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De republica saeculari : the architectonic of freedom and the temporal Republic of Algernon Sidney
No full textDefence date: 13 March 2024Examining Board: Prof. Ann Thomson (European University Institute, Supervisor); Prof. Nicolas Guilhot (European University Institute); Dr. Hannah Dawson (King's College London); Prof. Rachel Hammersley (Newcastle University)During the twentieth century a flurry of historical and theoretical studies contributed to a renewed and sustained scholarship on English republicanism and the political thought of Algernon Sidney (1623-1683). This literature on Sidney has predominantly been in English, French, Italian, and Portuguese, with further contributions in Dutch and German. Despite the fruits of this voluminous attention, however, the various assumptions of these opposing historiographies – not always in conversation with one another – have often served to obscure, rather than illuminate, what Sidney himself was saying and doing in his work. This thesis seeks to reassess the thought of Sidney in reference to his major works, Court Maxims [1664-1665](1996) and Discourses Concerning Government [1681-1683](1698), but also his overlooked essay Of Love [1650s](1748) and a range of neglected and fresh sources, especially his correspondence. Indeed, utilising an array of sources beyond his works, I also re-examine Sidney’s life and activities, particularly his time as ambassador from the English republic to the monarchies of Denmark-Norway and Sweden (1659-1660). Introducing a significant collection of new manuscript material by Sidney, my first chapter investigates Sidney’s earlier political thinking as a republican magistrate, often intentionally adapted and utilised as an active tool of diplomacy, and the ways in which this early thought is developed into his later writings on government, which is what I reconsider across the remaining six chapters. Crucial to my reassessment of Sidney’s political thought is a conceptual reconstruction, deeper than hitherto attempted, of his vision of fallen and bipartite human nature – body and soul, passion and reason, will and understanding, sense and cognition, vice and virtue – within the time and history of the saeculum. States, like humans, are mortal and exist in historical time, an insight that runs throughout Sidney’s various accounts on the life and death of states, from Greece and Rome to contemporary England. I argue that by closely exploring Sidney’s comprehension of human nature it becomes possible to envision how he proposes not only a synthesis of republicanism and natural law, including virtue ethics and natural rights, but also his Reformed beliefs and what can be called a rationalist political thinking that centres temporal liberty as a right and the end of civil government. Liberty conceived in neo-Roman terms, not virtue, is the essential ordering principle of Sidney’s politics, with virtue redescribed as a supporting force. Accordingly, Sidney cannot be adequately described as Aristotelian or Platonist without serious qualification – something he makes clear in his own words, as I demonstrate, because such perfectibility is beyond mortal beings fallen in time. Moreover, it also becomes apparent that Sidney’s forays into English constitutional historiography, far from contradicting his other arguments, also cohere into his understanding of natural law and temporality. Sidney might appear an eclectic thinker, but he is not as inconsistent as he is often portrayed. Ironically, it is precisely the gravity of Sidney’s idiosyncratic theological beliefs that lead him to not only forsake the extremes of Greek virtue politics, but also adopt a rationalist political thinking later mistaken as irreligious. In a sense, therefore, this thesis also offers to demonstrate the genesis of a confusion and series of false binaries that came to define the contours of the interconnected and opposing historiographies of Sidney from his execution to the present day
Alternative orders : governance under insurgency in Syria’s Idlib, 2011-21
