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Begin New Search Publishing Institution German Institute of Global and Area Studies Publication Year within 25 Years

101. Does Violence Pay? The Effect of Ethnic Rebellion on Overcoming Political Deprivation

Author:
Carlo Koos
Publication Date:
03-2014
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
German Institute of Global and Area Studies
Abstract:
Studies have found that politically deprived groups are more likely to rebel. However, does rebellion increase the likelihood of achieving political rights? This article proposes that rebellion helps ethnic groups to overcome deprivation. I illustrate this by using a "typical" case (the Ijaw's struggle against the Nigerian government) to demonstrate how ethnic rebellion increases the costs for the government to a point where granting political rights becomes preferable to war. Further, I exploit time-series-cross-sectional data on deprived ethnic groups to show that rebellion is significantly associated with overcoming deprivation. The statistical analysis shows that democratic change is an alternative mechanism.
Topic:
Conflict Prevention, Political Violence, Ethnic Conflict, Poverty, and Armed Struggle
Political Geography:
Africa and Dhaka

102. Perceptions, Practices and Adaptations: Understanding Chinese–African Interactions in Africa

Author:
Karsten Giese
Publication Date:
03-2014
Content Type:
Journal Article
Institution:
German Institute of Global and Area Studies
Abstract:
Over the last few years, Sino-African relations have become a hot topic both in the general media and for scholars worldwide. Large parts of the global mass media are still engaged in painting the big picture of the relationship between China and Africa by conflating the multiple stakeholders and actors on both sides and generalizing about China's "neocolonialist" strategies vis-à-vis weak African states: its exploitation of African raw materials and populations, its support for non-democratic regimes and its undermining of all Western efforts for reforms across the continent. Where media reports transcend this stereotyping and homogenizing on the macro-level and portray Chinese–African encounters on the ground, it is power differentials, competition, tension and conflict between disempowered African locals and (at least economically) powerful Chinese – the latter as exoticized as alien "others" – that are often the focus of attention.
Political Geography:
Africa and China

103. Sino-African Encounters in Ghana and Nigeria: From Conflict to Conviviality and Mutual Benefit

Author:
Ben Lampert and Giles Mohan
Publication Date:
03-2014
Content Type:
Journal Article
Institution:
German Institute of Global and Area Studies
Abstract:
China's renewed engagement with Africa is often framed as a form of imperialism, with the growing number of Chinese migrants on the continent seen as an exploitative presence. Such claims have generally been based on little evidence, and where more detailed empirical studies have emerged, they tend to emphasise the tensions and conflicts that have arisen. Our research on Chinese migrants in Ghana and Nigeria suggests that while there are concerns about Chinese competition in the informal retail sector and the treatment of local labour in Chinese enterprises, narratives of apparent tension and conflict are often much more nuanced than is generally recognised. Furthermore, more convivial and cooperative relations have also emerged and these have facilitated important opportunities for Africans to benefit from the Chinese presence. However, while the presence of Chinese migrants in African socio-economic life can be more integrated and mutually beneficial than is often assumed, the ability of African actors to benefit from this presence is highly uneven, placing the politics of class at the centre of any understanding of Sino-African encounters.
Topic:
Development and Migration
Political Geography:
Africa, China, and Nigeria

104. Significant Others: Security and Suspicion in Chinese–Angolan Encounters

Author:
Cheryl Mei-ting Schmitz
Publication Date:
03-2014
Content Type:
Journal Article
Institution:
German Institute of Global and Area Studies
Abstract:
The sense of mystery around Chinese presences in Angola impels researchers to understand not only the empirical details of economic transactions and diplomatic partnerships but also the various ways in which the actors involved make sense of a novel social, political, and economic configuration. By drawing several ethnographic portraits of the social practices and discursive strategies at play in Chinese–Angolan relations, I show how, in a context of mutual uncertainty and suspicion, appeals to "security" play a central role. Instead of viewing Chinese and Angolans as two separate groups with opposed interests and lack of communication between them, I explore how participation in a shared context generates common modes of explanation. Moreover, I propose a parallel analysis of state-level negotiations alongside everyday social encounters to consider how a political economic partnership between China and Angola is lived through the everyday negotiations of Chinese and Angolan residents in Luanda.
Political Geography:
China, Angola, and Luanda

