Continue reading “Socio-cultural underpinnings of COVID policies”
Handmaids of transnational democracy? EU politicization and citizensâ initiatives by trade unions
Note: A shorter version of this article first appeared on the blog Insight from the Journal of Common Market Studies.
âNationalism becomes predominantly a popular cause, [âŠ]. Internationalism, at the same stroke, starts to change camps â assuming new forms in the ranks of capital.â  This is how the historian Perry Anderson depicts the emergence of two groupings whose struggle shapes politics in our age: populist nationalism on one side against elitist internationalism on the other. The diagnosis – that a footloose capitalist elite dominates the international system, while popular reactions to globalisation find shelter in nationalism as the last line of defense – are shared by many academics and commentators of current affairs alike. The nationalist backlash is also the favoured concept to describe the recent resistance to European integration. When it comes to the studies on the politicization of the EU, the main dividing line runs between supranational European institutions on one side, and nationalist political entrepreneurs whipping up anti-EU sentiments on the other. This is not the full story however, as we argue in our new article Why Do some Labour Alliances Succeed in Politicizing Europe across Borders? in the Journal of Common Market Studies. The politicization of Europeanization is not necessarily a one-way street where pressures come from the transnational level and popular mobilizations are constrained by national silos.
Leveraging Germanyâs Role in Global Health: View from an Outsider
Continue reading “Leveraging Germanyâs Role in Global Health: View from an Outsider”
The Coronavirus Response in South Africa
Note: A podcast episode by WZB’s Soziologische Perspektiven auf die Corona-Krise with Joseph Harris on the same topic can be found here.Â
South Africa was hit hard during the countryâs first coronavirus wave that began in March 2020. While an aggressive lockdown was initially praised for stopping spread and saving as many as 20,000 lives, the lockdown had important consequences of its own. And as pressure to reopen grew, by July 2020, the country stood mired in the largest coronavirus outbreak on the continent and one of the largest in the world. What factors left South Africa so vulnerable to the coronavirus? What policies and programs comprised the governmental response? How has the country navigated COVID-19 since that time, and what support can Germany and other industrialized nations offer the country today? Based on a chapter Harris wrote on the politics of South Africaâs coronavirus response in an edited volume that can be accessed for free here, his present article explores these questions.
Tunisiaâs transitional justice programme highlights the danger of overpromising
Ten years after the Tunisian revolution, the country still struggles with how to deal with the legacy of violent and repressive rule. Following the fall of Zine el-Abidine Ben Aliâs regime in 2011, Tunisia introduced a far-reaching transitional justice project with strong international support. The project was intended to deal with almost 60 years of authoritarian rule, uncovering, among other issues, human rights violations, socio-economic crimes and marginalization, and providing recommendations on reforms in various areas such as administration, the judiciary, the security sector, the media and the economy.
Continue reading “Tunisiaâs transitional justice programme highlights the danger of overpromising”
Dangerous Ignorance: Why we learn so little about fighting the pandemic from Asian countries
The track record of fighting pandemics in liberal democracies of Europe  does not compare very favorably with that of Asian countries. This applies not only to the comparison with authoritarian China and the semi-authoritarian countries Thailand and Singapore, but also to the comparison with the democratic countries of Taiwan and South Korea. Since the infection figures are not easily comparable due to differences in testing intensity, country differences manifest themselves most evidently in the number of people who have died. For example, in South Korea which has a population of 52 million fewer than 1,500 have died till date whilst in Germany which has a population of 83 million more than 60,000 deaths have occurred. The differences between other European and Asian countries (e.g., between Great Britain and Taiwan) are even more pronounced. The aforementioned Asian societies are also impressively successful in overcoming the economic and social consequences of the crisis. Continue reading “Dangerous Ignorance: Why we learn so little about fighting the pandemic from Asian countries”
China Just Co-created the Worldâs Biggest Trade Block. Is Chinaâs World Order Already Here?
RCEP is only the latest of many new multilateral institutions created by China. The alternative to American-led liberal international order looks increasingly viable.
Last weekâs signing of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) brings Chinaâs continued embrace of multilateralism into stark relief. While the United States under President Trump has recoiled from multilateral institutions and jettisoned its much-touted Trans-Pacific Partnership, China and fourteen other Asia-Pacific countries have just created the largest preferential trading zone in history, encompassing 30 percent of the worldâs population and around a third of global GDP. While the RCEP is a relatively shallow trade agreement and is less âcomprehensiveâ than it sounds, it is a major symbolic victory in Chinaâs attempt to reorient world order. Continue reading “China Just Co-created the Worldâs Biggest Trade Block. Is Chinaâs World Order Already Here?”
Interview: Nicholas Harrington on polarizing politics and epistemological value of quantum theory
In this episode of our interview series, Ananya Bordoloi talks to visiting researcher Nicholas Harrington from the University of Sydney, Australia.
Listen in as they discuss Nicholas’ dissertation exploring quantum physicist Niels Bohr’s idea of Complementarity in political philosophy and how it can aid in resolving polarizing politics.
[Photo: Nicholas Harrington]
Find an abridged transcription of the interview below or listen to the full one here:
The Theory of the Many COVID-Worlds
Thereâs a theory within quantum mechanics called the Many Worlds Interpretation (MWI). The many worlds interpretation is intended to resolve one of the meta-paradoxes of quantum: why do the results of quantum experiments not match our everyday experience of the world? Or, more precisely: why is the conduct of quantum experiments unlike the conduct of âregular,â macro-level experiments? Continue reading “The Theory of the Many COVID-Worlds”
The Constitution is a Suicide Pact
Uncodified norms, logic-bombs and a Republican party hellbent on power is driving the country towards the abyss: Barton Gellman argues in The Election that Could Break America.
Lawrence Douglas, professor of law and jurisprudence at Amherst College, recently explained: âThe Constitution does not secure the peaceful transition of power but rather, presupposes it.â So begins Gellmanâs revelatory piece for the Atlantic Magazine this week. It could not come soon enough. I would like to use this space to highlight some of Gellmanâs excellent reporting, and add my voice to the urgent warning of a coming election nightmare.
Gellman argues that the ritual of transition in American politics is little more than courtesy. A set of norms we have come to expect, but not bound by law. He is devastatingly correct. The truth is there are no formal rules binding electors to the popular vote. Nor are there common procedures for the 10,500 local jurisdictions that supervise the election. The system has so far relied on deference and decency.
It is failing.