Thesis (Ph.D.) - University of Queensland, 2003. / Includes bibliography.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 2006 / eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (p. 459-512).

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 2006 / Includes bibliographical references (p. 459-512). Also available on the Internet.

Th. Ph. D.--Cambridge (Mass.)--Harvard university, 1979. / Bibliogr. p. 339-369. Index.

Texte remanié de: Doct. thesis--Philosophy--Oxford, 1985. / Bibliogr. p. 301-330. Index.

This thesis is a critique of liberal humanitarian representations of violence in the context of Post-Conflict or Post-Authoritarian struggles against impunity. In particular, it addresses the argument of “cultures of impunity” whereby punishing perpetrators of violations of human rights in transitional societies prevents the endorsement of regimes of silence and the normalisation of wrongdoing. Drawing on a Deconstructivist and Disciplinary methodology this thesis argues that debates about punishment or forgiveness in the aftermath of systematic violence have a wider political meaning and a particular historical function. Instead of mere responses to an external reality “punishment vs. impunity” debates also have a productive facet: because they represent violence in a liberal humanitarian frame, they produce a postconflictual ethos that defines (1) the modes of acceptable political resistance in the present and (2) the achievable limits of justice in the future. In order to explain this wider “politics of impunity” this thesis focuses on the Brazilian transitional case, from the end of the Dirty War in the 1970s to the establishment of the National Truth Commission (2012-2014). As such, it rejects the explanation of Brazil as a quintessential “culture of impunity,” a reasoning that blames the amnesty of perpetrators after the militarised dictatorship (1964-1985) for instituting a regime of silence about the past and creating the conditions for an eternal state of exception in Brazil. Although it recognises the merits of this logic, this work argues against it, reassessing the question in a rather different perspective. First, the thesis suggests a methodological twist: moving focus away from the conditions of implementation of justice in post-conflict and post-authoritarian scenarios into the conditions of possibility of the promise of “never again”. This thesis analyses truth commissions, criminal tribunals, and reparation programmes as parts of a historically situated set of disciplines; that is, as the conjunction between a body of knowledge and modes of conduct centred on a specific representation of violence as an intentional, cyclical, and exceptional phenomenon. In other words, it is by narrowing down what violence is that struggles against impunity can promise a future of non-recurrence. Second, the thesis then describes how this representations of violence were mobilised in order to historically produce a postconflictual reality in Brazil. By analysing the trajectory of the memory struggles (1975-) I explain how this postconflictual reality redefined the meaning of political resistance after the Dirty/Cold War, and by looking at the work of the truth commission I describe in what sense it creates a parsimonious promise of justice.

Peace negotiation is a complex political process used to end a conflict and establish peace. This thesis provides a qualitative analysis of the FARC-EP documents in preparation for the peace negotiations. Using Neocleous concept of pacification and Hannah Arendt’s concept of the political, I explored the ways in which the FARC-EP resist liberal peace by re-politicizing the conflict, addressing the sources of the inequalities and injustices generated by and for capitalism, and implying alternative ways of thinking about politics, power, justice and security to transform society. The analysis revealed that the FARC-EP thinks about peace and conflict resolution as a political process requiring social transformation of deep structural conditions through negotiation and deliberation in order to create a more just society. The FARC-EP conceptualizes peace as a complex political process that must be under local ownership and domestically rooted. In doing so, the FARC-EP addresses the root causes of the conflict by calling for transformative justice, replacing national security with integral security, extending politics beyond representative democracy and demanding equality to end the power imbalances that are so prominent in Colombia. By negotiating with the Colombian state, the FARC-EP accepts that not all their proposals will be implemented, given that it is in fact a negotiation. As a result, I conclude that peace negotiations can have the opposite effect and pacify political-military organizations in order to protect capitalist order after armed conflict has failed to succeed.

Orientador: José Antonio Segatto / Banca: Vera Lúcia Vieira / Banca: Wanderson Fábio de Melo / Banca: Milton Lahuerta / Banca: Ângelo Del Vecchio / Resumo: Este trabalho pretende recuperar a trajetória do intelectual carioca José Honório Rodrigues que, ao longo de sua vida, tematizou a respeito da teoria e metodologia da História e, a partir do decênio de 1950, passou a centrar sua obra na produção de uma interpretação da sociedade brasileira. A ruptura dos anos 50 pauta-se pelo ideário assumido pelo autor, isto é, o nacionalismo-liberal, sendo que este foi a base de suas tematizações e de sua interpretação do Brasil. O núcleo interpretativo oferece uma compreensão do país, tendo a conciliação como base de explicação da sociedade, pois a partir dessa reflexão o autor aponta para os momentos em que a liderança política, assumindo a "conciliação" com o povo, proporciona a melhoria nas condições de vida do povo e, dessa forma, evita a prática de uma "História Cruenta" por parte das lideranças antipovo. Essa análise de José Honório foi determinante para sua crítica aos rumos da sociedade no contexto posterior ao golpe civil militar de 1964, denominado o período como "Generalismo presidencial". Sua crítica ao "presidencialismo imperial" dos militares o levou a assumir uma postura de reflexão e posicionando de forma ativa na "Política Externa Independente", a partir de 1965. Sendo assim, nosso intuito é recuperar todo esse contexto que permite a identificação de José Honório Rodrigues como um intérprete da sociedade brasileira / Abstract: This paper to recover the trajectory of intellectual Jose Honorio Rodrigues, who, throughout his life, thematized on the theory and methodology of history and from the decade of 1950, has focused his work in producing an interpretation of society Brazil. Rupture of 50 years is guided by the ideas given by the author, that is, liberal-nationalism, and this was the basis of their analytic themes and their interpretation of Brazil. The core offers an interpretive understanding of the country and the reconciliation as a basis for explanation of society, because from this discussion the author points to times when leadership, taking the "reconciliation" with the people, provides better conditions life of the people and thus avoids the practice of a "grisly history" by the leaders'. This analysis of Jose Honorio was instrumental in his criticism of the direction of society in the context of post-civil-military coup in 1964, called the period as "general president." His criticism of the "imperial presidentialism" of the military led him to assume a posture of reflection and positioning of the active form in the "Independent Foreign Policy" from 1965. Thus, our aim is to restore that environment that allows the identification of Jose Honorio Rodrigues as an interpreter of Brazilian society / Doutor

This dissertation attempts to answer the research question on whether there is a common pattern of democratic backsliding. Levitsky and Ziblatt’s theoretical model of democratic backsliding is utilized as the guiding theory. The theory suggests that Democratic Backsliding has three stages where different goals are attempted to be achieved. The goals are first to take over state institutions, thereafter to use these institutions to target political opponents and protect the government from criticism. The third stage concerns entrenching the political dominance. The research question is answered by a systematic comparison of Hungary, Turkey and Venezuela. The results are that each case does follow the suggested path of democratic backsliding, with certain differences. More emphasis is put on the media, election monitoring, and how the institutions are controlled. The institutions are often taken control over by hijacking the nomination process, a fact overlooked by the theoretical model. These aspects are not expanded on in the theoretical model, and this dissertation suggest adding these to the model.

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