Benedicte Bull
Dados Biográficos
| ID | 1046924 |
|---|---|
| NOME | Benedicte Bull |
| PRENOMES | Benedicte |
| SOBRENOME | Bull |
| ASSINATURA | BULL B |
| AFILIAÇÕES | University of Oslo |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-5950-9309 |
| VERIFICADO | Sim |
| TOTAL DE OBRAS | 38 |
| TOTAL DE CITAÇÕES | 141 |
| TOTAL COMO AUTOR | 37 |
| TOTAL COMO EDITOR | 1 |
| PRIMEIRO ANO DE PUBLICAÇÃO | 1999 |
| ANO MAIS RECENTE DE PUBLICAÇÃO | 2026 |
| ÍNDICE H | 7 |
From bolibourgeoisie to cryptocrats
This article examines whether Venezuela’s prolonged ongoing crisis, intensified by international sanctions, is fostering the emergence of a new oligarchy. Extending theories on the relationship between the modern state and oligarchic cohesion, it proposes a three variable framework to understand the drivers of oligarchic change in Venezuela: (1) a regression of the functional differentiation of the state; (2) a shift in the sources of wealth from…
Chinese impact on development in Venezuela
The changing face of oligarchy in Latin America
This exploration analyses the evolving nature of oligarchy in Latin America amid technological change and global wealth concentration. While traditional family-based elites rooted in land, commodities, and protected industries continue to dominate, a new tech-based elite has emerged through fintech, e-commerce, and digital platforms. These actors differ from old oligarchs in origin, global mobility, and dependence on digital infrastructure, yet i…
The Rebirth of the Global South
Does the Rise of the Global South Weaken Democracy? The Pivotal Case of the 2024 Presidential Elections in Venezuela
It is a common critique of the Global South that its rising protagonism is a tool for authoritarian forces. The prominent role of authoritarian countries in coalitions such as BRICS and the Non-Aligned Movement, which claim to represent the Global South, has strengthened this concern. To shed light on those issues, this paper provides an in-depth case study of the 2024 elections crisis in Venezuela and the role of the Global South in resolving it…
Against the Odds
Since the mid-2000s, extortion has impacted social and economic development in El Salvador significantly. Against the grain of the extant literature, which predominantly takes for granted that extorted businesses are passive victims, we leverage business surveys and 103 interviews, primarily with 54 micro and small enterprises (MSEs) in the San Salvador metropolitan area, El Salvador, to explore (a) the impact of extortion and (b) how businesses …
Elite Dynamics and China's Influence in Latin America
The rise of China as a trading partner, lender and investor is among the most significant developments in the global political economy over the last two decades. This shift has created important new opportunities for developing countries, but it has also introduced new challenges, with benefits and drawbacks unevenly distributed across different nations. This article argues that understanding the developmental consequences of China's involvement …
How Sanctions Led to Authoritarian Capitalism in Venezuela
After a deterioration of democratic conditions in Venezuela, in 2017 the United States intensified its sanctions imposed on the regime of Nicolás Maduro. The sanctions failed to topple the regime, but they accelerated the transformation of the Venezuelan economy. To counter the sanctions, Maduro carried out substantive economic policy changes, resulting in the emergence of a neo-patrimonial and authoritarian form of capitalism. In this new model,…
Depredación y ausencia de burocracia
Este artículo analiza 207 entrevistas a trabajadores públicos de Venezuela sobre sus condiciones de vida, enmarcado en la literatura sobre capacidad estatal. Argumentamos que la burocracia venezolana se ha visto afectada por la pérdida del valor del salario y la dependencia en remuneraciones extrasalariales. Evidenciamos la reducción y deterioro de la prestación de servicios en las instituciones, la reducción de los beneficios de seguridad social…
Pandemic Micropolitics in Latin America
The COVID-19 pandemic had severe impacts in Latin America, with small businesses intensely affected. Beyond its economic consequences, the pandemic also exacerbated structural flaws in some of the region's weakly institutionalised democracies, diminishing State legitimacy and expanding that of organised criminal groups. In considering how State governance from above is challenged by non-state governance from below, this article examines a “pandem…
Covid-19, elites and the future political economy of inequality reduction in Latin America
The literature is divided on the impact of pandemics on income inequality. The economic literature points to an increase in inequality as a result of pandemics, whereas historical and political science literature argue that pandemics may create breakdowns of institutions, maintaining inequality due to elite shifts and pressure from below. We review current data on the impact of COVID-19 and find that there is evidence of an upward income transfer…
The crisis in Venezuela
