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The thesis delves into two research questions, drawing from the 2022 Final Report of the Colombian Truth Commission. It critically examines historical power differentials originating from the colonial period, probing their role in legitimizing and perpetuating violence against ethnic groups, women, and individuals diverging from cisgender or heteronormative norms within Colombian society. Additionally, the research explores the pervasive influence exerted by the colonial legacy on the foundational structures of Colombian societal organization. Employing discourse analysis as its methodological approach, the thesis undertakes the task of deconstructing and reconstructing the Report, thereby elucidating emergent and contingent discursive meanings that situate coloniality within the realms of cognition, language, and affect. Emphasizing the presence of counter-hegemonic knowledge within the Report, the thesis integrates its findings into a robust theoretical and conceptual framework, facilitating a nuanced and systematic comprehension of the underlying causes of violence perpetrated against marginalized groups and the environment. These causes are intricately linked to the intertwined and hybridized power structures that have endured since the colonial era.
Power structures of Eurocentric origin, alongside mental constructs imposed by European invaders over centuries — such as anthropocentrism, racism, internal colonialism, heteropatriarchy, cisnormativity, and classism — were gradually naturalized and institutionalized within Colombian society. This process has been perpetuated through the state's reproduction of these patterns since the inception of Colombia as a nation-state. Consequently, hierarchical discursive constructions, posited as universal and self-evident, have marginalized certain groups and justified environmental degradation. While the internal armed conflict exacerbated these issues, it did not create them; rather, it intensified pre-existing violences, targeting individuals, communities, and their territories.
The thesis also underscores the portrayal of otherness within the modern-colonial world-system, rooted in principles of domination and subalternity, perpetuating colonial patterns of thought and action, reinforcing the hegemonic cosmovision. Notions of superiority and inferiority that predate the establishment of the Colombian nation-state have influenced social categories, subject positions, and identities, resulting in disproportionate, differential, and cumulative harm inflicted upon subalternized population groups. This contributes to a culture of 'justified' violence.
The research underscores the profound entrenchment of coloniality in the structures of Colombian society and the various inherent logics of violence within its conflicts. Coloniality, a comprehensive framework encompassing colonial patterns of thought and action, originating from the invasion and conquest of Abya Yala, continuously shapes the contemporary realities of societies in diverse (re-)configurations, leaving indelible imprints. The effects of these dynamics are manifold, ranging from the imperative of monogamous sexuality according to Judeo-Christian principles as a self-evident norm to the view of nature as a resource rather than a unit comprising both people and environment. In other words, colonial patterns are deeply embedded in all structures of society. A key recommendation emerging from this thesis is to underscore the imperative to recognize and question the persistence of colonial patterns in social and individual lives.
The research urges recognition and interrogation of these persistent colonial patterns in societal and individual structures, advocating for transformative paradigms that challenge conventional thought patterns and foster self-reflection among Colombians. The report, functioning as a political instrument, holds the potential to significantly contribute to the formation of subjectivities that break away from the epistemic schemes of modernity/coloniality. The research and its findings create a political space for questioning the universalist notion of the Eurocentric civilizing project, the scientific rationality of the universal subject, and the presumed neutrality of its forms of knowledge. This opens avenues for questioning, disputing, and transforming entrenched paradigms.
What does it mean to design democratic innovation from a deliberative systems perspective? The demand of the deliberative systems approach that we turn from the single forum towards the broader system has largely been embraced by those interested in designing institutions for citizen participation. Nevertheless, there has been no analysis of the practical implications for democratic innovation. Is it possible to design differentiated but interconnected participatory and deliberative settings? Does this better connect democratic innovations to mass politics? Does it promote greater legitimacy? This article analyses one such attempt to design a systems-oriented democratic innovation: the ambitious NHS Citizen initiative. Our analysis demonstrates, while NHS Citizen pioneered some cutting-edge participatory design, it ultimately failed to resolve (and in some cases exacerbated) well-known obstacles to institutionalisation as well as generating new challenges. To effectively realise democratic renewal and reform, systems-oriented democratic innovation must evolve strategies to meet these challenges.
