Civil Society Participation at CONFINTEA VI

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Haddad, Sergio

2012-01-01

This article analyzes the participation of civil society in the Sixth International Conference on Adult Education held in Belem do Para, Brazil, 1-4 December 2009. As a foundation, the discussion first illuminates the important role that civil society in general plays in democratic issues and the relation between the state and society followed by…

Material civilization: things and society.

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Dant, Tim

2006-06-01

This paper argues that although classical sociology has largely overlooked the importance of social relations with the material world in shaping the form of society, Braudel's concept of 'material civilization' is a useful way to begin to understand the sociological significance of this relationship. The limitations of Braudel's historical and general concept can be partially overcome with Elias's analysis of the connection between 'technization' and 'civilization' that allows for both a civilizing and a de-civilizing impact of emergent forms of material relation that both lengthen and shorten the chains of interdependence between the members of a society. It is suggested that the concept of the 'morality of things' employed by a number of commentators is useful in summarizing the civilizing effects of material objects and addressing their sociological significance. From the sociology of consumption the idea of materiality as a sign of social relationships can be drawn, and from the sociology of technology the idea of socio-technical systems and actor-networks can contribute to the understanding of material civilization. It is argued that the concept of 'material capital' can usefully summarize the variable social value of objects but to understand the complexity of material civilization as it unfolds in everyday life, an analysis of 'material interaction' is needed. Finally the paper suggests some initial themes and issues apparent in contemporary society that the sociological study of material civilization might address; the increased volume, functional complexity and material specificity of objects and the increased social complexity, autonomy and substitutability that is entailed. A theory of 'material civilization' is the first step in establishing a sociology of objects.

The Impact of Civil Society Organizations on Sustainable ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Civil society groups are agents of development in any nation. Civil society organizations appear to play important role in social, political and economic development activities. The transformation of any society or system, particularly the developing societies like Nigeria depend on the effectiveness and efficiency of its civil ...

Civil Society, Health, and Social Exclusion in Bangladesh

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Mahmud, Simeen

2009-01-01

Civil society has the potential to have a positive impact on social exclusion and health equity through active monitoring and increased accountability. This paper examines the role of civil society in Bangladesh to understand why this potential has not been realized. Looking at two models of civil society action—participation in decentralized public-sector service provision and academic think-tank data analysis—this analysis examines the barriers to positive civil society input into public policy decision-making. The role of non-governmental organizations, political, cultural and economic factors, and the influence of foreign bilateral and multilateral donors are considered. The paper concludes that, with a few exceptions, civil society in Bangladesh replicates the structural inequalities of society at large. PMID:19761087

Governing Civil Society Organisations and Constructing the Common Good

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hein Jessen, Mathias

This paper argues that civil society is something that must be produced and constructed in order to come into existence. This construction entails a specific production of what civil society is, which values are (and should be) present in it, what the common good is and how civil society and civil...... with specific (good) values, but is at the same time instrumentalised to provide welfare services the state can and will no longer provide. Civil society, civil society organisations and the common good are not given entities, but constantly produced and mobilised in different political conjunctures....

Global civil society: between nation states and transnational corporations

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S. A. Kvitka

2017-06-01

Full Text Available Global civil society is the subject of the formation of a new world order and the modern humanitarian outlook, which is based on the primacy of justice and human rights. One of the actors head of global civil society is an international non-governmental organizations. But wrong to equate global civil society with the activities of these organizations only. Mostly they influence governments and their humanitarian and international politics. Meanwhile, the role of global civil and its society various institutions is much greater and significant. The article discusses the various aspects of the civil society from the position that it took place between transnational companies (TNCs and nation-states. The role of the latter is gradually reduced - economic regulation take on multinationals and public administration is a field of activity of various institutions and structures that scientists considered it as a manifestation of global civil society. In Ukraine, which is also involved in the process of globalization, global civil society is one of the main factors of its national civil society.

DOES CIVIL SOCIETY CREATE SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURS?

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Gauca Oana

2013-07-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this paper is to analyze whether civil society itself can enhance or stimulate the creation of social entrepreneurs, by studying the traits of the civil society and the various definitions attributed to it. The main question that the paper wants to answer to is Does civil society create social entrepreneurs and the main approach used in this research paper is the theoretical one. By studying existing articles and books on the topic, the paper tries to emphasize the various dimensions that civil society can embrace, as pictured by various authors, as well as how these dimensions can relate to social entrepreneurs and the emergence of social businesses. The paper is not meant to be a breakthrough in the field, but rather to launch a question that is related to very important topics these days, social entrepreneurship, social innovation, social businesses and their connection to a very much debated topic-civil society. The paper is work-in progress and wants to stimulate research regarding the search of the sources of social entrepreneurship, in order to analyze them and better establish them as incubators for the future. It wants to be of use to whoever is researching the concepts illustrated above, as well as for those who want to get in touch with the new buzz words of the academic and entrepreneurial fields. The hereby paper stands, as previously stated, in a theoretical framework and the findings represent a mere analysis of the cause-effect relationship between the characteristics of civil society and those of social entrepreneurs. However, we are of the opinion that it can be a very good starting point for the ones interested in the domain, to analyze more sources of social entrepreneurship or further refine the answer to the question addressed in this article.

Remaking Public Spaces for Civil Society

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Ranson, Stewart

2012-01-01

The collective action predicaments of the time require citizens to participate in remaking the governance of civil society so that they can become engaged and cooperate together. Can citizens become makers of civil society? This article draws upon Hannah Arendt's "On Revolution" to provide a theory of remaking in which citizens come together to…

How Global is Global Civil Society?

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Neera Chandhoke

2015-08-01

Full Text Available In recent times the concept of global civil society has made its appearance on national and international intellectual, as well as political agendas, in a major way. It is of some interest that two other concepts, both of which call for transcendence of national boundaries in precisely the same way as global civil society does, have also made their appearance on the scene of intellectual debates at roughly the same time: the concept of cosmopolitanism and that of transnational justice. All three concepts have dramatically expanded the notion of commitment to one’s fellow beings beyond the nation state. And all three concepts have extended critiques of policies that violate the dignity of human beings from national governments to the practices of inter-national institutions such as the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, and the World Trade Forum. In sum the inter-related concepts of global civil society, cosmopolitanism, and transnational justice have greatly enlarged the traditional domain of political theory. And yet for any political theorist who is acutely conscious of the phenomenon of power, these concepts are not unproblematic. For the practices of global civil society may just reinforce the intellectual and the moral power of the West over the postcolonial world. This is particularly true of say global human rights organizations. This paper will attempt to raise some questions of the concept and the practices of global civil society from the perspective of the countries of the South.

