Paper Abstracts

Ms Siobhan Byrne, University of Alberta

Feminist reflections on discourses of (power) + (sharing) in conflict resolution theory and practice

Critical feminist engagements with power-sharing theory can be categorized in two broad groups: the first literature casts power-sharing as an anti-feminist approach to conflict resolution. The second literature, developed largely by scholar-practitioners, focuses on practical ways in which feminist approaches to conflict resolution can be integrated in power-sharing practices. Cognizant of important critiques developed in the first literature, this paper begins with the second group of power-sharing interventions. My aim is to show how a feminist approach can help us better theorize power and sharing in conflict resolution theory and practice.

In this paper, I begin by engaging with new scholarship on gender and power-sharing, which has been essential to the goal of improving women’s formal political representation. However, women tend to be located in a narrowly conceived idea of civil society, one that transcends identity politics and stands in opposition to political society. Here, conceptions of power and sharing remain untroubled as does a division of labour between political and civil society. Next, I evaluate a recent call by some feminist practitioners to rename power-sharing theory and promote a feminist ethic of sharing above a masculinist emphasis on power. While such discursive interventions might move beyond a preoccupation with women’s formal political representation only, it may not get us closer to challenging orthodox theories of power and politics at the heart of power-sharing theory. Drawing on critical feminist theories of power and empowerment, instead, I conclude by sketching what an alternative feminist reformulation of power-sharing theory might look like.

Ms Aline Cateux Laboratoire d’Anthropologie Des Enjeux Contemporains

“Abrašević Mladima !” or the improbable victorious campaign of Mostar’s youth

ABSTRACT

On the 1st of May 2003, a demonstration of a hundred persons marched throughout Mostar. This demonstration, the first in this city since 1992, marked the culmination of a campaign launched by a collective of activists in order to obtain the space of the former cultural center Abrašević. The demonstration and the campaign were a shock to the city and a surprise to international and local political actors who didn’t completely know how to face these outsiders challenging the ethno-nationalist elites, breaking the division of the city by occupying public space and claiming their will to establish a place opened to everyone in this city known for its hardline ethnic-division. This paper will explore the ways and means used by this team of people to mobilize in a political environment hostile to collective action, based on the obligation of « belonging » to one or the other dominant ethnic groups of the city, surviving by maintaining the status quo empowered by consociational power-sharing imposed by International Community. What combination of factors have made this campaign successful ? Do we talk about strategies or tactics ? Can we draw any conclusion from this 40 days mobilization?

Mr Petr Čermák Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic

‘Others’ as political actors in local post-conflict politics. Political behaviour of non-aligned communities in post-conflict settings: Comparative study of Bosnia, Croatia and Kosovo.

ABSTRACT

As the result of ethnic conflicts in 1990s, both national and local politics in the Post-Yugoslav space remains highly ethnicized and polarized along the post-war ethnic cleavage. This leads to exclusion of non-aligned communities both directly through power-sharing institutions and indirectly through occupancy of the political space by post-conflict ethnic politics. Hence, despite their significant population in some post-conflict areas, Turks or Bosniaks in Kosovo, Hungarians, Czechs or Bosniaks in Croatia, and non-ethnic ‘others’ in Bosnia are largely limited in their political participation. These communities are facing a choice between political absenting, cross-ethnic voting, support of multi-ethnic parties and formation of their own ethnic political parties. This empirically designed paper will use quantitative methods and data to map how non-aligned communities respond to this choice in their political behaviour. By combining disaggregated population census data and local elections results, political preferences and choices of non-aligned communities will be estimated in relevant areas of Bosnia, Croatia and Kosovo. This analysis should contribute to understanding under which conditions do non-aligned communities choose cross-ethnic, non-ethnic and co-ethnic voting or political absence.

Mr John Coakley Queen's University Belfast and University College Dublin

Does Consociation have a Future?

ABSTRACT

For long, consociational government has been presented as an ideal approach—if not the only one—to the resolution of conflict in deeply divided societies. Yet, it has also come under attack from a range of perspectives, both academic and political. It has been criticised on the grounds that it is conceptually confused and empirically misleading; that it is a device for protecting the power and privileges of traditional elite groups in circumstances where demographic and socio-economic developments are likely to strip them of these; and that in any case it never works, but rather collapses and is replaced by a more stable form of government within a few years in any countries where it has been attempted. This paper reconsiders these arguments, and in particular juxtaposes them against the matter-of-fact acceptance of consociation by many of those who specialise in the analysis of mechanisms for the resolution of ethnic conflict. It suggests that a redefinition of the key terms “consociation”, “consociational democracy” and “consociationalism” may help in clarifying the issues at stake in this debate, and that analytical and normative levels of dialogue need to be more clearly distinguished.

