This dissertation examines how contemporary Anglophone, Hispanophone, and Francophone literature from Africa, Latin America, the Caribbean, and South Asia (1984-present) reconfigures historical archives to negotiate the ethics of representing state violence in repressive societies. I identify new literary forms politically conscious writers are devising to capture and contest human rights violations. Using an interdisciplinary decolonial feminist framework, I closely read works by Cristina Peri Rossi, Michael Ondaatje, M. NourbeSe Philip, Edwidge Danticat, Boubacar Boris Diop, and Roberto Bolaño— a diverse set of postcolonial and post-dictatorship writers never before compared in comparative literature. I call these writers’ endeavors to reframe traumatic history “arts of the impossible,” which defy the alleged unrepresentability of collective trauma to secure justice and forestall impunity. I compare representations of wide-ranging atrocities including forced disappearance, slavery, genocide, and femicide— crimes exemplifying what I term “ontological erasure.” At stake in ontological erasure are not simply lost perspectives from multiply marginalized victims, like women and queer people of color, but the very possibility of citizenship and the will to dissent state recognition enables. To resist the threats posed by the authorization of these crimes to political freedom, these writers, I argue, reinvent evidentiary forms historically suppressed by authoritarian states, including court transcripts, testimonies, forensic reports, and national archives. These authors’ innovations push the boundaries of what counts as “evidence” in acts of state violence that are uniquely determined by erasure; they also imagine new methods for remembering past atrocities without compromising recognition for stigmatized minorities in the future.

Why does merit-based elite recruitment exist under authoritarianism, notwithstanding its adverse impact on elites' private interests? In my dissertation, I develop an argument that centers on the role of upward mobility in authoritarian regime dynamics. I argue that merit-based elite recruitment provides individuals from non-elite background an opportunity to move into the ruling class by effort; it enhances their perception of upward mobility and thus reduces their discontent with the status quo. An authoritarian ruler, therefore, may deliberately adopt and institutionalize meritocracy in elite recruitment to engineer limited but sustained upward mobility, which co-opts large numbers of non-elites and helps stabilize the regime. Focusing on the case of China and its national civil service examination (NCSE), I draw on qualitative, quantitative, and experimental evidence to triangulate the complex dynamic between the CCP leadership, local officials, and ordinary citizens in merit-based elite recruitment. I employ two survey experiments to demonstrate that, by imposing institutional constraints on local officials, the CCP leadership can make its commitment to merit-based recruitment credible and enforceable. Analyzing data from two national representative surveys, I find that the institutionalization of NCSE forges a widespread and persistent perception of upward mobility among citizens eligible for the exam and weakens their pressure on the regime for income redistribution; it also strengthens public support for local government and contributes to the legitimacy of the CCP regime. These findings contribute to our understanding of the effects of meritocracy under authoritarianism and highlight the importance of upward mobility in relation to regime resilience.

My PhD work aimed to assess intergenerational transmission and life-course change of attitudes towards authority. Intergenerational transmission is hypothesised as the mechanism through which parents' authoritarian attitudes affect their children's attitudes towards authority in adulthood. In the assessment of this transmission mechanism, this analysis accounts for individual-level theoretically relevant factors such as gender, education, social class, offspring's cognitive ability in childhood, as well as family background, in a longitudinal, single-cohort perspective. The research used the British Cohort Study 1970 (BCS70), which allows for the analysis of change at both the intra- and inter-individual levels. The sweeps analysed are those in years 1975 for the parents, and 1980, 1996, 2000 and 2012 for the cohort members. The analytical chapters of the thesis are made of three papers: The first assessed change (or stability) in attitudes to authority in the BCS70 from 1996 to 2012; the second looked at how parental authoritarian worldviews affect their children's attitudes towards authority when the children are adults; finally, the third paper aimed to evaluate the effect of parental attitudes on cohort members' attitudes towards authority in adulthood, after controlling for the latter's cognitive ability in childhood. I found that attitudes had a reasonably high level of stability across the life course. Despite moderately strong correlations across attitudes within waves, the different attitudes showed different patterns of longitudinal evolution, suggesting different causal influences. The evidence for direct transmission of attitudes from parents to children was surprisingly weak; the social statuses of the parents and cohort members, and especially the members' childhood cognitive ability, were the strongest predictors of authoritarian attitudes in adulthood.

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / A presente tese versa sobre o processo de transição para a democracia em Angola. O período estudado compreende a independência do país em 1975 ao ano de 2012, com a realização das terceiras eleições gerais. Para tal, são realizados três recortes cronológicos, a saber: (1) de 1975 com a independência de Angola e a inauguração da Primeira República, ao ano de 1991 com o advento do multipartidarismo e da Segunda República; (2) da Segunda República em 1991, ao ano de 2010 com a promulgação da chamada Constituição Atípica e a instauração da Terceira República; (3) e da Terceira República em 2010, ao pleito eleitoral de 2012. Cada um destes períodos é estudado a partir da análise das instituições políticas que caracterizam a democracia. São igualmente identificadas e examinadas as razões que levaram a deflagrar a transição (por quê?); a forma pela qual a transição foi desencadeada (como?); os atores envolvidos no processo transicional (quem?); bem como o estágio da democratização em Angola. A tese é desenvolvida tendo em conta a produção bibliográfica existente sobre o tema e os dados empíricos coletados mediante entrevistas em profundidade com atores envolvidos no processo de transição e cidadãos comuns.

