Repression

Prolongeant ses travaux sur la répression, Vanessa Codaccioni analyse et dénonce les ressorts de « la société de vigilance ». Surveillance massive, appel à la délation, légitimation de la répression : une nouvelle servitude volontaire est insidieusement imposée aux citoyens qui deviennent des acteurs incontournables de cette dynamique sécuritaire.

All’indomani dell’unificazione italiana la classe dirigente liberale, impegnata a consolidare il fragile assetto costituzionale, temeva i rischi potenziali di una mobilitazione popolare incontrollata, o favorita da democratici e reazionari, all’ordine monarchico-costituzionale. Il pericolo, vero o presunto, di cospirazioni e insurrezioni costituì uno dei tòpoi tipici della cultura politica ottocentesca, cui non sfuggivano nemmeno le autorità di polizia, psicologicamente predisposte a vedere dietro ogni forma di dissenso l’azione di provocatori e spie. Da questo retaggio politico-culturale la politica di sicurezza adottata dalla Destra si caratterizzò per il suo duplice approccio: le autorità avrebbero dovuto da un lato «illuminare» la popolazione a non ascoltare la propaganda dei partiti d’opposizione, dall’altro praticare la più stretta sorveglianza contro gli agitatori politici per prevenire e nel caso reprimere eventuali disordini. Siffatta concezione trovò la sua realizzazione concreta nel primo decennio unitario con la promulgazione di leggi, regolamenti e direttive. Tuttavia, i tentativi di introdurre una normativa restrittiva del diritto di riunione e di associazione tra il 1861 e il 1865 non trovarono mai una maggioranza parlamentare pronta a sostenerli. Nel confronto tra la paura dei tumulti popolari e la difesa dei diritti costituzionali prevalse sempre quest’ultima, anche se ciò non impedì alle autorità di adottare all’occorrenza provvedimenti che in alcuni casi degenerarono in abusi e violenze verso i cittadini. Sebbene il periodo 1861-1871 difetti ancora di una ricognizione generale sui disordini urbani, in questa sede saranno esaminati alcuni aspetti, normativi e pratici della tutela dell’ordine durante le manifestazioni di dissenso. Si cercherà di rilevare dall’analisi incrociata dei documenti archivistici – articolati in fonti di polizia, giudiziarie e normative – indizi significativi su di un maggiore disciplinamento sull’uso delle armi e sulle procedure operative delle forze dell’ordine che, a partire dalle stragi di Torino, suggerirebbero una maggiore attenzione alla salvaguardia della vita dei civili, tumultuanti compresi.

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, a majority of countries worldwide have introduced severe limitations on the freedom of assembly, if not an outright lockdown, in many cases complemented by restrictions on further civil and political rights. Although restrictions were generally considered necessary to save lives and protect health care systems from overburdening, they also pose the risk of government overreach, that is, governments may use the pandemic as a convenient opportunity and justification to impose restrictions for political purposes. In this sense, COVID-19 may give yet another substantial boost to a global trend that has been unfolding since the early 2000s: the shrinking of civic spaces, which is characterized by an increase in government restrictions that target civil society actors and limit their freedoms of assembly, association, and expression. The aim of the paper is to assess civic space restrictions that have been imposed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic ...

The phenomenon of closing civic space essentially reflects a political struggle over the legitimate role of civil society organizations in public affairs as well as over the legitimate role of the state in regulating such civil society activities. The public sphere is a key site in which this struggle is waged. In general, in the context of closing spaces, governments publicly define increasingly narrow limits as to what kinds of civil society organizations and activities are to be considered appropriate. Based on such a definition of standards of appropriateness, governments may then publicly
criticize individual civil society organizations (CSOs) with a view to designating them as, in one way or another, outside the realm of legitimate civic behavior. The chapter reconstructs the basic logic of what is called “reputational attacks against civil society actors” and suggests a set of strategic responses available to CSOs.

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, a majority of countries worldwide have introduced severe limitations on the freedom of assembly, if not an outright lockdown, in many cases complemented by restrictions on further civil and political rights. Although restrictions were generally considered necessary to save lives and protect health care systems from overburdening, they also pose the risk of government overreach, that is, governments may use the pandemic as a convenient opportunity and justification to impose restrictions for political purposes. In this sense, COVID-19 may give yet another substantial boost to a global trend that has been unfolding since the early 2000s: the shrinking of civic spaces, which is characterized by an increase in government restrictions that target civil society actors and limit their freedoms of assembly, association, and expression. The aim of the paper is to assess civic space restrictions that have been imposed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic with a view to exploring their immediate consequences as well as their potential mid-term implications for civil society organizations in general and contentious civic activism in particular. We do so by, first, providing evidence from multiple data sources about the global spread of COVID-19-related restrictions over time and across countries. Second, we identify key dynamics at work in order to assess the immediate consequences and the potential mid-term implications of these restrictions. These dynamics are illustrated by looking at experiences from individual countries (including Cambodia, Germany, Hungary, and Lebanon).

