PLO-Israeli relations?
- What was the intifada and what were its effects on the Arab-Israeli conflict?

Lebanon
- Lebanon did not attack Israel in 1948.
- Lebanon had problems with Syria who considered Lebanon as a part of Greater Syria.
- Lebanon was traditionally a refuge for Christians and others minorities who had been persecuted by Muslims.
- Tensions erupted briefly in the 1950s and dramatically in the 1970s.
- In 1975, civil war broke out.
o The PLO and Syria were involved.
- The PLO attacked Israel from southern Lebanon.
- In response to PLO attacks from across the Lebanese border, Israel participates in the civil war in support of the Christian militias with the added intent of destroying PLO bases.
- In response, a UN peacekeeping force is deployed but it is unsuccessful at restoring order.

Operation Peace for Galilee
- Israel invades Lebanon in June 1982 with four strategic goals:
o Kick out the PLO
o Scare the Syrians
o Create a separate peace agreement with the Christian president of Lebanon.
o Scare the Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank.
- Israel was deeply divided over this war.
o According to Israeli myth, Israel had never before initiated a conflict.
o Demonstrations took place throughout Israel.
- Israel considered the PLO as a terrorist organization at this time.
- There was no recognition on each side.
- Fatah had shifted so much that it was now considering a two state solution.
- Links between Israel and the US tightened.
- Eventually the PLO withdrew from Lebanon and reestablished itself in Tunis, Tunisia.

Sabra and Shatila
- Lebanese-Christian militias slaughtered approximately 2,000 Palestinian civilians in the refugee camps of Sabra and Shatila in Southern Lebanon.
o The attacks were initiated in response to an assassination of a Lebanese leader in Lebanon by the PLO.
o The IDF shouldered most of the blame for the slaughter and Ariel Sharon who was then commander of the IDF forces in Southern Lebanon was found morally responsible.
o Sharon was forced to resign over the incident.
- As a result of the massacre, the PLO was kicked out of Lebanon, Syria was scared, and internal divisions emerged in the PLO.
- Israel seemed victorious in its military operation in Lebanon until the Sabra and Shatila massacres when everything went wrong.
o International opinion turned against Israel.
o Hezbollah emerges as a new player and initiates devastating suicide-bomb attacks.
o 1/10th of the Israeli population began protesting in the streets of Israel.
- A unity government was established in Israel in 1984 in response to an election without a clear winner.
- It was generally agreed that Lebanon was a disaster.

How does the emergence of Hezbollah alter PLO-Israeli relations?
- Militant PLO members form Hezbollah, a more violent terrorist organization than the PLO.
- Arafat’s authority is reduced by distance--- he is now in Tunisia--- and competition.
- Arafat’s hand is forced: He must decide whether to ally with the more violent elements of the PLO or draw the olive branch closer.
- Arafat sought to repair breaks between PLO factions and was largely successful by spring 1987.

Peace Proposals
- In 1981, Reagan proposes limited autonomy for residents of the West Bank and Gaza.
- Saudi Arabia also offers a solution.

The First Intifada
- The First Intifada begins in December 1987.
- It is a spontaneous revolt.
- The Intifada was just what Arafat needed thus he claimed responsibility even though he was not responsible.
- Due to the Intifada, Arafat gained legitimacy in the Arab world again.
- The Intifada had a big impact on Israeli society in general and tourism in particular as tourists were now reluctant to visit the Holy Land.
- This was the first time a majority in Israeli society were willing to consider giving back the occupied territories.
- Israel recognized Arafat as the representative of the Palestinian people.
- A law was passed in Israel forbidding Israelis from speaking to the PLO thus frustrating negotiations.
- However, at this time, people from both sides started talking about solutions. Even high ranking military officers became involved.
- Despite the fact that at this time, many Palestinians viewed the PLO as their sole representative, Hamas was formed and challenged secular Palestinian nationalism.

Progression of the Intifada
- Palestinians engaged in protests, strikes, non-payment of taxes, and refusal to use identity documents.
- While the Intifada was largely non-violent, images of stone throwing youths became emblematic.
- PLO took over the movement, escalating violence to incidents involving firearms.
- By 1991, 697 Palestinians had been killed including 78 under the age of 14.

Madrid Conference, 1991
- This conference was both bilateral and multilateral.
- Unfortunately, the conference was unsuccessful, ending in deadlock.
- The Israeli Prime Minister did not want any members of the PLO to participate.
- The idea of Gaza first emerged. That is, Israel should first withdraw from the Gaza Strip.
- Jordan and Israel immediately agreed on a Declaration of Principles but Jordan could not sign anything until Syria had signed an agreement and Syria could not sign anything until the Palestinians had signed an agreement. Thus, deadlock.
- Meanwhile, Israeli society was changing due to immigration from the former Soviet Union.
- President Bush Sr. threatens to halt aid to Israel if settlements continue.

Lecture #5: Theory: Conflicts and 'Loss of Face'

2010-04-16T13:09:00.001+02:00

Michael Schulz

What are our options in resolving a conflict?

The Conflict Triangle

- Galtung's Conflict Triangle which points to content/issus/contradiction; attitudes/stereotypes/imagery; and behavior/actions/violence.
- Attitudes/stereotypes/imagery are the principle problems in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The conflict staircase

- Mutual personal mistrust is prevalent in this conflict.
o The media plays an extremely important role here.
o The media’s bias is not surprising because it exists everywhere (including Sweden) but it plays an enormous role in socialization and the creation and perpetuation of stereotypes.
o Israelis are often proactive in the media while Palestinians are reactive.
- Schulz: This conflict ranges from stairs 4 (scurrilous images)-9 (total annihilation) on the conflict staircase but most people are at stairs 4 (scurrilous images)-6 (strategical threats).
- Some describe the participants as members of honor-based societies that must revenge ‘loss of face.’
- Of course, there are always involved parties that have attempted to climb the conflict staircase in the opposite direction.
o Example- Israeli parents of children who died in a suicide attack who visit Palestinian parents of the suicide bomber.
- In the 1980s and 1990s, Israeli society was deeply divided over peace and conflict.
- Unfortunately, movement up the staircase is quite rare.

Iconic Images of Conflict

-It is impossible to be impartial in this conflict.
- Muhammad al Dura and his father die in Israeli/Palestinian crossfire. Images of their death were used to mobilize Palestinians during the 2nd Intifada.
- 2 Israelis are killed in Ramallah police station. Images of their death and the treatment of their bodies were used as evidence of Palestinian violence and brutality.
- Palestinian humiliation at checkpoints
- Arab suicide bombing
- The 1972 Munich Olympics
- These images create fear on both sides and make it difficult to seek and secure peace.
- Maps are also used as images to incite fear and conflict.
- Images of the 1973 October War have traumatized Israeli society.
o Prior to the war, Israelis were very afraid that the Arab states would invade and “throw them into the sea.”
o Meanwhile, the military was certain that they would achieve victory.
o After 1973, many Israelis believed that they were at risk. The Arab states were thought to be a greater threat than Palestinians. Today, Syria, Hezbollah in Lebanon, and Iran are still viewed as huge threats.
- Enemy images and stereotypes are so deeply ingrained that they seem irreversible.

The Path to Reconciliation?
- Key questions: How can Israelis and Palestinians move from a divided past to a shared future? / How do we achieve mercy, justice, truth, peace, etc.?
- For Israelis, this conflict is about the security of individual Israeli citizens and the state of Israel.
- For Palestinians, this conflict is about justice, rights, and identity.

What is Mercy?
- Schulz: at the moment, the right of return is the biggest obstacle to peace.
- How can the Palestinians forgive “expulsion”?
- How can the Israelis forgive “terrorism”?

What is Justice?
- How is justice defined?
- Should justice be defined contextually?
- How do you bring “terrorists”/ leaders to court?
- Can tradition forms of justice be applied?

How can we approach “the truth”?
- How do you reverse socialized stereotypes?
- How do you understand the perpetrator?
- How can history be written in a fair and balanced way?
- How do you teach history to children?
- How do you objectively approach a painful past?

How can we approach conflict resolution?
- How do you restore justice to Palestinians and security to Israelis (simultaneously)?
- How do you approach the following incompatibilities: refugees, settlers, borders, water, citizens’ rights?
- How care you restore trust?
- How can we approach a long-term time-frame for peace-building?

Components of Reconciliation
- Non-violence
- Equal partnership (This conflict is extremely asymmetric.)
- Recognition of the legitimate existence of the rival group
- Societal beliefs about Peace
- Unfortunately, Palestinians who develop relationships with Israelis may put themselves in danger.

Is Forgiveness Necessary?
- Are some deeds unforgiveable?

Methods of Reconciliation
- Apology
- Truth and Reconciliation Commissions
- Writing a common history
- Education
- Mass media
- Joint Projects
- Tourism
- Cultural exchanges
- NGO projects
- Publicized meetings between representatives of both groups

Unfortunately, leaders in this conflict have never apologized to each other.

Lecture #4: Changing Winds, 1967-1979

2010-04-16T13:07:00.000+02:00

Isabell Schierenbeck

A Changing Political Context
- After the June War/ Six Day War in June 1967, the Israeli occupation begins.
- Israel offers to exchange land for peace and recognition from the Arab states.
- Khartoum Resolution (The 3 No’s)- The Arab League meets in Khartoum, Sudan and passes the Khartoum Resolution which asserts that Arab states will not recognize Israel, negotiate with Israel, or make peace with Israel.
- The narrative changes as the conflict is transformed from the Arab-Israeli conflict to the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict.
- The October War/ Yom Kippur War occurs in 1973 taking the IDF by surprise and inflicting a high number of Israeli military casualties.
- The Camp David Accords are signed in 1979. Egypt breaks with the Khartoum Resolution and trades peace and recognition with Israel for the Sinai Desert.
- 1967 was a major turning point in the conflict, begging the question: What should Israel do with the Occupied Territories (the Sinai Desert, the Golan Heights, the Gaza Strip, and the West Bank)?

Before 1967
- Did Israel plan to take over/ occupy the West Bank and Gaza Strip prior to 1967?
- Herut (later Likud) argued that Israel should occupy the West Bank and Gaza Strip for security reasons as well as a religious right to ‘Greater Israel’ possessed by the Jews.
- Rabi Kook was instrumental to spreading ideological/religious reasons for claiming the West Bank.

After 1967
- The ultra-orthodox Zionist movement was born after the Six-Day War as they were suddenly politicized.
- 1967-1970: Labor-Likud unity government.
- After 1970: Likud became Labor’s biggest rival which was a major turning point since Labor were in charge of the government from 1948-1967.
- The dispute that caused the political shift: Did Labor really want to give the Occupied Territories back? Who initiated the settlements?

The October War/ Yom Kippur War, 1973
- This blow was the fatal blow to the Labor Party.
- After the war, Prime Minister Golda Meir takes the blame for Israel’s losses in the war and resigns.
- Israel was surprised by the Arab attack and initially suffered heavy casualties.
- Likud basically says, “I told you so!”
- Israeli politics shifts to the right.
- This was interpreted as the 2nd sign of the return of the Messiah by ultra-orthodox Zionists--- Israel’s resounding victory in the Six-Day War was seen as the 1st sign of the Messiah’s return.
- Gush Emunim (the Block of the Faithful) is founded in 1974.

The Camp David Accords, 1978-1979
- The accords were backed by American financial assistance.
- Carter, Begin, and Sadat meet at Camp David to trade land for peace.
- Palestinians start representing themselves and put themselves on the political map.
- The Camp David Accords consisted of three parts:
o Israel returned the Sinai Desert to Egypt.
o Israel accepts UN resolution 242, granting autonomous authority to the West Bank and Gaza.
o Israeli/Arab statement of principles.
- The exchange of land for peace was perhaps the most important outcome of these negotiations.
- Although the Sinai Desert was returned to Egypt, it had no mythical meaning/significance to Israelis. (This is why many contend that it would be much easier to give back Gaza than the West Bank.)

What are the disputed “facts”?
- Israeli war aims
- Arab war aims
- Israeli settlement Policy

Israeli Politics
- Gaza and the West Bank are not considered to be a part of the state of Israel because they have not been annexed. In contrast, the Knesset officially annexed the Golan Heights and Jerusalem.
- Israeli society contains many cleavages.
o A cleavage is a social division creating a collective identity among those to each side of the divide. This identity competes with the ‘national identity’ (Lipset & Robban 1967).
- There are several cleavages in Israeli politics:
o Jews- Palestinians
o Ashkenazim- Mizrachim
o Religious- Secular
o Sabra (those born in Israel)- Immigrants
o Left- Right
Jews- Palestinians
- Jews constitute the majority in Israel while Israeli-Palestinians, Palestinian-Israelis, or Israeli Arabs constitute the minority.
- The Israeli Arabs are those who stayed behind in 1948-1949 and their decedents. They are religiously either Muslim or Christian (or secular) and ethnically either Palestinians, Druze, or Beguin.
- Israeli Arabs primarily live in the Galilee and the Negev Desert.
- Israeli Arabs living outside of Jerusalem have full citizenship while those living in East Jerusalem have residency.
- However, there are social divisions between Israelis and Israeli Arabs including socioeconomic status, living conditions, education, ability to work and serve in the military, birth rates, and the position of women.
- There are also internal cleavages including religion, class, and family.

Isabell said that she would continue this lecture on Friday, April 23, 2010 when she will discuss “Israeli Society.”

Lecture #3: Nationbuilding and the Arab-Israeli Wars

2010-04-16T13:06:00.000+02:00

Isabell Schierenbeck, Department of Political Science

Please see powepoints entitled State- and Nation Building and the Arab-Israeli Wars.ppt and Masada.ppt at

http://kursportal.student.gu.se/inst/S2GLS%7C_%7CNONE/RS2235/filuppladdning/browse2.php?dir=Kursmoment%2FLecture+notes+and+ppt

What is nationalism?
- Nationalism is an ideological movement for autonomy, unity, and identity on behalf of a population constituting a nation.
- Examples of national movements include Jewish/ Zionist, Palestinian, Kurdish, and Scottish.
- A nation state consists of one nation occupying a single territory.
- According to French historian Renan, "Getting history wrong is part of being a nation."

National myths
-National myths inspire belief and action amoung their adherents.
-A conflict cannot be resolve without knowledge of a nation's national myths.
- An important Jewish national myth revolves around Masada.
- A common bumper sticker in Israel reads, "Masada shall not fall again!" This slogan means we (the Jewish people) will never give up.

Zionism
-Zionism is a Jewish national movement.
- Early Zionists believed that the establishment of a Jewsih homeland was necessary because of widespread anti-Semitism.
- Palestine was not always seen as the only Jewish homeland but was eventually lifted up to add strength to the cause.
- However, there were internal disputes among Jews and Zionists.
-Aliyah or ascent is Jewish immigration to Eretz Yisrael.
- The Yishuv was the Jewish nation-building institution that exists in Palestine prior to the creation of the state of Israel.

Palestinian Nationbuilding
- Palestinian nationalism was a response to Jewish nationalism via immigration and settlement in Palestine.
- The strength of Zionism soon made it clear that an Arab identity or a Syrian identity was not useful for Palestinians.
- Zionism was a problem that no other Arab population in the Middle East face thus Palestinians had to create an independent national movement to assert their rights and claim their homeland.
- Palestinian identity is founded on territory and purification of culture.
- The first Palestinian resistance movement is called the Great Revolt and occured in Palestine from 1936-1939.
- During the Great Revolt, many Palestinian leaders were killed thus the Palestinian national movement was unable to recover by 1948 to challenge the formation of the state of Israel in Palestine.

Disputed "Facts"
1. Military balance (organization. equipment?)
2. The origin of the Palestinian refugee problem (Arab propaganda or Israeli violence/ harassment?)
3. Israeli-Jordian relations (agreement in 1946-1947?)
4. Arab war aims ("Throw the Jews into the sea"?)
5. The elusive peace (Arab/ Israeli peace initiatives?)
6. Israeli war aims (Was Plan Dalet a "master plan" for the transfer of the Palestinians?)

Lecture #1: Introduction and Lecture #2: Historical Background

2010-03-30T09:08:00.000+02:00

Michael Schulz, Course Coordinator

Please see powerpoint entitled LectureintroRS2235vt10.ppt posted at

http://kursportal.student.gu.se/inst/S2GLS%7C_%7CNONE/RS2235/filuppladdning/browse2.php?dir=Kursmoment%2FLecture+notes+and+ppt

The following notes are not comprehensive because the lecture was presented via powerpoint. Please see the powerpoint file for additional information.

Introduction
-Academia is highly politicized in this conflict.

-One over-arching theme: Can this conflict be resolved?

- Throughout this course, we will take a scientific approach to the debates and literature.

- This course is framed as a conflict resolution case study which will incorporate both theory and practice as well as a critical analysis of academic debates.

- During the first week, we will discuss the historical "facts" of 1948.

How should we study national conflicts?

- Hobsbawn, "...no serious historian of nations and nationalism can be a committed political nationalist..."

What is the conflict about?

- While root causes exist, the situation has changed over time.

- According to Schulz, the conflict is about nationalism.