No full textDefence date: 24 January 2024Examining Board: Prof. Jennifer M. Welsh (McGill University; Former European University Institute, Supervisor); Prof. Agnès Favier (European University Institute); Prof. Hanna Pfeifer (Goethe University Frankfurt); Prof. Thomas Pierret (French National Centre For Scientific Research)This thesis examines governance in Syria’s Idlib governorate between 2011 and 2021, during the ongoing civil war. It shows civilians’ importance as frequently autonomous governance providers in rebel-controlled areas and introduces the concept of ‘governance under insurgency’, encompassing governance provided by rebels as well as alternative governance providers (AGPs) in rebel-controlled areas. Bringing together insights from the literatures on rebel governance and governance in areas of limited statehood, the thesis contributes to theorybuilding on governance in rebel-controlled areas by establishing a typology and analytical framework to explain variation in relations between rebels and AGPs. The typology distinguishes different degrees of AGP autonomy from rebels. It also distinguishes between governance forms making life predictable for civilians and those that do not. The typology encompasses five types of governance under insurgency (non-rebel, joint, contested, rebelimposed or suppressed governance). The configuration of six explanatory conditions explains variation, including rebels’ perception of AGPs as competitors, rebels’ degree of military control, rebels’ and AGPs’ governance capacity, AGPs’ ability to cooperate with rebels and rebels’ perception of the population as (non-)constituents. The thesis is based on primary evidence collected during three rounds of fieldwork in Turkey and Jordan and remotely, primarily but not exclusively interviews. It analyses justice and law enforcement, healthcare, and bread provision in Greater Idlib. Comparing governance outcomes in these sectors over time shows that variation in the conjunction of the explanatory conditions explains governance outcomes and their evolution. It also demonstrates that AGPs can have significant agency in shaping governance outcomes, even against rebel preferences, and the importance of looking beyond governance by or on behalf of rebels to capture the full scope of governance provision in contexts of insurgency. Additional probing cases test the analytical framework, examining governance in rebel-controlled Darʿa and northeast Syria, establishing the framework’s relevance beyond Idlib
Re-articulating cultural rights in international human rights law using Global South epistemologies : a case study of the Irulars
No full textDefence date: 18 December 2024Examining Board: Prof. Neha Jain (European University Institute, Supervisor); Prof. Sarah Nouwen (European University Institute); Prof. Yvonne Donders (University of Amsterdam); Prof. Mohammad Shahabuddin (University of Birmingham)Awarded the Antonio Cassese Prize for the best EUI Doctoral Thesis in International Law, 2025‘Re-articulating cultural rights in international human rights law using Global South epistemologies: A case study of the Irulars’ is a thesis that excavates a counterhegemonic imaginary of cultural rights. Amidst burgeoning critiques of the semantic imprecision and weak enforceability of cultural rights in international law, one issue that has evaded scrutiny is the epistemic injustice (the wrong done to someone as a knower) inflicted by international law. My thesis examines the historical and contemporary practice of the twin Covenants – the most widely ratified treaties codifying cultural rights – to uncover the various kinds of epistemic injustice perpetrated by the interpretive bodies of the Covenants on Global South communities seeking redress for cultural rights violations. In search of an epistemically just framework for cultural rights, the thesis embarks on an extensive collaboration with the Irulars, a semi-nomadic community based in south India who are culturally and epistemically marginalised. Combining fieldwork with over 800 Irular families with critical analysis informed by Fourth World Approaches to International Law, the thesis traces how the postcolonial Indian State, the help economy, and even some State-resisting communities collude to carry forward the epistemic injustices of Covenant grammars. Irulars, however, refuse and rescript these unjust grammars through their views on identity, faith, developmentalism, and the socio-political utility of rights, as well as the epistemic mediums such as dance through which they express their views. Drawing on their insights, the thesis distils proposals to reanimate cultural rights in the Covenants in the voices, languages, and grammars of the Irulars. The legal analysis is co-produced with the community’s non-textual praxis and in their vernacular to honour their epistemic agency. In doing so, the thesis makes a case for a wider universe of Global South communities to secure epistemic justice within international law by subverting the liberal ordering of rights
Navigating the souring seas : the global experimentalist governance of ocean acidification?