Civil society and the ‘commanding heights’:

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Spear, Roger; Paton, Rob

Civil society associations, including voluntary and community groups, trade unions, faithbased organisations, co-operatives and mutuals, have long influenced the economy. Civil society associations can run businesses and they can run organisations that aim to influence businesses. Together, these...

Michel Foucault and the Forces of Civil Society

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Villadsen, Kaspar

2016-01-01

, presenting civil society as a ‘reality that does not exist’ but still has real effects. This new reality holds contradictory potentials. When articulated by political eschatology, civil society supports prophecies of the end of politics in a final accord where contradictions dissolve and the community...... absorbs the state. Neoliberal notions of civil society promise, on Foucault’s account, a more open-ended milieu of subject formation....

Institutions of Civil Society Participating in Public Relations

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Olga S. Belokrylova

2016-12-01

Full Text Available The degree of maturity of the civil society of a country is now seen as an important indicator of the development of a socially oriented market economy. The authors explore two forms of state and civil society relations - qualitative, characterized by the diffusion of a relationship of trust in society, and quantitative, in the system of public procurement corruption identifiable pace of localization. Institutional capacity development of civil society in public relations is the simultaneous modernization of the qualitative and quantitative scope of its relationship with the state. The paper presents the mechanism of transition to a partnership model relations between the state and civil society, the most important form of which is the realization of public control, rapid formal institutionalization which has provided detection and elimination of large-scale irregularities in public procurement. Its swift formal institutionalization provided by representatives of civil society to identify and eliminate large-scale irregularities in public procurement. The experience of NGO Fund "Sodeistvie - XXI vek" to identify "blind" purchases, is offered as a tool to improve the efficiency of public control conduct free training of potential public controlles by institutions engaged in training of civil officials for the course "Management of state and municipal procurement".

Civil society, political mobilization, and the impact of HIV scale-up on health systems in Brazil.

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Parker, Richard G

2009-11-01

This article examines the role of civil society in shaping HIV and AIDS policies and programs in Brazil. It focuses on the historical context of the redemocratization of Brazilian society during the 1980s, when the initial response to the epidemic took shape, and emphasizes the role of social movements linked to the progressive Catholic Church, the sanitary reform movement in public health, and the emerging gay rights movement in the early response to the epidemic in Brazil. It highlights the broad-based civil society coalition that took shape over the course of the 1990s and the political alliances that were built up shortly after the 1996 International AIDS Conference in Vancouver, Canada, to pass legislation guaranteeing the right to access to antiretroviral treatment. It emphasizes the continued importance of civil society organizations-in particular, AIDS-related nongovernmental organizations-and leading AIDS activists in exerting continued pressure to guarantee the sustainability of treatment access and the impact that action focused on HIV and AIDS has had on the Brazilian public health system more broadly, particularly through strengthening health infrastructures and providing a model for health-related social mobilization.

Civil Society and Distributional Conflicts in Southeast Asia

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Schmidt, Johannes Dragsbæk

2010-01-01

focuses on the competing theoretical definitions and assumptions about civil society, democratization and social change; the second part explores the attempts by civil society actors to impact conflicts over resources and distribution of welfare in Southeast Asia; the third section focuses...... on the conflictual relationship between civil society organizations (CSOs) and the state and various types of social and labour market regulations, laws and contractual relationships, and finally the need for progressive social reform is emphasized as one important type of social resistance against the downsizing...

NAHDLATUL ULAMA (NU SEBAGAI CIVIL SOCIETY DI INDONESIA

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Esty Ekawati

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Civil Society is non-government organization or an autonomous group which is faced with state and has a function for check and balance for the government policy. Civil society also has a function to social control. Lary Diamond said that civil society establish on cultural organization such as religion or ethnic or organization which keep the truth and believe. Nahdhatul Ulama is a religion organization in Indonesia which has function to social control for the government. Beside that, the activities of NU in education, democracy development and other social activities made NU still exist in social and political society in Indonesia.

Holistic Development: Muslim Women's Civil Society Groups in ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Holistic Development: Muslim Women's Civil Society Groups in Nigeria, Ghana and Tanzania. ... we conceptualize economic and political participation and measure inequality. ... Tanzania to help develop mechanisms for sustainable economic growth and ... Keywords: African women, muslim women, civil society, economic ...

Religion, civil society and conflict: What is it that religion does for and to society?

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Jaco Beyers

2011-08-01

Full Text Available Human consciousness instinctively tries to make sense of reality. Different human interpretations of reality lead to a world consisting of multiple realities. Conflict occurs when differing realities (worldviews encounter one another. Worldviews are socially created and determine human behaviour and, as such, most often find expression in religion. The discussion of conflict and the role of religion in civil society take place within the discourse of the sociology of religion. Religion is socially determined. Peter Berger’s insight into the sociology of religion therefore plays an important role in establishing the relationship between religion and civil society as one that takes on different forms. Thus, a clear definition of both civil society and religion was needed to understand the nature of these relationships. The role of religion in civil society with regard to the presence of conflict in society was further investigated in this article. The conditions under which conflict in society occurs were discussed, as were the conditions for tolerance in society, for religion ultimately becomes the provider of moral discernment when conflict occurs in civil society.

Civil Society Participation in the Governance of Educational Systems ...

International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

Donor organizations increasingly support the idea that civil society organizations should be involved in the process of national education reform. Yet despite this widespread endorsement, little is known about the quality and effectiveness of civil society participation in education reform. This project will explore the role of civil ...

Masa depan civil society di Indonesia: prospek dan tantangan

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Halili Halili

2015-10-01

Full Text Available This paper aims to discuss on civil society, its prospects and challenges. It is urgent because civil society is a determining factor of lndonesia democratization. Civil society is a society within state which containing social association which has ability to fill public spaces between state and citizen, and interactwith state independt1y, wether indivual or collective. Prospect qf civil societyfarming is determined by establishment ofsome components: 1 existence cf societal autonomy, 2 access ofpublic to state agencies, 3 independent public arena; 4 arena publik yang mandiri, dan keempat arena publik yang terbuka. Prospect of ciuil society deuelopmentis influenced by optimalization ofsome factors: 1 establishment of, demo­cratic families, 2 growth of roles of non government organization toward both state and citizen, 3 increase of intellectual middle class, especially students, and 4 implementation of political education formally (e.g. civic or citizenship education and informally. The challenges of future of civil society are: 1 high of social fragmentation among people, 2 limited distribution of development results infold ofeconomy, social, and education, and also 4 paternalistic culture which is stiO strong among society.

Kingdom, church and civil society: A theological paradigm for civil ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This article deals with the role that churches can and should play in civil society to develop societal morally. The central-theoretical argument is that the biblical notion of the kingdom of God can, when it is systematically and theologically developed, offer an acceptable foundation for the civil action of churches. In light of this ...