- Others contend that it is a conflict that pits the East vs. the West. Still other argue that it is a conflict about oil, religion, water, and/or historical hatred.

- This is conflict about two national movements' struggle over historical Palestine.

- There are spoilers of both sides. On the Palestinian side there is Hamas and on the Israeli side there are the Israeli settlers.

- The media only presents violent images of the conflict. However, the situation is not one of incessant violence. It is far more complex.

Who are the parties in the conflict?

- The core parties include Israel; the Palestinians/ PLO/ PA/ Hamas; Arab states.

- Involved parties include Iran and Turkey.

- Third parties include the international community including the U.S., UN, EU, Russia, Sweden, etc.

What is the criteria for defining a region? / What is the Middle East?

- What is known as the Middle East has no geographical unity, no homogenous culture, no clear historical connectedness, no inclusive regional organization.

The Israeli-Palestinian Security Complex

- Why would Jews, who had been praying for a Messiah for 2,000 years, suddenly decide to claim a state for themselves?

- Jewish nationalism began in Europe.

- Around 1850, the majority of Jews were religious not Zionist.

- How did the Jewish identity survive for so long?

- Jewish identity was perpetuated by the synagogue.

- Political Zionism started as a small, militant group in Central Europe.

-Meanwhile, on the Arab side...

- 1915, McMahon-Hussein Agreement was drafted between the British and Arabs to defeat the Ottoman Empire.

- 1916, Syces-Picot Agreement

- 1919, the Zionist Plan

- The Belfour Declaration

- David Ben-Gurion believed that two basic aspirations underlie all work in the country of Israel: to be like all nations, and to be different from all nations.

- Three major nation-state projects can be identified:
1. The Jewish nation-state project.
2. The Israeli nation-state project.
3. The Anti-state project.

- The ideology of the Jewish nation-state project is usually labelled as political Zionism or Jewish nationalism.

- Zionism can be historically divided into Labour Zionism (diplomatic), Revisionist Zionism (military), and Religious Zionism.

- In 1897, Theodor Herzl stated that the Jews would have a Jewish state in 50 years.

- While Herzl is often seen as the founding father of Zionism, he also advocated assimilation. He shifted is position after the Dreyfus Affair.

Important Milestones in Zionism

- Basel Congress (1897) and the foundation of the 1st World Zionist Organization
- The Jewish National Fund (1901)
- The Anglo-Palestine Bank (1902)
- First Kvutza (1907), this was a form of collective farming in small groups
- First Kibbutz (1910)
- Jewish Agency (1920), this was a pre-state organization

- Many Jewish refugees were initially drawn to Palestine after 1905 and the failure of the 1st Russian Revolution. These settlers wanted to build an ideal society in Palestine and initiated a socialist-inspired movement.

- Huge debate: What role did the British play? Did they support the Zionists or the Palestinians or neither?

Arabs Divided

- Internal leadership competitions
- 1920s Hussein's sons Feisal and Abdullah
- In Palestine, differences emerge among powerful families.
- Arabs become increasingly mobilized against Jewish immigration to Palestine.
- 1936-1939, Arab Revolt
- 1937-1938, Peel Commission issues partition plans that are rejected by both sides.
- 1939, White Paper

1920s: Mobilization
-Organization and confrontation
-Rule and divide

1930s: Increased competition and fears
- 1st uprising in 1936
- horrors in Europe

1940s: Towards Armed Conflict
- post-war (WWII) situation
- from Civil War to regional conflict
-Britain out, UN in

- Many Zionists actually believed that Palestine was a land without people for a people without land.

UN proposal 181 (1947)
- partition
- Zionists agreed, Arabs did not

The Naqba/ War of Independence (1948-49)
- Plan Daled, plan to expel the Arabs or plan of defense?
- 800 Palestinians died during the war, there was at least one massacre in a village outside of Jerusalem. The massacre fuled fears and mass flight.
-Between 400,000 and 800,000 Palestinians fled in 1948. Those who stayed were placed in military detention.
-Most historians agree that in 1948, Palestinians fled. However, why they fled is subject to intense debate.
-After the ceasefire, hundreds of thousands of Jews came to Israel from the Middle East, particularly Iraq. This led to prejudice against "Oriental" Jews many of whom settled in new developments and politically devisive areas.
- The UN Refugee, Relief and Works Agency was created to oversee Palestinian refugees.
-Meanwhile, the Israelis bulldozed "abandoned" Palestinian homes in Israel. This became a new root cause in the conflict and, according to Professor Schulz, this is the most difficult obstacle to peace yet.
- Contrary to popular belief, the USSR initially supported the state of Israel, not the U.S.
-In fact, during the "War of Independence" Israeli arms were supplied by the USSR via Czechoslovakia.

The Suez War (1956)
- This war was started by the French and the British in an effort to protect their business interests in the region.
- The British and French were forced to withdraw by order of the Security Council.
-However, prior to that, there was a coordinated attack on the Sinai Penninsula (held by Egypt) by Israel, the UK and France.

The 6-Day War/ June War
- Defeat in this war was a terrible blow to Arab states.

***Like I said before, these notes aren't great. Hopefully, Professor Schulz will post his powerpoint in the near future.***

Examination/Question

2010-03-15T15:42:00.001+01:00

Imagine that we are facing a situation where an imminent 'ethnic cleansing' situation is at hand in a country somewhere in region X. What can the international community do in order to prevent 'ethnic cleansing' (UN, regional organizations, great powers, top-leaders, civil society, grassroots, etc.) and how could these actions be legitimized? Furthermore, what are the risks that the action taken in order to establish 'liberal peace' may lead to, and what are the challenges?

- 3,000 words max.
- due on March 22, 2010
- submit to Urkund only--- Do not email or submit a hard copy!

Lecture #9: SSR/ Defense Reform in DRC

2010-03-15T15:39:00.000+01:00

Maria Eriksson Baaz

The lecturer used a very detailed powerpoint throughout her presentation. Unfortunately, the powerpoint file is not (yet) posted on the course portal.

Lecture #8: Goverance and International Law

2010-03-15T15:37:00.001+01:00

Mikael Baaz

This was a somewhat interactive lecture with constant reference to the Charter of the United Nations. In other words, you had to be there. (Sorry.)

Here are the highlights:

- The United Nations was created by and for the victorious powers of World War II. In fact, the name, "United Nations," was another name for the Allied Powers.

- According to the preamble, the United Nations was established in order to "save succeeding generations from the scourge of war" which is another way of saying that the chief goal was to avoid World War III.

- The preamble emphasizes the importance of peace as well as justice, social progress, and "better standards of life in larger freedom."

- Chapter I, Article 1 advocates the peaceful resolution of conflict and implies that peace is paramount over human rights.

- Article 2(1) states that the United Nations "is based on the principle of sovereign equality" and is thus not a world government.

-Article 2(3) establishes the responsibility of all members states to resolve disputes by peaceful means.

-Article 2(4) articulates a coherent prohibition on "the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state..." (See Articles 39 and 51 for exceptions.)

- Article 2(7) establishes the principle of non-intervention. (Again, see Articles 39 and 51 for exceptions.)

- According to the Chapter 2, Article 6, a member state can be expelled by recommendation of the Security Council but this has no historical precedent.

-Chapter IV explains the composition and role of the General Assembly while Chapter V explains the composition and role of the Security Council.

-According to Article 23(1), the Security Council shall consist of fifteen members-- five permanent members including the US, Russia, France, China, and the UK.

-As implied in Article 27(1), any one of the five permanent members of the Security Council can stop an international action through veto.

-Chapter VI is entitled "Pacific Settlement of Disputes" and advocates peaceful resolution of international disputes.

-Chapter VII, entitled "Action with Respect to Threats to the Peace, Breaches of the Peace, and Acts of Aggression," articulates the two exceptions to the prohibition on the use of force. Article 39 states that "the Security Council shall determine the existence of any threat of the peace, breach of the peace, or act of aggression" and shall decide appropriate actions and responses. Article 51 permits the use of force in self-defense.

-In order to enforce sanctions or use of force, the Security Council must first determine the existence of a threat to international peace. This was especially difficult during the Cold War when the US and the USSR often pursued contradictory political and economic interests. This also explains why there has been a virtual explosion of peace operations following the end of the Cold War.

- In addition to the use of force, the Security Council can also impose political and economic sanctions.

-If the Security Council decides to forcefully intervene, troops must be provided by member states or the Security Council must designate a state or organization to act on behalf of the United Nations. This is because the UN does not maintain a standing army.

- In terms of self-defense, a state may act unilaterally to protect its territorial integrity and/or political independence. However, a state cannot use excessive force or more force than necessary. Furthermore, a state can act pre-emptively but not preventively. It is also important to note that self-defense does not equal revenge and must be undertaken in a timely manner.

-In April, Mikael will begin with Article 55 as the point of departure for his lecture on humanitarian intervention.

Lecture #7: Diplomacy

2010-03-15T15:34:00.000+01:00

Mikael Baaz

Please see the powerpoint file entitled "Diplomacy" posted on the course portal:

http://kursportal.student.gu.se/inst/S2GLS%7C_%7CNONE/IK2231/filuppladdning/browse2.php?dir=Kursmoment%2FLecture+notes+and+ppt

Lecture #6: The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict

2010-03-15T15:30:00.000+01:00

Michael Schulz

Please see the powerpoint presentation entitled, "IP analys vt10 (portalen)"posted on the course portal:

http://kursportal.student.gu.se/inst/S2GLS%7C_%7CNONE/IK2231/filuppladdning/browse2.php?dir=Kursmoment%2FLecture+notes+and+ppt

Exercise #3: Nonviolent Action

2010-02-11T12:17:00.000+01:00

Stellan Vinthagen

A Brief Introduction to Nonviolent Action:
- Nonviolent action seeks to mobilize people at the grassroots level in such a way as to affect the government.

- The assumption is that grassroots civil disobedience can make a significant difference in a conflict and that power is bestowed upon a government from below.

- Unfortunately, there has been little theoretical development of the concept of nonviolent action.

- The use of nonviolent action is also limited. However, there are at least 30 examples of successful nonviolent action aimed at changing or removing a government and/or government policies.

- Two of the most commonly cited examples of successful nonviolent action are the US civil rights movement and nonviolent action organized by Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi in order to achieve Indian indepedence from Great Britain.

- Successful nonviolent action requires training.
o Many training techniques were developed in the US during the civil rights movement.
o The idea behind training is to find new options, techniques, and ways of acting during a conflict.

- Theory vs. Reality
o Theory is discussed extensively in university courses but, unfortunately, these same courses rarely address reality.
o We need to build a bridge between theory and reality.
o We need to develop body memory to remember the theory and use it in reality.

- Bourdieu
o Bourdieu discusses the imporatance of practical knowledge.
o You cannot perform without practice.

- Conclusion: The CIA trains; militaries and police forces train; terrorist organizations train; why shouldn't you?

Exercise #2: Conflict Analysis

2010-02-11T11:57:00.000+01:00

Stellan Vinthagen

Assignment: Read "Conflict-sensitive approaches to development, humanitarian assistance and peace building: tools for peace and conflict impact assessment," chapter 2 (http://www.conflictsensitivity.org/resource_pack.html). Select and analyse one of the 15 tools discussed in the chapter. Form groups of 5-6 people to discuss the tools and share your analysis. During your discussion, you should ask, "WHEN is WHAT analytical tool useful? WHY?"

Summary:
- Avoid too much complexity/simplicity.
o Your analysis is too complex when you feel powerless/ overwhelmed.
o However, it is good to appreciate the complexity of a conflict for humility's sake.
o Do not allow complexity to hold you back.

- The bottom line is always: DO NO HARM!
o Do not hurt people or exaccerbate the conflict.
o Do not intervene if there is a great possibility that your intervention will cause harm.

- Possibilities or Priorities?!
o Sometimes you need to focus on one or the other.

- Conflict + Goals + Resources → Project
o Try to contribute/intervene within your means.

- Take these models and tools and combine them to create your own methods of conflict analysis.
o It is essential to continuously develop analytical tools.

- Conflict ANALYSIS is never finished!
o This is because the conflict is always developing.

- Try to continuously contribute and evaluate your contributions.
o You should use your evaluations to rework your project.

- Start small and build up your project step by step (pilot-projects).

- Always keep the following two goals in mind:
o 1. Reduce violence (short term and long term).
o 2. Increase conflict resolution/ conflict transformation capacity.

- Always keep the following recurrent problems in mind:
o 1. How do we avoid donor control?
o 2. How do we coordinate interventions?

Lecture #5: Conflict Analysis

2010-02-06T12:38:00.000+01:00

Stellan Vinthagen

Please see the PowerPoint file entitled, "Analysing Conflicts" at:

http://kursportal.student.gu.se/inst/S2GLS%7C_%7CNONE/IK2231/filuppladdning/browse2.php?dir=Kursmoment%2FLecture+notes+and+ppt

Lecture #4: Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR)

2010-02-04T15:31:00.000+01:00

Stellan Vinthagen

Suggested Reading: Do No Harm, Mary B. Anderson
- This is essential reading for anyone engaged in conflict resolution
- This book discusses how aid can and does exacerbate/ drive conflict.

Galtung’s Conflict Pyramid
- Before we examine ADR, it is important to revisit Galtung’s Conflict Pyramid.
- Johan created the Conflict Pyramid to explain the minimum dimensions of all conflicts.
- Each corner of the pyramid represents a different dimension of conflict.
o “A”: attitudes
o “B”: behaviors
o “C”: contradictions
- If someone engaged in dispute resolution focuses on the “A” corner, he or she has adopted a process oriented approach.
- If someone engaged in dispute resolution focuses on the “B” corner, he or she has adopted a security oriented approach.
- If someone engaged in dispute resolution focuses on the “C” corner, he or she has adopted an issue oriented approach.
- In all conflict resolution, you must address all three corners of the pyramid even if you focus on one corner.

Traditional Dispute Resolution (TDR)
- We also need to revisit TDR.
- Traditional Dispute Resolution has been adopted by countries, the UN, NATO, and multi-lateral armies.
- TDR is security oriented and focuses on the “B” or behaviors corner of Galtung’s pyramid.
- TDR is typically combined with diplomatic measures and actors engaged in TDR often make threats through diplomatic channels.
- It is top-down and often entails the use of power/ force.
- TDR virtually ignores the “A” or attitudes corner and does little to address the “C” or contradictions corner of Galtung’s pyramid.
- TDR is a form of conflict management.
- Criticisms of TDR have developed into ADR.

Introduction to ADR
- ADR is an approach to conflict resolution that has become popular over the last 20-30 years.
- It is intended as an alternative to Traditional Dispute Resolution (TDR).
- ADR focuses on the “A” or attitudes and the “C” or contradictions corners of the Conflict Pyramid.
- ADR was developed throughout the 20th century but took off in the US in the 1960s and 1970s.
o Background: ADR was developed as an alternative method to resolve conflicts that were typically resolved through costly and time-consuming lawsuits.
o ADR took the form of community dispute centers intended to resolve conflicts and mediate costs.
o This form of conflict resolution spread globally and has been codified in ADR.

The Six Characteristics of ADR
1. Professional conflict resolution by impartial and/or neutral “third parties.”
2. Focus on facilitation (without coercive means or threats).
3. Builds on voluntary participation.
4. Conflict parties are said to “own” their own conflict.
5. Uses training, education, process work to build up skills and awareness to deal with conflicts.
6. Believes in “win-win” solutions as an ideal form of conflict resolution.
Two Examples of ADR
- “The Elders”
o This group was founded/funded by Richard Branson and Peter Gabriel.
o “The Elders” recruits retired, experienced mediators such as Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu to mediate conflicts globally.
- The Harvard Negotiation Project
o This project attempts to resolve conflicts through “principled negotiations.”
o This project embraces a rational approach to conflict resolution.

5 Possible Outcomes of Conflict
1. Total victory for party #1.
2. Total victory for party #2.
3. Mutual destruction/ stalemate.
4. Compromise.
5. “Win-win.” (This is viewed as the best outcome by those who embrace ADR.)

4 Different Versions of ADR
1. Educational (emphasis on knowledge as a means of empowerment)
2. Rational (Harvard Negotiation Project)
3. Therapeutic (“conflict doctors”/ individual and group emotional therapy)
4. Spiritual (appeals to higher power/ see Parry, Warriors of the Heart)

Non-Violent Communication, Marshall Rosenberg
- “Giraffe” language is a form of compassionate communication.
- Normally, when people are engaged in a conflict they speak “wolf” language which is judgmental, aggressive, and, ultimately, counter-productive.
- Rosenberg trains people on how to speak “giraffe.”
- “Giraffe” language has four rules:
1. State what you observe. (Observations must be factual and indisputable.)
2. State what you feel. (Only state “I” messages about yourself./ Stated feelings should provide the reasoning behind the conflict and should be honest and nonjudgmental.)
3. State what you value/need. (Stated needs should explain your feelings.)
4. State what you suggest/ request. (This should serve as a conclusion for your observation, feelings, and needs and should not be an order or a threat.)
- Professor Vinthagen’s views on “Giraffe” language: It is helpful but not useful in resolving all conflicts. In order for compassionate communication to work, both parties have to care about each other. This is just one tool for conflict resolution.
- Professor Vinthagen’s example of “Giraffe” language. This example concerns his teenage daughter’s messy room.
o Observation: His daughter’s clean clothes are on the floor.
o Feeling: This makes Professor Vinthagen frustrated.
o Need: Professor Vinthagen need’s his daughter to take care of her resources/ possessions.
o Request: Professor Vinthagen requests that his daughter put her clean clothes in a drawer.
- Advanced course: Only hear “giraffe” language.