Der Übergang von der Schule in die Ausbildung oder in das Studium ist ein entscheidender und wegweisender Schritt in der Bildungsbiografie von jungen Menschen. Der dabei vollzogene Übergangsprozess hat sich im Laufe der vergangenen Jahrzehnte deutlich verändert und zunehmend individualisiert. In diesem Zeitraum haben sich auch die Anforderungen und Verhältnisse auf dem Ausbildungs- und Arbeitsmarkt vor allem durch die Expansion des Dienstleistungsbereichs verändert. Ziel der vorliegenden Arbeit war es, die Entwicklung des Übergangsprozesses in Form der Dauer und der absolvierten Stationen vom Verlassen der Schule bis zum Beginn der beruflichen oder akademischen Erstausbildung vor dem Hintergrund der Zunahme an Arbeitskräften im Dienstleistungssektor bei westdeutschen Jugendlichen im Zeitraum zwischen 1971 und 2012 zu untersuchen. Dies wurde auch getrennt nach Schulabschlussgruppen überprüft. Im Rahmen der Ergebnisse zeigte sich, dass ein gestiegener Anteil an dienstleistungstätigen Arbeitskräften auf dem Arbeitsmarkt in der Zeit zwischen 1971 und 2012 keinen signifikanten Einfluss auf die Dauer und die absolvierten Stationen des Übergangs hatte. Dies galt unabhängig vom erreichten Schulabschluss. Die vorliegenden Erkenntnisse dienen als Anstoß dafür, den Übergangsprozess von der Schule in die Ausbildung genauer zu betrachten und hierbei gegebenenfalls weitere potenzielle Einflussfaktoren einzubeziehen.
Der Akteurscharakter der BRICS-Staaten : eine qualitative Untersuchung mit der Grounded Theory
(2020)
Die Abschlussarbeit beschäftigt sich mit der zentralen Fragestellung: Welchen Akteurscharakter besitzen die BRICS-Staaten? Zur Beantwortung ist mit der Grounded Theory eine rekonstruktionslogische Herangehensweise gewählt worden, um das Phänomen zu untersuchen. Für den Forschungsprozess ist auf die Software MAXQDA zurückgegriffen worden. Als Ergebnis werden die BRICS-Staaten als „Kooperationsmodell der Nichteinmischung“ betitelt.
Die Arbeit widmet sich der bisher wenig beachteten Demokratietheorie des neoliberalen Ökonomen und Sozialphilosophen Friedrich Hayeks. In seiner Ablehnung des Prinzips der Volkssouveränität scheint es Hayek nicht in erster Linie um die Kritik des demokratischen Elements zu gehen, sondern vielmehr um die moderne Idee staatlicher Souveränität schlechthin. Es ist folglich die Idee der Rechtssouveränität, so die grundlegende These, auf der Hayek seine doppelte Kritik von Naturrecht und Rechtspositivismus gründet. Entprechend ist der Staat in der von Hayek gezeichneten Utopie nicht länger Souverän, Ausdruck, Grund oder Herrscher (in) der Gesellschaft, sondern bloßes Mittel, um die "spontanen Ordnungen" der Gesellschaft (und der Märkte) zu schützen, ohne durch Gesetzgebung planen, gestalten oder intervenieren zu wollen. Allein solches, an den "Nomos" gebundenes, staatliches Handeln könne (und muss!) der "Meinung" der Menschen entsprechen. Die Klärung dieses sehr speziellen und auf David Hume zurückgehenden Verständnisses von "Meinung" erlaubt schließlich, das Denken Hayeks nicht nur hinsichtlich seines Souveränitätsbegriffs, sondern auch hinsichtlich seines Demokratiebegriffs vom Denken Carl Schmitts abzugrenzen. Entgegen dem prägenden Diskurs nach Cristi und Scheuerman, der die Kritik der hayekschen Theorie über die Problematisierung ihres schmittschen Gehalt unternimmt, soll die Arbeit den Blick dafür schärfen, dass der in Hayeks Theorie angelegte Autoritarismus auf eigenen philosophischen Füßen steht und sich nicht erschöpfend aus einem bewusst oder unbewusst übernommenen schmittschen Erbe erklären lässt.
