Search

This article explores historians' role in shaping public policy amid crises through the programs of the Idaho State Historical Society (ISHS). ISHS navigated the post-2008 recession, aligning with the History Relevance Campaign to redefine history's societal value and develop a legislative outreach program. This article encapsulates the ISHS's journey and history's power--through the agency's new briefing paper program--to inform, unite, guide policy, and promote informed governance. The article describes the author's workflow, which features traditional research methodology and adaptable projectmanagement philosophies and stresses the value of searchable research libraries as a framework for historians to manage multiple projects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The papers presented at the conference cut across five thematic areas, including Democracy and Dialogue Engagements in Africa, Historical Perspectives of Democracy and Dialogue in Africa, Biblical Hermeneutics of Dialogue in Africa, Youth Participation in Dialogue and Democracy in Africa, and Indigenous Perspectives on Dialogue and Peace in Africa. The nexus between religion and democracy has hardly been adequately explored. This conference was one of the high points of Dr. Effiong Udo's sabbatical research initiative with the Dialogue Institute (D.I.). [Extracted from the article]

Up to this date very few empirical studies that address the civil society sector in Jiu Valley have been conducted. If they touch upon this topic, they discuss only the associational life of the miners. However, this does constitute their main objective. Thus, civil society actors beyond the miners' unions are neglected. Recognizing the scarcity of research on this topic, the paper seeks to address this gap, by taking the case of the coalition of Valea Jiului Implicată/Jiu Valley Involved. In order to find out more about this coalition and its members, I used a mixed method approach consisting of both quantitative and qualitative methods. Results show that the coalition was formed by educated individuals with an experience of migration, that managed to bring together volunteers and NGOs so that they can address different problems affecting the region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines debates relating to international aid, civil society, and natural resource conflicts, through a case study of conflict sensitivity programming in Cambodia. The paper highlights the value of confrontational activism, yet the practice of conflict sensitivity can dissuade such activism. Embedded in the country's history and politics, the paper analyses the conflict sensitivity work of an international non-government organisation, revealing significant community-level success, including women's empowerment, but limitations in addressing systemic drivers of conflict. The case study also reveals how the application of conflict sensitivity contributed towards conflict and risk avoidance. In a global context of prevalent natural resource conflicts and related violence, this paper calls for critical reflection on the practice of conflict sensitivity, which continues to gain popularity globally. For development institutions and practitioners, conflict sensitivity has extensive value, but it must be implemented in ways that do not inadvertently dissuade more emancipatory civil society activism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The forceful removal of Robert Mugabe in 2017 brought about high expectations of political transformation and debates on civil society's role in Mugabe's downfall. This paper examines civil society's role in the removal of Mugabe and the continuities and changes brought by the Emerson Mnangagwa regime. The paper contributes to studies that convincingly show that the Mnangagwa regime has failed to bring fundamental change to the 'new dispensation.' However, these studies do not capture civil society's role in Mugabe's downfall, its expectations of life after Mugabe, and people's lived experiences in the new dispensation. This paper locates this gap in the methodology employed by studies on the transition from Mugabe to Mnangagwa – these studies mostly analyzed policy documents, published literature, and newspapers. This methodology did not capture the voices of grassroots activists and organizations. Therefore, this paper used in-depth interviews to capture civil society's role in the downfall of Mugabe, its expectations of the new dispensation, and its lived experiences in the new dispensation. The paper argues that civil society played a sanitizing role in the ZANU-PF factional battles and the new dispensation that was an embodiment of hope has turned out to be an unanticipated horror since the expectations that the masses had have not been met. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is no secret that we are a divided society, a polarized nation that appears to take a binary approach to everything. This paper celebrates Dr. Delphine Hanna's pioneering spirit and challenges readers to reflect on the need for greater understanding and tolerance as we seek to return to a more civil and open-minded society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the case for progressive unionism in Northern Ireland today. The paper locates the progressive currents within unionism and explains the forces that have frustrated their development. It contends that analysis of the leadership provided by unionists in civil society and the attitudinal profile of the pro-union electorate nonetheless signals the existence of space to cultivate more progressive forms of unionism. This challenges the largely negative appraisals of unionism in popular discourse. Unionism is shown to possess a diversity and potential that is often unrecognised. The paper therefore promotes a more sophisticated understanding of unionism and its possible political futures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most research on post-socialist civil society has focused on analysing the characteristics that explain (the lack of) civic strength. Although recent research has highlighted the rise of urban activism, it has failed to look more closely at the agency of actors. By focusing on informal groups and their engagement in public affairs in the aftermath of the 2019 local elections in Hungary, this paper seeks to unravel the civic strategies and narratives that underpin informal civic resistance to political and institutional pressures at a time when both local municipalities and civil society are experiencing a gradual loss of autonomy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The year 2023 in Israel started with illiberal constitutional