No full textDefence date: 12 June 2024Examining Board: Prof. Joanne Scott (European University Institute, Supervisor); Prof. Gráinne de Búrca (European University Institute); Prof. Karen N. Scott (University of Canterbury); Associate Prof. Jolene Lin (National University of Singapore)Ocean acidification (OA) represents an urgent and complex challenge that will endanger oceanic ecosystems and human beings alike. This thesis investigates the multifaceted governance of OA. More specifically, it explores how OA is and should be governed in light of the nature of the problem. Thus, the research delineates the scientific underpinnings of OA, including its causes, stressors, and potential adaptation options, to establish a foundation for informed governance. Through a mapping of the international and transnational governance landscape, it can be seen that the current governance landscape yields a regime complex that encompasses a diversity of actors and instruments across various issue areas related to OA. Global experimentalist governance is explored as a governance approach that can build on the characteristics of OA as a scientific problem as well as the fragmented governance landscape. This thesis will show that global experimentalist governance is, therefore, a perfect match for the problem of OA. Employing a case study approach, the thesis then assesses the applicability of global experimentalist governance within the Ocean Acidification Alliance (OAA) and the International Maritime Organization (IMO). It identifies shortcomings in the operationalization of global experimentalist governance, particularly in setting precise metrics and implementing, reporting, peer review, and feedback mechanisms. These challenges reflect the complexities of OA and the reticence toward fully embracing an experimentalist governance structure. Despite these obstacles, the findings suggest that global experimentalist governance’s adaptable nature aligns well with the regime complexity of OA, advocating for an adaptive, flexible, and multilevel governance model that accommodates the scientific uncertainties of OA.Chapter 2 'Understanding ocean acidification' and 4 'Global experimentalist governance'of the PhD thesis are publisehd as a chapter 'Global experimentalist governance and ocean acidification' (2025) in the book 'The Law of the Sea and the Planetary Crisis
Recentering the public : three studies on programmatic development in Lebanon
No full textDefence date: 03 October 2024Examining Board: Prof. Miriam Golden (European University Institute, Supervisor); Prof. Elias Dinas (European University Institute); Prof. Natalia Garbiras-Diaz (Harvard Business School); Prof. Steven Hertog (London School of Economics and Political Science)Clientelism –– generally contrasted with programmatic politics –– is a pervasive challenge to democratic development. The demise of clientelism substantively necessitates citizens to conceive of their interest as involving public goods, and to set aside clientpatron norms and loyalties in favour of a belief in political rights and equality. The three studies presented in this dissertation investigate two possible engines of programmatization –– one operating inside representative institutions, and one trying to complement them –– namely: shocks to collective wellbeing, and collective deliberation in democratic citizen assemblies. The studies are situated in Lebanon, a country long ruled by an entrenched elite of former warlords and oligarchs anchoring their reign in the weaponization of confessional cleavages and systemic clientelism. Study Nr. I examines the electoral impact of the 2020 Beirut port explosion, widely perceived to be caused by systemic corruption. By analyzing neighborhood-level exposure to the explosion and its e↵ects on voting patterns in the 2022 elections, the study finds that higher exposure to the blast increased support for anti-establishment and new entrant parties running on decidedly programmatic agendas, and decreased loyalty to the regime. Studies Nr. II and III , which build on two original survey experiments fielded on a nationally representative sample of Lebanese citizens, investigate the potential of deliberative citizen assemblies (DCAs) to foster programmatic politics in Lebanon. Study Nr. II assesses legitimacy perceptions towards DCAs, and finds that while DCAs are accorded higher legitimacy scores than oligarchic elite policy making, citizens still prefer representative institutions in principle, regardless of their disillusionment with their current functioning. This said, in international comparison, DCA legitimacy perceptions are unusually high. Study Nr. III directly investigates citizens’ willingness to participate in and approval of DCAs –– both in categoric terms, and via analysing verbatim responses. We reveal significant skepticism towards DCAs fuelled fundamentally by distrust in institutions, and lacks of political ecacy. Furthermore, results indicate a disconnect between principal approval of DCAs, and willingness to participate in them, fuelled by the fact that political participation comes at various costs
Three essays on behaviour in organised political violence