Civil Society and Democratic Governance in Ghana: Emerging ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Though the essence of 'civil society' appeared in the writings of Rousseau, Ferguson, Tocqueville and Gramsci, the use of the term did not become prominent until the 18th century. Variously defined, the meaning, applicability and categorization of civil society are embedded in highly contextualized ideological debates of ...

Civil society: beyond non profit / Sociedad civil: más allá del non profit

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Miguel de Haro Serrano

2013-10-01

Full Text Available For a numerous group of recognized and proved authority authors, the Civil Society is limited to the Non Profit organizations. Non Profit is the great limit, the rigid and static border. The limes on the Roman Empire were less overwhelming than the non profit of certain academics. Dura lex and unfair law that keeps aside from the civil society scope the entities on the social economy and the whole market around mercantile enterprises and businesses. Nevertheless, the new changes in the today’s society and the new concept of businesses oriented to the society without forsaking the quest for economic profit, poses a Civil Society beyond non profit.

Civil Society Organizations in Post-War Liberia: The Role of Education and Training in Strengthening Organizational Capacity

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Duo, Samuel N.

2011-01-01

The purpose of this study was to understand the role of non-formal education and training in the organizational change process of Civil society organizations (CSOs) in post war Liberia. CSOs are the local foundation for democracy and development in Liberia, and serve a wide range of roles in local communities. For example, in post-war Liberia,…

Globalisation and health inequalities: can a human rights paradigm create space for civil society action?

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London, Leslie; Schneider, Helen

2012-01-01

While neoliberal globalisation is associated with increasing inequalities, global integration has simultaneously strengthened the dissemination of human rights discourse across the world. This paper explores the seeming contradiction that globalisation is conceived as disempowering nations states' ability to act in their population's interests, yet implementation of human rights obligations requires effective states to deliver socio-economic entitlements, such as health. Central to the actions required of the state to build a health system based on a human rights approach is the notion of accountability. Two case studies are used to explore the constraints on states meeting their human rights obligations regarding health, the first drawing on data from interviews with parliamentarians responsible for health in East and Southern Africa, and the second reflecting on the response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic in South Africa. The case studies illustrate the importance of a human rights paradigm in strengthening parliamentary oversight over the executive in ways that prioritise pro-poor protections and in increasing leverage for resources for the health sector within parliamentary processes. Further, a rights framework creates the space for civil society action to engage with the legislature to hold public officials accountable and confirms the importance of rights as enabling civil society mobilization, reinforcing community agency to advance health rights for poor communities. In this context, critical assessment of state incapacity to meet claims to health rights raises questions as to the diffusion of accountability rife under modern international aid systems. Such diffusion of accountability opens the door to 'cunning' states to deflect rights claims of their populations. We argue that human rights, as both a normative framework for legal challenges and as a means to create room for active civil society engagement provide a means to contest both the real and the

Civil Society Participation in the Governance of Educational Systems ...

International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

This project will explore the role of civil society organizations in education reform in ... practices and model initiatives for civil society engagement in the educational sector. ... Eleven world-class research teams set to improve livestock vaccine ...

Sustainable Civil-Society Engagement: Potentials of a Transnational Civil Society in French-German, Polish-German, and Czech-German Border Regions

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Klaus Boehnke

2015-04-01

Full Text Available Based on representative survey data, the present study examines potentials for the sustainable development of a transnational civil society in French-German, Polish-German, and Czech-German border regions. The theoretical framework is a social capital approach in the tradition of Putnam. Transnational engagement is seen as a key element for the development of a border-crossing civil society. For the analysis, existing forms of social capital were classified according to their bridging and bonding functions and the potentials of local and transnational activities are described. Furthermore, using multilevel analysis, the predictive power of different variables like individual dispositions and specific contexts of the regions on cross-border activities are examined. Descriptively, the expected lower level of local civil-society engagement, in general, and also with regard to the transnational activities was found for post-socialist border regions. It is shown that, first and foremost, existing experience in civil-society engagement in the local context is a high-impact predictor for both transnational activities and an interest in such activities. Other variables like feelings of a historical burden or the economic situation of the region are less important.

THE IMPLICATIONS OF THE CIVIL SOCIETY IN THE EASTERN PARTNERSHIP

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Loredana JITARU

2017-04-01

Full Text Available The Eastern Partnership (EaP launched in 2009 as the Eastern dimension of the European Neighbourhood Policy introduced the civil society as a new strategic actor in the EU's relations with Eastern Partnership countries. The civil society‟s role is to participate in policy making, to suggest new initiatives and to promote shared values of partnership, such as: democracy, promoting better governance, state law, sustainable development, respect for human rights and for the fundamental freedoms. The paper is divided into two parts. In the first part, we analyse the role of the civil society in the EaP and we ask whether the increasing role of the civil society in the EaP will lead to the success of this project. In the second part, we analyse the perceptions and the attitudes of civil society towards European integration.

Engaging Civil Society in Countering Violent Extremism

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Bibi van Ginkel

2012-08-01

Full Text Available In this Research Paper Dr. Bibi van Ginkel takes an in depth look at how multi-lateral institutions, engage with civil society to counter violent extremism. Dr. van Ginkel argues that civil society can play a crucial role in preventing and countering violent extremism in numerous ways – by working on development programs, through their work in conflict transformation, in providing a platform to raise political grievances and to facilitate dialogue, or through their work in empowering victims and survivors of terrorism. The Paper finds that over the last decade there has been a more intensive coordination of activities between the UN and other multi-lateral organisations and civil society but the question remains whether the implementation as well as the drafting of these policies will live up to their potential effectiveness. This Paper gauges how effective these measures have been and what more there is to do. The final section concludes with a series of policy recommendations.

Systematic classification of civil society contributions to nuclear safeguards

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Kalinowski, Martin B. [Universitaet Hamburg, Carl Friedrich von Weizsaecker, Centre for Science and Peace Research (ZNF) Hamburg (Germany)

2012-06-15

Civil Society is increasingly involved in the policy area of international arms control. Their opportunities are very limited for compliance control in the nuclear nonproliferation regime due to its particular sensitivity. The severe gaps of nuclear safeguards with respect to the capabilities to detect clandestine facilities render marginal civil society contributions highly influential and controversial. More and more data get available for the civil society that can be used to expose potential violations of the NPT. A systematic framework is presented to classify civil society contributions that allows for a systematic study. This classification uses the two parameters (a) affected safeguards stage and (b) degree of integration with the official procedures. These parameters may have the following defined values: (a) The affected safeguards stage can be i. Development and demonstration of new methodologies and technologies ii. Fact finding and data gathering iii. Sharing and publication of data and information iv. Technical analysis of data and information v. Determination of non-compliance vi. Political interpretation (b) The degree of integration can be i. Without a relation ii. Indirect connection iii. Informal interaction iv. Official contribution or mandate. A prominent example for civil society contributions is the increasing availability and capability to acquire and analyze satellite images. An emerging field is environmental sampling, analysis and related atmospheric transport simulation. These and other opportunities are put in the systematic framework to discuss their demonstrated and potential impact. In particular, possible contributions that civil society may offer for improving the detectability of unreported facilities and activities are considered with their chances and risks.

