Max Weber Programme (MWP)
https://hdl.handle.net/1814/6887
MWP research covers the relevant disciplines of the EUI (Economics, History, Law and Social and Political Sciences)2024-03-28T17:57:46ZThe illusion of transparency : party finance regulation in Ukraine and its impact on the party system
https://hdl.handle.net/1814/76735
The illusion of transparency : party finance regulation in Ukraine and its impact on the party system
SYDORCHUK, Oleksii; BERNATSKYI, Bohdan
This chapter investigates the impact of party finance regulation on the party system in Ukraine, a latecomer even among the post-communist states that adopted a comprehensive legal framework governing party finance only in 2015. Although the political finance reform 2015 introduced rather stringent rules on private donations, public funding, financial reporting, and oversight, its effect on the integrity of party finance and political party accountability has been uneven. While the transparency of party finance has increased, parties have continued to conceal their actual donors and understate their real expenses, while sanctions for wrongdoings have remained elusive. The chapter's authors also argue that the impact of the new party finance regulation on the level of party fragmentation and party survival has been minimal. The party system in Ukraine consolidated after the 2019 presidential and parliamentary elections, but this happened due to the landslide victory of the presidential candidate and not because of the new party finance rules. Similarly, the new party finance legal regime has had no discernable influence on the party survival rate, which was equally low before and after 2015. The lack of clear impact of the new party finance regulation on the party system can be explained by the short time span since 2015 and the volatile nature of the Ukrainian political system, which was only exacerbated by Russia's unprovoked full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Published: 10 April 2024
2024-01-01T00:00:00ZBrutality on display : media coverage and the spectacle of anti-LGBTQ violence in the Colombian Civil War
https://hdl.handle.net/1814/76724
Brutality on display : media coverage and the spectacle of anti-LGBTQ violence in the Colombian Civil War
RITHOLTZ, Samuel Max
During the Colombian Civil War, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer people were targeted by armed actors for reasons related to ideology and strategy. Even with the generalised violence in Colombia during this time, there was significant public interest in this specific form of violence, as evidenced by its tabloid coverage. The nation’s main tabloid – El Espacio – covered this violence against LGBTQ people in graphic detail. Twenty years of coverage (1985–2005) includes a range of gory graphics and horrific headlines that show the pain of a persecuted community in a highly violent context. In this article, I focus on this media coverage of anti-LGBTQ violence, notable for its brutality and prejudice, to argue that its spectacle built on a stigma that reinforced the cleavage of its victims from the body politic through a legitimation of the violence. In doing so, the coverage of this violence became a weapon of war that depoliticised the subordination of an entire population in a society beset by an internal armed conflict.
Published online: 11 March 2024
2024-01-01T00:00:00ZThe 'queer' in conflict research as subject, structure, and method : initial epistemological considerations for the early career researcher
https://hdl.handle.net/1814/76723
The 'queer' in conflict research as subject, structure, and method : initial epistemological considerations for the early career researcher
RITHOLTZ, Samuel Max
A tension in queer theory is whether queering a subject matter simply requires a renewed focus on non-hegemonic sexual orientations and gender identities or whether there’s a certain epistemological approach required to redress the epistemic violence present in disciplines devoid of queer and trans subjectivities. For students and scholars of political violence, this tension persists in not only how they design their research, but also how they pitch their contributions to a given literature. This chapter investigates the tensions between discipline, epistemology, and method as it relates to studies at the intersection of queer studies and political violence. It proposes an expansive queer epistemological approach that recognizes the layered knowledge regimes that impact the lives of queer and trans people, running the gambit of positivism to post-modernism. And it reinforces Matt Brim’s assertion that ‘the project of queer theory is to explore and respond to the universe of queer need, including the need to reimagine the universe of queer need’.
Published online: 08 February 2024
2024-01-01T00:00:00ZQueer conflict research : new approaches to the study of political violence
https://hdl.handle.net/1814/76722
Queer conflict research : new approaches to the study of political violence
HAGEN, Jamie J.; RITHOLTZ, Samuel; DELATOLLA, Andrew
Bringing together a team of international scholars, this volume provides a foundational guide to queer methodologies in the study of political violence and conflict. Contributors provide illuminating discussions on why queer approaches are important, what they entail and how to utilise a queer approach to political violence and conflict. The chapters explore a variety of methodological approaches, including fieldwork, interviews, cultural analysis and archival research. They also engage with broader academic debates, such as how to work with research partners in an ethical manner. Including valuable case studies from around the world, the book demonstrates how these methods can be used in practice. It is the first critical, in-depth discussion on queer methods and methodologies for research on political violence and conflict.
Published online: 08 February 2024
2024-01-01T00:00:00Z