change efforts by the new right-wing government and concluded with a brutal attack by Hamas terrorists and the subsequent war. Both occurrences galvanized two massive surges of civil society activism. The first was a mass protest that impeded the government's undemocratic legislation. The second was a large- scale mobilization to support a variety of populations affected by the war, providing services and goods that supplanted the failed governmental crisis response. Using a Serving Elite perspective and elaborating on this concept in the Israeli context, the paper analyzes the organizations that transitioned overnight from protest to service delivery. While these are two known roles played by civil society in general, such a transition from protest to support within the same organization is unusual, if at all existent. The paper analyses nineteen (19) in-depth interviews with leaders of 10 prominent organizations active in the protest and the aid phases. It explores their participants, forms of organizing, activities, ideologies, and interconnections, particularly emphasizing the transition. Thematic analysis of the interviews revealed the emergence of a new Serving Elite in the making, liberal in orientation, and developed during the crises. This perspective provides an opportunity to highlight processes deeply embedded in Israel's social, political, and cultural landscapes, changing elites and power relations, and Israel's culture of entrepreneurship. It also provides a framework for analyses of serving elites in other countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

From the 1980s, revisionist Sunni Islamist thinkers have engaged in a hermeneutical effort to argue for the full acceptance of non-Muslims as equal political participants and citizens in an Islamic polity. A key text in their argument is the so-called Constitution of Medina, regulating the interaction between the newly arrived followers of Muhammad and the existing tribes in Medina who were either polytheists or Jews. This paper investigates the sira literature of Muslim Brotherhood in order to gauge the degree to which the life of the Prophet has been reinterpreted to enable such novel readings. It analyzes three popular Muslim Brotherhood siras, by the Syrian Mustafa al-Sibai (1960s), the Egyptian Muhammad al-Ghazzali (1980s), and the Libyan Ali al-Sallabi (2000s). The paper detects important developments in these siras' treatments of Muhammad's engagement with non-Muslims—including their interpretations of the Constitution of Medina. These developments, however, do not reflect the radical rethinking of civil society and civility found in the abovementioned revisionist Islamist literature; rather, they evince a more classical Islamist interest in the Prophet as a propagator of Islam as a law and system. That said, this sira literature should be viewed as a genre aiming at the ideological education of brotherhood members, rather than the theoretical exploration of political theory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper aims to provide an overview of South African perspectives on preventing, monitoring and combating hate victimisation, towards informing international understandings. Design/methodology/approach: Using a general review approach, this paper provides a historical examination of measures proposed by the South African Government and civil society since 1994, to prevent, monitor and combat hate crime, hate speech and intentional unfair discrimination. Findings: Regardless of a constitutional commitment to social inclusion, diversity and minority rights, significant progress remains lacking after almost three decades of related advocacy, lobbying and limited government intervention. Findings of the South African Hate Crimes Working Group (HCWG) longitudinal Monitoring Project emphasise the need for decisive legal responses to hate victimisation. Social implications: A Bill, recognising hate crime and hate speech as distinct criminal offences, has been in development for almost 15 years and will soon serve before Parliament. Enactment of this legislation will be ground-breaking in Africa. Originality/value: This paper contributes to the field of hate studies by providing an overview of the journey towards current conceptual understandings of hate in (South) Africa. It sets the stage for evaluating the potential of the redesigned HCWG monitoring tool, which holds promise for early identification and intervention in hate hotspots and targeted sectors. This instrument can establish trends not only in South Africa but also across the African continent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This special issue examines environmental governance, conceptualized as environmental protections, support for sustainable development, and the regulation of large-scale development projects. Through analysis of dynamics during the commodities super-cycle of the 2000s–2010s, contributors explore the multifaceted ways that societal actors interact with the state to support, oppose, or modify environmental governance, with a focus on communities impacted by export activities and economic elites who favor their expansion. Several papers seek to understand the governance of sectors—mining, oil, and soy. Others begin with natural areas threatened by development—urban wetlands and forests. As a collection, the papers reveal three commonalities that affect the extent to which environmental governance institutions address demands of impacted communities: (1) the question of whether a policymaking process takes place in reaction to mobilizing, or whether it proactively engages environmental questions as they pertain to local populations; (2) strategies by civil society, and above all impacted residents, to ensure the implementation of environmental policies; and (3) debates over knowledge, including community efforts to harness expertise and information to counter paradigms advanced by business actors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research paper examines the conceptual and legal aspects of project-oriented public administration, focusing on the Russian experience and comparing it with practices from the USA, UK, and Malaysia from 2011 to 2020. The study aims to identify specific features of project-oriented public administration, provide a comparative analysis of methodologies for managing national projects, and formulate recommendations for improving legal mechanisms based on national experiences from both developed and developing states. The research highlights the formation and implementation of public administration aimed at realizing national projects, emphasizing the establishment of public and legal foundations