Vision - Lent 2022

VISION

----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Lent 2022

A

PUBLICATION

OF

CAMBRIDGE

UNIVERSITY

INTERNATIONAL

DEVELOPMENT

SOCIETY

A Food Fight for Democracy In a growing movement in which comfort food is discarded for ‘culture food’, the benefits may extend far beyond the nutritional

Hamish Davis -

page 7

A Fragile Peace: Reconsidering Libya After the ‘Arab Spring’ Mohja Amer -

page 11

Interviews with Andrés Velasco and John Ikenberry -

page 23

Perspectives: ' Does democracy facilitate development?'

-

page 31

Also this Issue...

ARE DICTATORS FACING A DEMOCRATIC BACKLASH? / RETHINKING THE AGENTS OF CHANGE / DEMOCRATIZING DEVELOPMENT PRACTICES

Foreword Dear Readers,

I

am

excited

to

share

with

you

another

exceptional

edition

of

VISION brought to you by Sophie and the whole VISION team! With a theme of Development and Democracy, this magazine contains a range of interesting content, from articles on potential backlashes for dictators and the struggle for food sovereignty, to interviews with

the

former

finance

minister

of

Chile

and

a

world-leading

International Relations scholar.

The past few months have offered a sobering reminder that the themes that VISION engages with are not simply academic musings.

The publication of this edition comes at a time when the democratic nation

of

invasion.

Ukraine

Thanks

to

is

fundamentally

our

sponsors

threatened

(Afrinspire,

by

the

Russian

Global

Girl

Project,

Action for Development) we are able to provide a free copy of VISION to anyone who would like one. However if you would like to make

a

donation,

we

would

encourage

you

to

donate

to

an

organisation supporting Ukraine in this time of crisis. We recommend the aid campaign organised by the Kyiv School of Economics which is providing food supplies, transportation, and refugee support for Ukrainian citizens as well as medicine, and first aid kits for those on the front line. You can donate directly by scanning the QR code, or alternatively visit supportukrainenow.org to find a list of meaningful organisations you can donate to.

Rob MacLennan President, 2021-22

Contents 03 RETHINKING THE AGENTS OF CHANGE Democracy aid providers and their local partners are increasingly engaging men as central agents of gender equality change in politics. What do these approaches look like in practice, and what new challenges does cultivating male allies and transforming exclusionary gender norms present in the political realm?

07

11

WILD RICE CAKES AND A

ARE DICTATORS FACING A

FOOD FIGHT FOR

DEMOCRATIC BACKLASH?

DEMOCRACY

As former student protest leader Gabriel Boric joins the resurgence of left-wing politics across South

Across the Atlantic, eating is healing wounds and

America, struggles for democracy continue across

empowering communities. In this new movement,

the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). Eleven

comfort food is discarded for ‘culture food’ and the

years since the Arab Spring awakened the region,

benefits extend far beyond the nutritional.

is there any hope for 2022?

15

19

DEMOCRATIZING

A FRAGILE PEACE:

DEVELOPMENT PRACTICES

RECONSIDERING LIBYA

Envisioning the future of international student-led

AFTER THE ‘ARAB SPRING’

humanitarian aid.

Moving away from the concept of the ‘failed state’ to pave the way for democratic development.

INTERVIEWS 23

28

ANDRÉS VELASCO

JOHN IKENBERRY

Dean of the School of Public Policy at

Professor of Politics and International

LSE and former Minister of Finance in

Affairs at Princeton University discusses

Chile discusses the place of democracy

the value of international liberal order

in development.

and the place of democracy within it.

PERSPECTIVES

UID 1

31

"DOES DEMOCRACY FACILITATE DEVELOPMENT? "

V I S I

N

A Publication of Cambridge University International Development

A Note from the Editor...

The theme of this issue comes at a poignant moment given events over the last few months. At the same time, to suggest that the questions of democratic values and practices are ones that

are

usually

absent

from

international

and

local

affairs

would be foolish. These questions of democracy – of freedom, of choice and of respect – infiltrate many areas of our lives without

us

realizing

it.

They

also

continue

to

dominate

the

landscape of development.

Vision Editor-in-Chief: Sophie Harbour

There are a wide variety of topics included in this issue, from ideas about food sovereignty in North America to questions of ‘male allies’ for gender equality in East Africa and from the changing nature of student volunteering to the problematic framing

of

states

as

‘failed’.

We

hope

that

they

will

give

Vision Co-Editor: Anna Feest

readers a sense of some of the pertinent events and debates that are ongoing in the world of international development as it relates to democracy. This issue, our interviewed guests are also

expert

in

their

respective

areas

–

one,

a

forethinking

author on democracy and, the other, a prominent economist and

ex-finance

minister.

Together

they

provide

important

Vision Perspectives Sub-Editor: Sofiyah Rasool

insights on the challenges for democracy moving forward and the

strategies

that

we

need

to

consider

for

global

Vision Sub-Editors:

development.

Whether you are new to these debates or familiar with them, the arguments and questions posed by our writers and guests are

sure

to

increase

your

interest

–

which

you

can

follow

through with by having a look at our recommendations page at

Olivia Byrne, Adithya Mohan, Phoebe Penfold, Anna Sayles and Etienne Tracey.

the end of the issue.

It has been a pleasure to put this together with the help of the VISION team and, more generally, to be a member of CUID this year. It is wonderful to be a part of creating space for these debates

to

be

had.

Ultimately,

we

have

a

responsibility

to

continue to push at the concerns and controversies unfolding in our worlds. And, sometimes, simply taking the time to read

Artistic Director: Lucy Williams

about them is the first step.

Sophie Harbour Editor-in-Chief

2

Rethinking the Agents of Change Democracy aid providers and their local partners are increasingly engaging men as central agents of gender equality change in politics. What do these approaches look like in practice, and what new challenges does cultivating male allies and transforming exclusionary gender norms present in the political realm?

BY SASKIA BRECHENMACHER AND KATHERINE MANN

Wekesa was interested in politics from an early age. In high school, a high-level woman politician visited her hometown in Western Kenya.

Hearing her speak eloquently about current affairs, Wekesa decided that day she wanted to become a politician herself. ‘To me, she seemed like an ideal person - someone you could listen to all day’, she recalls.

But her path into politics was far from straightforward. She married young, and her spouse was not supportive of her political ambitions.

Wekesa began hiding her passion, attending campaign rallies in secret.

After

Kenya’s

2010

constitution

opened

up

new

political

seats

for

women, the tension at home escalated. Wekesa was determined to run for office, but her husband refused to entertain the idea. After a series of escalating fights, he opted for divorce—leaving her to juggle her political aspirations and two small children on her own.

Wekesa’s story highlights a central challenge facing women politicians around the world: their political ambitions often run into resistance from men—whether within the family, as in Wekesa’s case, within their wider community, or within political institutions. Yet despite the ubiquitous reality

of

women’s

male

gatekeeping,

political

aid

representation

organisations

that

have

entirely

almost

seek

to

bolster

focused

on

women as their primary target group. They have recruited and trained women

candidates

campaigns, women’s

and

promoted

networks

in

politicians,

electoral

political

funded

gender

parties,

women’s

quotas,

civil

and

society,

advocacy

strengthened

and

parliaments.

Men, on the other hand, have often been ignored as agents of gender equality change in politics.

Over

the

Learning

past from

democracy

several the

years,

experiences

assistance

this

pattern

has

of

women

politicians

organisations

are

started

beginning

to

change.

and

activists,

to

pay

more

attention to men’s vital role in perpetuating women’s political exclusion —and, as a result, their role in addressing current injustices. Even in countries where progressive reforms like gender quotas have bolstered women’s representation, women still face discrimination and prejudice and power-holders continue to exclude women from informal networks and influential political positions. Attempts to change these imbalances by working directly with men are still in their infancy. Yet, they mark an important

shift

towards

dismantling

discriminatory

norms

equate political leadership and authority with masculinity.

3

that

still

An Important Shift “Engaging men” in gender equality change is not a new idea. Within international development circles, feminist groups working to combat gender-based violence and prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS began integrating men into their interventions as early as the 1980s. Over time, this work expanded to other areas, including education, care work, and women’s economic empowerment. The global NGO Promundo, for example, integrates men into interventions

focused

on

sexual

and

reproductive

health, care work, and gender-based violence. They use group

discussions

relationships, alternative

to

conduct

visions

encourage media

of

more

campaigns

manhood,

and

equitable to

promote

advocate

for

policies that promote men’s involvement in parenting,

Yet and

despite

these

practitioners

political

written

commitments,

working

participation

on

policymakers

strengthening

globally

women’s

remain

relative

newcomers to “male engagement” work. Over the past two decades, international aid investments in women’s political

representation

and

leadership

have

steadily

increased: OECD data shows that in 2019, the world’s largest donor governments allocated 86 percent of their democracy

aid

interventions

(amounting

with

gender

to

equality

$2.8 as

a

billion)

to

principal

or

significant objective. Most of this funding has gone to organisations and interventions that support women in politics,

or

push

decision-makers

to

adopt

gender

equality reforms. UN Women, for instance, has worked

among other projects.

with women’s groups around the world to conduct skill-

These

grassroots

traction

in

approaches

international

have

policy

gained

circles.

increasing

The

phrase

“engaging men and boys” now regularly appears in the gender donors.

equality USAID’s

strategies 2020

of

Gender

major

Equality

development and

Women’s

building

workshops

for

women

candidates,

build

women’s caucuses in parliaments, or lobby governments to

adopt

stronger

gender

quotas.

Such

initiatives

inevitably involve dialogues with male political leaders, to convince them that action and reform are needed.

Empowerment Policy, for instance, lists “engaging men

However, they do not focus directly on uncovering and

and boys” as one of eight cross-cutting principles that

shifting discriminatory gender norms and behaviors.

should shape all areas of gender equality aid, and notes that

‘all

men

inequitable

can

play

a

norms

and

power

critical

role

in

dynamics,

challenging

It is only in the last five years or so that a handful of

given

democracy

their

aid

organisations

have

started

pioneering

positions in households, communities, institutions, and in

programs to engage men in advancing women’s political

their relationships with peers and others’.

participation, drawing on lessons learned in other fields.

Some

of

these

initiatives

focus

on

recruiting

and

cultivating men as allies for women in politics, following the model pioneered by UN Women’s global #HeforShe

4

Recurring Tensions First, male engagement interventions require the buy-in of

male

power-holders,

in

order

to

get

them

to

participate in the first place. Yet, this need for buy-in is at

odds

with

the

reality

that

many

male

politicians

directly benefit from women’s political marginalisation.