No full textDefence date: 02 October 2024Examining Board: Prof. Miriam Golden (European University Institute, Supervisor); Prof. Elias Dinas (European University Institute); Prof. Arturas Rozenas (New York University); Prof. Jessica Trounstine (Vanderbilt)What drives the decisions individuals make during wartime service? How do groups develop capacity to execute collective violence? How do democracies mobilise their populations to fight? I study these questions across American history from the Civil War, through racial violence in the Postbellum South, to the early stages of World War II. I develop theory at the individual-level, drawing from an interdisciplinary lens to answer these questions. I find that Irish-Americans who fled famine desert more in the Civil War since they are more risk averse. I show that counties settled later by whites lynch more often and have a greater capacity for collective action to demarcate racial interactions. I find that conscription and volunteering are complements in the sense that citizens are responsive to the threat of the draft and strategically enlist. In each study I collect and re-purpose large administrative datasets to measure new quantities such as an individual’s malnutrition in youth or how distinct names were across racial lines. I then deploy contemporary quantitative methods to test hypotheses with these large historical datasets, using designs such as regression discontinuities and new panel methods. I strive to use several different measurement strategies in each paper to develop a body of evidence in cases where clean identification is not feasible. I contribute to our understanding of when and why soldiers enlist and desert in cases of mass mobilisation. I also portray the importance of considering collective violence as a collective act; raising and coordinating a mob was necessary for lynchings to proliferate. Additionally, this work speaks to the importance of evaluating episodes of organised violence as a form of political behaviour. With the re-emergence of mass conventional warfare, it is crucial to diagnose the factors which define whether troops join and how they behave when on the frontlines.Chapter 1 'Early-life origins of wartime behaviour: the Irish potato famine and desertion in the American civil war' of the PhD thesis draws upon an earlier version published as an article 'Early-life origins of wartime behaviour: the Irish potato famine and desertion in the American civil war' (2024) in the journal 'Comparative political studies'
Unveiling Madrid : queer intimacies under Franco
No full textDefence date: 08 July 2024Examining Board: Prof. Pieter M. Judson (European University Institute, Supervisor); Prof. Benno Gammerl (European University Institute, Second Reader); Prof. Matthew Cook (University of Oxford); Prof. Gema Pérez Sánchez (University of Miami)This dissertation investigates the history of queer intimacies during the central decades of Francoist Spain in Madrid. Despite the recent upsurge in scholarship on sexual and gender dissidence in Spain, there persists a substantial need to recover queer histories during the Francoist dictatorship, particularly those dimensions that extend beyond simply the repressive aspects of the dictatorship. More precisely, this work adopts a localized perspective to unearth specific nuances regarding the spaces, practices, and experiences of sexual dissidents in the 1950s and 1960s. This project is grounded in the recovery and scrutiny of judicial records from the Madrid Archive of Vagrants and Criminals spanning the years 1954 to 1970. My objective is to reveal the aspects that go beyond the strictly legal nature of these records by employing a multifaceted approach to integrate judicial records with other sources, such as oral histories, magazines, and newspapers. This approach has enabled me to reconstruct an intricate, dynamic, and vibrant mirrored city of queer spaces, connections, and relationships during this period. I demonstrate how the archive constructed a particular queer subject through its legal and institutional perspectives: the "invertido.” This term named a subject who embodied dissident experiences defined by gender and sexual behavior at the time. The sexual experiences of the invertido unfolded within both public and domestic spaces, the latter extending beyond the boundaries of a traditional private sphere. The invertido constructed a domestic space in the places where affective and sexual intimacy were possible, incorporating practices and intricate networks of affection and dependency. Moreover, the archive reveals how the "invertido" subject underwent an evolution intertwined with the gradual transformation of the city throughout the 1960s. This evolution also reflects a discursive transition from an "invertido" city to an emerging "gay" city, characterized by new and distinct consumption patterns and forms of sociability.Chapter 3 'Mapping public desires : the city and the 'invertidos'' of the PhD thesis draws upon an earlier version published as chapter 'Los 'invertidos' de Echegaray : auge y declive del Madrid 'desviado'' (2023) in the book 'Disidencias sexuales y de género en las dictaduras ibéricas y del cono sur : entre la represión y las resistencias'
Essays in empirical political economy
No full textDefence date: 01 February 2024Examining Board: Prof. Andrea Mattozzi (University of Bologna; European University Institute, Supervisor); Prof. Thomas Crossley (University of Michigan, Co-supervisor); Prof. Francesco Drago (University of Catania); Prof. Nicola Mastrorocco (University of Bologna)This thesis consists of three independent essays in applied political economy and historical economics. The first chapter examines a 2014 reform extending term limits for Italian mayors in towns with populations under 3,000 from two to three consecutive terms. Utilizing the unanticipated nature of the reform, I assessed its effect on local governance through three avenues: mayoral tenure, electoral accountability, and electoral selection. The results suggest a detrimental impact on voters' welfare. Specifically, there's a decline in the performance of third-term mayors in areas like investment spending speed and general administrative service provision. This decline could be due to dwindling motivation over extended tenures, with the role becoming monotonous. In the second chapter, co-authored with Nikolaj Broberg, we use the same reform to evaluate its impact on public