Transnationalising Civil Society?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jørgensen, Martin Bak

The paper takes a transnational perspective on developing an analytical framework for understanding how transnationalism interacts with civil society and how immigrant organisations use transnational strategies to challenge the pre-given positions of immigrants within given integration......- and citizenship-regimes. Locating transnationalism as part of the political opportunity structure also indicates that the state(s) to some degree can facilitate transnationalism, directly and indirectly. A substantial part of political engagement now occurs via transnational channels. What is uncertain is to what...

Civil Society in the Shadow of the Neoliberal State

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hein Jessen, Mathias

. With globalization and neoliberal policies and the dismantling of the Western welfare states, civil society has increasingly been mobilized for securing governmental and social aims that the states could or would no longer provide, and now the freedom, autonomy and critical role of civil society organizations...

Civil Society Organizations’ Contribution To Democratic Governance In European Union

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Dragoș – Cătălin Apostu

2013-12-01

Full Text Available This paper tries to focus/put emphasis on what are Civil Society Organizations are and gives an outline of categories of such Organizations in Europe, it briefly looks at Governance and Democratic Governance concepts. It will then after focus on the major roles of Civil Society Organizations in European democratic Governance drawing other examples also from other countries where possible and try to bring out scholarly arguments on the negative impacts of civil society organizations. The paper ends with conclusions and analysis of SC participation through EU’s multilevel governance. Much of my discussion and commentaries shall be depicted and based on information and ideas put forward by the following scholars; Paul Magnette 2003, European Governance and Civic participation, Dawid Friedrich 2007/08, Actual and Potential Contribution of Civil Society Organizations to Democratic Governance in Europe, EU Governance White Paper 2001, Rollin F. Tusalem 2007, the role of Civil Society in the Third and Fourth-Wave Democracies and other scholars not limited to the above.

Governance and European Civil Society

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kutay, Acar

This book provides a critical analysis of the European Union’s approach to ‘governance’, focusing on the way in which civil society is incorporated within the EU decision-making process and arguing that it is not conducive to the democratisation of EU governance.\

The role of organized civil society in tobacco control in Latin America and the Caribbean El papel de la sociedad civil organizada en el control del tabaco en Latinoamérica y el Caribe

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Beatriz Marcet Champagne

2010-01-01

Full Text Available Civil society has been the engine that has permitted many of the accomplishments seen in tobacco control in Latin America and the Caribbean. However, the role of civil society is not clearly understood. Civil society plays five main roles: advocate, coalition builder, provider of evidence-based information, watchdog and service provider. Some of these roles are played weakly by civil society in the region and should be encouraged to support beneficial societal change. Civil society working in tobacco control has evolved over the years to now become more professionalized. The WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control and the Bloomberg Initiative to Reduce Tobacco Use have brought about significant change with positive and negative consequences. Strengthening civil society not only supports the tobacco control movement but it provides competencies that may be used in many ways to promote change in democratic societies.La sociedad civil ha sido el motor que ha permitido muchos logros en el control del tabaco en Latinoamérica y el Caribe. Sin embargo, no se comprende bien el papel que juega. La sociedad civil tiene cinco roles principales: abogar, construir coaliciones, proveer información basada en evidencia, ser perro guardián y proveer servicios. Algunos de estos roles se juegan débilmente y deben ser promovidos para apoyar cambios benéficos en la sociedad. La sociedad civil ha evolucionado a través de los años en el control del tabaco y ahora se ha profesionalizado más. El Convenio Marco para el Control del Tabaco (CMCT de la OMS y la iniciativa Bloomberg para Reducir el Uso del Tabaco han traído consigo cambios significativos con consecuencias positivas y negativas. El fortalecimiento de la sociedad civil no sólo significa un beneficio para el movimiento del control del tabaco sino que también provee las competencias que sirven de muchas formas para promover el cambio en las sociedades democráticas.

Civil society organisations, social innovation and health research in Europe.

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Beinare, Dace; McCarthy, Mark

2012-12-01

European Union strategies and programmes identify research and innovation as a critical dimension for future economic and social development. While European research policy emphasizes support for industry, the health field includes not-for-profit civil society organisations (CSOs) providing social innovation. Yet, the perspectives of CSOs towards health research in Europe are not well understood. STEPS (Strengthening Engagement in Public Health Research) was funded by the European Commission's Science in Society research programme. Within the study, we interviewed by telephone respondents of 13 European health CSOs, which represented collectively local and national organizations. Research was valued positively by the respondents. Health CSOs did not seek to do research themselves, but recognized the opportunity of funds in this field and welcomed the possibility of collaborating in research, of using the results from research and of providing input to research agendas. Links between research and users provides knowledge for the public and improves impacts on policy. Research and evaluation can help in demonstrating the benefit of innovative activities, and give support and legitimacy. However, the cultures of, and incentives for, researchers and health CSOs are different, and collaboration requires building trust, a shared language and for the power relations and objectives to match. Health CSOs contribute social innovation in organising services and activities such as advocacy that cannot be satisfactorily met by industry. Engaging CSOs in research and innovation will strengthen the European Research Area.

Partners in peace : discourses and practices of civil-society peacebuilding

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Leeuwen, van M.

2009-01-01

Since the early 1990s, international development organizations and donor agencies increasingly recognize the contributions local civil society can make to peace. Despite their popularity, questions still remain on the actual nature, practices, and roles of local civil society organizations in

The reclaiming of online media by civil society

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Galis, Vasilis; Neumayer, Christina

as the oxymoron of radical activists on the left using capitalist media platforms and how this influences their political identity. Therefore, there is a need to understand the cyber-material impact of online media on collective action initiated by civil society as well as the relationship between ideological......In light of the financial crisis and harsher migration policies, actions initiated by radical civil society groups are on the rise. This project argues that in this time it is important to understand the reclaiming of online media by civil society. To reach this understanding we will explore how...... activists of the radical left have mobilized protests and solidarity actions through online media. We have chosen to locate our study in Sweden and Greece. Greece has found itself in the eye of the global financial storm whereas Sweden is coming out of the recession more favorably. In general...