Gender equality change in politics is ultimately about redistributing power, which is tied to status as well as material resources. Although male leaders may be open to examining gender norms in their personal lives, they campaign in 2014. In Sierra Leone, for example, Oxfam

may be considerably less inclined to relinquish decision-

and their partner organisation 50/50 have encouraged

making positions to make space for women.

community leaders to publicly support women’s inclusion in local councils, in order to increase awareness in the

One way of getting around this problem is to emphasise

wider community. In Kenya, the organisation GROOTS

that women’s inclusion can bring concrete benefits for

Kenya

male politicians. It can attract new voters to a party or

has

similarly

recruited

“male

champions”

to

accompany women candidates during their campaigns, monitor

polling

stations,

and

advocate

for

women’s

make political institutions appear more legitimate. Yet while

this

leaders,

leadership in local politics.

argument

whose

may

dominant

appeal

to

position

senior

is

political

unlikely

to

be

immediately threatened, it may not resonate with men Other

initiatives

go

beyond

allyship:

they

use

small-

group discussions, reflection exercises, and other tools to

transform

gender

discriminatory

norms

and

biases

held by men politicians and officials. Across different contexts,

male

leaders

often

deny

that

women’s

political underrepresentation is a problem, and argue that women are simply less interested in politics. Other men view gender issues as “women’s responsibility” that have nothing to do with them. These programs therefore try to encourage men to think critically about gender in their own lives and practices. The democracy assistance organisation

IFES,

for

instance,

has

implemented

a

“Male Allies for Leadership Equality '' program in Nigeria,

lower

down

women

for

the a

political

finite

ladder,

number

of

who

compete

political

with

seats.

Past

experience shows that measures to advance women’s political

inclusion

can

come

at

the

expense

of

marginalised men. In Nepal, for example, gender quotas in local government have increased the representation of

women

from

both

elite

circles

and

the

Dalit

community, whereas Dalit men remain largely excluded.

Meanwhile, elite men have held onto their position of power. These patterns highlight the need to pay close attention to differences in interests, status, and power among different groups of women and men. Otherwise, fostering buy-in for gender equality reform from men at the highest levels may result in backlash in other spaces.

Ukraine, and elsewhere that uses discussion groups with male leaders to uncover locally rooted gender norms that disadvantage women and identify opportunities for allyship.

The

Democratic

Institute’s

“Men,

must

strike

a

delicate

balance

between

challenging

men’s political authority while also relying on the same

Power, and Politics'' program, first piloted with political

authority

party leaders in the Democratic Republic of Congo, also

initiatives typically target men in positions of influence,

brings

such

together

reflection,

link

male

gender

politicians norms

to

with

engage

political

in

self-

practices,

as

to

promote

religious

politicians,

whose

gender

leaders, views

equality

village

are

change.

elders,

widely

and

respected

Such

senior in

the

and develop strategies for personal, organisational, and

community. At the same time, relying on these opinion-

social

leaders can inadvertently reinforce the idea that women

change.

patriarchal

5

National

Second, practitioners implementing allyship interventions

But

gender

these norms

initiatives are

still

to

very

transform new.

Few

politicians

require

the

protection

or

endorsement

of

evaluations examine their effectiveness across different

male gatekeepers to succeed. For example, engaging

political settings or over time. And these efforts are not

male traditional leaders to support women candidates

without tensions and risks - some of which cut across

does not necessarily transform the system that grants

sectors, and some of which are specific to the political

these

sphere.

processes in the first place. In the worst-case scenario,

leaders

authority

over

candidate

selection

leaders may use the title of “male champion” to bolster

changes in local norms and behaviours likely to last

their political legitimacy, without taking any meaningful

beyond

steps to deserve their political legitimacy, without taking

societal

any meaningful steps to deserve the label. In the words

unchanged? And how can interventions that work with

of Frida, a women rights activist in Kenya: ‘If you’re a

women and men in a specific locality or institution be

male champion, you have to demonstrate it first in your

scaled up? It is possible that change in one community

household.

will

If

in

your

own

household,

your

own

wife

doesn’t even know who owns the land on which you live, how can you say that you are a male champion?’.

the

lifespan

narratives

have

positive

communities, social

change.

address

the

risk

of

cooptation,

women’s

rights

activists emphasise that efforts to engage men need to result

in

tangible

positive

outcomes

for

women

in

politics. In the end, the goal is not to change men’s attitudes or rhetoric: it is to change gendered power imbalances.

To

Institute

designed

has

this

end, its

the

National

“Men,

Power,

Democratic and

rather

than

focusing

on

men

in

isolation.

Ensuring that programs are implemented in partnership with women’s organisations can also address activists’ valid concern that donors will redirect (already scarce) resources

away

from

women’s

groups

to

program,

political

is

effects

gradually also

targeting

particularly

practices

into

creating

possible

that

higher-level

if

remain

other

bottom-up

norm-change

political

leaders

within parties and government institutions can open the door to meaningful organisational and policy reforms.

But even within political parties or parliaments, regular turnover

in

political

officials

and

shifting

political

interests risks making continuity difficult, particularly if formal institutions are weak.

Politics''

program to target women and men, both together and separately,

It

the

spill-over

thereby

interventions

To

of and

programs

In sum, much more experimentation and learning are needed to better understand what kinds of initiatives work where and why. A good dose of humility is also essential: social norm change is a complex process, and no

single

intervention

or

set

of

interventions

will

be

sufficient on their own. Looking back over the twentieth

focused on men.

century, we see that major shifts in gender relations

Finally, policymakers and practitioners face challenges of

scale

and

sustainability.

Transforming

patriarchal

often

followed

large-scale

women’s

skills

and

significant difference in many women’s lives. In Wekesa’s

relations

and

norms

case, encouragement from her husband and her wider

towards

community

marginalisation,

gender norms, attitudes, and behaviours could make a

political

might

have

ambitions

enabled

much

her

sooner,

to

and

pursue at

a

her

lower

economic,

social,

and

political transformations. However, shifting the lens from confidence

tackling and,

represents women’s thus,

to an

gendered

persistent

towards

power

important

step

political

developing

more

inclusive democracies.

personal cost. Yet even if a specific intervention proves successful, many questions about impact remain. Are changes beyond societal

in

local

the

norms

lifespan

narratives

and

of

behaviours

the

and

program,

political

likely

to

last

particularly

practices

if

remain

unchanged? And how can interventions that work with women and men in a specific locality or institution be scaled up? It is possible that change in one community will

have

communities, social

positive

change.

interventions

spill-over

thereby It

is

effects

gradually

also

targeting

into

creating

possible

higher-level

that

other

bottom-up

norm-change

political

leaders

within parties and government institutions can open the door to meaningful organisational and policy reforms.

But even within political parties or parliaments, regular turnover

in

political

officials

and

shifting

political

interests risks making continuity difficult, particularly if formal institutions are weak.

6

Wild Rice Cakes and A Food Fight for Democracy As global kitchens burst with à la carte agendas, across the Atlantic, eating is healing wounds and empowering communities. In this growing movement, comfort food is discarded for ‘culture food’ and the benefits extend far beyond the nutritional.

by HAMISH DAVIS Vacuum-packed,

or

perhaps

in

a

fruit

cake

form,

food

occupies a space in nearly any given time-capsule. Nestled amongst

mixtapes

of

Ed

Sheeran

featuring

Mongolian

throat-singing, deflated footballs and Mona Lisa postcards, it is that which we eat that represents humanity above all else.

Food

necessity,

is

the

non-negotiable. edible

is

also

Beyond

an

its

explosive

biological

and

colourful

medium with a propensity to stir us the world over.

Yet, for a growing movement in North America, gastronomy stretches context,

beyond wild

sustenance

rice

cakes

are

and

the

richer

sensuous.

than

In

chowder,

this more

potent than chipotle hot sauce, and more vital than a nextmorning breakfast at Wendy’s.

Across the continent, beans, corn, squash, and berries are just some of the ingredients on the frontline of a food-fight with

far-reaching

implications.

Hungry

for

a

stake

in

production, a place in the kitchen and a seat at the table, Indigenous arena,

communities

food

is

are

democracy

fighting

and

a

voice.

In

democracy

for

food.

Amidst

this

diverse backdrops, everything from mountains to marshes accommodates

development

for

marginalised

Native

peoples.

Described

as

a

‘Indigenous

partnership’

by

culinary

anthropologist, cookbook author and key member, Lois Ellen Frank (Kiowa), the recent explosion of Native food activism in North America comes from a variety of participants. From Native chefs, foragers, and food-producers, to academics and

lobbyists,

a

shared

objectivity

unites

a

far-reaching

movement. At its core is the reassertion of traditional foodsystems,

as

participants

pursue

an

Indigenous

‘food

sovereignty’.

The idea of ‘food-sovereignty’ is believed to have come from South-American

7

activism in the 1980s

which

was

concerned with reduced-state support for agriculture and increasing food imports from the US. The concept became internationally relevant when the movement La Via

Campesina

globalisation

advocated

of

food

against

systems

the

during

widespread

the

1996

World

Food Summit in Rome.

Since

then,

the

2007

International

Forum

for

Food

Sovereignty in Nyéléni, Mali, has seen the formulation of seven pillars. Over 500 representatives from an array of communities - including Indigenous ones - determined that

the

concept:

focused

on

food

for

people,

built

knowledge and skills, worked with nature, valued food and providers, localised food systems, and advanced

health concerns aren’t far behind. With an average life

local agency.

expectancy

5.5

years

lower

than

the

remaining

US

population, according to the Indian Health Service (IHS), In a subsequent 2018 publication, La Via Campesina

Native communities continue to die from chronic liver

elaborated

disease,

that

food

sovereignty

was

about

‘human

beings having direct, democratic control over the most

heart

issues,

and

diabetes

mellitus

at

disproportionately high rates.

important elements of their society - how we feed and nourish ourselves, how we use and maintain the land,

The Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)

water and other resources around us for the benefit of

have stated that nearly 1 in 6 American Indians and

current future generations, and how we interact with

Alaskan Natives are diabetic. The situation is similar for first

other groups, peoples and cultures’.

Nation

National In

the

spirit

of

these

definitions,

Indigenous

food

activists seek to dig up the roots of their own peoples’ troubles and resow the seeds that once were. This is no easy task. For native communities across North America,

communities

Collaborating

(NCCAH)

has

noted

in

Canada.

Centre

that

for

the

The

country’s

Aboriginal

presence

of

Health Type

2

diabetes is nearly three times greater for First Nations adults living on reserves than the wider population. The figure is largely attributed to high rates of obesity.

the statistics are deeply troubling and the causes often

For academics and food sovereignty activists alike, a

entrenched.

worrying contemporary picture is marked by the scars of colonialism According

to

Northwestern

University’s

Institute

for

Policy Research, 1 in 3 Native Americans were living in poverty in 2020, with a median income of $23,000 a year. Amidst high rates of poverty, food-deserts and insecurity are commonplace.

and

the

damaging

dependencies

there-

after. As Indigenous scholar Rachel V. Vernon (Yaqui, Mescalero Apache) has noted: ‘The severe disruption of Native communities and lives extends to the altering of their relationship to food, and is deeply tied to racism, colonialism,

and

the

loss

of

autonomy

and

power.

Stripping Native communities of their food sovereignty Shockingly, Agriculture

research (USDA)

by

has

the

US

revealed

Department

that

compared

of to

63.6% of low-income citizens nationwide, only 27.8% of

and

traditional

deficiencies

[…]

diets and

has

increased

contributed

to

nutritional

current

health

disparities’.

Native low earners lived within walking distance of a supermarket. insecurity,

In

the

a

2018

USDA

report

found

that

on

national

10.4%

of

food White

Since

colonisation

ecological

Americans experienced food insecurity. This was less

barren

than a third of the average insecurity found amongst

stress

tribal

communities

communities

by

Environmental Nutrition.

the

Journal

of

Hunger

&

land, the

decimated

supermarkets, food

relocated

sovereignty

continuing that

communities

and

problems

have

been

activists of

torn

and

their

survivors

have

tried

colonial-foods from

healthier

to to for

and

more sustainable foodways by such historical forces.

