(Abstract) This article argues that the contemporaneous phenomana of the ‘third wave of democratisations’ and the ‘second wave of liberalisations’ – or neoliberalism as it were – has disrupted the... Show more(Abstract) This article argues that the contemporaneous phenomana of the ‘third wave of democratisations’ and the ‘second wave of liberalisations’ – or neoliberalism as it were – has disrupted the promise of democracy in the Global South. While the mainstream literature considers that democracy and the promotion of open market economies are mutually reinforcing, I claim that they in fact clash around the roles of the state, which both democracy and neoliberalism seek to reform, but in opposite directions. Democracy requires a broadened and responsive state system, mediating between social classes, while neoliberal reform typically shrinks the state system and shapes it to the preferences of elite classes. In this article, this thesis is explored in historical and comparative ways. I build an analytical framework through a comparison between the Bolivian National Revolution of 1952 and the democratic reforms undertaken under Evo Morales. Using this tool, I compare the fraught relations of Niger with French nuclear giant Areva and those of West Bengal with Indian industrial giant Tata. These comparisons, developed following descriptions of historical backgrounds, show why the vexed issue of the reform of the state should constitute a central research agenda if we are to grasp the fundamental conditions of the prospects of democracy in the Global South today.(Résumé) Cet article affirme que la coïncidence de la « troisième vague de démocratisations » avec la « deuxième vague de libéralisations » – néolibéralisme – a bouleversé les promesses de démocratie dans lespays du Sud. Alors que la littérature traditionnelle considère que la démocratie et la promotion d'économies de marchés ouverts se renforcent mutuellement, nous pensons qu'en réalité, elles s’affrontent sur les rôles de l'État, que la démocratie et le néolibéralisme tentent de réformer, mais dans des directions opposées. La démocratie nécessite un système étatique élargi et réactif, assurant la médiation entre les classes sociales, tandis que, généralement, la réforme néolibérale rétrécit le système étatique et le façonne selon les préférences des classes élitistes. Dans cet article, cette thèse est explorée de manière historique et comparative. Nous construisons un cadre analytique en comparant la révolution nationale bolivienne de 1952 aux réformes démocratiques entreprises sous Evo Morales. Utilisant cet outil, nous comparons les difficiles relations du Niger avec le géant nucléaire français, Areva, et celles du Bengale occidental avec le géant industriel indien Tata. Ces comparaisons, développées à la suite de descriptions de contextes historiques, justifient la constitution d’un programme central de recherche sur l’épineuse question de la réforme de l’État si nous voulons saisir les conditions fondamentales des perspectives de la démocratie dans les pays du Sud. Show less
This study examines the reasons why northern Burkina has been engulfed by endemic violence since the mid-2010s, in an effort to understand future evolutions and recommend coping and preventive... Show moreThis study examines the reasons why northern Burkina has been engulfed by endemic violence since the mid-2010s, in an effort to understand future evolutions and recommend coping and preventive action. The causes of the violence, the study asserts, are external to Burkina and are found in the contest between militant Salafism and the Western “War on Terror,” but the reasons why the conflicts have become entrenched are related to structural issues in Burkina’s internal geopolitics, political economy, and state formation.To demonstrate these claims, the study describes a “Conflict Zone” that emerged in northern Mali following the fall of the regime of Col. Kaddafi of Libya, and that extended into northern Burkina a few years later; it analyzes the internal geopolitics of the country and the peculiar position of the north and the east in relation to the center and the west – described as the twin pillars of the state; it contrasts the impacts of policies of national development under Sankarism in the 1980s and of the neoliberal orientations followed under Blaise Compaoré; it shows how these structures and histories played into tensions and conflicts in northern and eastern Burkina; and how, in turn, these issues made of the region a propitious ground for the extension of the Conflict Zone.The study ends with technical and political recommendations regarding, on the one hand, the revitalization of the regalian state (justice, security, administration), and, on the other hand, the framing of a new blueprint for society. These recommendations also take into account the fact that the Burkina conflicts are part of a Conflict Zone that has a transnational and international life of its own. Show less
