Desde seu nascimento, há quase trinta anos, o Movimento dos Trabalhadores Rurais Sem Terra (MST) tem se destacado pela perenidade de sua organização e disposição de estimular uma diversidade de vínculos capilares com a sociedade civil o que constitui uma das maiores novidades da história política contemporânea do campesinato brasileiro e voz mais expressiva da questão agrária na América Latina. Diante dessa constatação, o objetivo desta dissertação é apresentar e analisar como a dimensão internacionalista do MST enquanto elemento real e ativo de construção de um lócus político constitui-se historicamente, a fim de destacar as diversas influências políticas e ideológicas e a composição heterogênea de seu ativismo transnacional, que foram desenvolvidas (e assimiladas) tanto por circunstâncias políticas e econômicas em que o país enveredou quanto pela atuação das lideranças do MST. A hipótese central é de que, a partir da metade da década de noventa, o MST alcança o auge de sua projeção no exterior, não apenas pela referência mundial simbólica e política da luta camponesa, mas pela percepção de que o internacionalismo está enraizado nas condições materiais da luta de classes na agricultura mundializada. Desde então, inicia-se um processo de redefinição de sua estratégia política que passa a ser ampliada internacionalmente, na busca de convergência de linhas políticas e agendas em comum, principalmente com a Coordinadora Latinoamericana de Organizaciones del Campo (CLOC) e Via Campesina. Todavia, a política internacionalista do MST não nasce, cresce e amadurece politicamente apenas como reflexo passivo do avanço do capitalismo internacional do campo. O desenvolvimento desigual do capitalismo no campo brasileiro e a trajetória internacionalista do MST não constituem duas retas paralelas que podem ser relacionadas ponto a ponto. Na verdade, ambas adquirem configurações espaciais e temporais mais complexas e são estabelecidas em um constante encontro e desencontro. Por exemplo, a dimensão ética-moral e religiosa principalmente da fonte da Teologia da Libertação e da pastoral da terra é um fator essencial na motivação subjetiva de uma consciência humanista e universal latino-americana e de uma cultura política de solidariedade internacionalista permanente que o MST desenvolve a partir da própria formação específica que aqui se propõe estudar. / From its birth, almost thirty years ago, the Landless Workers\' Movement (MST) has distinguished itself for the continuity of its organisation and its disposition to stimulate a variety of capillary links with the civil society. This characteristic represents one of the major news in the contemporary political history of the Brazilian rural population, so that the MST has become the most expressive voice of the land reform in Latin America. Starting from this consideration, the purpose of this dissertation is to show and analyse how the internationalist dimension of the MST considered as a real and active element of constitution of a political space took form historically, in order to highlight the different political and ideological influences, and the heterogeneous composition of its international activism, which were developed (and assimilated) both by the political and economic circumstances in the countries where it took place, and by the MST leadership\'s action. The main hypothesis hereby presented is that, beginning from the mid-nineties, the MST gets the peak of its projection towards the exterior, not only for the symbolic and political worldwide relevance of the peasants fight, but for the perception that internationalism is rooted in the material conditions of the class struggle in globalized agriculture. Since then, it begins a process of re-definition of its political strategy that spreads world-widely, in search of a convergence of political lines and common agendas, mainly with the Coordinadora Latinoamericana de Organizaciones del Campo (CLOC) and Via Campesina. Still, the internationalist policy of MST does not begin, grow and mature politically only as a passive mirroring of the progress of international capitalism of land. That is, the unequal development of capitalism in the Brazilian land and the internationalist trajectory of the MST do not constitute two parallels that can be related to each other point-by-point. Actually, the two of them get more complex spatial and temporal configurations, and are formed in a constant dialectic of agreements and disagreements. The religious and ethical-moral dimension principally from the liberation theology and the pastoral of land, for instance, is an essential factor in the subjective motivation of a humanistic and universal Latin-American awareness and of a political culture of permanent internationalist solidarity that the MST develops starting from its own specific formation, which is the object of the present study.

