In memoriam: L. H. M. Ling

In the early phase of its rule in Turkey (2002–4), the pro-Islamic government of the AKP (Justice and Development party) and various branches of the state collaborated in a series of political and economic reforms. The democratization process has gradually moderated and integrated Islamic actors into the secular Turkish Republic. However, it has also had polarizing effects on social groups. Among many, the polarization of two groups of women, ‘pious’ and ‘secularist’, deserves particular attention. Instead of bringing Turkish women together, gender reforms, particularly the lifting of the headscarf ban in universities, have divided women and created disarray and confrontation in society. This article reveals and compares the two dramatically different patterns of political engagement by pious and secularist women in leadership positions in contemporary Turkey. On the one hand, it reveals the increasingly radical backlash of secularist women against the increasing visibility in public spaces of pious women who veil. On the other hand, it examines how pious women, who see the tumult their religious observance in the public space is creating, are increasingly turning to a non-confrontational mode of non-response. What is the prognosis for the future of a democratic Turkey?     

Authoritarian neoliberalism and capitalist transformation in Africa: all pain,no gain

ABSTRACT

As a region of the world capitalist political economy, Africa has been the epitome of neoliberalism as a universal project to remake societies in its image. In Africa, the neoliberal project encountered a region already ensconced in state-forms that were authoritarian, albeit very often weaker than their analogues in Latin America or Southern Europe. In these circumstances, neoliberalism both reconstructed and relied upon authoritarian state practices: reassertions of law and order, rising technocracy, re-built bureaucracies, and ‘choiceless democracy’. Liberal advocates of neoliberalism indulged authoritarian governance in the belief that economic liberalization would generate economic growth and transformation. Reviewing these authoritarian neoliberal constructions, one is struck by how poorly they performed as vehicles for market-based capitalist transformation. In a phrase, the pain of neoliberal adjustment was accompanied by no palliative of sustained economic ‘gain’. Liberalization, executed by top-down and undemocratic governance, has generated fragile growth, instability, some enrichment and no economic transformation. This conjuncture is pivotal to an understanding of moves by some governing elites to explore and at times implement non-neoliberal development strategies. The article concludes by suggesting that neoliberalism is currently a somewhat besieged orthodoxy. However, the exploration of unorthodox development strategies has taken place within an authoritarian political shell.     

Authoritarian neoliberal rescaling in Latin America: urban in/security and austerity in Oaxaca

ABSTRACT

There is an increasing consensus that, across the globe, austerity policies have often relegated fiscal pressures from the state to the urban scale. These are sometimes discussed under the label ‘austerity urbanism’. This article explores urban authoritarian neoliberalism through an examination of spatial and scalar manifestations of neoliberal restructuring. It asks how austerity urbanism’s rescaling takes effect in spatially variegated ways in the intermediate city of Oaxaca in Southern Mexico. I argue that Oaxaca’s austerity programmes and its rescaling of security provision are two intertwined, rather than parallel, processes. The paper builds on and aims to advance the authoritarian neoliberalism literature by linking it to literatures on the postcolonial Latin American state and urban studies. The article makes two contributions: first, it identifies and carves out multi-scalar aspects of authoritarian neoliberalism (by speaking to the urban realm); second, it contributes to the authoritarian neoliberalism literature on the ‘South’. Hence, the aim is to reveal the multi-scalar aspects of authoritarian neoliberalism and to illustrate its explanatory power in the global South.     

Structural constraints in times of resource nationalism: oil policy and state capacity in post-neoliberal Ecuador

ABSTRACT

This article explores the re-emergence of resource nationalism in Ecuador during Rafael Correa’s government. In 2010, Ecuador pursued a shift in oil contracts from production sharing agreements to service contracts. I argue that resource nationalist policies were intended to maximize rent appropriation and increase state control. Nevertheless, in order to spell out the complexities of natural resource governance in post-neoliberal Ecuador, it is important to integrate the structural constraints of the Ecuadorian state to enact resource nationalist policies. Despite the nationalist sentiments that originated these reforms, the renegotiation of contracts continued to benefit foreign corporations due to the centralized attitude of the Correa government and the perennial limitations of state capacity in the regulation of the industry.     

