Judicial Impartiality and Independence in Divided Societies: An Empirical Analysis of the Constitutional Court of Bosnia-Herzegovina

The role of Constitutional Courts in deeply divided societies is complicated by the danger that the salient societal cleavages may influence judicial decision-making and, consequently, undermine judicial independence and impartiality. With reference to the decisions of the Constitutional Court of Bosnia-Herzegovina, this article investigates the influence of ethno-nationalism on judicial behaviour and the extent to which variation in judicial tenure amplifies or dampens that influence. Based on a statistical analysis of an original dataset of the Court’s decisions, we find that the judges do in fact divide predictably along ethno-national lines, at least in certain types of cases, and that these divisions cannot be reduced to a residual loyalty to their appointing political parties. Contrary to some theoretical expectations, however, we find that long-term tenure does little to dampen the influence of ethno-nationalism on judicial behaviour. Moreover, our findings suggest that the longer a judge serves on the Court the more ethno-national affiliation seems to influence her decision-making. We conclude by considering how alternative arrangements for the selection and tenure of judges might help to ameliorate this problem.

Heritage and nation narration in contested societies

The targeted destruction of heritage sites in recent conflicts in Syria, Iraq and Mali has tragically illustrated how the treatment of heritage, as the tangible manifestation of the identity of the ‘other’, can be a symptom of the nadir to which group relations can descend. In a world in which the nation-state remains the primary means of identification, the following overarching research question was investigated: How do nation-states narrate their pasts in the built form? Drawing upon the conceptualisation of heritage as a present-orientated and political construct that is utilised to represent the values of the “dominant political, social, religious or ethnic groups” (Graham, Ashworth & Tunbridge 2000: p.183), this paper discusses the role that heritage interventions can play in both emphasising gulfs and building bridges in divided post-conflict societies (Fojut 2009).

Narratively framing emergent identities in post-agreement societies: patterns of the Northern Irish identity within the provincial media

The research analyses ‘Northern Irish’ identity narratives post-agreement, and examines the configuration of frame agendas in terms of individual narrative components. A content analysis utilised news published through 1997–2014 within Northern Ireland daily newspapers – the Belfast Telegraph, the Irish News and the News Letter. A process of manifest coding produced an emergent coding scheme displaying the relative stability of media frames surrounding the Northern Irish identity as broadly partisan; however, there is also a subtle narrative shift of Northern Irish identity across the time periods; and findings of a dominant framing paradigm of political and social conceptions of identification post-agreement.

Resolving conflict in bipolar societies: The fate of political settlements in Fiji and Northern Ireland

Ethnically divided societies that might be described as ‘balanced bicommunal’ (where there are two communities, each of which comes close to representing half of the population) pose a particular challenge to conventional principles of collective decision-making, and commonly threaten political stability. This article analyses the experience of two such societies – Northern Ireland and Fiji – with a view to exploring whether there are common processes in the route by which political stability has been pursued. We assess the manner in which a distinctive relationship with Great Britain and its political culture has interacted with local conditions to produce a highly competitive, bipolar party system. This leads to consideration of the devices that have been adopted in an effort to bridge the gap between the communities: the Fiji constitution as amended in 1997, and Northern Ireland’s Good Friday Agreement of 1998. We focus, in particular, on the use of unusual (preferential voting) formulas for the election of parliamentarians and of an inclusive principle in the selection of ministers, and consider the contribution of these institutional devices to the attainment of political stability. We find that, in both cases, the intervention of forces from outside the political system had a decisive impact, though in very different ways. In addition to being underpinned by solid institutional design, for political settlements to work effectively, some minimal level of trust between rival elites is required.

Histopathology findings in common marmosets (Callithrix jacchus Linnaeus, 1758) with chronic weight loss associated with bile tract obstruction by infestation with Platynosomum (Loos, 1907)