A dissertação estuda uma experiência internacionalista de partidos políticos de esquerda da América Latina e Caribe: o Foro de São Paulo. O período considerado para a pesquisa é de 1990 a 2015. O Foro de São Paulo é uma organização formada por partidos e movimentos políticos de esquerda latino-americanos e caribenhos, identificados com um posicionamento antineoliberal e anti-imperialista e em favor da integração econômica, social, política e cultural da América Latina e Caribe. É uma grande família da qual fazem parte diversas correntes político-ideológicas, ou famílias, da esquerda latino-americana. A pesquisa analisa o desenvolvimento histórico do Foro de São Paulo, seus principais debates e resoluções, as suas polêmicas e crises e como, apesar disso, a organização internacionalista potenciou suas convergências e consensos, elaborando e difundindo propostas latino-americanistas de integração continental. Discute-se ainda o processo pelo qual partidos do Foro de São Paulo passaram a liderar governos de esquerda e progressistas na região, que impulsionaram a integração latino-americana e caribenha. A pergunta fundamental da pesquisa é: por que e como, o Foro de São Paulo, mesmo com a sua diversidade político-ideológica, com os seus limites, crises e contradições, sobreviveu e é uma das principais organizações internacionalistas de partidos políticos de esquerda do mundo e a mais importante da América Latina e Caribe? As características distintivas do Foro de São Paulo, ao mesmo tempo em que o singularizam, também são as razões de sua resiliência e o sustentam como experiência internacionalista de partidos políticos. A pesquisa adotou o referencial teórico do materialismo histórico e o método dialético, particularmente o pensamento do marxista Antonio Gramsci, em especial, seus elementos para uma teoria do partido político e conceitos como Príncipe moderno e hegemonia. Através de uma metodologia histórica e comparativa, a pesquisa fez uma revisão crítica da literatura sobre o internacionalismo e as relações internacionais dos partidos de esquerda da América Latina, particularmente de Brasil e Cuba, e sobre o Foro de São Paulo. O esforço de pesquisa realizado envolveu ainda o estudo de fontes primárias e a pesquisa de campo. / This paper studies an Internationalist experience of left-wing political parties in Latin America and in the Caribbean: the São Paulo Forum. The period that has been taken into account for this research goes from 1990 to 2015. The São Paulo Forum is an organization constituted by Latin-American and Caribbean left-wing political parties and movements, which are anti-neoliberal and anti-imperialist, and who support the economic, social, political and cultural integration of Latin America and the Caribbean. It is a big family to which various political-ideological currents, or families, of the Latin-American left belong. The research analyses the historic development of the São Paulo Forum, its main debates and resolutions, its controversies and crisis and how, after all, the Internationalist organization increased the potential of its convergences and consensus, elaborating and disseminating Latin-American proposals of continental integration. There is also a discussion about the process through which the parties of the São Paulo Forum started to lead left-wing and progressive governments in the region, which pushed the Latin-American and Caribbean integration forward. The main question of the research is why, and how, the São Paulo Forum, even with a wide political-ideological scope, within its limits, crisis and contradictions, survived and is one of the main Internationalist organizations of left-wing political parties in the world, and the most important one in Latin America and the Caribbean. The distinctive features of the São Paulo Forum make it a unique organization and are also the reasons for its resilience and maintain it as an Internationalist experience of political parties. The research adopted the theoretical references of historic materialism and the dialectical method, particularly the thought of the Marxist Antonio Gramsci, and especially its elements for a theory of the political party and concepts like the modern Prince and hegemony. Through a historic and comparative methodology, this research made a critical revision of the literature on Internationalism and International Relations of the left-wing Latin-American parties, particularly in Brazil and Cuba, and about the São Paulo Forum. The effort of the research also included studying primary sources and field research.