Criticisms of ADR
- This criticisms are based on the writings of P. Caplan, L. Nader, and C. Harrington.
1. Reflects western cultural values such as individualism and rationality.
2. Utopian belief in “The Method”
3. Privatization of conflicts
4. Provides indirect support for powerful groups
5. Mechanism of social control (see Michel Foucault)
6. Adapts a Rational Choice and Economic Man view
7. Informal/ undermines law/justice
8. Alternative Dispute Resolution = Complimentary Dispute Resolution (ADR doesn’t question / criticize the system or power asymmetries. It takes traditional power structures as given.)

3 Ways to View ADR
1. ADR is the only way to resolve conflicts.
2. ADR is as an inherently flawed/ problematic approach to conflict resolution.
3. ADR is a tool that can be employed as part of a tool box of different approaches to conflict resolution. (This is the view recommended by Professor Vinthagen.)

Lecture #3: Conflict Resolution Theory

2010-02-01T18:25:00.001+01:00

Lecture #3: “Conflict Resolution Theory”
Camilla Orjuela, Peace Research

Lecture Outline
- Understanding conflicts and resolutions
- Peace research
- Three methods of addressing conflict: management, resolution, transformation
- Actors (Unfortunately, we did not have enough time to cover this point.)
- Throughout the lecture, we will discuss the case of Sri Lanka.

Purpose
- The purpose of this lecture is to discuss the basics in the field of conflict resolution.
- We will discuss debates and theories concerning armed conflict/ use of violence.

Understanding Conflicts and Resolutions
- As soon as more than two people are involved in a conflict, it becomes complicated.
- Here are some instructive conflict statistics have been compiled by academics at Uppsala University, these statistics concern documented armed conflicts occurring between 1946 and 2004:
o There were 362 conflict terminations.
o There were 228 armed conflicts (The difference between the number of conflicts and the number of terminations is principally explained by the fact that conflicts often terminate and resume multiple times. )
o There were 55 peace agreements.
o There were 119 outright victories.
o There were numerous stalemates and instances of de-escalation.
- Peace researchers tend to focus on peace agreements. Unfortunately, this is both narrow-minded and overly optimistic.
- A major problem in every conflict is asymmetric relations.
o Thus, one cannot assume that all parties are equal.
o Asymmetries exist in military strength, economic resources, legitimacy.
o Asymmetric relations are at the center of conflict resolution.
- What is conflict and what is peace?
o Many conflicts concern disputes over social justice vs. social order.
o Although one side may claim to be fighting for social justice and the other may claim to be fighting for social order, both often claim to fighting for peace.
o Often the government/ strongest side claims to be fighting for social order while rebels/ weaker side claims to be fighting for social justice.
o Actors in a conflict often claim to be fighting in order to achieve peace thus blurring the boundaries between conflict and peace.
o A common definition of peace is to end violence as well as the injustices that cause violence. This definition addresses social justice and social order.
o Your own background determines how you view conflicts. If you grew up in the majority, you will see things certain ways. If you grew up in the minority, you will see things in other ways. An example of this is how Swedes and Suomi see conflicts over land and sovereignty.
o There is no easy way to solve conflicts.

The Case of Sri Lanka
- The 26 year old conflict in Sri Lanka is often characterized as an ethnic conflict but it was also a conflict over power, resources, and representation.
- More than 100,000 people died throughout the conflict.
- Sri Lanka now as a long history or “enemy” images. In fact, those 27 years old and younger have only ever known conflict.
- The “contradiction” in the Sri Lankan conflict was thought to be the fact that Sinhalese was the official language and the 25% of the population that principally spoke Tamil thus had difficulties in securing employment. However, once Tamil became an officially recognized language, the conflict did not end.
- There were a number of attempts to end the conflict through peace agreements.
- However, last year, the conflict ended suddenly with an outright government victory.
- The two principle (and most widely recognized) actors in the conflict were the Sinhalese majority as represented by the government and the Tamil minority as represented by the Tamil tigers but there were/ are far more participants. Additional participants included/include:
o International actors such as China, India, Japan, and, to a limited extent, the UN
o The Sinhalese majority
o The Tamil minority
o Political parties
o Other Tamil groups
o Social movements
o Peace organizations
o Migrants/ Members of diasporas
- Unfortunately, many trying to resolve this conflict as well as other conflicts attempt to do so from the outside and with limited knowledge of the conflict, the actors, as well as social structures and customs.
- Example: Camilla observed a peace resolution workshop in the capital city of Colombo. This workshop was led by a South African who was not familiar with the social hierarchies present in Sri Lankan society.
- The preceding case shows that one cannot simply apply generic conflict resolution tools to specific conflicts.
- Although outsiders are useful actors in conflict resolution, their positions and identities are problematic.

Peace Research
- Peace research originated in Norway during the 1950s and 1960s.
- One of the earliest and most influential peace researchers was Johan Galtung.
o Galtung was from Norway.
o He started publishing in the 1960s.
o He was one of the first academics to conceptualize peace.
o He distinguished between negative peace or the absence of war and positive peace or social justice.
o He also distinguished between direct violence which is easily observable and causes direct harm, and structural violence in which people are denied the necessities and/or opportunities to live their lives to the fullest.
o In short, Galtung started to critically examine ideas and methods of peace.
- Peace research became an academic discipline in the 1970s.
o It was multidisciplinary, involving scholars from economics, history, psychology, political science, linguistics, anthropology, sociology, etc.
- Peace research was initially normative in that its goal was explicit change. It is a bit less normative today.
- Peace research is and was problem-oriented.
- Peace research is and was both theoretical and applied.
- Another key researcher is John Burton.
o He argued that basic needs must be met in order to solve a conflict.
o He sought to identify underlying needs such as identity and dignity as well as food and shelter.
o He started a tradition of problem-solving workshops which helped to facilitate creative, win-win solutions based on shared interests.

Management, Resolution, and Transformation
- It is important to note that the three approaches to conflict in the proceeding section are not, necessarily, distinct. They are only treated as such for the purposes of clarity.
- Conflict management
o This approach is derived from the perspective of social order.
o It is a traditional approach/method that utilizes violence and/or superior power.
o This approach is biased towards the stronger party.
o Zartman writes about conflict management when he discusses the “mutually hurting stalemate.” He discusses the mutually hurting stalemate in order to determine why parties start to negotiate. He contends that a mutually hurting stalemate occurs when both sides feel that the conflict is too costly and are, therefore, willing to negotiate. The principal problem with this argument is that it is circular.
o This approach focuses most on the “behavior” of the participants.
o It emphasizes traditional dispute resolution through diplomacy, hierarchies, etc.
o It is also called “Track 1.”
- Conflict Resolution
o Conflict resolution focuses on resolving or ending the conflict.
o A major problem is that conflict resolution gives the impression that conflicts can be resolved.
o The focus of conflict resolution is finding win-win solutions through negotiations.
o Conflict resolution typically involves third parties including the UN, international actors, and academics.
o Conflict resolution focuses more on “attitudes” and “contradictions” than “behaviors.”
o Those engaged in conflict resolution attempt to understand all sides.
o Conflict resolution also employs “principled negotiations” in which actors first agree upon the principles and then discuss the conflict.
o Conflict resolution can also be deemed alternative dispute resolution or ADR.
- Conflict Transformation
o Conflict transformation attempts to alter power/conflict relations.
o This approach is perhaps the most difficult to employ/achieve.
o Conflict transformation often focuses on the weaker party and attempts to recast issues in different ways.
o On way that conflict transformation has occurred in through implementation of regional organizations such as the EU. This shifts the focus away from the nation-state and towards the region and/or micro-region.
o This approach focuses on the broader context and emphasizes social justice.
o John Paul Lederach writes about this approach and emphasizes the importance of bringing in all of society.

Lecure #2: Committing Extraordinary Violence

2010-02-01T17:14:00.000+01:00

Michael Schulz, course coordinator

1st- BBC documentary on the Stanford Prison Experiment

2nd- Lecture
Please see the PowerPoint file entitled, "Becoming Evil," at:
http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=5368284585079214518

Lecture #1: Conflict Theory

2010-02-01T17:08:00.000+01:00

Michael Schulz, course coordinator

Please see the PowerPoint file entitled, "LectureintoIK2231 vt10.ppt," at:
http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=5368284585079214518

Research on Global Issues: Humanitarian Intervention in Cambodia

2009-12-06T15:23:00.000+01:00

Malin Hasselskog, School of Global Studies

Opening Note: This is a discussion of Malin’s doctoral thesis. Malin analyzed development interventions in three Cambodian villages. She theorizes how development assistance is an instance of intervention.

Development Assistance
- An intervention is something introduced from the outside and including materials, expertise and values.
o This implies an interference with prevailing political/ cultural/ economic systems.
o The aim of development assistance is to change. For example, donors may believe that gender equality is better than gender inequality and seek to change unequal practices.
o Intervention leads to good and bad outcomes. Malin’s thesis is not, necessarily, a severe critique.
- Why study this?
o This should be studied to determine what is possible to achieve through intervention.
- There is now a tendency for donors to demand more detailed control of development assistance projects.
o This is seen through detailed project cycles.
- LFA (Logical Framework Approach)
o This system facilitates detailed project planning.
o LFA includes different outputs and indicators to verify goals and outcomes.
o This points towards donors wanting more detailed control over projects.
- Budget Support
o In this instance, the recipient state is free to use donated money as they see fit in the state budget.
o This indicates less donor control.
o Few states qualify for this kind of intervention.
o In practice, the recipient state is not actually free to spend the money how they want. There is usually an advisor and if the state does not use the money appropriately, it can be withdrawn.
- Development assistance is based on the idea that intervention is just and possible and that it is right to change a society.
o This idea builds on certain assumptions on roles of actors in societal change.
o This concept reflects social change as technical where assistance works independently of the context in which it is implemented.
o This concept implies that external experts can design effective interventions and local people will behave in certain, predicable ways.
- However, this does not actually happen.
o Local communities have their own unique dynamics.
o When something new is introduced, it is localized and/ or adjusted to the local setting. This occurs through the interplay between the community and actors/ money/ materials in development assistance.
- This is common sense but development assistance is still designed as predicable/ manageable/ implementable.
- Today, many argue that donors still attempt to implement assistance “blueprints” rather than collaborate with local partners.

An Example of a Major Development Program in Cambodia
- Malin studied a case of development assistance that is widely perceived as successful.
- This program was called Carere/ Seila and is a major governance program in Cambodia facilitated by the UN (Carere) and the Cambodian government (Seila).
- This program was implemented in the early stages of the “governance era” in the early 1990s and was considered very ambitious.
- The program was initiated and designed by donors working with the United Nations.
- The goals and underlying views of the program included:
o Participatory development lays the foundation for peace.
o Partnership is vital to success.
o Democracy, accountability and representation should be promoted. This entailed changing people’s view of the state.
- The program is implemented in the following ways:
o The program established a rural development structure at every level of governance.
o Village Development Committees (VDCs) were formed and were composed of elected participants.
o Local Development Funds (LDFs) were established and provided money to the commune to be used for local development allocations decided by a Local Planning Process (LPP). This sought, in part, to improve relations between villages and communes.
o When projects were authorized by the commune, villages were asked to provide some cash and labor.
o This program was emphasized as a policy experiment in selected areas in Cambodia.
o The overall aims were democracy, improved relations between the people and the state, poverty alleviation, peace, etc.
- The Cambodian context was challenging for this projection because:
o Cambodia is traditionally hierarchical.
o Local, political culture is one where villagers avoid contact with local authorities. This is because villagers have had negative experiences with authorities.

Ratanakiri Province
- This province is located in the northeast corner of Cambodia.
- The province primarily composed of ethnic minorities or Highland People.
- Apart from Ratanakiri Province, the rest of Cambodia is quite homogenous.
- The relationship between the locals and the authorities is worse here than in the rest of the country.
- Material living standards are lower than in the rest of Cambodia.
- This is an extremely challenging context for development assistance.

Tera Village
- This village is in a remote location.
- There was a road constructed to the village through a food for work program initiated by Carere/ Selia.
- Carere/ Seila also provided the village with buffaloes and emergency assistance.

Implications of Implementation in Terms of Participation and Empowerment
- Participation and empowerment were essential aspects of the project document. In her research, Malin asked: was it successful?
- Villagers were given buffalos for wetland rice cultivation.
o This was problematic because villagers did not grow wetland rice and as a result, had to move their village to a location near the river.
o The villagers said that “development called us down and asked if we wanted to have buffalos and grow wetland rice.” The villagers perceived this is a demand to move their village and grow wetland rice.
o This had been attempted several times before as previous governments and development projects sought to move the Highland People to lower ground. Thus the Highland People in Tera Village had been moving away from the forest and towards the river for decades depending on the political regime.
- When Malin asked Carere workers why the villagers were given buffalos, the workers said that the people asked for buffalos in order to grow wetland rice.
- The Highland People adopted the Lowland view of development which was to settle in one place with houses built in rows and grow wetland rice.
- The villagers felt no sense of influence over the development process.
- The villagers expected that they might have to move back to the forest again even if the authorities didn’t want them to do this—but when Malin was conducting her research, the villagers were still awaiting official permission to move.
o The villagers thought they would have to move because it was difficult to grow wetland rice where the new village was located.

Implications of Implementation in Terms of Poverty Alleviation
- Agricultural yield was far less in their new location, primarily because not enough rice was produced.
- Animals were eating the villagers’ crops.
- The villagers no longer had access to forest products such as potatoes.
- There were not enough fish in the new location.
- Domesticated animals were dying more often.
- Thus, it is not surprising that, villagers overwhelmingly perceived their lives as better in the old location.
o This was because food security and self-sufficiency had decreased.
o The village was now less egalitarian with increasing tensions between the young and the old.
o There were also growing gender disparities.
o Women were most negatively affected.
- The villagers didn’t move because they hoped things would improve and that their workload would decrease.
- The villagers felt that they had better access to healthcare in their new location because they were closer to a medical clinic.
o However, people said that they were less healthy.
- The villagers also had better access to informal education.
- Finally, the villagers had daily access to the local market. Whereas before, they went to the market once or twice each year.
- Furthermore, the villagers wanted to live in a settled village. This was odd since most villagers did not live in the houses in the village but in houses near their fields.

Implications of Implementation in Terms of Democracy and Decentralization
- Technically, the VDC was elected but villagers had no sense of electing them.
- Under the new system, the knowledge possessed by the elders decreased in importance.
o This was because traditional mechanisms did not, necessarily, apply to the new location of the village and fields.
o Young men felt that the elders couldn’t make any important decisions.
- The Lowland lifestyle was very much promoted in the new location.
o This lifestyle was especially promoted by the communal chief who distanced himself from the Highland way of life.
- Villagers were integrated into the market economy and dependent on external input from the central government and aid agencies.

Conclusion
- This was a well-intentioned intervention with unintended outcomes that were a result of local implementation.
- Nevertheless, this intervention is widely considered a “best practice”.

Research on Global Issues: Global Water Issues

2009-12-03T13:57:00.000+01:00

Sofie Hellberg, PhD candidate at Gothenburg University, Peace and Development
sofie.hellberg@globalstudies.gu.se

Please see PowerPoint posted on the course portal:

http://kursportal.student.gu.se/inst/S2GLS%7C_%7CNONE/GS2122au09/filuppladdning/browse.php?dir=Kursinformation%2FMaterial+from+lectures

Global Empowerment III: Notions of Agency and Vulnerability, Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Children in London

2009-11-29T11:31:00.000+01:00

Åsa Wahlström, PhD, IGS and Brunel University, Amcwahlstrom@yahoo.co.uk

Blogger’s Note: This was an unusually difficult lecture in which to take notes. The lecturer remained seated throughout her presentation, read from a script and insisted on speaking in a low voice. Thus, if there are any gaping holes in the preceding notes, all I can say is contact Åsa.

Asylum Seeking Children in the UK
- 12% of all asylum seekers in the UK are children who seek asylum alone.
- Most asylum seeking children as seen as an undesirable burden to British social services.
- The lecturer studied unaccompanied children from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) who were seeking asylum in the UK.
- The lecturer conducted her research in the Hillington area of London.
- The lecturer found the majority of the children in her research group fled to the UK with the assistance of adults who provided false documents and passports.
- The lecturer found that these children constituted an oppressed group with limited choices but within those limited choices they exercised great autonomy.