This article traces the radical devaluation of the phantasm throughout Western civilization. With the help of Nietzsche's critical perspective, I develop a notion of hystery as the series of collective traumas repeated in each individual's growth, whereby the phantasm changes value from psychosomatic interface, to evil incarnate, to disease of learning. Beginning with the Classical episteme represented by Plato, Aristotle, and the Stoics, then moving up through the Christian era, I focus primarily on Enlightenment thinkers such as Hobbes and Bacon, who represent the last nail in the imagination's coffin. The next section examines Nietzsche's rediscovery of the phantasm and the theoretical contributions of post-structuralism that follow in Nietzsche's wake. Juxtaposing Bataille and Deleuze, I look at Deleuze's early enthusiasm and ultimate betrayal of the phantasm, and I posit Bataille's emphasis on the affective force of the mythological phantasm as an insurrection to reclaim our experience and life along with it. The article ends with speculation, offering Bruno's art of memory as an ontic and epistemic alternative to dominant Western hystery, other pasts opening to other possible futures, an ungrounding that paradoxically leads to a restoration of the human house in a re-enchanted cosmos.

Restrictions on NGOs and others promoting civil liberties have caused alarm about «shrinking civic space» perpetrated by their domestic regimes. Yet because most camps in the world’s civil societies are left
unmolested (indeed many are growing) and because non-domestic sources of constraint often play decisive roles, there are reasons to re-think the issues and ask how, and for whom, civil spaces are shaped. 
This exploratory article draws attention to forces set in motion from central, transnational levels that affect civic spaces: securitization; constraints on organized labour; marketization; transnational non-state actors; citizen disengagement driven by state retrenchment; and social media. As problematized in most policy, activist and scholarly writings, outside forces affecting civic space for emancipatory camps are often ignored, despite their being more susceptible to counteraction from outside than are repressive regimes. These issues await deeper  investigation and discussion.

This study will highlight how rhetorical devices and stylistic techniques are employed both in the novel Pride and Prejudice and in its 2005 film adaptation to transform and mitigate the destabilizing power of passion. The use of tropes, such as synecdoche and metonymy, and of the stylistic technique of focalization, finds its effective counterpart in the filmic grammar that includes close-ups, insert shots, subjective shots, eyeline matches and reaction shots. The direct correspondence between the literary devices chosen by Jane Austen and the visual equivalents employed by the cinema will be elaborated on.

Why does the Chinese government—which is known for its strong-arm tactics—need or desire to use non-state actors to carry out coercion and social control? In this piece, I argue the government seeks to deploy non-state actors to perform coercive acts or exercise social control for a wide range of reasons, such as reducing the cost of repression and evading responsibility. These non-state actors range from ‘thugs-for-hire’, to profit-seeking brokers and even commercial enterprises.

Democracy in a post-colonial Africa has not replicated the “Westminster model” that was inoculated upon the continent by its former colonial masters. African democracy, which is flawed mainly in comparison to the West, has posed different characteristics mostly, an extended stay in power by some of its leaders. The emergence of the strong man leader has been a critical point of debate as scholars in the field of comparative politics and government continue to wrestle with the question of how African dictators have maintained a stronghold on power. These extended incumbencies, which are becoming the norm, are best understood if they are analyzed using the theoretical frameworks of; cooptation, coercion, repression, colonial legacies, and elements of foreign direct investment/ influence. To put democracy and dictatorship in conversation, this paper examines Libya’s Muammar Gadhafi, whose rule discombobulated the young nation. Gadhafi’s reign, in its nativity, was a harbinger for hopes of democracy in Africa as it promised participation of all citizens; however, relations soured throughout what was an egregious 42-year presidency.

DNA methylation represents a form of genome annotation that mediates gene repression by serving as a maintainable mark that can be used to reconstruct silent chromatin following each round of replication. During development, germline DNA methylation is erased in the blastocyst, and a bimodal pattern is established anew at the time of implantation when the entire genome gets methylated while CpG islands are protected. This brings about global repression and allows housekeeping genes to be expressed in all cells of the body. Postimplantation development is characterized by stage- and tissue-specific changes in methylation that ultimately mold the epigenetic patterns that define each individual cell type. This is directed by sequence information in DNA and represents a secondary event that provides long-term expression stability. Abnormal methylation changes play a role in diseases, such as cancer or fragile X syndrome, and may also occur as a function of aging or as a result of enviro...