Mr Edgár Dobos HAS Centre for Social Sciences, Institute for Minority Studies (Budapest)

Ethnopolitics as local and international practice: constituent minorities, national minorities and ‘others’ in Bosnia-Herzegovina

ABSTRACT

Bosnia-Herzegovina counts as an anomaly within the European order of nation-states. It institutionalizes the privileged position of three ‘constituent peoples’ (Bosniacs, Croats and Serbs) instead of one titular nation. Members of the 17 recognized national minorities as well as people who identify as Bosnians and refuse ethnic identification from various reasons (‘mixed’ marriage, political or ideological conviction etc.) are categorised as ‘Others’ (Ostali). The visions and practices of international interveners and local political actors have been instrumental in transforming Bosnia-Herzegovina into a state that conceptualizes multiethnicity as a tripartite mosaic and transfers authority to sub-state levels while maintaining ethno-territorial sources of exclusion. Bosnia-Herzegovina is thus a state where power asymmetry between minority and majority communities characterizing modern nation-states is realized within sub-state level administrative units.

The aim of the paper, that is based on interviews, field research and primary sources, is to investigate the various ways in which local and international actors shape inter- and intra-ethnic relations and shed light on the following questions. How do Bosnians in a variety of minority positions experience the power-sharing system with its ethnic stratifying effects? How do non-dominant actors navigate in a context where people with ῾mixed’ cultural repertoire or ambivalent national loyalty are exposed to homogenization pressures? For analytical purpose, it is worth making a distinction between the officially recognized ‘national minorities’ (Roma, Jews, Czechs, Hungarians etc.) and the so-called ‘constituent minorities’, i.e. those Bosniacs, Croats and Serbs who live in a de facto minority position at local level that is reflected in their access to education and employment opportunities, healthcare, pension, public services and various social benefits.

Mr Jony Essa Hebrew University of Jerusalem

Does Security Sector Organization Matter? Continuity and Change in the Exclusion and Inclusion of dominant and non-dominant groups in the Syrian Security Sector.

ABSTRACT

In divided countries, when is the security sector used as a tool for nation-building, and when is it used to reinforce ethnic cleavages? This paper discusses the transformation of the officer corps of the Syrian Armed forces (SAF) from 2000-2017, based on original data collected on a few hundred officers who served in the SAF. The paper examines the SAF as an institution that demonstrates the complex inter-linkage between the security sector, on the one hand, and the pattern of inter-communal relations, on the other, as well as the role of security sector organization in maintaining regime stability by accommodating members of non dominant ethnic groups. The paper examines the interplay between the transformation of the officer corps over time and broader political, demographic and socioeconomic changes in Syria from the transition of rule from President Hafiz al-Assad to his son President Bashar al-Assad in 2000 until the present civil war. This paper focuses on the officers who served in the SAF from non-dominant communities, with an emphasis on its highest echelons, aiming to establish who owned the Syrian Armed forces- and Syria`s security sector in general – in different periods and to examine change and continuity in this regard.

Ms Giuditta Fontana University of Bimringham

Education and Power-Sharing: Aiming to Accommodate or Eliminate non-Dominant Communities?

ABSTRACT

The adoption of power-sharing in deeply divided societies often goes hand in hand with education reform. Schools may help the long-term stability and legitimacy of power-sharing, as well as transition out of conflict. But how do non-dominant communities contribute to education reform in societies adopting power-sharing? Which reforms are typically promoted? And do non-dominant communities benefit from such initiatives?

This paper first investigates whether peace agreements that establish power-sharing also promote the accommodation of diversity through education reforms. To do so, it employs the first comprehensive dataset of reforms of cultural institutions in intra-state peace agreements concluded between 1989 and 2008 (the ICCS Dataset of Political Agreements in Internal Conflicts). It finds that, surprisingly, most of education reforms adopt an integrationist rather than accommodationist approach.

Second, the paper turns to the experience of non-dominant linguistic and ethnic communities in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. Here, the 2001 Ohrid Agreement established liberal consociational power-sharing, alongisde accommodationist education reform. This has provided some opportunities to express and reproduce the culture and languages of micro-minorities in school. However, the Roma and Turkish communities have also denounced attempts to marginalise and even assimilate them in school.

Ms Emilie Fort Laval University

When consociational power-sharing means no power at all. The cases of Kosovo Serbs in Kosovo

ABSTRACT

In post-conflict societies, consociational power-sharing arrangements have been adopted to sustain peace and stability. The goal is to empower minorities and give them a way to mobilise and relay their demands through institutional and democratic channels. However, researchers recently pointed to several weaknesses of the consociational system, including the domination of major groups at the expense of smaller communities and the political integration at the expense of a more general cultural integration.

The case of the Serbian minority in Kosovo validate these criticisms. Authors often highlight the overrepresentation of the Serbian minority in the Kosovo institutions in comparison to other minorities. The Serbian minority thus appears well represented. However, a closer look reveals that it loses most of the power it supposes to have.

In this paper, I argue that to understand the effects of consociational power-sharing arrangements, these arrangements need to be replaced in the particular context within which they operate. In Kosovo, the overlap of local, transnational and regional contexts contribute to imprison and disempower the Serbian minority, particularly Serbs who live in non-Serb majority areas.

