The Role of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in Reducing Massive Human Rights Violations Such as Enforced Disappearances in Africa: Towards Developing Transitional Justice Strategies

By Jeremy Sarkin

Volume 11, Issue 1, pages 130-142

Introduction

Over the last two decades the human rights situation on the African continent has improved, albeit slowly and unevenly (Sarkin 2010). In July 2010 the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon observed in a report to the General Assembly that while fourteen African countries were engaged in armed conflict in the late 1990s, there were only four countries in a state of violent conflict at the time the report was presented (United Nations 2010). It was, however, found that in spite of the improvement ‘many States remain institutionally weak and severely challenged in their ability to promote security and prosperity for their peoples’ (ibid.:5). Amnesty International (2008) has noted that human rights violations continue to be a persistent problem in Africa; economic and social rights are illusory for millions of people; internal violent conflicts accompanied by gross human rights abuses including unlawful killings, torture, and rape are on-going in several countries; and some states do not tolerate dissent and many of them restrict freedom of expression or are reluctant to cooperate with international human rights institutions. […]

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Identity, Issues, and Religious Commitment and Participation: Explaining Turnout among Mosque-Attending Muslim Americans

By Jangsup Choi, Gamal Gasim, and Dennis Patterson

Volume 11, Issue 3, pages 343-364

Abstract

While work on the political behaviour of religious groups in America has shown that, among other things, religious commitment and strong opinions on salient issues can encourage turnout and raise the probability of these groups’ members voting in national elections, much less is known about these relationships with respect to Muslim Americans. Using data collected at mosques in 2006 during the holy month of Ramadan, this article maps the turnout patterns of Muslim American respondents and then investigates the factors that explain the political participation of members of this increasingly important religious group. The article focuses on reported turnout in the 2004 presidential election and shows that, more than anything else, strong opinions on salient issues boosted the participation rates of members of this religious group in the election, even when controlling for other factors known to help explain turnout.

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The Emergence of a New Form of Mexican Nationalism in San Antonio, Texas

By Luis Xavier Rangel-Ortiz

Volume 11, Issue 3, pages 384-403

Abstract

This article explores the role played by a growing community of Mexican national entrepreneurs who are crafting a new form of Mexican nationalism in San Antonio, Texas. This population of Mexican business people is growing in size and influence in the city. The experiences of Mexican entrepreneurs differ from understood forms of Mexican immigration and acculturation to the United States. They differ from previous waves of affluent groups of political and religious Mexican refugees that flourished in San Antonio from 1908 through the 1940s. The integration and cultural adaptation experiences of Mexican entrepreneurs represent a new form of Mexican nationalism that engages both Mexican and American nationalisms in a bidirectional acculturation process. Blending attitudes, values, beliefs, and behaviours of both countries represent a new form of Mexican and American culture emerging in San Antonio at the beginning of the twenty-first century. To better understand the experiences and dynamics of these business people, this study builds on Pierre Bourdieu’s principles of capital and power.

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A ‘European Migrant Crisis’? Some Thoughts on Mediterranean Borders

By Annalisa Lendaro

Volume 16, Issue 1, pages 148-157

Abstract

This paper addresses the ongoing ‘European Migrant Crisis’ by, first, discussing the return of internal borders within the European Union as zones for controlling and sorting migrants, and then both internal and external borders as areas in which policing and national policy choices deeply challenge international law, which was designed to protect all human beings regardless of their country of departure. The primary argument developed here is that some EU countries neglect to abide by the European and international regulations on migration, asylum seekers, and human rights, with unprecedented consequences. Border policies are presented here as paradoxical governmental tools, which are not applied equally and uniformly. The main consequence is the growing gap between rights guaranteed under the law and their selective application within a border management where the state of exception is increasingly visible.

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Ethnic and Regionalist Parties in Western Europe: A Party Family?

By Andreas Fagerholm

Volume 16, Issue 2, pages 304-399

Abstract

Parties that defend the interest of one or a few ethnic groups and/or regions are, despite their differences, recurrently grouped together into a single party family. This article systematically applies the multidimensional framework offered by Mair and Mudde in order to provide an up-to-date inventory of the universe of ethnic and regionalist parties in Western Europe and assess whether they form a family. The evidence indicates that although the ethnic and regionalist family appears to be somewhat less coherent than more established families, there are clear similarities between the proposed (core) member parties. More specifically, the common denominators that distinguish the members of the ethnic and regionalist party family are their rather similar origins, sociologies, and policy orientations.

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