O presente estudo buscou compreender como o problema da cumplicidade civil da imprensa está colocado na Justiça de Transição: quais atos são entendidos como cumplicidade? Quais instituições civis foram cúmplices? De fato, em tempos de poderes ilimitados, houve “cumplicidade civil”? Com base no conceito de “Doutrina de Segurança Nacional” para interpretar o autoritarismo pós Segunda Guerra Mundial na América Latina, são comparados os casos brasileiro e argentino a partir da hipótese que a diferença de modelo de justiça de transição dos dois países também seria verificada na aplicação dos mecanismos ao problema da cumplicidade civil da imprensa. Para tanto, a pesquisa qualitativa examinou como a imprensa é abordada no Relatório final da Comissão Nacional de Desaparecimento de Pessoas da Argentina (CONADEP, 1985), no Relatório final da Comissão de Mortos e Desaparecidos Políticos do Brasil (CMDP, 2007) e nas obras referências sobre o problema da cumplicidade civil da imprensa “Cães de guarda: jornalistas e censores, do AI- 5 à Constituição de 1988, de Beatriz Kushnir (2004) e "Decíamos ayer: La prensa argentina bajo el Proceso, de Eduardo Blaustein e Martín Zubieta (1998)". Valendo-se de uma abordagem crítica da teoria da justiça de transição, ao realçar conceitos da teoria da cultura política para expandir o espectro das instituições e estruturas sociais alvos de uma restruturação que garanta a não-repetição, o estudo se propõe a mitigar o relativo silêncio e esquecimento do comportamento dos civis, em geral, e da imprensa, em maior grau, no enfrentamento dos legados do autoritarismo. A partir do estudo comparado, pode-se concluir que a diferença de modelo de transição entre os países não repercute em significativas diferenças no tratamento dado ao tema da cumplicidade civil da imprensa pela justiça de transição. Embora esteja presente uma colaboração difusa das grandes instituições de imprensa com o autoritarismo, os poderes de veto e de agenda dessas instituições na democracia impede a busca pela verdade e memória no campo. Por fim, ao final do estudo é proposto uma tipologia de seis práticas de cumplicidade civil da imprensa e uma agenda para a justiça de transição que avance no desafio de delimitar a fronteira entre a censura política à imprensa, própria do autoritarismo, e a adesão voluntária às práticas repressivas do autoritarismo. Assim, direcionar efetivamente os esforços justransicionais para os setores civis, em especial a imprensa, representaria uma verdadeira investida na principal base da ditadura: a cultura autoritária das instituições e dos indivíduos. / This study aims to comprehend how the problem of civil complicity of press lies within Transitional Justice: what acts are understood as complicity? What civil institutions were complicit? In fact, in times of unlimited power, was there "civil complicity"? Based on the concept of the "National Security Doctrine" to interpret the post World War II authoritarianism in Latin America, the Brazilian and Argentine cases are compared assuming that the Transitional Justice different models of this two countries would also be verified in the application of mechanisms to the press civil complicity issue. Therefore, qualitative research examined how the press is addressed in the Final Report of the National Commission for Disappeared People of Argentina (CONADEP, 1985), in the Final Report of the Commission of the Political Dead and Disappeared of Brazil (CMDP, 2007) and in the paradigm works on the problem of civil complicity of the press "Cães de guarda: jornalistas e censores, do AI-5 à Constituição de 1988”, from Beatriz Kushnir (2004) and “Decíamos ayer: La prensa argentina bajo el Proceso”, from Eduardo Blaustein and Martín Zubieta (1998). Drawing on a critical approach to Transitional Justice theory, enhancing political culture theory concepts to expand the spectrum of institutions and social structures targets of restructuring to ensure the non- repetition, this study aims to mitigate the relative silence and oblivion of the behavior of civilians, in general, and of the press, to a greater degree, in dealing with authoritarian legacies. From the comparative study, we can conclude that the transition model of different countries do not reflected in significant differences in the treatment given to the subject of civil complicity of the press by Transitional Justice. Although there is the presence of a diffuse collaboration of major media institutions with authoritarianism, the veto and agenda powers of these institutions in democracy hinders the search for truth and memory in the field. Finally, at the end of the study, a six press civil complicity practices typology is proposed, as well as an agenda for Transitional Justice that goes on the challenge of defining the boundary between political censorship of the press, typical from authoritarianism, and the voluntary adherence to repressive authoritarianism practices. Thus, effectively directing justransicionals efforts to the civilian sectors, especially the press, represents a real assault on the main base of the dictatorship: the authoritarian culture of both institutions and individuals.