As the lowest in the caste hierarchy, Dalits in Indian society have historically suffered caste-based social exclusion from economic, civil, cultural, and political rights. Women from this community suffer from not only discrimination based on their gender but also caste identity and consequent economic deprivation. Dalit women constituted about 16.60 percent of India’s female population in 2011. Dalit women’s problems encompass not only gender and economic deprivation but also discrimination associated with religion, caste, and untouchability, which in turn results in the denial of their social, economic, cultural, and political rights. They become vulnerable to sexual violence and exploitation due to their gender and caste. Dalit women also become victims of abhorrent social and religious practices such as devadasi/jogini (temple prostitution), resulting in sexual exploitation in the name of religion. The additional discrimination faced by Dalit women on account of their gender and caste is clearly reflected in the differential achievements in human development indicators for this group. In all the indicators of human development, for example, literacy and longevity, Dalit women score worse than Dalit men and non-Dalit women. Thus, the problems of Dalit women are distinct and unique in many ways, and they suffer from the ‘triple burden’ of gender bias, caste discrimination, and economic deprivation. To gain insights into the economic and social status of Dalit women, our paper will delve more closely into their lives and encapsulate the economic and social situations of Dalit women in India. The analyses of human poverty and caste and gender discrimination are based on official data sets as well as a number of primary studies in the labor market and on reproductive health.
Cryovalues beyond high expectations: endurance and the construction of value in cord blood banking
(2022)
Cryopreservation attracts attention as a practice grounded in high expectations: current life is suspended for future use—to generate life, to save life, and to resurrect life. But what happens when high expectations in cryobanking give way to looming uselessness and the risk of failure? Based on ethnographic insights into the case of umbilical cord blood (CB) banking in Germany, this contribution investigates the liminal state of “non-failure.” Averting failure amid a lack of success in this field requires putting effort into the construction of value. The resulting practices and dynamics overflow generic stories of commercialization and instrumentalization of biological material and are best grasped as an expanded version of the recently coined notion of “cryovalue.” The long-term availability of cryopreserved CB facilitates the steady yield of social and economic capital beyond and after promise. Moreover, the value construction is reoriented from CB itself toward the socio-technical cryo-arrangements in which it is embedded. In exemplifying how it expands the understanding of the diversity of valuation and valorization practices, continuities, and economic endurance in cryoeconomies and bioeconomies, the paper advocates the study of their ambivalent and allegedly uneventful sites.
Cross-border exchange and comparison of forensic DNA data in the context of the Prüm decision
(2018)
This study, commissioned by the European Parliament’s Policy Department for Citizens’ Rights and Constitutional Affairs at the request of the LIBE Committee, provides an overview of the Prüm regime. It first considers the background of the Prüm Convention and Prüm Decision. The subsequent two chapters summarize the Prüm regime in relation mainly to DNA data looking at value and shortcomings; and ethical, legal and social implications of forensic DNA typing and databasing in relation to the Prüm regime. Finally, based on the analysis, it provides the policy recommendations.
Due to immigration influxes, Germany’s ethnic diversity is on steady rise. Although citizens of immigrant origin make up a high percentage of the population in all Western European countries, they are descriptively underrepresented in most legislative bodies. As widely acknowledged, political parties form the key channels through which societal developments are fed into parliament. By selecting parliamentary candidates, they constitute the most crucial nexus of the population to be represented and legislative bodies. Despite the pivotal role of the intra-party candidate selection in shaping who runs for election, the question of how candidates of immigrant background fare in the candidate selection and whether the criteria political parties use for selecting candidates of immigrant background are the same as for native-born candidates remained a blind spot of the research on minority representation. Therefore, the dissertation scrutinizes the thresholds candidates of immigrant background need to overcome to run for legislative office. It thus tackles the questions of how political parties go about selecting candidates of immigrant background in comparison to native-born candidates and which contextual factors drive their choice of selection behavior. For this purpose, the dissertation develops three ideal-typical selection strategies political parties can adopt towards candidates of immigrant background, which are referred to as neutrality, opening or closure, and empirically tests which selection strategy is in use. To explore parties’ selection behavior towards candidates of immigrant background, the dissertation combines the advantages of quantitative analysis by employing candidate surveys at the state and national level, with advantages of qualitative analysis by conducting interviews with candidates of immigrant background. As the analysis reveals, neutrality is the predominant selection strategy that political parties use towards candidates of immigrant background, the reason being that neutral selection practices involve the fewest intra-party conflicts.
The article “Ganging up on Trump? Sino-German Relations and the Problem with Soft Balancing against the USA”, written by Sebastian Biba, was originally published Online First without Open Access. After publication in volume 25, issue 4, pages 531–550 the authors decided to opt for Open Choice and to make the article an Open Access publication. Therefore, the copyright of the article has been changed to © The Author(s) 2021 and the article is forthwith distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0. The original article has been corrected.