In this introduction, we present the main contributions of this special collection, which aim to open the analysis to the broader political and economic processes that underpin Venezuela’s recent crisis. We highlight the transition from a limited democracy to an authoritarian regime and some of the potential pathways to democratization. We further explain how the political transition that occurred in the last decade was influenced by structural c…
Into the shadows
This article studies the effects of sanctions on different economic sectors in Venezuela, framed as a rentier capitalist state. We analyse four sectors: hydrocarbons, agriculture, manufacturing, and what we call “emerging sectors” (mining and cryptocurrency activities). We argue that sanctions and counter-strategies employed by the state have produced multiple transformations, such as the informalization and criminalization of the economy, which …
Resistance, repression and elite dynamics
Peace-building and business elites in Guatemala and El Salvador
The local business elites of El Salvador were generally in favour of the peace agreement and supported its negotiation and implementation in 1992, while in Guatemala the private sector reluctantly supported the peace process and, after the peace agreements were signed in 1996, the private sector sought to obstruct parts of its implementation. In the aftermath of the peace accords, business elites united around an ideology espousing a minimal stat…
Chinese engagement in Africa and Latin America
China is now a major actor in global development and wields considerable influence in large parts of the world. The success of the Chinese development model has not only challenged the notion that democracy is necessary for development but also questioned the hegemony of the neo-liberal state encouraging and laying the foundations for a thriving private market economy. The Chinese model of aid, loans, and investments highlights the principles of …
La transnacionalización de los grupos empresariales diversificados y el rostro cambiante de las élites económicas centroamericanas
Este artículo presenta resultados de un estudio sobre las estrategias de los Grupos Empresariales Diversificados (GED) centroamericanos en frente a la globalización. Busca comprender cómo estos han cambiado en el proceso de integración económica en términos de su expansión al exterior, los sectores enfocados y su integración con las compañías transnacionales. Se plantea que, en general, los GED han cedido espacio para las grandes Compañías Transn…
Changing Elites, Institutions and Environmental Governance
The topic of elites has always been controversial in Latin American social sciences. Elites have been studied indirectly as landowners, capitalists, business-leaders or politicians, and have also been approached directly using concepts and theory from elite studies. Although there is a significant amount of literature on the role of elites in democratic transformations (see e.g. Higley and Gunther, 1992), elites have often been considered to be a…
Governance in the Aftermath of NeoLiberalism
There is an increasing consensus that development and poverty reduction depends on the existence of inclusive state institutions that make and enforce rules and implement development policies. There is also increasing evidence that this depends on the emergence of a development-oriented elite that supports such institutions. However, there is little agreement regarding how such an elite emerges, or how external interventions, such as aid, contrib…
Protestas contra la minería en Guatemala. ¿Qué papel juegan las élites en los conflictos
Las protestas de los movimientos contra la industria extractiva, particularmenteen Guatemala, han sido enfrentadas en la mayoría de los casos con respuestasviolentas de parte del Gobierno y de las compañías mineras. El análisis poneparticular atención a la forma en la que las élites operan y construyen alianzas,y manejan los recursos y medios para imponerse, generalmente con violencia. Elanálisis presentado en este artículo sugiere que la respues…
Business Groups and Transnational Capitalism in Central America
This book investigates Central America's political economy seen through the lens of its powerful business groups. It provides unique insight into their strategies when confronted with a globalized eco
Towards a Political Economy of Weak Institutions and Strong Elites in Central America
A common conclusion of studies on Central America’s democracies and political economy is that the weakness of institutions and the strength of elites are a main reason for the region’s problems. Recently, a set of studies have attempted to scrutinize these elites in detail, focussing on their strategies and resources. The purpose of this article is to reflect upon what these studies can tell us about the question: what is strong when institutions…
Environmental Politics in Latin America
1. Environmental governance and sustainable development in Latin America 2. Elites, classes and environmental governance: Conceptual and theoretical challenges Part 1: Agriculture and biotechnology 3. El Salvador: The challenge to entrenched elites and the difficult road to a sustainable development model 4. Bolivia: Emerging and traditional elites and the governance of the soy sector 5. Argentina: Government-agribusiness elite dynamics and its c…
Diversified Business Groups and the Transnationalisation of the Salvadorean Economy