for their implementation. Using a comparative case study approach, the study employs document analysis, secondary sources, and expert interviews to examine the legal frameworks, organizational structures, implementation challenges, and performance metrics of project management in the selected countries. The findings reveal significant differences in the legal frameworks and implementation practices across the four countries, with Russia showing a fragmented legal framework primarily governed by federal laws and presidential decrees. In contrast, the UK and USA have more comprehensive legal frameworks with detailed regulations, and Malaysia's framework focuses on government-led initiatives with clear procedural regulations. The paper concludes by proposing recommendations for improving the legal and institutional frameworks for projectoriented public administration in Russia, including systematizing and consolidating its legal framework, improving coordination among government levels, investing in capacity building, and enhancing engagement with the private sector and civil society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Global Strategis is the property of Universitas Airlangga and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

In the context of the green transition, universities have much to offer in joint green innovation projects with business, government and citizens. As hubs of diverse expertise, universities are uniquely placed to build interdisciplinary teams and bridge gaps between society and industry. Their regional ties also enable them to engage with the local ecosystem. This paper draws from ten international case studies of university partnerships with industry and society in green mobility, green energy and green products, services and processes. The comparative evidence gathered from interviews with representatives from these initiatives examines universities' practices for green co-creation. Additionally, the paper outlines policy recommendations crucial to supporting these initiatives, essential for the global success of sustainable development efforts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Corruption represents one of the most widespread phenomena worldwide, which has devastating effects on state institutions and society. As such, this phenomenon represents a real challenge to deal with it. This paper explores the importance of anti-corruption efforts of Republic of North Macedonia as a prerequisite for EU integration and the challenges this country faces in this process. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the recent events in the judicial and the political scene which greatly affect the country's efforts in the fight against corruption. In this study, a mix of qualitative and quantitative methods are used. In the quantitative phase, data will be collected from various sources, including official reports and surveys Additionally, a legal analysis is conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of anticorruption measures enacted by the legislator. The findings reveal a concerning interference of politics in the functioning of the judiciary, which negatively affects the country's path towards EU membership. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Current approaches to the provision of shelter, largely driven by national governments and/or the commercial private sector, continue to fall short of what is needed to reduce housing deficits. The number of people without access to adequate housing continues to grow, especially in cities of the Global South. Increasing attention is being paid to alternative models for organizing land and housing delivery, such as those led by, or at least including, civil society. In this paper, we consider two national land and housing programs—the 20,000 Plots Project in Tanzania, and Basic Services for the Urban Poor (BSUP) in India—alongside community-led housing initiatives from each country. We explore the extent to which community participation in housing delivery can have social and environmental advantages when compared to 'business as usual' methods and find that, given appropriate state support, community-based, and civil society actors (including organizations of the urban poor) have significant potential to contribute to acquiring land, building homes and improving the quality of life of vulnerable segments of the population. This paper echoes calls for community-led housing to become a recognized part of formal housing policy whilst emphasizing the need for theoretical refinement of the process so as to prevent it from being captured by prevailing market-led narratives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Individuals who reside in a country without regular authorisation generally find it difficult to access public medical services beyond emergency treatment. Even in countries with universal healthcare, there is often a gap between rights on paper and their implementation. Civil society organisations (CSOs) fill this gap by providing medical services to vulnerable populations, including irregular migrants. What, if any, are the ethical dilemmas that arise for CSO staff when delivering such services in countries with universal healthcare? Under what conditions do these dilemmas arise? And what strategies do CSO staff use to mitigate them? We answer these questions using 40 semi-structured interviews with CSO staff working in two European countries with high levels of irregularity, universal healthcare provisions on paper, and significant differences in approaches and availability of public services for irregular migrants: Italy and Spain. We show that CSO staff providing medical services to irregular migrants in places with universal healthcare coverage face a fundamental dilemma between humanitarianism and equity. CSO staff respond to the humanitarian belief in the value of taking all possible steps to prevent or alleviate human suffering, thus promoting a decent quality of life that includes access to both emergency and non-emergency care. In doing so, however, they run the risk of substituting rather than complementing public provisions, thereby preventing governments from assuming responsibility for these services in the long term. Individuals who acknowledge the existence of this dilemma generally oppose the creation of parallel structures; that is, services specifically developed for irregular migrants outside the public system; while those who ignore it essentially subscribe to a tiered system, giving up on considerations of equity. We argue that CSOs involved in the provision of healthcare to irregular migrants do not simply provide services; they also play an inherently political role. