Janka Oertel On "The End Of The China Illusion" (Part 2) Democracy In Question? podcast

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Democracy in Question?

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Ivanka Popović on the Serbian Protests (Part 1) 40:23

1 day ago40:23

40:23

Our guest: Ivanka Popović Democracy in Question? is brought to you by: • Central European University: CEU • The Albert Hirschman Centre on Democracy in Geneva: AHCD • The Podcast Company: scopeaudio Follow us on social media! • Central European University: @weareceu.bsky.social • Albert Hirschman Centre on Democracy in Geneva: @ahcdemocracy.bsky.social Subscribe to the show. If you enjoyed what you listened to, you can support us by leaving a review and sharing our podcast in your networks! GLOSSARY Milošević regime (p. 5 in the transcript, 17:28) Slobodan Milošević was a central figure in the breakup of Yugoslavia and a key instigator of the ethnic conflicts that plagued the Balkans in the 1990s. Rising through the ranks of the Communist Party, he became Serbia’s president in 1989 and quickly moved to consolidate power by revoking the autonomy of Kosovo and Vojvodina. His leadership fueled a wave of Serbian nationalism and played a major role in the wars in Croatia, Bosnia, and later Kosovo, supporting Serbian forces involved in ethnic violence and atrocities. Milošević’s regime was marked by authoritarian control, suppression of opposition, and state-controlled media. Though he maintained popular support in the early years by presenting himself as a defender of Serbs, his policies led to international isolation, UN sanctions, and ultimately NATO intervention. In 1999, following a brutal crackdown on ethnic Albanians in Kosovo, NATO launched a bombing campaign against Serbia. Domestically, economic hardship and political repression led to growing dissatisfaction. After a disputed election in 2000, massive protests forced Milošević to resign. He was arrested in 2001 and extradited to the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia in The Hague, where he faced charges of war crimes, including genocide. He died in 2006 during the trial. source…

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Democracy in Question?

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Soli Özel on Turkey's Political Protests 46:31

15 days ago46:31

46:31

Democracy in Question? is brought to you by: • Central European University: CEU • The Albert Hirschman Centre on Democracy in Geneva: AHCD • The Podcast Company: scopeaudio Follow us on social media! • Central European University: @weareceu.bsky.social • Albert Hirschman Centre on Democracy in Geneva: @ahcdemocracy.bsky.social • Our guest: Soli Özel Subscribe to the show. If you enjoyed what you listened to, you can support us by leaving a review and sharing our podcast in your networks!…

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Cara Daggett Unpacks Petro-Masculinity 56:31

29 days ago56:31

56:31

Democracy in Question? is brought to you by: • Central European University: CEU • The Albert Hirschman Centre on Democracy in Geneva: AHCD • The Podcast Company: scopeaudio Follow us on social media! • Central European University: @weareceu.bsky.social • Albert Hirschman Centre on Democracy in Geneva: @ahcdemocracy.bsky.social Subscribe to the show. If you enjoyed what you listened to, you can support us by leaving a review and sharing our podcast in your networks! GLOSSARY Green New Deal (p. 6 in the transcript, 27:24) The Green New Deal is a proposed framework of policies designed to combat climate change while simultaneously addressing economic inequality through large-scale public investment in clean energy, sustainable infrastructure, and job creation. The term draws inspiration from President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal, which aimed to revive the U.S. economy during the Great Depression through government-led economic programs. The Green New Deal, however, focuses specifically on transitioning to a carbon-neutral economy while ensuring economic opportunities for all, particularly marginalized communities. The most well-known iteration of the Green New Deal in the U.S. was introduced as a non-binding congressional resolution in 2019 by Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Senator Edward J. Markey. It outlined broad goals such as achieving net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by investing in renewable energy, modernizing transportation and infrastructure, and ensuring a just transition for workers in fossil fuel industries. It also emphasized social policies, including universal healthcare, affordable housing, and access to clean water and air. Supporters argue that the Green New Deal is essential for preventing catastrophic climate change and fostering economic justice, while critics claim it is financially impractical and would require massive government spending. Despite controversy, the Green New Deal has influenced climate policy discussions worldwide . source…

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Democracy in Question?

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Nacim Pak-Shiraz on Cultural Contradictions in Iran 47:25

6 weeks ago47:25

47:25

Democracy in Question? is brought to you by: • Central European University: CEU • The Albert Hirschman Centre on Democracy in Geneva: AHCD • The Podcast Company: scopeaudio Follow us on social media! • Central European University: @weareceu.bsky.social • Albert Hirschman Centre on Democracy in Geneva: @ahcdemocracy.bsky.social • Our guest: Nacim Pak-Shiraz Subscribe to the show. If you enjoyed what you listened to, you can support us by leaving a review and sharing our podcast in your networks! GLOSSARY Woman, Life, Freedom (p. 2 in the transcript, 08:00) Woman, Life, Freedom is a protest slogan that affirms that the rights of women are at the center of life and liberty. The slogan is best known in English-language media for its use within the context of Iran. In September 2022 protesters in Iran and abroad adopted the slogan after Jina Mahsa Amini an Iranian woman in her early 20s, died unexpectedly on September 16, 2022, while in custody of Iran’s Gasht-e Ershad (Guidance Patrol; also called “morality police”) for “improper” clothing. The death of Amini, a 22-year-old Sunni woman from Iran’s minority Kurdish community, was a reflection of the escalating and unrelenting authoritarianism of the Iranian regime at a time of deepening economic instability. While the circumstances surrounding Amini’s death made the slogan resonate throughout Iran and the world, it already had been in wide use among Kurdish activists. The incident sparked outrage in Iran, where anger toward the government had already been flaring, and ignited a sustained and widespread protest movement. The protests over Amini’s death, which reflected a broad and far-reaching set of grievances caused by persistent government negligence, found expression in the slogan. source…

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Democracy in Question?

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Steffen Mau on the German Elections 54:15

8 weeks ago54:15

54:15

Democracy in Question? is brought to you by: • Central European University: CEU • The Albert Hirschman Centre on Democracy in Geneva: AHCD • The Podcast Company: scopeaudio Follow us on social media! • Central European University: @weareceu.bsky.social • Albert Hirschman Centre on Democracy in Geneva: @ahcdemocracy.bsky.social • Our guest: @steffenmau.bsky.social Subscribe to the show. If you enjoyed what you listened to, you can support us by leaving a review and sharing our podcast in your networks! GLOSSARY Traffic light coalition (p. 2 in the transcript, 08:14) In German politics, a "traffic light coalition" ( Ampelkoalition ) refers to a governing alliance comprising the Social Democratic Party (SPD), the Free Democratic Party (FDP), and Alliance 90/The Greens. The term derives from the parties' traditional colors—red for the SPD, yellow for the FDP, and green for The Greens—which correspond to the sequence of a traffic light. This coalition model was implemented at the federal level following the 2021 German parliamentary elections. The SPD, Greens, and FDP agreed on a coalition contract titled "Daring to make more progress—an alliance for freedom, justice, and sustainability," leading to the formation of the government under Chancellor Olaf Scholz. However, in November 2024, the coalition faced significant challenges. Disagreements over budget policies culminated in Chancellor Scholz dismissing Finance Minister Christian Lindner of the FDP. This decision led to the resignation of all FDP ministers, effectively collapsing the coalition and leaving an SPD-Greens minority government. The "traffic light coalition" concept has also been applied in other political contexts, such as in Austria, to describe similar alliances. source 1 source 2…

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Democracy in Question?

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Katha Pollitt on Gendered Politics in the United States 40:00

10 weeks ago40:00

40:00

Democracy in Question? is brought to you by: • Central European University: CEU • The Albert Hirschman Centre on Democracy in Geneva: AHCD • The Podcast Company: scopeaudio Follow us on social media! • Central European University: @weareceu.bsky.social • Albert Hirschman Centre on Democracy in Geneva: @ahcdemocracy.bsky.social • Our guest: @kathapollitt.bsky.social Subscribe to the show. If you enjoyed what you listened to, you can support us by leaving a review and sharing our podcast in your networks! GLOSSARY Incels (p. 5 in the transcript, 19:50) Incel is a member of an online subculture of primarily heterosexual men who identify as being unable to have romantic or sexual relationships. This self-described inability to form attachments is often expressed as grievance toward women. Incel subculture has been associated with misogyny, extremism, rape culture, and expressions and acts of violence. Incels are a subset of the “manosphere,” which includes other online communities animated by sexism and hostility toward women, such as pickup artists, Men Going Their Own Way (MGTOW), and men’s rights activists. The Southern Poverty Law Center classifies incels as a hate group and identifies them as part of the online male supremacist ecosystem. The term incel was initially coined by a woman. Known only by her first name, a Canadian woman named Alana began using the term invcel (later shortened to incel) in 1997 to connect with other singles struggling with social awkwardness. She documented her experiences on her personal website, “Alana’s Involuntary Celibacy Project,” which became a forum for people struggling to form romantic relationships. In 2000 Alana stopped participating in the project, and she has since said that she feels uncomfortable with how the term has been hijacked. As incel communities began to establish themselves on the forum-based websites Reddit and 4chan, the term shifted from its initial meaning. By 2010 incel was associated with misogynistic trolling and threats of violence by men’s rights groups operating on fringe right-wing platforms. In 2017 Reddit banned a particularly active subreddit called r/incels for violating Reddit’s rule against content that “encourages, glorifies, incites, or calls for violence or physical harm against an individual or group of people.” source Me Too movement (p. 7 in the transcript, 26:22) Me Too movement is an awareness movement around the issue of sexual harassment and sexual abuse of women in the workplace that grew to prominence in 2017 in response to news reports of sexual abuse by American film producer Harvey Weinstein. While the phrase had been in the lexicon for more than a decade, a tweet by American actress Alyssa Milano sparked a social media phenomenon that raised awareness, gave voice to survivors, and led to sweeping cultural and workplace changes. The movement is credited with giving visibility to the scope of sexual violence within the United States and across the world. It is also defined by a push for accountability, including examining power structures in the workplace that had enabled misconduct, and, in some cases, renewed efforts to seek justice for survivors through criminal and civil court systems. In the first year of the movement, numerous prominent men lost their jobs after they were publicly accused of wrongdoing. Since then, the Me Too movement’s legacy has broadened to encompass issues related to gender equity in the workplace and legal reforms to eliminate barriers that had prohibited victims from coming forward. Some U.S. states have since abolished statutes of limitations for reporting sexual crimes and banned nondisclosure agreements (NDAs) that aimed to keep misconduct allegations from the public’s view. The movement has also led to changes in the workplace and society at large through the implementation of greater safeguards and educational tools that aim to change behavior in future generations. source…

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Democracy in Question?

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Stephen Walt on the Return of Trump (Part 2) 42:54

22 weeks ago42:54

42:54

Democracy in Question? is brought to you by: • Central European University: CEU • The Albert Hirschman Centre on Democracy in Geneva: AHCD • The Podcast Company: scopeaudio Follow us on social media! • Central European University: @CEU • Albert Hirschman Centre on Democracy in Geneva: @GVAGrad_AHDC Subscribe to the show. If you enjoyed what you listened to, you can support us by leaving a review and sharing our podcast in your networks!…

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Democracy in Question?

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Stephen Walt on the Return of Trump (Part 1) 41:39

24 weeks ago41:39

41:39

Democracy in Question? is brought to you by: • Central European University: CEU • The Albert Hirschman Centre on Democracy in Geneva: AHCD • The Podcast Company: scopeaudio Follow us on social media! • Central European University: @CEU • Albert Hirschman Centre on Democracy in Geneva: @GVAGrad_AHDC Subscribe to the show. If you enjoyed what you listened to, you can support us by leaving a review and sharing our podcast in your networks! Glossary Dobbs v. Jackson (24:03 or p.7 in the transcript) Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, legal decision in which the U.S. Supreme Court in June 2022 overturned two historic Supreme Court rulings, Roe v. Wade (1973) and Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania v. Casey (1992), which had respectively established and affirmed a constitutional right to obtain an abortion. Specifically, Roe v. Wade had recognized a constitutional right to obtain an abortion before approximately the end of the second trimester of pregnancy (which the Court understood as the usual point of fetal viability). Casey had affirmed the “essential holding” of Roe , which it had described in part as “a recognition of the right of the woman to choose to have an abortion before viability and to obtain it without undue interference from the State.” As Casey explained, a state unduly interferes in the right to pre-viability abortion if its restrictions “impose…an undue burden on a woman’s ability to make this decision” or present “a substantial obstacle to the woman’s effective right to elect the procedure.” Notwithstanding Roe and Casey and other Supreme Court rulings reaffirming a constitutional right to pre-viability abortion, Mississippi, the state appellant in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization , claimed that laws banning pre-viability abortion are not necessarily unconstitutional. States may “prohibit elective abortions before viability,” the state argued, “because nothing in constitutional text, structure, history, or tradition supports a right to abortion.” Dobbs drew national attention because it overturned nearly 50 years of judicial precedent and effectively enabled states to impose drastic restrictions on the availability of abortion and even to ban it completely. source…

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Democracy in Question?