This study is concerned with Canadas policy towards peace, security and development in Africa. It examines Canadas response to these issues in relation to the New Partnership for Africas Development (NEPAD), the African Union Peace and Security Architecture (APSA), and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Security Mechanism. With the intensification of violent conflicts in parts of Africa and their impact on individuals, communities, and socioeconomic development, African leaders transformed the OAU into the AU and established APSA to promote regional and human security in Africa. At the sub-regional level, West African leaders established the ECOWAS Security Mechanism to address the (human) security deficit in the West Africa region. These institutional transformations coincided with the launching of the NEPAD, which became one of the central instruments of engagement between Africa and the international community to address the peace, security and development challenges on the African continent. Canadas response to the NEPAD under the Liberal government of Jean Chrtien came in the form of a $500 million Canada fund for Africa (CFA) that among other things supported the capacity building of APSA and the ECOWAS Security Mechanism. The promotion of human security played a key role in Canadas approach to the AU and ECOWAS peace and security capacity building. I use a non-imperial internationalist approach that draws on the theoretical insights of a constructivist approach to international relations to provide an understanding of the Canadian governments policy. I argue that the Canadian governments policy towards the AU and ECOWAS can be understood in terms of the moral identity that Canada has built or acquired over the years in Africa. While this moral identity provides the means through which Canadian interests are pursued in Africa, it appears that the interest in maintaining this image has overshadowed the need for the Canadian government to craft an overarching policy and put resources behind the rhetoric of promoting peace and security, particularly human security in Africa.

This study deals with the historical compromise between Labour and Capital—the so-called “Swedish model”—and the abandonment of this compromise in connection with the third industrial revolution. The focus of the study lies in the transformations in working life and labour internationalism from 1973 to 1993. The strategies of the trade union regarding the protection of workers’ rights at local, national and international levels are of particular interest. The relations between the Company Union Group at LM Ericsson, the Swedish Metalworkers’ Federation and the local union at Ericsson’s work premises in Colombia (Sintraericsson) are examined in depth. The research is conducted through archive studies and interviews according to oral history theories. The theoretical perspectives in the dissertation are mainly inspired by postcolonial and materialist world system theories. The examined relations took place in a time that from the point of view of the trade union was characterized by uncertainty and anxiety about the future. The visible effects of the technological and industrial processes of transformation in Sweden as well as in Colombia had increased, and one of the main manifestations of the changes was the decreasing demand of manual labour. The introduction of the electronic AXE-system at LM Ericsson industries constituted a significant pass toward increasingly minimized and decreasing labour-intensive telecommunication systems. In Colombia, the local management took advantage of both the political unrest and instability and the absence of functional legislation praxis of work in order to set back and, finally, repudiate Sintraericsson. Many obstacles were mounted impeding the realization of collected and vigorous international labour actions which, had these been successful, would have constituted a response to the union-hostile actions initiated by the company. The Swedish Metalworkers’ Federation and the Company Union Group at LM Ericsson in Sweden were faced with several strategical and ideological issues resulting in their support of Sintraericsson appearing as obligatory or even absent. The study further shows that LM Ericsson as a company had advantages when compared with the Labour Organizations in Sweden and Colombia. The company early established business connections in Colombia and had knowledge about, and was an active part of, the Colombian society. The company was not driven by moral principles though it on the one hand could point at Colombian laws and norms, and on the other hand at overreaching economical “laws” when it came to motivating the politics vis-à-vis the employees, the local union and the frequent dismissals of union activists at Ericsson de Colombia.

No description available.

No abstract available. / Thesis (M.Dev.Studies.)-University of Natal, Durban, 2000.

This study examines trade union resistance to the post 1977 Export Oriented Industrialisation (EOI) strategies in Sri Lanka, and the possibilities of developing new strategic options. In contrast to perspectives that narrow unions to political economic dimensions, this study emphasises the cultural and the movement dimensions of unions. The purpose of the study is to understand the ways unions can regain their role as civil society actors on the basis of building worker solidarity. The study is divided into two main parts. The first part focuses on the features and tendencies of social movement unionism as advancing new possibilities towards revitalising unions. Under globalisation, unions are faced with an increasingly casualised labour force with more women absorbed as wage workers. The promotion of labour market deregulation and privatisation, endorsed by neo-liberal ideologies of competitive individualism, illustrates the narrowing of unions to the workplace while undermining worker solidarity. The first part of this research describes the impact of :neo-liberal globalisation on trade unions; conceptualisation of and resistance to globalisation; the essence of trade unions; social movement unionism and labour internationalism. According to social movement unionism perspectives, party independent union strategies, based on elements of internal democracy and structured alliances open the possibility of emphasising the movement dimension of unions. The second part explains the context of unions in Sri Lanka, focusing on three unions - the Nurses, Tea Plantation workers, and Free Trade Zone workers. In terms of the structural context, Sri Lankan unions faced a multi-faceted weakening under the post-1977 EOI policies. The assertion of an authoritarian state, promoting interests of capital, enhanced the fragmentation of unions along party differences that were further compounded by divisions along ethnic identity politics. Moreover, the increasing militarisation of the state, which maintains a protracted ethnic war, reinforced coercive state strategies restraining union resistance and shrinking the realm of civil society. In confronting state strategies of labour market deregulation and privatisation, the enduring party subordinated unions are increasingly inadequate. In contrast, the three unions in this study express forms of party-independent union strategies. By analysing their modes of resistance related to the articulation of worker interests, their organisational modes, and their engagement in representative and movement politics the study explores the possibility of developing a social movement unionism orientation in order to regain their role as civil society actors