Mr Jon Fraenkel Victoria Uni

Exclusion amid Inclusion: Minorities within Power Sharing Arrangements

ABSTRACT

Mandatory power-sharing arrangements usually aim to balance power between groups in contexts where majoritarian arrangements would disadvantage minorities. Yet the risk arises with such arrangements that — despite greater minority participation — cabinet-level decision-making nevertheless continues to operate under majority rule (if no veto arrangements are in place). In such cases, minority parties participating in power-sharing executives may lose support in their own communities owing to a failure to deliver equitable benefits or to advance minority objectives, and become seen as ‘uncle Tom’ type figures who become associated with the majority community. Indeed, integrationist reforms in consociational contexts may actively encourage just such outcomes, particularly where minority politicians are selected by ethnicity rather than as a result of political support in their communities. This paper explores examples of this type of ‘exclusion amid inclusion’ in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Zimbabwe, Fiji, and the French Pacific territory of New Caledonia.

Mr Felix Fritsch, Independent researcher and Lydia Letsch

Non-Ethnic Mobilization in BiH: Alter-Politics in a Formalized Political Unsettlement

ABSTRACT

Non-ethnic mobilizations have been on the rise in Banja Luka in recent years. Consequently, an activist group has evolved to become the Banja Luka Social Centar, BASOC, in 2015. As such, it provides for the organization of, engagement with and reflection on non-dominant forms of political activism. Daily work as a social center rooted in the local blends with long-term approaches challenging the isolation of Republika Srpska’s political affairs through mobilization in the post-Yugoslav space. Doing so, BASOC decidedly counteracts both anti-political resentments and accommodation with the international protectorate, phenomena that are common among other successor groups of the 2014 plenum movement. Analyzing BASOC’s work in relation to what Christine Bell calls a Formalized Political Unsettlement, this paper seeks to enrich Bell’s explicitly political take on post-conflict statehood with a focus on bottom-up social mobilization beyond conflict lines. The institutionalization of conflict in foundations of the state, the author argues, may incite non-dominant political groups to themselves dispute given polity rather than to act along/engage with its unstable, amorphous structure. In BASOC, such ‘alter-politics’ is identified in the transcendence of intra-Yugoslav borders as well as of the tripartite separation of spheres that denies political agency to so-called civil society.

Mr Leo Green Ulster University (Transitional Justice Institute)

Consociation - Making it work

ABSTRACT

The shifting focus of the discourse on consociational power-sharing towards a consideration of changes to the rules which govern these arrangements is to be welcomed. The absence however of sufficient empirical evaluation of possible modifications risks grounding the debate somewhat in political theory and lessening the potential for a much needed wider public and political input and consideration.

This paper assesses the outworking of aspects of power-sharing arrangements in Northern Ireland (NI) which were intended to ensure inclusivity in government and also evaluates potential modifications to their application. The paper examines the outcome of the Single Transferrable Vote (STV) system in successive elections from 1996 to 2017 and the application of the d’Hondt mechanism for allocating ministries throughout the period of power-sharing in NI. By way of comparative analysis, the paper provides an empirical assessment of the outworking of possible modifications to these mechanisms.

The paper highlights how STV and d’Hondt, as currently applied in NI, facilitate marginalisation. It identifies specific proposals for change to the operation of both mechanisms and provides an empirically based measurement of the potential impact of the proposed changes with respect to facilitating inclusivity in government.

Ms Marie-Sophie Heinelt Department of Political Science, University of Hagen, Germany

Do We Need Power Sharing Arrangements for Indigenous Groups in Latin America? A Comparison of a Least Likely and a Most Likely Case for Ethnic Peace in Chile and Panama

ABSTRACT

The introduction of new power sharing and self-government arrangements for non-dominant indigenous and Afro-descendant minorities in Latin America during the last two decades (e.g. territorial autonomy and consultation rights), has triggered a vibrant discussion about their contribution for sustainable ethnic peace in the region. The paper asks how to regulate conflicts between indigenous and non-indigenous groups peacefully, when power sharing institutions are present and when they are not.

An analytical framework is proposed that combines rational choice institutionalism as well as resource mobilization and network theory. Empirical results show that, first, a strategic mobilization of bargaining resources towards antagonistic actors by indigenous groups is crucial for creating inter-ethnic compromise. Second, multiple channels of interaction of indigenous groups with state actors, for instance fostered by decentralization reforms, are more important for a peaceful conflict resolution than specific group rights. Empirical scrutiny builds on theory-centered process tracing and a comparison of two case studies in Chile (that represents a typical least likely setting without any power sharing arrangements) and in Panama (that figures as a most likely setting with indigenous autonomy). For within-case analyses network-theoretic methods are used to illustrate relevant patterns of group interactions and resource exchange processes.

Mr OMOGUNWA ILEMOBAYO Ahmadu Bello University

Who is A Nigerian? A Philosophical Evaluation of the Nigerian Socio-political Situations and its Search for National Identity

ABSTRACT

This article is a philosophical inquiry into the socio-political situation in Nigeria alongside the search for National identity with the task of questioning the foundation of Nigerian political system, and with the view of evaluating the consistency between the nature of being and the political system in Nigeria towards developing the sense of national identity among its ethnic citizens. This is based on two presuppositions, that every account of politics has to begin from the human nature in relation to its possibilities and limitations, and that what we take man to be obviously determines both the kind of government which we think he deserves, and the type of which we think he is capable. National Identity has not been consistent both in fact and in logic with the kind of government recommended for it and thereby making its Philosophic foundation faulty. This is responsible lack of positive development in its socio-political life and economy. This article argues for a dialogic process as the key to addressing the critical issue of the exclusion of non-dominant groups in Nigerian socio-political system to enable conformity between the country and its foundation which recognises the differences in ethnic nationalities as prelude to National identity.

