Warwick Global Development Society
IN THIS ISSUE
ARTICLES
A ‘Partial Democracy’?: The Palestinian
Authority’s Record of Governance Ten
Years After its Establishment
2
Newsletter
Vol.3 No.2, April 2005
By Enrico Fassi
An Examination of Whether and How
Democracy has Impacted upon Social
Inequality in Latin America
4
Hotspot on Top of the World
6
Empowerment… and Beyond
7
It Takes a Rabble to Riot
8
The Paradox of Sustainability
9
By Samuel Jones
By Anuj Mishra
By Gloria N. Labarani
By James Duggan
By Keith Addenbrooke
FEATURE POEMS
Introduction
11
The Chimney Sweeper
12
By Mathew Doidge
By William Blake
Jerusalem
By William Blake
WELCOME!
This second issue of the 2004-2005
Warwick Global Development Society
Newsletter begins where the first left
off.
Vu’s Rant and the insights of the
Addenbrooke clan once again appear
in these pages. In addition to these
regular features, we are pleased to
present articles covering a range of
issues, from democratisation, to
gender empowerment to crowd
dynamics.
Once again our thanks go to all those
who have chosen to contribute.
Enjoy!
12
ON A MUCH LIGHTER NOTE…
Does it Really Snow in Coventry?
12
Child Labour
13
Comic Relief
13
Vu’s Rant
14
By Keith Addenbrooke
By Stephanie Addenbrooke
By Rebekah Addenbrooke
By Vulindlela Ndlovu
1
A ‘Partial Democracy’?
The Palestinian Authority’s Record of Governance Ten Years After its Establishment
Enrico Fassi
MA student in International Relations, University of Warwick
Dottorato di ricerca (Ph.D.) student in Political Representations and Behaviours, Catholic University of Milan
Palestine ‘is one the few societies that had the misfortune of
being re-colonised in the age of decolonisation’
(Aruri, 2001, p.vii)
With the establishment of the state of
Israel in 1948, the ‘Palestinian people
ceased to exist as a single society
occupying a single territory under a
single political authority’ (Abu-Amr,
1996, p.84). In 1950, the population of
the West Bank received Jordanian citizenship and
remained under Jordanian jurisdiction, while Gaza
remained Palestinian - with its administration
entrusted to Egypt. A number of Palestinians were
dispersed in the West and in other Arab countries
of the region, thus giving shape to one of the
crucial constituents of the Palestinian history, the
diaspora.
The Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza
in 1967 subjected the Palestinian population of
both areas to the same authority, that of Israeli
military rule. In turn, the resistance found a
structure in the Palestinian Liberation Organization
(PLO), and the ‘Question of Palestine’ became
embodied by its leader Yasser Arafat. For more
than twenty years the PLO used every means,
including terrorism, to gain the attention of the
‘international community’ and to
reverse the structural ‘hegemonic
relationship’ with Israel.1 Inside the
territories, the Intifada (‘uprising’)
expressed the anger and frustration
caused by the prolonged occupation.
The signing of the Oslo accords in 1993
inaugurated a gradual transfer of authority over the
West Bank and Gaza from Israel to the
Palestinians. First Gaza and Jericho, and then other
towns in the West Bank, came under autonomous
Palestinian rule within the framework of the newly
established institutional architecture, the Palestinian
Authority. This structure was framed along the lines
of a democratic government: it envisaged an elected
legislative body, an elected president, a cabinet and
2
a civilian judiciary system. In some aspects, the PA
thus appears to be one of the most advanced
‘democratic experiments’ among Arab countries.
Nonetheless, a decade after its establishment the
PA’s record of governance has certainly not been
impressive: its incapability in addressing the
problems of the state-building process, namely the
provision of order, services and a context enabling
economic development, is matched by the
inconsistency of its democratic credentials.
This governing structure, endorsed with the
legitimacy derived from the elections, could indeed
be expected to mark the entrance of the Palestinian
Territories into the growing group of ‘democraticdevelopmental states’.2 Even the more enthusiastic
analysts though, should be conscious that the
establishment of the new authority along the
general Western democratic rules of ‘good
governance’ and separation of powers, is not in
itself a guarantee of success. Indeed the crucial issue
is that of “the rules, norms, and practices that
define public institutions and their operating culture
and determine relations with their constituents”
(CFR, 1999, p.2).
The peculiar context in which Palestinian
institution-building has been taking place cannot be
discounted. Palestinian identity as a nation, as well
as its ruling elite, have been forged in the struggle,
and by the struggle. Internally, Israeli occupation
provided “a rationale for secrecy and
nontransparency and helped to perpetuate an
environment in which, beneath modern political
rhetoric and organizational structures, groups
remained tied to pre-modern values and personal,
familial, tribal, and regional loyalties” (Abu-Amr,
2001, p.88). Externally, as noted by Henry Siegman,
“both Israel and the United States have tended to
see Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat’s authoritarian
rule as consistent with their desire from him to
suppress terrorism and political opposition to the
Oslo accords” (quoted in Barsalau, 2003, p.157).3
The interaction of these logics has resulted in the
fact that Palestinians, in the long struggle for their
independence, “unapologetically placed liberation
ahead democracy” (Abu-Amr, 2001, p.88). The
PLO, its logics and methods, as well as its rhetoric
of armed liberation, have continued to play a role in
Palestinian politics well beyond their functional
utility for the ‘Question of Palestine’, undermining
the democratic potentiality of the PA’s regime.
Nonetheless, the main explicative variable, in my
view, remains that of the leadership. The PLO
constituted Arafat’s permanent bedrock of power;
relying on his unquestioned legitimacy as leader of
the ‘revolution’, ‘Mr. Palestine’ has been able to
maintain his leadership for more than 30 years,
eventually adapting it to the provisions of the Oslo
framework.