A clash of civilizations? Examining liberal‐democratic values in Turkey and the European Union1

Turkey's proposed entry into the European Union (EU) has been undermined by Europeans’ perceptions of Turkish–European cultural differences, particularly regarding the liberal‐democratic values that the EU promotes (democracy, rule of law, and respect for and appreciation of minority/human rights). Yet, cross‐national research on values has not focused on Turkey, the EU, and these liberal‐democratic values, leaving assumptions of cultural differences and their explanations untested. Through analyses of World and European Values Survey data (1999–2002), this article asks whether people in Turkey have the same values regarding democracy, rule of law (versus religious and authoritarian rule), and minority/human rights as people in EU member and candidate states (as of 2000)? What factors explain these values? I find that people in Turkey support democracy to the same extent as people in EU member and candidate states, but people in Turkey are more supportive of religious and authoritarian rule and are less tolerant of minorities. Although the ‘clash of civilizations’ thesis expects liberal values to be ordered according to countries’ religious traditions, with western Christian the most supportive and Islamic the least, only for tolerance of minorities values is this pattern found. Instead, economic development most consistently explains differences between Turkey and EU member and candidate states in support for these values. I conclude with calls for theoretical refinement, particularly of the clash of civilizations thesis, along with suggestions for future research to examine more Muslim and Orthodox countries; I discuss the debate over Turkey's EU entry.     

Intersectionality in Gender Mainstreaming:Equity Organizing in Turkey

ABSTRACT

Historically, Turkey is home to multiple identities and cultures. In following with the critiques of Diversity Mainstreaming approach toward Gender Mainstreaming, this article argues that recognition of identities can be possible if an intersectional approach is adopted. To overcome the particular challenges of Gender Mainstreaming’s implementation in Turkey’s multicultural society, this article introduces a concept that supplements Gender Mainstreaming, called Equity Organizing, which further develops the views on intersectionality and equity that Diversity Mainstreaming proposes. It is different from Diversity Mainstreaming because it seeks to address the challenges to democracy in strong central and authoritarian leaning states. Equity Organizing is committed to the construction of progressive state policies for social justice through the realization of diverse identities.     

全面改革攻坚，着力创新探索——2013／2014年上海改革形势分析

上海全面深化改革的主要思路：1．明确两大战略目标，即：完善中国特色社会主义制度体系；完善社会主义现代化国际大都市治理体系和提升治理能力。2．强化三大核心任务，即：创新中国（上海）自由贸易试验区制度体系；加快转变各级政府的职能；推进新一轮浦东综合配套改革。3．聚焦六大重点领域，即：建立统一开放、竞争有序、公平有效的市场体系；建立事权、财权和支出责任相匹配的现代财税体制；建立开放包容、多元竞争的文化体制机制；建立党委领导、政府主导、多方参与的社会治理体系；建立平等参与、共同分享的城乡发展一体化体制机制；建立系统完整、区域联动的生态文明制度体系。     

Authoritarian neoliberalism: trajectories of knowledge production and praxis

ABSTRACT

This introduction to the special issue takes as its point of departure three centres of gravity that have shaped the study of neoliberalism but have also established barriers to further progress in these debates. By promoting an intersectional materialist research agenda which challenges extant ideational, modernist and empiricist tendencies in scholarship on neoliberalism, the essay contextualizes the special issue articles by outlining and clarifying key aspects of our understanding of authoritarian neoliberalism. In particular, we reflect on themes related to conceptualization and periodization, which are of importance for both this special issue but also for broader questions of knowledge production and praxis. Through doing so, we argue that there are two distinct yet connected trajectories within the research agenda on authoritarian neoliberalism: one which focuses on the intertwinement of authoritarian statisms and neoliberal reforms; and another which traces various lineages of transformation of key societal sites in capitalism (e.g. states, households, workplaces, urban spaces). Recognition of this spectrum of authoritarian neoliberal practices is important as it helps us uncover how inequalities of power are produced and reproduced in capitalist societies, and pushes us to consider more fully how other worlds can be made possible. Nevertheless, it is affirmed that we must remain open to what an emancipatory society might look like, and what struggles would be most appropriate, in and across various socio-spatial contexts.     

Reconfiguring the state: executive powers,emergency legislation,and neoliberalization in Italy

ABSTRACT

The article examines the evolution of legal and institutional mechanisms over four decades in Italy (1976–2015). Through an original data analysis of legislation on macroeconomic and financial measures, the paper investigates the reconfiguration of state institutions during the rise, consolidation and crisis of neoliberalism. I argue that the strengthening of the policy-making role of the executive, in particular through emergency legislation, proved to be key in the insulation and imposition of neoliberal and austerity policies. Furthermore, in the post-2008 period further coercive dynamics, such as the abuse of confidence question, the abuse of decree laws to impose austerity measures, and the constitutionalization of the balanced budget principle gained momentum. The data presented in this article also shows that the rise of executive power is paralleled by a gradual but steady marginalization of the policy-making role of the parliament, now often relegated to a mere ratifying institution of decisions taken elsewhere. Moreover, the growing tendency to resort to emergency and delegated legislation can be found in centre-left, centre-right and technocratic governments. Accordingly, the paper calls attention not only to the increasingly coercive legal and institutional dynamics that enshrine neoliberal policy-making, but also to an intrinsic and structural tension between the liberal democratic form of the state and increasingly authoritarian forms of neoliberalization.     