El descontento popular en Nicaragua es alto después de que las protestas callejeras en abril fueron aplastadas en una brutal represión gubernamental. Para evitar más disturbios, el presidente Ortega debe implementar las reformas electorales acordadas, mientras que los actores internacionales mantienen la presión diplomática para crear condiciones para el diálogo.

* Este reporte fue fruto de un proceso colaborativo por parte de un amplio equipo de analistas y editores en Crisis Group en el cual yo fui la autora principal y la responsable de la investigación de campo en Nicaragua.

Steven James Bartlett in his book The Pathology of Man analysed human evil. Considered in a clinical rather than a religious sense, evil refers to human violence, cruelty, enslavement of other species and destruction of the environment. Bartlett's ideas are presented and then applied to technology, in particular the technology of repression. Implications include the need for a normative treatment of technology.

Ведибіда Б.О. Інформаційно-методичний огляд Висвітлення історії політичних репресій і радянського тоталітаризму в експозиціях музеїв Західної України / Б. О. Ведибіда (автор-упорядник); Національний музей історії України. – К. : НМІУ, 2017. – 80 с.

Freud proposed that unwanted memories can be forgotten by pushing them into the unconscious, a process called repression1. The existence of repression has remained controversial for more than a century, in part because of its strong coupling with trauma, and the ethical and practical difficulties of studying such processes in controlled experiments. However, behavioural and neurobiological research on memory and attention shows that people have executive control processes directed at minimizing perceptual distraction2, 3, overcoming interference during short and long-term memory tasks3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and stopping strong habitual responses to stimuli8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13. Here we show that these mechanisms can be recruited to prevent unwanted declarative memories from entering awareness, and that this cognitive act has enduring consequences for the rejected memories. When people encounter cues that remind them of an unwanted memory and they consistently try to prevent awareness of it, the later recall of the rejected memory becomes more difficult. The forgetting increases with the number of times the memory is avoided, resists incentives for accurate recall and is caused by processes that suppress the memory itself. These results show that executive control processes not uniquely tied to trauma may provide a viable model for repression.

The purpose of the article is to analyse the process of constructing the ideological portrait of the class enemy towards the politically non-involved intellectuals in communist Romania in the 1950s. The ideological construction of the enemy has been carried out by the communist party through the Securitate secret police. The research hypothesis is that the communist regime has instrumentalized the class enemy in order to justify repression and gain political legitimacy, alongside with obtaining increased political control over target groups in society. The method used is ideological analysis, followed by a case study concerning the Noica-Pillat trial from 1960. In the first part, the article deals with the evolution of the concept of „enemy” starting from Karl Marx and continuing with communist leaders from the Soviet Union and Romania. The second part aims to exemplify the ideological repression through the case study. The results suggest that the ideological figure of the enemy was a discursive construction used by the communist authorities to annihilate its real or fictitious opponents.

Abstract In this article, I developed the theoretical concept of cyber state capacity (CSC). Advancing Gobel's (2013) theoretical model of information and communication technologies (ICTs) and authoritarian consolidation, I introduced the theoretical propositions of CSC, which help explain how governments use information and communication technological systems to maintain stability, development, and stay in power. Well established, durable regimes have implemented ICT infrastructures that rival advanced democracies, yet the wave of liberalization that was expected to occur has not. After lying out the theoretical concepts, I conducted a qualitative case illustration to analyze the state enhancing or weakening ICT environments in Egypt and Saudi Arabia in the years leading up to, and at the time of, the Arab Spring. Developed ICT systems can bolster government power through sophisticated surveillance and propaganda operations, as well as providing economic and entertainment benefits that may contribute to placating individuals' motivations for increased political concessions.

This article analyzes the ghostly presence of the figure of the disappeared in Argentina in the period spanning from the military dictatorship-when the crime of forced disappearance was perpetrated systematically and on a massive scale-to the present. By examining a variety of written and oral sources (memoirs, print media, interviews, radio shows, photographs, documentaries, and literary works of fiction and nonfiction), the article historicizes that presence and explains it through the crime's liminal nature, and the different meanings that the spectral figure acquires depending on the actors who perceive it and the changing political contexts. The article reveals how the ghostly presence of the disappeared challenges the tools used internationally in the field of transnational justice to deal with experiences of extreme violence and the specific policies for processing the crime of forced disappearance and representing the disappeared in Argentina.