His legitimacy as a leader was entirely based on the
peace process, and the continuing confrontation
with ‘the Enemy’. Moving the centre of power from
the Tunis exile to ‘inside’ the Territories has
underlined, on the contrary, the shift in objectives
from the maximum to the ‘minimum acceptable’
with a parallel shift in means from ‘revolution’ to
incremental improvement.4
At the same time, Arafat and the ‘old-guard’
leadership were challenged by the new elite
emerging from the Intifada, potentially better
equipped to affirm itself in this ‘permanent setting’,
where “democracy, the rule of law, and the formal
properties of the political process – the basis of
permanent relationship between authority and
people – acquired great importance” (Jarbawi, 1996,
pp.3-31), thus potentially reducing the relevance of
the resources on which Arafat’s power was
previously based.
Two solutions remained. Arafat chose that of a
‘charismatic autocracy’, with different possible
equilibria between the old ‘charismatic legitimacy’
and an autocracy based on the rigid control of
financial, institutional and repressive resources. The
result has been an hollowing-out of the democratic
character of the newly established regime,
depressing the potentials of Palestinian society and
using the state structure to maintain his own power;
the result is a ‘patriarchal’, ‘praetorian’, ‘ineffective’,
and definitely undemocratic regime.
The alternative was, and still remains, political
democracy. Now that the old ‘Rais’ has gone, and
the PA has held new elections, we can look forward
to this second option with a certain optimism. As
expressed ten years ago, when the PA was
established (Quand, 1994, p.5):
Democracy is not a panacea for the problem that
confronts the Palestinians. It will not ensure that
good leaders are chosen. But it can help avert the
problems of chronically bad government – a
widespread phenomenon in the Middle East. The
root assumption of democracy is that people do
know when they are being badly ruled and will,
given the chance, use the ballots to get rid of
corrupt and ineffective leaders. This is why
elections matters.5
An optimism, we should all be aware, that must be
cautiously balanced by the ‘pessimism of reason’.
References
Abu-Amr, Ziad (1996) ‘Pluralism and the
Palestinians’, Journal of Democracy, 7(3), pp.83-93.
Aruri, Naseer (2001) ‘Foreword’, in Ghanem As’as,
The Palestinian Regime. A “Partial Democracy”.
Brighton: Sussex Academic Press.
3
Barsalau, Judy (2003) ‘The long road to Palestinian
reform’, Middle East policy, 10(1), pp.154-163.
CFR (1999) Strengthening Palestinian Public Institutions.
Report of an Independent Task Force sponsored by
the Council on Foreign Relations. New York: CFR.
Robinson, Glen E. (2002) ‘After Arafat’, in Luis J.
Cantori ‘Political succession in the Middle East’,
Middle East Policy, 9(3), p.105-123.
See also Robinson (2002, p.118).
This is more than a speculation since Article III of the
Decalaration Of Principles explicitly stipulated general, direct,
and free elections to enable the Palestinian people in the West
Bank and Gaza to “govern themselves according to democratic
principles.” Abu-Amr (2001, p.85).
3 Obviously, the situation changed radically in the last two years.
4 See the discourse of Abu Mazen (Mohammed Abbas) to the
PLC: ‘The Revolution is Over’ in Inbari (1999, pp.230-234).
5 William B. Quand, ‘The Urge for Democracy’, Foreign Affairs,
Jul/Aug 1994, Vol. 73, n. 4, p. 5.
1
Jarbawi, Ali (1996) ‘Palestinian politics at the
crossroads’, Journal of Palestine Studies, 25(4), pp. 2939.
Inbari, Pinhas (1999) The Palestinians between terrorism
and Statehood. Brighton: Sussex Academic Press.
Quand, William B. (1994) ‘The Urge
Democracy’, Foreign Affairs, 73(4), p.2-7.
for
2
An Examination of Whether and How Democracy has Impacted upon Social
Inequality in Latin America
Samuel Jones
MA student in International Relations, University of Warwick
Today, all the countries in Latin
America bar two (Cuba and Haiti) are
classified by Freedom House as
democracies (Freedom House, 2005),
and yet the region is the most socially
unequal in the world. In an attempt to
understand this paradox, this article is
concerned with the relationship
between democracy and inequality in
Latin America: how much of a link exists between
them; how responsible democracy is, and how
responsible it should be, for social inequality, and
the impact of democracy on social inequality. An
analysis of this relationship is both pertinent and
timely: pertinent because continued and
unalleviated social inequality is a threat to
democracy and timely because today Latin America
can be said to be at a cross-roads, with democracy
suffering a crisis of confidence.
This crisis of confidence is reflected in a UNDP
report published in 2004 entitled ‘Latin America:
Towards a Citizen’s Democracy’ which conducted
an opinion survey and collected data from 18
countries and 18,643 citizens. The report concludes
that the roots of democracy “remain shallow”
(UNDP, 2004a, p.1). Democracy in the region is
fragile and its citizens susceptible to the allure of
undemocratic practices and alternatives.
Undeniable and clear democratic progress has been
made over the last generation, but this has largely
been restricted to the realm of elections, the media
and civil liberties. This does not mean, however,
that democracy has followed a linear path towards
consolidation, as elections tell only part
of the story; yet neither has democracy
collapsed in any country. Rather, it has
been characterized more by states
“oscillating around mixed kinds of
modestly or marginally democratic
regimes.” (Hartlyn, 2002, 103)
Economically, Latin America is the
world’s most unequal region (Hartlyn, 2002, 103).
This inequality is made clear by the UNDP 2004
report on the region which shows that the top 20
per cent of Latin America’s earners receive 54 per
cent of the region’s gross national income, whilst
the bottom 20 per cent receive only 4.71 per cent
(UNDP, 2004b, p.48). Social and civil inequality is
also widespread with disempowered groups having
unequal access to justice, resources, and power.