Mr Andreas Juon University College London

In the Name Of: Direct vs. Indirect Ethnic Accommodation and Their Effects on Ethnic Identity Salience

ABSTRACT

Although scholars have devoted considerable attention to the effects of ethnic accommodation on the salience of ethnic divisions, no overarching consensus has emerged so far. Often, the debate is cast as one between two contradictory effects: The (beneficial) alleviation of identity threats on the one hand versus the (dangerous) enshrinement of ethnic identities on the other. This paper argues that while both effects exist, their relative importance is shaped by two key factors: First, by whether institutions explicitly name targeted ethnic categories and, second, by the context-specific construction of ethnic accommodation as a symbolically vital “group interest”. Based on a cognitivist concept of ethnic identities, the paper proposes testing for these effects in a quasi-experimental setting in South West China. There, the differential allocation of different types of ethnic accommodation, whereby some ethnic categories are explicitly recognized in some provinces but not others, allows to isolate the effect of institutional rules from contextual factors. Furthermore, it also allows to study what it means when an ethnic category is accommodated not in its own name, but in the name of a state-constructed overarching category.

Ms Nur KÖPRÜLÜ Near East University

Exclusion amid Inclusion?: How Power Sharing Engages Non-Dominant Communities

ABSTRACT

Rethinking on Consociationalism in Belgium and Lebanon:

Opportunities and Constraints

Belgium has been classified as the ideal case for consociationalism and it served as a role model for establishing consociational democracy elsewhere including in Lebanon. Although Belgium is widely considered as successful consociational case, it cannot achieve lessening the centrifugal tendencies. The various consociational reforms implemented since 1970s ended up with the devolution of more power to the regions satisfying claims for further autonomy, thus accomplishing a contradictory effect. The case of Lebanon also has illusrtaed that the devastating civil war (between 1975-1989) and the assassination of Rafiq al-Hariri in 2005 led to the collapse or questioning of power-sharing system based on ethnic/ sectarian lines. Within this context, consociational power-sharing models in both Belgium and Lebanon are still undergoing ethnic/ sectarian fragmentation processes, which are supposed to be limited by consociationalist institutions as well. Thus, this paper argues that internal factors of consociational systems can become causes of further ethnic fragmentation instead of limiting them. In addition, this work will be an attempt to analyse whether consociational practices and institutions could be the causes of its ethnic/ sectarian fragmentation. By analyzing the historical evolution of ethnic cleavages, and by taking a closer look to the subsequent policies adopted to deal with such cleavages in both Belgium and Lebanon, it will be possible to specify in advance where fault lines are likely to occur or develop, and whether specific institutional and societal features will deepen identity fragmentation or not.

Keywords: Power-Sharing, consociationalism, Belgium, Lebanon, fragmentation, sectarianism, electoral voting

Mr Stephen Larin Queen's University, Canada & European Academy of Bolzano, Italy

Time to invite the ‘Others’ to the table: a proposal to make South Tyrol more inclusive

ABSTRACT

Co-authors: Stephen Larin and Marc Röggla

South Tyrol was part of the Austro–Hungarian Empire until it was annexed by Italy at the end of the First World War. After a long and varying conflict between German- and Italian-speakers that included Fascist oppression, the flawed implementation of an autonomy agreement between Austria and Italy, and violent unrest, the 1972 Autonomy Statute successfully instituted territorial autonomy for the province and power-sharing between its three official linguistic groups (German, Italian, and Ladin).

We have argued elsewhere that this arrangement has successfully transformed the relationship between the three groups over the past two generations. Now we propose to build on that success and genuinely bolster South Tyrol’s liberal-democratic legitimacy by amending the Autonomy Statue to include ‘Others’ – the Province’s official designation for people who do not want to declare membership of one of its three official linguistic groups – in the executive proportionality rule, and adjust the reservation of the Provincial Council’s two Vice President positions so that an ‘Other’ could hold one of them.

These changes would shift South Tyrol from ‘corporate’ towards ‘liberal’ consociation – making it more liberal and democratic without jeopardising the necessary protections that have made progress possible, and preserving the public cultures of each group – and it would only have an effect if that is what the electorate wants. It is therefore a ‘conservatively progressive’ proposal, and could serve as a model for the transition from liberal to corporate consociation in other cases as well.

