Suchergebnisse

This book addresses two important matters of current concern to Middle East scholars: firstly, the nature of the Egyptian state and society and the interactive process between them and secondly, how change, which would finally lead to development, can be initiated. The book argues that the Egyptian case represents a weak authoritarian state, which through its coercive and repressive policies towards various societal forces, political parties, professional associations and organisations and individuals, creates a weak society. Individual behaviour in urban and rural communities, sometimes viewe

For nearly a decade, from the declaration of Maoist 'people's war' in January 1996 to the formation of new alliance for the restoration of democracy in December 2005, Nepal has experienced a three-way power struggle between Maoist insurgents who want a republic based on egalitarian principles, elected politicians who want an unfettered role in policy making and a monarch bent upon a return to pre-democratic Nepal. This article attempts to explain this crisis from a structural-historical perspective and argues that fundamental to the understanding of this crisis is the state-society relationship. The article contends that the complex use of the constructed Hindu identity to provide cultural legitimacy to the monarchical political order, that has existed since the inception of the state in the 18th century to the democratic revolution in 1990, has contributed to the political alienation of substantial segment of ethnically, socially and economically marginalized population from the Nepalese state. By examining complex interactions among political and economic factors, this article further contends that the unrepresentative process of state formation and the tradition of governance have contributed to the alienation of the citizens from the state and created a political space for violent rebellion and state terrorism undermining fragile but emerging democratic institutions.

This article emphasizes that in thinking about the state–society relationship in the hills of Manipur, we need to refocus our attention on how development schemes shape the way the villagers perceive and engage with the state. This calls for a fresh enquiry into state institutions such as Village Authority, Autonomous District Councils and District Rural Development Agency within the understanding of decentralization. The article looks into the complex interplay of the institutions of the state and explores the different equations of power within them, giving rise to new elites. It shows how development schemes are distributed and implemented in the villages, the difficulties in getting access to those schemes, and the means people employ to access them. Two flagship development schemes—Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme and Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana—are taken up to analyse the state–society relationship in this context.

Conceptualizing the state-society relationship in order to explain its byproduct underdevelopment in all peripheral countries presupposes agreement on the definition of underdevelopment. Such agreement is possible only by making the concept less abstract. Dominant paradigms which have conceptualized the state-society relationship and attempted to explain underdevelopment have not generally been successful because of their failure to make operational the concept of underdevelopment and the corollary of their excessive reliance on "regional or local differences."

"Informal" constructions in Hanoi is commonplace, not just in terms of its extensiveness but also how such extensions been done creatively. Most importantly they refer to a wide range of housing forms and scales: from illegal extentions of balcony and roof-tops to the extra legal apartment hotels in the Ancient quarter, from the single middle class family houses to large scale master planned new urban areas. What is being "illegal" and "authorised" is oftentimes blurry or shifty as regulations are ambigous and conflicting and in constant change. The distinction between practices of resistance (by the residents/entrepreneurs) and complicity (by local government officials) is not always clear. This paper will examine such phenomenon by examining cases of informal/illegal construction covered in the media, studies of the changes and adjustments of building regulations, as well as in-depth interviews with local officials, construction entrepreneurs as well as the residents. Analysing the fluid and negotiating character of state society relationship in the transitional Vietnam, the paper highlights the role of the state and local government in maintaining and reproducing the regime of informality as a means to wield power and exercise of control.

The preparations for the 2008 Beijing Olympics can be analysed to reveal the changing nature of the state, society and market forces and their mutual interaction in the People's Republic of China (PRC). It is also useful in understanding the consensual aspect of the Chinese state. Examining how the Beijing Olympics is being organised as a spectacle is important in understanding how Chinese state power has developed and maintained its consensus vis-É-vis the society in the post-Mao period. This process of institutionalisation of state, society and market interactions in the field of sport could provide insights regarding parallel developments in other sectors as well in China today.

Am Beispiel von drei Fallstudien über informelle Siedlungen ('ashwa'iyyat) in Kairo diskutiert die Autorin ihre These, dass die fortgesetzte Ausbeutung der armen Stadtbewohner durch einen schwachen autoritären Staat eine schwache Gesellschaft schafft, die durch die Armut ihrer Kultur charakterisiert ist. (DÜI-Hns)

Problems facing informal ("squatter") settlements in Egypt have increasingly gained public exposure through both media coverage and scholarly debates. Whereas the state public discourse reflects a pretence for developing these areas, this paper, through the study of the
relationship between the state and members living in three urban squatter areas, argues that government response towards squatters takes the following forms: negligence, demolition, relocation, and exploitation. Whereas demolition and relocation take place under exceptional conditions, negligence
and exploitation are the most common forms of the state response towards the marginal sector. This exploitation serves the state's public officials in lining their own pockets and provides a rich source of votes for the state political apparatus, which guarantee the continuity of the regime.
Thus, a culture characterised by its poverty is created among squatters where individual and personal interests attain precedence over communal interests, leading to more exploitation and corruption, which impedes the government developmental policies and programs, leading to a further weakening
of the state.