Italy Today Mammone, Andrea; Veltri, Giuseppe A
2010, 20100225, 2010-02-15, 2010-02-25, 20100101
eBook
Italy Today represents one of the most comprehensive examinations of contemporary Italy. It is a provocative and an innovative collection that aims to highlight the current ‘crisis’ of the country ...through an analysis of several different ‘dark shadows’ of contemporary Italian society.
Italy already had a long history of ‘unsolved’ issues, several chronic problems and contradictions that have been ignored for a very long time, during which they have assumed dramatic proportions and gravity. The peninsula has now become the ‘Sick Man of Europe’, a country facing a veritable decline also caused by apparent incapacity and difficulties of the ruling economic, political and social elites.
Discussions include:
an evaluation of the current predicaments of the political system
analysis of emerging mafias, including new powerful crime organizations such as ‘Ndrangheta
issues surrounding the ongoing presence of Fascism
examination of the recent xenophobic tensions
discussion of problems associated with the missed opportunity of the EU funding, and the increasing regional economic gaps
outline of the systemic troubles of Italy’s economic and industrial system.
Written by leading experts in the field and covering a wide range of topics, this collection is essential reading for all those seeking to understand the issues and problems that are facing contemporary Italy.
"Faced with the attention-seeking antics of Silvio Berlusconi and his political allies, increasingly the temptation is not to treat Italy seriously. The great achievement of the contributors to this excellent volume is to reach behind the façade of political posturing to show that Italy does matter, because the failure of Italy’s political system to come up with solutions to the chronic problems facing the country today poses questions that are relevant to all advanced democracies. Italy today, but where next?" - John Davis, University of Connecticut
"Written by well known specialists and young researchers from Italy or outside, this book is dedicated to Contemporary Italy, considered as the sick man of Europe. All the aspects of its decline are studied in an interdisciplinary approach.'' - Marc Lazar, Sciences Po, Paris, France
"When journalists talk about Italy, they have a tendency to focus their attention on the Prime Minister, his gaffes in public speeches, and scandals, and to dismiss other issues affecting the country. The book, Italy Today: the Sick Man of Europe seeks to fill this gap, providing an English-speaking audience with information about the Bel Paese that they will not find in regular newspapers.
… But Italy’s problems are not limited to Berlusconi’s lack of diplomacy and sense of the politically appropriate. Italy Today digs beneath the surface to explore the structural problems that would persist even if Berlusconi disappeared. Ultimately, the book offers a diagnosis of the malaise affecting the country; and as British historian Paul Corner suggests in the foreword, "Given the right diagnosis, sick men often get better." - Anna Pitton, Journalist
"How is the current crisis and decline of contemporary Italy to be explained? Through its interdisciplinary analyses of old and new but unresolved issues affecting politics, the economy and society in Italy, this book seeks to give an answer to this important question. Across various sectors of the country, the past two decades have witnessed a growth in the explosion of latent problems in urgent need of extensive discussion. The book could not, therefore, be more timely.
Unlike the existing books on Italy and its ‘shadows’, which usually focus either on the political and electoral systems or on the scandals and the transition to the Second Italian Republic, this edited volume – including contributions from leading experts and young scholars – seeks to offer a comprehensive picture of the Italian situation, looking simultaneously at political life, the economic system, history and society. Moreover, it seeks to analyse both the causes and the effects of the problems that have become typical of Italy and, most importantly, to link the present and the past when offering possible explanations. …Many of the chapters also offer recommendations regarding possible policy solutions for the problems of this ‘sick man of Europe’, and this can be considered a further merit of the book." - Manuela Caiani, Institute for Advanced Studies, Vienna
"Il volume collettivo Italy Today. The Sick Man of Europe … si propone come un invito alla diagnosi dei mali d’Italia. Secondo la migliore tradizione saggistica anglosassone, la raccolta, ricca di dati e solidamente ancorata all’analisi, si segnala inoltre per l’agilità della struttura e dei singoli contributi, che pur senza rinunciare al rigore scientifico sono fruibili anche da parte dei non addetti ai lavori. Nel complesso, è un’ottima base di partenza per un dibattito, sia scientifico sia militante, sull’Italia contemporanea, in prospettiva interdisciplinare e internazionale." - Gigliola Sulis, University of Leeds
"Ben ventidue studiosi tra storici, politologi, sociologi ed economisti hanno contribuito alla stesura di questo libro che cerca di mettere a fuoco i problemi del nostro paese ….