The city from its margins: rethinking urban governance through the everyday lives of migrant women in Johannesburg

Drawing on ethnographic data, this article explores migrant women’s relationships and encounters with the state in South Africa’s largest city, Johannesburg. Focusing on the experiences of people in this marginal location, the article re-examines the notion of ‘urban governance’, which is often understood as the realm of formal urban institutions in which the state asserts its authority and regulatory powers. Through the everyday lives of migrant women we see that local urban practices are not simply shaped by the formalism of state rules and regulations, or their informal illegal counterparts. The way migrant women navigate the city, trade on the streets, and interact with the state and other urban actors illustrates that governance is co-constructed by a multitude of regimes, legal and illegal, visible and invisible. Indeed, women’s lives collapse the dichotomy of the official and unofficial, governed and ungoverned city, in ways that allow us to rethink how we conceptualise the city.     

‘National Machineries’ and Authoritarian Politics

Abstract

Why do authoritarian states adopt ‘state feminist’ policies, and what are the effects of these initiatives? This article expands our understanding of state feminist institutions in non-democracies by examining the development of a women's national machinery in Cameroon. It argues that the Cameroonian state has adopted a national machinery because: (1) it provides low-cost international legitimacy; (2) it attracts international assistance; (3) this assistance fuels domestic patronage networks; and (4) the national machinery channels women's activism toward state-delineated projects and goals. These motives undercut its ability to promote women's advancement. National machineries in authoritarian contexts are not just plagued by technical problems and funding shortages but also by competing agendas within the state apparatus and a lack of a commitment by high-level government officials to improving women's status in society.     

Building revolutionary subjectivity: creative tensions in the Plataforma de Afectados por La Hipoteca

ABSTRACT

The paper assesses the Spanish housing activists Plataforma de Afectados por La Hipoteca (PAH, Platform for the Mortgage-Affected) as an example of left-wing convergence. From the perspective of the horizontal democratic practices and civil disobedience tactics they adopt, the paper acknowledges the anarchist, Marxist and reformist influences in PAH and reveals how the creative tension between activists of different persuasions has aided the movement’s relative success. In harnessing and transforming the revolutionary subjectivity of the movement of the squares in 2011, PAH has in turn led to a broader urban radical politics. This new revolutionary subjectivity captures PAH’s legacy and positioning within broader anti-austerity politics.     

Governing Migrant Workers at a Distance: Managing the Temporary Status of Guestworkers in Taiwan

This paper explores how a liberal democratic state keeps migrant workers in temporary status by preventing their permanent settlement. Using Taiwan’s guestworker policy as an example, we argue that through expertise discourses and strategies of “governance at a distance” involving private sector, the Taiwan government has formulated policies and implemented measures that effectively kept guestworkers in temporary status. Analyzing Taiwan’s guestworker policy helps us to understand how the state and its collaborators work together to enhance the control capacity over migrants, while at the same time, enabling the state to keep its liberal pretense.     

New governance of labour rights: the perspective of Cambodian garment workers’ struggles

Globalization has implied the transfer of industrial work to countries of the Global South, where labour rights are seldom effectively protected by legal frameworks. New forms of governance that go beyond state-centred legal regulation are presented as an alternative to fill in ‘governance gaps’. This paper analyses ‘new governance’ from the perspective of Cambodian garment workers and labour movements’ struggles. Drawing on the literature on governance and private regulation and research data from Cambodia, it argues that a technocratic approach makes governance initiatives ignore the economic conflict between labour and capital but also the possible political conflict between labour and government. By ignoring trade union rights, power-blind initiatives might end up weakening both the labour movement and democratic accountability, instead of complementing state’s regulatory roles. This might serve the overlapping interests of the powerful actors both in Cambodia and internationally.     

Against exceptionalism: the legitimacy of the neoliberal age

ABSTRACT

After the financial crisis of 2007–08, many commentators, adopting a broadly Polanyian logic of reasoning, expected a departure from neoliberalism. The failure of this shift to materialize has typically been accounted for in ‘exceptionalist’ terms: the persistence of neoliberalism is understood not as a function of a specific legitimacy it has itself engendered, but in terms of external interventions by elites who manage to ‘capture’ executive and regulatory institutions and so to bypass democratic pressures. This paper argues that such an approach underestimates the endogenous sources of legitimacy and resilience that neoliberal governance commands. It criticizes the idea that neoliberalism is at its core dependent on a Schmittian exceptionalism and suggests a perspective on Hayek's articulation of neoliberalism that dissociates it from such an exceptionalist approach. The article proceeds to interrogate the rationality of neoliberalism by examining its distinctively secular temporal logic, rooted in speculation, preemption and reaction.     