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Johanna Lutz on Identity, Partisanship, and the Vulnerabilities of Democracy 44:10

27 weeks ago44:10

44:10

Democracy in Question? is brought to you by: • Central European University: CEU • The Albert Hirschman Centre on Democracy in Geneva: AHCD • The Podcast Company: scopeaudio Follow us on social media! • Central European University: @CEU • Albert Hirschman Centre on Democracy in Geneva: @AHDCentre Subscribe to the show. If you enjoyed what you listened to, you can support us by leaving a review and sharing our podcast in your networks! Glossary Christian Democratic Union Party (CDU) and Christian Social Union Party (CSU) in Germany (19:56 or p.6 in the transcript) The CDU and its Bavarian sister party, the CSU, were established as non-denominational Christian parties directly after the Second World War by members of the civilian resistance to National Socialism. Their core values are rooted in Catholic social doctrine, Conservativism, and commitment to a liberal (social) market economy that is provided with a regulatory framework of rules and laws by the state. The CDU/CSU regards itself as a “catch-all party” that expressly combines many different interests and therefore aims to speak and develop policies on behalf of a very large part of the population. The CDU runs for election in all Germany’s states apart from Bavaria, where its place is taken by the CSU, which only stands in Bavaria. The two parties are often known colloquially as “the Union”. In the Bundestag they form the CDU/CSU parliamentary group. The “Union” is traditionally the strongest party in Germany and has governed the country the longest in various coalitions. source…

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Democracy in Question?

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Raimund Löw on the Dithering Austrian Democracy 42:25

29 weeks ago42:25

42:25

Democracy in Question? is brought to you by: • Central European University: CEU • The Albert Hirschman Centre on Democracy in Geneva: AHCD • The Podcast Company: scopeaudio Follow us on social media! • Central European University: @CEU • Albert Hirschman Centre on Democracy in Geneva: @AHDCentre Subscribe to the show. If you enjoyed what you listened to, you can support us by leaving a review and sharing our podcast in your networks!…

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Democracy in Question?

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Julia Ebner on How Extremism Threatens Democracy (Part 2) 34:07

31 weeks ago34:07

34:07

Democracy in Question? is brought to you by: • Central European University: CEU • The Albert Hirschman Centre on Democracy in Geneva: AHCD • The Podcast Company: scopeaudio Follow us on social media! • Central European University: @CEU • Albert Hirschman Centre on Democracy in Geneva: @AHDCentre Subscribe to the show. If you enjoyed what you listened to, you can support us by leaving a review and sharing our podcast in your networks! Glossary QAnon (17:19 or p.5 in the transcript) QAnon is a decentralized, far-right political movement rooted in a baseless conspiracy theory that the world is controlled by the “Deep State,” a cabal of Satan-worshipping pedophiles, and that former President Donald Trump is the only person who can defeat it. QAnon emerged on 4chan in 2017, when an anonymous poster known as “Q,” believed by Qanon followers to be a team of U.S. government and military insiders, began posting cryptic messages online about Trump’s alleged efforts to takedown the Deep State online. QAnon followers believe that the Deep State will be brought to justice during a violent day of reckoning known as “the Storm,” when the Deep State and its collaborators will be arrested and sent to Guantanamo Bay to face military tribunals and execution for their various crimes. Since the 2020 presidential election, QAnon has continued to migrate into the mainstream, becoming a powerful force within U.S. politics. Across the United States, QAnon adherents—animated by false claims that the 2020 election was “rigged” or “stolen”—are running for political office, signing up to become poll workers, filing frivolous election-related lawsuits and harassing election officials. While not all QAnon adherents are extremists, QAnon-linked beliefs have inspired violent acts and have eroded trust in democratic institutions and the electoral process. Many QAnon influencers also spout antisemitic beliefs and the core tenets of “Pizzagate” and “Save the Children,” both of which are QAnon-adjacent beliefs, play into antisemitic conspiracy theories like Blood Libel. source…

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Democracy in Question?

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Julia Ebner on How Extremism Threatens Democracy (Part 1) 35:37

33 weeks ago35:37

35:37

Democracy in Question? is brought to you by: • Central European University: CEU • The Albert Hirschman Centre on Democracy in Geneva: AHCD • The Podcast Company: scopeaudio Follow us on social media! • Central European University: @CEU • Albert Hirschman Centre on Democracy in Geneva: @AHDCentre Subscribe to the show. If you enjoyed what you listened to, you can support us by leaving a review and sharing our podcast in your networks! Glossary Identitarians (06:49 or p.2 in the transcript) The term of “Identitarians” originated in France with the founding of the Bloc Identitaire movement and its youth counterpart, Generation Identitaire. Identitarians espouse racism and intolerance under the guise of preserving the ethnic and cultural origins of their respective counties. American Identitarians such as Richard Spencer claim to want to preserve European-American (i.e., white) culture in the US. As Michael McGregor, a writer and editor for Radix wrote in an article in the publication, Identitarians want “the preservation of our identity–the cultural and genetic heritage that makes us who we are.”Identitarians reject multiculturalism or pluralism in any form. Namely, Identitarianism is a post-war European far-right political ideology asserting the right of peoples of European descent to culture and territory which are claimed to belong exclusively to people defined as European. Building on ontological ideas of modern German philosophy, its ideology was formulated from the 1960s onward by essayists such as Alain de Benoist, Dominique Venner, Guillaume Faye and Renaud Camus, considered the movement’s intellectual leaders. While on occasion condemning racism and promoting ethnopluralist society, it argues that particular modes of being are customary to particular groups of people, mainly based on ideas of thinkers of the German Conservative Revolution, in some instances influenced by Nazi theories, through the guidance of European New Right leaders. Some Identitarians explicitly espouse ideas of xenophobia and racialism, but most limit their public statements to more docile language. Some among them promote the creation of white ethno-states, to the exclusion of migrants and non-white residents. The Identitarian Movement has been classified by the German Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution in 2019 as right-wing extremist. The movement is most notable in Europe, and although rooted in Western Europe, it has spread more rapidly to the eastern part of the continent through conscious efforts of the likes of Faye. It also has adherents among North American, Australian, and New Zealander white nationalists. The United States–based Southern Poverty Law Center considers many of these organizations to be hate groups. source…

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Democracy in Question?

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Yogendra Yadav on Democracy in India 55:10

39 weeks ago55:10

55:10

Democracy in Question? is brought to you by: • Central European University: CEU • The Albert Hirschman Centre on Democracy in Geneva: AHCD • The Podcast Company: scopeaudio Follow us on social media! • Central European University: @CEU • Albert Hirschman Centre on Democracy in Geneva: @AHDCentre

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Democracy in Question?

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Mark Leonard on the U.K. Elections 39:45

41 weeks ago39:45

39:45

Democracy in Question? is brought to you by: • Central European University: CEU • The Albert Hirschman Centre on Democracy in Geneva: AHCD • The Podcast Company: scopeaudio Follow us on social media! • Central European University: @CEU • Albert Hirschman Centre on Democracy in Geneva: @AHDCentre Subscribe to the show. If you enjoyed what you listened to, you can support us by leaving a review and sharing our podcast in your networks!…

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Democracy in Question?

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Adam Habib on South Africa's Elections 50:04

43 weeks ago50:04

50:04

Democracy in Question? is brought to you by: • Central European University: CEU • The Albert Hirschman Centre on Democracy in Geneva: AHCD • The Podcast Company: scopeaudio Follow us on social media! • Central European University: @CEU • Albert Hirschman Centre on Democracy in Geneva: @AHDCentre Subscribe to the show. If you enjoyed what you listened to, you can support us by leaving a review and sharing our podcast in your networks! Glossary African National Congress (ANC) (02:22 or p.1 in the transcript) African National Congress (ANC) is a South African political party and Black nationalist organization. Founded in 1912 as the South African Native National Congress, it had as its main goal the maintenance of voting rights for Coloureds (persons of mixed race) and Black Africans in Cape Province. It was renamed the African National Congress in 1923. From the 1940s it spearheaded the fight to eliminate apartheid, the official South African policy of racial separation and discrimination. The ANC was banned from 1960 to 1990 by the white South African government; during these three decades it operated underground and outside South African territory. The ban was lifted in 1990, and Nelson Mandela, the president of the ANC, was elected in 1994 to head South Africa’s first multiethnic government. The party received a majority of the vote in that election and every election after until 2024, when it saw its support plummet to about 40 percent. source Growth, Employment, and Redistribution (GEAR) Strategy (10:30 or p.3 in the transcript) After democratic elections in 1994, postapartheid South Africa was faced with the problem of integrating the previously disenfranchised and oppressed majority into the economy. In 1996 the government created a five-year plan—Growth, Employment, and Redistribution (GEAR)—that focused on privatization and the removal of exchange controls. GEAR was only moderately successful in achieving some of its goals but was hailed by some as laying an important foundation for future economic progress. The government also implemented new laws and programs designed to improve the economic situation of the marginalized majority. One such strategy, called Black Economic Empowerment (BEE), focused on increasing the number of employment opportunities for people formerly classified under apartheid as Black, Coloured, or Indian, improving their work skills, and enhancing their income-earning potential. The concept of BEE was further defined and expanded by the Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (BBBEE) Act of 2003 (promulgated in 2004), which addressed gender and social inequality as well as racial inequality. source…

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Democracy in Question?

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Ivan Krastev on the European Elections 47:47

45 weeks ago47:47

47:47

Democracy in Question? is brought to you by: • Central European University: CEU • The Albert Hirschman Centre on Democracy in Geneva: AHCD • The Podcast Company: scopeaudio Follow us on social media! • Central European University: @CEU • Albert Hirschman Centre on Democracy in Geneva: @AHDCentre Subscribe to the show. If you enjoyed what you listened to, you can support us by leaving a review and sharing our podcast in your networks! Glossary Great Replacement Theory (24:45 or p.7 in the transcript) Replacement theory (in the United States and certain other Western countries whose populations are mostly white) is a far-right conspiracy theory alleging, in one of its versions, that left-leaning domestic or international elites, on their own initiative or under the direction of Jewish co-conspirators, are attempting to replace white citizens with nonwhite (i.e., Black, Hispanic, Asian, or Arab) immigrants. The immigrants’ increased presence in white countries, as the theory goes, in combination with their higher birth rates as compared with those of whites, will enable new nonwhite majorities in those countries to take control of national political and economic institutions, to dilute or destroy their host countries’ distinctive cultures and societies, and eventually to eliminate the host countries’ white populations. Some adherents of replacement theory have characterized these predicted changes as “white genocide.” The claim that national governments or unspecified elites are secretly directing the replacement and eventual elimination of whites has circulated among fringe groups of white supremacists, anti-Semites, and other right-wing extremists since at least the late 19th century. It received much wider attention in the early 21st century with the publication of Le Grand Remplacement (2011), by the French writer and activist Renaud Camus. He argued that since the 1970s, Muslim immigrants in France have shown disdain for French society and have been intent on destroying the country’s cultural identity and ultimately replacing its white Christian population in retaliation for France’s earlier colonization of their countries of origin. He also asserted that the immigrant conquest of France was being covertly abetted by elite figures within the French government. source…

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Democracy in Question?

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Catherine Fieschi on the Rise of Populism 48:52

47 weeks ago48:52

48:52

Democracy in Question? is brought to you by: • Central European University: CEU • The Albert Hirschman Centre on Democracy in Geneva: AHCD • The Podcast Company: scopeaudio Follow us on social media! • Central European University: @CEU • Albert Hirschman Centre on Democracy in Geneva: @AHDCentre Subscribe to the show. If you enjoyed what you listened to, you can support us by leaving a review and sharing our podcast in your networks!…

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Democracy in Question?

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Seema Syeda Addresses Islamophobia Across Europe 45:39

49 weeks ago45:39

45:39

Democracy in Question? is brought to you by: • Central European University: CEU • The Albert Hirschman Centre on Democracy in Geneva: AHCD • The Podcast Company: scopeaudio Follow us on social media! • Central European University: @CEU • Albert Hirschman Centre on Democracy in Geneva: @AHDCentre Subscribe to the show. If you enjoyed what you listened to, you can support us by leaving a review and sharing our podcast in your networks! Glossary The 2015 European Refugee Crisis (01:57 or p.1 in the transcript) In 2015, a record 1,005,504 asylum seekers and migrants reached Europe in search of security and a better future. (For definitions of refugee, asylum seeker and migrant see here). That same year, almost 4,000 people went missing in the trajectory to Europe, with many presumed to have drowned in the Mediterranean. Fifty percent of people came from Syria, followed by Afghanistan and Iraq. Most people landed on the shores of Italy and Greece, while others trekked from Turkey, through the Balkan states, into Hungary. The majority of refugees and migrants aimed to go to northern and western Europe, particularly Germany and Sweden, where reception and support facilities were deemed to be better. These countries were already home to family and community members of the countries of origin, which asylum seekers hoped would facilitate integration. The uptick in people arriving in Europe was due to several factors. After four years of a brutal civil war, many Syrians felt they could no longer risk their lives in the country. Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan, which by then already hosted four million Syrian refugees, were not ideal options given limited work, education and housing opportunities. The situations in Afghanistan and Iraq were also becoming untenable as extremist groups such as the Taliban and Islamic State strengthened their grips on parts of the countries. In addition, political and social instability in Libya opened the door to increased human trafficking towards Europe. Concurrently, routes to Western Europe via the Balkans were also becoming a viable option: they were cheaper and came recommended by smugglers paid to get people into Europe. This did not result in a rerouting of people, but rather an increase in the number of travellers via the various routes. Another factor that increased the number of migrants and refugees was Germany’s announcement on August 21, 2015, that it would suspend the Dublin Regulation for Syrian asylum seekers in Germany. This meant people could claim asylum in Germany, as opposed to in the country where they first reached Europe. source…

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Democracy in Question?