Il libro ha il pregio di fornire, attraverso contributi interdisciplinari, un quadro generale e composito che tocca tutte le problematicità italiane mai del tutto risolte e pone interessanti interrogativi e spunti soprattutto sulle nuove questioni scaturite dagli anni ’90 in poi." - Rivista Italiana di Scienza della Politica
"Italy Today is a collection of essays about various aspects of the economic and political life of Italy and of Italian society. Its eighteen chapters cover, among other topics, immigration; racism and xenophobia; the legacy of fascism and the years of lead; organised crime; the role of the Church, the media and the family; decentralising reform; the North-South divide. So, the volume covers a large amount of ground, and its sub-title, ‘The Sick Man of Europe’, is in many ways understandable as the focus is placed, for much the book, on the country’s problems. The editors have chosen to combine well- established and younger researchers, based at institutions both in Italy and abroad, to examine several of what they call the ‘dark shadows’ of contemporary Italian society.
So the book contains a large number of valuable insights and the work will appeal to a wide range of scholars with an interest in contemporary Italy." - James L. Newell, Journal of Contemporary European Studies
"Italy Today is a collection of eighteen essays dealing with a wide range of topics, some authored by established scholars such as Percy Allum and Anna Cento Bull, but for the most part by younger ones…Unlike most previous studies, however, this volume does not focus mostly on political issues such as the elections, the political system, the Tangentopoli (Bribesville) scandals of the 1990s, the transition from the "First Republic" to the "Second Republic", or Silvio Berlusconi’s impact on Italy since his foray into politics. The editors’ approach is more ambitious: they aim to provide a survey of the systemic crisis of Italy, in other words, to discuss the long-term issues of Italian politics and society that are responsible for its troubles…Berlusconi is scarcely present in this collection. Resisting the temptation to ascribe Italy’s stagnation largely to him – a simplistic formula often adopted by scholars, Andrea Mammone and Giuseppe Veltri have chosen instead to provide an analysis of the political and cultural environment that have enabled Berlusconi to thrive.
The extensive range of topics dealt with, the quality and clarity of most contributions (jargon has largely been avoided), and the wealth of bibliographical references makes this a most valuable publication. The well-chosen illustrations that accompany the chapters on the contemporary far right’s use of fascist architecture as memorials to Mussolini’s regime, on the Lega Nord’s apparently harmless xenophobia, and on the policy initiatives on Roma and Sinti taken by Prodi’s last government and quite recently by Berlusconi are another welcome feature of the book: they attest to the major role played by public spaces and the visual media in Italian political persuasion and mobilization.
Italy Today should feature on all bibliographies of students of Italian studies, Italian politics and Italian cultural studies; it will also appeal to a more general readership." - Luciano Cheles, Université de Poitiers
"The scandals, speeches, sex, and partisan scheming of Italian political life have always grabbed media attention. Yet the central question of Italian politics often goes unasked: How did the most successful country in postwar Europe become a basket case? … The interdisciplinary group of authors in this collection sets aside short-term factors and explores long-term structural reasons for Italia malata (ailing Italy). They offer new insights into well-known problems …. They also highlight problems known only to experts: little government support for families, the spread of organized crime outside of Naples and Sicily, low levels of social trust, and anti-immigrant sentiment." - Andrew Moravcsik (Princeton University), Foreign Affairs
"Italy Today is a collection of eighteen essays dealing with a wide range of topics, some authored by established scholars such as Percy Allum and Anna Cento Bull, but for the most part by younger ones...Unlike most previous studies, however, this volume does not focus mostly on political issues such as the elections, the political system, the Tangentopoli (Bribesville) scandals of the 1990s, the transition from the "First Republic" to the "Second Republic", or Silvio Berlusconi's impact on Italy since his foray into politics. The editors' approach is more ambitious: they aim to provide a survey of the systemic crisis of Italy, in other words, to discuss the long-term issues of Itali
The sheer scale and brutality of the hostilities between Russia and Chechnya stand out as an exception in the mostly peaceful breakup of the Soviet Union.Chechnya: From Nationalism to Jihadprovides a ...fascinating analysis of the transformation of secular nationalist resistance in a nominally Islamic society into a struggle that is its antithesis, jihad. Hughes locates Chechen nationalism within the wider movement for national self-determination that followed the collapse of the Soviet empire. When negotiations failed in the early 1990s, political violence was instrumentalized to consolidate opposing nationalist visions of state-building in Russia and Chechnya. The resistance in Chechnya also occurred in a regional context where Russian hegemony over the Caucasus, especially the resources of the Caspian basin, was in retreat, and in an international context of rising Islamic radicalism. Alongside Bosnia, Kashmir, and other conflicts, Chechnya became embedded in Osama Bin Laden's repertoire of jihadist rhetoric against the "West." It was not simply Russia's destruction of a nationalist option for Chechnya, or "Wahabbist" infiltration from without, that created the political space for Islamism. Rather, we must look also at how the conflict was fought. The lack of proportionality and discrimination in the use of violence, particularly by Russia, accelerated and intensified the Islamic radicalization and thereby transformed the nature of the conflict. This nuanced and balanced study provides a much-needed antidote to the mythologizing of Chechen resistance before, and its demonization after, 9/11. The conflict in Chechnya involves one of the most contentious issues in contemporary international politics-how do we differentiate between the legitimate use of violence to resist imperialism, occupation, and misgovernment, and the use of terrorism against legitimate rule? This book sets out indispensable lessons for understanding conflicts involving the volatile combination of nationalist insurgency, jihad, and terrorism, most notably for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
In To Save Heaven and
Earth , Jennie E. Burnet considers people who
risked their lives in the 1994 Rwandan genocide of Tutsi to try and
save those targeted for killing. Many genocide
perpetrators ...were not motivated by political ideology, ethnic
hatred, or prejudice. By shifting away from these classic
typologies of genocide studies and focusing instead on hundreds of
thousands of discrete acts that unfold over time, Burnet highlights
the ways that complex decisions and behaviors emerge in the social,
political, and economic processes that constitute a genocide.