选举后的治理问题:困境及缓释之道——基于上海城市社区的调查分析

民主决策、民主管理和民主监督都是社区治理的重要内容。当前,上海城市社区建设总体情况良好,但依旧存在选举后的治理难题。要针对社区治理难题,提升社区治理绩效,必须构建民主合作型社区治理体制,还应健全社区内部治理、拓展社区外部环境、充分发挥政府的主导作用、优化公共服务体制等,重视理顺政社关系,合理架构社区内部的组织关系。     

Place Brands,Nonbrands, Tags and Queries: The Networks of Urban Activism in the Creative City Istanbul

This article aims for a deeper understanding of an emerging urban-political culture that interweaves digital platforms and urban spaces, institutions and the extra-institutional. It explores political possibilities and limitations of urban activism in the context of ‘creative city’ oriented policy-making in Istanbul, Turkey. My approach highlights the production of agency/disempowerment and solidarity/isolation through socio-technical networks that assemble multifarious issues of concern and care. Activist strategies in Istanbul engaged the productive tension between (1) biopolitical apparatuses introduced with ‘creative city’ governance that extract value from the creative production and cultural participation of citizens and (2) the disregard or devaluation of citizen bodies in socially exclusive processes of urban transformation. The struggle over the impoverished Romani neighbourhood Sulukule, which faced demolition, introduced a mode of urban activism consisting in the appropriation of organizational techniques and regimes of value and visibility of Istanbul's ‘creative city’ governance apparatuses. Repurposing place branding for a technique of networked self-organization and claiming brand value for the deprived neighbourhood, activist practices transfigured the place brand into the anti-brand and nonbrand as well as into tags, queries and addresses operating in digital space. This article analyses Sulukule's struggle – and its connections and disconnections to other struggles – to explore activism's potential to challenge stratifications and inequalities between people and places engendered by ‘creative city’ projects, which themselves are often implicated in exclusive urban transformation processes.     

Unofficial Hanoians: Migration,Native Place and Urban Citizenship in Vietnam

Independent migration to Hanoi has surged dramatically over two decades of deepening market reforms, blurring the distinctions between urban and rural lives once maintained so carefully by the Communist Party of Vietnam. However many urban migrants face ongoing legal and social obstacles in Hanoi, tied to an outmoded system of household registration (ho khau), and widespread anxieties about the ‘floating population’ threatening to overwhelm the city. This article shows how one group of ‘unofficial Hanoians’—migrant motorbike taxi drivers from Nam Dinh Province—navigate a system of differentiated urban citizenship by forging communities and mutual assistance networks around shared ‘native places’ (que huong) to find employment, housing and social support in the city. It also reveals how Hanoi's marginal urban spaces—home to entrenched migrant communities of ambiguous legality—emerge as key arenas in the negotiation of Vietnamese citizenship, forcing national leaders, city officials, landlords and residents to grapple with questions of free movement and the rights of rural citizens to transgress urban space.     

Suburbia under siege: Low‐income housing and racial conflict in metropolitan Kansas City, 1970–1990

This article examines racial conflicts over efforts to build low‐income government‐subsidized housing in Kansas City suburbs from 1970 to 1990. Drawing on public documents, housing reports and analyses, and local newspaper accounts, I examine how suburban residents have reacted to and organized against government attempts to construct housing for low‐income people outside the inner city. I argue that the mobilization of suburban Whites against low‐income housing has been due to the perceived threat state‐led integration efforts have posed to White privileged access to, and control over, suburban housing practices (i.e., single‐family homeownership, racially exclusive neighborhoods, etc.). An analysis of the racial conflicts and struggles over housing integration illustrates the social construction of White racial identity and the constructed identity of the suburban homeowner. In conclusion, I discuss how single‐family homeownership, a fundamental characteristic of American suburbs, imputes distinct social meaning to urban space and serves as a basis of political mobilization along racial lines.     

从政府主导到社会主导：城市基层治理单元的再造——以新加坡社区发展为参照

在基层群众自治中,社区作为城市基层治理的基础单元,社区的治理和发展已成为城市治理的重要组成部分。目前我国城市社区建设的实践经验仍显不足,社区自主性和政府治理功能的发挥,有待进一步健全和完善,社区的自主性还不强。本文基于对新加坡社区的发展和建设过程的考察,从而讨论和归纳新加坡城市社区治理的模式转换及其特点,新加坡政府推动之下社区力量的崛起、社会自主性的转换是城市基层治理的主要特点。新加坡在社区治理方面积累的丰富的经验教训,对于推动我国城市社区治理的完善和发展,具有现实而直接的借鉴价值。