Legal Conditions Regarding Asylum Seeking Children
- Article 20 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989)
- The UK Children Act of 1989 states that all children in the UK are entitled to social services regardless of nationality. According to this act, children are defined as those below the age of 18.
- In 2006, 2,560 unaccompanied asylum seeking children applied for refugee status in the UK.
o 22% were refused.
o 7% were granted asylum.
o 1% was granted humanitarian protection.
o 71% were granted ‘discretionary leave to remain’ until their 18th birthdays.
- In the UK, once a child reaches the age of 17 ½ , they can be deported to their home countries where they often face unsafe conditions.
- Children who are under the age of 16 when they arrive in the UK are put in foster homes.
- Upon turning 16, asylum seeking children become the responsibility of the Local Council.

Institutional Problems
- Asylum seeking children in the UK are often seen and diagnosed by psychiatrists. Under these institutional conditions, 40% of children are found to suffer from depression.
- Institutional problems exist.
o There are not enough case workers.
o The age of children who are ‘mature for their age’ is often disputed.
o Children are not viewed as agents.

Children and Agency
- Children and youth are “active agents in their own right who contribute to, transform and influence the situation and environments in which they find themselves” (Eyber and Ager 2004: 190).
- In the DRC, children are often seen as active/ important social agents.
o This is very different from how they are viewed in the UK.
o Today, anyone who possesses land (money) in Kinshasa, DRC is considered a ‘child with weight’.
o In culture and popular life, children are more visible than ever before.
- “As people bring the concept of youth to bear on situations…they speak directly to the question in their societies of what is power, what is agency and what kind it is, and how rights are to be negotiated” (Durham 2000: 16).
- In the DRC, childhood entails violence and hunger and this often makes children social agents.
- In the UK, social workers do not view children as social agents capable of exercising autonomous choice.
- Social workers often prevent outsiders from gaining access to children asylum seekers.
- The lecturer described the case of a Nigerian child refugee in London.
- Refugee children are deemed the most vulnerable of refugees.
o Policy documents do not reflect agency and knowledge of life-skills.
o Policy documents do not reflect the realities of refugee children.
o Thus, these policies are often debilitating.
- A child “in need” is defined as “a child unlikely to achieve or maintain… a reasonable standard of health or development without the provision of services by local authorities” (Children Act 1989: Part III).
- In the UK, asylum seeking children’s daily lives are dictated by official documents, policies and institutions.
- The asylum seeking process causes much anxiety.

The Role of the Pentecostal Church in the Lives of Asylum Seeking Children
- The Pentecostal Church plays a large role in the lives of asylum seekers in London.
- In the church, young people experience a sense of fulfillment and control.
- The church is viewed by asylum seekers as a sacred space.
- The church helps young people to “survive” the system.
- Prayer becomes a technology of the self.
- Worship enabled participants to experience ecstasy.
- Asylum seekers often pray for success in the asylum process.
o Thus pressing political concerns were addressed in church.
o Many asylum seekers did not believe that public protest would yield results.
o They believe that prayer is more efficacious than public political action.
- The people the lecturer interviewed attended church a lot and could do so every day.
- The difficulties associated with being a refugee and applying for asylum often deepened religious faith.
- In church, people experience a higher level of control than in the political system.

Conclusions
- Refugee children show a high degree of autonomy and personal agency.
o It is important to keep in mind that some anthropologists attribute too much personal agency to children.
o Children are simultaneously being overestimated and underestimated.
- Refugee children practice “agency under constraint”.
o These children only experience a high level of control in church. Otherwise, their fate was subject to the actions and decrees of adults operating with the administrative system.
- Are children victims or autonomous agents?
o Are refugee children empowered?
o Do they exercise an ‘expansion of choice’?

Global Empowerment II: Women, Economic Empowerment and Climate Change

2009-11-25T14:38:00.000+01:00

Milissão Nuvunga, PhD Candidate at the School of Global Studies

Opening Note: The issue of climate change was initially addressed by natural scientists and, until recently, the natural sciences have dominated research and the production of knowledge about climate change. Today, we will discuss climate change from the perspective of the social sciences.

What is Empowerment?
- Empowerment is the enhancement of one’s ability to make strategic life choices.
o Examples include the right to choose whether to get married and have children.
o Empowerment helps people to overcome institutional and cultural barriers.
o Empowerment functions on two levels that of the individual and society.
- Different barriers/ constraining factors to empowerment exist in different regions.
o For example, the caste system is a constraining factor in Asia while religion is a more significant constraining factor in Africa.
- In general, it has been found that women’s empowerment benefits individuals and societies.
- Problems arise in measuring the outcomes of empowerment projects because the results of empowerment are very fuzzy and difficult to research.
- Another problem is that empowerment allows someone to do something but does not determine what they are going to do.
o For example, you can empower women with the knowledge that excessive meat consumption is harmful to the environment but it doesn’t mean they will stop consuming meat.
o The anticipation of positive empowerment outcomes is simply wishful thinking.

The Economic Empowerment of Women
- This topic raises several questions including:
o Why do women need economic empowerment?
o What are the results?
o Is it possible to measure the success/failure of empowerment projects?
- Economic empowerment gives women a stronger bargaining position at the household level.
o This translates into non-material benefits such as respect and increased self esteem.
o It also translates into material benefits including jobs outside of the home and access to markets.
- Economic empowerment also helps women to challenge and change cultural norms.
- Economic empowerment increases mobility and facilitates freedom and choice.
- Micro-Credit and the Grameen Bank
o Usually when we talk about women and economic empowerment, we talk about micro-credit.
o Micro-credit programs sponsored by the Grameen Bank in Bangladesh demonstrated that women capable of participation in market transactions.
o The Grameen Bank and its founder received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1994 “for their efforts to create economic and social development from below” (Nobel Prize Committee).
o Micro-credit and the Grameen Bank also reveal weaknesses in banking and financial systems.
 These institutions exist because commercial banks don’t lend money to impoverished women.
o Unfortunately, the success of the Grameen Bank did not translate into structural changes in the financial systems of Bangladesh and other developing countries.
- A case of empowerment in India:
o An NGO taught basic accounting practices to female street vendors in India.
o This allowed women to keep track of business finances as well as household finances.
o It was recently reported that the India women who the NGO had taught were blocking traffic by sitting in the middle of a local road.
o These female protesters said that they would not move until they spoke with the provincial commander of the police.
o When the provincial commander arrived, the women complained that their household finances were in disarray because their husbands were spending too much money on alcohol. This was because the local police chief was corrupt and allowed the illegal production of alcohol in the area. This illegally produced alcohol was then sold for very little money.
o As a result of the protests, the local police chief was fired.
o This is an example of how the economic empowerment of women led to political mobilization and change.
- The economic empowerment of women is not simply a matter of gender but one of class.
o Rich women consume and pollute and disempower poor women.
o To make conditions better for poor women, you have to make conditions worse for rich women.

3 Dimensions of Power
- Three dimensions of power include direct power, institutional power and discursive power.
- Empowerment projects can give women the power to say no, the power to challenge institutional structures and the power to address ways of being.
- It is important to question the dimensions of power addressed or targets by interventions.

The Environment and Climate Change
- The environment and climate change are institutionally regulated.
- These institutional arrangements are governed by international organizations such as the UN and WMO.
o These institutions coordinate actions and policies.
o They have identified the need for mitigation (primarily in rich countries) and adaptation (primarily in poor countries).

Women and Climate Change
- Women are major producers of agricultural goods worldwide. Thus they are influenced by and exercise influence over the environment.
- When the climate changes, the conditions in which women live and work also change.
- How will women adapt to climate change?
o This question has not been well discussed. Researchers are just beginning to investigate this question.
o So far, the focus has been on higher, political levels.
o It is important to examine national adaptation plans of action (NAPA). Unfortunately, women are often ignored in these plans especially when it comes to operations.
- Women are vulnerable to climate change and natural disasters for several reasons.
o Women are more vulnerable to stresses and situations caused by natural disasters.
o Women work with agriculture and have a lesser ability to recover from disaster.
o Women are not as protected from disasters in their homes.
o Women possess less social capital than men.
- Because of their roles in the household, women are more vulnerable to environmental changes.
o Women cook, care for children and the elderly, gather wood, use and inhale pesticides, collect water, etc.
o Women usually have less free/ leisure time.
- Poor women generally do not have access to institutions that regulate the environment and climate change.
o You won’t see many impoverished women from developing countries at the climate change conference in Copenhagen.
o As a result, poor women possess little to no institutional bargaining power on international and national levels.

The Difficulties of Policy-Making
- If you are a policy-maker and someone tells you to empower women, what do you think?
o You can think that women should be empowered because they have intrinsic value as human beings.
o Or you can think that women have instrumental value.
o It is much easier for policy-makers to think instrumentally.
o When policies are designed to promote women’s intrinsic value, debates arise about equality vs equity and the issue becomes complicated.
o Of course, there is a problem with instrumental thinking. Instrumental thinking promotes women’s power to improve households but not to make strategic life choices.

Drawing Conclusions from Regional Examples
- The results of empowerment projects vary greatly according to regional and cultural contexts.
- In Northern Vietnam, women are most vulnerable because of poor sanitation. In Bangladesh, housing is a much bigger problem than sanitation.
- The only conclusion that can be draw after examining regional projects is that institutional inaction yields vulnerability. In other words, vulnerability is not a sign of women’s inability to achieve what they want but a sign of institutions failing to take action to improve the lives of women.

Possible Solutions
- We have to start looking at the state as the coordinator of development.
o Problems are created by the inaction of state actors.
o We cannot shift responsibility away from the state and towards NGOs because NGOS cannot implement policies at the state level.
o The state can apply positive local outcomes to national settings.
- We need to improve coordination between government officials/bodies, NGOs and donors.
- One very practical way of empowering women is to provide them with daycare for their children.

Global Empowerment I: Indigenous Peoples – Struggle for Self-determination

2009-11-25T14:35:00.000+01:00

Maria Clara Medina

Lecture cancelled due to illness.

The lecture was held on Wednesday, December 2 at the School of Global Studies. (If the PowerPoint is not yet posted, please contact Maria at maria.medina@globalstudies.gu.se )

Please see PowerPoint posted on the course portal:

http://kursportal.student.gu.se/inst/S2GLS%7C_%7CNONE/GS2122au09/filuppladdning/browse.php?dir=Kursinformation%2FMaterial+from+lectures

Global Consumption III: The Consequences of Ecological Distribution Conflicts

2009-11-21T13:17:00.000+01:00

Karl Bruckmeier, Human Ecology

Please see Powerpoint posted on the Global Studies: Thematic Issues course portal.

http://kursportal.student.gu.se/inst/S2GLS%7C_%7CNONE/GS2122au09/filuppladdning/browse.php?dir=Kursinformation%2FMaterial+from+lectures

Global Consumption II: Consumption in Havana, Cuba

2009-11-21T13:15:00.000+01:00

Maria Padron Hernandez, PhD candidate in Anthropology

Opening Note: In this lecture, we will discuss consumption practices as well as how people make sense of consumption (cultural aspects) in Havana, Cuba.

Definitions
- In this lecture, I will use the term “market” to discuss forms of trade.
- The Cuban peso is abbreviated MN.
- The Cuban dollar is abbreviated CUC.

Cuban Markets
- Cuba is one of the few remaining socialist states.
- Its markets have been shaped by a very specific history of socialism following the Communist Revolution.
- There are seven markets in Cuba:
o Market #1- Formal, state market, rationed, currency- the Cuban Peso (MN)
o Market #2- Formal, state market, unrationed, currency- the Cuban Peso (MN), farmers’ markets
o Market #3- Formal, private market, currency- the Cuban Peso (MN), farmers’ markets
o Market #4- Informal/ “Black” market, currency- the Cuban Peso (MN)
o Market #5- Formal, state market, unrationed, currency- the Cuban “Dollar”, TRD, caters to tourists
o Market #6- We did not discuss this market during lecture.
o Market #7- Informal/ “Black” market, currency- the Cuban “Dollar”, anything and everything is bought and sold in this market
- The Cuban Peso was the only currency until the 1980s when the economy opened up to tourism and needed a hard currency.
- Post-Cold War: deep, economic crisis known as “The Special Period”
- During “The Special Period,” relative from abroad, especially in Miami, sent money or remittances to help relatives living in Cuba. Of course, this was illegal.
- In 1993, the state legalized hard currency. Both the US dollar and hard currencies were legalized.
- In 1994, the state began to print the CUC which was equivalent to the US dollar.
- In 2004, the state proclaimed that the US dollar would no longer be accepted.
- In 2006,when Maria conducted her field work, only two currencies were accepted in Cuba, the Cuban Peso (MN) and the Cuban “Dollar” (CUC).
- Neither pesos nor Cuban dollars can be exchanged internationally.
- In 2006, 1 CUC= 24 MN.
- Generally, the CUC is more universally accepted in Cuba than the MN. For example, you cannot use the MN in the unrationed state market that caters to tourists.
- Cubans are only paid in MN.
- The existence of two currencies raises several questions about consumption and the state such as:
o Is the state a provider? (Market #1)
o Is the state a profiteer? (Market #5)

How do Cubans make sense of the 2 currencies?
- The most common way to speak about both currencies is “peso.” This is connected with an important non-verbal understanding of the currencies.
- Both currencies look very similar, although CUC are usually newer and shinier.
o CUC bills contain fine print that identify them as “pesos convertibles”.
o CUC coins contain no explicit statement distinguishing them from MN coins.
o CUC coins are heavier, shinier and prettier.
- Shops rarely explicitly state which currency in which they trade; this is simply understood by the consumer.
- Shops that trade in CUC are usually air-conditioned and contain new products.
- Shops that trade in MN are not air-conditioned and contain products that were not manufactured.
- Thus the CUC is associated with such terms and concepts as new, modern, hygienic, bright, shiny, clean, better and manufactured.
- The MN is associated with such terms and concepts as old, out-dated, dirty and unhygienic
- The Cuban reality is divided into 2 distinct categories: old/new, MN/CUC, poor/rich.
- The MN is associated with Cuba and Cubans while the CUC is associated with foreigners. However, both are Cuban currencies and neither are traded internationally.
- Foreign products, the tourist industry and remittances are exclusively conducted in CUC.
- Cubans cannot do much with their income except consume. Private property is illegal in Cuba.
- Cuba has big trade agreements with China, Venezuela and Bolivia.
o Chinese people are sent to Cuba to learn Spanish and, in return, China sends buses.
o Almost every bus operating in Cuba was made in China.
- Cuba has tried and failed to become self-sufficient. It has always been dependent on another country or countries.
- Prior to the economic crisis, Cuban emigrants were viewed as traitors but, after the crisis, things changed.
- Cuba stopped paying international debts in the 1960s.
o Thus they have no IMF/ World Bank agreements.
o As previously states, Cuba has always relied on loans from governments.

Analysis of the Literature
- Porter argues that some Cubans feel a sense of injustice when they are denied access to the CUC and the tourist economy. She further contends that this situation is contradictory to rights associated with citizenship. Thus, symbolic violence is constantly re-affirmed by the dual economy.
o Maria is skeptical of this argument.
- Gordy discusses the complexity of the Cuban reality.
o Maria prefers this point of view.

Maria’s email address is: maria.padron@globalstudies.gu.se

Global Consumption I: Sustainable Development and Global Material Flows

2009-11-21T13:14:00.000+01:00

Tom Bohler, Human Ecology

Please see PDF entitled, "Global Consumption: Sustainable Development and Global Material Flows" posted on the Global Studies: Thematic Issues course portal.

http://kursportal.student.gu.se/inst/S2GLS%7C_%7CNONE/GS2122au09/filuppladdning/browse.php?dir=Kursinformation%2FMaterial+from+lectures

Global Risk III: Privatization of Security and Violence

2009-11-21T13:12:00.000+01:00

Joakim Berndtsson, School of Global Studies

Please see PDF entitled, "Global Risk Violence HT09" posted on the Global Studies: Thematic Issues course portal.

http://kursportal.student.gu.se/inst/S2GLS%7C_%7CNONE/GS2122au09/filuppladdning/browse.php?dir=Kursinformation%2FMaterial+from+lectures

Global Risk II: Global Reactions to Epidemic Diseases

2009-11-21T13:11:00.000+01:00

Thomas Bergstrom, Sahlgrenska University Hospital

Opening Note: Death due to infectious disease has almost been eliminated in the US since 1900. Unfortunately, this is not so in Sub-Saharan Africa. Today, we will discuss global responses to viral epidemics.