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Zsolt Enyedi on the Crises of Liberalism 50:31

51 weeks ago50:31

50:31

**** Democracy in Question? is brought to you by: • Central European University: CEU • The Albert Hirschman Centre on Democracy in Geneva: AHCD • The Podcast Company: scopeaudio Follow us on social media! • Central European University: @CEU • Albert Hirschman Centre on Democracy in Geneva: @AHDCentre Subscribe to the show. If you enjoyed what you listened to, you can support us by leaving a review and sharing our podcast in your networks! ****…

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Michael Woldemariam on Challenges Facing African Democracy (Part 2) 34:09

1 year ago34:09

34:09

Democracy in Question? is brought to you by: • Central European University: CEU • The Albert Hirschman Centre on Democracy in Geneva: AHCD • The Podcast Company: scopeaudio Follow us on social media! • Central European University: @CEU • Albert Hirschman Centre on Democracy in Geneva: @AHDCentre Subscribe to the show. If you enjoyed what you listened to, you can support us by leaving a review and sharing our podcast in your networks! Glossary Foreign direct investment (FDI) (10:34 or p.3 in the transcript) Foreign direct investment (FDI) is a category of cross-border investment in which an investor resident in one economy establishes a lasting interest in and a significant degree of influence over an enterprise resident in another economy. Ownership of 10 percent or more of the voting power in an enterprise in one economy by an investor in another economy is evidence of such a relationship. FDI is a key element in international economic integration because it creates stable and long-lasting links between economies. FDI is an important channel for the transfer of technology between countries, promotes international trade through access to foreign markets, and can be an important vehicle for economic development. source Mali Civil War (17:15 or p.5 in the transcript) Mali has been in crisis since 2012, when a northern separatist rebellion led by members of the minority ethnic Tuareg community paved the way for a military coup and an Islamist insurgent advance. Rebels—bolstered by arms from Libya and fighters with ties to Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM)—declared an independent state of “Azawad” in the north. By mid-2012, AQIM and two allied groups had outmaneuvered the separatists to assert control over much of the north. At the transitional government’s request, France deployed its military in early 2013 to counter an Islamist insurgent advance and ousted insurgent leaders from major towns in the north. A U.N. peacekeeping operation, MINUSMA, was established in mid-2013 to help stabilize the country, absorbing a nascent African-led intervention force. Veteran politician Ibrahim Boubacar Kéïta was elected president, at which point donors, including the United States, normalized relations with Bamako. French forces transitioned into Operation Barkhane, a regional counterterrorism mission that received U.S. military logistical support, in 2014. Under international pressure to reach a peace deal in the north, the government signed an accord in 2015 with two armed coalitions: one led by ex-separatists, and the other by pro-unity groups with ties to Bamako. President Kéïta was reelected in 2018, but opposition mounted over corruption, allegedly fraudulent legislative elections, insecurity, and economic hardships. Large street protests erupted against Kéïta’s administration in mid-2020. State security forces cracked down on protesters, and Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) mediators failed to achieve a roadmap out of the impasse. The 2020 coup d’état followed. source…

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Democracy in Question?

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Michael Woldemariam on Challenges Facing African Democracy (Part 1) 40:08

1 year ago40:08

40:08

Democracy in Question? is brought to you by: • Central European University: CEU • The Albert Hirschman Centre on Democracy in Geneva: AHCD • The Podcast Company: scopeaudio Follow us on social media! • Central European University: @CEU • Albert Hirschman Centre on Democracy in Geneva: @AHDCentre Subscribe to the show. If you enjoyed what you listened to, you can support us by leaving a review and sharing our podcast in your networks! Glossary Tigray War (03:21 or p.1 in the transcript) Between 2020 and 2022, Ethiopia fought a war with militants from its northernmost region of Tigray, then under the control of the Tigrayan People’s Liberation Front (TPLF). The conflict was one of the deadliest in recent world history and drew international attention for a preponderance of alleged war crimes, human rights abuses, and ethnic cleansing in Tigray. The war formally ended in November 2022; Tigray was left in ruins, and its capital was turned over to the federal government. Due to the conflict, 5.1 million Ethiopians became internally displaced in 2021 alone, a record for the most people internally displaced in any country in any single year at the time. Thousands also fled to Sudan and other countries in the region. By the time the Pretoria peace agreement took effect, the Tigray War and its associated humanitarian disaster had killed approximately 600,000 people. In late 2022, humanitarian groups were permitted to meaningfully operate in Tigray for the first time since November 2020. source African Union (11:37 or p.4 in the transcript) African Union (AU), intergovernmental organization, was established in 2002, to promote unity and solidarity of African states, to spur economic development, and to promote international cooperation. The African Union (AU) replaced the Organization of African Unity (OAU). The AU’s headquarters are in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The OAU was established on May 25, 1963, and its activities included diplomacy (especially in support of African liberation movements), mediation of boundary conflicts and regional and civil wars, and research in economics and communications. The OAU maintained the “Africa group” at the United Nations (UN) through which many of its efforts at international coordination were channeled. The OAU was instrumental in bringing about the joint cooperation of African states in the work of the Group of 77, which acts as a caucus of developing nations within the UN Conference on Trade and Development. In 2000, in a move spearheaded by Libyan leader Colonel Muammar al-Qaddafi, it was proposed that the OAU be replaced by a new body, the African Union. The African Union was to be more economic in nature, similar to the European Union, and would contain a central bank, a court of justice, and an all-Africa parliament. A Constitutive Act, which provided for the establishment of the African Union, was ratified by two-thirds of the OAU’s members and came into force on May 26, 2001. After a transition period, the African Union replaced the OAU in July 2002. In 2004 the AU’s Pan-African Parliament was inaugurated, and the organization agreed to create a peacekeeping force, the African Standby Force, of about 15,000 soldiers. source…

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Democracy in Question?

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Vivek Maru on Legal Empowerment for Communities 47:56

1 year ago47:56

47:56

Democracy in Question? is brought to you by: • Central European University: CEU • The Albert Hirschman Centre on Democracy in Geneva: AHCD • The Podcast Company: scopeaudio Follow us on social media! • Central European University: @CEU • Albert Hirschman Centre on Democracy in Geneva: @AHDCentre Subscribe to the show. If you enjoyed what you listened to, you can support us by leaving a review and sharing our podcast in your networks!…

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Oleksandra Matviichuk on Human Rights and Ukraine 47:01

1 year ago47:01

47:01

Democracy in Question? is brought to you by: • Central European University: CEU • The Albert Hirschman Centre on Democracy in Geneva: AHCD • The Podcast Company: scopeaudio Follow us on social media! • Central European University: @CEU • Albert Hirschman Centre on Democracy in Geneva: @AHDCentre Subscribe to the show. If you enjoyed what you listened to, you can support us by leaving a review and sharing our podcast in your networks! Glossary Euromaidan and the Revolution of Dignity (05:36 or p.2 in the transcript) On November 21, 2013, one and a half thousand people rallied through social networks. They took to the Independence Square (Maidan Nezalezhnosti) to express their protest against pro-Russian President Viktor Yanukovych’s refusal to sign the association agreement between Ukraine and the European Union. At the same time, people in different cities of Ukraine gathered every day and organized events in support of European integration. On the night of November 29-30, about 400 activists, mostly students, remained on the streets of Kyiv. Armed fighters of the former police unit of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine called “Berkut” forced people out of the square. They used explosive packages, beating people with batons and stomping them with their feet. Hundreds of thousands of people gathered in the center of Kyiv on December 1, 2013, to protest the forceful dispersal of peaceful protesters. Due to the European integration slogans, the events were called Euromaidan. This turned into a struggle for the renewal of the state system, the defense of democratic ideas, and the refusal to submit to the pro-Russian regime. The struggle became known as the Revolution of Dignity. Protesters occupied the building of the Kyiv City State Administration (KMDA) and the House of Trade Unions, where the Headquarters of the National Resistance were located. Independence Square and nearby streets were filled with protesters. Euromaidan activists began to set up tent cities, surrounded by barricades and several roadblocks. On December 8, 2013, the “March of Millions” took place in Kyiv, a public event with over a million participants. Activists decided to block the Presidential Administration and Government buildings. On the night of December 10-11, “Berkut” and units of internal forces launched an assault to disperse peaceful protesters. The impetus for the escalation of the confrontation was the adoption of “dictatorship laws” by the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine on January 16, 2014. They limited the rights of citizens and expanded the powers of special officers to punish participants in protest actions. On January 19, Euromaidan started a move to prepare an open-ended picket of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine. The march met with units of internal troops and special units of “Berkut” on Hrushevsky Street — clashes began that lasted all night. Armed security forces used stun grenades and rubber bullets, as well as a water cannon, against the demonstrators. Euromaidan activists wore construction helmets, and they threw cobblestones and Molotov cocktails at the police. On January 22, 2014, another illegal decision was made to extend the powers of the security forces that acted against Euromaidan participants. They were allowed to use light noise and smoke grenades delivered from the Russian Federation. On this day, for the first time during the Revolution of Dignity, two activists – Armenian Serhii Nigoyan and Belarusian Mykhailo Zhiznevskyi – died from gunshot wounds on Hrushevsky Street in Kyiv. Hundreds were injured by rubber bullets, debris, and chemical burns. At the end of January, the uprising spread to other regions of Ukraine. Protesters occupied administrative buildings, and they removed pro-Russian heads of state administrations from their positions. On February 18, 2014, activists marched to the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, where deputies were supposed to consider changes to the Constitution of Ukraine. Activists called on the parliament to return the Constitution of 2004, according to which the political system of Ukraine was supposed to become parliamentary-presidential again, which reduced the possibilities for usurpation of power. The peaceful offensive turned into mass clashes between the Euromaidan and security forces. The Berkut police special unit dispersed the demonstrators on the approaches to the parliament and began an assault on the Maidan. On this day, more than 20 Euromaidans were killed with firearms. The events of February 20, 2014, on Instytutska Street in Kyiv entered the modern history of Ukraine as “Bloody Thursday”. On this day, snipers killed 48 Euromaidans. On the same day in 2014, Russia began the occupation of Crimea, and in the spring they invaded Eastern Ukraine. Eight years later, in 2022, the Russian Federation launched a full-scale invasion. source…

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Democracy in Question?

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Dilip Gaonkar on the "Degenerations of Democracy" 47:16

1 year ago47:16

47:16

Democracy in Question? is brought to you by: • Central European University: CEU • The Albert Hirschman Centre on Democracy in Geneva: AHCD • The Podcast Company: scopeaudio Follow us on social media! • Central European University: @CEU • Albert Hirschman Centre on Democracy in Geneva: @AHDCentre Subscribe to the show. If you enjoyed what you listened to, you can support us by leaving a review and sharing our podcast in your networks! Glossary Nation-state (07:01 or p.2 in the transcript) Nation-state is a territorially bounded sovereign polity—i.e., a state—that is ruled in the name of a community of citizens who identify themselves as a nation. The legitimacy of a nation-state’s rule over a territory and over the population inhabiting it stems from the right of a core national group within the state (which may include all or only some of its citizens) to self-determination. Members of the core national group see the state as belonging to them and consider the approximate territory of the state to be their homeland. Accordingly, they demand that other groups, both within and outside the state, recognize and respect their control over the state. As a political model, the nation-state fuses two principles: the principle of state sovereignty, first articulated in the Peace of Westphalia (1648), which recognizes the right of states to govern their territories without external interference; and the principle of national sovereignty, which recognizes the right of national communities to govern themselves. National sovereignty in turn is based on the moral-philosophical principle of popular sovereignty, according to which states belong to their peoples. The latter principle implies that legitimate rule of a state requires some sort of consent by the people. That requirement does not mean, however, that all nation-states are democratic. Indeed, many authoritarian rulers have presented themselves—both to the outside world of states and internally to the people under their rule—as ruling in the name of a sovereign nation. source The Yellow Vests Protests (37:51 or p.10 in the transcript) In France, in November 2018, the gilets jaunes started as a movement directed against what was considered to beexcessive taxation, especially on fuel. Protesters wearing gilets jaunes – yellow high visibility vests which motorists are legally obliged to have in their car and wear in case of accident or breakdown – blocked major roads as a sign of protest. This thus led to the collective name of the movement: the gilets jaunes (or yellow vests in English). Beyond the sustained blocking of some roads, the movement developed into regular demonstrations on Saturdays across the country blocking roads and city centers. At their peak in November 2018, the movement mobilized between 300,000 and 1.3 million people, depending on sources. Not unsurprisingly, considering the fractured, spontaneous and leaderless nature of the protests, the demands of the protesters spread to include the resignation of the French president, a general reduction in taxes, increases in public services and state pensions, and so on. Some gilets jaunes even called for revolution and said the movement was the start of a civil war. The polymorphous, uncontrolled and uncontrollable nature of the movement also provided an opportunity for some of its supporters to engage in violence against the police and symbols of the state such as motorway tollbooths, police speed cameras (over 50% of which were destroyed), government buildings, locations associated with the elite (such as Fouquet’s restaurant on the Champs-Elysées) and so on. This violence is said to have cost the French economy an estimated at €200 million according to the French insurance industry and has resulted directly or indirectly in 12 deaths and 4000 injured. source…

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Democracy in Question?