Mr Taylor McConnell School of Social and Political Science, University of Edinburgh

“Vukovar a ne Вуковар”: Civic Institutions, Stigma and Power-Sharing in Croatia’s Serb-Majority Communities

ABSTRACT

This paper will explore developments in post-war relations between Serbs and Croats in Croatia’s Serb-majority communities in Slavonia, Lika and Dalmatia within the framework of 1995 Erdut Agreement. I will address the creation of civil society organs, among them the Serb Democratic Forum, the Serb National Council, the Joint Council of Municipalities and various regional councils for ethnic minorities in these areas and how they provide limited scope for autonomy within the Serb community in Croatia. The presence of Serbs in Croatia after the 1991-1995 War for Independence (“Homeland War”) has been continually challenged by nationalist and ethnopolitical forces, and widespread stigmatisation exists against ethnic Serbs, particularly in rural areas like Slavonia and Lika. Despite constitutional assurances of equality with the Croat majority, Serbs, particularly returnees, have faced discrimination in public sector employment and are passed by in regional development and rejuvenation schemes. Finally, this paper examines they ways in which expressions of traditional elements of Serb identity in Croatia, namely the Cyrillic alphabet, Orthodox Christianity and the frontier military tradition (Škiljan 2013), have been limited by state and non-state actions since the war’s end.

Ms Chiara Milan Scuola Normale Superiore

Reshaping citizenship through collective action: Performative and prefigurative practices in the 2013-14 wave of mobilization in Bosnia Herzegovina

ABSTRACT

For the first time after the end of the 1992-95 conflict, a series of mass protests swept Bosnia Herzegovina between 2013 and 2014. Claiming their right to a decent life and urging the resignation of their power holders, the citizens of the former Yugoslav republic took to the street in mass, voicing their discontent by using different means of action. The paper analyses the strategic practices adopted by movement actors to achieve social change during the 2013 and 2014 popular mobilisations in Bosnia Herzegovina. By bridging critical citizenship studies with social movements literature, the paper analyses the strategies adopted by movement actors during the cycle of protest as instances of, respectively, performative and prefigurative citizenship. Drawing on in-depth qualitative interviews with movement participants, the article wishes to demonstrate that the strategies adopted during the 2013 wave belong to the realm of performative practices, as they broke a routine and created opportunities for social change. Contrariwise, the strategies employed during the 2014 protests are to be considered prefigurative practices, as they developed modes of interaction that embodied a new socio-political model of citizenship at odds with the existing one based on the institutionalisation of ethno-national categories.

Ms Cera Murtagh Queen's University Belfast

Navigating the Divide: Towards a Typology of Civic Political Parties in Divided Societies

ABSTRACT

Civic parties in divided societies are broadly cast in the literature as marginal actors. In consociational power-sharing systems where institutions have been explicitly designed to accommodate communal identities, their place is particularly ambiguous. Nevertheless, in a number of segmented societies, civic parties and movements have emerged and seized space in the political system. This paper probes the puzzle of these actors’ endurance in power-sharing frameworks by comparatively analysing the experiences of civic parties, exploring the constraints and opportunities these parties encounter in such settings and how they navigate those structures. Drawing upon evidence from illustrative case studies including Northern Ireland, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Burundi and Nigeria, this paper argues that civic parties operating in divided societies meet with severe barriers in the formal and informal structures of their consociational settings. Nevertheless, they also find critical openings therein, albeit complex opportunities that can raise strategic dilemmas for civic actors. Furthermore, this research uncovers key variations in the opportunities and constraints faced by non-ethnic parties under distinct forms of power-sharing and the strategies they use to navigate these distinct political opportunity structures. From these findings, the paper conceptualises a relationship between civic parties and post-conflict institutional structures and proposes a typology of civic parties in divided societies. These findings demonstrate the centrality of institutions for the type of politics and political actors that ensue following peace settlement and bear potential implications for institutional design in such contexts.

Mr David Mitchell, Irish School of Ecumenics, Trinity College Dublin at Belfast

The ‘other’ party: the Alliance Party and the politics of power-sharing in Northern Ireland after 1998

ABSTRACT

This paper analyses the Alliance Party’s experience of, and impact on, the new politics of cross-community power-sharing in Northern Ireland after 1998. It focuses on the challenges of expressing and expanding its distinctive location in Northern Ireland politics as neither unionist nor nationalist within a polarised society and, arguably, polarising political system. It begins by exploring the party’s founding purposes, its outlook on identity and the constitutional question, and its proposals for resolving the conflict. Alliance’s position on the Agreement is then set out including how the party regarded the document as falling short of its own proposals for creating an integrated society. The paper examines Alliance’s experience as the main holder of the ‘other’ designation in the Assembly, and assesses the merits of Alliance’s grievances that the Agreement’s consociational rules penalised ‘others’ and gave succour to the very ideologies that had driven the conflict – unionism and nationalism.