Background
- The eradication of smallpox demonstrates that through global, coordinated efforts, viral epidemics can be eliminated.
o Smallpox is unique in that the symptoms are visible and easily diagnosed.
o Once cases of smallpox were identified, the effected person and/or people were isolated.
o There is no carrier stage in smallpox.
o A vaccine for smallpox was created 200 years ago.
o The creator of the vaccine studied smallpox for 20 years.
o The vaccine was given to French and English soldiers during the Napoleonic Wars.
o Once coordinated, global efforts began, it only took about 10 years to eradicate smallpox.
o Strains of smallpox are still stored in military laboratories and could be redeployed. However, neither smallpox nor any other virus would serve as a good weapon.
- The primary sources of newly emerging infections in humans are animals.
o The West Nile Virus- wild birds/ mosquitoes
o SARS virus- pteropid bats?
o Influenza A virus- wild ducks
o However, humans are equally vulnerable to human infection as evidenced by the spread of measles, HIV, Ebola, etc.
- Emerging diseases have enormous impacts on the following:
o Public health
o Animal health/ welfare
o Food supply
o Economies
o Environment (Biodiversity)
- It is important to note that humans dominate the biological world.
- The recent human population explosion and urbanization have serious implications from the spread of infectious diseases globally.
o Today, people are more exposed to ticks, rats and mosquitoes than ever before.
- Contacts with exotic “pets” also contribute to the spread of infections.
- Emerging virus infections in the last decennia have been facilitated by changes in:
o The social environment including mobility, behavior, demography, socio-economic status and public health measures. (A break-down in public health measures could lead to increased spread of viruses. / How you structure your health-care determines how many people will die from infections.)
o Technology including medical technology and food production.
o Virus mutation and recombination.
o Ecology including animal contacts, agriculture, fisheries, environmental pollution and global warming. (Global warming has led to an exponential proliferation of the mosquito population in the Northern Hemisphere.)
- Nature is the main bioterrorist!
- Humans are also destroying / altering habitat conditions.

Morbilliviruses (measles)
- This air-born virus is a great threat to all species. However, it is important to keep in mind that no infection kills everyone; there are always survivors.
- Seals contracted measles from dogs in Northern Europe.

Coronaviruses (SARS)
- SARS is a new human coronavirus that was big news in 2003.
- SARS is the best example after smallpox of rapid global cooperation in the eradication of a virus.
o Scientific data was shared.
o A steering committee was appointed by the WHO.
o There was rapid implementation of prophylactic measures.
o There was rapid development of diagnostics.
o Thus, the outbreak was terminated in less than 6 months.
- SARS was transmitted to humans in live animal markets in South East Asia.
- SARS was originally a bat virus. Incidentally, bats are a common source of viruses including rabies, Ebola, etc.

Influenza Viruses
- Symptoms of influenza include:
o A fever of more than 39 degrees Celsius
o Acute onset
o Myalgia
o Total malaise
o Shivers
o Coughing
o Redness of mucosa in the nose and throat
- 20th Century influenza pandemics include:
o 1918: “Spanish Flu,” more than 40 million deaths, A(H1N1)
o 1957: “Asian Flu,” 1-4 million deaths, A(H2N2)
o 1968: “Hong Kong Flu,” 1-4 million deaths, A(H3N2)
- Today’s flu pandemic (2009) is characterized by:
o Easy transmission
o Easy mutation
o Exchange between species and genes
o Almost no immunity since those exposed to the Spanish Flu are now dead.
o Younger victims
o Diarrhea which is unusual in the seasonal flu
- The current pandemic is a variant of the Spanish Flu and is neither the Avian Flu nor the Swine Flu.
- The Avian influenza can be transmitted to humans but then cannot be transmitted from human to human.
o There has been no documented spread between humans.
o There have been 442 reported human cases, of which 262 died. This is a 60% mortality rate.
- Is our influenza preparedness good?
o There is constant surveillance by the WHO.
o Culling has and does occur.
o There is strict control over bird markets.
o There are adequate and rapid diagnostics.
o There are levels of public awareness.
- The current flu vaccine targets specific viral strains and has much better average protection.
o Generally, Sweden is against vaccination but Sweden is currently universally recommending vaccination.

Emerging Viruses
- Emerging viruses are being identified with increasing frequency in the human and animal worlds.
- As a result, we should invest in early warning systems and pandemic preparedness plans.

Global Risk I: Climate Change

2009-11-21T13:10:00.000+01:00

Per Knutsson, Human Ecology

Please see Powerpoint entitled, "Risk and Climate Change" posted on the Global Studies: Theories and Perspectives course portal.

http://kursportal.student.gu.se/inst/S2GLS%7C_%7CNONE/GS2122au09/filuppladdning/browse.php?dir=Kursinformation%2FMaterial+from+lectures

I'm Back... =0)

2009-11-21T13:08:00.001+01:00

After a month long blogging hiatus, I am back and ready to blog. I will do my best to post the lecture notes ASAP. =0)

"Re-embedding"

2009-10-21T15:11:00.000+02:00

Lecture #21: "Re-embedding"
Sylva Frisk, Program Director

Disembedding, Review
- Throughout the course, we have discussed several disembedding mechanisms such as the relativisation of space and social relations lifted out of context.
o Scholte expands upon this with his discussion of global social relations.
- These disembedding mechanisms require new modes of analysis.
o International Relations: The nation-state is no longer central in International Relations.
o Anthropology: There is a need to study culture in new ways. Culture is now seen as neither rooted nor bounded but deterritorialized, fluid and unbounded. Anthropologists now study culture as it is experienced and thus examine different voices within a cultural context. Anthropologists now ask: Who is allowed to talk? Who is silenced/ suppressed? It is commonly agreed that culture is the creation of meaning; it is something everyone does but in different ways.

Eriksen and the Dualities of Globalization
- Thomas Hylland Eriksen discusses how globalization creates dualities in his book, Globalization: the Key Concepts.
- He argues that if you have disembedding, you must also have re-embedding.
- Globalization creates these dualities both empirically and ideationally.
- Other dualities include:
o Homogeneity/ Heterogeneity: New forms of diversity emerge from the processes of globalization.
o Shrinking/ Expanding World
o Centrifugal/ Centripetal
o Standardization/ Fragmentation
o Cosmopolitanism/ Fundamentalism
- These dualities all boil down to Sameness/ Difference.
- Globalization erases some differences while promoted the emergence of others.

Multiculturalism, A Case in Point
- Politicized multiculturalism creates homogeneity, creates new realities and silences other differences.
- The debate over the veil:
o Debates over the veil in Western Europe are very informative. Some argue that the veil complicates communication while other support it is a religious/ cultural practice. Questions have been raised about whether students should be allowed to wear the veil, especially the full veil, in school. This has led to other questions such as: What does the veil represent? Is the veil a religious or a cultural symbol? Does the veil represent gender oppression?
o The Swedish debate was sparked when two female students wore a full veil to school. The principal of the school contacted the Swedish government to ask whether the veil was permitted in school. The Swedish government, in turn, contacted religious scholars and academics. However, no one asked the two girls why they were wearing the veil. People just assumed that they were either wearing the veil for religious or cultural reasons. Ironically, the girls made themselves more visible by covering themselves up.
- Circumcized Immigrants:
o A group of female immigrants from Eritrea arrived in Sweden. These women were circumcized but didn’t feel that there was something wrong with female circumcision. It was not until people in Sweden pointed out the barbaric and cruel nature of circumcision that these women became traumatized by the experience.
- Islamization in Malaysia
o Ethnic Malays in Malaysia began emphasizing their Muslim identity in the 1970s due, in part, to forces of postcolonialism, modernity and globalization. But, over time, the Islamic movement has become more fragmented. Some Malay Muslims are influenced by Middle Eastern Islam while other are influenced by American Islam still other have taken a feminist approach. While conducting her fieldwork in Malaysia, Frisk interviewed women who had made the Haj to Mecca. One women told her that, as a result of her experience, she felt that Arab Muslims were different or backward. While in Mecca, the woman realized that Malay Muslims were actually different from Arab Muslims.

The Gay Archipelago, Boellstorff
- Boellstorff studied the emergence of the “Gay” and “Lesbi” subjectivity in Indonesia.
o Important note: There is an on-going debate in the social sciences about how subjectivity is created. Some argue that it is derived structurally while others emphasize agency or choice.
o Subjectivity: How the subject understands himself/herself.
- The subject positions of gay and lesbi are new in Indonesia even though same sex relationships have always been practiced.
- The Waria is an example of a traditional subjectivity.
o The Waria are usually male transvestites who believe that they were born with the souls of women.
o Waria dress as women most of the time and prefer to have sex with heterosexual men.
o Waria are well known and accepted in Indonesian society.
- The Gay/ Lesbi subject position is an example of the interconnectedness of disembedding and re-embedding.
o This subject position is relatively new, emerging in the 1970s.
o Some Gay/ Lesbi marry heterosexually but have extramarital homosexual relationships.
o Those who adopt this subject position as different from the Waria but they are also different from the western Gay/ Lesbi subjectivity that inspired the creation of this subject position.
o Indonesian Gays/Lesbis see themselves as related to western Gays/ Lesbis but they also see themselves as different.
o The Gay/Lesbi subject position is national. It is unthinkable to identify as a Javanese gay man but it is possible to identify as an Indonesian gay man.
o This new subjectivity is linked to the transnational, imagined community.

Cultural Dubbing
- Boellstorff discusses this emerging subjectivity in terms of cultural dubbing.
- Foreign Films and television shows were once widely dubbed in Indonesia.
- This became problematic in the late 1990s because, as opponents claimed, it distracted from the project of creating a national Indonesian identity. It was confusing to see foreigners speaking Indonesian. Thus dubbing altered the Indonesian identity.
- In terms of the Gay/ Lesbi subjectivity, some argue that those who adopt this subjectivity are merely dubbing their cultural experience with the western homosexual identity.
- However, the dub and the actual, cultural experience never really match thus, agency emerges.
o Gay/Lesbi Indonesians are actually creating a new subjectivity that is neither western nor traditional.
o This is different from glocalization because they are not simply mix two distinct identities; they are creating something new.

"Climate Change and Food Security"

2009-10-20T17:41:00.001+02:00

Lecture #20: "Climate Change and Food Security"
Per Knutsson

See powerpoint entitled, "Food Security and Risk" at http://kursportal.student.gu.se/inst/S2GLS%7C_%7CNONE/GS2121au09/anslagstavla/index.php

"Security"

2009-10-20T17:37:00.000+02:00

Lecture #19: "Security"
Maria Stern and Peer Shouten

See powerpoint at http://kursportal.student.gu.se/inst/S2GLS%7C_%7CNONE/GS2121au09/anslagstavla/index.php

"Multiculturalism"

2009-10-18T11:54:00.001+02:00

Lecture #18: "Multiculturalism"
Sylva Frisk was originally scheduled to present this lecture but Dariush Moaven Doust filled in at the last minute.

Here are the highlights:

- Multiculturalism is an empty signifier (Laclau); it can mean anything and nothing.

4 Antinomies:

- 1st: Clash versus Dialogue
- 2nd: Principles versus Tolerance
- 3rd: Cultural Identity versus Social Situations
-4th: Ethnicity versus Class

Particularities versus Universals
- This antinomy subsumes all the above.
-"Universal" has long been criticized by post-colonial theorists.
-Particularities don't exist until they are compared with others.
-The problem with particularities is if your identity is defined in relation to "the other," we just have a bunch of particularities.
- Thus everyone is different in the same way.
- The defense of particularities yields universal similarity.
- What remains is commodities: You can buy and sell particularities.
-Universal propositions that start with the term "all" inherently reflect power.
- Multiculturalism implies a critique to universalism.

"Postcolonial Theory"

2009-10-13T18:02:00.000+02:00

Lecture #17:"Postcolonial Theory" Mikaela Lundahl, History of Ideas

Here are the highlights:

What is Post-Colonial Theory?
- The “post” derives from several different contexts.
o It could mean after which is a descriptive term.
o Or it could mean influenced by which is similar to post-Marxism.
- It was first developed in the discipline of comparative literature in the 1970s.
- It was developed as a compliment to other important theories at the time.
- Post-colonial theory is about epistemology.
o Who defines truth/ justice?
o Who is knowledgeable?
o Who defines what is worth knowing?

Edward Said
- It is often said that he is the founder of post-colonialism but he doesn’t accept that he is a post-colonial thinker.
- “Orientalism,” 1978
o He studied the discourse of orientalism or the Arab world.
o People in the orient were very sexualized thus the myth of the harem.
o The harem was developed in contrast to sexually suppressed Victorian British society.
o Fragments of stories from the orient as well as “1001 Nights” which was newly translated coupled with suppressed sexuality becomes imposed on the “other.”
o Western travelers were never invited into the harem thus they imagined it to be something it was not which was simply a private space within a home.
- These discourses of others have more to do with the conflict, tensions and challenges within the societies where they are produced than the places/ people they describe.
o Most colonial histories are like this.
o This can also be applied to discourses on gender.
- When you produce a story, you are not the only author. You reproduce power and world order within your society.

Homi Bhabha
- Indian, literature professor working in the U.S.
- He did not write a discipline altering book but many important articles.
- He coined the concepts of hybridity and mimicry.
o Both terms originally come from the natural sciences.
o Hybridity occurs when a new species is created from two different species.
o Mimicry is like the actions of a copycat.
o The lecturer prefers the term creolity because it is more open.
- People in colonial and postcolonial India are continuously described as “Indians” implying that there was such a thing as India prior to colonialization.
o But the nation-state was not and is not a given.
o During colonialism, the British imposed a sense of Indianess upon diverse regions.
o Contemporary conflicts reflect this.
o Identities in the colonial world were constructed according to European ideas and interests.
o First, pre-colonial “India” was like Viking “Sweden” it was not clearly defined or taken for granted.
o Second, colonial British India was a time when “Indianess” was invented. This represented a new kind of hybridity.
o Third, post-colonial India was formed.
o Fourth, it is impossible to know what will come next.
o Today’s Indians was a hybrid of previous eras.
o Both Indians and colonizers were altered as a result of colonialism.
- Colonization is a process not just an event. Thus once colonizers leave, structures, culture, businesses, etc. remain.
- Colonization created a new form of hybridity between the colonizer and the colonized.
- The world is not homogenized through colonization.
- Mimicry is another product of colonization.
o It occurs when the colonized mimic colonizers.
o It resulted in a cry for authenticity.
o Hybrid people can never really be authentic.
- Colonial mythology: We construct the “other” as deficient/ in need/ savage.
- When the “other” becomes equal, new mythologies are needed thus the concept of mimicry.
- Bhabha descrives mimicry as a way that the colonized can destabilize the status quo.
o This reveals how “whiteness” is constructed.

Gayatri Spivak
- It was previously theorized that “others” were embedded in their situation and could not understand universal experiences or truths.
- It was also theorized that white, European males were privileged in their position and could understand everyone “below” them.
- Spivak says that no one is different of privileged; everyone is equally transparent and knowledgeable of others.
- We need to be more humble in our quest to know others.
- We can see others just as well as they can see us.
- “White men rescue/ save brown women from brown men.”
o Brown mean are constructed as dangerous, backward and brown women are constructed as innocent victims.
o This idea helps Europeans to legitimize their policies of intrusion/ invasion/ colonization.
o This format is reproduced in different contexts.
o These phrases are mobilized when needed.
o This reproduces colonial stereotypes/ stigmatization which creates problems without solving them and is a self-fulfilling prophecy.

"Identity and Identity Politics"

2009-10-13T18:00:00.000+02:00

Lecture # 16:"Identity and Identity Politics" Mikaela Lundahl, History of Ideas

Here are the highlights:

The History and Meaning of Identity
- “Idem” is the Greek word for same or sameness.
- Common interpretation: Identity is the feeling and recognition of being the
same today as you were yesterday and the expectation that we will be the
same tomorrow.
- This self-reflective idea was developed philosophically in Europe in the
17th and 18th centuries by Descartes and Locke.
o Descartes- Debated his identity: I think therefore I am.
o Locke- Liberal thinker, developed ideas about political identity
o These thinkers tried to distinguish the individual from the collective.
o Of course, they were not the only thinkers on this subject but they were the most famous.
- The French Revolution led to the formulation of inherent human rights and it was at this time that ideas about society were transformed.
- The 1800s saw big identity movements such as abolitionist, labor and suffrage movements.
- Collectivist thinkers emerged in the 1800s as a reaction to individualist thinkers.
- According to Foucault, the individual was born in the classic era (17th and 18th centuries).
o This is when the concept of the human was invented.
o Ways of thinking about humanity changed dramatically around 1700.
- The idea of the insular man was challenged by other thinkers including Hegel.
- Hegel developed the master and the slave dialectic which theorized that no one can recognize himself as an individual without the recognition of others.
o This was essential to all social relationships.
o Identity is a continual process that needs renewal; the feeling of recognition doesn’t last forever.
o The slave cannot legitimately give the master recognition thus the recognition machine for the master is problematized.
o Sooner or later the relationship is changed and the slave becomes freer.
- Hegel postulates that there are always at least two people in a meaningful society.
- The fight for recognition is later taken up by Marx.
o Marx adds a more materialistic twist. Thus the slave knows reality through his labor which gives the slave the ability to challenge the master.
- In the 20th century, identity becomes even more problematic.

Identity Movements
- Collectivist thinkers challenged the traditional conception of identity as the white bourgeois.
- These thinkers believed that the theorized “human” was silently assuming the bourgeois, white, Christian, male identity.
- Society was extremely dependent on colonialism which led to the establishment of race theory around 1800. Race theory was not abandoned/ discredited until after World War II.
o Race theory attempted to reveal racial inequalities scientifically.
o Race theory was used to justify slavery and colonialism.
- Gender theory emerged around 1800.
- Race and gender theory were used to justify privilege, exclusion and inequality.
o Women were seen as weak and emotional.
o Thus men were better suited to work outside the home and in the public sphere.
o These theories were used to separate and sort people.
- Theories of class were also developed to show that members of the working class were different cerebrally. This theory was used to legitimize the class system.