If one adopts a narrow definition of democracy
which sees its remit as limited to political rights and
the conduction of elections, it could be argued that
it is not the job of democracy to impact upon social
inequality. Procedural definitions of democracy do
not give credence to extended participation. This
approach is particularly inappropriate in the context
of Latin America. Advocates of a narrow political
definition have a stronger case in democracies
where, even though social inequality may exist,
there is no (in theory) absolute poverty, and social
safety nets are in place. In other words in
democracies where civil and social rights are already
embedded in society, for example the UK. In these
circumstances democracy can focus on the political
because the civil and social dimensions are already
4
safeguarded. To clarify these terms, ‘political rights’
are concerned with the right to participate in the
exercise of political power; ‘civil rights’ with rights
to individual freedom, such as access to an
independent judiciary; whilst ‘social rights’ cover
the entire spectrum, from the right to security,
minimum economic standards and the right to live
in a civilised and dignified manner consistent with
the norms of society (Marshall, 1950).
The problem in Latin America is that civil and
social rights are not embedded or safeguarded.
Democracy’s failure to address this means its
quality is low and it is not reducing social inequality.
In grossly unequal societies with high levels of
poverty, democracy must also encompass social and
civil dimensions. If citizens do not see that
democracy, by its very nature, is committed to
reducing social inequality, then democracy itself will
remain unconsolidated and fragile. An ideological
commitment to social equality is a pre-requisite for
the long-term survival of democracy in Latin
America.
Social and civil rights should be part of democracy.
This stems from democracy’s ethos of inclusiveness
and equal rights of citizenship, which cannot be
reduced solely to political rights. This concept of
democracy has a long history, with advocates such
as Aristotle and John Stuart Mill. A democracy
which focuses only on the political arena has the
danger of not producing any real change if societal
inequalities remain entrenched. In a democracy, the
polis belongs to the demos: the people have a right
to full and equal participation in the mechanisms of
power which means more than just participating in
power but having the ability to change power
structures.
Democracy in Latin America is plagued by weak
and unequal institutions which prevents citizens
from exercising their full range of rights and
improving their quality of life. Political parties are
particularly weak and often do not represent the
people’s interests. Unequal access and treatment
with regard to the judiciary is another serious
problem. These institutional failures of democracy
are largely rooted in unequal power relations that
are seen throughout the region and manifest
themselves in clientelist relationships and neopopulist leaders. A more comprehensive version of
democracy would see more robust and
representative political parties, a stronger state, and
a fairer judiciary which would facilitate the
advancement of civil and social rights. Adding to
these problems is democracy’s marriage to neoliberal economics, which has further weakened and
undermined the capacity of the state to protect and
provide for its citizens.
role to work towards reducing it. Citizens cannot,
should not, and (the empirical data suggest) do not,
draw a distinction between the two. Citizens should
not be expected to embrace democracy until
democracy embraces citizens. Although no
democracies have collapsed or reverted back to
authoritarian
regimes,
neither
are
many
consolidated. At present, unequal and often
entrenched practices and mentalities continue to
exist under the pretence and name of democracy.
Democracy has sanctioned this, and has allowed
barriers
to
meaningful
participation
for
disempowered groups to remain in place.
Democracy is more than elections or having
equality on paper. It is a culture and attitude which
needs to be cultivated and permeate all sections of
society. Gross levels of inequality have no place in
such a culture. Representative democracy can work
in Latin America, but it needs to actually be
representative of the people, not exploitative.
References
Freedom House (2005) ‘Freedom in the World
2005’
http://www.freedomhouse.org/research/freeworld/2005/table
2005.pdf
Hartlyn, Jonathan (2002) ‘Democracy and
Consolidation in Contemporary Latin America:
Current thinking and Future Challenges,’ in Joseph
Tulchin, ed., Democratic Governance and Social
Inequality. London: Lynne Rienner Publishers.
Marshall, T.H. (1950) Citizenship and Social Class.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
United Nations Development Programme (2004a)
Democracy in Latin America: Towards a Citizens
Democracy.
http://www.undp.org/democracy_report_latin_america/forewo
rd_administrator.pdf
United Nations Development Programme (2004b)
Democracy in Latin America: Towards a Citizens
Democracy:
Ideas
and
Contributions.
http://democracia.undp.org/Informe/Default.asp?Menu=15&I
dioma=2
Across Latin America millions of people live and
try to survive under the effects of social inequality.
Democracy cannot and should not exist alongside
this inequality without accepting that it is part of its
5
Hotspot on Top of the World
Anuj Mishra
MA student in Globalisation and Development, University of Warwick
The February 1st military take-over by King
Gyanendra in Nepal has pushed Nepal
towards becoming a failed state. Nepal is
poised to enter a new phase of full-blown
civil war – with potential for the region
degenerating into a hotspot with India and
China needing to become involved.
By forceful marginalization of political
parties, the King believes he has cleared a single
front to take on Maoists; with the Army, the de
facto administrator, and the King directly in
command. The constitutional impasse Nepal has
experienced since the King first sacked the elected
government on October 4th, 2002, has ended in the
death of democracy by effective invalidation of the
constitution.
India, the US and the UK, already heavily involved
in the conflict by aiding the government against its
fight with the Maoists, have all strongly denounced
the King's takeover and have termed it a major
setback against the consolidation of democracy in
Nepal. UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan has
declared it a serious setback for the country.
If the consolidation of democracy in Nepal is of
paramount concern, then the focus ought to be on
democratic resolution of the current conflict.
Almost all of the major studies conducted over the
last ten years of insurgency by both national and
international agencies such as the International
Crisis Group (ICG) have pointed out that this
conflict is irresolvable militarily. The major powers,
the UN, and the parties to the conflict have
admitted time and again that this conflict is more
socio-political than ideological in origin, and it
cannot be won in a military fashion.