Public opinions of climate change are not consistent with the reality that climate change is occurring. Effective persuasive messages must be created to ensure that irreparable damage to the environment is prevented. This study investigated the cognitive processes that occur when an individual is exposed to a persuasive message regarding environmental concerns that is matched to an individual’s personality characteristics like right wing authoritarianism and purity. Messages on two environmental topics (solar panels and the Environmental Protection Agency) were created. Each topic was framed in multiple ways to test hypotheses about personality-based message matching. Participants completed a thought listing task after reading about each of the topics, and then indicated their attitudes toward the message topics. Participants were also asked to complete several individual difference scales. Reported attitudes were regressed on individual differences and message frame type in order to determine the effects of message matching on attitudes. While the results do not support a matching effect for purity, an effect of right wing authoritarianism was found after controlling for environmental apathy. This suggests that individual difference matching effects do exist, although they may be more complex than initially hypothesized.

Dancers, in their formal training, are deprived of many basic human experiences and are often not exposed to critical thinking. Expectations about what it means to dance and/or be a dancer shape the classroom environment, performances and both the body and mind of individuals engaged in this particular art form. A professional dancer is expected to plan her day around the dance classroom and this mentality is shared by aspiring professionals as well as dance educators. This structure, in tandem with the expectations for a female dancer to maintain a certain body type- almost always a thin flexible body, toned long limbs, and light smooth skin for ballet performers- is limiting and in fact raises questions about a dancer's agency in the educational and performing processes. This project has originated out of my own experiences in the dance community and my frustration with those classroom structures. Throughout the paper I will concentrate on college level dance training with emphasis on women as dancers and the construction of ballet classrooms, which, like patriarchy, has created the paradigm against which most dance classes and performances are judged.

À rebours des lectures fonctionnalistes et du rôle de « façade démocratique » souvent prêté aux partis d’opposition en contexte autoritaire, cette thèse étudie les logiques endogènes et exogènes des processus d’institutionnalisation de la contestation en Algérie. À partir d’une enquête menée entre 2009 et 2013 auprès de militants et dirigeants du FFS à Alger, Béjaïa et Tizi-Ouzou, ce travail éclaire à la fois les luttes et les conflits qui fragilisent l’organisation et les processus de (re)production du lien partisan qui favorisent sa perpétuation. Fondé au lendemain de l’indépendance de l’Algérie et communément qualifié de « plus vieux parti d’opposition », le Front des forces socialistes (FFS) se maintient depuis plus de cinquante ans. Contraint d’opérer dans la clandestinité sous le régime de parti unique (1962-1989), ce parti a été légalisé après l’adoption du pluralisme partisan en 1989. Depuis lors, il participe – bien que de manière variable – à la compétition politique. En explorant les pratiques partisanes oppositionnelles au concret avec une approche relationnelle, la thèse analyse comment la trajectoire du FFS s’inscrit à la fois dans l’espace protestataire et dans l’espace politique institutionnel. Elle questionne les tensions et les mises à l’épreuve que génère cette double inscription et montre ainsi comment une organisation partisane se perpétue en restant dans l’opposition dans des configurations de pouvoir ne permettant pas l’alternance / Established in the aftermath of Algeria's independence and commonly referred to as the "oldest opposition party", the Front des Forces Socialistes (FFS) has existed for more than fifty years. Forced to operate clandestinely throughout the single-party regime (1962-1989), this party was legalized after the adoption of party pluralism in 1989. Since then, it has participated - albeit in variable ways - to the political competition. How does a party perpetuates itself by remaining in the opposition within power configurations that prevent political change? Contrarily to functionalist approaches and the role of "democratic façade" often attributed to opposition parties in authoritarian contexts, this dissertation examines the endogenous and exogenous logics of protest institutionalization. By exploring partisan opposition practices with a relational approach, this work analyzes how the FFS trajectory incorporates the protest space as well as the institutional political space. It questions the tensions and the challenges generated by this double inscription. Based on fieldwork carried out between 2009 and 2013 with FFS activists and leaders in Algiers, Béjaïa and Tizi-Ouzou, the dissertation sheds light on both the struggles and conflicts that weaken the organization and processes of (re)production of the partisan link that favour its perpetuation

Mit einem Grußwort von Juan José Linz und Beiträgen von Erhard Crome, Jochen Franzke, Heike Imhof-Rudolph, Lutz Kleinwächter, Ralf Juan Leiteritz, Claus Montag, Christoph Sebastian Widdau, Azadeh Zamirirad und dem Jubilar. / With greetings from Juan José Linz and contributions by Erhard Crome, Jochen Franzke, Heike Imhof-Rudolph, Lutz Kleinwächter, Ralf Juan Leiteritz, Claus Montag, Christoph Sebastian Widdau, Azadeh Zamirirad and the jubilarian.

Inhalt: Mit Linz und Loewenstein – Zum Begriff des autoritären Regimes Von Wellen und blinden Flecken in der Komparatistik Autoritäre Regime im 21. Jahrhundert – Ein Überblick Schleichender Autoritarismus im Westen Autoritäre Wende des Kapitalismus?