19th/20th Centuries
- Anti-colonial movements, abolition movements, suffrage movements, etc. began to take root in the 19th and 20th centuries.
- In these movements, identity becomes an important question as well as the effect of these movements. However, these movements did not explicitly address identity.
- Marx:
o Knowledge can result from what you do, ie. labor.
o Most people are disconnected from the tools/ fruits of their labor thus they live in a “false consciousness.”
- Nietzsche:
o God is dead. The discursive God no longer has meaning and is no longer a point of social reference.
o People want to gain power—“will to power” — thus they are disconnected from reality; they see the world in ways that favor their ambitions. Reality is complex.
- Freud:
o Desire determines the way we see the world.
o Desire is unconscious.
- Simone de Beauvoir:
o The Second Sex
o One is not born a woman; one becomes a woman.
- Jean Paul Sartre:
o Existence comes before essence.
o Essence is a concept that has often been discussed in connection with identity.
o “The fear of essence”
o Essence is the result of a lived life or a historical situation.
o First we live as a person in a collective.
o During this era, essences (male, female, class, race) are sought.
- Marx, Nietzsche, etc. help to destabilize previous ideas of identity.
- Post-modernism: A way of discussing modernity without taking it for granted.
- After post-modernism, thinking about identity changes.
- Derrida challenges the concept of the autonomous individual in terms of the relationship between “I” and I.
o When a person talks about herself, she has to step outside of herself.
o The individual reconstructs himself/herself and the content is relative.
o The sign is different from the signified.
o There is a constant, on-going oscillation between the sign, “I,” and the signified, I.
- Identity politics emerged in the 1960s, 70s and 80s because people started to see a problem.
- Movements produced identities.
- When identity becomes more diversified, it also becomes more homogenized.
- People began to look beyond the old strata of identification.
- Intersectionalism: Builds upon the idea that everyone is the product of many intersections such as class, race, gender, etc.
o This is connected to Cyborg Feminism.
o There are different ways to say that identity is constructed within a system.
o Intersectionalism coordinates with hybridity.
- One can conclude either that identity has become hybridized due to modernity or that identity was always hybridized/creolized.
- The stability of culture and identity are a myth.

"Non-Territorial Global Empire?"

2009-10-07T19:56:00.000+02:00

Lecture #15: "Non-Territorial Global Empire?"
Stellan Vinthagen

The powerpoint for this lecture should be posted soon at http://kursportal.student.gu.se/inst/S2GLS%7C_%7CNONE/GS2121au09/anslagstavla/index.php

"Territorial Empire and 'New Imperialism'"

2009-10-07T19:54:00.000+02:00

Lecture #14: "Territorial Empire and 'New Imperialism''
Stellan Vinthagen

Review/Preview- The debate about network versus empire is related to how we view globalization.

An Overview of the Arguments
- Some argue that globalization has weakened nation-states. While other contend that it has created failed states and regionalization.
- Some argue that globalization offers some states new opportunities. This is where imperialism comes on. They ask, is globalization a wave of capitalism? Does capitalism encourage imperialism or free markets? Has globalization led to a concentration of wealth in the hands of 1% of the world’s population? Has globalization increased difference between the rich and the poor?
- Some argue that globalization provides opportunities for wealth that didn’t exist before. They believe that many people who would have been poor before globalization can now support themselves.
- Some argue that the U.S. is an empire. Their evidence includes the following:
o The U.S. has military bases in approximately 140 countries.
o The U.S. has 300,000 soldiers on foreign ground.
o The U.S. holds the world record for foreign interventions having long ago surpassed the Roman Empire.
o The U.S. has overthrown democratically elected leaders. (i.e. Iran)
o The War on Terror is a sign of imperialism.
o The U.S. spends ½ of the total military budget of the world.
- Some argue that the election of Barrack Obama has made a difference, at least, rhetorically. Obama has instructed his staff not to use the phrase “War on Terror.”
Is the U.S. an Empire?
- Is the U.S. an empire in the same way as the Roman Empire or the British Empire?
- Or is the U.S. just a strong state?
- What does it mean to talk about empires?

Münkler on Empire
- Münkler presents a realist theory of empire.
- According to Münkler, empire is the dominance of one polity over another both internally and externally.
- Münkler presents three criteria of empire:
o 1. Long term empire/dominance: An empire must have survived a crisis. Thus the Nazi Empire was a failed empire because it didn’t survive the crisis of World War II.
o 2. Major expansion: An empire must purse expansion. Expansion can be regional rather than global. An empire can pursue explanation militarily and/or economically. An example of major expansion is the British Empire.
o Center-Periphery: In an empire, there is a sliding scale of rights. The closer you are to the center, the more rights you have. This is different from a nation-state. You are either a citizen of a nation-state or you are not. In theory, all citizens are equal before the law.
- Münkler distinguishes between empire and imperialism.
o Imperialism is the will to empire.
o Empire is long term dominance, major expansion and the creation and maintenance of the center and periphery.
o During the colonial period, imperialism was viewed positively. Many believe that Europe was obligated to help others.
o Today, imperialism is a negative term.
- Münkler emphasizes that every empire needs to legitimize its imperial project at least among those who make empire possible. Thus, the creation of ideology.
o You may not like the empire but you probably believe the ideology.
o Empire can have ideologies that embrace liberty, equality and justice but empire can also have a missionary ideology.
- European imperialist ambitions were crushed with the Holocaust.
o Many people pointed to the Holocaust as evidence of what European civilization was capable of.
o The Holocaust created a general lack of confidence in the European missionary project.
- Democracies have a difficult time building empires because it is difficult to maintain electoral support for the imperial mission. However, it is not impossible for a democracy to become an empire.
- Industrialization has changed the conditions of empires.
o Prior to industrialization, militarization was the driving force of imperialism.
o Today, economics is the driving force of imperialism.
- Does the U.S. Empire meet Münkler’s criteria?
o It has survived several crises.
o It has pursused neo-liberal economic expansion.
o Some countries such as Britain are a part of the center while other countries are a part of the periphery.
- Is the election of Barrack Obama a reaction to the U.S. imperial project?
- In terms of military might and economic dominance, the U.S. is definitely on top but the U.S. does have an enormous financial deficit and this may make a difference.

Wallerstein on Empire
- Wallerstein renews the Marxist perspective in a fundamental way so much so that you could argue that Wallerstein is turning Marxism on its head.
- Wallerstein is also inspired by Dependency Theory.
- Wallerstein contends that underdevelopment is created through capitalism.
- An aside: Marx believed that capitalism was a liberating force which made socialism possible.
- According to Wallerstein, labor is territorial; capital is not. Laborers can’t just go where the jobs are located.
- Two principles demonstrate the exploitative nature of the world economy:
o 1. Surplus is not invested in the periphery. → Profits are generally invested in Europe and the U.S. Research and development happens within the core.
o 2. There are declining terms of trade. → Terms of trade favor manufactured goods over raw materials.
- Economic differences between the core, semi-periphery (a concept Wallerstein introduces) and periphery represent a systemic imbalance.
- It is rare for a country to move from the periphery to the semi-periphery to the core.
- World Bank rankings show countries grouping in clusters.
o Core → G8 / OECD
o Semi-Periphery → BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India, China)
o Periphery → “Global South”
- Wallerstein looks at economies not nation-states. In fact, he contends that the core and periphery can exist within nation-states.
- There are several conditions that keep this system alive:
o The existence of the semi-periphery.
o Ethnic and ideological differences are maintained. (There is no world government.)
o The world is divided politically but united economically.
- This system is so stable that it forces governments to accommodate capitalist conditions.
o The only possibility for change is crisis.
o When a crisis is too difficult to handle, there is an opening. This opening can be utilized by “anti-systemic movements.”

Criticisms
- Some progress does occur. Some countries are moving up out of the periphery.
- Galtung argues that the U.S. Empire will collapse.
- Diamond contends that ecology is the key factor to understanding why empires fall.
- Empires and informal empires exist simultaneously.
o At some point, it becomes obvious that you are talking about empire. Before that there is de facto or informal empire

Pieterse
- Pieterse argues for a combination of empire and network.
- Is the U.S. unique? Is it a moment of empire?
- Can globalization be halted by a longer period of U.S. empire?
- Imperialism is:
o State centric.
o Classical imperialist thinking holds that political domination is key.
o Has a central authority.
o Maintains political control of territory.
- Globalization is:
o A system with a diversity of actors including states, NGOs, TNCs, etc.
o Not purely political.
o Multi-dimensional.
o Non-territorial.
o Not at the core; less bounded by place.
o Diffusion of power.
- Pieterse argues that there are qualities and traits of empire in globalization but there are still fundamental differences.

"Network Society"

2009-10-05T19:48:00.000+02:00

Lecture #13: "Network Society" Stellan Vinthagen, Sociology and Peace and Conflict Studies

Introductory Note: This week we will discuss whether globalization can be characterized as a network or an empire. In other words, does globalization manifest itself as an interconnected world or is it colonialism in the form of U.S. empire? In what ways are networks and empires combined? There is no clear cut answer.

Obama
- Many people believe that the election of Barrack Obama as U.S. president represents a change in the U.S.
- However, there is reason to believe that Obama is not so different from Bush.
o Obama recently agreed with Israel to keep its nuclear weapons secret.
o Although Israel currently possesses 100-300 nuclear weapons, the U.S. continues to make no inspection demands.
- This is a problem but you can solve it in a network society by contacting Obama and explaining the situation. Here’s how…

Network Society, Overview
- Everyone is connected to the 6 billion people on earth through six degrees/ links of separation or less.
- In theory, a network is a connection between people with no center where everyone has links to everyone else. (This is called a distributed network.)
- Networks are an improvement over traditional forms of communication such as bureaucracies.

- In reality, networks can have power and centers and periphery.
o Who has links with whom is very important.
o Clusters, flows, entry points, gatekeepers, firewalls, center(s), peripheries, semi-peripheries all exist and play critical roles.

- In theory, networks and imperialism are incompatible. In reality, it’s not so simple.

- This week we will examine where globalization is located on the network ó empire spectrum. We will also examine theory and practice as well as new perspectives.
o Network theorists- Castells and McNeill
o New Perspective- Empire, Hardt and Negri

McNeill
- Human history is the development of more and more advanced networks.
- Growing networks exist with growing abilities to communicate within these networks.

- Today’s networks are the product of history:
o 1. First Worldnet- This was created more than 12,000 years ago and was characterized by people trading over vast distances. During this time, communication was very slow and the spread of ideas, cultures, even clothing could take decades. It is important to note, however, that ideas and things travelled.
o 2. City Network- This was created 6,000 years ago and was characterized by cities trading and communicating with each other. Food, ideas and products were exchanged. This usually occurred regionally.
o 3. The Old Worldnet- This was created 2,000 years ago and was characterized by intense exchange and communication between Eurasia and Northern Africa.
o 4. Cosmopolitan Net- This was created 500 year ago through navigation. It further evolved 160 years ago with the creation of the Electric Net and evolved again 70 years ago with the Computerized Net.

- We are living in a network society that more and more resembles a network.

- Of course, power does exist.
o Only half of the people on earth have ever made a phone call.
o There is unequal access to the network.

- Some principles you can draw from this:
o Networks consist of both cooperation and competition. After all, there are more people to exploit in an increased network.
o Organizations with more effective internal communication survive. This is because organizations that effectively communicate acquire more resources and power.

- Networks have clusters with unequal distribution.
o 69% of the population in North American has internet access while only 4% of the population of Africa has access.

- Financial flows appear to be distributed globally. After all, financial flows influence everyone who used money. But…
o Ownership of financial capital is not global.
o Trade is more concentrated in certain regions.
o FDI and the labor market are not equally distributed.
o The nation-state structure is still very important when it comes to the labor market.

Castells
- Power is derived from position in the network and network flows. This applies to individuals, groups, economic sectors, nation-states, etc.

- You can be a winner today but a loser tomorrow depending on network flows.
o This is illustrated through the example of call centers in India. Today, it is very valuable to have a pronounced Bristish/American accent so that you can be employed in call centers. However, call centers may be made obsolete in the future.

- There is a new division of labor called flexible market capitalism.
o Individuals and groups, depending on their skills and use in the network, are acquiring new class positions.
o Core: symbolic analysts
o Periphery: Disposable workforce
o Today’s economy is still a market developing profits but it functions in a new way.

- This new economy developed over time:
o Agricultural production- Surplus from quantitative increase of work and natural resources. (Land is essential.)
o Industrial production- Characterized by mass-production and new energy resources. (Energy is essential.)
o Informationalism- Characterized by improved information technology and knowledge production as well as flexible production. (Information is essential.)

- Informationalism
o 1. information is its raw material (cumulative feedback between innovation and its application)
o 2. pervasiveness of its effects (integral to all human activity)
o 3. network logic (to all systems that use ICT)
o 4. based on flexibility (processes, organizations and institutions can be modified and altered)
o 5. integrated system (making old divisions and categories obsolete)

- Miscellaneous Notes:
o We cannot dismiss the network society because we see power, injustice and inequality.
o Many people argued that globalization would lead to the collapse of the nation-state but that hasn’t happened.
o 3 types of identities exist in the network society: legitimizing identities in the form of “civil society” (This identity is in crisis.), resistance identities in the form of “communities” (This is considered a reactionary identity and entails leaving the network by choice.) and project identities which are occupied with using and/ or recreating the network. (This identity tries to change problems with in the present network system.)

Characteristics of Network Society
- First, people are able to overcome separation from others through links.
- Second, informationalism is essential.
- Third, the network is multi-centered and multi-layered.
- Fourth, there is fluidity of power.
- Fifth, no one and no group is in total control.

"Mobility of Capital"

2009-10-04T12:32:00.000+02:00

Lecture #12: “Mobility of Capital”
Erik Andersson

Introductory Note: Today we will discuss the mobility of real and financial capital.

Productive capital
FDI (foreign direct investment)
→ productive intentions

Speculative capital
Portfolio investment
→ speculative intentions
→ seeks to take advantage of favourable policies around the world

Transnational Corporations (TNCs)

- Mobile/flexible, globalized production networks
- Fordism: productivity gains through scientific control and centralisation
o Institutional symbiosis with the welfare state
o This symbiosis secured a bottom level of demand for major companies.
- The crisis of the 1970s changed economic thinking.
o Institutional symbiosis became untenable.
o People no longer bought products produced in their own countries. Instead, they bought the cheapest products available.
- Post-Fordism: productivity gains from competition and alliances

Today’s mobility of productive capital
- Mergers and Acquisitions (M&As) vs Greenfield FDI
- Outsourcing: commodification of capacity
- Results: Investment in capacity drops
- Uniform national institutional adaptation (EPZ/SEZ/EFZ, labour laws, company laws, taxes, tariffs, etc.) in competition for FDI, (again skill formation in dialectical relation to global industry
- Feminization of work.
- Strategic, flexible and irrelevant workers.
- Geography of networked of production;
High MVA – in OECD
Low MVA – close to OECD
Outside – the rest
- China, India, Korea, a.o. moving upwards fast!
- TNCs forced to utilize openings and opportunities of globalization.
- Thus outsourcing, building factories in China, etc.
- Owners force CEOs to set up shop in China and/ or to take advantahe of openings and opportunities of globalization.

The globalization of finance, i.e. portfolio mobility
- There is a strong motive driving capital mobility.
- Foreign exchange turnover 2000 billion USD/day + equity, bonds, derivatives, etc.

The US dollar’s central role
- Confidence, liquidity and transactional networks
- Non-economic reasons to hold/support the dollar as a reserve currency:
o Access to western economic interaction
o Support American hegemony
- The euro, yen and other currencies are big today too.
- The US dollar weakened under Bush because of:
o Low interest rates after 9/11 in order to stimulate demand for US production and investment
o Double deficit (trade and budget deficit) is financed by China and other southern states.
o Investment and demand are not big enough
o The US depended on China and Asia finance the war on terror and US domestic consumption.
o The double deficit helped produced the housing boom from 2001-2007 which was stimulated and inflated by low interest rates.
o Credit crisis, 2008-2009
- This was made possible through a long history of financial deregulation and globalization.

History financial globalization
- 1944: Bretton Woods
- 1957: Rome Treaties establish the European Economic Community; Bretton Woods regulatory structures begin to deflate
- 1962: General Agreement to Borrow made in order to pool gold reserves
- 1972/3: Crumbling of Bretton Woods; no link between gold reserves and national currencies
- 1976: Meeting in Jamaica to question IMF and World Bank
- 1979: The US central bank raised interest rates in order to stem inflation in the US; the debt trap closed on countries with investments in US dollars; this is the first time the globe is effected by a national undertaking in the US
- 1980s: Reaganomics + arms race; lower taxes to increase consumption; deregulation of national capital markets (when everyone does this a transnational market is established); ICT (Information and Communication Technologies); Globalization
- 1987 and beyond- Crises + Post Cold War euphoria; 1992ERM; 1994-5 Mexico; 97 Asia; 98 Russia, Brazil; 2000 IT-bubble; 2001 Argentina
- Today: Institutionalized global market with stability problems > FSF, SDDS – IMF a “reputational intermediary”
o Contagion effects- if everyone is moving out of Asia, you move out too
o Trades move with the herd

The (mobility) logic of financial markets
- No products (in traditional sense) > fast turn-over
- Prices according to expectations > which must be fulfilled
- One discourse
- Rating/IMF (”reputational intermediaries”)
- Legitimizes itself with ”allocating resources to where they are most needed” or ”greasing the wheels of production”
- In reality, the financial market is bigger than the actual market.