8

Co-founder of Indigenous food-based company Sioux

learn how to forage, not to learn how to farm, not to

Chef

learn how to hunt [but] how to do carpentry, how to be

and

the

non-profit

organisation

NATIFS

(North

American Traditional Indigenous Food Systems), Sean Sherman

(Oglala

continued

Lakota)

presence

ingredients

in

programmes.

has

of

frequently

harmful

government

Whilst

fellow

noted

food

the

non-Indigenous

commodity sovereignty

housemaids'.

food activist

Winona LaDuke (Ojibwe) has connected Native health issues to the ‘highly processed, high sugar, high fat, and packaged foods’ found in these programmes. Sherman

This

fracturing

(TEK)

community

had

to

regions, belief

the

forced

systems

and

practical knowledge for generations to come.

Operating until the 1970s in the US and as late as the 1990s

in

Canada,

‘Boarding’

or

‘residential’

Knowledges’

painful

losses

of

Speaking

about

her

own

project

coordinator,

Valerie

Segrest

...in our oral traditions, our creation story, we are taught that the land that provides the foods and medicines we need are a part of who we are.

Without the elk, salmon, huckleberries, shellfish and cedar trees, we are nobody.

economic. As colonisation tore through the physical ties

dismantled

togetherness.

sovereignty

colonialism that extends well beyond the nutritional and

also

Ecological inflicts

community’s foodways, the words of Muckleshoot food

Indigenous food-systems is a fight against a legacy of

communities

‘Traditional

communities

deeper cultural identity, connection to the land, and

Yet, as the movement is all too aware, the fight for

assimilation

of

Native

(Muckleshoot) are perhaps telling:

has described their contents as ‘oppression food’.

Native

in

schools

removed hundreds of thousands of Indigenous children from their homes and cultures. Whilst the discovery of mass graves in recent headlines reminds us that a literal ‘genocide’

was

all

too

apparent,

boarding

schools

continue to cast a long shadow of ‘cultural genocide’, as

survivors,

their

children,

and

their

grandchildren

grapple with a trauma of ‘not knowing’.

A

9

rupture

of

inherited

knowledge

On

a

contemporary

related,

and

cultural

stage

where

insecurity

economic,

amongst

health-

Indigenous

peoples is linked to the colonisation of diets and the destruction of foodways, how exactly is a movement reversing

these

issues

through

food

systems

and

sovereignty?

has

not

only

From

transnational

collaborations

to

local

initiatives,

contributed to the near extinction of 75 out of 245

tribal collectives to individuals, and formal organisations

Native

to informal online communities, inspiring projects are

American languages.

During a talk

at the

Culinary Institute of America in 2018, Sherman spoke of

strengthening

how boarding schools forced next generations ‘not to

plethora of different ways across state borders.

health,

economies

and

cultures

in

a

In such projects, an attention to the very beginnings of

At

traditional food systems is notable. Throughout North

those mentioned react to economic issues, as providers

America, groups focus on the cultivation of food and

of

the

and as oases of nutrition in food-deserts of insecurity.

protection

of

land

that

traditionally

provided

for

them.

their

core,

agricultural

employment,

and

stimulators

of

catering

projects

Indigenous

like

economies,

Yet, education and knowledge are always present, and with them, a more sustainable approach.

In northern California, the Wiyot tribe work to restore marine

habitats

along

their

recently

reacquired

Area-specific operations like the Three Sisters Gardens,

ancestral lands. Nearby, the Yurok tribe fight against

Winona

dams to restore traditional salmon populations.

and the Toronto area’s Ojibiikaan Indigenous Cultural

LaDuke’s

White

Earth

Land

Recovery

Project,

Network (OICN) all enshrine education, as do farther Meanwhile, in the same state, the Three Sisters Gardens

reaching

project shows that an attention to land can cross into

and Sioux Chef, Sioux Chef’s non-profit subsidiary NATIF

urban

space.

In

the

suburbs

of

West

operations.

Alongside

Intertribal

Foodways

Sacramento,

and Native Seeds are just some of the transregional

California, the project uses the ‘three sisters’ growing

organisations that don’t just cultivate and produce food

method of TEK to provide nutritious native ingredients to

but support a wide range of people in reviving and

an area troubled by food-deserts.

retaining lost connections.

The final stages of foodways are of no less significance

Whilst Sioux Chef trains Indigenous employees to source

in

and work with indigenous ingredients, and Native Seeds

the

movement.

Indigenous

cafés

and

restaurants

continue to strengthen in numbers. Just an hour’s drive

provides

from West Sacramento, Café Ohlone, founded by Vince

communities across the US southwest, the OICN helps

Medina (Muwekma Ohlone) and Louis Trevino (Rumsen

children

Ohlone),

knowledge.

provides

healthier

pre-colonial

combinations

seed

saving

specifically

to

and

farming

retrieve

Throughout

the

training

obstructed

movement,

a

for

traditional network

of

of ingredients from the Bay Area to the Bay Area.

empowerment extends beyond the economic.

In Minneapolis, the newly opened restaurant Owamni is

When thinking about democracy and development, the

just one of the many projects Sean Sherman and Dana

Indigenous

Thompson’s

Sioux

right ingredients. For too long the cliché ‘you are what

Chef has developed since the company’s founding in

you eat’ has held a brutal post-colonial counterpart for

2014.

Indigenous

A

food

sovereignty-based

previous

partnership

enterprise

with

the

Little

Earth

food

sovereignty

communities.

statistically

movement

Displaced

extreme

and

holds

all

the

marginalised

Community of United Tribes in Minneapolis also yielded

amidst

food-deserts,

the Tatanka food truck in 2015.

health woes, and cultural crisis, for many, what is eaten

insecurity,

simply isn’t what they are. This truth only speaks of a Indigenous catering-based companies provide exciting

wider

flashpoints for a food-sovereignty movement that looks

needs reasserting.

voice

suppressed

by

colonialism,

a

voice

that

beyond exclusive returns to exclusive systems, just as they were. Of his own projects, Sherman has stressed

Now, with increasing momentum, a movement does just

that the objective isn’t to do ‘a time-piece like it’s 1481’.

that, turning a symptom into a solution. As an eclectic array of different projects draw communities together,

Instead, companies like Sioux Chef, as well as Brain

revived foodways not only introduce direct solutions to

Yazzie

(Navajo/

issues of health but provide the glue for new networks

far-reaching

of economic empowerment and cultural revivals. In this

networks of Indigenous employment and business. Whilst

sphere, to grow, pick, cook, and eat is to democratise.

Sherman

Food for thought.

Dine)

(Navajo/

Dine)

Intertribal

is

Anishinaabe, Northern

and

Danielle

Foodways

Oglala

Lakota,

Mdewakanton

Cheyenne

exist

to

name

Polk’s as

his

team

Dakota, a

includes

Navajo

few.

Despite

and the

company’s Navajo origins, Intertribal Foodways sources food

from

each

with

Indigenous their

own

suppliers traditional

across

the

US,

methods.

10

Are Dictators Facing a Democratic Backlash?

As former student protest leader Gabriel Boric joins the resurgence of left-wing politics across South America, struggles for democracy continue across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). Eleven years since the Arab Spring awakened the region, is there any hope for 2022?

by YASMIN TURNER in

inequality. The 35-year-old has told supporters he will

democracy when the first pink tide of socialist leaders

look after democracy and promised curbs on Chile’s

swept through the continent in the early 2000s. There

neoliberal free-market economy.

South

America

began

its

greatest

development

was a large ripple of hope in the region as leaders promised

social

equality

and

growth.

Yet

pink

tide

In his victory speech, Boric said he would uphold the

governments lost power in the mid-2010s as corruption

role

and government debt stymied the leftist wave.

responsibility’,

with

modesty

and

pledging

to

a

‘tremendous ‘firmly

fight

sense

against

of the

privileges of a few’. Chile once had the most stable

11

However, as conservative governments struggle to deal

economy

with

is

upheaval has resulted in large unrest and protests, for

washing over the region, determined to correct past

example in 2019 after the government increased public

mistakes. On December 19, the left candidate Gabriel

transportation fares by 4%. In addition, according to the

Boric won Chile’s presidential election and is poised to

United Nations, it now has one of the world’s largest

be the country’s youngest ever leader when he takes

income gaps, with 1% of the population owning 25% of

office on March 11. In recent years, the country has been

the entire country’s wealth. To address this inequality,

unsettled

the president-elect promises to increase social rights

the

COVID-19

by

mass

pandemic,

protests

a

new

leftist

wave

against corruption and

in

South

America,

but

recent

economic

and improve pension and healthcare systems, as well as enhance

green

investments

and

reduce

the

working issues; the need to reduce inequality and poverty; and

week from 45 to 40 hours.

the advocation of a more active role of the state in the One of the significant talking points of Boric’s campaign

economy.

and subsequent victory, were his outspoken comments on the support for the Palestine cause. He has previously

However,

supported the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS)

country and progressiveness still has a long way to go

campaign bill in Chile’s National Congress, seeking the

throughout

boycott

campaigned

of

goods,

services

and

products

in

Israeli

there

are

the

region.

on

to

profound

an

For

differences

example,

absolute

strengthen

in

country

Chile,

progressive

promising

the Israeli-occupied Golan heights. In a country that

legalising abortion and improving gender equality. On

hosts the largest Palestinian community, with between

the other hand, Peru’s Castillo appears more traditional

300,000 and half a million migrants, Boric’s victory will

regarding social policies, strongly against both elective

be greatly celebrated by many human rights advocates.

abortion

gay

rights,

Boric

platform,

settlements in occupied West and East Jerusalem, and

and

LGBT

to

marriage,

and

as

in

well

favour

as

of

reintroducing the death penalty.

Karla Cisternas Zamora, a Chilean fourth-year TESOL exchange

student

in

the

UK

in

favour

of

the

new

Despite

this,

a

shift

across

the

region

is

certainly

president comments: ‘to be honest, Gabriel Boric is the

underway. Aided by fairly progressive supreme courts,

hope for everyone in Chile. The new elected president is

South American social liberals have observed a series of

exactly

successes.

what

someone

our

young,

country

with

new

has

needed

ideas,

from

a

for

years:

centre-left

girlfriend. response

to

how

Chile

can

mend

2019,

the

environmentalist

and

LBGTQ+

Columbia’s capital city, just weeks after marrying her

party, and who has not been corrupted’.

In

In

candidate, Claudia López, became mayor of Bogotá,

its

past,

Karla

elective

In

December,

abortion

after

campaign.

Argentina’s pressure

following

an

legalised advanced

explained, ‘unfortunately neoliberalism in Chile has left

grassroots

serious consequences that cannot be healed in a four-

supreme

year presidential term. In spite of that, from now on

ultraconservative Honduras, the only country in South

Chilean people have risen up with strength and voice of

America where a total ban on abortion and emergency

vote. We will not fall back into the same mistakes of the

contraceptives

past’. As Gabriel Boric said: ‘Chile was the cradle of

president, Castro, has called for easing of this ban.

court

The

council

from

decriminalised

is

still

in

place,

year

abortion.

the

new

Mexico’s Even

first

in

female

neoliberalism, but it will also be its tomb’.

Progress is patchy, but it is a clear shift towards social The election of Boric marks the third victory in a row for

liberalism

left-wing

remains;

leaders

in

South

America.

