(Belgium). He has worked and published on student politics in Bangladesh, especially on the inter... more (Belgium). He has worked and published on student politics in Bangladesh, especially on the interdependencies of student and city politics in secondary cities. His wider research interests lie at the intersection of the production of public authority, processes of order-making and (political) violence. In his PhD dissertation, Julian explores the everyday negotiation of public order in urban Bangladesh, studying the mechanisms and everyday practices of party politics in Rajshahi city. He is particularly interested in the nexus between patronage structures and political subjectivities.
In Bangladeshi student politics, political performances in public spaces play an essential role i... more In Bangladeshi student politics, political performances in public spaces play an essential role in establishing patronage relationships and determining local authority structures. As Thomas Blom Hansen has famously argued, “visibility means everything” in such a context. With the emergence of social networking sites like Facebook, new digital public spaces have appeared. Focusing on ruling-party student activists at Rajshahi University, this article examines how student politicians in Bangladesh utilize Facebook to become visible in their everyday politicking. It shows how longstanding performative repertoires in the nondigital public space have gained a new salience through performances in the digital public space. It is those digital spaces that allow the performer to rearticulate even mundane everyday events as political performances. As these new digital public spaces impact the politics of visibility, it is crucial to integrate them in our efforts to understand local politics i...
Around half a million cycle rickshaws are currently active in Dhaka, Bangladesh. With only 86,000... more Around half a million cycle rickshaws are currently active in Dhaka, Bangladesh. With only 86,000 official licenses available, different types of organizations supply licenses to most rickshaw drivers. These non-official licenses mimic the language of the state. This article argues that while these licenses appear as part of nonstate, hybrid, or twilight institutions, they in fact constitute a state practice. Based on approximately 200 semi-structured interviews at six locations in Dhaka and offering a conceptualization of the Bangladesh state as a party-state, the article shows that the operation of non-official rickshaw licenses and the mimicry entailed is an inherent part of party-state governance, one which is not morally neutral. While most respondents saw the everyday benefits of non-official licenses in the absence of sufficient official ones, the latter remained the most prized and, if made available, respondents agreed that the former would become redundant.
This article seeks to comprehend the way the illegal timber economy in the Bodoland Territorial A... more This article seeks to comprehend the way the illegal timber economy in the Bodoland Territorial Autonomous Council (BTAD) in Assam is integrated within a constellation of power and authority. Based on over ten months of ethnographic field research, our analysis shows that the timber trade is indeed characterized by what can be conceptualized as an excess of sovereignty. However, a burdened agency is still exercised by those in the timber trade. Moreover, the authority structure consisting of state, rebel and non-armed actors do not directly engage violently in the trade, but are more interested in taxation, governance, or indeed wildlife protection, showing the other side of this multiple authoruty structure. As the article shows, different ethnic groups, which are often thought to be diametrically opposed to each other, collaborate in the local timber commodity chain. However, these collaborations are characterized by highly unequal relations of exchange. As we argue, those that ha...
This article aims to conceptualize political relations in Bangladesh by building a descriptive mo... more This article aims to conceptualize political relations in Bangladesh by building a descriptive model of these relations. It draws on the concept of segmentary opposition developed by Evans-Pritchard in his study of the Nuer political system and on the concept of vertical integration used in the study of both industrial relations and party structures in federal states. It is argued that the structure of political relations in Bangladesh is based on the interaction of the logic of segmentary opposition and of vertical integration under leader-based groups. The descriptive model is then applied to two cases, based on qualitative fieldwork in Dhaka and Chittagong, to further clarify the model and illustrate its use as an analytical tool.
This article argues for the need to take time into account when understanding land ownership in s... more This article argues for the need to take time into account when understanding land ownership in slums. It shows that this allows comprehending more accurately the place of land law and the specific forms that legal struggles over land take. Field research in a slum in Chittagong (in Bangladesh) reveals that while contemporary practices of ownership and transfer might appear to be informal and illegal, they are not only grounded in historical forms of legal land settlement, embedded in a long-standing court battle over legal ownership, but also the product of expectations related to the (legalised) future. Finally, urban planning, with a state-sponsored vision of the future of slums, further complicates the role of the law.
