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For more content, see Journal of Asian and African Studies.
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Exploring Protest Participation in India: Evidence from the 1996 World Values Survey
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This paper presents evidence from survey data related to the extent, nature and source of protest participation in India. We examine three models of such activity extensively employed in a western context – the alienation, resource and mobilization models. While we find some evidence for their general applicability, especially in regard to mobilization, many of the most central explanatory variables associated with these models – age, education, urban/rural residence, political trust, acceptance of the present political system, confidence in political institutions and to a lesser extent, gender, reveal associations with protest that are contrary to theoretical expectations. This suggests the necessity for modifying existing theories of unconventional political participation when and if employed in a non-western setting.
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A Study on the Outline History of the Household Responsibility System in Rural China Since 1949: The Organizations, Institutions, and Their Changes
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The Household Responsibility System has been accepted as the basic institution in rural China since the 1980's and some researchers have proved it more efficient compared with that of the People's Commune System. Unfortunately, few researchers paid attention to the institutional changes that happened before the People's Commune and fewer researchers tried to find the relationship between the Household Responsibility System and the problems that have emerged in recent years. To grasp the whole picture of rural economic institutional changes in China, this paper will focus on the history of the Household Responsibility System before the People's Commune and after the 1980's, and the study tries to prove that: (1) a public property right really needs an appropriate mechanism institution to enforce and fulfill its efficiency, (2) the China Rural Reform based on the Household Responsibility System is the deep-laid reason of the problems which have emerged recently,
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Study of Poligar Violence in Late 18th Century Tamil Country in South India
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This paper is written in an effort to understand the nature and the causes behind the brutal acts of violence unleashed by the poligar military households of South India. It particularly focuses on the poligar rajah Kattabomma Nayakar, who has, since the early 1950s, assumed the role of an ancestor figure of Tamil nationalism. I have relied mainly on colonial archival materials and a few folkloric accounts as my sources and used the anthropological insights of F. G. Baily, Victor Turner, and Steward Gordon in their studies of the political conflicts. In this paper, I do not so much question the reliability and accuracy of the colonial materials. However, I examine their interpretations and the motivations that many historians seem to have overlooked. This is particularly so in the case of poligar led violence as its true causes are often misrepresented and misunderstood in colonial records. We could even say that there is a vested colonial interest in misunderstanding these acts of violence, which are often used as citations to justify the subsequent colonial policies directed not only against the poligars but also against the entire the civil population of the Tamil country. In this paper, I argue that the poligars such as Kattabomma Nayakar were rebels with a cause. They saw themselves indulging in most cases in activities that stood within the bounds of the poligars' traditional mode of conduct. Further, I will also demonstrate how the political violence is intimately linked with political mobility and state formation in pre modern South India. A wider applicability of the results of this study to other parts of South Asia is useful in illuminating the causes and the nature of the political conflicts in various cross cultural settings.
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The African National Congress' Economic and Social Policy Changes in South Africa (1994-2004): Another African Straightjacket Independence?
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In this article I argue that Liberal democracy in South Africa accommodated and left unresolved the contradictions of South African capitalism and the ANC's multiracial nationalist discourse. More specifically, the delivery of equal political rights in the new democracy is premised on the acceptance of the unequal economic relations among different classes, gender and race. Second, the multi-racial and multi-ethnic middle class is threatened from above and below. Popular demands from below sometimes lead it to partially satisfy the people's economic and social demands. Pressure from economic interests and the business community limits the middle class' room for maneuver and forces it to make compromises at the expense of the people's interests, priorities and needs (especially economic ones). Apartheid's inequality can only be addressed by a radical program based on the majority's economic and social needs. Liberal democracy does not allow for radical changes because it privileges the market rather than peoples' needs. Consequently, the ANC cannot meet its overseers' (business, bilateral institutions, white minority) interests as well as transform the economy. These realities will continue to inform ANC's economic and social policies as it tries to transform South Africa for the foreseeable future.
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Catching the "Third Wave" of Democratization?: Debating Political Party Effectiveness in Africa Since 1980
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Many observers believe that multi-party democracy increasingly represents the inevitable future of governance around the world, including Africa. Some countries such as South Africa, Ghana, Kenya, and Senegal have in fact made remarkable progress in instituting and moving toward consolidation of democratic systems. There has also been a history on the continent, however, of political systems that place de facto or de jure legal constraints on the ability of political parties to function. In fact, in recent years many African leaders have only grudgingly permitted multi-party politics under donor pressure. There remains a current of underlying skepticism toward political parties, and arguments exist against multi-party politics. This paper identifies and explains five key arguments. It then critiques them and determines that while individual elements of these arguments may have some validity, the conclusion that is drawn, i.e.that party activity should be constrained, if not prohibited, is not consonant with democratic governance. The final section presents suggestions of how weaknesses in political party functioning could be addressed without placing limits on the ability of parties to play their legitimate role in a democratic political process.
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Book Reviews
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