The reassessment of Global South contribution to International Relations both in the past and present time, is a crucial challenge for academic research nowadays, constituting an issue that is...Show moreThe reassessment of Global South contribution to International Relations both in the past and present time, is a crucial challenge for academic research nowadays, constituting an issue that is worthy of interest and analysis for its implications on History and International Relations. This work aims to decentralize International Relations and make it less Eurocentric. To do so, the author reassessed the role of Latin American thinkers and diplomats in Human Rights theorization in the 1940s, to show that crucial theoretical developments were made outside the Global North. In detail, this thesis argues that the region has actively participated in the construction of the language of human rights instead of simply receiving ideas and concepts from the Global North. It focuses on the Larreta Doctrine, a doctrine developed in Uruguay that tackled multilateralism, sovereignty and the violation of human rights. Eduardo Rodriguez Larreta, then Uruguayan Foreign Minister, theorized this Doctrine in 1945, in response to the dualism between sovereignty and international Rights protection hardly felt in the Latin American Region. So, Larreta thought that the idea that non-intervention in states’ domestic affairs is conditional to the respect for citizens’ fundamental rights. Moreover, the Uruguayan Foreign Minister stated that a precommitment regime and collective intervention are not a violation of sovereignty.Show less
Illegal oil theft, also referred to as “huachicoleo”, constitutes one of the major policy issues today in Mexico. Although organized crime shapes the contemporary political landscape of the country...Show moreIllegal oil theft, also referred to as “huachicoleo”, constitutes one of the major policy issues today in Mexico. Although organized crime shapes the contemporary political landscape of the country, political science academia has largely failed to research crime and its impact on the state. This thesis particularly investigates the phenomenon of huachicoleo in Mexico and why it has become the new public priority. It draws upon academic contributions from cultural studies, criminology, sociology and political science to provide an alternative narrative about the conflict in Mexico. The thesis proposes that huachicoleo erodes the legitimacy of the Mexican state and poses a threat to the government as such. It emphasizes the agency of non-humans, i.e. the cultural power of oil and the symbolic value of the state-owned oil company PEMEX. Moreover, the thesis looks into the huachicolero subculture, which has developed around the activity of illegal oil theft and shares similarities with narcoculture. It demonstrates how “huachicultura” challenges the state’s legitimacy through its cultural artifacts and actively takes part in the on-going process of the social construction of legitimacy in Mexico. These findings suggest for future research to acknowledge the importance of material objects and non-human entities in conflict situations and how those engage with the human entity as a network of agency.Show less
In 2008, the World Bank developed the State and Peacebuilding Fund (SPF) to deal with post-conflict countries. The financial institution has been involved in post-conflict reconstruction since the...Show moreIn 2008, the World Bank developed the State and Peacebuilding Fund (SPF) to deal with post-conflict countries. The financial institution has been involved in post-conflict reconstruction since the late nineties. However, its adoption of the political concepts of state and peacebuilding seems to represent a shift towards a comprehensive position of the World Bank regarding post-conflict situations (World Bank, 1998, p. 4). The emphasis is put on the political aspects of state and peacebuilding as they imply the building of ‘institutional capacity and legitimacy’ and the management of ‘the internal and external stresses that increase vulnerability to conflict’ in ‘fragile and conflict-prone and -affected situations’ (World Bank, 2019a). At the same time, the World Bank has reminded the importance of not interfering in politics and the necessity to stick to its role of economic actor as stated in its Articles of Agreement. The organisation appears torn between a supposedly comprehensive approach concerning state and peacebuilding and its economic mandate. The evolution of the paradoxical discourse of the World Bank on post-conflict reconstruction is therefore considered in this thesis by examining the power-knowledge and the associate regime of truth at stake in the production of its discourse. The method selected is a critical discourse analysis and the SPF is the case-study for this research. This thesis allows to unpack the problematic handling of state and peacebuilding by the World Bank.Show less