Chronic weight loss in marmosets is often associated with wasting marmoset syndrome (WMS), an important disease that occurs in callitrichid colonies around the world. Even though its etiology is very difficult to determine, particular variables, such as weight loss, diarrhea and alopecia, associated or not with infestation in the pancreatic ducts with Trichospirura leptossoma (Nematoda: Thelazioidea), seem to be linked with the syndrome. This study investigated the histopathology of the lungs, duodenum, liver, gallbladder, extrahepatic bile ducts and pancreatic ducts of six common marmosets (Callithrix jacchus) suffering from severe non-diarrheic weight loss. Three individuals died naturally and the other three were euthanized. Microscopic findings showed the presence of adult flukes (Platynosomum) in the liver. These flukes, which provoke common infection in cats, were also observed inside the gallbladder as well as in the intra and extrahepatic bile ducts in common marmosets. Portal fibrosis was observed in two animals, which developed chronic fibrosing hepatopathy (biliary pattern, grade 3). The disease progresses without diarrhea and without pancreatic lesions or infestation. With the rogression, the animals presented with ascending cholangitis, cholestasis and portal fibrosis, sometimes culminating in secondary biliary cirrhosis. Therefore, this nfirmity, associated with chronic weight loss in common marmosets, could be another tiological factor linked with WMS

Preliminary Results of an International Study Exploring and Comparing Positive Aspects and Concerns of Growing Older in Different Societies

This paper aims to gain an understanding and insight into the older person’s experiences and perceptions of growing older within their own societies in relation to their independence, choice and decision making. In an attempt to identify what is happening in different countries and cultures and to share these experiences, attitudes and perceptions from older people, this study asked people from three developing countries (Tanzania, Indonesia and Peru), from three different continents, to take part in this study.

Resilience of small-scale societies: a view from drylands

To gain insights on long-term social-ecological resilience, we examined adaptive responses of small-scale societies to dryland-related hazards in different regions and chronological periods, spanning from the mid-Holocene to the present. Based on evidence from Africa (Sahara and Sahel), Asia (south margin of the Thar desert), and Europe (South Spain), we discuss key traits and coping practices of small-scale societies that are potentially relevant for building resilience. The selected case studies illustrate four main coping mechanisms: mobility and migration, storage, commoning, and collective action driven by religious beliefs. Ultimately, the study of resilience in the context of drylands emphasizes the importance of adaptive traits and practices that are distinctive of small-scale societies: a strong social-ecological coupling, a solid body of traditional ecological knowledge, and a high degree of internal cohesion and self-organization.

Multilevel processes and cultural adaptation: examples from past and present small-scale societies

The last two decades have seen a proliferation of research frameworks that emphasise the importance of understanding adaptive processes that happen at different levels. We contribute to this growing body of literature by exploring how cultural (mal)adaptive dynamics relate to multilevel social-ecological processes occurring at different scales, where the lower levels combine into new units with new organizations, functions, and emergent properties or collective behaviors. After a brief review of the concept of “cultural adaptation” from the perspective of cultural evolutionary theory, the core of the paper is constructed around the exploration of multilevel processes occurring at the temporal, spatial, social, and political scales. We do so by using insights from cultural evolutionary theory and by examining small-scale societies as case studies. In each section, we discuss the importance of the selected scale for understanding cultural adaptation and then present an example that illustrates how multilevel processes in the selected scale help explain observed patterns in the cultural adaptive process. The last section of the paper discusses the potential of modeling and computer simulation for studying multilevel processes in cultural adaptation. We conclude by highlighting how elements from cultural evolutionary theory might enrich the multilevel process discussion in resilience theory.

Resilience of small-scale societies’ livelihoods: a framework for studying the transition from food gathering to food production

The origins of agriculture and the shift from hunting and gathering to committed agriculture is regarded as one of the major transitions in human history. Archeologists and anthropologists have invested significant efforts in explaining the origins of agriculture. A period of gathering intensification and experimentation and pursuing a mixed economic strategy seems the most plausible explanation for the transition to agriculture and provides an approach to study a process in which several nonlinear processes may have played a role. However, the mechanisms underlying the transition to full agriculture are not completely clear. This is partly due to the nature of the archeological record, which registers a practice only once it has become clearly established. Thus, points of transitions have limited visibility and the mechanisms involved in the process are difficult to untangle. The complexity of such transitions also implies that shifts can be distinctively different in particular environments and under varying historical and social conditions. In this paper we discuss some of the elements involved in the transition to food production within the framework of resilience theory. We propose a theoretical conceptual model in which the resilience of livelihood strategies lies at the intersection of three spheres: the environmental, economical, and social domains. Transitions occur when the rate of change, in one or more of these domains, is so elevated or its magnitude so large that the livelihood system is unable to bounce back to its original state. In this situation, the system moves to an alternative stable state, from one livelihood strategy to another.