El Salvador has undergone a deep economic transformation over recent decades, from a model based on agro-exports to an open, transnational service-based economy. This transformation has occurred in a context dominated historically by a small group of elite families that formed family-owned diversified business groups (DBGs). This paper studies the leading groups' strategies in confronting transnationalisation. It shows that the DBGs have adapted …
The development of business associations in Central America
This article analyses the formation and development of business associations in Central America from the 1960s to the present. It shows how the development of the region's economies and its formal business associations were shaped by increasing economic integration in the region and by foreign governments and institutions. The argument presented is that the role of external actors and increasing international economic and political integration re…
The crisis in Venezuela
In this introduction, we present the main contributions of this special collection, which aim to open the analysis to the broader political and economic processes that underpin Venezuela’s recent crisis. We highlight the transition from a limited democracy to an authoritarian regime and some of the potential pathways to democratization. We further explain how the political transition that occurred in the last decade was influenced by structural c…
Resistance, repression and elite dynamics
Protestas contra la minería en Guatemala. ¿Qué papel juegan las élites en los conflictos
Las protestas de los movimientos contra la industria extractiva, particularmenteen Guatemala, han sido enfrentadas en la mayoría de los casos con respuestasviolentas de parte del Gobierno y de las compañías mineras. El análisis poneparticular atención a la forma en la que las élites operan y construyen alianzas,y manejan los recursos y medios para imponerse, generalmente con violencia. Elanálisis presentado en este artículo sugiere que la respues…
Into the shadows
This article studies the effects of sanctions on different economic sectors in Venezuela, framed as a rentier capitalist state. We analyse four sectors: hydrocarbons, agriculture, manufacturing, and what we call “emerging sectors” (mining and cryptocurrency activities). We argue that sanctions and counter-strategies employed by the state have produced multiple transformations, such as the informalization and criminalization of the economy, which …
Towards a Political Economy of Weak Institutions and Strong Elites in Central America
A common conclusion of studies on Central America’s democracies and political economy is that the weakness of institutions and the strength of elites are a main reason for the region’s problems. Recently, a set of studies have attempted to scrutinize these elites in detail, focussing on their strategies and resources. The purpose of this article is to reflect upon what these studies can tell us about the question: what is strong when institutions…
Environmental Politics in Latin America
1. Environmental governance and sustainable development in Latin America 2. Elites, classes and environmental governance: Conceptual and theoretical challenges Part 1: Agriculture and biotechnology 3. El Salvador: The challenge to entrenched elites and the difficult road to a sustainable development model 4. Bolivia: Emerging and traditional elites and the governance of the soy sector 5. Argentina: Government-agribusiness elite dynamics and its c…
Pandemic Micropolitics in Latin America
The COVID-19 pandemic had severe impacts in Latin America, with small businesses intensely affected. Beyond its economic consequences, the pandemic also exacerbated structural flaws in some of the region's weakly institutionalised democracies, diminishing State legitimacy and expanding that of organised criminal groups. In considering how State governance from above is challenged by non-state governance from below, this article examines a “pandem…
Between Ruptures and Continuity
The field of development studies provides a number of diverging perspectives to the pressing challenges of our time, but few clear answers to them. This article therefore questions why six decades of development studies have not been able to come up with more generally acceptable recommendations and solutions to old as well as new challenges. The argument is that as a field of study development studies has been so fixated with ruptures and paradi…
Peace-building and business elites in Guatemala and El Salvador
The local business elites of El Salvador were generally in favour of the peace agreement and supported its negotiation and implementation in 1992, while in Guatemala the private sector reluctantly supported the peace process and, after the peace agreements were signed in 1996, the private sector sought to obstruct parts of its implementation. In the aftermath of the peace accords, business elites united around an ideology espousing a minimal stat…
Governance in the Aftermath of NeoLiberalism
There is an increasing consensus that development and poverty reduction depends on the existence of inclusive state institutions that make and enforce rules and implement development policies. There is also increasing evidence that this depends on the emergence of a development-oriented elite that supports such institutions. However, there is little agreement regarding how such an elite emerges, or how external interventions, such as aid, contrib…
