21 research outputs found
Elections, Identity and Ethnic Conflict in the Caribbean
ImportĂ© Ă Trinidad - dans un environnement social radicalement diffĂ©rent- Ă partir des racines britanniques, le dispositif Ă©lectoral, tel quâil a Ă©tĂ© adaptĂ© Ă la sociĂ©tĂ© multiethnique de Trinidad et Tobago, a laissĂ© en suspens des questions importantes relatives aux rĂŽles de la reprĂ©sentation, de lâidentitĂ©, de lâintĂ©gration et de lâimplication citoyenne dans lâordre politique. Sâagissant du soutien populaire, le systĂšme Ă©lectoral Ă©tait basĂ© sur le principe dâune compĂ©tition Ă somme nulle. En particulier, la reprĂ©sentation a tendance Ă ĂȘtre communalisĂ©e, de sorte que le parti au pouvoir incarne non pas la volontĂ© gĂ©nĂ©rale mais des solidaritĂ©s et des intĂ©rĂȘts ethniques particularisĂ©s. Lâengagement citoyen sâexprime avec passion, mais sur le fondement de clivages communautaires, de sorte quâun seul groupe Ă la fois sâidentifie au gouvernement. Par consĂ©quent, les Ă©lections suscitent de redoutables rĂ©ponses primordialistes et des craintes qui divisent profondĂ©ment dans des Ă©tats culturellement fragmentĂ©s. Dans une sociĂ©tĂ© segmentĂ©e et divisĂ©e, manquant de croyances et dâidentitĂ©s partagĂ©es, toutes les structures politiques conçues pour ĂȘtre neutres tendent Ă ĂȘtre viciĂ©es et imprĂ©gnĂ©es de considĂ©rations et dâintĂ©rĂȘts ethniques suspects. Des identitĂ©s communautaires sont en jeu car, dans la dĂ©faite, les vaincus peuvent faire lâexpĂ©rience de la marginalisation. Par consĂ©quent, le dispositif Ă©lectoral va au-delĂ de sa fonction initiale qui est de choisir des dĂ©cideurs. A Trinidad, les Ă©lections sont devenues une arĂšne oĂč les identitĂ©s sâaffrontent, sous la menace dâune domination ethnique. Le problĂšme central posĂ© par la multiethnicitĂ© trinidadienne concerne en partie les intĂ©rĂȘts communautaires collectifs et lâidentitĂ© segmentĂ©e. Chaque communautĂ© ethnique voit ses intĂ©rĂȘts diffĂ©remment, non seulement au regard de sa vie symbolique et culturelle, mais aussi par rapport aux revendications portant sur les ressources Ă©conomiques. Chaque Ă©lection a eu tendance Ă soulever de maniĂšre rĂ©currente toutes les questions dâĂ©quitĂ© non rĂ©solues du point de vue de lâappartenance ethnique. Comme ce fut le cas Ă Trinidad, un groupe ethnique dans un Etat fondamentalement caractĂ©risĂ© par une bipolarisation ethnique a captĂ© le pouvoir et a instituĂ© un ordre perçu par lâautre communautĂ© ethnique principale comme Ă©tant rĂ©pressif et discriminatoire. Une campagne Ă©lectorale a entĂ©rinĂ© la compĂ©tition entre identitĂ©s rivales qui sâexprime dans une lutte communautaire collective dans laquelle les revendications de chaque communautĂ© en tant que telle ont Ă©tĂ© de nouveau relancĂ©es et prĂ©sentĂ©es en des termes intransigeants. Les victoires rĂ©pĂ©tĂ©es de lâun des segments communautaires sur lâautre nâont pas Ă©tĂ© acceptĂ©es par les vaincus qui ont retirĂ© leur soutien moral Ă lâEtat.Imported into Trinidad from British roots, an environment radically different in social structure from Trinidad, the adaptation of the electoral device to the multi-ethnic society of Trinidad and Tobago has left important questions unresolved about the roles of representation, identity, integration, and citizen commitment to the political order. The electoral system was based on zero-sum competition for popular support. In particular, representation tends to become communalized so that the party in power symbolizes not the public will at large but sectional solidarity and ethnically particularized interests. Citizen commitment is passionately expressed but communally cleaved so that only one section at a time identifies with the governing regime. The out-section is alienated. Hence, elections elicit fearsome primordial responses and deeply divisive fears in culturally fractured states. In a communally-divided society lacking shared beliefs and identities, all political structures however neutrally designed tend to be tainted and imbued with suspect ethnic motifs and interests. Communal identities are at stake for in defeat the vanquished may witness the marginalization of its way of life. Consequently, the electoral device becomes larger than its original purpose designed for selecting decision-makers. In Trinidad, it was charged that elections became an arena of contesting identities enmeshed in a threat of ethnic domination. The