‘BREXIT’: A POLITICAL ECONOMY APPROACH

To understand the future of the UK no matter the decision on Brexit, the authors argue it is imperative to understand what led to Brexit in the first place. Almost unmistakable, whatever the future of Brexit, the British economy is smaller because of the referendum to leave than it would have been otherwise

Performing identity: the case of the (Greek) Cypriot National Guard

Students of International Relations are taught that the modern nation-state has a monopoly on the (legitimate) use of violence. However, in the case of the Republic of Cyprus this does not seem to be the case, since its armed forces, the Cypriot National Guard (CNG), are intimately embedded within Greece’s military structure, and half the island remains under Turkish occupation. The colonization of Cyprus (1571–1960) and subsequent decolonization has led to the gradual construction of two rigid identities, Greek and Turkish, that have been institutionalized legally and imposed constitutionally. This paper seeks to answer two questions. First, how does the CNG perform and therefore constitute a ‘Greek identity’? Second, is this performance epistemically violent, hindering the formation of hybrid identities? We use autoethnography, interviews, and insights from Pierre Bourdieu’s concept of the habitus and Judith Butler’s performativity theory to explore these two questions. We argue that the CNG performs a Greek identity in three key configurations: 1) the operational link between the Greek Army and the CNG; 2) the explicit connection to both ancient and modern Greece through various CNG insignia and practices, including parades and marching songs; and 3) the entrenchment of the Greek Orthodox Church within its practices

What economists should know about public policymaking?

Economists maintain that the study of public policymaking falls outside the scope of their discipline. How and why public policies are made should be studied by political science. Policy debates in economics take place within a generally agreed framework referred to in the paper as the 'optimisation paradigm'. There are two central assumptions: 1) there is a 'technocratic' relationship between economists and policymakers based on a separation of functions: policymakers provide the objectives of policy and economists the best instruments of policy; 2) public policymaking is and ought to be 'rational'. A detailed examination of both assumptions reveals that the optimisation paradigm has serious shortcomings. This conclusion is reinforced by the accounts of many economists who have had active involvement in public policymaking. The economist's policy paradigm is in need of revision, which will inevitably require a collective effort. We recommend a return to the 'political economy' approach in which economists will participate in policymaking as 'positive political economists' rather than technical experts 'divorced' from politics