105. The Chinese Presence in Burkina Faso: A Sino-African Cooperation from Below

Author:
Guive Khan Mohammad
Publication Date:
03-2014
Content Type:
Journal Article
Institution:
German Institute of Global and Area Studies
Abstract:
Burkina Faso currently has no diplomatic relationship whatsoever with the People's Republic of China. Engaged in cooperation with Taiwan since 1994, it is one of only three African countries not a part of the Forum on China–Africa Cooperation. This unusual situation has produced a unique manifestation of the Chinese presence in Burkina Faso, where the estimated 600 Chinese migrants are primarily private entrepreneurs. This phenomenon of "globalization from below" – or, this migration of entrepreneurs that transcends the absence of diplomatic relations – creates new intimate social relations between the Burkinabe and Chinese people who come into contact with each other. Far from simply turning Chinese and Burkinabe into economic competitors, these relations have also led to the emergence of many forms of interpersonal and business cooperation. In this paper, I therefore demonstrate how Sino-African cooperation from below has developed in Burkina Faso, which stands in radical contrast to the latter's cooperation with Taiwan, which takes place almost exclusively on a broader state-to-state level. The empirical evidence of this study is drawn from field survey interviews and observations of both Chinese and Burkinabe entrepreneurs in Burkina Faso between 2010 and 2011.
Political Geography:
Africa, China, and Tanzania

106. Place-based and Place-bound Realities: A Chinese Firm's Embeddedness in Tanzania

Author:
Tanny Men
Publication Date:
03-2014
Content Type:
Journal Article
Institution:
German Institute of Global and Area Studies
Abstract:
The paper presents a single case study of how one Chinese firm operates in Dar es Salaam and how the firm's embeddedness and unique managerial style in the local context affect local benefits for Tanzanian employees. The results demonstrate the need to fill a gap in the knowledge about Chinese economic activities in Africa, particularly in relation to the cultural constructs present in manager-employee interactions. The findings paint a picture of a firm that intends to localize its business strategies and engage a local labour force, but similarly reveals the inherent cultural, behavioural and social norms of Chinese management, which may create organizational challenges and power differentials in the workplace.
Political Geography:
China and Tanzania

107. Chinese Employers and Their Ugandan Workers: Tensions, Frictions and Cooperation in an African City

Author:
Codrin Arsene
Publication Date:
03-2014
Content Type:
Journal Article
Institution:
German Institute of Global and Area Studies
Abstract:
This paper analyses the context in which a group of African workers interact with their Chinese employers within a specific ethno- graphic space: Chinese-owned shops in Kampala, Uganda. By exploring enjawulo, the locally embedded cultural, social and economic notion of work and labour, I reveal how relations between Chinese employers and Ugandan employees are shaped by the former's knowledge and acceptance of this practice. This analytical lens contextualises the two groups' divergent goals, opinions and aspirations, examines the interpersonal dimensions of their social relations, and also analyses employers' and employees' opinions on labour conflicts, cooperation and understanding. The goal of the paper is to explore and deconstruct the context in which Chinese store owners and their local employees interact, cohabit, and sometimes even find common ground, despite markedly different economic, social, cultural, racial and linguistic backgrounds.
Topic:
Migration
Political Geography:
Uganda, Africa, China, and Kampala

108. Survey of Experts on Climate Change Awareness and Public Participation in China

Author:
Berthold Kuhn and Yangyong Zhang
Publication Date:
03-2014
Content Type:
Journal Article
Institution:
German Institute of Global and Area Studies
Abstract:
Climate protection issues are receiving more attention in China. Responding to this survey, 133 environmental and climate protection experts indicated that the government is a key factor in raising awareness of climate protection in China. Experts participating in the survey also referred to the role of the media – in particular social media – NGOs and educational institutions in spreading climate protection awareness. Additionally, interviews were carried out with 40 of the experts, who were grouped into different categories to discover whether there were any striking differences of opinion between experts of different backgrounds. Their assessments revealed few statistically relevant differences, though some are worth noting: Chinese researchers, project managers and representatives of NGOs were more positive than international experts regarding the impact of the Rio+20 conference on climate change discourse in China. Also, the youngest experts with the least international experience evaluated the potential of green volunteer work highest.
Topic:
Environment, Government, and Non-Governmental Organization
Political Geography:
China