Diversified Business Groups and the Transnationalisation of the Salvadorean Economy
El Salvador has undergone a deep economic transformation over recent decades, from a model based on agro-exports to an open, transnational service-based economy. This transformation has occurred in a context dominated historically by a small group of elite families that formed family-owned diversified business groups (DBGs). This paper studies the leading groups' strategies in confronting transnationalisation. It shows that the DBGs have adapted …
Private Sector Influence in the Multilateral System
Private sector participation in the multilateral system has increased significantly over the last years. Critics have characterized this as a ‘privatization’ of the multilateral system, leading to a decreasing power of the institutions and the states that direct them. However, changes in the multilateral system relate to, and form an integral part of, the changing nature of global governance. In order to understand the consequences of this we nee…
Multilateral Development Banks as Regionalising Actors
(2003). Multilateral Development Banks as Regionalising Actors: The Asian Development Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank. New Political Economy: Vol. 8, No. 2, pp. 245-261
Chinese engagement in Africa and Latin America
China is now a major actor in global development and wields considerable influence in large parts of the world. The success of the Chinese development model has not only challenged the notion that democracy is necessary for development but also questioned the hegemony of the neo-liberal state encouraging and laying the foundations for a thriving private market economy. The Chinese model of aid, loans, and investments highlights the principles of …
The Rebirth of the Global South
Brasil og Kina
Trade liberalization and the spread of regulatory institutions
It is currently widely recognized that trade liberalization leads not only to deregulation but also to re‐regulation. However, it is less well understood how trade agreements and trade liberalization affect domestic regulatory institutions. This article aims to contribute to such an understanding through a case study of Chile. Since 1990, Chile has pursued a strategy of economic integration through bilateral, regional, and multilateral agreements…
Chinese impact on development in Venezuela
Does the Rise of the Global South Weaken Democracy? The Pivotal Case of the 2024 Presidential Elections in Venezuela
It is a common critique of the Global South that its rising protagonism is a tool for authoritarian forces. The prominent role of authoritarian countries in coalitions such as BRICS and the Non-Aligned Movement, which claim to represent the Global South, has strengthened this concern. To shed light on those issues, this paper provides an in-depth case study of the 2024 elections crisis in Venezuela and the role of the Global South in resolving it…
Policy Networks and Business Participation in Free Trade Negotiations in Chile
Within Latin America, Chile is distinguished by its stable trade policies and rapid negotiation of trade agreements with countries and regions all over the world. Explanations for these phenomena often point to the stable pro-free trade coalition established in the aftermath of the shock-therapy pursued in the 1970s, and Chile's professional government bureaucracy. Although both of these elements are important, this article shows how the rapid in…
Elite Dynamics and China's Influence in Latin America
The rise of China as a trading partner, lender and investor is among the most significant developments in the global political economy over the last two decades. This shift has created important new opportunities for developing countries, but it has also introduced new challenges, with benefits and drawbacks unevenly distributed across different nations. This article argues that understanding the developmental consequences of China's involvement …
Depredación y ausencia de burocracia
Este artículo analiza 207 entrevistas a trabajadores públicos de Venezuela sobre sus condiciones de vida, enmarcado en la literatura sobre capacidad estatal. Argumentamos que la burocracia venezolana se ha visto afectada por la pérdida del valor del salario y la dependencia en remuneraciones extrasalariales. Evidenciamos la reducción y deterioro de la prestación de servicios en las instituciones, la reducción de los beneficios de seguridad social…
The development of business associations in Central America
This article analyses the formation and development of business associations in Central America from the 1960s to the present. It shows how the development of the region's economies and its formal business associations were shaped by increasing economic integration in the region and by foreign governments and institutions. The argument presented is that the role of external actors and increasing international economic and political integration re…
Comparing Critical Junctures