The

far-left

across the

the

region.

population

has

One a

significant

democratic

factor

political

was

system, following the end of US-backed coup d’états.

elected to Peru’s highest office in June, and Xiomara

During the Cold War these were aimed at replacing

Castro took office in Honduras on the 27th of January.

left-wing leaders with right-wing, military juntas or other

schoolteacher

and

union

leader

Pedro

Castillo

authoritarian But the trend doesn’t end here. These three presidential additions

join

already-established

left-wing

regimes,

in

order

to

combat

potential

Soviet allies.

gover-

nments in Bolivia, Argentina and Mexico. This year is

But across the ocean it is a different story. Eleven years

thought to bring Brazil and Columbia into the mix as

on from the international optimism that flared in 2011,

well, with left-wing politicians favoured to win.

the Arab Spring quickly turned to a bitter winter. On December 17, 2010, one man sparked worldwide interest

So, what does leftist leaders mean for democracy and

in events across MENA. A fruit seller in Tunisia, named

international

Mohamed Bouazizi, doused himself in petrol and set

development?

The

general

traits

shared

across these leaders is the emphasis on redistributive

himself

on

fire

headquarters

of

in

the

Sidi

street

Bouzid,

outside in

protest

the

provincial

against

local

police who had seized his fruit cart due to permits.

12

Over

Arab

On September 11 1973, Chile’s democratically elected

Spring continues to falter. The sense of optimism and

a

decade

later,

president Allende was overthrown by the armed forces.

democratic

hereditary

Augusto Pinochet was head of the armed forces and

dictatorships and monarchies who spent the next years

led the coup, subsequently rising to power, backed by

waging war against their own populations. The streets

the CIA and the United States Government who were

were

afraid

freedom

threatened

the

was

by

hope

felt

crushed

bloodshed,

during

by

the

terrifying

the

democratic

movements to silence so that they would not be sparked

of

left-wing

governments

transpiring

as

communists in light of Soviet influence.

again across the region. In Syria, nationwide protests demanding into

a

President

wide-scale

Assad’s war

resignation

that

brought

descended

Now the proxy war theatre has moved to the Middle

in

East, democracy is able to function more freely in South

foreign

intervention.

America.

Tyranny

has

less

of

a

foothold

across

the

region because it no longer serves a political purpose By

December

2011,

the

Assad

regime

had

murdered

for outside forces that are able to prop it up. It is no

more than 5,000 civilians, with protestors gunned down

longer

on

South

the

streets

of

Syria,

or

arrested

and

tortured

to

between America

Communism

suffered

and

centuries

Capitalism. of

US

While

intervention,

death. By 2020, Syria became the worst war of the 21st

since the fall of the Soviet Union, the geostrategic focus

century and in 2014 the UN officially gave up counting

on the Middle East offered the region breathing space

the death toll. The last estimate was put at 400,000

for its democratic forces to gain success.

dead in April 2016, but this figure is expected to have risen substantially since then.

But it is not just US intervention that stands in the way of democratic

Egypt’s

revolution

military

are

operating

in

Russia’s involvement is a main factor as to why Assad’s

already on the rise, events of 2021 were particularly

regime did not fall in Syria, despite evidence of Assad’s

detrimental

war

of

a

countries

similar to Libya, Yemen and Syria. With authoritarianism

health

in

Other

these proxy wars within the Middle East. For example,

the

ending

justice.

coup,

to

failed,

democracy.

Tunisia,

the

crimes.

Russia

has

propped

up

the

country,

for

birthplace of the Arab spring uprisings and fittingly the

many reasons, including its geographic location at the

only country to emerge as a democratic success story,

heart of the Middle East which has allowed for counter-

saw

terrorist measures against jihadists who might inspire

their

first

female

prime

minister,

Najla

Bouden

Romdhan, come into office on 11 October 2021, making

Islamist extremists on Russia’s doorstep in Central Asia.

headlines around the world. But president Kais Saied had already set up a system that diminished the prime

Outside forces are able to bolster tyrannical figures but

minister’s powers, whereby he would essentially govern

wealth comes into question as well. The distribution of

Tunisia by decree in a one-man rule. Tunisia is back to

oil is a large factor of why countries across MENA can

authoritarian

rule

rule

as

Saied

bypassed

the

2014

in

authoritarian

style.

Countless

studies

have

Constitution that the country had proudly adopted after

examined the so-called “resource curse”, with political

years

science

of

meticulous

negotiations.

The

true

extent

of

scholar

Michael

Ross

at

the

University

of

power that Romdhan has is unclear. Saied is responsible

California stating, ‘no country with high levels of oil and

for selecting or sacking cabinet ministers, leaving the

gas income has successfully become democratic since

role of prime minister significantly less important than in

1960’.

previous administrations.

known to use their wealth in order to fund domestic

In

the

oil-rich

Middle

East,

leaders

have

been

wars, extort citizens, and encourage aristocratic elites, When

looking

at

democracy

across

both

regions

of

South America and MENA, one of the factors that has been influential behind their opposing stories is proxy war. Across South America, there has not always been a democratic voting system in place. Democracy suffered in the region, mainly due to proxy wars during the Cold War. The dictatorships remained in control because they had political power backed by foreign forces.

13

therefore impeding democratic advancements.

In such parched soil, it is not a

surprise

that

democracy

has failed to sprout, although the

roots

Santiago

are to

there.

San

From

Salvador,

the regions of South America were

ruled

dictators

just

by

military

four

decades

ago - today they aren’t. The opposition is there amongst the people, but with human rights strong

defenders leaders

in

and

other

prison,

as

well as foreign intervention, it might be some time before a democratic

system

is

finally

in place. Perhaps, like events in South America, it may be a US

refocus

that

long-suffering

allows

MENA

some

breathing

finally

enact

a

the

region

space

to

democratic

renewal in years to come.

14

Democratizing Development Practices: Envisioning the future of international student-led humanitarian aid.

by RYAN SUTHERLAND and SWEETBERT ANSELIMUS

If we are going to interfere in the lives of others, a little due diligence is a minimum requirement.

Teju Cole, “The White-Savior Industrial Complex”

Much

has

learning

been

and

learning

written

pedagogy,

engagement refinement.

about

community

and

to

service

value

as

an

promote

personal

While

the

service

service-

and

build

equity,

capacity

and

cultural

competency.

and

may

value

promote

The concept of democracy can be defined as ‘involving the

public

directly

in

making

decisions’,

and

is

most

increased empathy and awareness, recent scholarship

obviously not a new concept. Theorists like Jean Jacques

has

Rousseau, John Stuart Mill, and G.D.H. Cole have been

highlighted

the

dangers

of

international

service

learning (ISL) that plague student-led aid organizations.

influential

These

democracy”,

can

embed

organizational narratives

harmful

structures;

through

power

promote

racialized

colonial

a

operationalizing term

that

the

illustrates

term a

“direct

participatory

linkage (“direct”) to political action. Direct democracy

fundamental to equipping citizens with the ability to

democratized development practices. When envisioning

achieve their full capabilities and promoting equal say

the future of international student-led humanitarian aid,

and participation in political life.

‘community-led’ these

barriers

development

and

help

and

projects

achieve

direct

saviorism

in

allows

culture;

white

in

truly

supremacy

voluntourism,

dynamics

and

white

prevent

can

for

freedom

of

participation

and

expression,

overcome

democratized

development, improve relationships between student

15

learners,

cross-cultural

reflection learning

of

experiential

In a lecture entitled “What is Democracy?”, Diamond’s definition includes two key areas, broadening the topic

of democracy to extend beyond the political sphere into

contributions of all people — democratizing practices

the domain of humanitarian aid.

are

therefore

essential

to

achieving

sustainable,

equitable development.

He defines it as ‘active participation of the people…’ in which the ‘protection of the human rights of all citizens’

White Saviorism and Voluntourism

is fundamental, and in which ‘…the laws and procedures apply equally to all citizens’. Therefore, fundamental to the

idea

of

democratization

is

justice,

engagement,

equality, and freedom. Humanitarian aid, at its core, aims

to

‘save

lives,

alleviate

suffering

and

maintain

human dignity’. Rooted in the principles of justice and equality,

the

parallels

between

international

aid

agendas and political theories of direct democracy are

‘The

White

justice’, said.

experience

that

humanitarian

aid,

it

is

inseparably

linked

to

community, explicitly aiming to improve the lives and livelihoods of all people. Much scholarship focuses on how

aid

work

legislatures,

has

the

promote

potential

the

to

strengthen

blossoming

of

is

Complex

is

not

Nigerian-American

about

validates

having

a

privilege’.

about

writer

big

White

has

emotional saviorism

dynamics that view African natives as needing “saving”, surface-level

activism racist

communities

circumstances

of

‘[i]t

the

charades as altruism but is rooted in colonial power

local

In expanding the idea of direct democracy to the realm

Industrial

Cole,

Instead,

perpetuates

obvious.

Savior

Teju

that

and lack

is

founded

pejorative capacity

themselves.

Many

on

and

assumptions to

have

change

that their

observed

the

phenomenon where white aid workers fail to integrate into

the

communities

they

aim

to

serve

or

lack

the

required skills or competency to help but use Africa as a zone of experimentation. As Sarika Bansal writes, these service trips often follow a pattern:

civil

organizations and social services, improve education, and increase the potential of economies. However, aid work done without local buy-in or capacity building can contribute

to

harmful

political

legacies,

leading

to

conflict, failed aid projects, and neocolonial hierarchies.

It is essential that we make a key distinction: aid work, without

community

leadership

and

engagement,

is

destined to fail and furthers harmful tropes that stem. It must,

therefore,

be

direct

(promoting

inclusion

of

all

people) and democratized (communities are engaged in decision-making). Linking this to practice, the U.S. Centers

for

Disease

Control

and

Prevention

(CDC)

offers this helpful definition of community-engagement, a key tenet of direct democracy: ‘the process of working collaboratively

with

and

through

groups

of

people

affiliated by geographic proximity, special interest, or similar situations to address issues affecting the wellbeing of those people’. In this way, direct democracy in aid

ecosystems

engages

local

peoples,

promotes

capacity building and collaboration, and respects the values of local communities.

Aid

work,

culturally

if

not

reflexive

competent

and

self-aware,

practices,

rooted

and

in

done

democratically to eliminate colonial power dynamics, is tone

deaf

harmful

to

community

hierarchies.

Just

need like

and

true

contributes

forms

of

to

direct

democracy, successful aid intervention requires the

A privileged young person, usually white and from a wealthy country, enters a materially poorer one. Maybe they’ve come with their school, or their church, or a volunteer programme they've paid to attend. Perhaps they're there to teach English; or to play with big-eyed orphans …the startled observations about how different everything seems – the sparse grocery shelves, the barefoot women carrying water, the modest living situations; the stereotypical exhortations about how people are “poor but happy”, and how the children’s smiles light up a room; and the crowning jewel of the classic volunteer trip – the photos of the bighearted volunteer with Black and brown children.

16

White that

saviorism, people

themselves’ according

rooted

of and

to

in

color

white

are

deprives

Julio

supremacy,

‘incapable them

Cammarota.

of In

assumes

of

helping

their

this

agency,

relationship,

White aid workers are seen to ‘save the day’, and this term is often used to describe a ‘white person who acts to help non-white people, but in a context which can be perceived as self-serving’ according to Taylor Thiessen’s

demeaning

to

recipients,

conversations local

of

preventing

sustainability,

engagement.