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Yanis Varoufakis on "Technofeudalism" 42:06

1 year ago42:06

42:06

Democracy in Question? is brought to you by: • Central European University: CEU • The Albert Hirschman Centre on Democracy in Geneva: AHCD • The Podcast Company: scopeaudio Follow us on social media! • Central European University: @CEU • Albert Hirschman Centre on Democracy in Geneva: @AHDCentre Subscribe to the show. If you enjoyed what you listened to, you can support us by leaving a review and sharing our podcast in your networks! Glossary Feudalism (03:10 or p.1 in the transcript) Feudalism as a historiographic construct designated the social, economic, and political conditions in western Europe during the early Middle Ages between the 5th and 12th centuries. Feudalism and the related term feudal system are labels invented long after the period to which they were applied. They refer to what those who invented them perceived as the most significant and distinctive characteristics of the early and central Middle Ages. The expressions féodalité and feudal system were coined by the beginning of the 17th century, and the English words feudality and feudalism (as well as feudal pyramid) were in use by the end of the 18th century. They were derived from the Latin words feudum (“fief”) and feodalitas (services connected with the fief), both of which were used during the Middle Ages and later to refer to a form of property holding. Use of the terms associated with feudum to denote the essential characteristics of the early Middle Ages has invested the fief with exaggerated prominence and placed undue emphasis on the importance of a special mode of land tenure to the detriment of other, more significant aspects of social, economic, and political life. source The Great Depression (1929) (19:44 or p.5 in the transcript) Great Depression was the worldwide economic downturn that began in 1929 and lasted until about 1939. It was the longest and most severe depression ever experienced by the industrialized Western world, sparking fundamental changes in economic institutions, macroeconomic policy, and economic theory. Although it originated in the United States, the Great Depression caused drastic declines in output, severe unemployment, and acute deflation in almost every country of the world. Its social and cultural effects were no less staggering, especially in the United States, where the Great Depression represented the harshest adversity faced by Americans since the Civil War. The timing and severity of the Great Depression varied substantially across countries. The Depression was particularly long and severe in the United States and Europe; it was milder in Japan and much of Latin America. Perhaps not surprisingly, the worst depression ever experienced by the world economy stemmed from a multitude of causes. Declines in consumer demand, financial panics, and misguided government policies caused economic output to fall in the United States, while the gold standard, which linked nearly all the countries of the world in a network of fixed currency exchange rates, played a key role in transmitting the American downturn to other countries. The recovery from the Great Depression was spurred largely by the abandonment of the gold standard and the ensuing monetary expansion. The economic impact of the Great Depression was enormous, including both extreme human suffering and profound changes in economic policy. source…

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Democracy in Question?

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Nancy Fraser on "Cannibal Capitalism" 50:47

1 year ago50:47

50:47

Democracy in Question? is brought to you by: • Central European University: CEU • The Albert Hirschman Centre on Democracy in Geneva: AHCD • The Podcast Company: scopeaudio Follow us on social media! • Central European University: @CEU • Albert Hirschman Centre on Democracy in Geneva: @AHDCentre Subscribe to the show. If you enjoyed what you listened to, you can support us by leaving a review and sharing our podcast in your networks!…

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Paul Lendvai on "Austria Behind the Mask" 39:48

1 year ago39:48

39:48

Democracy in Question? is brought to you by: • Central European University: CEU • The Albert Hirschman Centre on Democracy in Geneva: AHCD • The Podcast Company: scopeaudio Follow us on social media! • Central European University: @CEU • Albert Hirschman Centre on Democracy in Geneva: @AHDCentre Subscribe to the show. If you enjoyed what you listened to, you can support us by leaving a review and sharing our podcast in your networks! Glossary Bruno Kreisky (01:53 or p.1 in the transcript) Bruno Kreisky, (born January 22, 1911, Vienna, Austria—died July 29, 1990, Vienna), leader of the Social Democratic Party of Austria and chancellor of Austria (1970–83). Kreisky joined the Social Democratic Party in 1926; he was active in the party until it was outlawed in 1934. In 1935 he was arrested for political reasons and imprisoned for 18 months. He was imprisoned again in 1938, shortly after graduating as Doctor of Law from the University of Vienna. Persecuted by the Gestapo because of his political beliefs and Jewish birth, he fled to Sweden, where he engaged in journalism and business during World War II. From 1946 to 1950 he served at the Austrian legation in Stockholm and then returned to Vienna to serve at the foreign ministry. From 1956 he was a member of the Austrian Parliament, and in 1959 he was elected deputy chairman of the Social Democrats and became foreign minister. After the party’s decisive defeat in the 1966 general election, he took the lead in an intraparty reform movement. He was narrowly elected chairman of the Social Democrats in 1967, and he became chancellor of Austria when the Social Democrats emerged from the 1970 elections as the strongest party; in 1971 they acquired an absolute majority. Kreisky was credited with successfully pursuing a policy of “active neutrality,” smoothing relations with neighboring Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia and seeking cooperation with other nonaligned nations. Under his leadership, the Social Democrats preserved their parliamentary majority in elections in 1975 and 1979. He resigned in 1983. source Occupation of Austria by the Allied Forces (1945-1955) (07:54 or p.2 in the transcript) At the Potsdam Conference in 1945, the Allies agreed that they would jointly occupy Austria in the postwar period, dividing the country and its capital Vienna into four zones as they planned to do with Germany and Berlin. The Soviets also demanded reparations from Austria, a request that was dropped due to the country's nonbelligerent status, but the United States did agree that the Soviet Union would be entitled to any German assets in the Soviet occupation zone. In contrast to Germany, the Austrian government continued to exist in the postwar period and govern, although the Four Powers could veto any new legislation if they unanimously agreed to do so. This arrangement was maintained until the withdrawal of the occupying powers upon the completion of the Austrian State Treaty. The breakdown of the wartime "Grand Alliance" and the emergence of the Cold War led to the Austrian occupation lasting far longer than anyone anticipated. Only on May 15, 1955, representatives of the governments of the Soviet Union, Great Britain, the United States, and France signed a treaty that granted Austria independence and arranged for the withdrawal of all occupation forces. These governments signed the agreement with the understanding that the newly independent state of Austria would declare its neutrality, creating a buffer zone between the East and the West. The Austrian State Treaty was the only treaty signed by both the Soviet Union and United States in the decade after the 1947 Paris Peace Treaties, and it marked the only Cold War era withdrawal by the Soviet Union from a territory it occupied. The Austrian situation was unique in postwar Europe. In 1938, it had been the only nation to be annexed in its entirety by Nazi Germany, a fact that raised consistent questions during the war about the extent to which the country was a victim of Nazi aggression or whether it had been a collaborator. source Freedom Party of Austria (10:37 or p.3 in the transcript) The Freedom Party of Austria (German: Freiheitliche Partei Österreichs, FPÖ) is a right-wing populist and national-conservative political party in Austria. It was led by Norbert Hofer from September 2019 to 1 June 2021 and is currently led by Herbert Kickl. On a European level, the FPÖ is a founding member of the Identity and Democracy Party and its three Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) sit with the Identity and Democracy (ID) group. The FPÖ was founded in 1956 as the successor to the short-lived Federation of Independents (VdU), representing pan-Germanists and national liberals opposed to socialism, represented by the Social Democratic Party of Austria (SPÖ), and Catholic clericalism represented by the Austrian People's Party (ÖVP). Its first leader, Anton Reinthaller, was a former Nazi functionary and SS officer, though the party did not advocate extreme right policies and presented itself as residing in the political centre. During this time, the FPÖ was the third largest party in Austria and had modest support. Under the leadership of Norbert Steger in the early 1980s, it sought to style itself on the German Free Democratic Party. It supported the first government of SPÖ Chancellor Bruno Kreisky after the 1970 election, as well as that of Fred Sinowatz from 1983 to 1986. Jörg Haider became leader of the party in 1986, after which it began an ideological turn towards right-wing populism. This resulted in a strong surge in electoral support, but also led the SPÖ to break ties, and a splinter in the form of the Liberal Forum in 1993. In the 1999 election, the FPÖ won 26.9% of the vote, becoming the second most popular party, ahead of the ÖVP by around 500 votes. The two parties eventually reached a coalition agreement in which ÖVP retained the office of Chancellor. The FPÖ soon lost most of its popularity, falling to 10% in the 2002 election, but the government was renewed. Internal tensions led Haider and much of the party leadership to leave in 2005, forming the Alliance for the Future of Austria (BZÖ), which replaced the FPÖ as governing partner. Heinz-Christian Strache then became leader, and the party gradually regained its popularity, peaking at 26.0% in the 2017 election. The FPÖ once again became junior partner in government with the ÖVP. In May 2019, the Ibiza affair led to the collapse of the government and the resignation of Strache from both the offices of Vice-Chancellor and party leader. The resulting snap election saw the FPÖ fall to 16.2% and return to opposition. source Austrian People’s Party (13:09 or p.3 in the transcript) The Austrian People's Party (German: Österreichische Volkspartei, ÖVP) is a Christian-democratic and liberal-conservative political party in Austria. Since December 2021, the party has been led provisionally by Karl Nehammer. The ÖVP is a member of the International Democrat Union and the European People's Party. It sits with the EPP group in the European Parliament; of Austria's 19 MEPs, 7 are members of the ÖVP. An unofficial successor to the Christian Social Party of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the ÖVP was founded immediately following the re-establishment of the Republic of Austria in 1945. Since then, it has been one of the two traditional major parties in Austria, alongside the Social Democratic Party of Austria (SPÖ). It was the most popular party until 1970, and has traditionally governed in a grand coalition with the SPÖ. It was the senior partner in grand coalitions from 1945 to 1966 and the junior partner from 1986 to 2000 and 2007–2017. The ÖVP also briefly governed alone from 1966 to 1970. After the 1999 election, the party formed a coalition with the Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ) until 2003, when a coalition with the FPÖ splinter Alliance for the Future of Austria was formed, which lasted until 2007. The party underwent a change in its image after Sebastian Kurz became chairman, changing its colour from the traditional black to turquoise, and adopting the alternate name The New People's Party (German: Die neue Volkspartei). It became the largest party after the 2017 election, and formed a coalition government with the FPÖ. This collapsed eighteen months later, leading to the 2019 election, after which the ÖVP formed a new coalition with The Greens. source Social Democratic Party of Austria (30:27 or p.6 in the transcript) The Social Democratic Party of Austria (German: Sozialdemokratische Partei Österreichs, SPÖ), founded and known as the Social Democratic Workers' Party of Austria (German: Sozialdemokratische Arbeiterpartei Österreichs, SDAPÖ) until 1945 and later the Socialist Party of Austria (German: Sozialistische Partei Österreichs) until 1991, is a social-democratic political party in Austria. Founded in 1889, it is the oldest extant political party in Austria. Along with the Austrian People's Party (ÖVP), it is one of the country's two traditional major parties. It is positioned on the centre-left on the political spectrum. The SPÖ is supportive of Austria's membership in the European Union, and it is a member of the Socialist International, Progressive Alliance, and Party of European Socialists. It sits with the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats in the European Parliament; of Austria's 19 MEPs, five are members of the SPÖ. The party has close ties to the Austrian Trade Union Federation (ÖGB) and the Austrian Chamber of Labour (AK). The SDAPÖ was the second largest party in the Imperial Council of the Austro-Hungarian Empire from the 1890s through 1910s. After the First World War, it briefly governed the First Austrian Republic, but thereafter returned to opposition. The party was banned in 1934 following the Austrian Civil War, and was suppressed throughout Austrofascism and the Nazi period. The party was refounded as the Socialist Party of Austria in 1945 and governed as a junior partner of the ÖVP until 1966. In 1970, the SPÖ became the largest party for the first time in post-war history, and Bruno Kreisky became Chancellor, winning three consecutive majorities (1971, 1975, and 1979). From 1987 to 2000 the SPÖ led a grand coalition with the ÖVP before returning to opposition for the first time in 30 years. The party governed again from 2007 to 2017. Since 2017, the SPÖ have been the primary opposition to the ÖVP governments of Sebastian Kurz, Alexander Schallenberg, and Karl Nehammer. source…

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Democracy in Question?