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper serves as an introduction to focus on the meaning of resilience as a notion that hypothetically enables cities and their citizens to remain unaffected by shocks and stresses of diverse nature, but in practice, is a parsimonious representation of a highly complex human endogenous condition that is often not adequately understood and addressed due to weak or weathered disaster risk governance. Through an empirical analysis, the relevance of the occurrence of disasters such as the one produced by the Mexico City earthquake of September 19, 2017, and its relationship to the meaning of urban resilience is addressed. Since the 100 Resilient Cities program launch in 2013, several cities, including Mexico City, have adopted diverse strategies to build and become more resilient to physical, social, and economic shocks and stresses. Nonetheless, the degree of success of such strategies expressed in everyday life within the cities, regardless of what the official documents report, reveals highly heterogeneous results. In the case of Mexico City, it is evident that the appropriate strategy for attaining the desired outcome of becoming a Resilient City has not been successful. Despite setting the goal of advancing disaster risk reduction through urban and regional planning, the impact of the earthquake of September 19, 2017, proved otherwise. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Functional diversity–i.e., the diversity of morphophysiological characteristics of species in a biological community–revolutionized ecology in recent decades, shifting the focus of the field from species to ecosystems. While its ecological applications are known, its adaptability to other disciplines, specifically music, is explored here. We retrieved fourteen characteristics of 12,944 songs by the top 100 artists of the 2010s decade on four streaming platforms. Then, we calculated the three main components of functional diversity–richness, evenness, and divergence–to each artist using probabilistic hypervolumes. Furthermore, we investigated to what extent functional diversity and the traits of an artist, its albums and songs has an effect on their popularity across streaming platforms such as Spotify. High functional richness, where an artist's songs differ greatly sonically, correlated with increased listens of up to 244,300,000. This would lead to estimated profit earnings exceeding $1,000,000 per richness gain. Danceable, highly-energetic, melodic, pop, and, notably, melancholic songs, albums, and artists are more listened to than their counterparts in streaming services. We captured how patterns in human song might reflects the social state of human societies in recent years and demonstrate the potential of applying functional diversity concepts and tools across scientific and economic domains, extending its relevance beyond ecology. By demonstrating applications of state-of-the-art functional diversity metrics using music as a case study, we intent to communicate the often-complex concepts of functional diversity using the familiar realm of music, which is an intrinsic trait of human cultures across the globe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There has been increasing attention to legal and political contention concerning refugees and asylum seekers in cities. However, there are further opportunities to analyze the relationship between civil society litigation and state institutions in Global South cities. In this paper, I analyze civil society litigation to re-open Refugee Reception Offices (RROs) in South Africa. Primarily based on legal research, I argue that civil society litigation to re-open RROs in specific cities represents an advocacy strategy to contextualize national rights and policies within urban spaces. The paper contributes to broader discussions on civil society advocacy and rights and governance in cities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using ethnographic research from Pakistan, this paper argues that social accountability programmes that overlook the role of intermediaries in clientelistic states risk undermining the wider democratising projects they seek to support. It proposes a theory of 'isomorphic activism' that describes how these public authorities appropriate others' opportunities to participate in politics and, in the process, undermine democratic norms. Isomorphic activism is shown to be more likely when programmes are based on ideals of civil society that render activism a technical exercise, depoliticise it and blind donors to power inequalities. The challenges the paper highlights are important given calls for development programmes to change by whom and how politics is done, whilst granting local ownership to participants and demonstrating value for money. They should also be of interest to those concerned by the spread of reductive views of civil society activism within donor organisations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The EU re-authorisation of glyphosate, the active substance used in plant protection products, has once again highlighted the issues and problems associated with the active substance in 2023. The main source of tension is that the active substance was classified as a potential carcinogen by the International Agency for Research on Cancer in 2015, but the EU’s competent agencies have not identified any reasons for banning the active substance. Despite calls from civil society for removing glyphosate from the internal market, the European Commission has refused to ban the substance from the internal market. The aim of this paper is to present in more detail the European Citizens’ Initiative (ECI) to ban glyphosate and the Commission’s response to the initiative. The European Citizens’ Initiative is a legal instrument that gives EU citizens the opportunity to express their will on a specific issue or policy question. Thus, through the citizens’ initiative, it is possible to channel the demands of EU citizens into the legislative process. An analysis of the measures taken in response to the initiative, that aimed to ban glyphosate shows that an ECI can not only have a direct impact, but can also have an indirect trigger effect in terms of getting the Commission to pay attention to an important issue. The result of this indirect trigger effect may be that, after a longer period of time, the Commission finally initiates legislation on the subject of a particular ECI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper contributes to the literature on political corporate social responsibility (PCSR) by considering the forward‐looking, political responsibilities of corporations in relation to structural injustice, based on a critical engagement with Iris Marion Young's Social Connection Model (SCM) of responsibility. Although Young's SCM serves as a key reference point in the PCSR literature, engagement with her work tends to be superficial and lacks critical engagement. By offering a more developed engagement with Young's SCM, this paper addresses several themes that have been highlighted as being insufficiently developed in the PCSR literature. In particular, this paper considers (i) the grounds for corporate political responsibility in relation to structural injustice rather than globalization; (ii) the scope of corporate political responsibilities vis‐à‐vis other actors; and (iii) the role of power in relation to deliberative processes and in relation to scope. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Democratic theory asserts that the legitimacy of contemporary international and regional organisations rests on a degree of consensus expressed by various actors. The quest for diffuse support now extends beyond member states and explains the opening up of IOs/ROs to transnational civil society's participation. Despite both notions being familiar to IR scholars, a more precise understanding is needed concerning the relationship between each concept, particularly with regard to the inclusion/exclusion nexus and in the still neglected study of organisations in the global South. Using a practice perspective, the paper offers a contribution to that understanding by proposing a micro-level analysis of the behavioural practices of both ROs and TCS using MERCOSUR and the OAS as case studies. A nalysis of the opening up of these organisations, and the concurrent engagement of civil society reveals how inclusion is still both incomplete and unequal. Political liberalisation of ROs thus remains an unfulfilled mandate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Are international organisations' inclusive practices better than top-down ones? This article analyses an attempt to dismantle formal hierarchies to integrate civil society actors in development policymaking at the World Bank. It argues that inclusive practices have not fully challenged the coloniality of epistemic power in North/South relationships because they did not democratise the capacity to influence meaning negotiation. Not only did the Bank not fully democratize its formal policymaking processes, but when it includes NGOs, the coloniality of power mediates their capacity to influence meaning-making. Therefore, despite "better" (liberal) practices of inclusion, interactions between the organisation's employees and NGOS workers are still mediated through remnants of colonial and racial devaluation. By adopting an international practice-based approach, this article analyses colonial epistemic violence through informal rules and practices. The case studied is the inclusion of NGOs at the World Bank under the Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (1999–2014), with data from 31 publicly available interviews from the Bank's Oral History Project, 41 first-hand interviews (realised between 2017 and 2019), and archival material (speeches, memoirs, memos, and internal reports). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper explores the long-term trajectory and the recent acceleration of the conflict over the rule of law in the EU. It focusses on the motivation of the two governments in Hungary and Poland to challenge European core values increasingly aggressively even directly at EU level despite the threat of significant material costs to both countries. Putting forward a Gramscian understanding, we argue that this radicalization is the result of a counter-hegemonic strategy that aims at replacing the liberal order with a new, nationalist, ultraconservative, Christian order on domestic and European levels. The paper traces core elements of this strategy which are either disputed or underestimated in existing literature, most importantly the pursuit of a core ideology and the massive and long-term investment into winning moral and cultural leadership through the penetration of civil society which precedes and complements electoral strategies and autocratic institution building. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper examines the correlation between patriarchal attitudes, women's asset ownership, participation in household decision-making and women's educational attainment across 27 post-communist countries. It hypothesizes that patriarchal attitudes hinder women's educational achievements while women's asset ownership and participation in household decision-making facilitate them. Utilizing regression analysis, marginal effects, post-regression simulation, the study tests and confirms these hypotheses. Results show that for every unit increase in women's asset ownership and participation in decision-making, the odds of achieving higher educational attainment increase by approximately 35.7% and 16.5%, respectively. Conversely, a unit increase in patriarchal attitudes decreases these odds by 15.8%. The findings underscore the importance of state and civil society commitment to addressing gender disparities in education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the 1990s, agribusiness expansion in Argentina involved the exponential growth of pesticide use throughout the country. Pesticide exposure has become a widespread problem in rural areas and farming towns, but protests and conflicts about this issue are the exception rather than the norm. Why? Based on archival work, interviews, and ethnographic observations, in this paper, we scrutinize pesticide governance at the subnational scale to elucidate this puzzle, focusing on a) informal arrangements (face-to-face negotiations between pesticide users and people affected by them), b) juridical conflicts (lawsuits against farmers over exposure of people and crops to herbicides), and c) regulatory challenges (when rural populations and environmentalists push for local ordinances to curb pesticide exposure). We find that local cultural codes encourage informal agreements and that social inequalities prevent conflicts from arising in the public sphere. The interventions of social movements and civil society organizations (or lack thereof) and the mobilization of expertise also shape pesticide governance. Our analysis highlights that pesticide governance is context-dependent or situated, and informed by subtle but significant power asymmetries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the development of indicators measuring attacks on education through a case study of the Global Coalition to Protect Education from Attack (GCPEA). As GCPEA and its partners have brought the problem of attacks on education to the attention of global civil society, they have engaged in contestation to define attacks on education and construct indicators to track the relevant violations. These debates are significant in that indicators are a tool of global governance that shape policymaking and resource allocation. The discussion draws on the author's decade of experience working among groups focused on the protection of education, including direct involvement developing indicators on attacks on education, and on three sets of qualitative interviews. It analyses how resource limitations, organisational agendas, challenges of measurement and verification, and global power dynamics exert pressure towards a more narrow understanding of attacks on education. This limits the transformative potential of the protecting education agenda. The discussion illustrates that EiE actors must consider the ways that they measure their work in ongoing conversations about creating a decolonial and more equitable field of practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Taliban 2.0 in Afghanistan took the world by surprise. This article investigates how this event was seen differently in varied contexts, such as neighboring Pakistan. Our research shows epistemological pluralism in Pakistan, i.e. how different groups use different ways of knowing (epistemology), being (ontology), and valuing (axiology) to explain and analyze Taliban 2.0. Conceptually, the paper draws on insights from the relationality theory to demonstrate the reasons behind such epistemological pluralism. The theory of relationality provides the grounds for epistemological pluralism, i.e. the mixed sentiments and feelings among respondents about the Taliban 2.0 in Afghanistan. Our research reports the perspectives of nine selected civil society activists about Taliban 2.0 in Afghanistan and its implications for Pakistan. The respondents were interviewed during the second quarter of the Taliban administering Afghanistan. Some called it the victory of Islam, the freedom of Afghans from foreign occupation, and the protection of the Pakistani border from Indian proxies. Others were worried about the risks of increased extremism and terrorism in Pakistan, including the rise of banned organizations like Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan. This study intends to document the interviewee civil society activists' suggestions to the State of Pakistan for dealing with Taliban-ruled Afghanistan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper will first review the debate over the definition and recognition of Indigenous peoples with regard to the people of Ryukyu/ Okinawa, focusing on the colonial history, specifically regarding the case of the lawsuit calling for the return of the Ryukyuan ancestral remains. Then, after an overview of the history of the lawsuit calling for the return of the Ryukyuan ancestors, which was instigated in 2018, I will present what has been achieved so far, the challenges that remain, and the prospects for the future. There, the 'colonialism by academic knowledge' nurtured since the colonial period will be exposed, and the recognition by the state of the people of Ryukyu and Okinawa as Indigenous peoples, and the possibility of solidarity among civil society and domestic and international Indigenous and minority peoples will be analyzed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the effect of state‐society relations (SSR) in the industrial sector on the sustainable economic growth of post‐Revolution Tunisia. The empirical part of the paper depends mainly on qualitative data collected from fieldwork interviews with the most important actors and publications of civil society organizations. The paper suggests the presence of state capture as the defining characteristic of SSR in post‐Revolution Tunisia. The combination of having powerful tycoons, weaker state, and ineffectively organized social actors produced conditions that harmed sustainability. These settings allowed tycoons to violate environmental regulations and prevented Green innovation through the adoption of Green technologies. Yet, factors such as low value‐added creation, increased labor‐intensity, and low environmental awareness or prioritization all interact with state capture to lower sustainability. In those sectors where tycoons are active and dominant, competing social actors are incapable of effectively exploiting the presence of a freer political system, ultimately failing to successfully organize resisting coalitions, as evident in the textile sector. While higher resistance is witnessed where tycoons are not dominant as was the case in the phosphate sector, tycoons could still use the situation to their advantage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Slovo a Slovesnost is the property of Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Czech Language Institute and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper examines the construction and maintenance of Chinese Han Buddhist temples in modern China against the backdrop of societal transformation. Initially, it analyzes the profound impact of social changes since the mid-19th century on Buddhist monasteries, including political turmoil, economic development, and urbanization. Furthermore, the paper explores how temples were reconstructed and revitalized within this historical context, highlighting the monastic community's unwavering commitment to protecting the Dharma and ensuring its enduring presence. Additionally, this paper also explores the role of charismatic monks in enhancing the sanctity of temples and the influence of Buddhist institutional frameworks on the dynamics of state and society. The study employs a multifaceted analysis to understand the complex interplay between temple construction, economic development, and the cultural heritage of Buddhism in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China's aging population is becoming more and more serious, which has a farreaching influence on the state and society. As the more elderly population grows, it is necessary to strengthen a sound policy system to alleviate the burden on families and society. The importance of accurately predicting the elderly population is therefore highlighted. With the aim of exploring the future development trend of China's older population, in this paper, we establish a new fractional gray prediction model based on time power term to study China's elderly population. We used data from 2010 to 2019 to assess modeling accuracy, demonstrating that the model outperforms the other models. The final step is to use the model to forecast China's elderly population from 2020 to 2029. