¿Qué es lo “fallido”? ¿Los Estados del Sur, o la investigación y las políticas de Occidente? Un estudio sobre órdenes Políticos híbridos y los Estados emergentes

This paper critically discusses the discourse on fragile and failing states and reviews current debates about state-building. The authors argue for an alternative conceptualization of states emerging from hybrid political orders. Hybrid political orders combine elements of the introduced Western models of governance and elements stemming from local indigenous traditions and practices. Shortcomings in a conventional example of state-building are identified in relation to East Timor, and are contrasted with successes flowing from more innovative approaches to peacebuilding and state formation in Somaliland and Bougainville. The authors conclude that approaches to conflict transformation, peacebuilding and state formation will only be successful in the long term if they engage with local sources of resilience and legitimacy within communities and non-state customary institutions, and if they seek to forge constructive relationships between communities and governments.Este documento de trabajo discute desde una perspectiva crítica el discurso sobre los Estados frágiles y fallidos y revisa los actuales debates sobre la construcción del Estado. Los autores argumentan a favor de una conceptualización alternativa de los Estados que emergen de órdenes políticos híbridos. Los órdenes políticos híbridos combinan elementos de modelos de gobernanza de Occidente, introducidos por éste, y elementos que provienen de las prácticas y tradiciones locales. Se identifican las limitaciones de ejemplos convencionales de construcción del Estado en Timor-Leste, y se contrastan con los éxitos que emanan de enfoques más innovadores de construcción de la paz y de formación del Estado en Somalilandia y Bouganville. Los autores concluyen que los enfoques de transformación del conflicto, construcción de la paz y de formación del Estado solo tendrán éxito a largo plazo si se vinculan con las fuentes de resiliencia y de legitimidad local en el seno de las comunidades y las instituciones consuetudinarias no estatales, y si se intenta forjar relaciones constructivas entre las comunidades y los gobiernos.Estados frágiles, construcción del Estado, construcción de la paz, órdenes políticos híbridos, Fragile states, state building, peacebuilding, hybrid political orders

States emerging from hybrid political orders: Pacific experiences The Australian Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies Occasional Papers Series.

This study explores current processes of state formation in the Pacific islands, focusing on Vanuatu, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Bougainville (as an autonomous region of Papua New Guinea), Southern Highlands Province of Papua New Guinea, and East Timor. It challenges the mainstream discourse on fragile states as a framework for analysis of the situation of any of these countries or regions, and argues that it is more appropriate to talk about states emerging from hybrid political orders as a common denominator. Hybrid political orders combine elements of the introduced Western models of governance and elements stemming from local indigenous traditions. In East Timor and the Pacific island countries customary governance, deeply rooted in locality, has significant implications for state capacity and functionality as well as legitimacy. Tonga with its constitutional monarchy is transitioning to more liberal democratic forms of governance. This gradual process is driven by civil society forces that are growing in strength. In the Melanesian cases of Vanuatu, Bougainville and Solomon Islands there is negotiation of the conditions and possibilities of a ‘marriage’ between customary governance and introduced Western forms of governance, based on relatively strong customary spheres and state institutions that struggle with problems of effectiveness and legitimacy. East Timor is engaged in a conventional state-building process (with massive external assistance) focusing on the transfer and strengthening of central government institutions. The process has taken little account of customary institutions and their potential for contributing to governance and order, and has inadvertently marginalised both local culture and rural communities more generally, with considerable negative effects for Timorese state formation. In the Southern Highlands Province of PNG a vacuum of effective and legitimate governance can be found. In all of these countries or regions there is considerable potential for state and non-state actors to play complementary roles in the provision of functions which OECD countries normally assign exclusively to the state. We also found areas of incompatibility and areas of considerable friction between state and customary institutions. These, however, are not due to insurmountable contradictions between customary and liberal democratic principles and could be overcome by processes of mutual adaptation. These findings—large areas of complementarity, at times intense, but surmountable incompatibilities—augur well for constructive interaction between state and customary institutions which might lead to the emergence of networks of resilient governance which are not introduced from the outside, but are embedded in the societal structures on the ground. Keyword(s) state formatio

The Dualism of Contemporary Traditional Governance and the State

In many parts of the world, people live in “dual polities”: they are governed by the state and organize collective decision making within their ethnic community according to traditional rules. We examine the substantial body of works on the traditional–state dualism, focusing on the internal organization of traditional polities, their interaction with the state, and the political consequences of the dualism. We find the descriptions of the internal organization of traditional polities scattered and lacking comparative perspective. The literature on the interaction provides a good starting point for theorizing the strategic role of traditional leaders as intermediaries, but large potentials for inference remain underexploited. Studies on the consequences of “dual polities” for democracy, conflict, and development are promising in their explanatory endeavor, but they do not yet allow for robust conclusions. We therefore propose an institutionalist research agenda addressing the need for theory and for systematic data collection and explanatory approaches

Challenges and Pitfalls of Resettlement Measures: Experiences in the Pacific Region

Boege V. Challenges and Pitfalls of Resettlement Measures: Experiences in the Pacific Region. COMCAD Arbeitspapiere - Working Papers, 102. Bielefeld: COMCAD - Center on Migration, Citizenship and Development; 2011