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Maciej Kisilowski on the Polish Elections 44:47

1 year ago44:47

44:47

Democracy in Question? is brought to you by: • Central European University: CEU • The Albert Hirschman Centre on Democracy in Geneva: AHCD • The Podcast Company: scopeaudio Follow us on social media! • Central European University: @CEU • Albert Hirschman Centre on Democracy in Geneva: @AHDCentre Subscribe to the show. If you enjoyed what you listened to, you can support us by leaving a review and sharing our podcast in your networks! Glossary Polish population transfer (11:20 or p.3 in the transcript) Shortly after the Red Army entered western Ukraine and eastern Poland in the summer of 1944, representatives of Soviet Ukraine and Poland, meeting in Lublin, agreed to the reciprocal transfer of Poles from the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic and of ethnic Ukrainians from Poland. The implementation of the Lublin accord on ‘evacuation’ took place against a background of extreme violence which had already induced ‘spontaneous’ migration. The evacuation took much longer than expected, and only came to an end in 1946, by which time some 483,000 Ukrainians had been moved from Poland to Ukraine, while 790,000 Poles were transported from Ukraine to Poland. It represented one of the largest such transfers undertaken in postwar Europe. Nor did Ukrainians and Poles escape the consequences of further intervention. In 1947 the ‘Vistula action’ affected a further 150,000 Ukrainians who had not already resettled. Another phase of transfers took place following the final series of territorial adjustments under the Polish-Soviet Agreement of 15 February 1951, as a result of which some 40,000 Ukrainians were expelled from territory annexed to Poland. Finally, more than 10,000 Poles from among the Soviet deportees and prisoners, who had been unable hitherto to exercise their right to return, were repatriated to Poland in 1955–56. source…

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Democracy in Question?

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Kalypso Nicolaidis on Governing Together Through Demoicracy (Part 2) 47:03

2 years ago47:03

47:03

Democracy in Question? is brought to you by: • Central European University: CEU • The Albert Hirschman Centre on Democracy in Geneva: AHCD • The Podcast Company: scopeaudio Follow us on social media! • Central European University: @CEU • Albert Hirschman Centre on Democracy in Geneva: @AHDCentre Subscribe to the show. If you enjoyed what you listened to, you can support us by leaving a review and sharing our podcast in your networks! Glossary Democratic Odyssey (02:19 or p.1 in the transcript) The Democratic Odyssey is a decentralized, collaborative, and transparent exercise of crowdsourcing and co-creation kicked-off by a core consortium composed of The European University Institute’s School of Transnational Governance, Particip-Action, European Alternatives, Citizens Take Over Europe, The Democracy and Culture Foundation, Democracy Next, Mehr Demokratie, Eliamep, The Real Deal, Phoenix, The European Capital of Democracy, as well as the Berggruen and Salvia Foundations. This community is open to all who want to be involved. Threatened from within and outside by the rise of partisan hyper-polarization, authoritarian buy-in, disinformation and electoral interference, European democracy is under attack on all sides. As Europe needs to address citizens’ sense of disenfranchisement, pathways to renewal are necessary. For the Democratic Odyssey consortium, part of the solution lies in creating a standing European People’s Assembly that will become a core part of the institutional landscape of the European Union, made of citizens selected by lot, serving on a rotating basis. This project comes at an opportune moment. In the past five years, in Europe, there have been ten national assemblies and around 70 local assemblies on the topic of climate change alone. The EU itself took a huge leap with the Conference on the Future of Europe which integrated transnational, multi-lingual, sortition-based deliberation into the policy making process. The Conference planted a seed which the Democratic Odyssey wants to make flourish. As James Mackay, the project’s coordinator, declared in a recent interview with European Alternatives: “we are not aiming at making a ‘perfect’ assembly (whatever that would even mean). Our hope is more modest: to offer a “proof of concept” that, in the window between the EP elections but before the new Commissions convenes, can bring grassroots and institutional actors together to consider how citizens’ participation can be institutionalized in the longer term.” source…

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Democracy in Question?

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Kalypso Nicolaidis on Governing Together Through Demoicracy (Part 1) 50:21

2 years ago50:21

50:21

Democracy in Question? is brought to you by: • Central European University: CEU • The Albert Hirschman Centre on Democracy in Geneva: AHCD • The Podcast Company: scopeaudio Follow us on social media! • Central European University: @CEU • Albert Hirschman Centre on Democracy in Geneva: @AHDCentre Subscribe to the show. If you enjoyed what you listened to, you can support us by leaving a review and sharing our podcast in your networks! Glossary Panopticon (11:53 or p.3 in the transcript) Jeremy Bentham, an English philosopher and social theorist in the mid-1700s, invented a social control mechanism that would become a comprehensive symbol for modern authority and discipline in the western world: a prison system called the Panopticon. The basic principle for the design, which Bentham first completed in 1785, was to monitor the maximum number of prisoners with the fewest possible guards and other security costs. The layout consists of a central tower for the guards, surrounded by a ring-shaped building of prison cells. The building with the prisoners is only one cell thick, and every cell has one open side facing the central tower. This open side has bars over it but is otherwise entirely exposed to the tower. The guards can thus see the entirety of any cell at any time, and the prisoners are always vulnerable and visible. Conversely, the tower is far enough from the cells and has sufficiently small windows that the prisoners cannot see the guards inside of it. The sociological effect is that the prisoners are aware of the presence of authority at all times, even though they never know exactly when they are being observed. The authority changes from being a limited physical entity to being an internalized omniscience- the prisoners discipline themselves simply because someone might be watching, eliminating the need for more physical power to accomplish the same task. Just a few guards are able to maintain a very large number of prisoners this way. Arguably, there wouldn't even need to be any guards in the tower at all. Michel Foucault, a French intellectual and critic, expanded the idea of the panopticon into a symbol of social control that extends into everyday life for all citizens, not just those in the prison system. He argues that social citizens always internalize authority, which is one source of power for prevailing norms and institutions. A driver, for example, might stop at a red light even when there are no other cars or police present. Even though there are not necessarily any repercussions, the police are an internalized authority- people tend to obey laws because those rules become self-imposed. source Conference on the Future of Europe (19:42 or p.5 in the transcript) The Conference on the future of Europe officially started on 9 May 2021. Over the next year this citizen led series of discussions and debates will allow citizens from all over the European Union to make their voices heard on key priorities. Through a myriad of Conference events and debates held all across the European Union, aided by an interactive multilingual digital platform, the conference will place European citizens at the centre of the debate. The Conference on the Future of Europe is jointly chaired by the Council, the European Parliament and the European Commission. During the plenary session of the European Parliament in Brussels (10 March 2021), António Costa, Prime Minister of Portugal and President of the rotating Presidency of the Council, David Sassoli, President of the European Parliament, Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, participated in the signing ceremony of the joint declaration for the Conference of the Future of Europe. On 19 April 2021, the multilingual digital platform was launched to ensure that citizens can start contributing to the conference. During the closing event on 9 May 2022, the three Co-Chairs of the Conference’s Executive Board did present the final report to the presidents of the EU institutions. President Metsola, President Macron, and President von der Leyen delivered speeches alongside contributions from citizens representing the European and National Panels, and by the Conference Co-Chairs. source…

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Democracy in Question?

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Janka Oertel on "The End of the China Illusion" (Part 2) 54:09

2 years ago54:09

54:09

Democracy in Question? is brought to you by: • Central European University: CEU • The Albert Hirschman Centre on Democracy in Geneva: AHCD • The Podcast Company: scopeaudio Follow us on social media! • Central European University: @CEU • Albert Hirschman Centre on Democracy in Geneva: @AHDCentre Subscribe to the show. If you enjoyed what you listened to, you can support us by leaving a review and sharing our podcast in your networks! Glossary Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) (04:10 or p.1 in the transcript) China’s Belt and Road Initiative is a strategy initiated by the People’s Republic of China that seeks to connect Asia with Africa and Europe via land and maritime networks with the aim of improving regional integration, increasing trade and stimulating economic growth. The name was coined in 2013 by China’s President Xi Jinping, who drew inspiration from the concept of the Silk Road established during the Han Dynasty 2,000 years ago – an ancient network of trade routes that connected China to the Mediterranean via Eurasia for centuries. The BRI has also been referred to in the past as 'One Belt One Road'. The BRI comprises a Silk Road Economic Belt – a trans-continental passage that links China with southeast Asia, south Asia, Central Asia, Russia and Europe by land – and a 21st century Maritime Silk Road, a sea route connecting China’s coastal regions with south east and south Asia, the South Pacific, the Middle East and Eastern Africa, all the way to Europe. The initiative defines five major priorities: policy coordination; infrastructure connectivity; unimpeded trade; financial integration; and connecting people. The BRI has been associated with a very large programme of investments in infrastructure development for ports, roads, railways and airports, as well as power plants and telecommunications networks. Since 2019, Chinese state-led BRI lending volumes have been in decline. The BRI now places increasing emphasis on “high quality investment”, including through greater use of project finance, risk mitigation tools, and green finance. The BRI is an increasingly important umbrella mechanism for China’s bilateral trade with BRI partners: as of March 2020, the number of countries that have joined the Belt and Road Initiative by signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with China is 138. source BRICS (04:41 or p.2 in the transcript) "BRICS" is the acronym denoting the emerging national economies of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. The term was originally coined in 2001 as "BRIC" by the Goldman Sachs economist Jim O'Neill in his report, Building Better Global Economic BRICs (Global Economics Paper No: 66). At that time, the economies of Brazil, Russia, India and China experienced significant growth, raising concerns regarding their impact on the global economy. Foreign ministers of these countries began meeting informally in 2006, which led to more formal annual summits beginning in 2009. Generally speaking, these meetings are held to improve economic conditions within BRICS countries and give their leaders the opportunity to work in collaboration regarding these efforts. In December of 2010, South Africa joined the informal group and changed the acronym to BRICS. Together these emerging markets represent 42% of the world population and account for over 31% of the world's GDP according to the World Factbook. According to the 2023 summit chair South Africa, over 40 nations were interested in joining the economic forum for the benefits membership would provide including development finance and increase in trade and investment. At the conclusion of the summit, it was announced that Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates will become new members of BRICS starting in 2024. source Global Gateway (25:52 or p.7 in the transcript) Global Gateway is a new European strategy to boost smart, clean and secure links in digital, energy and transport sectors and to strengthen health, education and research systems across the world. The European Commission and the EU High Representative launched it in 2021. Global Gateway aims to mobilise up to €300 billion in investments through a Team Europe approach, bringing together the EU, its Member States and their financial and development institutions. It seeks a transformational impact in the digital, climate and energy, transport, health, and education and research sectors. The focus is on smart investments in quality infrastructure, respecting the highest social and environmental standards, in line with the EU’s interests and values: rule of law, human rights and international norms and standards. 6 core principles are at the heart of Global Gateway, guiding the investments: democratic values and high standards; good governance and transparency; equal partnerships; green and clean; security focused; catalysing the private sector. Global Gateway is the EU’s contribution to narrowing the global investment gap worldwide. It is in line with the commitment of the G7 leaders from June 2021 to launch a values-driven, high-standard and transparent infrastructure partnership to meet global infrastructure development needs. Global Gateway is also fully aligned with the UN’s Agenda 2030 and its Sustainable Development Goals, as well as the Paris Agreement on climate change. source…

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Democracy in Question?

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Nobel Prize Winner Joseph Stiglitz on a More Equitable Future 47:55

2 years ago47:55

47:55

Democracy in Question? is brought to you by: • Central European University: CEU • The Albert Hirschman Centre on Democracy in Geneva: AHCD • The Podcast Company: scopeaudio Follow us on social media! • Central European University: @CEU • Albert Hirschman Centre on Democracy in Geneva: @AHDCentre Subscribe to the show. If you enjoyed what you listened to, you can support us by leaving a review and sharing our podcast in your networks! Glossary Capital gains taxation (17:00 or p.4 in the transcript) The capital gains tax is the levy on the profit that an investor makes when an investment is sold. It is owed for the tax year during which the investment is sold. The long-term capital gains tax rates for the 2022 and 2023 tax years [in the US] are 0%, 15%, or 20% of the profit, depending on the income of the filer. The income brackets are adjusted annually. An investor will owe long-term capital gains tax on the profits of any investment owned for at least one year. If the investor owns the investment for one year or less, short-term capital gains tax applies. The short-term rate is determined by the taxpayer's ordinary income bracket. For all but the highest-paid taxpayers, that is a higher tax rate than the capital gains rate. When stock shares or any other taxable investment assets are sold, the capital gains, or profits, are referred to as having been realized. The tax doesn't apply to unsold investments or unrealized capital gains. Stock shares will not incur taxes until they are sold, no matter how long the shares are held or how much they increase in value. source Tax havens (17:07 or p.4 in the transcript) A tax haven is a country that offers foreign businesses and individuals minimal or no tax liability for their bank deposits in a politically and economically stable environment. They have tax advantages for corporations and for the very wealthy, and obvious potential for misuse in illegal tax avoidance schemes. Companies and wealthy individuals may use tax havens legally as a means of stashing money earned abroad while avoiding higher taxes in the U.S. and other nations. Tax havens may also be used illegally to hide money from tax authorities at home. The tax haven can make this work by being uncooperative with foreign tax authorities. In recent times, tax havens are under increasing international political pressure to cooperate with foreign tax fraud inquiries. Broadly speaking, tax havens are jurisdictions that have very low taxes and no residency requirements for foreign entities and individuals willing to park money in their financial institutions. A combination of lax regulation and secrecy laws enable corporations and individuals to screen some of their income from tax authorities in other nations. The Tax Justice Network maintains a Corporate Tax Haven Index that tracks the jurisdictions that it says are "most complicit" in helping multinational corporations evade taxes. As of 2021, the worst offenders were the British Virgin Islands, the Cayman Islands, and Bermuda. Tax havens may be found in another country or merely in a separate jurisdiction. source Trickle-down economics (21:19 or p.5 in the transcript) Trickle-down economics and its policies employ the theory that tax breaks and benefits for corporations and the wealthy will trickle down and eventually benefit everyone. Tools like reduced income tax and capital gains tax breaks are offered to large businesses, investors, and entrepreneurs to stimulate economic growth. The trickle-down theory states that tax breaks and benefits for corporations and the wealthy will trickle down to everyone else. Trickle-down economics involves less regulation and tax cuts for those in high-income tax brackets as well as corporations. While there is no single comprehensive economic policy identified as trickle-down economics, a policy is considered “trickle-down” if it disproportionately benefits wealthy businesses and individuals in the short run but is designed to boost standards of living for all individuals in the long run. Both President Herbert Hoover’s stimulus efforts during the Great Depression and President Ronald Reagan's use of income tax cuts were described as "trickle-down." Critics argue that the added benefits the wealthy receive can distort the economic structure as lower-income earners without an equal tax cut adds to income inequality. Many economists counter that cutting taxes for the poor and working families boosts the economy by increasing spending on goods and services whereas a tax cut for a corporation may go to stock buybacks or increased savings for the wealthy. In December 2020, a London School of Economics report by David Hope and Julian Limberg was released which examined five decades of tax cuts in 18 wealthy nations and found they consistently benefited the wealthy but had no meaningful effect on unemployment or economic growth. source…

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Democracy in Question?