This

is

any

meaningful

capacity

why

aid

building

work

needs

or to

change, aligning itself more closely with principles of direct democracy.

Developing Democratic Practices

definition. In this way, it is inherently anti-democratic, decentering voices of local communities or excluding them from conversations about their development needs

At the same time it is true that International Service Leading, when done ethically, has the potential to bring about significant benefit to communities and volunteers.

or desires entirely.

How Similarly, voluntourism has pitfalls. A word that combines “volunteerism” engage

and

“tourism,”

short-term

(and

voluntourism

usually

seeks

poorly

to

trained)

volunteers in aid work while often rewarding them for their service building wells, teaching English, or running community

health

Organizations

that

clinics operate

with

these

leisure

trips.

often

charge

trips

hefty sums for participation, money that could be better allocated directly to local aid organizations. They can also

do

more

harm

than

good,

preventing

local

communities from gaining the capacity or resources to address solved

long-term

by

problems

short-term

that

foreign

cannot

possibly

intervention,

be

can

student-led

opportunities,

avoiding

experiential reflection directly

learning

and

in

of

white

saviorism

rooted

in

responsibility

ideals

of

reciprocity,

that

engage

as

“saviors”

not

students but

as

responsibility extensive

of

knowledge

cultural

production,

competency

training,

and

require

reflection

on

personal biases, and capacity building exercises to gain a

better

understanding

of

how

to

democratize

community development.

particularly

these

power

little

and

can

perpetuate harmful stereotypes.

that and

volunteers

development requires

privilege

to

limitations.

reflect

To

is

therefore

building and on

create

mutual

demands their

social

a

own

a

reflective

awareness

of

willingness

of

assumptions

interventions

that

and bring

White saviorism and voluntourism are rooted in ideals of

about sustainable development, aid must operate like

white

democracy:

supremacy

that

prevent

truly

bi-direction,

prioritizing

collaboration

and

inviting

all

democratic development. Aid work doesn’t have to be

voices to equally contribute to priority-setting. In this

rooted

way,

in

historical

aid

giver-recipient,

North-South

international

service-learning

hierarchies. An African proverb echoes this relationship: ‘the hand which receives is always beneath the hand

fundamental to achieving desired goals.

gives’.

Simon

Anholt

contests

this

by

stating

democracy,

giving down … and when you are receiving charity… that [can] put you inextricably in a lower position, and that damages your self-esteem, it damages your reputation in the eyes of others, and ends the possibility of long-

The

relationship

Initiative

(CDI)

organizations

down”.

These

needs views

and are

sentimentality, rooted

in

for

colonial

dynamics, not democracy, and are inherently

fact

this

can

approach

is

“giving power

KITE have

Cambridge

Dar

es

worked

Development

Salaam,

student-run

collaboratively

since

2013 to aid development in Tanzania, can serve as a key example of how ethical service-learning can promote understanding

development.

Africa is not a playground for White people to satisfy

between

and

that

cross-cultural

term development’.

emotional

in

‘…

there is something wrong with the idea that someone is

their

and

opportunities

promote

that

17

pitfalls

the aid workspace demand participants share in the

process

very

democratize

collaborators. Ethical service-learning opportunities in

Democratizing

accomplish

the

communities

Despite being built on the ideal of serving those in need, usually

organizations

and voluntourism? Ethical service learning is a form of

from volunteers who have limited skills or knowledge.

trips

aid

development while engaging in ethical service-learning

citizenship meaningful

KITE’s

by

mission

helping

initiatives

disadvantaged

is

and to

university for

communities

the around

long-term

advance

‘global

students

create

development the

world’.

works to ‘take a holistic approach to tackling the key

of CDI

development

issues

capitalizing

on

in

Dar

es

creative

Salaam,

thinking

Tanzania,

and

by

strategic

This

approach

avoiding

the

asks

communities

prescriptivist,

what

colonial

they

approach

need, that

partnerships with Kite Dar Es Salaam in order to design

prioritizes solutions that ignore local input. This style of

and

projects’.

aid work is concerned with equality not superiority, built

Involvement in this style of service learning can resolve

pilot

innovative,

on a foundation of mutual respect. In this way, student-

barriers that threaten democratic development. From

led and professional development organizations should

Lebovits

service-

seek to collaboratively democratize development. Only

learning approach like that of KITE and CDI develops

through this approach can the harms of white saviorism

more democratically-minded students, making students

and

more

democratized development.

&

Bharath

socially

Equality

community-driven

(2019),

responsible

in

a

constructivist

and

multiculturally

decision-making

collaboratively

design,

and

plan

aware.

freedom

and

voluntourism

be

avoided,

promoting

sustainable,

to

implement

development interventions is empowering - the opposite of “giving down” - and is central to their work.

These

organizations

collaboratively partnerships,

share

a

orchestrate and

common

vision:

projects,

volunteer

training.

to

community

CDI

and

KITE

continue to actively collaborative to improve and evolve this

model,

collectively

strengthen to

further

their

locally

partnership, led

and

development

work goals.

Only as equals can true impact be made. To promote equal representation and democratize decision-making, their organizational structures are mirrored, with direct collaborations

between

UK

volunteers

and

Tanzanian

counterparts a key facet of their relationship. Through this

partnership

built

on

mutuality,

students

from

Cambridge and Dar es Salaam have worked as equals to bring about development, raising over 150,000 GBP to support a variety of community-engaged partnerships that persist to this day. This democratizing approach to international

service

learning

and

aid

—

that

values

ethical capacity building, cultural competency training, and long-term partnership — can serve as a model for sustainability for other student-led organizations.

Overall, capacity building training volunteers in ethical service-learning approaches can help them to become effective leaders within humanitarian aid organizations, rooting out white supremacy and promoting democracy within their organizational structures, while solving some of the world’s most pressing problems.

For students to practice truly democratic development practices,

volunteers

engaged

projects

engagement.

should that

Successful

focus

are

on

rooted

ethical

communityin

ethical

service-learning

programs acknowledge volunteer limitations and biases, seek

to

build

capacity,

aim

to be sustainable and

collaborative, and aren’t hierarchical.

18

A Fragile Peace: Reconsidering Libya After the ‘Arab Spring’ Moving away from the ahistorical concept of the ‘failed state’ paves the way for a more apt consideration of democratic development and the project of state-building in fraught post-authoritarian and post-colonial contexts.

by MOHJA AMER

Whether academic, journalistic, diplomatic or otherwise, virtually all sources that take Libya as their subject matter come to the same damning conclusion: Libya is a failed state. Occasionally, the diagnosis is less declarative—and Libya is thus granted the, slightly more promising, ‘fragile state’ status instead—though the central concerns and

implications

are

evidently

unchanged,

as

their

frequent

use

as

simply

interchangeable terms attests to. By unpacking both the basis and ramifications of what seems to have become something of a self-evident truth, we can see how Libya, rather than serving as a, if not the, case-in-point of state failure, is better understood as a state that has been repeatedly failed.

Twin Spectres: Democracy and Development Of course, this is not to deny the irrefutable, and hugely pressing, facts of the matter.

Since

popular

mobilisation

toppled

Colonel

Gaddafi

in

2011,

deep

East-West

divisions have sparked protracted civil wars, and, notwithstanding the significance of the

ceasefire

agreement

reached

in

October

2020,

fuelled

intense

government

dysfunction and political crisis. The prime minister of Libya’s interim, United Nationsbacked Government of National Unity (GNU), Abdul Hamid Dbeibah, has again come under intense pressure as fears grow that duelling administrations will threaten what little stability remains. Strained diplomatic efforts have been guided mainly by the Libyan

Political

Dialogue

Forum

(LPDF)

and

the

overarching

‘need

to

fulfil

the

aspirations of more than 2.8 million Libyans who have registered to vote’.

Presidential elections originally scheduled to coincide with Libyan Independence Day on December 24th 2021, however, have been postponed with no agreed new date.

Inadequacies in, and disagreement surrounding, electoral legislation and candidate eligibility—not least with regards to Gaddafi’s son Saif al-Islam who is wanted by the International

Criminal

Court

for

alleged

war

crimes—have

dampened

hopes

for

‘inclusive’ and, above all, ‘credible’ elections. Indeed, Saif was disqualified from the electoral race before being reinstated as a candidate following a successful, but highly contentious, appeal. At the same time, uncertainty surrounding the new date for elections, and the finalised list of candidates, atop the lack of state infrastructure necessary to hold a national vote are impossible to ignore.

As a result, the House of Representatives (HOR), a rival administration based in Tobruk that boasts the loyalty of the Libyan National Army (LNA), accuse Dbeibah of operating under an expired mandate and have instead named a new prime minister— Fathi Bashagha. Naturally, Dbeibah has fervently rejected the move, maintaining that he will only hand over power following a national election, and has vowed that he

19

would

also

‘accept

no

new

transitional

phase

or

parallel authority’.

The vulnerability of this situation is only compounded further by, particularly in the south of the country, the presence of: foreign mercenaries, factionalised militia groups, radical Islamist forces including ISIL and

Al-Qaeda,

and

the

troubling

prevalence

of

high-grade weapons. Even the minimal definition of democracy, free and fair elections followed by, as David Runciman tells us, the losers of an election accepting that they have lost, seems beyond reach.

Lofty ambitions of democratic development, though appealed to in theory, have been thwarted by, to borrow

apposite

encapsulations

from

Amanda

Kadlec, ‘shady politics’ where the dubiously elected, east-based HOR has remained in place with some members using ‘whatever levers of power the body has

for

the

genuine

purpose

of

reconciliation

throwing

efforts’.

wrenches

in

Meanwhile,

as

Human Rights Watch notes, Libya remains without a permanent constitution, whilst a draft constitution proposed

in

2017

is

yet

to

be

put

to

a

national

referendum with no date set.

Given Libya’s geopolitical position as the ‘gateway to Europe’, humanitarian crises, particularly among the

especially

vulnerable

migrant

populations

coming mainly from sub-Saharan Africa, have been left to fester. The weak institutions and immensely lacking

state

infrastructure

inherited

from

the

dictatorial regime have been scarcely ameliorated, and

indeed

government,

key

functions

including

of

a

independent

transitioning courts

and

a

parliamentary system, have hardly been established at

all.

According

smuggling human

of

trafficking

propping

up

to

GSDRC

goods,

the

the

research,

arms

trade

have

increased

shadow

economy

crime, and

since both

the

even 2011;

breeds

corruption and obstructs reform. Libya’s economic situation more widely is hugely unsustainable. Given the

massive

drop

disproportionately growing

budget

high

deficits

in

oil

revenue,

spending have

forced

on the

and

salaries, Central

Bank of Libya to dip into foreign exchange reserves.

Clearly, this context is one in which ‘state failure’ with regard to legitimacy, security, and basic service provision is, sadly, unsurprising.