Even though Maoists have generated so much bad
press – for their blatant abuse of human rights,
their outrageous campaign of terror upon the
masses, and for their outright demand for a
‘People's Republic’ along the lines of Mao's China –
if there is a seriousness about peaceful and
negotiated settlement of the conflict, their
immediate demand for committing to a peace
process calls for an unequivocal response.
By the time of the last negotiation in August 2003,
Maoists had considerably scaled down their original
goal of a ‘Republic’ by demanding elections
for a constituent assembly which would then
draft a new constitution for Nepal. They had
publicly admitted that they would respect the
new constitution formed through the
democratic process, even if the new
constitution was to give continuity to the
institution of the Monarchy in a
constitutional role. Negotiations broke down
on August 27th 2003 with the government installed
by King Gyanendra unable to commit to the
demand and the Maoists unable to commit to the
government's demand for its demobilization.
While Maoists talk of an alliance of all political
forces against the abolition of Monarchy in the
aftermath of the King's takeover, they have still left
room for negotiation in the latest interview given by
their spokesperson on BBC.
As much as the rebels can't be expected to undo
their rebellion by agreeing to surrender their
weapons (they control 75 percent of the territory),
the King cannot be similarly expected to undo his
own future by agreeing to the Maoist's demand for
a constituent assembly which, by drafting a
Republican constitution, may deligitimise his reign.
Given the massive unpopularity the Monarchy has
heaped upon itself after the bizarre royal massacre
of June 2001, the drafting of Republican
constitution cannot be ruled out.
The stalemate is translated into the warzone; with
both sides refusing to concede defeat yet admitting
publicly to the impossibility of a complete military
victory. It is unlikely that the scenario will change
even with the King's new promise to battle to the
end. Contrary to his belief in the simplification of a
complex power struggle to take on the Maoists, by
suppressing political parties in urban areas he has in
fact given the Maoists what they wanted all along;
an alliance of all political forces against the
institution of Monarchy.
This scenario portends Nepal rapidly spiralling into
a failed state, which in many respects it already has.
India cannot afford to have a state completely
submerged in bloodbath and mayhem right next to
its most sensitive and populous states of
Uttaranchal, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Bengal and
Sikkim; states who collectively form the majority of
6
its constituents in parliament and who have a close
cross-border ethnic, linguistic, cultural, religious
and, most importantly, economic association with
the country.
Similarly China would not wish to see a persistently
troubling spot bordering Tibet, which has ethnic,
linguistic, cultural, and religious affinity with many
of Nepal's hill communities and a historic cross
border trade relation with Nepal.
It is in the strategic interests of both China and
India to have a stable, peaceful and democratic
Nepal so that the chances of such conflict flaring
up remain minimal.
When Kofi Annan proposed to mediate in March
2004, Maoists readily accepted the offer, while
government declined, saying it would resolve the
crisis internally. The resolve of the government has
resulted in escalation of conflict as is evident from
the ruthless suppression of dissent following the
King's takeover.
India, the US and the UK, being respectively the
largest, most powerful and the oldest democracies
in the world, have collective moral obligations to
end this unnecessary conflict consuming Nepal,
especially with the basic premise of war seemingly
resting on the demand for a democratic drafting of
a new constitution by a popular mandate.
There is an immediate need for the UN to
intervene supported by India, the US and the UK
because the conflicting parties in Nepal have shown
that they are unable to resolve the conflict
themselves. Only UN involvement along the lines
of UNTAC (United Nations Transitional Authority
in Cambodia) to ensure a safe and peaceful
transition to a free, just and representative
democracy would be capable of effectively and
efficiently putting Nepal on the track to stability
and development.
However, any UN initiative would be contingent
upon China's constructive engagement in the threepowers’ process. China traditionally maintains a
policy of convenient indifference. Their long-held
policy of non-intervention in the internal affairs of
other countries is a compulsion given the sensitivity
surrounding Tibet and Taiwan. So, the onus of
making the UN intervention successful lies in the
three powers allaying China's security concerns by
pressing home the point that escalation of conflict
in a country adjoining Tibet is definitely not in
China's strategic interest.
The world cannot afford another failed state in a
sensitive region bordering Tibet and the heartland
of India. In the post 9/11 world when liberty and
freedom are being emphatically promoted as a
major guarantor of world security, the absence of
both of those conditions in Nepal can be a major
cause of regional insecurity with global
ramifications.
Empowerment… and Beyond
Gloria N. Labarani
MA student in Globalisation and Development, University of Warwick
Global rhetoric on gender issues asserts
that “poverty has the face of a woman”.
Disputing this will be incredibly hard, if
not impossible, to substantiate – the
empowerment of the woman is
reflected in most policies if not in
practice. However, delving further into
the concept of empowerment, one is forced to look
at the third world pre-adolescent female child,
dangling at the very bottom of the food chain. Not
only is her future doomed (poverty with the face of
a woman), but her present leaves a lot to be desired.
In Tanzania, like many other developing patriarchal
societies, the girl’s burden and self doubt are
indoctrinated indirectly (if not in practice) from a
very tender age. Cases range from China’s basket
babies (babies smuggled into Europe in baskets to
avoid orphanages in cases where families prefer
male children) to villages in maasai land (Tanzania)
where a girl’s life is equated to the
number of cows she would eventually
be exchanged for in marriage at the
tender age of ten. There is no shortage
of cases where a girl’s life and humanity
are diminished to incomprehensible
levels.
With such a start in life, it is no wonder that
alongside the denial of rights as an adult, women
grow up craving a need to be ‘empowered’. But this
raises
the
question
of
empowerment.