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Janka Oertel on "The End of the China Illusion" (Part 1) 46:47

2 years ago46:47

46:47

Democracy in Question? is brought to you by: • Central European University: CEU • The Albert Hirschman Centre on Democracy in Geneva: AHCD • The Podcast Company: scopeaudio Follow us on social media! • Central European University: @CEU • Albert Hirschman Centre on Democracy in Geneva: @AHDCentre Subscribe to the show. If you enjoyed what you listened to, you can support us by leaving a review and sharing our podcast in your networks! Glossary Green transition (16:37 or p.5 in the transcript) The green transition means a shift towards economically sustainable growth and an economy that is not based on fossil fuels and overconsumption of natural resources. A sustainable economy relies on low-carbon solutions that promote the circular economy and biodiversity.For companies, the manufacturing industry and municipalities, the green transition can mean investments in clean energy production, circular economy solutions and hydrogen technology, and the introduction of different kinds of new services and operating models. Low-carbon roadmaps and sustainability strategies drawn up by different sectors are an important part of this package. What the green transition means in daily lives includes, for example, phasing out fossil oil heating and shifting to electric cars. For the society as a whole, it can mean different kinds of incentives and subsidies for these and legislation that supports the green transition. The green transition also means questioning individual consumer habits and ways of thinking, e.g., using machines and appliances that consume less electricity or being ready to pay more for products manufactured that cause less emissions. source…

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Democracy in Question?

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Alejandra Ballon Gutierrez on Body Politics in Peru 44:52

2 years ago44:52

44:52

Democracy in Question? is brought to you by: • Central European University: CEU • The Albert Hirschman Centre on Democracy in Geneva: AHCD • The Podcast Company: scopeaudio Follow us on social media! • Central European University: @CEU • Albert Hirschman Centre on Democracy in Geneva: @AHDCentre Subscribe to the show. If you enjoyed what you listened to, you can support us by leaving a review and sharing our podcast in your networks! Glossary USAID (19:20 or p.4 in the transcript) The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) was developed in 1961 by President John F. Kennedy. He created the agency after signing an executive order to advance American interests abroad through development efforts and humanitarian aid. With the global economy still relatively fragile less than two decades after the end of World War II, it was essential for the U.S.'s own prosperity to promote growth in developing countries and to help nations maintain their independence and freedom. USAID works in more than 100 developing countries spanning the globe in areas such as sub-Saharan Africa, Asia, the Middle East, Latin America, the Caribbean, Europe, and Eurasia. The agency, which has field offices in the areas noted above, is headquartered in Washington, D.C., with organizational units that are called bureaus. Those working in each unit are responsible for programs and activities in a specific country. The agency's mission and objectives remain the same today. USAID's mission is to boost democratic values across the world, helping nations become self-reliant as they progress in their own development. While promoting development and reducing poverty are among its aims, it also promotes democratic governance in recipient nations, and helps counteract the drivers of violence, instability, transnational crime, and other security threats. source Truth Commission or Truth and Reconciliation Commission (31:52 or p.7 in the transcript) In 1980 the Shining Path, a Maoist opposition group, began an uprising against the Peruvian military dictatorship to protest pervasive social and economic inequalities. In 1982, the TúpacAmaru Revolutionary Movement began fighting against the military as well and also engaged in an internal conflict with the Shining Path. The war disproportionately affected the remote Ayacucho Region where forty percent of an estimated 70,000 deaths and disappearances occurred. Activity of the Shining Path significantly diminished after their leader Abimael Guzmán and other key members were captured in 1992. The government's engagement in the conflict ended after President Alberto Fujimori was forced from office in November 2000. In December 2000, the caretaker government of Valentin Paniagua approved the establishment of a truth commission, which was inaugurated on July 13, 2001, and began its work after President-elect Alejandro Toledo took office later that month. Interim president Paniagua decided to establish the Commission with the approving vote of his Cabinet. Supreme Resolution from February 27, 2001 proposed the creation of a truth commission and established a working group to design its mandate. The commission was set up by a decree.Its mandate was to investigate assassinations, torture, disappearances, displacement, employment of terrorist methods and other violations attributable to the State, the Shining Path and the Túpac Amaru Revolutionary Movement between May 1980 and November 2000 during the administrations of former Presidents Fernando Belaunde (1980 - 1985), Alan Garcia (1985 - 1990) and Alberto Fujimori (1990 - 2000). The TRC was comprised of twelve Peruvian commissioners, ten men and two women, chaired by Salomón Lerner Febres. The President appointed the members of the commission with the approval of the Council of Ministers. The commission opened five regional offices to carry out its work. On August 28, 2003, the commission released its 8,000-page final report to then President Alejandro Toledo and to other members of the government. source…

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Democracy in Question?

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Kim Lane Scheppele on Destroying Democracy by Law 47:36

2 years ago47:36

47:36

Democracy in Question? is brought to you by: • Central European University: CEU • The Albert Hirschman Centre on Democracy in Geneva: AHCD • The Podcast Company: scopeaudio Follow us on social media! • Central European University: @CEU • Albert Hirschman Centre on Democracy in Geneva: @AHDCentre Subscribe to the show. If you enjoyed what you listened to, you can support us by leaving a review and sharing our podcast in your networks! Glossary Gerrymandering (14:00 or p.4 in the transcript) In U.S. politics, gerrymandering is the practice of drawing the boundaries of electoral districts in a way that gives one political party an unfair advantage over its rivals (political or partisan gerrymandering) or that dilutes the voting power of members of ethnic or linguistic minority groups (racial gerrymandering). The term is derived from the name of Gov. Elbridge Gerry of Massachusetts, whose administration enacted a law in 1812 defining new state senatorial districts. The law consolidated the Federalist Party vote in a few districts and thus gave disproportionate representation to Democratic-Republicans. The outline of one of these districts was thought to resemble a salamander. A satirical cartoon by Elkanah Tisdale that appeared in the Boston Gazette graphically transformed the districts into a fabulous animal, “The Gerry-mander,” fixing the term in the popular imagination. source…

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Democracy in Question?

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Ulrike Flader on Turkey at the Crossroads 38:06

2 years ago38:06

38:06

Democracy in Question? is brought to you by: • Central European University: CEU • The Albert Hirschman Centre on Democracy in Geneva: AHCD • The Podcast Company: scopeaudio Follow us on social media! • Central European University: @CEU • Albert Hirschman Centre on Democracy in Geneva: @AHDCentre Subscribe to the show. If you enjoyed what you listened to, you can support us by leaving a review and sharing our podcast in your networks! Glossary Ukraine Grain Deal (Black Sea Grain Initiative) (04:50 or p.2 in the transcript) Since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Ukrainian exports of grain have been severely disrupted. For over four months, Russian military vessels blocked Ukrainian ports in the Black Sea. On 22 July 2022, an agreement was brokered by the United Nations and Türkiye to open a safe maritime humanitarian corridor in the Black Sea (the Black Sea Grain Initiative). Since then, over 1 080 ships full of grain and other foodstuffs have left three Ukrainian ports: Chornomorsk, Odesa and Yuzhny/Pivdennyi. As of May 2023, over30 million tonnes of grain and other foodstuffs have been exported via the Black Sea Grain Initiative. The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP – the largest humanitarian organisation in the world) is also shipping wheat from Black Sea ports. Before the war, the programme bought half of its grain stock from Ukraine. Since the start of the initiative in August 2022 over 625 000 tonnes of wheat have left Ukrainian ports to Ethiopia, Yemen, Afghanistan, Sudan, Somalia, Kenya and Djibouti. source Syrian refugee population in Turkey (14:30 or p.4 in the transcript) Just over 3.5 million UNHCR-registered Syrian refugees currently live in Turkey, comprising the largest registered refugee population in the world. Hundreds of thousands of unregistered Syrian refugees are also estimated to live in Turkey, although the exact number is highly uncertain due to their legal status and heightened risk of deportation. Refugees began fleeing to Turkey in small numbers at the outset of the civil war in 2011, but the largest waves arrived in 2015 and 2016 , when a series of brutal offensives by the Syrian regime – backed by the Russian air force and Iranian-funded militias – retook the largest rebel-held cities in northern and central Syria. Although the number of registered Syrian refugees in Turkey has remained relatively static since 2018, there has been significant change under the surface. Hundreds of thousands of refugees have continued to arrive since 2018, displaced by the regime’s airstrikes in rebel-held Idlib and its offensives to retake the country’s south. These arrivals have been offset by the roughly half a million refugees who have returned to Syria from Turkey since the war started. source…

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Democracy in Question?

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Daniela Schwarzer on Europe’s Strategic Conundrums (Part 2) 38:38

2 years ago38:38

38:38

Democracy in Question? is brought to you by: • Central European University: CEU • The Albert Hirschman Centre on Democracy in Geneva: AHCD • The Podcast Company: Novel Follow us on social media! • Central European University: @CEU • Albert Hirschman Centre on Democracy in Geneva: @AHDCentre Subscribe to the show. If you enjoyed what you listened to, you can support us by leaving a review and sharing our podcast in your networks! DiQ S6 EP10 Daniela Schwarzer on Europe’s Strategic Conundrums (Part 2) Glossary What is an LNG terminal? (04:32 or p.1 in the transcript) LNG (Liquified Natural Gas) terminal is a reception facility for unloading of cargo from LNG tankers. These purpose-built ports are specially used for export and import of LNG. A variety of facilities for unloading, regasification, tanking, metering etc. of LNG are provided at these terminals. Natural gas is transported in liquified state using LNG gas tankers. At LNG terminals, the liquified natural gas is turned back into gaseous state (regasified) after unloading from ships and then distributed across the network. source What is the Fridays for Future movement? (05:48 or p.2 in the transcript) For almost three weeks prior to the Swedish election in September 2018, Swedish climate activist 15-year-old Greta Thunberg missed school to sit outside the country’s parliament with a sign that stated “Skolstrejk för Klimatet” (School Strike for Climate). Although alone for the first day of the strike, she was joined each subsequent day by more and more people, and her story garnered international attention. After the election Thunberg returned to school but continued to skip classes on Fridays to strike, and these days were called Fridays for Future . Her action inspired hundreds of thousands of students around the world to participate in their own Fridays for Future. Strikes were held in such countries as Belgium, Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, Finland, Denmark, France, and the Netherlands. source…

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Democracy in Question?