Latin America is currently characterised by the rise of a number of strong social movements and the election of governments that have their support. This has given rise to hopes for the emergence of more inclusive political systems, and stable democracies. However, many of the new regimes either show limited ability to create significant change in policies or practices for ensuring social inclusion, or have produced new forms of fragmentation and…
Confronting the ‘Three Horsemen of the Apocalypse’
New regionalism' in Central America
Central American regionalism is in a state of disarray after having been surrounded by great enthusiasm in the early 1990s. This article explores whether a 'new regionalism' framework can improve our understanding of this turn of events. It is argued that Central American integration lacks a series of features assumed to characterise 'new regionalism'. It has not been accompanied by spontaneous societal integration, its main stimulus has come fro…
Multilateral Development Banks as Regionalising Actors
(2003). Multilateral Development Banks as Regionalising Actors: The Asian Development Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank. New Political Economy: Vol. 8, No. 2, pp. 245-261
Confronting the ‘Three Horsemen of the Apocalypse’
The Role of Local Economic Groups in Telecommunication Privatization in Central America
During the 1990s, the telecommunication sectors in most Latin American countries were privatized, liberalized and deregulated. In the literature, this shift has been accounted for by pointing to technological transformations, changing political coalitions or the pressure from international financial institutions (IFIs). This article argues that a centerpiece in the explanation of the general shift towards opening the telecommunication sector, and…
Private Sector Influence in the Multilateral System
Private sector participation in the multilateral system has increased significantly over the last years. Critics have characterized this as a ‘privatization’ of the multilateral system, leading to a decreasing power of the institutions and the states that direct them. However, changes in the multilateral system relate to, and form an integral part of, the changing nature of global governance. In order to understand the consequences of this we nee…
Development issues in global governance
Comparing Critical Junctures
Latin America is currently characterised by the rise of a number of strong social movements and the election of governments that have their support. This has given rise to hopes for the emergence of more inclusive political systems, and stable democracies. However, many of the new regimes either show limited ability to create significant change in policies or practices for ensuring social inclusion, or have produced new forms of fragmentation and…
Trade liberalization and the spread of regulatory institutions
It is currently widely recognized that trade liberalization leads not only to deregulation but also to re‐regulation. However, it is less well understood how trade agreements and trade liberalization affect domestic regulatory institutions. This article aims to contribute to such an understanding through a case study of Chile. Since 1990, Chile has pursued a strategy of economic integration through bilateral, regional, and multilateral agreements…
Bokanmeldelser
Policy Networks and Business Participation in Free Trade Negotiations in Chile
Within Latin America, Chile is distinguished by its stable trade policies and rapid negotiation of trade agreements with countries and regions all over the world. Explanations for these phenomena often point to the stable pro-free trade coalition established in the aftermath of the shock-therapy pursued in the 1970s, and Chile's professional government bureaucracy. Although both of these elements are important, this article shows how the rapid in…
Helge Hveem og Internasjonal politisk økonomi på norsk
Brasil og Kina
The development of business associations in Central America
This article analyses the formation and development of business associations in Central America from the 1960s to the present. It shows how the development of the region's economies and its formal business associations were shaped by increasing economic integration in the region and by foreign governments and institutions. The argument presented is that the role of external actors and increasing international economic and political integration re…
Between Ruptures and Continuity
The field of development studies provides a number of diverging perspectives to the pressing challenges of our time, but few clear answers to them. This article therefore questions why six decades of development studies have not been able to come up with more generally acceptable recommendations and solutions to old as well as new challenges. The argument is that as a field of study development studies has been so fixated with ruptures and paradi…
Diversified Business Groups and the Transnationalisation of the Salvadorean Economy
El Salvador has undergone a deep economic transformation over recent decades, from a model based on agro-exports to an open, transnational service-based economy. This transformation has occurred in a context dominated historically by a small group of elite families that formed family-owned diversified business groups (DBGs). This paper studies the leading groups' strategies in confronting transnationalisation. It shows that the DBGs have adapted …