African civil society initiatives to drive a biobanking, biosecurity and infrastructure development agenda in the wake of the West African Ebola outbreak.

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Abayomi, Akin; Gevao, Sahr; Conton, Brian; Deblasio, Pasquale; Katz, Rebecca

2016-01-01

This paper describes the formation of a civil society consortium, spurred to action by frustration over the Ebola crises, to facilitate the development of infrastructure and frameworks including policy development to support a harmonized, African approach to health crises on the continent. The Global Emerging Pathogens Treatment Consortium, or GET, is an important example of how African academics, scientists, clinicians and civil society have come together to initiate policy research, multilevel advocacy and implementation of initiatives aimed at building African capacity for timely and effective mitigations strategies against emerging infectious and neglected pathogens, with a focus on biobanking and biosecurity. The consortium has been able to establish it self as a leading voice, drawing attention to scientific infrastructure gaps, the importance of cultural sensitivities, and the power of community engagement. The GET consortium demonstrates how civil society can work together, encourage government engagement and strengthen national and regional efforts to build capacity.

The important role of civil society groups in eco-innovation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Yang, Yan; Holgaard, Jette Egelund

2012-01-01

the role of civil society groups in eco-innovation by addressing the following research questions: Why is it necessary to stress that civil society groups are as important as university, industry and government in eco-innovation? What inspiration can “triple helix twins” and “quadruple helix” provide when...... groups are not only foundations for developing innovation – they can be actors themselves; the existence of semi-governmental organizations in the Chinese case company, which is categorized under the concept of NGOs, shows the limitations of the concept of civil society groups in exposing important......, as they are helpful not only to provide pressure and push industry onto a green track, but also as supporters and carriers of green business. Corporate social responsibility is proposed as a stepping-stone to engage civil society groups in broader eco-innovation activity. Originality/value – The paper starts...

Crowding-in: how Indian civil society organizations began mobilizing around climate change.

Science.gov (United States)

Ylä-Anttila, Tuomas; Swarnakar, Pradip

2017-06-01

This paper argues that periodic waves of crowding-in to 'hot' issue fields are a recurring feature of how globally networked civil society organizations operate, especially in countries of the Global South. We elaborate on this argument through a study of Indian civil society mobilization around climate change. Five key mechanisms contribute to crowding-in processes: (1) the expansion of discursive opportunities; (2) the event effects of global climate change conferences; (3) the network effects created by expanding global civil society networks; (4) the adoption and innovation of action repertoires; and (5) global pressure effects creating new opportunities for civil society. Our findings contribute to the world society literature, with an account of the social mechanisms through which global institutions and political events affect national civil societies, and to the social movements literature by showing that developments in world society are essential contributors to national mobilization processes. © London School of Economics and Political Science 2017.

Strengthening Information Society Research Capacity Alliance ...

International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

2011-09-13

The project is expected to strengthen the body of theoretically based, methodologically sound, interdisciplinary research on information society issues. Project ID. 106618. Project status. Closed. Start Date. September 13, 2011. End Date. August 12, 2014. Duration. 24 months. IDRC Officer. Smith, Matthew. Total funding.

Civil Society In Tanzania: An Analytical Review Of Sources Of ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Sixty percent of civil societies deal with social development programmes. Additionally, results show that most civil societies had disproportionate staffing problems; and sixty six percent depended on international sources of funding while 46% reported that they secured funds from both local and foreign sources of financing.

Program of financial support of civil society organizations in Tijuana: Building a relationship between civil society and municipal government from a political change

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sheila Delhumeau Rivera

2008-07-01

Full Text Available This document analyzes the relations between society and government that took place with the Financial Aid to Civil Society Organizations Program in Tijuana. The decentralization process of social policy in Mexico is revised as the context in which new programs and initiatives are developed promoting a stronger participation of the society in the policy process. The reflection on the social policy of the National Action Party in Baja California since 1989, has lead us to see the new challenges that the Financial Aid to Civil Society Organizations Program presents to the local and state government and the social organizations.

On the nature of advocacy as an institution of civil society

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Rauf O. Mamedov

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Objective to determine the nature of advocacy in terms of the interests of society and the state. Methods dialectical approach to cognition of social phenomena allowing to analyze them in the context of the totality of objective and subjective factors determined the use of research methods such as systematic comparativelegal and formallogical. Results it is shown that taking into account the implementation of public interests advocacy promotes the administration of justice within the frameworks of the legal assistance guaranteed by the Constitution of the Russian Federation. However the public interest embodied in the human rights nature of the legal profession and ensuring the adversarial nature of the judicial process does not allow to consider advocacy solely the civil society institution. The conclusion is made about the narrowness of interpretation of the advocacy status as the institution of civil society in the Federal Law No 63FZ quotOn advocacy activity and advocacy in Russian Federationquot of 31.05.2002. The concept of advocacy is proposed not so much as an institution of civil society but as an important public institution participating in implementation of public interests thus promoting the administration of justice and thereby participating in the formation of the system of checks and balances in relations between the state and the civil society in Russia. Scientific novelty in the Russian scientific literature the study of advocacy as an institution of civil society is not addressed adequately. Innbspthis article the author attempts to comprehend the possibility of considering the advocacy to be a civil society institution in the light of implementation of public interests. Practical significance the main provisions and conclusions of the article can be used in scientific and pedagogical activity in studying of institutions of civil society in Russia in general and advocacy in particular. nbsp

The Impact of Civil Society Organizations on Sustainable ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Toshiba

society organizations appear to play important role in social, political and economic ... depend on the effectiveness and efficiency of its civil societies. This ..... media provided a strong leadership and organized protests against unpopular ...

Kontribusi Etika Islam pada Pendidikan Politik: Solusi bagi Problema Civil Society Indonesia Era Reformasi

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M. Abdul Fattah Santoso

2013-11-01

Full Text Available Paying attention to the gap between the fenomenal discource dan movement of civil society in the Indonesian politics in 1990s and its anomali movement in the reformation era, has been be studied the problems of Indonesian civil society in such era using documents and decriptive and critical analysis in order to be sought its ways out using reflective analysis. Instead of being strong, Indonesian civil society in the reformation era really weakened. The civil society those formerly had autonomy  were  coopted  by the state when their  leader  got power.  The leaders themselves looked inconsistent in democratic culture. Moreover, civil society grew as a mean of  struggle for power, and when the power was in hand they coopted the state. Besides, the public civility collapsed and the new primordialism, such as etnic nationalism, communalism, and religious sectarianism, appeared. As a solution to civil society’s weakness, is absolutely needed their empowerment through political education prioritizing Islamic ethics based on civic values: civility, autonomy, self-help, self-sufficiency, and social contract. Civility is an ethical solution for solving problems of anomalous growth of civil society as a mean of struggle for power, collapse of public civility, and leader’s inconsistency in public civility. Autonomy, self-help, and self-sufficiency are ethical solutions for solving the problem of civil society being coopted by the state when their leader gets power. Moreover, social contract is an ethical solution for solving the problem of civil society coopting the state.