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Daniela Schwarzer on Europe’s Strategic Conundrums (Part 1) 38:55

2 years ago38:55

38:55

Democracy in Question? is brought to you by: • Central European University: CEU • The Albert Hirschman Centre on Democracy in Geneva: AHCD • The Podcast Company: Novel Follow us on social media! • Central European University: @CEU • Albert Hirschman Centre on Democracy in Geneva: @AHDCentre Subscribe to the show. If you enjoyed what you listened to, you can support us by leaving a review and sharing our podcast in your networks! DiQ S6 EP9 Daniela Schwarzer on Europe’s Strategic Conundrums (Part 1) Glossary What is the Visegrád Group? (20:22 or p.5 in the transcript) The Visegrád Group, Visegrád Four, or V4, is a cultural and political alliance of four Central European countries – the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia, that are members of the European Union (EU) and NATO – for the purposes of advancing military, cultural, economic and energy cooperation with one another along with furthering their integration in the EU. The Group traces its origins to the summit meetings of leaders from Czechoslovakia, Hungary, and Poland held in the Hungarian castle-town of Visegrád on 15 February 1991. Visegrád was chosen as the location for the 1991 meeting as an intentional allusion to the medieval Congress of Visegrád in 1335 between John I of Bohemia, Charles I of Hungary and Casimir III of Poland. After the dissolution of Czechoslovakia in 1993, the Czech Republic and Slovakia became independent members of the group, thus increasing the number of members from three to four. All four members of the Visegrád Group joined the European Union on 1 May 2004. source What is the NextGenerationEU? (25:44 or p.6 in the transcript) NextGenerationEU is the EU's €800 billion temporary recovery instrument to support the economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic and build a greener, more digital and more resilient future. The centrepiece of NextGenerationEU is the Recovery and Resilience Facility- an instrument that offers grants and loans to support reforms and investments in the EU Member States for a total of €723.8 billion in current prices. Part of the funds – up to €338 billion – are being provided to Member States in the form of grants. Another part – up to €385.8 billion– funds loans to individual Member States. These loans will be repaid by those Member States. Should Member States not request the full envelope of loans available under the facility, the remaining amount of loans will be used to finance REPowerEU, a programme to accelerate the EU’s green transition and reduce its reliance on Russian gas. Funds under the Recovery and Resilience funds are being provided to Member States in line with their national Recovery and Resilience plans – the roadmaps to reforms and investments aimed to make EU economies greener, digital and more resilient. Part of the NextGenerationEU funds are being used to reinforce several existing EU programmes. source…

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Democracy in Question?

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Martin Krygier on Anti-Constitutional Populism 49:14

2 years ago49:14

49:14

Democracy in Question? is brought to you by: • Central European University: CEU • The Albert Hirschman Centre on Democracy in Geneva: AHCD • The Podcast Company: Novel Follow us on social media! • Central European University: @CEU • Albert Hirschman Centre on Democracy in Geneva: @AHDCentre Subscribe to the show. If you enjoyed what you listened to, you can support us by leaving a review and sharing our podcast in your networks!…

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Democracy in Question?

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Yehouda Shenhav-Shahrabani on Israel: Democracy on the Defensive 38:38

2 years ago38:38

38:38

Democracy in Question? is brought to you by: • Central European University: CEU • The Albert Hirschman Centre on Democracy in Geneva: AHCD • The Podcast Company: Novel Follow us on social media! • Central European University: @CEU • Albert Hirschman Centre on Democracy in Geneva: @AHDCentre Subscribe to the show. If you enjoyed what you listened to, you can support us by leaving a review and sharing our podcast in your networks! DiQ S6 EP7 Yehouda Shenhav-Shahrabani on Israel: Democracy on the Defensive Glossary What is the Mizrahi Democratic Rainbow Coalition? (02:11 or p.1 in the transcript) The Mizrahi Democratic Rainbow Coalition is a social movement on the party and outside the parliamentary system, whose goal is to influence the public agenda, with the intention of bringing about a comprehensive change of Israeli society and its various institutions. The initiative to establish the movement came from second and third generation men and women of the Jews of Arab and Eastern countries. They come from all parts of the country and represent different levels of Israeli society. The active nucleus of the movement includes academics, workers, businessmen, clerks, teachers, artists and intellectuals, community activists, students, social and cultural organizations, residents of towns, townships, and neighborhoods. The Mizrahi Democratic Rainbow was founded in March 1996 by 40 women and men. In December 1996, following a series of discussions, the movement was formally established by 100 members, who constituted the Constituent Assembly. Since then, this body has expanded and it functions as the council of the movement, in which the fundamental decisions binding the movement are made. At the founding conference, the secretariat of the movement, which operates under the decisions of the movement's council, was appointed. In addition, the Committee of the Spokespersons and the Audit Committee was elected. All officials were elected in secret elections and committed to equal representation of women and men in all elected institutions of the movement. It was decided that the elections for all institutions of the movement would be held once a year. source What was the February 26, 2023 Hawara pogrom? (05:24 or p.2 in the transcript) Following the murder of two Israeli brothers in the West Bank on Feb. 26, 2023, a mob of around 400 Israelis attacked the Palestinian town of Hawara. They torched dozens of homes and cars, leaving one dead and hundreds wounded before being stopped by Israeli security forces. Though some government leaders – including the head of the parliament’s National Security Committee – praised the mob or called for the state itself to erase the town’s existence, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned them for “taking the law into their own hands.” Others – including the top Israeli military commander Major General Yehuda Fuchs in the West Bank – used even stronger language, calling the attack a “pogrom,” as did a statement against the attack by the Israeli Historical Society, signed by some of Israel’s most renowned historians. According to historian John Klier, a pogrom is “an outbreak of mass violence directed against a minority religious, ethnic or social group [that] usually implies central instigation and control, or at minimum the passivity of local authorities.” source Who was Meir Kahane? (06:08 or p.2 in the transcript) Meir Kahane was an American-born Israeli political extremist and rabbi who campaigned for self-protection of Jews. Kahane joined a paramilitary, right-wing youth movement in 1946. He was ordained an Orthodox rabbi in 1957 after studies at Mirrer Yeshiva in New York. In 1968 he formed the militant Jewish Defense League (JDL), attracted followers with the post-Holocaust slogan “Never Again,” and sent armed patrols of young Jews into Black neighborhoods. After being imprisoned for conspiring to make bombs, Kahane moved to Israel in 1971. There Kahane formed the Kach Party and stirred nationalist fervor against Arabs, whom he campaigned to remove (violently, if necessary) from Israel and all Israeli-occupied areas. He won a seat in the Israeli Knesset (parliament) in 1984, but his term ended when Israel banned the Kach Party for its antidemocratic and racist beliefs. Back in New York, Kahane was shot to death by a naturalized American of Egyptian descent. source What was the 2014 Gaza War? (08:17 or p.3 in the transcript) On July 8, 2014, Israel launched a large-scale military operation using aerial and naval firepower against a variety of targets associated with Hamas and other militant groups. After more than a week of bombardment failed to halt the rocket attacks, Israeli land forces entered the Gaza Strip on a mission to destroy tunnels and other elements of the militants’ infrastructure. Israel withdrew its land forces from the Gaza Strip in early August, declaring that their mission had been fulfilled. Israeli air strikes continued, as did rocket and mortar attacks on Israel from the Gaza Strip. In late August, after nearly two months of fighting, Israeli and Palestinian leaders reached an open-ended cease-fire. In exchange for Palestinian adherence to the cease-fire, Israel agreed to allow more goods into the Gaza Strip, to expand the fishing zone off the coast of the Gaza Strip from 3 to 6 miles (5 to 10 km), and to enforce a narrower security buffer in the areas adjacent to the Israeli border. Overall, the conflict was one of the deadliest between Israelis and Palestinians: 70 Israelis and more than 2,100 Palestinians were killed in the fighting. source What was the 1967 Six-Day War? (30:15 or p.7 in the transcript) Six-Day War, also called June WarorThird Arab-Israeli WarorNaksah was brief war that took place June 5–10, 1967, and was the third of the Arab-Israeli wars. Israel’s decisive victory included the capture of the Sinai Peninsula, Gaza Strip, West Bank, Old City of Jerusalem, and Golan Heights; the status of these territories subsequently became a major point of contention in the Arab-Israeli conflict. The Six-Day War also marked the start of a new phase in the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians since the conflict created hundreds of thousands of refugees and brought more than one million Palestinians in the occupied territories under Israeli rule. Months after the war, in November, the United Nations passed UN Resolution 242, which called for Israel’s withdrawal from the territories it had captured in the war in exchange for lasting peace. That resolution became the basis for diplomatic efforts between Israel and its neighbors, including the Camp David Accords with Egypt and the push for a two-state solution with the Palestinians. source…

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Democracy in Question?

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Sergei Guriev on the Changing Face of Autocracy 43:55

2 years ago43:55

43:55

Guests featured in this episode: Sergei Guriev , Provost of Sciences Po in Paris. He's professor of economics there following an outstanding academic career at the New Economic School in Moscow. He was its Rector until 2013 when he was forced by political circumstances to leave Russia. Between 2016 and 2019, Sergei served as the chief economist of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. And he has held visiting professorships at MIT, Princeton. And in 2006, he was selected a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum. His very broad research interests span various areas of political economics, developmental economics, labor mobility, corporate governance and contract theory. And besides numerous academic publications, he also writes for " The New York Times ," " Financial Times ," " Washington Post ," and " Project Syndicate ." His latest book, " Spin Dictators ," written together with Daniel Treisman, is a fascinating account of the changing character of authoritarian politics. Glossary What is China’s “zero-COVID” policy? (23:25 or p.6 in the transcript) COVID-19, a highly contagious respiratory illness, was first detected in Wuhan, China, in 2019 and rapidly spread throughout the country and the world, giving rise to a multiyear pandemic that resulted in millions of deaths worldwide. In efforts to keep the disease from spreading, China implemented strict “zero-COVID” policies aimed at keeping the number of cases as close to zero as possible through measures including strict lockdowns, quarantines, and mass testing. As a result, infection cases and deaths were relatively lower in China compared with other wealthy countries. Despite residents’ initial support of government policies and China’s early success in containing the spread of the disease, many grew frustrated as the restrictions became harsher and longer due to an increased number of cases resulting from highly transmissible variants. Repeated lockdowns and testing disrupted residents’ daily life and travel across the country. Some parts of China, such as Yining and Guiyang, experienced shortages of food and other essential items. The zero-COVID policies were eased in December 2022 following a rare protest by thousands of Chinese residents demanding that the government end the harsh policies, some even calling for the resignation of Xi Jinping. source What was the 2014 illegal annexation of Crimea? (25:10 or p.7 in the transcript) Almost immediately after the 2014 Maidan Revolution in Ukraine ended, armed men began occupying key facilities and checkpoints on the Crimean Peninsula. They wore Russian combat fatigues but with no identifying insignia. President Vladimir Putin at first flatly denied these were Russian soldiers, only to later admit that they were and award commendations to their commanders. The sizeable Ukrainian military presence in Crimea stayed in garrison. If shooting began, Kyiv wanted the world to see the Russians fire first. Ukraine’s Western partners urged Kyiv not to take precipitate action. Since many enlisted personnel in the Ukrainian ranks came from Crimea, Ukrainian commanders probably had less than full confidence in the reliability of their troops. By early March, Russian troops had secured the entire peninsula. On March 6, the Crimean Supreme Council voted to ask to accede to Russia. The council scheduled a referendum for March 16, which offered two choices: join Russia or return to Crimea’s 1992 constitution, which gave the peninsula significant autonomy. Those who favoured Crimea remaining part of Ukraine under the current constitution had no box to check. The conduct of the referendum proved chaotic and took place absent any credible international observers. Local authorities reported a turnout of 83 percent, with 96.7 percent voting to join Russia. The numbers seemed implausible, given that ethnic Ukrainians and Crimean Tatars accounted for almost 40 percent of the peninsula’s population. (Two months later, a leaked report from the Russian president’s Human Rights Council put turnout at only 30 percent, with about half of those voting to join Russia.) On March 18, Crimean and Russian officials signed the Treaty of Accession of the Republic of Crimea to Russia. Putin ratified the treaty three days later. source Democracy in Question? is brought to you by: • Central European University: CEU • The Albert Hirschman Centre on Democracy in Geneva: AHCD • The Podcast Company: Novel Follow us on social media! • Central European University: @CEU • Albert Hirschman Centre on Democracy in Geneva: @AHDCentre Subscribe to the show. If you enjoyed what you listened to, you can support us by leaving a review and sharing our podcast in your networks!…

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Democracy in Question?