20

What

is

also

true

however,

is

that

the

‘failed

state’

These

are

the

precise

lines

of

enquiry

that

are

left

framework, whilst of course grounded in some truth as to

totally unaddressed and under-appreciated by blanket

the

terminology.

realities

inadequate

and

concerns

as

an

of

life

analytical

in

Libya,

tool.

is

highly

Indeed,

the

particular

The

diversity

political

nation

dependencies

similarly diverse range of ‘failed’ cases. Again, as Boas

and

and Jennings point out, the concept is used in a way

misguided

interventions

as

of

well.

the

As

situation,

Morten

Boas

paradigms has very real consequences in the form of

represents the valuable, fundamental first step toward

policy

facilitating development away from the ‘bad’ end of the

(or

rather

perhaps, a lack thereof).

categorical

than

it

a

analytical – though, tragically, the latter of these is what

agendas

and

with

that

research

descriptive

us

of development rhetoric, the uncritical use of flawed

and

more

leave

Kathleen Jennings compellingly highlight in their analysis

responses

is

them

path-

but

accounts

with

their

the

not

misguided

come

states,

and

normalisation of its use has justifiably paved the way for only

that

of

configurations

is

spectrum. That is, contextual analysis of a particular place at a particular time, that pays attention to its unique complexities and challenges.

The

declaration

complexity

of

judgement

that

comparison.

that the

states

only

In

have

situation

turn,

takes

on

this

failed

and

is

flattens a

meaning

betrays

the

normative by

the

way

of

dominant

preoccupations with Western security interests, as well as

the

highly

Commentary

self-referential

on,

and

nature

diplomatic

of

efforts

this

lens.

surrounding,

Libya seems to still be guided by the heightened sense of insecurity induced by the ‘War on Terror’, as well as the lack of nuanced political understanding that led to the general shock and paternalism of initial responses to protests in 2011. Subjects under authoritarian rule do not simply become apolitical, nor are they only worth considering

as

potential

terrorists,

and

the

general

framing of intervention thereafter in terms that relate to the interests of external actors, is unsurprisingly counterproductive and limited when considering the pressing needs

'Failed States’ : Problematising the Concept In

the

first

instance,

these

states

by

way

of

a

pronouncements

single

and

are

universalised

spectrum, relative to the prototype of a developed or ‘advanced’

state.

Moreover,

theoretically

faulty

premise

unwaveringly

optimal

form

they

are

that for

based

there

the

on

the

exists

an

state

and

its

civilians.

The

incongruence

of

a

state’,

whilst

subjectivities also

of

ascribing

those

within

maximum

the

blame

‘failed

to

that

state per se is another troubling dimension of its use. In the

Libyan

case,

not

only

is

this

especially

inept

at

noting the significant barriers to development that stem from the fundamental lack of state and state organs, but the ramifications of competing foreign backers, and the significance of their influence even ‘on the ground’,

institutions. The idea of uncomplicated ‘failure’ at one

is also obscured. In short, we are forced to focus on the

end

of

wrong issues, which fosters erroneous solutions – as the

erroneous universalisation with another: what exactly has

repeated failings of the one-size-fits-all approach to

failed, or is ‘failing’, who is left vulnerable as a result,

tackling Libya’s precarity, pursued mainly by the UN, are

and how exactly is the failing coming about; what kind

cast in harsh light.

of

this

spectrum

compounds

one

process

of political apparatus exists currently, what is the role of the international community, and what role, if any, do civil society groups play?

21

local

complicated

necessarily predicated on the idea that it is possible to evaluate

of

framework that urges us to overlook the agency and

Historicising Trajectories

Crises:

Postcolonial

Development

To add insult to injury, it is also clear that a lack of historicisation

limits

intertwined,

the

viability

projects

of

of

the

current,

democratisation

and

development in Libya. As alluded to above, the UN has consistently empower need

to

pressed

the

Libyan

respect

for

elections

populous

the

and

timeline

of

as

the

has

stressed

the

LPDF

way

to the

roadmap

(which runs only until June this year), despite the fact that efforts in 2012 and 2014 have shown how such a remedy, in a fractured and structurally impoverished climate, does not reap democratic outcomes. Again, the

‘failed

state’

deficiency: especially

an

framework

ahistorical

unsuitable

in

suffers

approach

from to

post-colonial

a

crises

crucial that

contexts.

is

Thus,

the UN process assumes not only that the competent state

institutions

transition

can

necessary

be

assembled

to

sustain

from

the

democratic remnants

of

Gaddafi’s Libya, but that the significant legacies of the colonial state can be ignored.

As development economists, like Ha-Joon Chang, have emphasised, such initiatives based on models of ‘good governance’

represent

the

standards

institutions

and

of

highest service

international provision,

and

make a consideration of the resources necessary to At

the

time

declared

of

a

Libya’s

federal

constitution

stated

independence

Kingdom that

and

Tripoli

in

1951,

article

and

it

188

was

of

Benghazi

its

would

become co-capitals. Benghazi only lost this co-capital status in 1969, following the coup of Gaddafi and his free officers. Modern-day Libya as a territorial unit is the product of Italian colonial practice—whereby the provinces of Cyrenaica, Tripolitania and Fezzan were brought together in 1934 under the name ‘Libya’, and run

by

way

of

four

provincial

governatores

and

a

southern military territory, all with their own ‘capitals’.

As Moez Abeidi writes for The New Arab, understanding the current divisions in simplistic terms—that often rely on lazy tropes of how ‘oil-rich African nations’ operate as

‘just

a

battle

for

power’

ignores

these

crucial

actually

achieve

these

goals

(economic

and

institutional development) secondary to the project of democratisation. By which point, as we have seen in Libya already, the lack of capacity for these ideals to be sustained in practice generates neither democracy nor development. Not only are resources an issue, but time is rarely on the side of the ‘failed state’. Lant Pritchett and Frauke de Weijer estimate that with a growth rate of the fastest twenty countries in the world, it would take just under twenty years for a country to progress from a low level of bureaucratic quality – a ranking of 1 according to the International Country Risk Guide - to a ranking of 2.5. With a growth rate of the average

(non-‘failing’)

developing

country,

it

would

take 116 years.

realities. He rightly adds that ‘to understand the Libyan conflict,

we

need

to

stop

ignoring

its

complex

demographics’. On the other hand, it is precisely this treatment

of

the

country

context

as

a

tabula

rasa,

where elections can be applied as a kind of catch-all ‘band-aid’—to treat the multitude of endemic ails—that has informed both the scope and the priorities of the aforementioned democratisation initiatives.

In order to mitigate this bleak outlook, it is crucial to abandon the frameworks that fuel the conceptual and practical issues above. Libya’s situation is intractable, and

this

critique

of

current

intervention,

and

surrounding rhetoric, does not pretend that there are simple

answers.

Rather,

informed

by

postcolonial

approaches to development—and taking note of the futility of repeated calls for a popular vote as crises across all facets of life are left to intensify unchecked— this

piece

approaches

calls to

for

more

critical,

considerations

of

historicised democracy,

development and their inextricable linkage.

22

Interviews Andrés Velasco

@AndresVelasco Andrés Velasco is currently the Dean of the School of Public Policy at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). He was the Minister of Finance of Chile between March 2006 and March 2010 and a presidential candidate in 2013. He has served as Professor of Professional Practice in International Development at Columbia University and Sumitomo-FASID Professor of International Finance and Development at the Harvard Kennedy School. He has also served as a consultant to the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank, and to governments, central banks and private businesses around the world.

S: I'll just jump right into the questions. In the various areas in which you have worked, how often has the idea of ‘democracy’ been an important part of what you've been involved in?

AV: Oh, the idea of democracy has been absolutely central to my life, both personally and professionally speaking. I grew up in a country that was very proud of having been a democracy for over a century. And then when I was a teenager, we lost that democracy quite tragically and unexpectedly. Then, of course, my generation spent a lot of time and effort trying to recover that democracy, which we did. I get up in the morning and I think ‘democracy’ and, as

a

development

economist,

which

is

what

I've

done

as

an

adult,

I

don't

think

you

can

divorce,

economic

development from political development. One of the things we need to ask when evaluating whether this is a good policy or a bad policy is, does it contribute to democracy? Does it contribute to people's autonomy and freedom?

So the short answer is, how often do I think about democracy? All the time.

SH: Do you think international development, and I say ‘International’ in brackets, because I know you’ve mentioned not being entirely convinced of the term, do you think it should ‘champion democracy’? And if so, what strategies should be used? And if not, why not?

AV: Yes, I think it should. As you know, I'm a little bit sceptical of the notion of international development because I don't think countries become developed simply because other countries with deeper pockets shower money at them. I'm certainly not opposed to foreign lending or foreign aid but the point I'm making is that, ultimately, countries have to build their own efficient and effective states. There's no successful country without a successful state. And states are built locally. They're not built by visiting charities, however well-intentioned they might be.

23

Having said that, and to try to be at least half coherent with my first answer, yes, I think anything that smells of development has to be concerned about democracy. Of course, international lending agencies and international players on the stage of either finance or politics should care whether a country is democratic or not. Whether a country treats its own citizens well. Whether a country acts in a way that is accountable and transparent and decent, or not. Now, needless to say, that is not the same as saying ‘I will only deal with countries which are as democratic and well-governed and transparent as Denmark’. If you are going to be in the business of development, you are going to be dealing with countries whose institutions are probably less transparent or less developed than those very rich, very successful countries. So, having democracy as an aim, as a goal to work toward, does not mean that arrogant people from the West would show up and say: ‘Oh, you're either fully democratic, or I'm not going to talk to you’. Democracy is a goal that we should never stop working toward but it's not a precondition to having any dialogue. Especially when you're talking about low-income nations or nations that are beginning to traverse the path of development.

SH: So do you think all the strategies that those working in international development use should be varied? Or do you think there are some common ones that come up when working toward the goal of democracy?

AV: Again I'm very sceptical of the notion that democracy is obtained because some wellmeaning people in London or New York are going to make it happen. But let's push that scepticism aside for a second. There are three kinds of issues here.

The first one is that long before we talk about the ‘niceties’ of democratic procedure, we need to talk about basic standards of dignity and respect, including human rights. That is somewhere where countries cannot compromise. I am very firm in my belief that lending should be contingent on governments feeding their own people decently. We should not be in the business of subsidising abusive governments, in the same way that we should not be in the business of buying Russian gas to allow that money to then fund tanks so someone can go to the country next door and flatten whole cities. So that’s the first step, level one.

Level two is that international development ought to take into account, and ought to have as

a

goal,

the

building

of

democratic

institutions.

And

I

emphasise

‘building’

and

I

emphasise ‘institutions’ because timing and sequencing is important. Often you begin with elections, and then you sort out state capacity. It probably needs to be the other way around. I think when I was at Cambridge, I cited from that document, which is the LSEOxford document on ‘Strategies for Failed States’. I think it is a wise document. One of the things it says, is that elections are very desirable, but elections happen toward the end of the road and not the beginning – meaning you need to have a functioning state. You need to have the kind of institutions that will make sure that elections are conducted well. And then, elections only guarantee majority rule, you also need to guarantee the respect for the rights of minorities. If you have an election, a majority seizes power and then it proceeds to trample

on

the

rights

of

everybody

else,

that

is

not

going

to

be

a

well-functioning

democracy. So, all of that can be accomplished. You can help build the judiciary. You can help build a set of regulatory institutions. You can help build electoral tribunals. These things don't happen overnight. They didn't happen overnight in the West. In a country like the UK, they exist, but they took a few hundred years to be built in the current shape. So nobody

should

expect

that

in

every

country,

those

institutions

will

simply

materialise

overnight. But they can be built. And that's where a lot of I think international attention should be focused.

24

SH: Well, that, like you said, takes time. But do you think in the current climates, across societies, there's times when democracy works against international development? In the sense of certain democracies becoming more insular, and the people of that country wanting to focus inwardly, to the detriment of international development agendas?