109. The KMT–CCP Forum: Securing Consent for Cross-Strait Rapprochement

Author:
Andre Beckershoff
Publication Date:
03-2014
Content Type:
Journal Article
Institution:
German Institute of Global and Area Studies
Abstract:
The recent rapprochement between China and Taiwan cannot be understood if our conceptual apparatus is unable to cope with the distinctive new quality of cross-Strait relations. A critical framework provides a transnational account of cross-Strait dynamics. An analysis of the KMT–CCP Forum through the lens of the neo-Gramscian notion of hegemony sheds light on the Forum's strategies, mechanisms, practices and instruments to secure consent for cross-Strait rapprochement. While this mode of governance has broadened the KMT's strategic options, it has also compromised Taiwanese democracy.
Political Geography:
China and Taiwan

110. Too Abstract to Be Feasible? Applying the Grounded Theory Method in Social Movement Research

Author:
Ina Peters
Publication Date:
05-2014
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
German Institute of Global and Area Studies
Abstract:
Grounded theory methodology (GTM) has become a popular approach in the social sciences. Based on an iterative research design and reconstructive hermeneutic procedures, it enables scholars to reveal and comprehend patterns of understanding that are reproduced through linguistic and nonlinguistic symbols. Yet the vast literature on GTM often leaves scholars wondering how the method can be operationalized. This paper serves the dual purpose of providing a precise and comprehensive review of GTM sensu Anselm Strauss and Juliet Corbin while at the same time discussing its application in a social movement research project. Done thoroughly, GTM demands high levels of reflexivity, transparency, and openness from the qualitative scholar. I propose that these requirements concern not only the sampling and data collection but also the researcher's previous assumptions, transcription, translation, and data quality. As the latter aspects are frequently neglected, the paper calls for more accuracy in the application and documentation of research methods.
Topic:
Science and Technology, Sociology, and Social Movement

111. Margins, Gravity, and Causality: Export Diversification and Income Levels Reconsidered

Author:
Karsten Mau
Publication Date:
07-2014
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
German Institute of Global and Area Studies
Abstract:
The paper shows that the relationship between GDP per capita and levels of specialization can be predicted differently depending on whether the intensive or the extensive margin is considered. It shows that at the extensive margin countries continuously diversify their exports and that cross-sectional patterns can be captured well by a gravity equation. Prior studies documenting nonmonotone patterns with respecialization appear to have obtained their results from sample-selection bias, the omitted log-transformation of the income variable, and the neglect of control variables. Furthermore, results from dynamic panel analyses (system GMM) suggest that causality goes in both directions, with income having a contemporaneous impact on diversification, while the feedback effect of diversification on GDP per capita may be delayed. This pattern fits into theoretical rationales that view diversification as driven by technology or efficiency and where diversification generates additional revenues as it proves to be persistent.
Topic:
Economics, International Political Economy, International Trade and Finance, and Science and Technology

112. China and Socialist Countries: Role Change and Role Continuity

Author:
Nele Noesselt
Publication Date:
08-2014
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
German Institute of Global and Area Studies
Abstract:
This paper analyses changes in China's relations with socialist countries. It uses Chinese academic publications to add an insideâ?out perspective to the interpretation of Chinese foreign policy and outlines key socioâ?cognitive determinants of China's foreign behaviour. The paper starts with an overview of role theory, integrating Chinese scholars' writings on images of ego and alter to identify the main patterns and frames of China's selfproclaimed national role(s). It argues that China's actor identity comprises various, partly contradictory role conceptions. National roles derived from China's internal structures and its historical past lead to continuity in Chinese foreign policy, while the 'new' roles resultant from China's rise to global powerhood require it to adapt its foreign policy principles. The paper then examines four bilateral relationships – between China and Cuba, North Korea, the Soviet Union/Russia, and Vietnam – and discusses their development over time in light of China's reformulation of its 'socialist' role conception.
Topic:
International Relations, Foreign Policy, and Socialism/Marxism
Political Geography:
China and Asia