This article examines the relationship between the concept of neutrality in community mediation a... more This article examines the relationship between the concept of neutrality in community mediation and partisan party politics in Nepal. Focusing on one donor-sponsored, US model-based community mediation programme in the Terai, this article contributes to a growing literature on authority formation and the role of party politicians in post-conflict Nepal. It argues that both neutrality and bias in dispute settlement are constitutive of building (Weberian) authority, allowing for the legitimate exercise of power by politicians. Neutrality is not only highly valued in mediation ideology, but is also a crucial legitimizing register in dispute settlement in Nepal. Although resolving disputes neutrally enhances the local legitimacy of (political) mediators, our research finds that there are cases when showing political favouritism also helps maintain power. We find that these contradictory incentives and the need to balance them guide the arena in which politicians choose to resolve disputes and how they choose to resolve them. These strategic decisions made by politicians in order to balance neutrality and bias thus guide outcomes of dispute settlement, and mediation in particular. This raises questions about the proclaimed ability of community mediation to overcome power imbalances and provide justice to disadvantaged communities.
This paper examines the relationship between the concept of neutrality in community mediation and... more This paper examines the relationship between the concept of neutrality in community mediation and the inherently partisan nature of politics. Mediation theory often highlights the central importance of mediator neutrality in mediation practice. We examine the interplay between these two fields through an analysis of a donor-supported community mediation program in the Central and Western Terai, the belt of lowland plains in the south of Nepal. This paper tries to understand why, in areas where politician’s role in dispute settlement is considered highly biased, neutrality in mediation can still be an option for these politicians. This paper argues that, despite clear reasons for mediators to act in a biased way, there are also incentives for them to act neutrally. These incentives stem primarily from political concerns as related to authority and standing in the community. In a context where both disputants and politicians ‘shop’ between different dispute settlement mechanisms, this...
(Belgium). He has worked and published on student politics in Bangladesh, especially on the inter... more (Belgium). He has worked and published on student politics in Bangladesh, especially on the interdependencies of student and city politics in secondary cities. His wider research interests lie at the intersection of the production of public authority, processes of order-making and (political) violence. In his PhD dissertation, Julian explores the everyday negotiation of public order in urban Bangladesh, studying the mechanisms and everyday practices of party politics in Rajshahi city. He is particularly interested in the nexus between patronage structures and political subjectivities.
In Bangladeshi student politics, political performances in public spaces play an essential role i... more In Bangladeshi student politics, political performances in public spaces play an essential role in establishing patronage relationships and determining local authority structures. As Thomas Blom Hansen has famously argued, “visibility means everything” in such a context. With the emergence of social networking sites like Facebook, new digital public spaces have appeared. Focusing on ruling-party student activists at Rajshahi University, this article examines how student politicians in Bangladesh utilize Facebook to become visible in their everyday politicking. It shows how longstanding performative repertoires in the nondigital public space have gained a new salience through performances in the digital public space. It is those digital spaces that allow the performer to rearticulate even mundane everyday events as political performances. As these new digital public spaces impact the politics of visibility, it is crucial to integrate them in our efforts to understand local politics i...
Around half a million cycle rickshaws are currently active in Dhaka, Bangladesh. With only 86,000... more Around half a million cycle rickshaws are currently active in Dhaka, Bangladesh. With only 86,000 official licenses available, different types of organizations supply licenses to most rickshaw drivers. These non-official licenses mimic the language of the state. This article argues that while these licenses appear as part of nonstate, hybrid, or twilight institutions, they in fact constitute a state practice. Based on approximately 200 semi-structured interviews at six locations in Dhaka and offering a conceptualization of the Bangladesh state as a party-state, the article shows that the operation of non-official rickshaw licenses and the mimicry entailed is an inherent part of party-state governance, one which is not morally neutral. While most respondents saw the everyday benefits of non-official licenses in the absence of sufficient official ones, the latter remained the most prized and, if made available, respondents agreed that the former would become redundant.