AV: You mean voters in rich countries? Oh, of course, of course. It is not a mystery that any monies aimed at the rest of the world are typically not very popular with voters and that's a reality. That's certainly not an argument for discarding democracy. After all, people are free to do with their money whatever they wish to do. I think it is then incumbent upon those who think that playing a role on the world stage is important.

Those of us who believe that, we need to persuade other people that, in fact, it is worth doing. That's what democracy is about. It’s about marshalling evidence and making arguments and persuading people.

Also, I think it's about designing clever instruments, meaning the world is not simply, or rather, the options of the world are not limited to getting citizens of rich countries to write cheques to citizens of poor countries. There are millions of other techniques if money is the issue. Financial engineering allows you to do co-financing, to provide public sector guarantees to mobilise private money, to do risk pooling of one kind or another. A lot of what people like me do, in the field of international finance, is to design ways for capital to flow to poor countries without necessarily just being a grant from a rich country. If you look at international financial flows, grants or cheques written by the UK or the US or Germany or Scandinavia, are a tiny little fraction of the capital

that

flows

to

developing

countries.

Of

course,

that’s

not

true

in

some,

particularly poor, failed states. But for most of the countries in the developing world, private sector monies dwarf public sector monies. Investment of one kind or another, whether it be equity, or investment in bonds, or fixed income instruments, dwarfs the kinds of grants you're going to get from government to government. So the task is much larger than simply persuading some voter in the north of England or in the south of France to write a cheque. You want intelligent policies that allow you to de-risk investments, that allow you to mobilise other kinds of resources, to share risks to pull risks. That's where the real money is. And that's where the real action in development is.

SH: And do you think those are more effective?

AV: Well, I mean, it's hard to answer that because if we're talking about Brazil, it is not the same thing as talking about Haiti. They’re different problems, they’re different scales, they’re different levels of development. But I am pretty sure that past a certain initial stage things change. In cases of great fragility like, for example South Sudan, Afghanistan or Haiti, grants and donations are an indispensable first step. But I am sure that past that first step, countries will not grow and prosper if they cannot do all the other stuff which is to attract private capital. Things like mobilise private capital and design mechanisms to make investments in the country less risky. Or to use limited funds from the World Bank, the IMF or international aid, to provide guarantees, which in turn trigger larger capital flows. I mean, that's where the money is.

Billy the kid, when asked why he robbed banks, said, ‘that's where the money is’. I'd say the reason why you need to do financial engineering and attract private investing is because that's where the money is. Again, the magnitudes are just overwhelmingly larger. You have to really push to get a few hundred million dollars from rich countries

25

to poor countries in any one crisis. Whereas on any given morning, the capital flows going to many developing countries are tens of billions, if not hundreds of billions.

That's

not

necessarily

long-term

investment.

That's

not

necessarily

stable

money.

However, the point is that the potential is there. You want to harness that money, which is really the big money, for public purposes. But that also requires decision building. That requires predictability and policies.

SH: Very interesting. What responsibilities do you see lying with the international community when it comes to the support of democratic values across the world?

AV: Oh, a huge one, especially in current times. I think the last few years, especially in the West or in the successful countries in the world. These are not necessarily all in the West because what I'm about to say probably also applies to countries like Japan or South Korea. Citizens of rich and stable democracies have been in a bit of a funk when it comes to the importance and values of liberal democracy. When you get rich and comfortable, it's very easy to become cynical. But suddenly when an autocracy, like Putin's, decides, with no previous provocation, to send the tanks rumbling across the water to terrorise a neighbouring country and to terrorise your own people to stay in power, you realise that many of the skirmishes of daily politics in rich countries are really quite small compared to the monumental, life- or death-threats, that many people in the world face every day. I wrote a piece about this, if the Putin invasion should remind us of anything, it is precisely of this gigantic importance of liberal democracy. Yes, we can be critical of the shortcomings of liberal democracies and, of course, they do come up short across many dimensions. But compared to the alternative, which is the terrorising power of autocracy, liberal democracies are, by far, the preferred alternative, and we should never lose sight of that. And international diplomacy and international development should never lose sight of that either.

SH: How do you think students, who are studying either in this field or related fields, can take on these responsibilities? What do you think students’ responsibilities are in times like this?

AV: Many, but I never forget the American politician who said that ‘ultimately, all politics

is

local’.

I

think

students,

especially

privileged

students

from

privileged

countries, their first responsibility is to ensure that their politicians in their countries do the right thing. That means being active and vigilant citizens. Making wise choices in one's own country clearly makes a very, very big difference. For example, whether a country like the United States is ruled by a reasonable man like Joe Biden, or by a Putin-wannabe

like

Donald

Trump.

I

think

that's

not

our

only

responsibility,

but

probably our first responsibility and most important one.

SH: For those who are not quite familiar with what you’ve mentioned about the most effective strategies in terms of financing International Development and things like that, where might you suggest they go to learn about it?

AV: It's a huge field so I'm reluctant to mention one single document. One thing that I was involved with which is quite general, and you should probably read it more than anything else for the references in the footnotes, is the G20 taskforce report put out a couple of years ago. It was a report on what the priorities are in international finance for developing countries.

26

A short summary would be the financing needs of developing countries

have

always

been

large,

and

with

the

carbon

transition they're about to get much larger, because it's not enough to talk about greenery, we need to finance the new investments that will turn the planet into a greener place. The cost

of

that

transition,

reconstruction

in

a

and

place

to

like

that

you

Ukraine,

can

now

we're

add,

talking

say,

about

hundreds of billions of dollars. That money will not simply come from

bilateral

grants.

It's

money

of

a

different

order

of

magnitude. What we need is that money, committed by rich countries or institutions like the World Bank or the IMF, has to be used in a way that catalyses the largest possible flow of private resources

into

countries.

things

And

for

like

that

green

infrastructure

purpose,

financial

in

developing

engineering

of

different kinds is useful. If you're going to be building, say, a sewage

plant

in

a

developing

country,

private

firms

are

perfectly willing to put up their own money, they just need some guarantees

that

the

investment

environment

and

the

tariffs

charged for the using of the water ten years from now will be reasonable, and the regulatory rules will be predictable, etc.

You don't need that much money to be used in guaranteeing certain kinds of investments. You can put down a few million dollars and with that trigger hundreds of millions or even billions that

will

come,

say,

into

the

water

sector

or

the

green

infrastructure sector. And there are ways of doing that, there's no one single formula, but, again, that's where the real money is. And in financial engineering that is where a lot of the action will be, particularly in fighting climate change.

SH: Very interesting. Thank you. And the last thing is whether you have any favourite books or podcast series that you’re reading or listening to at the moment that you would recommend?

AV: Yes, I will recommend to you the same two books that I just recommended to my students here at the LSE two hours ago.

You know pessimism is very fashionable. People are likely to be taken seriously when they say ‘oh, the world is going to hell’. But we know, those of us who are interested in development, we should never forget that, in fact, the world is a much better place than it used to be 20 or 30 years ago. Take any measure, not just per capita GDP, but life expectancy, access to clean water, child mortality etc. Pick your favourite indicator, and in pretty much every country of the world, those indicators have improved massively over the last 30/40 years. There are two books that make this point very neatly. One is called Factfulness by a man called Hans Rosling, a Swedish academic who died quite

tragically

not

too

long

ago.

And

the

other

book

that

makes similar points in a more literary style and with a broader a gauge of issues is Enlightenment Now by the great Harvard psychologist, Steven Pinker.

27

John Ikenberry John Ikenberry is a renowned political theorist on International Relations. He is currently the Albert G. Milbank Professor of Politics and International Affairs at Princeton University and the Co-Director of Princeton’s Centre for International Security Studies. In a recent survey of international relations scholars, Ikenberry was ranked in the top 10 of scholars who have produced the best work in the field of IR in the past 20 years. His most recent book ‘A World Safe for Democracy: Liberal Internationalism and the Crisis of Global Order’ was the basis of the talk preceding this interview.

SH: Why do you believe in the value of a liberal international order and why is democracy an important part of that?

JI: I think, international order is a kind of realm of struggle that we study in the field of international relations and what goes on at the international level is lots of different things. I would say there are four different goals that bring states and societies and people into the international order. One is to search for security, that’s what realists often talk about. Finding ways to survive in a world of anarchy. Secondly, there is the effort to manage interdependence.

To find ways for different societies that are equally entangled with each other to manage their interdependence.

But a third goal of activity, in the international order, is to create conditions so that your own society’s values and principles can survive. And that’s of course what comes to mind when you hear the phrase ‘building a world safe for democracy’. We can’t simply achieve our goals of life in democracy by living on an island because we are so easily confronted with all the different great forces that put at risk our domestic polity principles. So, the great task I think of liberal internationalism is the ideas and agendas for creating a kind of space, an environment, for liberal democracies to survive and prosper. Liberal democracies have a very special set of impulses and demands for international order. Creating conditions that reduce their vulnerability, creating space so they can bounce their competing intentions and principles off one another and aggregating power and wealth to defend themselves from other great projects harnessed to rival great powers as we saw repeatedly through the 21st century.

SH: So, you don’t talk of ‘democracy promotion’, and you’ve mentioned that you recognise the entanglement liberal internationalism has with ideas of empire and imperialism, but you make it clear you see it as separable. So, while we can’t solve global problems alone, how do you see us balancing intervention and support with respect and the neutrality that would come with not wanting to tie to those empire associations?

JI: That’s a great question and I think it’s fair to say, if you’re honest, that liberalism and liberal internationalism (LI) have been deeply entangled with empire and imperialism and with interventionism, even in the period of the post imperial world. Under the banner of promoting liberal democracy, American armies have marched into countries around the world. There’s certainly a lot there that suggests the complicity of liberalism and LI in imperialism and interventionism.

28

At the same time, I do think that it’s a very mixed story.

There have been those, such as JS Mill, that have made the argument

for

why

in

this

case

the

British

Empire

and

imperialism was ultimately shaping developments in a way that would be good for those who would be on the ‘bottom side’ of the imperial system. And there are those on the other

side

vociferous

of

the

critics

debate

of

empire

who

have

who

have

been

the

actually

most

brought

liberal ideas to bear. The American founding itself was the first colonial revolt against empire and this case, the British Empire.

Under

ideas

of

various

figures,

whether

it’s

Jefferson’s preamble to the declaration or Thomas Paine and

other

liberal

universalist

ideals,

these

have

been

incorporated into liberation movements around the world.

Gandhi, Mandela, etc., So, the ideas have been on both sides of this great divide. And I think the most important insight, looking at that complex history, is to suggest that the space created by an open, relatively or at least loosely rule-based international order, with liberal social purposes, creates a space, however flawed that liberal order is, for political

struggle

that

will

bring

peoples

and

societies

closer to the founding ideals. So, the liberal vision with all of

its

complicity

with

empire,

racism

and

sexism

does

define itself as a kind of ongoing project. Always moving forward. Taking what was done in the past and doing a little

bit

better

and

then

handing

it

on

to

the

next

generation. You can read Barack Obama’s moving eulogy it the American civil rights leader John Lewis. It’s all about taking what we have, making things a little bit better, and then passing on the baton to the next generation. I thinks that’s the best we can say for liberal internationalism. It’s got its fingers in lots of the darkest periods and moments and adventure of world politics, but it’s also positioned itself,

intellectually

and

politically,

for

helping

us

move

beyond those past misadventures.