Mr Christoph Niessen University of Louvain (UCL)

National Minorities and Self-rule Autonomy. A mvQCA of Diverging Minority Rights in Western Europe

ABSTRACT

States conferred different degrees of group autonomy to their historic national minorities. This diversity is puzzling insofar both large and small groups have obtained both significant and few self-rule prerogatives. Most existing studies have compared large sub-national groups, while those who look at smaller minorities are usually individual case studies. Since a systematic comparison of all groups is necessary to truly understand why states confer very different degrees of autonomy to their national minorities, this paper studies with a Multi-value Qualitative Comparative Analysis of 51 Western European national minorities in the presence of which factors states conferred self-rule autonomy. The findings suggest that the conferral has to be understood through the complex interaction of at least seven variables. Independently of their (1) group size, minorities’ (2) mobilization and (3) territorial concentration, (4) a non-dominant state nationalism and sometimes also the support of (5) a kin-state, (6) other (co-)national minorities and (7) similar minorities abroad prove important in different constellations. The results attract attention to minorities who lack these factors because autonomy seems not only to depend on deliberate but also on contingent factors, whose interaction is important to keep in mind for academics, policy makers and minority observers in general.

Ms Arianna Piacentini University of Milano

Non-aligned Citizens. Ethnic power-sharing and non-ethnic alternative identities in Bosnia Herzegovina.

ABSTRACT

After the conflict BiH became an independent state grounded on ethnic power-sharing mechanisms and constituted by three ethnic nations plus ‘Others’ - a catch-all category including those who do not belong to three main groups/not declare themselves in ethnonational terms, and finally not enjoying the same degree of inclusion and representation of the three constituent nations.

The implementation of ethnic power-sharing, nevertheless, went in parallel with processes of ethnicization of citizenship and ethnic identities’ politicization - favouring the establishment of ethnopolitics and compromising the achievement of an inclusive democracy.

This contribution points the attention on those citizens who hold, due to a different set of reasons, alternative non-ethnic identities and that are not explicitly represented in the power-sharing system. By drawing upon interviews’ performed in Sarajevo in the last three years with ordinary citizens and non-ethnonational political representatives, the paper examines people’s perceptions over the Bosnian model of democracy, their political attitudes and dis-affection, alongside providing an overview of the available non-ethnic political alternatives.

This contribution argues that individuals’ perceptions and political opinions, among other reasons, have contributed to the existence of a small - yet critical - mass of citizens that, although not explicitly represented in the system, may potentially help adjusting an otherwise ethnically-exclusive model of democracy.

Mr Michael Potter Queen's University Belfast

Measuring inclusion in post-conflict political institutions

ABSTRACT

Transitions from conflict, particularly since the 1990s, have increasingly involved some form of power-sharing arrangement, whether defined as consociational or involving some other form of safeguards. Two key critiques of consociational systems are that (1) they fix political systems along conflict identity lines and (2), as they are designed to accommodate identities in conflict, they exclude other identities. Consequently, the challenge is how to deal with exclusion of identities that had themselves already been marginalised or disempowered by conflict.

A significant challenge has been how to measure the extent of exclusion, so that an attempt can be made to demonstrate the scope of exclusion ‘other’ identities experience, beyond analysis of descriptive representation. This paper reports on a framework for measuring participation in political systems tested in a comparative study of the Kosovo Assembly and the Northern Ireland Assembly.

The framework so utilised is one developed by Galligan and Clavero (2008) to measure gender democracy in European legislatures. The model has been adapted to also measure the inclusion of minority ethnic identities in Kosovo, which has provisions for the inclusion of women and minority ethnic groups, and Northern Ireland, which does not.

Ms Clare Rice Queen's University Belfast

The Challenges of Consociationalism for Anti-Discrimination Law: Comparing Northern Ireland and Belgium

ABSTRACT

From a theoretical perspective, it can be shown that the wider processes involved in the design and application of anti-discrimination law are influenced by the presence of social division, particularly where consociationalism is present. As a marginal group in these contexts, women face a potential double-burden of discrimination, on the basis of both being a woman and aligned to a particular community. This can have ramifications in all aspects of life for women in these settings, not least in terms of employment.

Intersectional discrimination - where multiple bases of discrimination combine in unique ways and manifest in specific experiences for individuals which cannot be fully captured under more traditional legal approaches to discrimination - presents an interesting way of approaching the challenges consociationalism gives rise to for equality law, particularly with regard to gender-based discrimination.

This presentation will be based on a larger study which, through a case study of private employment within the ICT sector, explores the interrelationship of consociationalism, equality law and intersectionality. It will offer an analysis of these core elements and how they interlink, and preliminary findings from a qualitative data gathering exercise spanning 6 months in Northern Ireland and Belgium will be presented.

Mr Alexandre Raffoul Université de Montréal

Alliance-Shifting Mechanisms in Practice: Power-sharing and the Key Role of Political Parties in Burundi

ABSTRACT

Differentiating between consociational and non-consociational power-sharing systems is crucial for scholars working on this subject. While power-sharing scholars routinely categorize Burundian power-sharing as consociational, a close attention to its implementation phase shows that it had integrative effects that are at odds with the "pillarization" logic that guides consociationalism. The mischaracterization of Burundian power-sharing has been at the root of various analytical gaps including the inability of scholars to explain its relative success, and a lack of attention to the key role of political parties in this achievement. Building on the constructivist and neo-institutionalist approach to power-sharing proposed in previous works of the author, this article explains the success of Burundian power-sharing by its ability to depoliticize ethnic identities, by fostering intra-party inter-ethnic alliances. The case of Burundi thus provides empirical evidence to the theory of “alliance-shifting mechanisms” and new perspectives for non-consociational power-sharing literature.

