Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: Existing literature on airline accidents has been limited to errors of workers (e.g. pilots and maintenance personnel) or a single firm's failure. On the contrary, this research focuses on learning from undesirable experiences and examines hypotheses: strength of Middleness, effect of alliance membership and the global safety guidelines using a sample of 3368 accidents of the non-US commercial airliners in the world, from 1945 to 2005.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: This paper suggests that the notion of hegemony as it is applied by neo-Gramscian scholars does not adequately account for the operating of civil societal actors on the international level. This shortcoming is due to: (a) a problematic adoption of the term and (b) a conceptualisation of an international civil society. In regard to (a) it is argued that the neo-Gramscians? usage of hegemony does not reflect the Gramscian usage of the term. By transferring hegemony to the international level in the way this has been done by the neo-Gramscians, the term loses its specific analytical value. The same holds true theoretically for the neo-Gramscian idea of an international civil society. It is impossible to think of such in a Gramscian sense as long as there is no international state with a monopoly of force. In regard to (b) it is argued that what has been conceptualised as an international civil society remains, to a crucial degree, national. That is, the national arena remains the central space for social and political struggles. In this paper, the influence of non-governmental actors on the Non-Proliferation regime serves as an empirical example. As the nation state remains the central focus point of civil societal actors Gramcsian analysis remains a helpful tool. In order to apply Gramscian analysis to civil societal actors that act on a supranational level it is argued here that a far more theoretically informed analysis is necessary in order to avoid losing the analytical value of the Gramscian terms.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: Since its creation in 2002, African Union (AU) has been making efforts to build its institutional identity and capability as the supreme authority of African continental integration. Nonetheless, under-development of supra-state instruments in its institutional structure has made the AU vulnerable to defense of sovereignty and national interests of the member states. For instance, the AU's poor policy implementation record is largely due to its budgetary deficit which is resulted from outstanding financial contributions from the member states. The AU's financial hardship may not appear to be remarkable since most of the AU member states are the highly indebted world poorest countries. However, this financial vicious correlation between the AU and its member states is partly attributed to absence of supra-state financing authority within the AU system. For instance, the European Union and some African regional organizations have supra-state financial sources, such as revenues from value added tax and the community levy, while the AU's financing schemes include only contributions from the member states and international donors. In order to solidify and enlarge its financial base, the AU has proposed alternative financing schemes that are relatively autonomous from the member states' political will and economic conditions. From this perspective, my research paper discusses the financial structural reform of the AU, identifying rules, norms and influential actors that have shaped the reform process so far. Indeed, the AU is at a watershed in the inter-governmental to supra-state evolution, and success of its financial structural reform will be a positive indication for deepening political and economic integration among African states.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: The European integration process itself has become more divisive, while transnational social movements have only rarely challenged European Union (EU) institutions themselves. This paper examines the relationship between supra-national institutions and social movements and potentials of transnational mobilization in the EU. Focusing on the hurdles and opportunities that the European integration process has provided women's movements in Europe, the dynamics between institutions and social movements are explored. Although the integration process has not encouraged broad-based transnational, grass-roots mobilization of women, the particular dynamics between EU institutions and women’s movements have created professionalized transnational advocacy networks on gender equality. These transnational advocacy networks include professionals, experts, academics, women in unions and political parties, and other women in the political and administrative elite. This case also highlights the challenges and strategies of transnational women's movements across territories, hierarchies and inequalities.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: The discourse of female genital mutilation has been pushed to the top of global agenda courtesy of international powerful media houses, feminist activism and international bodies. The normative anti FGM discourse champions for eradication of the practice. This trope of eradication orchestrated by powerful actors, namely some recurrent and emerging discourses from "Western" countries, international non-governmental organisations and international corporate bodies have mounted pressure on female circumcision practicing countries to enact laws outlawing the practice. In the case of Sierra Leone's Bundo secrete society, female circumcision is highly regarded and is an entry requirement into the powerful secret society in which women hold sway. The discourse of outlawing the practice thus clashes with the local cultural stock narratives. My paper will examine how the Sierra Leone legal fabric negotiates change to adopt the supra legal structure in the face of local resistance from the Bundo secret society who are not ready to abandon the age old practice of female circumcision. Outlawing the practice may lead to cultural shocks that may have a heavy impact on the society. It is this tensions that my paper seeks to explore and decentre.