JI: Great question. I think that the connections are multiple intricate.

The

LI

project

as

its

unfolded

over

two

centuries has been deeply driven by the character and evolution of liberal societies. And as those societies have evolved the agenda, the project of internationalism has evolved. We see that when we come to the period of postWWII,

where

the

New

Deal,

and

the

struggle

by

liberal

democracies to reinvent domestic liberal industrial society, was tied directly to the international project of building

29

deal

for

the

world.

Our

domestic

values

get

exported internationally and, at the same time, our struggles with alternatives internationally get brought back domestically to how we think about our

own

society.

autocratic

turn

The

will

rise

have

of

China

and

long-term,

their

profound

implications for how we think about what we do inside

of

our

own

societies.

The

Civil

Rights

movement was an important source of ideas for Cold War American liberalism abroad. Similarly, the Cold War struggle led to an intensification of the

Civil

Rights

project

at

home,

because

the

whole world was watching. The Soviet Union was arguing that they offered a better deal for the working racism

man and

and

woman,

colonialism

as

an

it

alternative

came

out

of

to the

West. So, it in some senses built greater stakes inside of these countries, to move in the direction of civil rights reform because again, the whole world was watching.

SH: What would be your recommendations for those interested in following these kinds of debates and conversations. Where should they be look, apart from your book, of course?

JI: There’s so many different places where these debates are taking place. In Foreign Affairs there are articles that come directly to the issues we’ve been

discussing.

Foreign

Policy

Magazine,

the

National Interest, which is a kind of journal for the realist’s

alternative.

The

think-tanks

in

various

capitals – Chatham House in London; Brookings

SH: Where do you see actors on a local level connecting with this? We talk a lot about world politics and internationalism but at the same time a lot of the struggles come from local, grassroots initiatives. So how do we connect those two?

and

order after WWII. To create, if you will, a new

and the Carnegie Endowment in Washington – are

places

where

you

might

say

the

practical

application of these ideas are being debated, refined

and

advanced.

I

would

look

at

practitioners and experts in think tanks who don’t look like they are debating the same ideas that we are discussing within the academy, but are, in some

sense,

showing

how

ideas

get

put

into

practice and what the real-world controversies are that make our ideas relevant.

SH: Bonus question: You mentioned domestic challenges once or twice and how it’s been a trend that’s existed in the United States for a long period of time. Do you think there are any difference that we’re seeing in the tensions across the world today, there seems to be much play up of the extremes? Do you think that’s a challenge for LI and is it different from what you’ve come across historically?

JI: I think it is a very profound challenge. If the question is what is the greatest threat to open rule based cooperative order on the world stage today, it is really coming from within these societies. Less so from China and Russia, that’s a challenge, of course, but the breakdown of norms of pluralism,

of

loyal

opposition,

the

polarisation

you

see

today, the breakdown of democratic norms, these are as bad as I’ve seen in my lifetime. It does lead us to look back to the 1930 and 40s when there was something like that going on, but even then it was not so much within the US, within the western societies as such. It was more of an external danger. Now, it looks like it’s deeply rooted in the fragmentation of our domestic liberal democracies. It’s as deep as I’ve seen it because it, in some sense, is a kind of erosion

of

politics’

where

what

you

the

might

belief

call

in

‘enlightenment-based

science,

the

belief

that

reasoned debate can lead to compromise and pragmatic program for social betterment is on hold. That kind of vision of what we’re up to, why we’re together, why our societies can disagree, but we can find ways to govern ourselves and to experiment in policies that take us in a commonly desired direction. All that has been put on hold, while you have this, what

looks

shadow, American

at

like, least

nihilistic in

primarily

the rural

struggle US,

of

a

America,

for

power.

kind

of

white

Under

the

anxiety

within

America,

white,

male America, that the world that those people and groups in society knew is disappearing. There’s a kind of threat that they are on the way out. White, male, Christian America is endangered in some sense by progressivism, by feminism, by

minority

immigration.

So

that

kind

of

stirring

of

the

political system is at a level we’ve not seen in America. So, it is deeply rooted, and you can see a future that could be really dangerous. Including, violence and lawlessness that we hope won’t happen but that is intimated/hinted at by various figures in the political debate including a former president. So, I think we really are at a deep moment of uncertainty of whether liberal democracy can function.

30

Effective development often involves disruptive structural reform, and this seems to sit uncomfortably with democracy when a competitive political system makes long-term considerations less important to elected officials, and short-term disruption during a period of adjustment less palatable.

Development is a long term game. It often relies on removing or reforming established institutions, and making wide-scale reforms which can take decades to produce positive results for the broader population.

Democracy is inherently short-termist. Elections occur, and indeed must occur, regularly, in order for true accountability to be upheld. Publics are unforgiving, and particularly in emerging democracies without stable party loyalties, changes in fortune can be swift for those who do not justify their position with rapid, tangible benefits to voters. Far from facilitating development, democracy thus seems counterproductive, fostering

continuity-killing

changes

in

administration,

and

widespread

public

unrest

in

the

face

of

unwelcome reforms.

This isn't always the case - states such as Poland showed effectively how radical development-fostering reform could take place within a democratic system. The World Bank's positive assessment put this down to getting

institutional

arrangements

right

from

the

start:

'rule

of

law,

property

rights,

democratic

Perspectives

accountability, and basic market institutions'. This was undoubtedly disruptive to the people, but a level of

31

public trust seemed to mitigate the short-term hardship in the transition from communism.

Perhaps then, it is the effectiveness of governments in fostering trust, rather than the form of government itself, which determines how far the political system helps or hinders development. Nonetheless, democracy does seem to increase the risk of short-term electoral concerns crowding out long-term strategies for development.

Felix Haynes

Department of Politics and International Studies (POLIS)

Democracy facilitates imitation. Imitation, by nature, is not to develop but to replicate.

Western liberal democracy operates through an inclusive universalism, presuming to develop the non-west by ‘raising’ it to the level of the West.

An erasure of difference must take place in this process of assimilation. Thus, international development, from democracies no less than in authoritarian regimes, is in constant peril of becoming tangential to the colonisation mindset.

It is characteristic of democracies because, by way of election, they are empowered by the support of a majority. I emphasise the indefinite article ‘a’ because, to give just one example, out of the total population of eligible voters in 2019, just over 29% cast their vote to the Conservatives. The majority, 32.7%, didn’t vote at all. But for the winning party this is beside the point. With a sense of validation the goal of solidarism is pursued internationally; seeking to

Rose Amey

Department of Politics and International Studies (POLIS)

replicate their values, beliefs, institutions and culture via the exportation of the liberal democratic state. In doing so, the local is not forgotten so much as dismissed. Democracy would do well to lose the mask of the false consensus, to understand development as a creative process; a generation of something new.

True development must embrace alterity and aggregate pluralities, of culture and of politics, in order to bring real change to the international community.

"Does democracy facilitate development?"

There are two key reasons that democracy helps facilitate development.

First, democracy servesto reduce physical violence in a state. Democracy, provided it is truly inclusive and representative, reduces the need for political actors in a state to artificially-inflate their power through violence.

Although democracy's ability to reduce violence is imperfect - and democracy is never the only solution to solve violence - any system that moves away from democracy only serves to increase the incentives for political actors to commit acts of violence, for it introduces new unnatural imbalances in power. By reducing physical violence, democracy can encourage more investment - both physical and human capital - which will serve to improve development. Second, democracy can reduce systemic violence. By including all political actors within a political framework, the probability that one group may face systemic oppression is reduced. Through democratic frameworks, it is easier for disenfranchised groups to access equal economic rights through the destruction of systemic systems of violence - like the end of apartheid, segregation, or unequal access to education. Democracy is again imperfect, but the patterns of negotiation intrinsic to its nature are more likely to challenge systemic violence - without increases of physical violence than any other system. The end of systemic violence encourages development by increasing economic meritocracy, improving the economic incentives to invest for formerly-oppressed groups, and by increasing economic competition more generally.

Democracy can never be the only means by which one seeks to facilitate development - for the development ofstate capacity and civil society are crucial too - but systems of democracy are more likely to encourage development than any other, provided that democracy is genuinely inclusive and representative.

Curtis Kazimierz Trynka Department of Politics and International Studies (POLIS)

Development discourses have more recently come to recognise that poverty encompasses far more than an economic status or lack of resources. A multidimensional perspective of poverty considers that living in poverty is far more complex: often entailing social exclusion and lack of political representation. Those living in deprivation not only lack, what Rowntree described as, ‘basic needs’ but also the relational structures and political support necessary leave a life of poverty behind them. Within this broader conception of poverty, democracy is key. A healthily functioning representative democracy intends to offer all members of a nation an equal voice and contribution. It declares by its principles that all people have a right to be heard, included and represented and these things are so often denied from the poor. Beyond principles, democracies in practice are also far more likely to serve the needs of the poor by reducing the possibility for the powerful elite to extract from society at the expense of the most vulnerable. If we consider “development” in the context of poverty alleviation, democracy can be understood both as a facilitator and an indicator of development. Where poverty silences, democracy aspires to recognise every individual voice.

Lucy Williams

Department of Education

32

Recommendations Link to podcast: https://www.delib.net/practical-democracy/podcast

Democracy in Question From the Albert Hirschman Centre on Democracy, the series explores questions about and experiences of democracy and development around the world with experts from various disciplines. From democratising access to vaccines to reproductive rights in the US and Argentina, from structuring digital spaces democratically to the overlap of governance and climate change, the three series look at interesting and important topics in detail.

Link to Season 1 (of 3): https://www.graduateinstitute.ch/communications/news/democracy-question

In Pursuit of Development This podcast, hosted by Professor Dan Banik from the Centre for Development and the Environment at the University of Oslo, is a go-to for a deeper understanding of the politics of global development, discussing the experiences of developing and emerging economies across the world, major global challenges, and the solutions that actually work on the ground.

Books

Link to podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/no/podcast/in-pursuit-of-development/id1517346182

33

Rethink: How We Can Make a Better World - Amol Rajan Based on the hit BBC podcast, Rethink offers a guide to a muchneeded, post-pandemic global ‘reset moment’, examining different aspects of public and private life from contributors such as Pope Francis and the Dalai Lama.

Together, they offer a roadmap for positive change and the opportunity to consider what a better world might look like. https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/ 1443317/rethink/9781785947186. html

Podcasts

The Practical Democracy Podcast Questioning how we can improve democracy today, this podcast interviews guests from public bodies and civil society. With an emphasis on digital democracy, recent episodes include topics such as social movements, hyperlocalism and participatory budgeting.

Africa Is Not A Country – Dipo Faloyin

The Democracy of Species

This book pushes back against harmful stereotypes of the continent – not country – Africa, explaining different country’s colonial heritages, telling the story of democracy in seven dictatorships and celebrating the many different cultures and communities.

– Robin Wall Kimmerer

https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/ 1444389/africa-is-not-acountry/9781787302952.html

(part of the Penguin Green Ideas series)

The Green Ideas series shows the richness of environmental thought, deepening our sense of our place in the world and the ways in which activism can grow and become a force for change. This book in particular examines the ways in which we interact with our earth and how to foster a more reciprocal and grateful relationship with the world and species around us. https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/443 658/the-democracy-ofspecies/9780141997049.html

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