Ms Danielle Roberts Ulster University

Power sharing, political participation, and PUL women

ABSTRACT

The current consociational Local Government in Northern Ireland was initially born out of the Belfast Agreement (1998), which asserts the right of women to full and equal participation in politics. This has been affirmed by subsequent Agreements, the Gender Equality Strategy (2006), and supported by international measures such as CEDAW recommendations. However this aspiration has not been realised and almost 20 years on from the Belfast Agreement, despite significant improvements at recent elections, participation in formal politics by women in Northern Ireland remains low at both local and national levels.

While women are underrepresented in electoral politics across the board in NI, it is markedly lower on the Unionist side of the ethno-national divide. There are barriers to participation experienced by women generally, however women in the Protestant/Unionist/Loyalist (PUL) communities also experience additional barriers particular to them.

This paper will discuss early findings from PhD research focusing on contemporary barriers to both formal and informal political participation experienced by women from PUL communities. The paper will also briefly consider attempts to include women from PUL communities at the time of the negotiation of the Belfast Agreement by the Northern Ireland Women’s Coalition.

Ms Sarah Sajn, Sciences Po Aix – CHERPA, Aix-en-Provence

Political subjectivation through memory activism: the case of the 2014 commemorations in Bosnia and Herzegovina

ABSTRACT

In June 2014, Bosnia and Herzegovina was the theatre of the commemoration of the First World War and the 100th anniversary of the assassination of the austro-hungarian archduke Franz Ferdinand by a member of Mlada Bosna, Gavrilo Princip. While European Member States and Republika Srpska authorities organised competing commemorations in Sarajevo and Visegrad, activists, intellectuals and artists also intervened in the public debate and the public space, promoting alternative narratives of the historical event and the commemorations themselves. Confronting both the liberal neocolonial and the nationalist narratives, the protests, exhibitions, films and writings they produced mainly addressed socio-economic and political issues as well as the question of domination in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The commemoration were following the most important wave of civic mobilisation in the country since the end of the war, which also pushed for alternative boundaries of communities. Through this case study, the paper deals with memory activism and its function within political emancipation movements. Based on observation, interviews conducted in Sarajevo and various documents analysis collected in the framework of a research on the government of representations in BiH, the paper shows that memory activism acts as a mean of political subjectivation in a context which is characterised by ascribed collective identities, imposed by both the nationalist elite and the international community.

Ms Samantha Twietmeyer Queen's University

Channels for participation in Settlement Negotiations: Northern Ireland and Cyprus in Comparative Perspective

ABSTRACT

One of the key questions in conflict settlement negotiations is “who gets a seat at the table?” In deeply divided societies, ‘inclusion’ generally entails representation from key communal groups in the conflict. Scholarship has looked at several aspects of this question. Who decides which groups are ‘key’? Which communities need representation? Should international actors be included? Are there other groups, including gender and class, who should be at the table? And what input should the public have? These questions are all concerned with ownership of and responsibility for the negation and the settlement because this agency, or lack thereof, can affect both the settlement outcome and its implementation. This presentation will examine this effect upon negotiations which have a pre-determined goal of a settlement built around power-sharing or a federal solution, such as the negotiations in Northern Ireland and Cyprus. In particular, a focus on the channels which provided for or prevented public participation in the two processes, and the impact of these channels on the representation of less visible or 'other' minority groups, will be used to demonstrate the effect of agency on settlement outcome.

Mr Patrick Utz University of Edinburgh

South Tyrol’s autonomy: challenged by ‘ethnic outbidding’?

ABSTRACT

The South Tyrolean People’s Party (SVP) has been dominant among Italy’s German speaking minority throughout the post-war era. The party played a crucial role in the negotiation of the province’s autonomy and power-sharing systems, which have aimed at accommodating the German, Italian and Rhaeto-Romance populations in the province. Widely considered a success story, South Tyrol’s autonomy is increasingly questioned by the electoral success of new opposition parties. On the one hand, the Green Party rejects the segregation of language groups. They call for a more integrated system of regional governance at the expense of existing power-sharing provisions. On the other hand, the electoral growth of right-wing and secessionist parties indicates a radicalisation of German-speakers’ demands for independence or reunification with Austria. The Italian population, in turn, is increasingly underrepresented and turnout among Italian-speakers is low. These developments indicate that electoral dynamics among German-speakers are driven by ‘ethnic outbidding’, with a comparatively smaller countermovement embodied by the Greens, whereas Italian-speakers become alienated from provincial politics. This paper critically assesses what the ‘ethnic outbidding’ hypothesis adds to the understanding of electoral developments in South Tyrol, and proposes that a ‘post-material’ cleavage is better suited to explain party strategies in the province.