Effects
- Booms and crashes
- Productivity pressure (to fulfil expectations)
o This led to a drop in capacity investment after 2000.
- Market discipline (exerted on states/politicians, trade unions, companies)
- Institutional adaptation and streamlining

Current crisis
- Speculative Economy
o Loans/claims=assets > MBS > derivatives Credit Default Swaps, SIVs
- Productive Economy
o Private homes > loans > consumption > current account deficit + Asian trade surplus

Remedies
- Bonus caps / regulation for financial bosses
- More money to the IMF (but only a trickle so far)
- Rich world swearing allegiance to the IMF
- FSF (Financial Stability Forum) becomes FSB (Financial Stability Board)
- Fiscal and monetary stimulus packages
- Bailouts of financial institutions of systematic importance

Mobility of Capital

- Financial Capital ó Post-Fordist Production → Big impact on globalized and globalizing
economies

"Diaspora"

2009-09-29T15:47:00.000+02:00

Lecture #11: "Diaspora"
Lisa Åkesson, Social Anthropology

See power point entitled, "Diaspora" at http://kursportal.student.gu.se/inst/S2GLS%7C_%7CNONE/GS2121au09/anslagstavla/index.php

"Transnational Migration"

2009-09-28T18:35:00.000+02:00

Lecture #10: "Transnational Migration"
Lisa Åkesson, Social Anthropology

See power point entitled, "Transnational Migration" at http://kursportal.student.gu.se/inst/S2GLS%7C_%7CNONE/GS2121au09/anslagstavla/index.php

"International Law and Human Rights"

2009-09-23T18:16:00.000+02:00

Lecture #9: "International Law and Human Rights"
Brian Palmer, University of Uppsala, Social Anthropolgy

Lecture Abstract (copied from the Course Guide):
During the last 60 years, Human Rights have developed within the broader discourse of international Law as a system of common global norms, rules, laws and regulations. This process has been far from easy and several major philosophical debates have been fought over the years (e.g. economic, social and cultural vs. civil and political rights, individual vs. collective rights, universalism vs. relativism). The lecture aims to explore Human Rights and its relation to International Law while discussing HR as a process of developing global norms. A framework for analysis will be applied that rests on the assumption that HR can be seen as an interdisciplinary
field of study including ethics, politics and law.

Images of Brutality
- Professor Palmer showed the audience four images of brutality including paintings by Francisco Goya and Pablo Picasso and a photograph by photojournalist, James Nachtwey.
- The bleak history behind these images probably explains why you are enrolled in this program.
- Everyone here wants to say no to brutality.
- We want to answer the question: How is it that we live in a world of other peoples’ suffering?
- French philosopher, Voltaire, tried to explain what it is like to live in a world of other peoples’ suffering when he reflected on a massive earthquake in Lisbon. Voltaire believed that it was difficult to care. He wrote, “Lisbon lies in ruins and here, in Paris, we dance.”
- American author and political activist, Susan Sontag, wrote that what Voltaire describes is a frustration shared by all when faced with the simultaneity of wildly contrasting human fates.
- Our discussion of human rights is a way of engaging with a world of brutality and suffering.
- I (Brian Palmer) join you in this endeavor as a fellow concerned citizen.
- However, I (Brian Palmer) make a confession. I don’t believe that a language of rights is necessarily the best way to capture what is sacred in human beings.
A Language of Rights
- French philosopher, Simone Weil who died in 1943 said that the notion of rights “has a commercial flavor.” “Rights evoke a latent war.” “One cannot imagine St Francis of Assisi talking about rights.”
- What is the alternative?
o The alternative may be a language of caring.
o This alternative would be essentially feminine in contrast to the inherently masculine language of rights.

Conceptions of Rights
- Elaine Scarry of Harvard University contends that we injure others because we have difficulty imaging others.
o We fail to know others.
o This idiom is not incompatible with human rights.
- Lynn Hunt, an American historian and author of Inventing Human Rights: A History, argues that the spread of empathy provided nourishment to the great strides in human rights in the late 1700s. The key here is empathy or learning to appreciate the reality of others.
- Peter Singer, an Australian philosopher, says that there is no place for human rights in his utilitarian philosophy but he is still willing to use the term.
- A vocabulary of human rights is practical in many situations.
- Micheline Ishay, author of The History of Human Rights (2003), underscores the contributions made by the world’s religious and ethical traditions to the development of human rights. She believes that one sees these contributions in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Universal Declaration of Human Rights
www1.umn.edu/humanrts/instree/b1udhr.htm
- The declaration was adopted on December 10, 1948 in Paris, France.
- The declaration pulled together a conception of rights from the world’s religions and translated them into secular language.
- According to Michael Ignatieff , the declaration provided international legal recognition of the rights of individuals for the first time.
- French scholar, Rene Cassin, argued that there are three generations of rights present in the declaration: liberty, equality and solidarity.
o Liberty: Liberty is represented in Articles 3-19. Conceptions of liberty emerged from struggles beginning in the time of Enlightenment.
o Equality: Equality is represented in Articles 20-26. Questions of equality emerged from the Industrial Revolution.
o Solidarity: Solidarity is represented in Articles 27-28. These social and cultural rights began emerging in the late 1800s as well as the colonial and post-colonial periods.

1st Generation Rights, Liberty
- Liberty is represented in core, political, democratic rights
- Conceptions of these rights emerged during the Enlightenment (late 1600s- 1789)
- The birth of a secular and universalistic way of thinking began with the Reformation and the Peace of Westphalia--- this was the first crucial period.
- The second crucial period centered around the English Civil Wars and the Commonwealth period.
- The third crucial period took place during the American Revolution (1775-1783).
- The fourth crucial period occurred during the French Revolution (1789-1799).
- These periods led to the development of a range of political rights.
- Throughout these periods, many groups were still excluded. Colonized people, women, Jews, slaves, other nationalities, etc. were not allowed to enjoy these political rights.
- Rights developed at this time are often referred to as classically liberal rights.
- Notions of political rights were expanded in the period after World War I as the League of Nations was founded.
o The League of Nations recognized inequality between states.
o The League also sought to counter-balance that inequality.
- The foundation of international labor organizations further helped to expand notions of political rights.
- The Bolshevik Revolution in 1917 also played a role.
o The Lenin period was marked by internationalism and concern with the mechanisms of international rights
o The Soviet constitution of 1936 guaranteed an astonishing array of political rights although these rights were mostly non-existent in practice.
- Key Questions:
o What is the role of the state?
o Can citizens rely on states to guard their rights?
o What is the role of markets?
o Is there such a thing as a just war?

2nd Generation Rights, Equality
- This generation of rights is not concerned with political oppression but the failure of the state to provide systems for adequate economic sustenance.
- Conceptions of equality were formed with contributions for social, communist and labor movements—although these movements are often not given enough credit.
- According to Ishay, while liberals maintained their pre-occuption with liberty, champions of labor began to question whether that liberty was hollow without equality.
- These rights began to emerge as people asked broader questions about who is included in the political process.
- Both Robert Owen and Karl Marx called for the provision of free education for children.
- Members of the labor movement called for limited working hours, protections for work-related illnesses and injuries, freedom of association and protection for women and children.
- Garrison Keillor explained the philosophy behind equality and the general welfare state when he said, “The gains in life come slowly…the losses suddenly.”

3rd Generation Rights, Solidarity
- This generation of rights deals with cultural rights and the right to national self-determination.
- Conceptions of these rights were present in Europe in the late 1800s
- These rights were given increased importance by Woodrow Wilson and the League of Nations.
- These rights helped to define the concept of ethnic groups.
- These rights are tied to colonization.
- During World War II, the U.S. had no real colonies on the scale of many European powers. This gave President Franklin Roosevelt the chance to be more critical of colonization. The British, however, were not equally enthusiastic.
- Strides towards solidarity were made when the initial proposals for the formation of the United Nations were greeted with protest by many who felt it overlooked colonialism and human rights. These protestors won and plans for the United Nations were rewritten to include a strong language of human rights. The United Nations, however, left the enforcement of human rights to individual member states.
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Question of Universality
www1.umn.edu/humanrts/instree/b3ccpr.htm
- This covenant was written in 1966.
- It guarantees the right to self-determination.
- Ishay expresses skepticism when she asks, who should be favored when claims to self-determination conflict?
- Thus we must ask ourselves, does the language of universal human rights build on real commonalities?
- Swedish philosopher and author of Common Values, Sissela Bok, argues that people in all parts of the world share at least some values in common especially the rejection of force and fraud which are commonly considered liberal values.

What are we to do?
- American linguist and philosopher, Noam Chomsky, tried to define the responsibilities of the writer in his essay, “Writers and Intellectual Responsibility.”
o He wrote that it is a responsibility to tell the truth about matters of human significance.
o This is, essentially, the job description of those enrolled in this masters program.
- Lithuanian philosopher, Emmanuel Levinas, states that humans have “infinite responsibility but limited capacity.”
- The questions remains, how do we live with that contradiction?

“Cultural Homogenization and Commodification”

2009-09-22T16:21:00.000+02:00

Lecture #8: “Cultural Homogenization and Commodification”
Staffan Appelgren

Seminar Papers- Graded seminar papers will be returned tomorrow, September 23. In the future, make sure to read all of the articles before you decide what to write about. Also, stick to the articles; include all relevant articles and arguments; keep quotations to a minimum.

The Phenomenon of Language
- Languages with a limited number of speakers are disappearing.
- There are approximately 6,000 languages in existence today but 4% of these languages are spoken by 96% of the world’s population.
- 1,500 languages are spoken by less than 1,000 people.
- Every two weeks, a language disappears.
- By 2050, approximately 3,000 languages will remain.
- One of the causes of the eradication of minority languages in bilingualism.

Culture
- Can we say the same thing about cultures; are they also disappearing?
- Newspapers feature stories about dying languages, why don’t they discuss dying cultures?
- The above questions are difficult to answer because culture, unlike language, is difficult to delimit.
- What counts as language is a political decision. Culture, however, is a process of creating meaning.
- One can argue that anthropologists have departed from the idea of humans as meaning creating and seeking.
- Of course, there is an evolving understanding of what a culture is and how it is created.

Definitions of Culture
- Some contend that culture results from artistic production such as the production of books, films, dance, etc.
o This definition is not often discussed in social science contexts.
o We will not discuss this definition during today’s lecture.
- Culture can also be described as coming from objects this is also known as material culture.
o Counter-argument: We ascribe meaning to these objects; they don’t have inherent meaning.
o This definition is similar to Susan Wright’s ideas and arguments.
- One can also define culture as politicized/ commodified through the construction of identity.
o This is derived from symbols, clothes, traditions, etc.
o This definition is often related to in-group similarities.
o This definition is also similar to Susan Wright’s ideas and arguments.
- Finally, culture can be defined as the process of creating meaning.
o This is the definition most often used by anthropologists.
o This definition is process oriented.
o According to this definition, culture is not what you have; it’s what you do.

The Meanings of Culture (Susan Wright)
- Old: Culture is bounded, defined, unchanging, has an underlying system of meanings and is identical.
- New: Culture is an active process with various definitions. It is understood differently by different positioned people. Cultural sites are not bounded. Concept formation is historically specific.
- According to Appelgren, what really goes on in everyday life is “meaning creation.”
- The old understanding of static culture often reappears, especially in identity politics, but is easily questioned.
- An example of the application of the old understanding occurs in Sweden when culture is linked to crime. The majority population asserts that honor-related violence is related to “immigrant culture.” However, when domestic violence occurs in a “Swedish” household it is not related to Swedish culture.
- In other words, old understandings of culture are often invoked to explain peoples’ actions.

Globalization with Agency
- According to Appelgren, it is simply not true that the local only reacts to global forces.
- Agency does exist.

Questions about Cultural Homogenization
- Are we condemned to conformity?
- Are there prospects for difference?
- If yes, what kinds of differences are possible?
- The answers to these questions depend on what kind of culture we are talking about.
- In other words, what kind of culture is reflected by global brands like McDonald’s and Coco Cola?

Cultural Imperialism
- There are unequal flows in a globalized world.
- Cultural imperialism is often associated with Westernization.
- Globalization as cultural imperialism is seen as an extension of colonialism, domination and oppression.
- It is a “soft power” but one with profound implications for individuals.
- The result of cultural imperialism is that local cultures become extinct and replaced by Western culture.
- According to John Tomlinson…
o Cultural imperialism is much more than Westernization.
o Cultural imperialism “involves the institution worldwide of western visions of basic social-cultural reality…”
o The transformations that result from cultural imperialism are very deep and profound.
- According to Inda and Rosaldo…
o Cultural imperialism “entails the dissemination of all facets of the West’s way of being…”
o Note: When the West is discussed in these terms, it is no longer a geographic indicator.
- According to George Ritzer and his theory of McDonaldization…
o Increasing standardization occurs throughout societies and nations.
o Services and products are increasingly standardized and mass-produced.
o This occurs through two different processes: the “grobalization” of nothing and the “glocalization” of something.

Positives Aspects of Cultural Imperialism
- So far, globalization has been taken as negative leading to a loss of diversity but this assumption can be questioned.
- Culture as meaning creation continuously changes.
- People continue to create meanings regardless of globalization.
- If we do try to preserve culture, we must ask ourselves who are we to decide what to preserve and what not to preserve.
- Many cultural brokers try to intervene for others. This is problematic.
- There are problems with preservation.
- Some theorists have pointed to a multitude of positive aspects of cultural imperialism including improved health-care and education, the proliferation of values such as democracy, tolerance, equality, empathy and solidarity, and the protection of human rights.
- George Ritzer provides the tongue-in-cheek theory of the Golden Arches Conflict Prevention.
o According to this theory, no country that has a McDonald’s goes to war with any other country that has a McDonald’s.
o The first exception was NATO’s bombing of Yugoslavia.

Objections to Cultural Imperialism
- Some contend that people are not passive receivers/ consumers. The mere presence of global products does not prove that Western values and understandings are also present.
o A bottle of Coca Cola is understood differently in different contexts and locations.
o Culture is not the property of objects.
o People have agency and the ability to ascribe meanings.
o A classic example is the American television series “Dallas.” This series had a global audience but, according to Tomlinson, viewers consumed the series differently depending on their culture and location.
- Some object to cultural imperialism because it rests on the idea that the Center talks to the Periphery.
o According to Rosaldo, flows occur in the opposite direction. In other words, the Periphery talks back.
o This is shown through “The Peripheralization of the Core” and the existence of global cities in which the whole world is present such as New York, London, Tokyo, etc.
- Finally, some object to cultural imperialism because it centers on the West.
o Cultural Imperialism theory ignores the fact that there are a number of flows that circumvent or ignore the West.
o Those who object argue that there is not one center but that globalization is multi-centered.
o It is impossible to divide the world into two entities: The West and the Rest.

Beyond Cultural Imperialism
- The argument for homogenization is problematic when you focus on how identity is produced.
- In fact, there are increasing possibilities for difference in a globalized world.
- According to Richard Wilk…
o Asserting difference is encouraged in the global community where there are “Structures of Common Difference.”
o There is hegemony of structure not hegemony of content.
o Global structures orchestrate diversity but they do so in a uniform way through a common grammar for the production of difference. This grammar is universal and important because it must be used in order to be recognized and understood by the global community. In other words, in order to be recognized as an indigenous group, the group must conform to these “Structures of Common Difference.” This connects to the idea of culture as a means of creating identities.
o Wilk gives the example of the production of national culture in Belize beginning in the 1990s. Before the 1990s, no national identity existed to unite the inhabitants of Belize. The country was understood, by its citizens, as a mix of people without a unifying identity. This changes during the 1990s and beauty contents played an important role.

The Production of Identity in a Global World (John Tomlinson)
- Global forces are not a threat to cultural identity.
- Globalization actually produces differences.
- This is a critique of the writings of Manuel Castells.
- Identity construction is modern phenomenon.
o In pre-modern societies, identity was not of primary importance.
o This is true especially in relation to identities responding to and being built on sexuality, gender, etc.
- Globalization is the spread of modernity and, with modernity, identity making proliferates.

Concluding Questions
- Why, then, is culture so important?
- Does the modern world threaten culture?