113. Researching Ethnic Relations as the Outcome of Political Processes

Author:
Anaïd Flesken
Publication Date:
08-2014
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
German Institute of Global and Area Studies
Abstract:
Ethnic diversity is often seen to be detrimental to peace and stability, particularly if ethnicity is the basis for political mobilization. Mobilization is assumed to increase the salience of ethnicity, and with it in-group cohesion, out-group animosity, and national instability; yet the mechanisms have rarely been studied empirically. This article argues that we need to study ethnicity as the outcome of political processes, focus on the attitudinal mechanisms underlying ethnic relation; and examine this phenomenon at the individual level. To this end, the article first disaggregates the term "ethnicity" into attributes, meanings, and actions. Referring to constructivism, it then argues that political science should focus on meanings. Building on the theory and findings of social psychology, this paper shows that political science must distinguish analytically between meanings regarding different in- and out-group processes. Doing so can help advance the study of ethnic relations and conflict-management practices.
Topic:
Ethnic Conflict, Peace Studies, Politics, and Ethnic Government
Political Geography:
Afghanistan, Ukraine, and Bulgaria

114. A Democratic Rentier State? Taxation, Aid Dependency, and Political Representation in Benin

Author:
Giulia Piccolino
Publication Date:
09-2014
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
German Institute of Global and Area Studies
Abstract:
Drawing on the history of statebuilding in Western Europe, fiscal sociology has proposed the existence of a mutually reinforcing effect between the emergence of representative government and effective taxation. This paper looks at the case of Benin, a low-income West African country that underwent a fairly successful democratization process in the early 1990s. It finds, in contrast to previous studies that have emphasized dependency on aid rents, that Benin appears to have reinforced its extractive capacities since democratization. However, the effect of democratization has been largely indirect, while other factors, such as the influence of the International Financial Institutions (IFIs) and the size of the country's informal sector, have played a more direct role in encouraging or inhibiting tax extraction. Nevertheless, the hypothesis that effective taxation depends on a quasiconsensual relationship between government and taxpayers finds some confirmation in the Beninese case.
Topic:
Democratization, Politics, and Foreign Aid
Political Geography:
Europe and West Africa

115. Regional Sanctions against Burundi: A Powerful Campaign and Its Unintended Consequences

Author:
Julia Grauvogel
Publication Date:
09-2014
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
German Institute of Global and Area Studies
Abstract:
This paper examines the impact of regionally imposed sanctions on the trajectory of the Burundian regime and its involvement in the peace process following the 1996 coup in the country. Despite the country's socioeconomic and geopolitical vulnerability, the Buyoya government withstood the pressure from the sanctions. Through a vocal campaign against these sanctions, the new government mitigated the embargo's economic consequences and partially reestablished its international reputation. Paradoxically, this campaign planted the seed for comprehensive political concessions in the long term. While previous literature has attributed the sanctions' success in pressuring the government into negotiations to their economic impact, the government actually responded to the sanction senders' key demand to engage in unconditional, inclusive peace talks under the auspices of the regional mediator once the economy had already started to recover. The regime's anti-sanctions campaign, with its emphasis on the government's willingness to engage in peace talks, backfired, with Buyoya forced to negotiate after having become entrapped in his own rhetoric.
Topic:
Government, Regime Change, and Sanctions
Political Geography:
Africa and Burundi

116. Pastor Paulo vs. Doctor Carlos: Professional Titles as Voting Heuristics in Brazil

Author:
Taylor Chase Boas
Publication Date:
09-2014
Content Type:
Journal Article
Institution:
German Institute of Global and Area Studies
Abstract:
In low-information elections, voters are likely to rely on heuristics when choosing candidates. Based on survey experiments conducted prior to Brazil's 2012 municipal elections, I examine the effect of candidates' professional titles, such as “doctor” and “pastor,” on voting behavior. Using the “pastor” title in one's electoral name tends to decrease vote intention, although evangelical Christians respond positively while members of other religious groups are repelled. The broader at-mosphere of political competition between Brazilian evangelicals and Catholics helps explain the presence of both out-group and in-group cueing effects. The “doctor” title has a positive effect on vote intention that appears to be mediated by the positive stereotypes, such as intelligence and competence, associated with members of this profession.
Topic:
International Law
Political Geography:
Brazil