To Save Heaven and Earth explores external factors,
such as geography, local power dynamics, and genocide timelines, as
well as the internal states of mind and motivations of those who
effected rescues. Framed within the interdisciplinary scholarship
of genocide studies and rooted in cultural anthropology
methodologies, this book presents stories of heroism and of the
good done amid the evil of a genocide that nearly annihilated
Rwandan Tutsi and decimated the Hutu and Twa who were opposed to
the slaughter.
Filip Reyntjens's book analyzes political governance in post-genocide Rwanda and focuses on the rise of the authoritarian Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF). In the aftermath of the 1994 Rwandan genocide, ...the RPF has employed various means - rigged elections, elimination of opposition parties and civil society, legislation outlawing dissenting opinions, and terrorism - to consolidate power and perpetuate its position as the nation's ruling party. Although many international observers have hailed Rwanda as a 'success story' for its technocratic governance, societal reforms, and economic development, Reyntjens complicates this picture by casting light on the regime's human rights abuses, social engineering projects, information management schemes, and retributive justice system.
Today's international war crimes tribunals lack police powers, and therefore must prod and persuade defiant states to co-operate in the arrest and prosecution of their own political and military ...leaders. Victor Peskin's comparative study traces the development of the capacity to build the political authority necessary to exact compliance from states implicated in war crimes and genocide in the cases of the International War Crimes Tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda. Drawing on 300 in-depth interviews with tribunal officials, Balkan and Rwandan politicians, and Western diplomats, Peskin uncovers the politicized, protracted, and largely behind-the-scenes tribunal-state struggle over co-operation.
Remaking Rwanda Straus, Scott; Waldorf, Lars
2011, 20110101
eBook
In the mid-1990s, civil war and genocide ravaged Rwanda. Since then, the country’s new leadership has undertaken a highly ambitious effort to refashion Rwanda’s politics, economy, and ...society, and the country’s accomplishments have garnered widespread praise. Remaking Rwanda is the first book to examine Rwanda’s remarkable post-genocide recovery in a comprehensive and critical fashion. By paying close attention to memory politics, human rights, justice, foreign relations, land use, education, and other key social institutions and practices, this volume raises serious concerns about the depth and durability of the country’s reconstruction.             Edited by Scott Straus and Lars Waldorf, Remaking Rwanda brings together experienced scholars and human rights professionals to offer a nuanced, historically informed picture of post-genocide Rwanda—one that reveals powerful continuities with the nation’s past and raises profound questions about its future.  
In the aftermath of the 1994 genocide, Rwandan women faced the impossible—resurrecting their lives amidst unthinkable devastation. Haunted by memories of lost loved ones and of their own ...experiences of violence, women rebuilt their lives from “less than nothing.” Neither passive victims nor innate peacemakers, they traversed dangerous emotional and political terrain to emerge as leaders in Rwanda today. This clear and engaging ethnography of survival tackles three interrelated phenomena—memory, silence, and justice—and probes the contradictory roles women played in postgenocide reconciliation.     Based on more than a decade of intensive fieldwork, Genocide Lives in Us provides a unique grassroots perspective on a postconflict society. Anthropologist Jennie E. Burnet relates with sensitivity the heart-wrenching survival stories of ordinary Rwandan women and uncovers political and historical themes in their personal narratives. She shows that women’s leading role in Rwanda’s renaissance resulted from several factors: the dire postgenocide situation that forced women into new roles; advocacy by the Rwandan women’s movement; and the inclusion of women in the postgenocide government.