Notwithstanding the political controversy, the
concept of empowerment can be argued as a
problem in itself as it could potentially imply the
female as a static individual waiting to be ‘acted
upon’ (positively or negatively) by both the male
dominated society and state. In other words, the
concept still maintains the status quo of dominance
by either male or societal norms. The dry branches
7
of the problem are addressed, but the thick roots
within the structure are as strong as ever.
Common solutions to lack of female representation
include the promotion of women (the employment
equivalent to ‘affirmative action’). A classic
interpretation has been the provision of power to
exert influence on one’s destiny, mostly in financial
terms. While not suggesting anything wrong with
this – quite the contrary – one must look to the
underlying factors for disempowerment that are
very much within the female person through
exposure to social constructs at the very formative
years of their life.
An alternative to such solutions would be to
address the underlying social relations inherent in
patriarchal societies down to the smallest element,
i.e. the family. If girls are socially taught to
empower themselves from early childhood, taught
that if they are expected to contribute to family
chores, this is not down to the sheer virtue of their
being a girl, but rather as an equal member of that
family, and if parents are educated on the effects of
social favouritism, then both genders will grow-up
with experiences of self-worth. This might save
societies the work of having to ‘empower’ different
segments of society and concentrate on generating
equitable societal development.
The insistence by my grandmother that both male
and female grandchildren do the dishes during the
Christmas holidays, though a trivial incident, served
to promote my own self-worth from a tender age,
leading me to see myself as a fulfilled human being
capable of contributing to my society. Most girls in
Tanzania are not so lucky.
It Takes a Rabble to Riot
James Duggan
MA student in Globalisation and Development, University of Warwick
This July, the G8 travels to Scotland.
The normally sleepy town of Gleneagles
can expect the gleefully funny street
theatrics and, according to the
authorities, the resonating image of a
masked youths throwing stones and
fighting pitched battles with security
forces.
The circus of civil disobedience that has followed
the meetings of organisations such as the G8 (e.g.
Genoa in 2001) has become ingrained in the nature
of the movement. Indeed, the issues of
globalisation have been cross-hatched in the
solipsistic conscious of the Global North through
the act of protest. Questions are being asked as to
whether an inescapable precedent has already been
set.
This movement cannot prevail through violence.
There is too great a discrepancy in the magnitude,
technology and legitimacy of violence stacked in
favour of the state-backed globalisers. Most
importantly, if the goal is to achieve a critical mass,
whereby issue-by-issue protests will not be needed
because real democratic change is possible, then
violence will not broaden the base of support.
I want to advance an explanation based in the
political discursive framing of the crowd and the
way that this affects police behaviour in relation to
the crowd. I hope to, if not defend the youth
throwing stones, at least to distribute the blame.
For anyone who thinks that this is just
‘lefty’ talk, I will conclude that the
protestors must actively choose a
peaceful behavioural discourse.
Belief in the concept of the ‘mad mob’
has fundamentally political roots. A
thumbnail sketch of the development of
this idea locates Gustave LeBon as the seminal
influence. LeBon’s thesis was a reaction to the
political instability in France during the Paris
Commune. LeBon’s salience is that no matter the
character or wishes of the individual (but in reality
not the well-healed), once a person is in a crowd
they are engaged in a ‘collective mind’. The person
is no longer capable of rational thought, which
makes the crowd a site of primitive impulses and
atavism. Such framing relates directly to the
treatment of crowds: how else do you tame a beast
but with sticks?
Such beliefs, although being systematically
discredited in academia, have been instrumental in
formulating police crowd-management strategy.
Analysis of police actions during England’s Poll
Tax riots has shown that the police’s perception of
the crowd as a potential ‘mad mob’ provoked their
disproportionate response and unsuitable tactics.
Essentially, the police cordoned off the protestors,
giving them nowhere to go, then, because they
wouldn’t (actually couldn’t) disperse, the charged
the crowd with horses, thus unifying the crowd
around a salient shared identity of being attacked.
8
The subsequent violence can be explained through
this change in identity (Stott and Drury, 2000).
about the creation of barriers, e.g. the sub- and
supra-governmental organisations that are nullifying
democratic processes. The protestors cannot afford
to cut themselves off from the rest of the
population by appearing violent. This non-violence
must be maintained no matter the provocation; the
Black Civil Rights movement or Ghandi’s
independence movement should be emulated. By
leaving the barriers un-stormed it will hopefully
become clear who is resisting whom.
Crowd behaviour is not random. People act
according to the discourses available to them. For
example: “Scottish football fans in Italy during the
1990 World Cup Finals had available to them two
distinct discourses: violent machismo and
instrumentally
ambassadorial
conduct—or
‘hooliganism’ and ‘carnivalesque’. The eventual
triumph of the carnivalesque mode among Scottish
supporters is explained in terms of impression
management and differentiation from their English
counterparts.” (Stott, et al, 2001)
Non-violence is a powerful and just weapon, which
cuts without wounding and ennobles the man who
wields it. It is a sword that heals.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
So, like the Scottish football fans, protestors must
define their own identities as peaceful, both
through their own actions and by regulating crowd
members who propose violence. The situation is
more complex because of other police action. To
gain extra powers, search without suspicion for
example, the police must justify the danger. So the
police talk about anarchist groups and imminent
danger and this creates a discourse of violence.
Would-be peaceful protestors, such as families, are
scared away. People intent on going may expect
trouble and take a rudimentary gas mask. Either
way, the discourse of violence becomes entrenched.
References
Stott, Clifford; Drury, John (2000), ‘Crowds,
context and identity: Dynamic categorization
processes in the ‘poll tax riot’’, Human Relations,
53(2), pp.247–273.
Stott, Clifford; Hutchinson, Paul; Drury, John
(2001) ‘‘Hooligans’ abroad? Inter-group dynamics,
social identity and participation in collective
‘disorder’ at the 1998 World Cup Finals’, British
Journal of Social Psychology, 40, pp.359–384.
