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    Violence, security and democracy: perverse interfaces and their implications for states and citizens in the global South

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    Date
    2011-04
    Author
    Pearce, Jenny
    McGee, Rosemary
    Wheeler, Joanna
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    Abstract
    How does violence affect the everyday lives of citizens in the global South? Researching this theme under the aegis of the Violence, Participation and Citizenship group of the Citizenship DRC coordinated by IDS, we generated some answers, but also more questions, which this paper starts to explore. Why have democratisation processes failed to fulfil expectations of violence reduction in the global South? How does violence affect democracy and vice versa? Why does security practice in much of the global South not build secure environments? When examined empirically from the perspectives of poor Southern citizens, the interfaces between violence, security and democracy – assumed in conventional state and democratisation theory to be positive or benign – are often, in fact, perverse. Empirically-based reflection on these questions leads us to two propositions, which the paper then explores through the use of secondary literature. In essence: Proposition 1: Violence interacts perversely with democratic institutions, eroding their legitimacy and effectiveness. Democracy fails to deliver its promise of replacing the violence with accommodation and compromise, and democratic process is compromised, with citizens reacting by withdrawing from public spaces, accepting the authority of non-state actors, or supporting hard-line responses. Proposition 2: Security provision is not making people feel more secure. State responses to rising violence can strengthen state and non-state security actors committed to reproducing violence, disproportionately affecting the poorest communities.
    URI
    https://opendocs.ids.ac.uk/opendocs/handle/20.500.12413/891
    Citation
    Pearce, J. and McGee, R with Wheeler, J. (2011) 'Violence, Security and Democracy: Perverse Interfaces and their Implications for States and Citizens in the Global South', IDS Working Paper 357, Brighton: IDS
    Is part of series
    IDS Working Paper;357
    More details
    http://www.ntd.co.uk/idsbookshop/details.asp?id=1214
    Library catalogue entry
    http://bldscat.ids.ac.uk/cgi-bin/koha/opac-search.pl?q=rn:324947
    Rights holder
    Institute of Development Studies
    Rights details
    http://www.ids.ac.uk/files/dmfile/IDSOpenDocsStandardTermsOfUse.pdf
    Collections
    • IDS Research [1592]
    • Citizenship, Participation and Accountability (DRC) [346]

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