Civil Society and Islamism in Iraq | CRDI - Centre de recherches ...

International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

A vibrant civil society sector in some Middle Eastern states has managed over the years to fill a role traditionally held by state institutions, that of providing social services such as health care, education and housing. Islamic civil society organizations have been especially successful in this role, and in doing so have acquired ...

Civil Society and the Conduct of Free, Fair and Credible Election ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Civil Society and the Conduct of Free, Fair and Credible Election: Lessons from ... of Non Governmental agencies like civil society to prevent the government of the ... fair so as to rid the continent of its notorious record of post election violence.

Understanding civil society before and after 1989

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Ferenc Miszlivetz

2012-02-01

Full Text Available Entrapped in the ambiguities of the Realpolitik of the Yalta system, East and Central European societies had to proceed on a long path of learning in order to find the right modes of self-organization and articulation to defend their values and identities vis-à-vis dictatorship and authoritarian rule. These bitter lessons contributed to the emergence of a new «strategy», a new vision which materialized in the emerging political philosophy and the political and social practice of civil society. This development would not have been possible without a gradual and fundamental change in political thinking and goal-setting, expressed in the development of a new concept of civil society.Atrapados en las ambigüedades de la Realpolitik del sistema de Yalta, las sociedades del Centro y Este de Europea han tenido que proceder a un largo camino de aprendizaje a fin de encontrar formas correctas de autoorganización y la articulación de la defensa de sus valores e identidades vis-à- vis con una dictadura y una administración autoritaria. Estas amargas lecciones contribuyeron a la emergencia de una nueva «estrategia», una nueva visión materializada en la emergente filosofía política y la práctica social y política de la sociedad civil. Este desarrollo no hubiera sido posible sin el gradual y fundamental cambio en el pensamiento político y el establecimiento de metas, expresadas en el desarrollo de un nuevo concepto de sociedad civil. 

Global Civil Society and International Summits

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Harrebye, Silas

2011-01-01

a central role in today’s activist landscape. I develop these typological conceptual representations based on an understanding of civil society as a mediating catalyst. By presenting six versions of citizenship participation based on an analysis of diverse ends and means, I identify how each of them has...

Citizenship, Democratic Participation, and Civil Society

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Boje, Thomas P.

2015-01-01

The interaction between organized civil society and the public sector has becoming stronger and more outspoken for several reasons. First, the public sector is increasingly turning to the civic organizations because the general failure of New Public Management strategies and market-driven solutio...... participatory democracy through active involving of all citizens....

The role of civil society in conflict resolution in the Democratic ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Civil society organisations were directly involved in both the peace process and the subsequent transitional dispensation designed to resolve the conf lict, providing some sort of popular legitimacy to these two processes clearly dominated by politico-military forces. The central argument of this article is that while civil society ...

THE FUNCTIONS OF THE CIVIL SOCIETY UNDER THE CONDITIONS OF MODERN RUSSIAN MODERNIZATION

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Василий Вячеславович Рябев

2013-11-01

Full Text Available This article discusses the functions of the civil society in contemporary Russian realias. The purpose is to identify and classify the most important functions of the civil society under the conditions of comprehensive modern Russian modernization. The article presents the author's classification of the functions of the civil society, based on the analysis of significant studies of foreign and Russian researchers. Here is a detailed analysis of each function focused on the most relevant to a modern Russian society, the potential of Russian civil society is revealed dealing with following issues: the institutionalization of the civic activity, the anti-corruption policy, the consolidation of democratic forces, the formation of the legal culture. The conclusions can be used in studies related to the civil society, the specific mechanisms for dealing with current social issues by means of civic participation, presented in this article, may be the object of interest for government institutions.DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.12731/2218-7405-2013-10-6

The African Diaspora, Civil Society and African Integration

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Opoku-Mensah, Paul Yaw

This paper, a work-in-progress, makes a contribution to the discussions on the appropriate modalities for incorporating the African diaspora in the African integration project.  It argues that the most appropriate entry points for incorporating the African diaspora into the integration project...... might not, necessarily, be in the formal political structures, although this is important. To the contrary, the most effective and sustainable might be within civil society---that is the links between the peoples and organizations of Africa and the diaspora. Using the case of the African academy......-- as an institution of civil society--- the paper outlines a conceptual framework for incorporating the diaspora into the African integration project....

Civil society in beweging: Vier moskeeorganisaties in Amsterdam Slotervaart

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Inge de Jong

2007-03-01

Full Text Available In this article, a picture is drawn of four mosques and affiliated foundations in the civil society of the Amsterdam city district Slotervaart. The focus in this article is concerned with civil society and religion. We took a closer look at what activities were being organised, what developments were underway, and what view the boards of the foundations and mosque councils held with respect to citizenship and the function of places of worship in Dutch society. The results of the study show that members of the board and volunteers try to build a bridge to Dutch society by appealing to the community from the perspective of theirn bonding function. The organisations find themselves in a field of force with internal and external developments in which they must function and within which they try to give their social responsibility shape.

An analysis on the contribution of civil society to democratic consolidation in Turkey

OpenAIRE

Torus, Emre

2007-01-01

Cataloged from PDF version of article. This is an analysis on the contribution of civil society to democratic consolidation in Turkey. This thesis will try to understand this problematic by assessing the civil society’s formal structure, legal framework, internal values and its impact during the consolidation process. The key aim here is to understand the civil society’s role as a contributor to democratic consolidation by mapping the civil society and democratic consolidati...