It is a truism that for barricades to be stormed they
must first be built. However, nothing legitimates
the building of barricades more than the storming
of them. It is apt that the protests are themselves
The Paradox of Sustainability
Keith Addenbrooke
MA student in Globalisation and Development, University of Warwick
as basically adequate for defining the question
posed.
Why is the world facing an environmental crisis?
Many explanations can be
offered.
Some
respondents might query
what
is
meant
by
‘environment’ and others
may challenge what is
inferred by the use of the
word ‘crisis’, but I’ll stick
with
the
common
understanding of ‘the
environment’ as being the
natural planetary ecosystem that sustains us,
and take the Oxford
English
Dictionary’s
definition of ‘crisis’ as
marking
a
“decisive
turning point in progress”
“Management and the Paradox of Sustainability”
“Management and the Paradox of Sustainability”
Keith Addenbrooke
Keith Addenbrooke
MA Practicing Management Lancaster 2003
MA Practicing Management Lancaster 2003
Environmental
Environmental
A
A
Ethical
Ethical
Consumption is
Consumption by
is
represented
the
flow frombythe
represented
upper
to from
the lower
the flow
the
portion
thelower
upper toofthe
hour
glass
portion
of the
hour glass
Economic
Economic
Sustainable
Sustainable
B
B
Profitable
Profitable
Amongst the possible
explanations as to why
there is a crisis, the one
that interested me most
when I was working as a
Senior Manager in a multinational company was
this: “Why do I sit at work
taking decisions (and live
a lifestyle as a typical
Northern consumer) that I
know is contributing to the
over-consumption of the
earth’s limited resources,
but still carry on doing it?”
Growth
Growth
9
The answer I developed lies in what I have called
the ‘Paradox of Sustainability’. As a business
manager in a profit-making enterprise, I am
pursuing sustainable profitable growth. As a
consumer, I am interested in sustainable growth in
my living standards and the ability to continue to
consume what I want, when I want.
glass. In a sense this does show how ‘time is
running out’ for the planet!
For an environmentalist, who sees the world from
point ‘A’ the problem is simple: consumption of
natural resources is ‘bad’, for their part of the hour
glass is emptying. A common environmental
argument is to ‘put the plug in’ – i.e., stop
consumption
that
consumes
irreplaceable
resources.
But if I were to consider the problem from the
point of view of the environment, sustainability
takes on a different meaning. Sustaining the
environment becomes a question of limiting my
personal consumption for the benefit of future
generations (as does defining sustainable economic
activity, or for that matter sustainable ethics or
moral standards – which is a different debate).
Instead of defining sustainability in terms of
‘carrying on consuming whatever I want to, in everincreasing amounts’ it becomes a question of
seeking to ‘leave the planet unmarked by my
presence’ when I go, so that it is equally available
for my children, and their children, and so on. The
legacy I plan to leave is very different in the two
cases.
For a business manager, or typical Western
consumer, who sees the world from point ‘B’
however, consumption is ‘good’, for their part of
the hour glass is filling up. More consumption feels
better!
The challenge: to reconcile the two perspectives
and define a common good! In considering my
response, I approached the subject firstly from the
point of view of an individual manager in a typical
Northern firm, and then from an environmentalist’s
perspective, and concluded that the issue is really a
shared social one. The first step towards resolving
the paradox becomes one of social reconnection,
between the people at point A and point B.
Can these two perspectives be reconciled?
Answering this question will offer a first step
towards seeing if there is a solution to the crisis.
The diagram below seeks to do just that. As with
any model, it is a starting point for discussion rather
than an end point, but I have found this captures
the paradox I have described quite effectively. The
diagram is in the form of an hourglass, with the
resources of the planet represented by the sand and
the process of consumption represented by the
flow from the upper to the lower portion of the
For activists seeking to identify and promote
strategies for improving the environment, this
model supports engagement strategies. For
consumers and business managers (who can be the
same people, of course), the first step is to
understand where the environmentalists are coming
from, for they are part of the same interconnected
model. We are all in this together.
FEATURE POEMS
The Chimney Sweeper
and
Jerusalem
By William Blake
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Introduction
Mathew Doidge
MA student in Globalisation and Development,
University of Warwick
William Blake was born on 28th
November, 1757, the third son of
a London hosier. Educated only
long enough to gain the basic skills
of reading and writing, Blake
worked in his father’s shop until
the age of 14 when his father,
noting his talent for drawing, apprenticed him to an
engraver. Early in his career, Blake rejected
fashionable methods and created an art of his own,
fusing poetry, engraving and book-binding into a
single expression of his, often apocalyptic, artistic
vision.
Blake is often referred to as a pre-Romantic poet, a
result of his rejection of the traditional neoclassical
style and modes of thought. Instead, Blake sought
to appeal to the emotion, imagination, spontaneity,
intuition and energy over reason and practicality,
equating these former characteristics in Auguries of
Innocence (1803) as the path to divinity, “the clothing
of the Soul divine”.
Blake’s poetry is characterised by two dominant
themes: faith and social commentary. Blake himself
was a Swedenborgian, a follower of Emanuel
Swedenborg (1688-1772) who espoused a mystic
form of Christianity. A significant portion of his
poetry represents these ideologies and beliefs, or
reflects his indignation at religious corruption –
Blake as the poet of righteous fury.
In his later work, Blake penned highly critical
poems on rationality, normality and societal
structure. It is in this role as social commentator
that his work resonates most strongly today.
Writing in the context of great social, political,
economic and philosophical upheaval, Blake sought
directly to address changes to traditional life, and
the emergence of large, industrial, over-populated
cities, the result of the agricultural and industrial
revolutions of the eighteenth and nineteenth
centuries. His work reflects a fiery indignation at a
society increasingly characterised by oppression and
poverty. As a compassionate, moral man, he was
disgusted at the injustices and basic rights violations
that had become a part of modern life. The dark
mood and imagery of poems such as London (1793)
and The Chimney Sweeper (1789) poignantly convey
the bleakness of the period, constituting some of
Blake’s most blatant attacks on society and its value
system.