finance. Mayors in their second term increased revenue via debt and channeled resources to prominent areas like waste management. Conversely, first-term mayors boosted revenue through asset sales and invested more in public housing. Our analysis suggests varying motivations: second-term mayors may be appeasing voters for re-election, while first-term mayors might be investing for future electoral gains or due to heightened re-election ambitions. This latter motivation seems more pronounced in southern Italy. The third chapter, co-written with Francesco Colombo and Marco Cozzani, explores the long-term effects of the World War I demographic upheaval on female labor force participation in Italy. Using the INPS database, we discovered that women born between 1916 and 1930 in areas with higher soldier casualties were likelier to enter the labor force. However, in municipalities with greater war exposure, women exhibited reduced earnings and lower divorce rates. This suggests that such regions might've seen subtler socio-cultural shifts due to compromised human capital investments.-- 1. Tenure, Accountability and Electoral Selection: Evidence from Italy -- 2. How does longer horizon in power affect policy choices? Evidence from a term limit extension in Italy -- 3. Local biased sex-ratios and female labor market outcomes: Evidence from Ital
Towards a model of networked transnational strategic human rights litigation? : a supply-side analysis
No full textAward date: 07 August 2024Supervisor: Prof. Gráinne De Búrca (European University Institute)The aim of the thesis is that of proposing some of the essential elements of an emergent theoretical model of networked transnational human rights strategic litigation, starting from the investigation of a paradigmatic case study and of its socio-legal dynamics. The case study concerns the struggle of both victims and supporting organizations in seeking redress through strategic litigation for crimes allegedly perpetrated by the Saudi-led military coalition in the context of the Yemen civil war. The thesis is articulated in four parts. Besides the introduction, Chapter 2 synthesizes the existing scholarly literature on strategic human rights litigation and identifies the gap that the thesis attempts to fill, and its additional contribution. This will be done by summarizing some of the key arguments and findings of the extensive literature on strategic human rights litigation with a view to indicating what additional value the thesis aims to provide, and where it fits within the framework of what has already been developed in legal scholarship. In chapter 3, the case study, involved actors and related findings will be described and analyzed. The aim of the first section of the chapter will be that of providing context for mapping and analyzing relational dynamics between the organizations involved in the strategic litigation network. The second section, instead, will be focused on the four interviews with respondents from involved organizations, along with the analysis of relevant findings based on their answers. The work will be concluded by chapter 4, whose aim is to synthesize the findings of the case study, filling some of the gaps identified in the literature review by attempting to systematize the elements of an emergent model of networked transnational strategic human rights litigation
The legal regulation of linguistic diversity in the European Union : between rights and governance
No full textDefence date: 25 March 2024Examining Board: Prof. Bruno de Witte (European University Institute, Supervisor); Prof. Claire Kilpatrick (European University Institute); Prof. Stefaan van der Jeught (Vrije Universiteit Brussel; CJEU), Lórant Vincze (European Parliament)This thesis examines how linguistic diversity is legally regulated in the European Union by offering a comprehensive overview and analysis of the different ways in which the European Union, directly or indirectly, regulates the use of languages on its territory and promotes linguistic diversity. Language questions in the European Union are far from being settled, and much unresolved tension remains which necessitates a closer scrutiny of the status quo and the formulation of policy recommendations. The starting point is the examination of the scope of EU competences in this field, and the sort of action that is expected from the European Union. Fundamental issues that seem straightforward yet are not without controversy. As will be shown, the EU lacks a coherent language policy, and its efforts in the field are characterised by isolated actions that are scattered around in the Union’s sphere of influence. Importantly, the thesis does not only scrutinise those tools that are applied by the EU with the explicit aim of protecting and promoting multilingualism, but also those legislative instruments that have a different aim yet unintentionally influence the use of languages in the EU and thereby the entitlements of their speakers, not only in the public but increasingly also in the private sphere. In doing so, the thesis will demonstrate that the regulation of linguistic diversity in the EU happens through a hybrid regulatory model comprising three types of tools: individual rights, obligations derived from EU law, and governance instruments. The language planning models of three national or regional regimes will also be examined in detail, that of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland, and South Tyrol, in order to draw inspiration from how language questions are managed at the national level. Finally, the thesis will offer some normative considerations and policy recommendations regarding the EU’s action in language matters, proposing a roadmap which could lead to the establishment of a comprehensive, reliable, and satisfactory EU language policy