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Miami University, Dept. of Political Science, 2006. / Title from second page of PDF document. Includes bibliographical references (p. 216-251).

This thesis examines the role of democracy in British, French and American visions of global order in the 1940s. It argues that 'democracy' in a global context did not reflect 'Wilsonian' or 'Cosmopolitan' dreams, nor did it refer to the questions of state representation and institutional accountability that dominate contemporary debates. Instead, it shows that building a 'democratic' global order in the 1940s meant, above all, an attempt to address the challenge of democratic modernity, summarised by Karl Polanyi in 1944 as the search for 'freedom in a complex society', in the new global environment of the mid-century. This challenge was composed of five core concerns, ranging from the protection of the individual from the modern state and the transformation of democratic participation, to the use of expert planning and modern technology to secure economic justice. Achieving a balance between these competing and at times contradictory imperatives was seen as the key to securing a new democratic order that could resist the temptations of nationalism and totalitarianism and secure peace. Crucially, it was only through the structures of a new global order that, internationalists argued, there could be any chance of success. The task was not an easy one, and the historical investigation shows how the choices and trade-offs internationalists made in relation to these imperatives entailed costs in terms of inclusivity, participation and even rights within visions of democratic global order. The thesis has both historical and conceptual goals. First, it recovers important ideas about global order that have been largely written out of the history of this period by taking the language of democracy in world order debates seriously and understanding these visions in context. Conceptually, its aim is to contest and transform how we think about global order and democracy in the history of international thought and in the present day. Instead of Cosmopolitan, Wilsonian, liberal or other normative blueprints for a democratic world order, the conclusion argues that we should, following the example of the 1940s, reconceptualise the relationship between global order and democracy today in relation to the persistent dilemmas of democratic modernity. In a global context, these continue to have interlocking domestic and international dimensions and, more importantly, continue to require choices that entail normatively contestable costs in the construction of a democratic global order. Only then, it argues, will it be possible to think about how these shortcomings can be mitigated and whether and what kind of democratic order we want to pursue at all.

Humanitarian interventions tend to be justified by claims to the existence of an obligation upon ‘us' (the benevolent saviours) to intervene militarily when a state is responsible for large-scale atrocity crimes against its own population. However, this justification is paradoxical, given that there is rarely held to exist a commensurate obligation to address structural violence (even when ‘we' may be partly responsible for, or complicit within, structures that are violent). The paradox arises because structural violence can be harmful – even evil – in its own right, and can also lead to – or exacerbate – direct violence. Hence, intervening militarily, and inevitably causing further harm in the act of intervening, results in a moral shortfall. This shortfall is indicative of a prevailing understanding of harm that is blind to the potential for structures to be violent. In responding to the paradox, I adopt a critical cosmopolitan perspective to argue that because structural violence can be harmful on a great scale, and because it is co-constitutive of direct violence, we ought not to countenance intervening with the use of military force (with what this brings in the form of inevitable intended and unintended harm) to stop direct violence without also considering and addressing violent structures, especially if they are violent structures that we are, ourselves, embedded within. Therefore, it is morally imperative to engage in an ongoing process of illumination and addressing of evil structures to rectify the harms they cause, alongside any efforts to stem direct violence, if any sort of intervention is to be legitimate and just. This requires us to a) expand our understanding of harm and evil at the global level, and b) engage in consistent and sustained deliberative processes that bring to the forefront structural violence and structural underpinnings of direct violence.