Category: Essays

Reflections on studying and experiencing the Israel-Palestine Conflict

Imagine you intensely study a conflict region and its narratives for a whole year and then you travel to see the situation on ground for yourself. You think that you are well prepared and that you understand why the conflict is what it is. Power imbalances. Corrupt politicians. Contested truths and histories. Legacies from colonial times. Greedy elites. Education systems based on ideologies rather than facts. If not like an expert, you at least feel like a well-educated observer. A student diplomat who knows what she is doing. This is how I imagined myself when I applied for the Olive Tree Initiative (OTI) and pretty much throughout the program up until the point where I landed in Amman. I had this glorious image of OTI and myself only to discover that OTI indeed is an incredible program, however, personally I felt much humbled over the course of the trip through Israel and Palestine.

Which theories of democratisation best explain why democracy failed in the Weimar Republic?

It appears to be impossible to identify a singular approach or theory to fully explain the failure of the Weimar republic or any other case of democratization. As argued above, the theories on democratisation are manifold and all have their merits, therefore, the best theories for one particular case can only be identified by looking at the defining features of that case. The dominance of historical disadvantages and societal struggles in the Weimar republic suggest a historical sociological approach, and though naturally Huntington’s and Moore’s theories cannot fully explain its failure, they do well in putting Weimar into context and to deepen our understanding of it.       

Is it possible for nationalism to avoid being based on either race or ethnicity?

It seems, on the surface at least, that for the most part nationalism has a strong focus on exclusion based on ethnicity or race by very often aiming to protect the nation from foreigners, with foreigners being mostly identified by the different biological appearance (race) or their different customs (ethnicity). However, this essay shows that neither ethnicity or race are the driving force behind nationalism but that nationalism and ethnicity are vulnerable to political exploitation and therefore often appear to go hand in hand.

‘Theory is always for someone, and for some purpose’ Robert W. Cox

It appears to be impossible to identify a singular approach or theory to fully explain the failure of the Weimar republic or any other case of democratization. As argued above, the theories on democratisation are manifold and all have their merits, therefore, the best theories for one particular case can only be identified by looking at the defining features of that case. The dominance of historical disadvantages and societal struggles in the Weimar republic suggest a historical sociological approach, and though naturally Huntington’s and Moore’s theories cannot fully explain its failure, they do well in putting Weimar into context and to deepen our understanding of it.       

What is the relationship between thinking conceptually and developing a sociological imagination?

Thinking sociologically means to “broaden our horizons of understanding” by not being satisfied with “exclusivity and completeness” that goes along with individual interpretations (Bauman and May, 2001:181). So thinking sociologically is an invitation to be critical and observant but, as C. Wright Mills points out, social scientists also need to treat sociology as a “practice of a craft” (Mills, 2000:195).