Research Student Seminar Series 2016 Date: 24 May 2016 (Tuesday)
Time: 2:30 pm – 5:00 pm
Venue: Y5-305, Academic 1, City University of Hong Kong Political Dynasties and Democracy in Northern India since Independence
(1952-2015)
by Mr Romain Francois-Noel CARLEVAN (Presenter 1, 2:30 – 3:15pm)
PhD Candidate, Department of Asian and Internation Studies
ABSTRACT: With 800 million voters, free, fair, regular and
competitive elections, constitutionally guaranteed freedoms, an
aggressive press and an independent judicial system, India is
indubitably one of the most democratic countries on the Asian
continent. In the seven decades since its independence, however,
India’s political stage has witnessed the emergence of an
increasing number of influential political families, the archetype
of which is the world-famous Nehru-Gandhi family, which has
already offered the country three Prime Ministers. In recent years,
many in the media, the civil society or even among the political
class have expressed concerns about the perceived proliferation of these ‘democratic
dynasties’. Nevertheless, the glaring lack of any rigorous, empirical analysis of this
phenomenon – arguably an unexpected one, in a democratic regime – forbids drawing any
serious conclusion on its impact on the quality of India’s democratic features.
The aim of this doctoral thesis is to offer such an assessment of the impact political dynasties
have had on the quality of India’s democracy, by grounding the phenomenon in facts. Through
an ambitious empirical effort to identify, describe and classify every political dynasty elected
to the Parliament’s Lower House from Northern India since 1952, this study offers a
quantitatively grounded analysis of the phenomenon’s roots, evolution and social structure,
upon which an answer to our theoretical questioning can be elaborated.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER: Romain Carlevan earned his BA and MA (History, research) from
Sciences Po, Paris. His interest is on political families and democracy in Asia; his PhD, under
the supervision of Pr. Mark Thompson, is entitled ‘Political Dynasties and Democracy in
Northern India since Independence (1952-2014)’.
He is currently writing a biography (in French) of the Nehru-Gandhi family, and co-authoring
a book chapter on political dynasties in Madhya Pradesh with Pr. Christophe Jaffrelot (in
English).
Energy security, the G7, and China: A cognitive institutional approach to
understanding international cooperation around energy
by Ms Leah Mary GREEN (Presenter 2, 3:20 – 4:05pm)
PhD Candidate, Department of Asian and Internation Studies
ABSTRACT: This thesis explores international cooperation around
oil-energy issues with a focus on high-level policy coordination
between the world’s largest oil-importing states: G7 countries and
China. With reference to established literatures on international
cooperation and critical security studies, the study considers when
concerns about energy (security) overwhelm material incentives not
to cooperate. When are major importer countries most likely to seek
out cooperation with each other in order to address these concerns?
This thesis develops a framework to connect historical patterns in
G7 energy cooperation with national ‘perspectives’ or ideas about
energy security that impact change under certain conditions. The perspectives of Chinese
leadership are assessed from qualitative content and discourse analysis of China’s national and
energy policy agendas. The argument linking material interests to ideas about energy is then
explored in six case studies that examine choice situations in which China and G7 countries
agreed to increase, decrease or ‘satisfice with’ status quo levels of energy cooperation.
I find that even when material interests (conditions) remain constant, ideas or perspectives
about energy security impact the outcomes of choice situations mainly by showing the merit
or futility of certain paths of action. These findings support the argument that ideas, or
knowledge, do matter in international cooperation. Moreover, the ideas states have about the
issue-area of energy inform both the likelihood and content of cooperation occurring around
it. In this light, the findings contribute to analysis of international cooperation within new
literatures that have emerged over the past decade to study energy and comparable issue-areas
at a global level: regime complexes, global governance, and a very nascent science of energy
security.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER: Leah has a BA in French Studies from the University of Washington, and a
MA in Diplomacy from Norwich University. Asymmetric Mobilization in Comparative Perspective. Rethinking Regime
Transitions in Poland and China. By Ms Ewelina KARAS (Presenter 3, 4:10 – 4:55pm)
PhD Candidate, Department of Asian and Internation Studies
ABSTRACT: This research examines the impact of societal
mobilization on regime transitions from Communism in China
(between 1949 and 1989) and Poland (between 1945 and 1989)
respectively. One of the main theoretical arguments put forward by
this thesis is that of a dynamic model of asymmetric mobilization
which focuses on dialectical interactions between a mobilizing
society and a post-totalitarian regime. I argue that China and Poland
share a unique political culture in the form of a mobilizing society
that is able to generate meaningful resistance even under highly
repressive conditions. With a comparative historical analysis of the
Polish and Chinese cases, the study traces historical parallels in the
regime transitions away from Communism experienced in the two countries, and uncovers
crucial similarities between their post-totalitarian transition paths and maturing mobilization
chains until 1989 experienced in the two countries.
The second puzzle addressed in this research is why, given their similar domestic
environments, the Polish regime collapsed in 1989 whereas the one in China was able to
survive. I argue that the explanation for these different transition outcomes lies only partially
within the domestic realm. One needs to consider international structure and the position of
the regimes within it. Both China and Poland were parts of Soviet and Chinese socialiststyle colonial systems which exhibited highly similar structural characteristics and centerperiphery dynamics, in which peripheral mobilization played a crucial role. Whereas Poland
was at the periphery of Soviet empire, Han China has been a core of Chinese system. Different
modes of regime establishment (authentic revolutionary in China versus imposed in Poland)
had immense impact on the role of nationalism, ideology and religion which fueled the
mobilization in both cases in an opposite direction. In addition, being situated on the other
side of the core-periphery structure, influenced diverging economic developments and
attitudes to democracy in both courtiers.
Interestingly, faced with the strongest bottom-up pressure within communist systems, both
regimes were vanguards in the ways that they dealt with popular mobilization. By coming up
with a variety of innovative strategies, they set an example for other communist regimes
located in both Eastern Europe and Asia. Whereas the Polish case represented a model of
democratization in Eastern Europe, the Chinese one meanwhile was a model of authoritarian
resilience for communist regimes situated in Asia and elsewhere.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER: Ewelina Karas is a PhD candidate in AIS. She graduated from
University Erlangen-Nuremberg, Germany in Political Science and American Studies. Her
current research focuses on regime transitions, social mobilization and comparative study of
international communist systems with geographical focus on China and Eastern Europe.
AllareWelcome
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