"Economic Homogenization and the Market"

2009-09-21T18:38:00.000+02:00

Lecture #7: “Economic Homogenization and the Market”
Erik Andersson

What is homogenization and how does it relate to markets?
- Encyclopaedia Britannica: “process of reducing a substance, such as the fat globules of milk, to extremely small particles and distributing it uniformly throughout a fluid, such as milk.”
- In other words, homogenization is the process of making something uniform in something else in order to enhance the latter entity.
- Proposition: “Globalization homogenizes markets and societies to support capitalist expansion and growth.”
o This proposition seems to be refuted by the following definition of economic systems in the Encyclopaedia Britannica (EB).
o According to EB, “The form of capitalism taken also differs between nations, because the practice of it is embedded within cultures; even the forces of globalization and the threat of homogenization have proved to be more myth than reality. Markets cater to national culture as much as national culture mutates to conform to the discipline of profit and loss. It is to this very adaptability that capitalism appears to owe its continued vitality.” (Encyclopaedia Britannica, “economic systems”)

Transnational Corporations (TNCs)
- TNCs are a strong force in the process of globalization.
- TNCs have moved away from a Fordist structure and have become network entities.
o These networks are highly mobile.
o Assembly and design can and do occur different places.
o This represents a big change in the ways that companies do business.
- Countries want headquarters and assembly lines located domestically and as thus willing to create policies that entice TNCs.
- TNCs, themselves, operate above the nation-state system.
o They can be located virtually anywhere on earth.
o They are located in places that yield the highest profits.
o They avoid place with risk (due to economic, political and/or social instability) and high costs (poor geography, difficulty shipping and receiving).

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR aka Corporate Citizenship)
- CSR is a consequential, homogenizing force.
- CSR developed as a response to Kofi Annan’s speech in 1999 which stated that corporations can uphold human rights regardless of government policies.
- TNCs embrace CSR and thus avoid violating human rights.
- CSR established a “level playing field” in business in which TNCs agreed not to employ child labor, cap over time, allow unions, mitigate against environmental damage, etc.
- TNCs must adopt the strictest standards of the countries in which they are listed. (ie. Ericsson had to adopt US financial reporting standards.
- TNCs also adopt CSR in order to avoid consumer boycotts.

Global Ownership
- Global Ownership is becoming more concentrated and anonymous.
- It is more concentrated because companies are buying each other up through mergers and acquisitions (M&A)
- It is more anonymous because of increased investment by pension funds.

Transnational Corporations Produce Global Products
- Coca Cola, Ford, Volvo, GM, Microsoft, etc.
- These global products have local meanings.
o They are distributed in accordance with local meaning. (ie. During the 1990’s the Big Mac was considered a “rich man’s food” in the USSR.)
o Local meanings vary from region to region, nation to nation, group to group.

Global Trade Regimes: World Trade Organization (WTO) and General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT)
- These global trade regimes were designed to establish a “level playing field” among trading nations.
- They operate according to the principles of MFN, National Treatment and Reciprocity.
o Most Favored Nation (MFN): This name was inherited from the original GATT negotiations held in the 1940s. MFN holds that a country to grant the same tariffs to all members of the WTO that it grants to its most favored trading partner. In other words, if Sweden has the lowest tariffs against Germany in trading auto parts at 12%, Sweden must extend the same tariff , with respect to auto parts, to all members of the WTO. In the 1940s, the average tariff wall as approximately 40%. Today, the average tariff wall is approximately 4%.
o National Treatment: This principle states that once a product is imported into a country, that product must be treated like all other similar products bought and sold in that country. In other words, if Sweden imports Toyota cars, the sale of those cars are subject to the same regulations as the sale of Volvo and Saab cars produced domestically.
o Reciprocity: If country A lowers tariffs against country B, country B must lower tariffs against country A.

***WTO/GATT Mandate***
- Increase free trade.

The Uruguay Round (UR)
- The UR resulted in the creation of the WTO (a formal organization of GATT) which could settle disputes and negotiate.
- The UR granted some policy space to the developing world to protect infant industries.

The Doha Development Round (DDR)
- Since tariff walls are so low today, the benefits of DOHA, especially for developing countries, become smaller and smaller.
- When you decrease tariff walls, your local industries have to compete with industries from abroad.
o In developing countries, infant industries are not as well developed and may fail because these industries are no longer protected.
o Developing nations contend that the smaller benefits accorded by DDR are not worth the sacrifices.
- Thus DDR is dead, for now…

Free Trade Areas
- Because DDR is dead, some countries have moved forward on their own and created Free Trade Areas (FTAs, RTAs)
- In FTAs, countries agree to pursue trade on a freer basis than prescribed by the WTO.
- Of course, the same policy space vs growth trade-offs need to be considered.
o This is a more important consideration for developing countries since the more industrialized party always reaps greater benefits.
o This trade-off may not always benefit poorer states.
- FTAs have become a force with the DOHA negotiations.

Market, what is it?
- The market is both a formal and informal institutional setting.
o Formal institutions include tariffs, laws, regulations, etc.
o Information institutions include norms and habits that make actors behave in certain ways.
- Formal institutional settings are politically constructed and maintained.
o Formal institutional settings regulate economic interactions.
o Formal institutional settings also constitute certain forms of economic interactions.
- Markets don’t happen; they are constructed.
o Adam Smith may not have agreed with the above statement.
o These changes have occurred primarily in the last 10-20 years.

Global Drivers of Institutional Change
- WTO: Once a country signs on to the WTO, they must adjust national laws and regulations to WTO rules.
- IMF, Poverty Reduction Strategies (PRS): PRS are required before securing a loan from the IMF.
- World Bank conditionalities
- UN: Countries and TNCs must uphold human rights and security.
- G7/8/20: This is a club with formal power that tries to establish non-contradictory economic policies.
- Regionalization (FTAs, RTAs, DTTs, etc.)

Encyclopaedia Britannica Revisited
- “Markets cater to national culture as much as national culture mutates to conform to the discipline of profit and loss.”
- But this only occurs after market access has been granted and formal institutions have been made compatible with the logic of globalization.

Conclusion
- Markets are not homogenized; institutions are homogenized.
- Institutional homogeneity is orchestrated by states as a result of global drivers of institutional change.
- States seek to support continued economic globalization up to a point.
- Current scenario: strong, diverse South + global recession + huge hegemonic problems + global financial crisis = ?

"Sovereignty"

2009-09-16T18:34:00.000+02:00

Lecture #6: “Sovereignty”
Maria Stern and Peer Schouter

Sovereignty and Globalization
- Today we will discuss sovereignty and the state in connection to globalization.
- State sovereignty is a principle, a law, a convention and a myth that tries to answer questions about power, authority, accountability, governance, legitimacy, legality, etc.
- Sovereignty has to do with the locus of politics and is connected to identity, political subjectivity, democracy and agency.
- Sovereignty is both an elegant and problematic response to the issues listed above.
Basic Definitions
- The state: Most literature refers to the idea of the modern liberal state. Of course, this conception is often at odds with actual states. According to Weber, the state has a monopoly on the use of force. The state is also a legal and juridical entity with a government and state apparatuses or executive-administrative structure. According to Haywood in Concepts in Politics, the state is sovereign. It stands above all other groups. It contains public institutions and reflects the permanent interests of society. The state’s authority is backed up by coercion and a state must have the capacity to ensure its laws are obeyed. A state is also a territorial association with a jurisdiction that is geographically defined. On the international stage, a state is regarded as an autonomous entity. Furthermore, the citizens of a state enter into a social contract with the state whereby they have certain rights and responsibilities.
o The ideal modern liberal state has a government, ensures the security and welfare of its citizens as well as the (relatively) equal distribution of resources.
o Nationalism lends legitimacy and gives meaning to the state.

- Sovereignty: In order for the state to work, it must be sovereign. Sovereignty is the complete, comprehensive and exclusive rule over a given territory and those residing within that territory. The internal face of sovereignty entails the claim that the state has final legal authority within its borders. The external face of sovereignty rejects authority higher or other than the state. A sovereign state has to be recognized by other states—although this recognition is problematic. There is a juridical or legal sovereignty which assumes a system of states with a set of rules. There is also an empirical sovereignty which entails the ability to make an effective internal claim to sovereign control.

- Autonomy: Autonomy is independence or complete and exclusive rule both externally and internally.
Concrete Examples of Sovereign States (?): the Netherlands, Somalia, Kosovo, Palestine, Iraq
- The Netherlands: Most would agree that the Netherlands is a sovereign state but it is not, necessarily, autonomous. The Netherlands is a member of the European Union and has accordingly relinquished monetary autonomy. The Netherlands also has a contingent of American soldiers inside its borders.

- Somalia: The Somali government has no effective claim over the use of force. Force is exercised by a variety of non-state actors including pirates and warlords. Somali citizens do not feel represented by their government and many Somalis receive resources vital to daily existence from aid agencies. And yet, Somalia is recognized as a sovereign state by the United Nations. Somaliland, which exists within Somalia, has its own queen, central bank and international trading partners but it is not recognized as sovereign.

- Kosovo: Many states recognize the sovereignty of Kosovo but many do not. Most notably, Russia does not recognize Kosovo’s sovereignty. This is problematic because Russia is a member of the United Nations Security Council and therefore has the power to veto any attempt to recognize Kosovo’s sovereignty.

- Palestine: Palestine is a contested state. It has laws and a government but it does not have sovereignty or autonomy. Of course, Palestine, like any state, can be considered sovereign or not sovereign depending on your definition of sovereignty and the aspects of sovereignty that you are examining.

- Iraq: In 2004, CNN ran the headline, “The US returns sovereignty to Iraq.” The story described a US official handing over sovereignty to an Iraqi official on a specific date and time. Some said the hand over was meaningless while others argued it was a step in the right direction.

How does globalization relate to sovereignty?
- Globalization touches on the core issues of sovereignty. This is illustrates more clearly by examining definitions of globalization.
o One author defines globalization as the “growing interdependence of national economies.”
o Martin Kohr contends that “globalization is what we in the Third World have for several centuries called colonization.”
o Still another writes that “globalization is a rubric for varied phenomena.”

- Neo-medievalism contends that globalization is multi-layered and fragmented both of which concern autonomy and authority. Thus globalization is a force that diffused political authority and sovereignty.

- Neo-liberals believe that global interdependence increases welfare, security and democracy and, ultimately, enhances global civil society.

- An example of the entwined relationship of sovereignty and globalization is “the responsibility to protect.” According to this argument, sovereignty has become an impediment to protecting human rights. Underlying this statement is the assumption that some states simply aren’t working.

- Cosmopolitanism championed by David Held argues that a world society can answer global questions and mediate global issues. According to this theory, we need to start lifting decision-making from the state. Good governance is required to protect fragile states (formally unknown as failed states). State sovereignty is no longer uncontested primarily because terrorism, piracy, environmental disasters, etc. do not obey borders.

- Accountability and authority pose real problems for global governance. States act on their own interests, not the interests of humanity.

- Today, there is no global governance with absolute power or authority.

Vital Questions raised by Sovereignty and Globalization
- Is the state dead?
- Does the state still exist?
- Has the state ever existed?
The Bottom Line: Globalization forces us to rethink sovereignty.

"Cultural Disembedding and Social Dislocation"

2009-09-15T18:29:00.000+02:00

Lecture #5: “Cultural Disembedding and Social Dislocation”
Staffan Appelgren

Opening note: Today we will begin by discussing the meaning of globalization. We will start with the definition provided by Jan Aart Scholte and I will make some of my own additions.

The Meaning of Globalization
- I agree with Scholte that what theory you choose and can best answer questions in related to the phenomena you are researching. In other words, you need to employ theory according to your research question.
- If we want to understand globalization more deeply, we need to isolate two crucial factors:

o The Global Subject- The global subject is a subject conscious of global interconnections that shape his or her life.
§ Rather than focusing on material flows (i.e. mobile phones, foreign investment), I would like to focus on the mind or the creation of subjects. Globalization is the spread of an awareness that we are a part of a greater whole. Globalization is with us and within us. Some people are more conscious of globalization but there is an awareness of us and them. This awareness has always existed. What I am arguing is that there is now a greater whole encompassing us all. “We” or “us” are necessarily interrelated with “them.” The imaginary is a crucial factor in the process of globalization. This awareness is grounded in practical experiences.
§ The global subject is increasingly pushed to participate in a global world primarily as a consumer. As we are drawn into consumer society, we are constituted as consumers even in social and political domains. For example, people are encouraged to think about carbon emissions as both an economic and political issue. As a result, politics and ideology are increasingly subordinated to economics. Responsibility is individualized— you deal with the environment as an individual not a collective— and accountability is diffused— everyone is responsible for environmental degradation.

o No Escape- There is no place outside of the global; we are in it together, like it or not.
§ I differ from Scholte who says social action increasingly takes place on a global scale. Rather than saying that social action has global reach, I would like to phrase it as an inability to escape. There has been an erasure of positions of non-engagement. As we learned from the hunt for Bin Laden, if globalization means anything, it means the vanishing of exteriority both in physical and psychological terms.
§ Globalization and the advance of capitalism also means the subordination of other forms of social organization (i.e. indigenous people)
§ According to Anna Tsing, it’s a matter of the symbolic order that has the power to decide.

- A final note on the characterization of globalization:
o Scholte points to quantitative differences (i.e. velocity) in globalization. I believe that we quantitative differences exist but this is not a qualitative difference. A qualitative difference is the closure of non-interconnected space and the transformation of the global subject.
o Of course, it is easier to talk about globalization in terms of “more.”
Today’s Texts: Giddens and Harvey
- Today we will discuss “Modernity, Time and Space” and “Disembedding” by Anthony Giddens and “Time-Space Compression and the Postmodern Condition” by David Harvey. Both are classic texts.

“Time-Space Compression and the Postmodern Condition” by David Harvey
- Harvey discusses conditions of post-modernity and argues that we are experiencing an intense form of time-space compression due to transformations in capitalism. This shift in capitalism has consequences for the society as a whole.
- Crucial to this shift is the speeding up of production, consumption and life in general. This occurs through such things as outsourcing and non-binding labor contracts.
- We have shifted from consumption of material objects to services which turn over rapidly.
- In addition, social-cultural life has become more sensuous—thinking is no longer as important as it used to be.
o Things that are produced in one location rapidly lead to emotional reactions elsewhere. (i.e. Mohammed cartoons, the Aftonbladet article on the Israeli military)
o Because life is sensuous, heated debates occur between countries, leaders and ordinary people.
o In other words, we live in a global world where emotions are important.
- Space has been abstracted and boundaries have dissolved but, at the same time, place has become more important.
- Space needs the capacity to attract capital which flows and flees rapidly.
o How can a place (space) attract capital?
§ Deregulation
§ Decreased taxation
§ Educated / Skilled workforce
§ Cultural richness
o This gives capital the means to exploit places (the commodification of space)
o This competition can turn into a race to the bottom and creates new hierarchies between places.

“Modernity, Time and Space” and “Disembedding” by Anthony Giddens
- Giddens formulates the same kind of concept called Time-Space Distanciation or the stretching of social actions and relations.
- He argues that the processes connect presence with absence or a departure from face to face interactions.
- In large, modern societies, social interaction is governed by absence and not always conditioned by space this is the disembedding process.
- In other words, globalization is an extension of the disembedding of social relations on a global scale.

Disembedding Processes

- Time: The modern clock disembeds social life. Although time and calendars have existed in many societies they existed in the form of contextualized time. Time existed in relation to rituals, seasons and the cosmos; it was connected to practices. Modern time is abstracted and facilitates larger societies, scientific measurement, transportation, communication, etc.

- Writing and Printing: Writing has a long history starting in China, Mesopotamia and elsewhere. The first writing systems were used both to communicate with gods and to govern people. Like time, writing facilitates the growth of societies. Writing was disembedding because, through writing, knowledge becomes distanced from time and space.
o In oral societies, knowledge was dependent on repetition tied to time, place, activity and person.
o In literate societies, knowledge can move around independently of time and space. It is moveable and transferable.
o Plato argues against the disembedding process inherent in writing in Phaedrus. Here, Plato contends that writing is a poison to memory and only produces forgetfulness. He argues that writing is only the appearance of knowledge, not real knowledge.
o Derrida presents a counter-argument.

- Money: Money disembeds economic transactions from local, social contexted once again stretching time and space. Wealth is now convertible throughout the world. Someone can earn money in Sweden and spend it practically anywhere on earth.
o Marx criticized the subordination of the worker through money.
o Time and space is now commodified.

- Bureaucratic Organization: Max Weber contends that modern societies are said to be organized and ruled according to the abstract principles of equality. In non-modern societies, rights, responsibilities, power, etc. were largely based on kinship, class and regional origins. Today, at least theoretically, all people are equal and deserve equal access to education and equality before the law.

- Tradition: In modern life, tradition comes back to us as “tradition.” Tradition is a part of modernity and the present. Our own identities, cultures and traditions are being lifted out of ourselves, examined and selected or rejected. We don’t just practice traditions, we question them and decide whether or not to observe them. There was a time when tradition did not entail choice and awareness. Today, we are aware of choice. But, in my opinion, the option we can’t choose is not to choose. This process of choosing necessitates rationalization. In other words, I do this because I am female, American, etc.

"Reorganization of Space"

2009-09-15T18:27:00.000+02:00

Lecure #4: "The Reorganization of Space"
Karl Bruckmeier, Human Ecology

See powerpoint distributed during lecture.