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Mukulika Banerjee on the Cultivation of Democracy in India 42:40

2 years ago42:40

42:40

Guests featured in this episode: Mukulika Banerjee , Professor of Anthropology at the London School of Economics and Political Science where she was also the inaugural director of its South Asia Centre from 2015 to 2020. Working at the intersection of social anthropology, politics, and history, Mukulika has published widely on South Asia. She edits also the excellent Routledge series, exploring the political in South Asia. Her most relevant publications to this episode are; Why India Votes [2014] and Cultivating Democracy, Politics and Citizenship in Agrarian India .[2021] Glossary What is the caste system in India? (16:15 or p.4 in the transcript) In South Asia, the caste system has been a dominating aspect of social organization for thousands of years. A caste, generally designated by the term jati (“birth”), refers to a strictly regulated social community into which one is born. Some jatis have occupational names, but the connection between caste and occupational specialization is limited. In general, a person is expected to marry someone within the same jati, follow a particular set of rules for proper behavior (in such matters as kinship, occupation, and diet), and interact with other jatis according to the group’s position in the social hierarchy. In India virtually all nontribal Hindus and many adherents of other faiths (even Muslims, for whom caste is theoretically anathema) recognize their membership in one of the hereditary social communities. Among Hindus, jatis are usually assigned to one of four large caste clusters, called varnas, each of which has a traditional social function: Brahmans (priests), at the top of the social hierarchy, and, in descending prestige, Kshatriyas (warriors), Vaishyas (originally peasants but later merchants), and Shudras (artisans and laborers). The particular varna in which a jati is ranked depends in part on its relative level of “impurity,” determined by the group’s traditional contact with any of a number of “pollutants,” including blood, menstrual flow, saliva, dung, leather, dirt, and hair. Intercaste restrictions were established to prevent the relative purity of a particular jati from being corrupted by the pollution of a lower caste. A fifth group, the Panchamas (from Sanskrit panch, “five”), theoretically were excluded from the system because their occupations and ways of life typically brought them in contact with such impurities. They were formerly called the untouchables (because their touch, believed by the upper castes to transmit pollution, was avoided), but the nationalist leader Mohandas (Mahatma) Gandhi referred to them as Harijan (“Children of God”), a name that for a time gained popular usage. More recently, members of that class have adopted the term Dalit (“Oppressed”) to describe themselves. Officially, such groups are referred to as Scheduled Castes. Those in Scheduled Castes, collectively accounting for roughly one-sixth of India’s total population, are generally landless and perform most of the agricultural labor, as well as a number of ritually polluting caste occupations (e.g., leatherwork, among the Chamars, the largest Scheduled Caste). source What is a panchayat? (26:03 or p.7 in the transcript) Panchayat is the most important adjudicating and licensing agency in the self-government of an Indian caste. There are two types: permanent and impermanent. Literally, a panchayat (from Sanskrit pañca, “five”) consists of five members, but usually there are more; the panchayat has a policy committee, however, often numbering five. The panchayat sits as a court of law. Cases are heard in open meetings in which all members of the caste group concerned are entitled to take part. Any evidence that has any conceivable bearing on the case is admissible; it can be produced by either party, by onlookers, or by members of the council. Types of offenses adjudicated in meetings of the panchayat are breaches of eating, drinking, or smoking restrictions; infractions of marriage rules; breaches of a caste’s customs in feast; breaches of its trade rules; the killing of certain animals, notably cows; and the injury of a Brahman. Less commonly, the panchayat handles criminal and civil cases actionable before a court of law. Panchayats of Muslim castes try only a few of the offenses, as the rest fall under fiqh, or Islāmic law. Penalties take the form of fines (paid by distributing sweets to a caste group or by contributing to a caste fund), the obligation to offer a feast to the berādarī (family brotherhood) or to Brahmans, and temporary or permanent excommunication. Pilgrimage and self-humiliation are sometimes levied, but physical punishment is now uncommon. The passing of the Evidence Act by the British in 1872, with its strict rules of admissible evidence, led to a bypassing of the panchayat by some caste members who began to take their cases directly to the state court (see Indian Evidence Act). Some castes try cases that have come up before a state court or retry them after the verdict of the state court has been given. The Congress Party in India made a point of creating village panchayats as local instruments of government, the so-called panchayat raj, or government by panchayats. source Democracy in Question? is brought to you by: • Central European University: CEU • The Albert Hirschman Centre on Democracy in Geneva: AHCD • The Podcast Company: Novel Follow us on social media! • Central European University: @CEU • Albert Hirschman Centre on Democracy in Geneva: @AHDCentre Subscribe to the show. If you enjoyed what you listened to, you can support us by leaving a review and sharing our podcast in your networks!…

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Democracy in Question?

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Ken Opalo on the Prospects of Democracy in Africa 39:39

2 years ago39:39

39:39

Democracy in Question? is brought to you by: • Central European University: CEU • The Albert Hirschman Centre on Democracy in Geneva: AHCD • The Podcast Company: Novel Follow us on social media! • Central European University: @CEU • Albert Hirschman Centre on Democracy in Geneva: @AHDCentre Subscribe to the show. If you enjoyed what you listened to, you can support us by leaving a review and sharing our podcast in your networks! DiQ S6 EP4 Ken Opalo on the Prospects of Democracy in Africa Glossary What is the African Union? (31:02 or p.8 in the transcript) African Union (AU) , formerly (1963–2002) Organization of African Unity , is an intergovernmental organization, established in 2002, to promote unity and solidarity of African states, to spur economic development, and to promote international cooperation. The African Union (AU) replaced the Organization of African Unity (OAU). The AU’s headquarters are in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The OAU was established on May 25, 1963, and its activities included diplomacy (especially in support of African liberation movements), mediation of boundary conflicts and regional and civil wars, and research in economics and communications. The OAU maintained the “Africa group” at the United Nations (UN) through which many of its efforts at international coordination were channeled. The OAU was instrumental in bringing about the joint cooperation of African states in the work of the Group of 77, which acts as a caucus of developing nations within the UN Conference on Trade and Development. The principal organ of the OAU was the annual assembly of heads of state and government. In 2000, in a move spearheaded by Libyan leader Colonel Muammar al-Qaddafi, it was proposed that the OAU be replaced by a new body, the African Union. The African Union was to be more economic in nature, similar to the European Union, and would contain a central bank, a court of justice, and an all-Africa parliament. A Constitutive Act, which provided for the establishment of the African Union, was ratified by two-thirds of the OAU’s members and came into force on May 26, 2001. After a transition period, the African Union replaced the OAU in July 2002. In 2004 the AU’s Pan-African Parliament was inaugurated, and the organization agreed to create a peacekeeping force, the African Standby Force, of about 15,000 soldiers. source What is the Sahel Crisis? (33:18 or p.9 in the transcript) The central Sahel region, which includes the countries of Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger, is facing one of the fastest growing displacement crises in the world. More than 2.7 million people have been forced to flee their homes and at least 13.4 million are in dire need of humanitarian assistance. People began fleeing the central Sahel region in 2011 after an outbreak of violence in Northern Mali. Poverty, unemployment, and the presence of armed groups in rural areas of Northern Mali all contributed to an increase in forced displacement. Armed groups have rapidly expanded, spreading violence to central parts of the country and to neighboring countries, such as Burkina Faso and Niger. As a result of the conflict, millions of families have been displaced across the region, including 650,000 people uprooted in 2019 alone. Approximately 1.8 million people have been internally displaced. In Burkina Faso, at least 1 million people – approximately 5 percent of the country’s population- have fled violence inside the country in the past year, many seeking refuge in areas that are also affected by violence and poverty. Armed conflict, economic insecurity, and the adverse effects of climate change are some of the biggest challenges affecting the region. Indiscriminate attacks against civilians and public infrastructure – including schools and health facilities – have threatened the lives of millions of people and their livelihoods. The conflict has claimed more than 6,500 lives in the last year and threatens to leave at least 7.4 million people suffering from acute malnutrition. source…

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Democracy in Question?

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Ronald Daniels on the Role of Universities in Strengthening Democracy 38:08

2 years ago38:08

38:08

Guests featured in this episode: Ronald Daniels , the President of Johns Hopkins University, as well as a board member of the Central European University. His numerous accomplishments include the Order of Canada awarded to him in 2016 and his election as a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. During his tenure as President, Johns Hopkins University has consistently ranked at the top for its interdisciplinary research and innovation, enhanced student access, as well as community engagement. It thus serves as a true model for a research university in the 21st century. Last year, Ron Daniels published an agenda-setting book, "What Universities Owe Democracy." It makes a compelling and a passionate case for universities to be engaged in preserving and strengthening democratic achievements that are under threat, both in the U.S. and elsewhere. Glossary: What is the Pell Grant program? (11:34 or p.4 in the transcript) The Pell Grant is a form of need-based federal financial aid awarded by the U.S. Department of Education to help eligible low-income students pay for college costs, including tuition, fees, room and board, and other educational expenses. The Pell Grant is the largest grant program offered by the Department of Education to undergraduate students. Created in 1972, the federal Pell Grant program has been awarding grants to students since the 1973-1974 school year. It was named after Sen. Claiborne Pell of Rhode Island, the chief sponsor of the program. To be eligible, students must demonstrate exceptional financial need, be a U.S. citizen or eligible noncitizen and have not yet received a bachelor's, graduate or professional degree. While graduate students are not typically eligible for Pell Grant aid, in some cases students seeking a post-baccalaureate teacher certification may be eligible. The Pell Grant generally does not need to be repaid, but there are some exceptions, such as in case of withdrawing from courses or changing enrollment status after a Pell Grant award has been disbursed. Students may lose Pell Grant eligibility entirely if they withdraw from courses, do not maintain enrollment status or fail to continue making academic progress, which can include GPA requirements set by individual institutions. source What is the K-12 education? (14:43 or p.4 in the transcript) The K-12 system stands for ‘from kindergarten to 12th grade’. This equates roughly to a school starting age of around five through to Grade 12 at around the age of 18. The system is broken down into three stages: elementary school (Grades K–5), middle school (Grades 6–8) and high school (Grades 9–12). In the United States, education is primarily the responsibility of state and local government. Every state has its own department of education and laws regarding finance, the hiring of school personnel, student attendance and curriculum. States also determine the number of years of compulsory education – in some states, education is only compulsory until the age of 16. In December 2015, President Obama signed the Every Student Succeeds Act , which pledged to offer the same standard of education to every child in the US “regardless of race, income, background, the zip code, or where they live”. The act replaced the No Child Left Behind Act of 2002 and, among other things, is an attempt to bring back some element of control with the recommendation for having fewer tests. source…

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Democracy in Question?

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Shaharzad Akbar on Afghanistan after Democracy 42:54

2 years ago42:54

42:54

Guests featured in this episode: Shaharzad Akbar, one of the most prominent among the Afghan democratic opposition voices in exile. She was born in Afghanistan, lived with her family as a refugee in Pakistan during the first Taliban regime for some years and she's the first Afghan woman to earn a postgraduate degree at Oxford University in 2011. She was later Country Director for the Open Society Afghanistan, a nonprofit organization supporting civil society and media, focusing on human rights and peace building. Shaharzad also worked as Senior Advisor to the Afghan President on high development councils and was Chair of the country's Independent Human Rights Commission, a position that she held until early 2022. In 2021, she was awarded the Franco-German Prize for Human Rights and the Rule of Law. Most recently, she was an Open Society Network Academic Fellow in Human Rights at Chatham House and is currently at Wolfson College, Oxford building a new international NGO to support human rights in Afghanistan. Glossary: What is the Taliban? (00:47 or p.1 in the transcript) Taliban, Pashto Ṭālebān (“Students”), also spelled Taleban is a political and religious faction and militia that came to power in Afghanistan in the mid-1990s. Following the Soviet Union’s 1989 withdrawal from Afghanistan, the Taliban — whose name refers to the Islamic religious students who formed the group’s main recruits — arose as a popular reaction to the chaos that gripped the country. In 1994–95, under the leadership of Mullah Mohammad Omar, the Taliban extended its control in Afghanistan from a single city to more than half the country, and in 1996 it captured Kabul and instituted a strict Islamic regime. By 1999, the Taliban controlled most of Afghanistan but failed to win international recognition of its regime because of its harsh social policies — which included the almost complete removal of women from public life — and its role as a haven for Islamic extremists. Among these extremists was Osama bin Laden, the expatriate Saudi Arabian leader of Al-Qaeda, a network of Islamic militants that had engaged in numerous acts of terrorism. The Taliban’s refusal to extradite bin Laden to the U.S. following the September 11 attacks in 2001 prompted the U.S. to attack Taliban and Al-Qaeda forces in Afghanistan, driving the former from power and sending the leaders of both groups into hiding. source What is Loya Jirga? (9:13 or p.3 in the transcript) The term “Loya Jirga” is a combination of two words from one of Afghanistan's national languages, Pashto, "Loya" meaning grand or big, and "Jirga" meaning council, assembly, or meeting. The institution of Loya Jirga evolved from the institution of Jirga, which is usually a council of elders in Afghanistan's tribal groups - particularly the Pashtuns - to settle disputes and deal with other day-to-day problems of living. Loya Jirga is a political institution unique to Afghanistan. It was the highest consultative body with broad representation and has been used to decide upon the matters of national importance, such as declarations of war or adopting treaties of peace, selection of a new ruler or adopting a new constitution, approving reforms and all important foreign policy decisions since the mid-18th century. In short, the forum represents the general will of the Afghan people. source Who are the Mujahideen? (11:49 or p.3 in the transcript) Mujahideen or Mujahidin is the plural form of the Arabic term mujahid, who is a person who wages jihad. According to doctrinal and historical applications of Islamic law, jihad indicates military action for the defense or expansion of Islam. While in the course of Islamic history the term mujahidin has been used by different groups to identify their struggles to defend Islam, the term gained global currency in the latter decades of the twentieth century after the leftist coup d'état in Afghanistan on 27 April 1978. The resistance groups first opposed the Afghan communist regime, declaring it atheist. They then turned their attention to the Soviet Union when it invaded Afghanistan on 27 December 1979. Fighting the Soviet Red Army, they collectively referred to themselves as mujahidin waging jihad against a communist power occupying an Islamic land. The Afghan mujahidin were divided into two main groups: (1) those based in and backed by Pakistan with substantial financial and military assistance from Saudi Arabia and the United States, who mainly represented the Sunni majority; and (2) those based in and supported by Iran, representing the Shiite minority. source Democracy in Question? is brought to you by: • Central European University: CEU • The Albert Hirschman Centre on Democracy in Geneva: AHCD • The Podcast Company: Novel Follow us on social media! • Central European University: @CEU • Albert Hirschman Centre on Democracy in Geneva: @AHDCentre Subscribe to the show. If you enjoyed what you listened to, you can support us by leaving a review and sharing our podcast in your networks!…

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