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper aims to present the research results concerning the pragmatic dimension of the participation of young people in selected organisations working in Poland and Ukraine. The research was comparative. Data collection involved a search of secondary data sources. All the available documents posted on the websites of the investigated organisations, including their statutes, rules and regulations, reports and accounts covering activities and operations, and social media (Facebook) posts, were analysed. An analysis of the data's content for the "pragmatic dimension of participation" category led us to three oppositions: public vs private, physical vs virtual and cyclical vs one-time, which the actions of chosen organisations can define. The results show that despite the differences in the three oppositions of the pragmatic dimension of participation in Polish and Ukrainian organisations, their mission is similar and boils down to taking all actions aimed at involving young people in developing a more democratic civil society in both countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The relationship between modernization and religion is contested, with the literature differing in how and in what ways religion helps or hinders countries' social, economic, and political development. This paper draws upon the history of Christianity in South Korea to critically explore the links between religion and modernization. It makes two arguments. First, discussions of the link between religion and modernization frequently employ static definitions of religion, but Christianity is characterized by oscillations between worldly (institutionalizing) and unworldly (countercultural) impulses that theoretically make very different contributions to social, economic, and political development. Second, in the case of South Korea, it is shown that both impulses have made vital contributions to the country's modernization at different times. This suggests that the dynamic tug-of-war between the institutional and countercultural facets of Korean Christianity, although problematic for individual believers and religious leaders, helped it become an important contributor to the country's success story. However, this paper concludes on a cautionary note by warning that extreme instances of these impulses have caused cleavages between Christianity and the Korean state and society and could undermine its future contributions. This suggests that diversity and toleration—a hallmark of Korean Christianity—will continue to be the best pathway forward. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Can NGOs implement rights-based gender equality programs when donor focus on the area is shrinking? This paper explores how one development program has made strategic choices incorporating the interests of multiple stakeholders, addressing donor interests while simultaneously addressing the needs of local communities. It examines the evolution of BRAC's Polli Shomaj, a rural women's civil society organisation designed to challenge power structures through collective action in rural Bangladesh. It draws on interviews with program staff and existing program literature to find that over time, BRAC leadership has narrowed its program focus to shed its broad transformative agenda to focus solely on gender equality through a combination of service delivery and rights-based approaches. The paper suggests that while it is possible for NGOs to promote gender equality through a combination of rights-based and service-delivery approaches, greater focus is needed on challenging power structures to bring about lasting structural change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

People with innate variations of sex characteristics (also known as intersex traits or disorders or differences of sex development) have any of a wide range of innate physical traits that differ from medical and social norms for female and male bodies. Responses to these physical differences create experiences and risks of stigmatisation, discrimination, violence, and harmful medical practices intended to promote social and familial integration and conformity with gender stereotypes. As is evident globally, the Australian policy response to the existence and needs of people with innate variations of sex characteristics has been largely incoherent, variously framing the population as having disordered sex development in need of "fixing", and a third sex/gender identity group in need of recognition, with only recent engagement by intersex community-controlled civil society organisations. This paper presents an overview of the context and goals of the intersex human rights movement in Australia. Australian intersex community organisations have sought to apply human rights norms and develop new infrastructure to address key health and human rights issues, and necessitating new ways of resolving policy incoherence. Together with human rights, mental health, and public health institutions, they have called for significant changes to medical models of care and reform to research and classification systems. Intersex community organising and resourcing have made a tangible difference. The Australian Capital Territory is the first jurisdiction in the country to move ahead with reforms to clinical practice, including a legislative prohibition of certain practices without personal informed consent, oversight of clinical decision-making, and investment in psychosocial support. A national community-controlled psychosocial support service has also commenced. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper based on original fieldwork, I seek to contribute to critical scholarship in international law by providing an investigation into the engagement with international law by actors in civil society working against son preference primarily in Tirupati, India. I suggest that the turn to the international legal order by civic actors should be theorized as something else than as merely coming 'from above', 'from below' or as a 'translation' of 'global' law to 'local' conditions. Instead, I propose that the mobilization of international law within Tirupati's civil society should be seen as an emancipatory undertaking, an act of resistance with the overarching ambition to reclaim the zenana. In that, I argue, the strategies within Tirupati's civil society are more appropriately understood as critical international law put into practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Planning Education & Research is the property of Sage Publications Inc. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Anduli: Revista Andaluza de Ciencias Sociales is the property of Anduli: Revista Andaluza de Ciencias Sociales and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Increasingly, the concept of a just transition is shaping labour's view of environmental justice but the experience of trade unions working towards just transitions has been mixed, although much action has built on the existing relationships that trade unions have had with their members, other trade unions and civil society organisations. Recent analysis of trade union environmental action has found that a more radical approach is needed that will promote the long-term interests of labour in what has been described as the just transition. This paper argues that if trade unions want future, more transformative strategies, they will have to build their own expertise, building on their own research which has informed their own democratic expertise. This paper makes a contribution to this process by identifying 'Three Pillars' which could be used to inform trade union thinking and action. The Three Pillars are: (a) critical analysis of current net-zero policies, (b) new green, industrial strategies supported by social infrastructure, (c) changing labour-environmental relationships. The paper includes a case study of a trade union which is campaigning for a new National Climate Service. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recycling is one of the key components in reduction of carbon emissions and improving environmental conditions, especially in the urban context. In Central Asia, the legislation and infrastructure necessary for waste management is still under development. Thus, the knowledge gap and public awareness campaigns are mostly done at the grassroots level. This paper looks at the case of recycling promotion through civic community initiatives that also have a charitable component in Almaty. It explores the ethical considerations that are being entangled with the introduction of recycling culture in the city and is grounded in the literature on civil society, environmental ethics and social entrepreneurship. The data was collected through semi-structured interviews with organizers of recycling fairs and NGOs working on recycling. The paper reveals that by appealing to the ethical considerations of people to "do good" and contribute to charitable cause, the organizers of the recycling fair also demonstrate the effects of over-consumerism, ways of doing waste management, and educate about reuse and upcycle culture. The single case of Darmarka in Almaty present a limitation of the study. Therefore, a more in-depth research on the organisation of Darmarka events in other cities in Kazakhstan and CIS, as well as on similar initiatives in other Central Asian countries would be beneficial in the future. This is an important contribution in understanding what challenges and opportunities exist in promotion of recycling in Central Asia, that can be useful to national governments, experts, and international organizations working in this area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Large segments of Austria-Hungary’s population were affected by an escalating food shortage during World War I, leading to widespread undernourishment, particularly in urban areas. This paper argues that this impending crisis significantly empowered scientific experts. Operating between civil society and the imperial state, these experts multiplied and strengthened their connections to both spheres during the war, emerging as major producers of policy advice. This was true even in the realm of biopolitics, where decisions were made about whom to let live and whom to let die. Focusing on eugenics and its scientific proponents, this paper traces their growing interactions with voluntary associations providing food aid and civil administration at central, municipal, and local levels. Spanning four distinct urbanized contexts in the Habsburg Empire – Vienna, Budapest, Northern Bohemia, and Prague – the analysis reveals that eugenic ideas increasingly permeated discussions about food provisioning during the war in each of these locations. By the conflict’s end, eugenics had become a pivotal discourse framing public debate on the hunger crisis, depicting it in racialized terms as an intergenerational biological threat. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research paper explores the critical issue of resocialization and rehabilitation of convicted individuals within the criminal justice system of the Republic of Kosovo. Crime is a phenomenon that threatens society according to external and internal negative factors. It affected the functioning of security, the social environment, and the economy in modern society for years. State institutions and civil and academic society must be engaged to have activities adequate for the resocialization, and re-education of persons convicted of criminal offenses. At the same time, preventive measures should be taken to avoid criminal behavior for which behavior then only unconditional measures should be taken, which is Prison. The paper proposes evidence-based recommendations for policymakers, correctional institutions, and community stakeholders. These recommendations aim to enhance existing strategies and foster a more inclusive and effective resocialization process for convicted persons in Kosovo. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper discusses, from a social constructivist theoretical perspective, the manner in which Romania's African Strategy, Romania-Africa: APartnership for Future through Peace, Development and Education, envisions civil society's role. The paper tries to identity the political, theoretical and ideological underpinnings of the document's view of civil society, by analyzing not only its content, but its position within the wider context of Romania's foreign policy. The ambiguous or rather limited role that civil society is expected to play is explained as a result of the two rather conflicting views of international politics which the document tries, albeit unsuccessfully to reconcile: an understanding of international politics, focused on the distribution of power and centered on the privileged role states play in international politics, stemming from a historical sense of vulnerability exacerbated by the War in Ukraine, which cannot be reconciled with a view of international relations focused on the role of international institutions and Romania's historical support for decolonization. In addition to the interaction between these perspectives, both views, however, prescribe a subordinate role for civil society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]