Benedicte Bull
Benedicte Bull
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Bull will be a visting researcher at FLACSO, Chile from January to July 2006. |
Benedicte
Bull (Dr. Polit, Department of Political Science, University of Oslo,
2002) is Senior Research Fellow at the Centre for Development and the
Environment (SUM), University of Oslo. She teaches development studies and international relations at SUM and Department of Political Science. Research interests: E-mail: benedicte.bull at
sum.uio.no Go to FRIDA to get an overview over publications. (See below for publications on different topics). |
| NEW
BOOK!!
Aid, Power and Privatization: The politics of Telecommunication Reform in Central America, Edward Elgar Publishing, Cheltenham, UK, Northampton, MA, USA, 2005
Why have Latin American states privatized so uniformly and rapidly? What has been the role of the international financial institutions (IFIs)? What kind of state emerges after privatization and regulatory reform? And why does privatization remain so unpopular? These are the questions addressed in this book. Through a comparative case study of telecommunication reform in three Central American countries - Costa Rica, Guatemala and Honduras - it discusses the historical role of telecommunication for state power, the sources of proposed, failed and implemented reforms, and political processes determining their destiny. It concludes that the reform processes in the three countries show significant variation. This is accounted for, not by the different relationship to the IFIs, but by the different relationships between the state and the private sector. The impact on this of the reform process is also the key to understanding the states' capacity for post-reform regulation and the unpopularity of privatization. Link to publishers presentation RESEARCH PROJECTS& RELATED PUBLICATIONS Regional integration, the private sector and governance for sustainable development in Latin America (2005-2008) Project description: Since the early 1990s regional integration has re-emerged as a main development strategy in Latin America. Some of the recent initiatives are sub-regional projects initiated by Latin American countries (including, e.g., Mercosur and the Central American Integration System (SICA)). A parallel process is initiated by the United States, and aimed towards the creation of a hemispheric wide free trade area (Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA)). This has so far resulted in one bi-lateral agreement with Chile, and one sub-regional agreement with Central America (Central American Free Trade Area (CAFTA)). Especially the US initiated agreements are highly controversial. While their proponents argue that they imply an unprecedented opportunity to gain access to the US market and create development opportunities, their opponents argue that they signify a step towards a Latin America which is laid open to foreign capital and goods, and which lacks regulation of businesses to protect the environment, labor and vulnerable groups. Thus, they will lead to further growth in poverty and inequality in the region. This project will study one aspect believed to be of great importance to the outcome of the agreements, namely the extent to which they are capable of regulating business in order to make their activities compatible with broader developmental goals, including environmental protection and poverty reduction. It is hypothesized that this will depend, not only on the wording of agreements, but also on the interaction between governmental representatives and the private sector in the initiation and negotiation of regional agreements. The project will be based on a comparative
case study of the Chilean and Central American private sectors' role
in the US Chile FTA and CAFTA negotiations respectively. However, these
negotiations will be analyzed against the background of the existing
sub-regional context. Chile is an associate member of Mercosur, whereas
Central America has a long history of regional integration attempts
and is currently united in SICA. The case studies will focus on three
issue areas included in the regional agreements: environmental regulation,
labor rights regulation and regulation of investments. The project is supported by the Norwegian Research Council.
The influence of the private sector in the multilateral system (2003-2005) In this research project,
we investigate into the role of the private sector in the multilateral
institutions (UN organizations and multilateral development banks).
Over the past decade there has been an increase in the scale and impact
of the multilateral systems' interaction with the private sector. Moreover,
new forms of cooperation have emerged ranging from global, multi-stakeholder
initiatives to operational partnerships in individual countries and
communities. In this project, we wish to: (i) to improve knowledge about
the causes of the changes currently experienced; (ii) to analyse the
consequences for the multilateral institutions and their strategies
for achieving their goals; and (iii) to contribute to a better understanding
of the evolving role of private actors in global governance. The main
research activity will be to conduct case studies in two sectors - health
and education - where the causes, extent and effect of private sector
participation are expected to be notably different. This project stareted 2003 and finish 2005. It is onducted by Desmond McNeill and Benedicte Bull at SUM, and Morten Bøås at Fafo International. A full project description is found here.
Ethics and Development (2002-2005) The background for this project is the Inter-American Initiative on Social Capial, Ethics and Development of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), aimed at placing ethical questions on the agenda in the IDB and on the development agenda in the Americas in general . Among the main tools for doing this is to establish an academic network that will research issues related to ethics and development, raise ethical issues in the public debate and contribute to increased emphasis on ethics and development in teaching at the universities. The role of SUM is to be a European counterpart in this network, and collaborate with Latin American universities on research on issues in ethics and development. SUMs contribution in 2005 will be to: 1. Support the strengthening
of human rights linked with the ethical challenges of development A former focus of SUM's participation in this initiative was social corporate responsibility (responsabilidad social empresarial). See also the home page of SUM for information about the Ethics & Development project. The project started in 2002 and will continue until at least the end of 2005.
Multilateral aid and privatization of public utilities in Central America (1997-2002) Bull's doctoral dissertation was entitled Aid, Power and Privatization: Domestic and International Sources of Telecommunication Report (1986-2000). It compares the privatization and reform of telecommunications in Costa Rica, Guatemala and Honduras. The focus is on political and institutional capacity to conduct the reforms, and the role of the World Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) in supporting the processes at various stages. It was defended for the Dr.Polit degree at the Department of Political Science, University of Oslo, October 12 2002. The dissertation was awarded with the Kings Gold Medal 2003. (H.M. Kongens Gullmedalje). A statement from the Faculty of Social Sciences related to the award can be found here.
Last updated: 28, December, 2005 |
FORTHCOMING BOOK! Market-Multilateralism: Public-Private Partnershps and Global Governance London and New York: Routledge Benedicte Bull and Desmond McNeill Published 1. May, 2006
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