Ms Dawn Walsh Dublin City University

Independent commissions: Power-sharing and gender in post-conflict societies

ABSTRACT

Power-sharing often fails to consider groups which crosscut the divisive societal cleavage but which have been excluded from the formal loci of political engagement. Primary among such groups is women who make up half the polity but are often side-lined. Scholars of power-sharing have failed to adequately engage with the issue of gender arguing that where ethnic identity has become the source of political and violent conflict it is strengthen to such an extent as to render other forms of identity such as gender as largely unimportant. This paper examines the potential of independent commissions to integrate both gender considerations and power-sharing principles. The non-elected nature of these bodies may allow them to overcome the weaknesses of the liberal approach to consociationalism, the requirement that identities manifest themselves electorally. This paper seeks to develop an understanding of what factors encourage the inclusion of women in such bodies, looking at the role of international organisations, UNSCR 1325, and the mandate of the commissions. It also examines what challenges and opportunities this presents for women’s involvement in post-conflict governance.

Ms Laura Wise University of Edinburgh

Setting Aside the ‘Others’: Non-Aligned Minorities in Power-Sharing Peace Agreements

ABSTRACT

In the growing body of literature on the concept of political settlements, some scholars have begun to focus on notions of inclusion in conflict-affected societies. Peace agreements – documents resulting from processes whereby the terms of political settlements are negotiated – can be considered as both potential sites of intervention for challenging the exclusion of marginalised groups, and outcomes of bargains in which this exclusion is reified. Power-sharing, as a form of post-conflict state-building, is often lauded as giving opportunities and guarantees of inclusion for minority groups. In particular, these arrangements often focus on groups that have been party to the conflict, to the potential detriment or marginalisation of non-aligned minorities.

By utilising data from the forthcoming PA-X Peace Agreements Database and the Ethnic Power Relations Dataset, this paper conducts qualitative content analysis of almost 200 power-sharing documents signed from 1990-2016, to explore the ways in which peace agreements provide for non-aligned ethno-national minorities. It aims to shed light on the frequency and types of mechanisms used in peace agreements to include non-aligned ethno-national minorities in power-sharing settlements, and the sequencing of ‘inclusive’ power-sharing arrangements within peace processes.

Ms Aleksandra Zdeb, Centre for Southeast European Studies of the University of Graz

Walking on Broken Glass. Political Parties in the Power-Sharing Systems: Two Local Case Studies in Bosnia and Herzegovina

ABSTRACT

After the 1992-1995 war, two local communities in Bosnia and Herzegovina – Mostar and Brčko – have been defined as crucial for the post-conflict reconstruction of the country. Both have comparable histories, interim divisions and political systems based on the power-sharing model (not identical though), but they differ significantly in the scope of the system’s functionality: Mostar being the failure while Brčko is claimed to be the success story. Yet, there is another striking difference: Mostar has been occupied by mono-ethnic and nationalist parties, well-known from the central level, which blocked and took over the city. In the Brčko District political scene has been dominated by the multi-ethnic Social Democratic Party while local politicians created mid-range political parties, which, together, weakened the position of nationalist actors.

This discrepancy could be connected with the institutional structure of the district – it was designed as an antithesis of the ethno-territorial approach to conflict management (Moore 2013) implemented partially in Mostar. With the aim of achieving integration and following the principles of liberal power-sharing Brčko has created more flexible space for political actors. Consequently, it has become more of a hybrid in which integration has been balanced by various informal (corporate) power-sharing measures – something that, despite all the attempts, never occurred in Mostar. It could be also explained by the scope of international involvement in both places, Brčko, as the ‘international laboratory’, has been the most closely supervised place of all the areas in BiH, while in Mostar, with the short-lived international administration, the situation has been in reverse.

The aim of the paper proposal is analysis of the party systems in the power-sharing model in these two municipalities in BiH. The paper uses a framework of actor-centered and discourse institutionalism offered by Fritz Scharpf (1997) and Vivien A. Schmidt (2004) and is based mainly on primary sources: transcripts of the local parliament, materials emitted by local media, documents issued by the OHR and the OSCE, as well as interviews with local politicians.

Mr Przemyslaw Zukiewicz University of Wroclaw & Dublin City University, Katarzyna Domagala, University of Wroclaw

and Mateusz Zielinski, University of Wroclaw

An attempt to institutionalize power-sharing – lesson from Canada

ABSTRACT

In his consociational model of power-sharing Lipjphart indicates “grand coalition” as a crucial element, in terms of both – establishing formal democratic procedures and reshaping patterns of elites behavior. Similar Horovitz and Reily emphasize the elementary role of political elites cooperation in their in centripetal model for divided societies.

In our paper we examine coalition-formation process in Canada in 2008 as an example of power-sharing institutionalization on the federal level. We will focus on the role of Block Quebecois and investigate if this party along with their voters were explicitly represented in the coalition agreement.

Our major questions concern formal and informal causes of the process’ failure. Our first hypothesis is that institutional reforms depend on established tradition of elites behavior within a political culture and therefore the main reason for Canadian power-sharing setback were the specific conditions of Canadian political culture. Our second hypothesis is that mass media by framing coalition-formation was responsible not only for its failure but also the durability of society dividing cultural patterns.

To prove that will use content analysis and semantic network analysis to examine media content of five the most popular newspapers in Canada.