The role of civil society in strengthening intercultural maternal health care in local health facilities: Puno, Peru

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Jeannie Samuel

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Background and objective: Peru's Ministry of Health has made efforts to increase the cultural inclusiveness of maternal health services. In 2005, the Ministry adopted an intercultural birthing policy (IBP that authorizes and encourages the use of culturally acceptable birthing practices in government-run health facilities. However, studies suggest that indigenous women may receive inconsistent benefits from these kinds of policies. This article examines whether a grassroots accountability initiative based on citizen monitoring of local health facilities by indigenous women can help to promote the objectives of the IBP and improve intercultural maternal health care. Design: Findings are drawn from a larger qualitative research study completed in 2015 that included fieldwork done between 2010 and 2011. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 23 women working as citizen monitors in local health facilities in Puno and 30 key informants, including frontline health workers, health officials, and civil society actors in Puno and Lima, and human rights lawyers from the Defensoría del Pueblo Office in Puno. Results: Monitors confirmed from their own personal experiences in the 1990s and early 2000s that respect for intercultural aspects of maternal health care, including traditional indigenous birthing practices, were not readily accepted in publicly funded health facilities. It was also common for indigenous women to face discrimination when seeking health service provided by the state. Although the government's adoption of the IBP in 2005 was a positive step, considerable efforts are still needed to ensure high-quality, culturally appropriate maternal health care is consistently available in local health facilities. Conclusions: Despite important progress in the past two decades, policies aimed at improving intercultural maternal health care are unevenly implemented in local health facilities. Civil society, in particular indigenous women

The role of civil society in strengthening intercultural maternal health care in local health facilities: Puno, Peru

Science.gov (United States)

Samuel, Jeannie

2016-01-01

Background and objective Peru's Ministry of Health has made efforts to increase the cultural inclusiveness of maternal health services. In 2005, the Ministry adopted an intercultural birthing policy (IBP) that authorizes and encourages the use of culturally acceptable birthing practices in government-run health facilities. However, studies suggest that indigenous women may receive inconsistent benefits from these kinds of policies. This article examines whether a grassroots accountability initiative based on citizen monitoring of local health facilities by indigenous women can help to promote the objectives of the IBP and improve intercultural maternal health care. Design Findings are drawn from a larger qualitative research study completed in 2015 that included fieldwork done between 2010 and 2011. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 23 women working as citizen monitors in local health facilities in Puno and 30 key informants, including frontline health workers, health officials, and civil society actors in Puno and Lima, and human rights lawyers from the Defensoría del Pueblo Office in Puno. Results Monitors confirmed from their own personal experiences in the 1990s and early 2000s that respect for intercultural aspects of maternal health care, including traditional indigenous birthing practices, were not readily accepted in publicly funded health facilities. It was also common for indigenous women to face discrimination when seeking health service provided by the state. Although the government's adoption of the IBP in 2005 was a positive step, considerable efforts are still needed to ensure high-quality, culturally appropriate maternal health care is consistently available in local health facilities. Conclusions Despite important progress in the past two decades, policies aimed at improving intercultural maternal health care are unevenly implemented in local health facilities. Civil society, in particular indigenous women themselves, can play an

Planning and Evaluation by Canadian Civil Society Organizations ...

International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

Planning and Evaluation by Canadian Civil Society Organizations : Bridging Gaps ... Specifically, the research team will assess the various planning, monitoring ... International Water Resources Association, in close collaboration with IDRC, ...

Civil Society Organisations and Conflict Management: The Nigerian ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Civil Society Organisations and Conflict Management: The Nigerian ... and since violence begets violence, the approach has not really resulted in ... Christian religion and modern conflict resolution mechanism to intervene in the conflicts.

Civil Society and Islamism in Iraq | IDRC - International ...

International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

This project will examine Iraqi Islamist civil society organizations in an attempt to determine ... Fondation Maison des Sciences de l'Homme. Institution Country. France ... IWRA/IDRC webinar on climate change and adaptive water management.

Developing civil society expertise to promote democratic ...

International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

It will also build civil society partnership networks and capacity for effective engagement with principal stakeholders in defence affairs, helping to transform attitudes and ... IDRC is supporting research that studies the most effective ways to empower women, prevent gender-based violence, and make digital platforms work for ...

Civil society as a means harmonization of relations between the state and citizens

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

N. A. Babarykina

2014-09-01

The modern Ukrainian society now appeared before a choice of civilization and experiencing historic change, the essence of which is to move from one qualitative state to another. Today, Ukrainian society is socio-cultural transformation that is associated with the making of post-industrial society. Effective development of modern Ukrainian society depends on preventing antagonism in the relationship of civil society and the state. Democracy allows the majority to influence policy and freely exercise of public interest.

Social Movements, Civil Society and Corporations

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

de Bakker, Frank; Hond, Frank den; King, Brayden

2013-01-01

, is the central question that unites the papers in this special issue. In this essay, we review the differences and points of contact between the study of social movements, civil society and corporations, and offer an agenda for future research at this intersection that also frames the papers in the special issue...... of contestation and collaboration. The papers in this special issue are introduced in how they speak to these questions....

Organized Civil Society, Participation and Citizenship in Europe

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Boje, Thomas P.

2015-01-01

welfare states and the chapter will discuss these differences and how the economic and social crisis has influenced the position of organised civil society and civic participation in general among European citizens. The chapter will conclude with a programmatic statement on the role of organised civil...... of citizens in the society. The economic and social crisis in Europe has accentuated the importance of different types of civic organisations in defending the social rights of the citizens and mediating between citizens and the political authorities. The main reason for this is the legitimacy crisis...... of the participatory democracy in the post-industrial countries. Additional factor to be considered are difficulties of realizing processes that are able to involve citizens in strategic decision-making at community as well as national level and difficulties in the identification and organization of welfare services...

Civil Society as one of the decisive factors of the Ukrainians’ consolidation in the Postcolonial period

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I. M. Grabovska

2017-04-01

Full Text Available The actual problem of the modern Ukrainian society has been considered in the article. Civil society’s development is a major factor in the consolidation of the community. The consolidation of the Ukrainian postcolonial community is a crucial condition for its further existence as the state. Hybrid War of Russia against Ukraine is threatening its national integrity. The actuality of the issue is determined also by the tasks of the implementation of the stable democracy in Ukraine. The purpose of the article is to prove that civil society today is the most important factor, which is uniting the Ukrainian society. Today there are several concepts of the civil society. Many historical challenges have led to the creation of the civil society in these lands. For example, the establishment of the Magdeburg Law on ethnic Ukrainian lands united the cities’ public societies. Principles of life organisation by the Magdeburg Law were organic for Ukrainians. This was caused by a number of factors. In particular, it was the Ukrainian mentality. The Russian colonization of Ukraine destroyed the democratic principles of life in these lands, crashed civil solidarity and influenced the mentality of people. The phenomenon of the civil society is complex and multifaceted. Civil society is a space of the initiative of free citizens and NGOs, independent from the state and business. They willingly assume the responsibility for their maintenance of the social life outside the state and business. Civil society plays special role in postcolonial communities of the transition type. The Ukrainian society is such community now. The events of the Revolution of Dignity, and then the war in the eastern Ukraine have shown that the civil activity of the population by itself, the ability to act effectively and integrally created the conditions for preservation of the independent Ukrainian state. The consolidation of the Ukrainians in the most dangerous times of

Big Society? Disabled people with the label of learning disabilities and the queer(y)ing of civil society

OpenAIRE

Goodley, Dan; Runswick-Cole, Katherine

2014-01-01

This paper explores the shifting landscape of civil society alongside the emergence of ‘Big Society’ in the UK. We do so as we begin a research project Big Society? Disabled people with learning disabilities and Civil Society [Economic and Social Research Council (ES/K004883/1)]; we consider what ‘Big Society’ might mean for the lives of disabled people labelled with learning disabilities (LDs). In the paper, we explore the ways in which the disabled body/mind might be thought of as a locus o...