The Chimney Sweeper confronts the issue of child
labour in the industrialising Britain, and is still of
direct relevance today. Blake embodies in the form
of the fictional Tom Dacre the plight of uncounted
children of the new industrial age, sold by their
parents into the chimney sweeping trade. Such
children suffered the miseries of neglect and illtreatment, and ran the risk of
being burned or suffocated as they
were forced up chimneys when the
fires were still lit. Long-term health
risks also confronted these
children, the result of the constant
inhalation of soot, and the effect
of ash on the skin which produced ‘sooty warts’,
otherwise know as ‘chimney-sweeps cancer’. As a
final indignity, chimney sweeps were regarded by
the authorities as criminals rather than victims as
they were often forced to beg and steal for their
survival. For such offences they were imprisoned or
hung when caught. As Blake suggests, the only
escape was granted by “an angel who had a bright
key”, opening the door from this life to the next.
Jerusalem brings together both themes in Blake’s
poetry, and indeed, set to music composed by
Charles Parry in 1916, has become a Church of
England hymn. The poem is ostensibly a reflection
on the debate as to whether Christ trod England’s
soil, a reference to the legend that Jesus was
brought to Somerset as a child (where some say he
learned the tin trade), providing an explanation for
the ‘missing years’ between his boyhood and adult
ministry. Jerusalem is more popularly interpreted,
however, in the context of Blake’s social activism. It
is seen as an indictment of the ‘progress at all costs’
mentality. The query ‘And was Jerusalem builded
here, Among these dark Satanic mills?’ becomes a
challenge to the new society wrought by
industrialisation. Has it produced the promised
utopia, the new Jerusalem? The answer, according
to Blake, is an emphatic ‘No’. Paradise cannot be
built among factories and smoke. A forest of
chimneys is no Garden of Eden. This is an issue
with particular resonance for developing states
today.
Is
development
about
industrialisation/economic growth, or is it about
something else? In a context in which industrial
growth is increasingly seen to be serving the few at
the expense of the many, Blake’s last words in
Jerusalem may be seen as a cry to the downtrodden.
The final stanza is an injunction for us all to stand
up, to build our own utopia, to shape development
to suit our needs. It is a call to action, a call to arms,
to ‘not cease from mental fight… Till we have built
Jerusalem’. It is a rallying cry that should be heeded
well by citizens of developing and developed
countries alike.
11
The Chimney Sweeper
William Blake
From Songs of Innocence, 1789
When my mother died I was very young,
And my father sold me while yet my tongue
Could scarcely cry 'weep! 'weep! 'weep! 'weep!
So your chimneys I sweep, and in soot I sleep.
And by came an angel who had a bright key,
And he opened the coffins and set them all free;
Then down a green plain leaping, laughing, they run,
And wash in a river, and shine in the sun.
There's little Tom Dacre, who cried when his head,
That curled like a lamb's back, was shaved: so I said,
“Hush, Tom! never mind it, for when your head's bare,
You know that the soot cannot spoil your white hair.”
Then naked and white, all their bags left behind,
They rise upon clouds and sport in the wind;
And the angel told Tom, if he'd be a good boy,
He'd have God for his father, and never want joy.
And so he was quiet; and that very night,
As Tom was a-sleeping, he had such a sight, That thousands of sweepers, Dick, Joe, Ned, and Jack,
Were all of them locked up in coffins of black.
And so Tom awoke; and we rose in the dark,
And got with our bags and our brushes to work.
Though the morning was cold, Tom was happy and
warm;
So if all do their duty they need not fear harm.
Jerusalem
William Blake
From Milton, 1803
And did those feet in ancient time
Walk upon England's mountains green?
And was the holy Lamb of God
On England's pleasant pastures seen?
And did the Countenance Divine
Shine forth upon our clouded hills?
And was Jerusalem builded here
Among these dark satanic mills?
Bring me my spear! O clouds, unfold!
Bring me my chariot of fire!
I will not cease from mental fight,
Nor shall my sword sleep in my hand,
Till we have built Jerusalem
In England's green and pleasant land.
Bring me my bow of burning gold!
Bring me my arrows of desire!
MA student in Globalisation and Development,
University of Warwick
ON A MUCH LIGHTER
NOTE…
Does it Really Snow in
Coventry?
Keith Addenbrooke
The weather over the past few weeks has led to
many discussions amongst GAD students as to the
weird climate we have experienced here at Warwick.
Spring in the morning, followed by snow in the
afternoon and autumn in the evening has confused
the wildlife, the weather forecasters and the
students alike. Now while talking about
the weather is perhaps conclusive proof
of British cultural institutionalisation
(hey – you’ve all gone native!), one
overriding question keeps cropping up:
does it ever really snow in Coventry?
12
Well, yes it does. On the night of Friday 7th
December 1990 and on into Saturday 8th
December, so much snow suddenly emptied itself
onto Coventry that the City Centre shops were
closed and everybody struggled home. Hundreds of
people slept overnight at the nearby National
Exhibition Centre, students were stranded on
Campus at the end of term and everything got
cancelled. Overhead power cables collapsed and
many homes were cut off.
The problem for me was that Saturday
8th December 1990 was supposed to
have been my wedding day. After a
rehearsal at 7pm on the Friday at
Westwood Church (the church you can
see heading out into the countryside
beyond what is now The Varsity), I had
made my way to my parents home in
Solihull while Jane and her family had
retired to a hotel on the North side of
the city to await the morning and our
appointment at the altar at 11:30am.