A small corner of hell Politkovskaya, Anna; Burry, Alexander; Tulchinsky, Tatiana ...
2003., 2003, 20030101
eBook
Chechnya, a 6,000-square-mile corner of the northern Caucasus, has struggled under Russian domination for centuries. The region declared its independence in 1991, leading to a brutal war, Russian ...withdrawal, and subsequent "governance" by bandits and warlords. A series of apartment building attacks in Moscow in 1999, allegedly orchestrated by a rebel faction, reignited the war, which continues to rage today. Russia has gone to great lengths to keep journalists from reporting on the conflict; consequently, few people outside the region understand its scale and the atrocities—described by eyewitnesses as comparable to those discovered in Bosnia—committed there. Anna Politkovskaya, a correspondent for the liberal Moscow newspaper Novaya gazeta, was the only journalist to have constant access to the region. Her international stature and reputation for honesty among the Chechens allowed her to continue to report to the world the brutal tactics of Russia's leaders used to quell the uprisings. A Small Corner of Hell: Dispatches from Chechnya is her second book on this bloody and prolonged war. More than a collection of articles and columns, A Small Corner of Hell offers a rare insider's view of life in Chechnya over the past years. Centered on stories of those caught-literally-in the crossfire of the conflict, her book recounts the horrors of living in the midst of the war, examines how the war has affected Russian society, and takes a hard look at how people on both sides are profiting from it, from the guards who accept bribes from Chechens out after curfew to the United Nations. Politkovskaya's unflinching honesty and her courage in speaking truth to power combine here to produce a powerful account of what is acknowledged as one of the most dangerous and least understood conflicts on the planet. Anna Politkovskaya was assassinated in Moscow on October 7, 2006.
The Implementation Game Deere, Carolyn
2008, 2008-10-30, 2009, 2011, 2011-06-16, 20090101
eBook, Book
In the 1990s, the fight between North and South over intellectual property (IP) reached new heights. The result was the World Trade Organization's (WTO's) deeply contested agreement on Trade‐Related ...Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS). Widely resented by developing countries, TRIPS nonetheless permits them some hard‐won flexibility. Puzzling, however, is why some developing countries have used that flexibility and others have not. Even more curious is that despite securing some extra concessions, many of the poorest countries have made least use of them. For scholars of international political economy and law, this book is the first detailed exploration of the links between global IP politics and the implementation of IP reforms. It exposes how power politics occur not just within global trade talks but afterwards when countries implement agreements. For developing countries, TRIPS did not end the IP offensive. At the urging of lobbyists from large multinational companies, powerful countries backtracked on the flexibilities in TRIPS and pursued even stronger global IP rules. To prevent precedents for weaker IP standards in poorer countries, they issued threats to market access, aid, investment, and political alliances. Further, they used new trade deals and, more subtly, ‘capacity‐building’ (assisted by the World Intellectual Property Organization, among others) to leverage faster compliance and higher standards than TRIPS requires. Meanwhile, ‘pro‐development’ advocates from civil society, other UN agencies, and developing countries worked to counter ‘compliance‐plus’ pressures and defend the use of TRIPS flexibilities, sometimes with success. Within developing countries, most governments had little experience of IP law. They often deferred TRIPS implementation to IP offices cut‐off from trade politics and national policymaking, making them more vulnerable to the TRIPS‐plus agenda. In francophone Africa, regional IP arrangements magnified this effect.
In the Shadow of Genocide Wolfe, Stephanie; Kane, Matthew; Ansah, Tawia
2023, 20221230, 2022-12-30, Volume:
1
eBook
Open access
This book brings together scholars and practitioners for a unique inter-disciplinary exploration of justice and memory within Rwanda. It explores the various strategies the state, civil society, and ...individuals have employed to come to terms with their past and shape their future. The main objective and focus is to explore broad and varied approaches to post-atrocity memory and justice through the work of those with direct experience with the genocide and its aftermath. This includes many Rwandan authors as well as scholars who have conducted fieldwork in Rwanda. By exploring the concepts of how justice and memory are understood the editors have compiled a book that combines disciplines, voices, and unique insights that are not generally found elsewhere.
Including academics and practitioners of law, photographers, poets, members of Rwandan civil society, and Rwandan youth this book will appeal to scholars and students of political science, legal studies, French and francophone studies, African studies, genocide and post-conflict studies, development and healthcare, social work, education and library services.
