On 14 March 2018, the Albert Hirschman Centre on Democracy hosted its first Interdisciplinary PhD Colloquium of the year. Professor Michael Woolcock, lecturer in public policy at Harvard Kennedy School and lead sociologist at the World Bank, joined the students, with presentations from Elif Kayran (IRPS), Lys Kulamadayil (International Law) and Defne Gonenc (IRPS). Each paper offered a different perspective on democratic experiences of participation and exclusion, as well as different take-aways for the study of democracy.
Restricting Immigration or Expanding Redistribution? The Effects of Absolute and Relative Employment Risks on Voting Behaviour (Elif Kayran, IRPS)
An alarming number of election results and public opinion research show that democratic principles should not be taken for granted in an age of rapid economic transformations and growing risk. While there is in fact a link between migration and the politicisation of movements by populist radical right-wing parties in Europe, it is of paramount importance to take seriously the hazards of economic inequalities, and more specifically labour market risks, as a necessary condition for their increasing electoral success. This paper examines the way that inequalities and labour market risks shape propensity for citizen support for right-wing radical groups in advanced capitalist democracies. If we can understand how these economic risks relate to political behaviour, we can form effective policies to stabilise the current turmoil in European political systems.
Stabilizer, Servant and Seductress: Economic Nationalism and the Use of Law in the World Bank’s 2017 World Development Report (Lys Kulamadayil, International Law)
The World Bank’s 2017 World Development Report takes as its subject the rule of law, noting that law increasingly provides the common language for contestation among very different actors. It further stresses the importance of the rule of law and of legal institutions in securing economic growth, property rights and social justice. Why, in 2017, did the World Bank dedicate its most important publication to governance and the law? This paper argues that the World Bank uses law to generate normative support and legitimacy for the global order it promotes, and to contest and undermine contemporary anti-globalist sentiments. These include those found in contemporary populist movements that contest the interconnectedness of today’s trade and monetary system and advocate for national authority and independence. Thus, as articulated by the World Bank, international law becomes its servant and seductress for the liberal-globalist vision of social and economic ordering it seeks to promote.
The Role of Courts in Artvin-Cerattepe Environmental Movement in Turkey (Defne Gonenc, IRPS).
Courts have become key venues where social movements and opposition politicians challenge policies and actions of governing bodies. Yet, the literature is divided about the role and capacity of courts for pursuing social change. How has the role of law evolved in the Artvin-Cerattepe environmental movement in Turkey? Why were courts unable to protect citizen rights and enforce protections in the long run? The long-lasting legal process of the Artvin-Cerattepe movement against the mining activities exemplifies how law can fall short of protecting the democratic voice. The paper discusses the role of law in the legal history of the movement, which has become a vicious circle of repeated trials. Due to different sources of legitimacy of law and social movements, shifting power relations in the legal process, and structural constraints imposed by neoliberal global capitalism, citizen voices have gradually been marginalised and excluded from legal process in this case.
At the colloquium, in addition to comments from student participants and the visiting faculty member, Professor Woolcock, each paper received detailed comments from a student discussant in a different discipline than the paper-giver. This session’s discussants included Meenakshi Nair (ANSO), Amal Shahid (International History) and Francesco Corradini (International Law). They helped bring out shared themes among the papers, and raise questions deriving from different scholarly traditions – for example, understanding the World Bank’s 2017 World Development Report through anthropological and sociological theories on bureaucracy and documentation. This analysis illustrated how the same material, brought to a different field, can offer new and unexpected insights.
Interested in joining the activities of the Albert Hirschman Centre on Democracy? Email democracy@graduateinstitute.ch to be added to the mailing list and follow us on Twitter @AHDCentre.