When we awoke to discover we were
both snowed in, completely, all plans for a
wonderful day went straight out of the window.
Together with my brother and a friend, I set off
from Solihull dressed in winter clothes and wellies,
while Jane and her family began hunting around for
someone with a four-wheel drive vehicle who could
get them to church (4x4’s were not common then).
We didn’t make it.
It took us all day to push the small car my friend
had the 15 miles to Coventry, while Jane’s appeals,
despite being broadcast on local radio, came to
nothing. I finally reached the church at around
7pm, to find the vicar had gone to bed (his
electricity was cut off), and the few guests who had
made it long gone.
in the sun, but we also remember when it snowed
in Coventry.
Child Labour
Stephanie Addenbrooke
Aged 9½
This is a picture of an African child
collecting corn. This is Child Labour. It
happens in India, Africa and Asia.
Children are nowadays used in poorer
countries for work rather than
education. This is not a nice idea, but
they cannot afford the things we have
here in the UK.
Many children aged five to fifteen are
working as slaves, miners and soldiers.
It also isn’t fair, as the children only get
paid about $1 a month. Unicef argues
that the only way to end child labour is
to end poverty and it calls on rich industrialised
nations to give far more in development aid that
helps with schools and hospitals. Unicef says 60%
of all the children that work live in Asia. The
highest ratio of child labour is in Africa, where 41%
of those aged five to fourteen work. 1.9 billion of
the world's 2.2 billion children live in poor
countries. One out of every two children in the
developing world lives in poverty. Please help to
end child labour by giving generously.
Comic Relief
Rebekah Addenbrooke
Aged 8
The Roman Catholic University Chaplain, having
figured out what was happening, had prepared
spare beds for us for the night in his home on
Gibbet Hill Road and that was where I stayed,
unmarried and very tired.
Red Nose Day
Sunday 9th December was spent digging out cars
and waiting for the snow to melt, and we finally got
married in the afternoon of Monday 10th
December. Wedding cars were replaced by
minibuses, the reception was replaced by a few
sandwiches in the church hall, the photographer
wore moon boots, the honeymoon was scrapped
and the many guests who couldn’t get back to
Coventry gave up their places to students and
people we’d met along the way
Red nose day is a big part of Comic Relief. Over
the last few years Comic Relief has made loads of
money to help poor children and other people. On
red nose day people buy red noses and wear them.
People also do crazy things with their hair, this year
the theme was “big hair and beyond.”
We have made up for it now, renewing our
wedding vows in 2002 to give Jane her special day
Comic Relief is to raise money for poor and
homeless people in Africa and the poor parts of the
UK (mainly in Africa).
In the past few years, famous celebrities have gone
to see what life is like to be living in poor
conditions and the bad conditions were awful. I
hope that comic relief carries on making a lot of
money and making children happier.
13
(Since it began in 1985, Comic Relief has raised
£337 million).
Vu’s Rant
Vulindlela Ndlovu
MA student in Globalisation and Development,
University of Warwick
In which the intrepid Vu gets a
little something off his chest.
A few weeks ago we had a ‘Green Week’
on campus. A week in which we were
supposed reflect on, and then put into
action, things we can do to make our daily
lives more ‘environmentally friendly’. I
have to admit that for most of the week I did not
do much reflecting or change the way I live to make
myself more environmentally friendly. And from
what I observed, I don’t think many of my friends
and fellow students did much to make themselves
more environmentally friendly either. It was not
until I made one of my weekly trips to the library
(to photocopy a few dozen pages) that I began to
think about Green Week more seriously. As I
made my way to the library entrance, I was pulled
aside and asked to sign a petition to make Warwick
University more Green, or environmentally
friendly. I of course, without asking any questions,
proudly signed the petition, thinking to myself that
I had finally participated in Green Week.
It occurred to me soon after how pathetic it was of
me to be proud of my contribution – merely
signing a petition I knew very little about. But as I
photocopied and printed a few chapters worth of
readings, it did get me thinking about the few dozen
things I could do to make myself more
environmentally friendly and leave a smaller
ecological footprint. It also got me thinking about
what the powers-that-be could do to make campus
greener. Certainly the trees and the grass the
university is planting along that increasingly
beautiful walk to the Learning Grid are going a long
way to making the campus greener in a literal sense.
Perhaps in a few years they’ll plant dozens more
and begin to cut down the fully grown ones to
make paper for printing and photocopying on
campus. Maybe that’s why, for every document we
print, there’s an extra sheet of paper printed telling
us the ‘balance before this printout’ – how useful!
Admittedly, it does tell us whose document it is, but
do we really need that sheet of paper for every
document? The point is that there are thousands of
documents printed everyday on campus and most
people leave that useful extra sheet paper next to
the printer. Perhaps those sheets of paper are
thrown into a recycling bin at the end of every day,
but I’ve struggled to find many recycling bins. It’s
also rare to see fellow students making an attempt
to use the blank side of the sheet. I have also
struggled to find recycling bins in the residences on
campus.
There are three recycling points on campus – next
to Rootes, near the Sports Centre Car Park, and at
the Students Union Building.
If the university
authorities are serious about making campus
greener and leaving a smaller ecological footprint
then more needs to be done. Surely we could have
a recycling bin under every public printer
on campus and surely we could have
recycling bins in the kitchens of the
residences. Students do need to make
more of an effort, but the authorities do
need to at least meet them halfway.
The Team
JUSTINE COULTER
(WGDS President)
FABIANA ILLESCAS TALLEDO
(Editor)
MATHEW DOIDGE
(Co-Editor and Technical Production)
VULINDLELA NDLOVU
(Co-Editor)
Want to Contribute?
Please e-mail queries and submissions to:
FABIANA ILLESCAS TALLEDO
F.Illescas-Talledo@Warwick.ac.uk
14