Este articulo explora los modos subjetivos de representacion de la protagonista de El color purpura. Revisa las maneras en las que Celie construye, a traves de diversas experiencias personales y comunitarias, su propia identidad. Esta construccion es posible en virtud de su deseo que examina su propio cuerpo y la capacidad de trasformar su propio mundo. Este articulo muestra las maneras en las cuales el amor, la opresion y la falta se fusionan unos con otros para construir un deseo femenino autentico en un universo solo de hombres. De esta manera, Celie deviene en un texto porque ella inscribe en si misma una serie de maximas en relacion con su cuerpo y su capacidad de "ver" mas alla del mundo restringido que la acorrala. Este proceso catartico demuestra como la protagonista se traslada de la paralisis de ser un objeto a la plenitud de ser un sujeto.

This article takes a closer look at the internal evolution of the North Korean political system and how it has been subjugated to the personalist regime of the Kim family. The author argues that North Korea should no longer be perceived as a totalitarian regime since it is now a fully entrenched personal regime in the first place. The author investigates how this process of personalization took place in the institutional, ideological and mobilizational dimensions of the DPRK as well as the influence on its international relations (gatekeeping). Based on these insights the author provides some scenarios for endogenous transitions from this regime type and how hereditary succession and personalism affect its survival strategies..

Since his ascension in 1999, King Abdullah II has halted Jordan’s decade-long experiment with political liberalization. However, the new royal incumbent has preserved authoritarian power not through highly visible tools of domination, such as widespread coercion and institutional closure, but rather softer instruments of legal manipulation. Through selective economic reforms, new civil society regulations, and hollow pluralism initiatives, Abdullah’s regime has tightened its control over political opposition while foreclosing the possibility of mass unrest. As a result, ten years after the Hashemite monarchy received its new king, the prospects for democratic change in Jordan remain exceedingly low.

La represión franquista diezmó de forma importante la universidad española, pues primó el mérito ideológico por encima del científico y abocó al exilio (cuando no a la muerte o a la postergación) a decenas de investigadores. En este artículo se analiza los efectos de dicha política sobre los incipientes estudios económicos.

Since the attacks of September 11th in the United States, states have become increasingly concerned with preventing terrorist attacks and have created new policy measures and legislation in order to combat terrorism and protect the safety of their population. As governments respond to terrorism and try to protect their citizens from terrorists, these responses may have unintended consequences for these citizens and may be harmful to the state in general. Critics of new measures and legislation being adopted, argue that they can have a negative impact on human rights. The goal of this paper is to build upon the existing literature by addressing some of the inconsistencies that exist. In order to do this, I address the repression of two types of rights: physical integrity rights, which includes freedom from torture and extrajudicial killings, and civil liberties, which includes freedom of speech and assembly. I then develop hypotheses linking repression to terrorist attacks, both domestic and transnational. I find that domestic terrorism has an impact on the repression of civil liberties, but has an even stronger impact on the repression of physical integrity rights. I also find that transnational terrorism does not have an impact on civil liberties or physical integrity rights. These findings contradict much of the quantitative literature which finds that transnational terrorism has an impact on physical integrity rights. However, they are consistent with some of the qualitative literature which finds that domestic terrorism has an impact on the repression of civil liberties.

When confronted with reminders to an unpleasant memory, people often try to prevent the unwanted memory from coming to mind.
In this article, we review behavioral and neurocognitive evidence concerning the consequences of exerting such control over memory
retrieval. This work indicates that suppressing retrieval is accomplished by control mechanisms that inhibit the unwanted memories,
making them harder to recall later, even when desired. This process engages executive control mechanisms mediated by the lateral prefrontal
cortex to terminate recollection-related activity in the hippocampus. Together, these findings specify a neurocognitive model of
how memory control operates, suggesting that executive control may be an important means of down-regulating intrusive memories over
time. We conclude by proposing that individual differences in the regulation of intrusive memories in the aftermath of trauma may be
mediated by pre-existing differences in executive control ability. In support of this executive deficit hypothesis, we review the recent work
indicating links between executive control ability and memory suppression.

El volumen colectivo Represion estatal y violencia paraestatal en la historia reciente argentina: nuevos abordajes a 40 anos del golpe de Estado es resultado de un extenso trabajo realizado en el seno de la Red de Estudios sobre Represion y Violencia Politica (RER), que nuclea desde 2014 a investigadores que se encuentran produciendo y debatiendo sobre tales tematicas. El libro tiene como objetivo central sistematizar los principales aportes y lineas de renovacion en los estudios sobre la represion, ofreciendo un panorama sintetico y analitico sobre las formas, dispositivos y efectos de la represion previa y posterior al golpe de Estado. Para ello se convoco a un conjunto de investigadores/as especialistas en dichas tematicas con diversas trayectorias , quienes desarrollan sus investigaciones en distintas universidades nacionales o en el CONICET y forman parte de la RER, y han producido renovados estudios e interpretaciones sobre la problematica. El libro esta dividido en tres parte...