pivotal problem thrown up by Trinidadâs multi-ethnicity in part pertains to collective communal interests and sectional identity. Each ethnic section sees its interests differently not only in relation to its symbolic and cultural life but in relation to claims to economic resources. Each election that came tended to raise anew all the unresolved issues of ethnic equity. As it happened in Trinidad, one ethnic group in an essentially ethnically biÂpolar state had captured power and in the perception of the other major ethnic community instituted an order that was ethnically repressive and discriminatory. An election campaign assumed the form of identity rivalry expressed in a collective communal struggle in which the claims of each community as a whole reignited anew and expressed in uncompromising terms. Repeated victory by one sectional community over the other was not accepted by the vanquished group which withdrew its moral support from the state
Recovering democracy: problems and solutions to the Guyana quagmire
Cette Ă©tude propose une analyse des problĂšmes fondamentaux du systĂšme politique guyanais, et suggĂšre des orientations susceptibles de gĂ©nĂ©rer une Ă©volution vers une rĂ©conciliation interethnique et une consociation politique. Le nĆud du problĂšme rĂ©side dans lâĂ©tablissement dâun gouvernement gĂ©nĂ©ralement acceptable, juste et dĂ©mocratique, et ce dans un contexte oĂč les composantes communautaires sont profondĂ©ment mĂ©fiantes, tant en Guyane que dans des Etats similaires des CaraĂŻbes comme Trinidad et le Surinam. La situation actuelle englobe des problĂ©matiques sensibles relatives au statut et Ă la reconnaissance des communautĂ©s ethnoculturelles : ces derniĂšres expriment des craintes de discrimination et de domination, et des soupçons quant Ă lâĂ©quitĂ© des politiques Ă©tatiques en matiĂšre dâallocation des ressources. Sauf Ă dĂ©truire lâEtat, la tĂąche fondamentale est de concevoir un modĂšle de gouvernement qui satisfasse les revendications divergentes formulĂ©es par les diffĂ©rentes communautĂ©s en matiĂšre dâĂ©quitĂ© et de reprĂ©sentation, la maniĂšre dont elles voient les choses. Pour partie, lâobjet de la prĂ©sente Ă©tude est prĂ©cisĂ©ment dâexplorer les possibilitĂ©s de mettre au point un tel systĂšme.This paper offers an analysis of the fundamental problems of the Guyanese political order and suggests directions in which change towards interethnic reconciliation and political consociation may proceed. The crux of the problem pertains to the establishment of a generally acceptable, just, and democratic government in the midst of deeply distrusting communal components in Guyana and similar states including Trinidad and Suriname in the Caribbean. Implicated in all of this are vexing issues related to status and recognition of the ethno-cultural communities which express fears of discrimination and domination as well as charges of skewed state policies regarding resource allocation. Short of destroying the state, the basic task is to design a framework of government that will acccomodate the divergent claims of the respective communities for equily and representation, the way they see it. In part, the point about this paper is precisely to explore the possibilities of designing such a system
Religion and reconciliation in the multi-ethnic states of the third world : Fiji, Trinidad, and Guyana
The thesis inquires into the role of the Christian Churches in the ethnic and communal conflicts of the Third World. Often times summoned to intervene, churches can instigate, ignore, or seek to reconcile the inter-communal tensions and strife which wreak havoc on the development of these societies. Church response to reconcile the rival claims of divergent ethnic communities is, however, not necessarily impelled purely by doctrinal directives. The institutional interests of the church as well as other priorities often qualify the role of the churches as peace-makers. Using empirical evidence from Fiji, Guyana, and Trinidad, the thesis focuses mainly on the conciliatory role of the churches in these conflicts. It seeks to ascertain whether the churches, over the years and in different cultural milieux, have evolved a body of experiential resources in resolving or assuaging these conflicts. In the end, the thesis attempts to answer the question whether there is or can be a Christian mode of ethnic conflict resolution