Business Groups and Transnational Capitalism in Central America
This book investigates Central America's political economy seen through the lens of its powerful business groups. It provides unique insight into their strategies when confronted with a globalized eco
Towards a Political Economy of Weak Institutions and Strong Elites in Central America
A common conclusion of studies on Central America’s democracies and political economy is that the weakness of institutions and the strength of elites are a main reason for the region’s problems. Recently, a set of studies have attempted to scrutinize these elites in detail, focussing on their strategies and resources. The purpose of this article is to reflect upon what these studies can tell us about the question: what is strong when institutions…
Environmental Politics in Latin America
1. Environmental governance and sustainable development in Latin America 2. Elites, classes and environmental governance: Conceptual and theoretical challenges Part 1: Agriculture and biotechnology 3. El Salvador: The challenge to entrenched elites and the difficult road to a sustainable development model 4. Bolivia: Emerging and traditional elites and the governance of the soy sector 5. Argentina: Government-agribusiness elite dynamics and its c…
Changing Elites, Institutions and Environmental Governance
The topic of elites has always been controversial in Latin American social sciences. Elites have been studied indirectly as landowners, capitalists, business-leaders or politicians, and have also been approached directly using concepts and theory from elite studies. Although there is a significant amount of literature on the role of elites in democratic transformations (see e.g. Higley and Gunther, 1992), elites have often been considered to be a…
Governance in the Aftermath of NeoLiberalism
There is an increasing consensus that development and poverty reduction depends on the existence of inclusive state institutions that make and enforce rules and implement development policies. There is also increasing evidence that this depends on the emergence of a development-oriented elite that supports such institutions. However, there is little agreement regarding how such an elite emerges, or how external interventions, such as aid, contrib…
Protestas contra la minería en Guatemala. ¿Qué papel juegan las élites en los conflictos
Las protestas de los movimientos contra la industria extractiva, particularmenteen Guatemala, han sido enfrentadas en la mayoría de los casos con respuestasviolentas de parte del Gobierno y de las compañías mineras. El análisis poneparticular atención a la forma en la que las élites operan y construyen alianzas,y manejan los recursos y medios para imponerse, generalmente con violencia. Elanálisis presentado en este artículo sugiere que la respues…
La transnacionalización de los grupos empresariales diversificados y el rostro cambiante de las élites económicas centroamericanas
Este artículo presenta resultados de un estudio sobre las estrategias de los Grupos Empresariales Diversificados (GED) centroamericanos en frente a la globalización. Busca comprender cómo estos han cambiado en el proceso de integración económica en términos de su expansión al exterior, los sectores enfocados y su integración con las compañías transnacionales. Se plantea que, en general, los GED han cedido espacio para las grandes Compañías Transn…
Chinese engagement in Africa and Latin America
China is now a major actor in global development and wields considerable influence in large parts of the world. The success of the Chinese development model has not only challenged the notion that democracy is necessary for development but also questioned the hegemony of the neo-liberal state encouraging and laying the foundations for a thriving private market economy. The Chinese model of aid, loans, and investments highlights the principles of …
Peace-building and business elites in Guatemala and El Salvador
The local business elites of El Salvador were generally in favour of the peace agreement and supported its negotiation and implementation in 1992, while in Guatemala the private sector reluctantly supported the peace process and, after the peace agreements were signed in 1996, the private sector sought to obstruct parts of its implementation. In the aftermath of the peace accords, business elites united around an ideology espousing a minimal stat…
The crisis in Venezuela
In this introduction, we present the main contributions of this special collection, which aim to open the analysis to the broader political and economic processes that underpin Venezuela’s recent crisis. We highlight the transition from a limited democracy to an authoritarian regime and some of the potential pathways to democratization. We further explain how the political transition that occurred in the last decade was influenced by structural c…
Political science (30 obras) · Economics (22 obras) · Politics (21 obras) · Law (18 obras) · International Development and Aid (12 obras) · Latin Americans (12 obras) · Political economy (12 obras) · Law (11 obras) · Development economics (9 obras) · Elite (9 obras)