This article seeks to comprehend the way the illegal timber economy in the Bodoland Territorial A... more This article seeks to comprehend the way the illegal timber economy in the Bodoland Territorial Autonomous Council (BTAD) in Assam is integrated within a constellation of power and authority. Based on over ten months of ethnographic field research, our analysis shows that the timber trade is indeed characterized by what can be conceptualized as an excess of sovereignty. However, a burdened agency is still exercised by those in the timber trade. Moreover, the authority structure consisting of state, rebel and non-armed actors do not directly engage violently in the trade, but are more interested in taxation, governance, or indeed wildlife protection, showing the other side of this multiple authoruty structure. As the article shows, different ethnic groups, which are often thought to be diametrically opposed to each other, collaborate in the local timber commodity chain. However, these collaborations are characterized by highly unequal relations of exchange. As we argue, those that ha...
This article aims to conceptualize political relations in Bangladesh by building a descriptive mo... more This article aims to conceptualize political relations in Bangladesh by building a descriptive model of these relations. It draws on the concept of segmentary opposition developed by Evans-Pritchard in his study of the Nuer political system and on the concept of vertical integration used in the study of both industrial relations and party structures in federal states. It is argued that the structure of political relations in Bangladesh is based on the interaction of the logic of segmentary opposition and of vertical integration under leader-based groups. The descriptive model is then applied to two cases, based on qualitative fieldwork in Dhaka and Chittagong, to further clarify the model and illustrate its use as an analytical tool.
This article argues for the need to take time into account when understanding land ownership in s... more This article argues for the need to take time into account when understanding land ownership in slums. It shows that this allows comprehending more accurately the place of land law and the specific forms that legal struggles over land take. Field research in a slum in Chittagong (in Bangladesh) reveals that while contemporary practices of ownership and transfer might appear to be informal and illegal, they are not only grounded in historical forms of legal land settlement, embedded in a long-standing court battle over legal ownership, but also the product of expectations related to the (legalised) future. Finally, urban planning, with a state-sponsored vision of the future of slums, further complicates the role of the law.
This article examines the relationship between the concept of neutrality in community mediation a... more This article examines the relationship between the concept of neutrality in community mediation and partisan party politics in Nepal. Focusing on one donor-sponsored, US model-based community mediation programme in the Terai, this article contributes to a growing literature on authority formation and the role of party politicians in post-conflict Nepal. It argues that both neutrality and bias in dispute settlement are constitutive of building (Weberian) authority, allowing for the legitimate exercise of power by politicians. Neutrality is not only highly valued in mediation ideology, but is also a crucial legitimizing register in dispute settlement in Nepal. Although resolving disputes neutrally enhances the local legitimacy of (political) mediators, our research finds that there are cases when showing political favouritism also helps maintain power. We find that these contradictory incentives and the need to balance them guide the arena in which politicians choose to resolve disputes and how they choose to resolve them. These strategic decisions made by politicians in order to balance neutrality and bias thus guide outcomes of dispute settlement, and mediation in particular. This raises questions about the proclaimed ability of community mediation to overcome power imbalances and provide justice to disadvantaged communities.
This paper examines the relationship between the concept of neutrality in community mediation and... more This paper examines the relationship between the concept of neutrality in community mediation and the inherently partisan nature of politics. Mediation theory often highlights the central importance of mediator neutrality in mediation practice. We examine the interplay between these two fields through an analysis of a donor-supported community mediation program in the Central and Western Terai, the belt of lowland plains in the south of Nepal. This paper tries to understand why, in areas where politician’s role in dispute settlement is considered highly biased, neutrality in mediation can still be an option for these politicians. This paper argues that, despite clear reasons for mediators to act in a biased way, there are also incentives for them to act neutrally. These incentives stem primarily from political concerns as related to authority and standing in the community. In a context where both disputants and politicians ‘shop’ between different dispute settlement mechanisms, this...
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Papers by Bert Suykens