A Soviet Socialist Republic of Crimea was proclaimed in the autumn of 1921 and soon tensions appeared between various actor over the orientation of national policy. This article examines the conflicts that developed within the Crimean Communist Party and how they helped to change the political and social order in the peninsula. It shows how the disputes that opposed individuals were initially defined, then redefined and criminalized, and gave rise to one of the political trials during the spring of 1928 in the Soviet Union.

La política exterior de un país puede generar caos o prevenir aislamiento. El caso de Chile bajo la administración de General Augusto Pinochet no era diferente. Hay teóricos que opinan que su política exterior era una política de progreso y productividad. En cambio, hay teóricos que opinan que su política exterior era una política de regresión y represión.
Este artículo explica la política exterior de Pinochet y evalúa su eficacia bajo su régimen castrense (1973-1990) en Chile. Hay que notar que aunque el régimen de Pinochet terminó hace veinticuatro años, su dictadura es relevante porque las repercusiones quedan en Chile y más allá de Chile.
Las teorías y las lecturas relevantes de política pública, relaciones internacionales, los factores que influyen la política exterior, la política exterior de Allende y la de Pinochet, el aislamiento de Pinochet y la restauración de vínculos con socios forman parte del análisis de esta investigación.
Palabras claves: relaciones internacionales, aislamiento, conflicto, nacionalismo, think tanks.

Pinochet and foreign policy: policy or political progress and productivity regression and repression
Abstract
The foreign policy of a country can generate chaos or prevent isolation. The Chilean case under General Augusto Pinochet was no different. There are theorists who believe that his policy was progressive and productive. On the other hand, there are theorists who believe that his policy was regressive and repressive.
This article explains Pinochet‟s foreign policy and evaluates its efficiency under his military regime (1973-1990) in Chile. It is important to note that although Pinochet‟s regime ended twenty four years ago, his dictatorship is relevant because the repercussions still exist in Chile and beyond.
Theories and relevant readings on public policy, international relations, factors that influence foreign policy, the foreign policy of Allende and Pinochet, Pinochet‟s isolation and the restoration of ties with partners form part of the analysis of this investigation.
Key words: international relations, isolation, conflict, nationalism, think tanks.

Resumen: Este artículo revisa la idea de que habría existido una pérdida de control jerárquico de la Armada argentina sobre la represión en la Escuela de Mecánica de la Armada (ESMA), uno de los mayores centros clandestinos de detención de la dictadura militar en Argentina (1976-1983). El trabajo sostiene que la autonomización del «grupo de tareas» de la ESMA respecto de la estructura de Inteligencia de la Armada se circunscribió a una etapa específica de su funcionamiento.

Abstract: This paper reviews the idea that there would have been a loss of hierarchical control by the Argentine Navy over the repression in the Navy Mechanics School, one of the largest clandestine detention centers of the military dictatorship in Argentina (1976-1983). The article argues that the autonomization of the ESMA «task force» from the Navy's Intelligence structure was limited to a specific period of its existence.

Resumen: La exhumación de fosas comunes de la represión franquista es una vertiente que une el compromiso de los arqueólogos y antropólogos con el rigor científico de cualquier intervención con metodología arqueológica. Presentamos aquí los primeros resultados de los trabajos de exhumación de las cinco fosas comunes localizadas en Calera y Chozas (Toledo), donde fueron hallados un total de 28 personas desaparecidas entre los años 1936 y 1939.

Abstract: The exhumation of mass graves of Franco’s repression is an aspect that links engagement of archaeologists and anthropologists with the scientific rigor of any intervention with archaeological methods. We present here the first results of the work of exhumation of the five mass graves located in Calera y Chozas (Toledo), where they found a total of 28 persons disappeared between 1936 and 1939.

Indonesia boasts one of the largest and most vibrant punk scenes on the planet today. It is also home to world’s largest Muslim population. Punk and religion are usually found in antagonism with one another, but the situation is far more complicated in Indonesia. Using interview and participant-observation material gathered in September/October 2012 and January 2015, this article examines the relationships between punk and religion in Indonesia, finding it markedly different to the oppositional
relationship expected elsewhere in the world. Despite the fact that  repression of punk in Indonesia is often religiously motivated, most of the interviewees still maintained a Muslim religious (or at least cultural-religious) identity. Those punks who did profess atheism were doing so against a very different social backdrop to their comrades in more secular parts of the world, and were making a much more significant stand in doing so.