117. The Effects of Gubernatorial Influence and Political Careerism on Senatorial Voting Behavior: The Argentine Case

Author:
Hirokazu Kikuchi and Germán Lodola
Publication Date:
09-2014
Content Type:
Journal Article
Institution:
German Institute of Global and Area Studies
Abstract:
What forces shape the behavior of incumbent legislators in a federation? Do subnational political elites (particularly governors) influence legislators' decisions on national policies? Do legislators' own political backgrounds and office ambitions motivate their actions in the chamber? We address these questions by estimating the causal effect of gubernatorial influence and individual political careerism on the voting behavior of regionally based legislators (i.e., senators) in Argentina, where electoral and candidate nomination rules provide little room for individualistic behavior in Parliament. Taking advantage of roll call voting data, we calculate the distance between each senator and her or his national party leader in the chamber. We document evidence that, on average, senators from governors' parties systematically break party unity. This effect grows as gubernatorial power increases. Moreover, we find that senators with successful local level political careers are also more likely to behave autonomously from their national party leaders. Finally, we show that the impact of senators' office ambitions on their voting patterns is surprisingly small.

118. Civil–Military Relations in Brazil: A Reassessment

Author:
Scott D. Tollefson and Thomas Charles Bruneau
Publication Date:
09-2014
Content Type:
Journal Article
Institution:
German Institute of Global and Area Studies
Abstract:
This article analyzes Brazilian civil–military relations using a framework that directs attention to the institutions of not only democratic civilian control, but also of military effectiveness and efficiency. The article argues that democratic civilian control over the armed forces in Brazil is exercised by a wide variety of mechanisms, many of which are not specifically designed for this purpose, but are instead part of a vast array of institutions that exercise control and oversight over public bureaucracies in general. Military prerogatives that were once high are now moderate or low, and there is currently no question of civilian control of the armed forces. However, several questions remain regarding the effectiveness of the armed forces. The article also emphasizes the importance of civilian staff assuming responsibilities in defense, as they have in virtually all other areas of government policy.
Political Geography:
Brazil

119. Evaluating Theories of Decision-making on the Peruvian Constitutional Tribunal

Author:
Aldo Fernando Ponce and Lydia Brashear Tiede
Publication Date:
09-2014
Content Type:
Journal Article
Institution:
German Institute of Global and Area Studies
Abstract:
High courts with abstract review powers to find laws unconstitutional may provide a strong check on other political actors and influence public policy if the judges in these courts are impartial decision makers. This paper tests existing judicial decision-making theories in relation to the behavior of judges on the Peruvian Constitutional Tribunal who are selected exclusively by Congress. Taking advantage of an original data set of judges' votes on the Tribunal, we find that the origin of the law and whether the enacting governments at the national and subnational levels are still in power at the time of judicial review are important determinants of judicial behavior. Judges' own political loyalties seem to have no perceived effect on decision making, which suggests that political affiliations are trumped by strategic concerns of judges due to the institutional design of the Tribunal as well as the political context in which it operates
Political Geography:
Peru

120. Taxing with Dictators and Democrats: Regime Effects, Transfers and Revenue in Argentina's Provinces

Author:
Melissa Ziegler Rogers
Publication Date:
06-2014
Content Type:
Journal Article
Institution:
German Institute of Global and Area Studies
Abstract:
Political institutions strongly influence incentives to tax. In this article, I examine differences across national regimes in provincial taxation in Argentina from 1959–2001 and compare them to sub-national regimes under national democracy. I argue that elections fundamentally shape taxation by guiding career incentives of provincial leaders. Under autocratic regimes, sub-national leaders have strong motivation to tax because they answer to national leaders who reward extraction. I find that national autocrats tax at higher levels, using more difficult taxes. In democratic systems, governors judged by local constituents use political resources to avoid taxation. Governors in closed electoral regimes generally collect less tax revenue than governors in competitive provinces, but this effect is largely driven by national coalition-building and privileged access to national resources. An important difference across sub-national regime type is incidence – closed provinces extract disproportionately from the dependent business sector.
Political Geography:
Argentina