Analogue Forms of the Civil Society (Exemplified by the Islamic Countries

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Barashkov Grigoriy M.

2016-10-01

Full Text Available The article deals with the analogue forms of civil society in the Islamic countries of the South. The author analyzes the formation and development of the civil society in this region of the world, its specifics and peculiarities. The author also shows that burgeoning civil society models of non-western area have their own specific features, which are determined by a unique way of civilizational development and by significant impact of the religious factor. The present research brings up a methodological novation – an analogous civil society. According to this novation, the developing political system (which takes part in civilizational competition with other systems and tries to use their historical experience and accumulated resources explicitly, for example, by attracting ideas, technologies, investments, or implicitly – by creating the same resources through modernization and social mobilization does not imply an organic link between ideologically reflected meaning of this system’s existence, the forms of such existence, and the main institutions’ functionality. Moreover, this smoothness is not very important and desirable for the analogue system or its components. The meaning of such system’s existence is using the forms, principles, mechanisms, elaborated through historical development of social and political systems for their own specific purposes, for the sake of diametrically opposed goals that sometimes are not very detailed.

Openness to civil society: The challenges for the TSOs

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Petitfrere, M.; Rollinger, F.

2007-01-01

Society's concerns have led to changes in the legal framework towards a greater requirement for public information and participation in decision-making processes. International organisations such as the OECD/NEA and the IAEA have also made similar changes. What changes are necessary to the way TSOs work to make space for a fourth player - the population - in controlling radiological and nuclear risk? Society's participation varies from access to existing information to a desire to participate in expert assessments in a pluralistic assessment process. IRSN has made openness to civil society one of its four strategic priorities, and a dedicated team is responsible for carrying out actions in consultation with players from civil society, including the local information committees (CLIs). These actions lie at the heart of IRSN's strategy, because it is only by developing experimental expert assessment processes involving parts of civil society that both sides can learn from one another. Two pluralistic expert groups have been set up on radiological protection, and their innovative method of operation is worth highlighting. Another participative action is the development jointly with the CLIs in the Loire basin of methods of collecting environmental monitoring data. Finally, to accompany and promote this new approach internally, an internal network dedicated to stakeholder involvement has been set up. IRSN also intends to take advantage of existing experiences elsewhere. These moves towards joint expert assessment are an inevitable development that demands a real change of culture on the part of all players, putting technical issues as part of a broader process of evaluation and decision-making. Actually, they form part of a sustainable development approach. (author)

Transnational Diaspora and Civil Society Actors Driving MNE Internationalisation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rana, Mohammad Bakhtiar; Elo, Maria

2016-01-01

Multinational enterprises (MNEs) are viewed as proactive global economic actors that enter new and emerging markets with intentional strategies, building on their inherent resources and firm-specific advantages. However, an international joint venture involves numerous actors in the market entry...... and civil society actors. It provides evidence of the reactive internationalisation of an MNE, showing how the transnational diaspora drove the MNE’s internationalisation and how a civil society actor, in conjunction with a diaspora member, facilitated the creation of an international joint venture (IJV...... and organisational capability base for this process, which would not have happened without their market-driving and enabling influence. The findings illustrate the central role of transnational diaspora entrepreneurship and the related innovation, motivation, contextual intelligence, networking and funding...

Global Civil Society: the Formation of the New Actor of World Politics. Part I

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Владимир Геннадьевич Иванов

2010-12-01

Full Text Available The article is dedicated to the analysis of the emerging global phenomenon: the rise of global civil society as the new actor of world politics. The author suggests that the importance of global civil society as a «third way» between the State and the Free Market is especially high at the time of modern economic crisis. Global civil society organizations work out the new socio-political agenda for the world and new approaches to the global problems. This shaping society is full of conflicts and contradictions but its rapid development in the 1990-2000th is the milestone for developing of truly global politics.

Democratic Dawn? Civil Society and Elections in Myanmar 2010–2012

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Michael Lidauer

2012-01-01

Full Text Available While the general elections in Myanmar in November 2010 were widely condemned, both national and international actors approached the by-elections of April 2012 as a political rite-de-passage to improve relations between the government and the opposition inside, and between the former pariah state and the international community outside the country. An undercurrent to the government-led transition process from an authoritarian to a formally more democratic regime was the development of a politically oriented civil society that found ways to engage in the electoral process. This article describes the emerging spaces of election-related civil society activism in the forms of civic and voter education, national election observation, and election-related agency in the media. Noting that, in particular, election observation offers connections for civil society to regional and international debates, the paper draws preliminary conclusions about further developments ahead of the general elections in Myanmar expected for 2015.

The Role of Civil Society Organizations in Monitoring the Global AIDS Response.

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, Julia; Mallouris, Christoforos; Lee, Kelley; Alfvén, Tobias

2017-07-01

Civil society organizations (CSOs) are recognized as playing an exceptional role in the global AIDS response. However, there is little detailed research to date on how they contribute to specific governance functions. This article uses Haas' framework on global governance functions to map CSO's participation in the monitoring of global commitments to the AIDS response by institutions and states. Drawing on key informant interviews and primary documents, it focuses specifically on CSO participation in Global AIDS Response Progress Reporting and in Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria processes. It argues that the AIDS response is unique within global health governance, in that CSOs fulfill both formal and informal monitoring functions, and considers the strengths and weaknesses of these contributions. It concludes that future global health governance arrangements should include provisions and resources for monitoring by CSOs because their participation creates more inclusive global health governance and contributes to strengthening commitments to human rights.

Information Practices in Contemporary Cosmopolitan Civil Society

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Michael Olsson

2014-09-01

Full Text Available What is the nature of information?  What is its role in Contemporary Cosmopolitan Civil Society? What is the basis for the widespread current belief that we live in an ‘information society’? The present article will examine these questions through an examination of the historical origins of established ‘scientized’ views of information in the philosophy of the Enlightenment. It describes how postmodern and poststructuralist critique of such positivist approaches led to profound paradigmatic and methodological shifts in the social and information studies fields in recent decades. It consider how the emergence of social constructivist approaches to information research drawing on discourse analysis, practice theory and ethnographic theories and methodologies has led to a have led researchers to a radically different understanding of central concepts such as: the influence of emergent information and communication technologies on contemporary society; the relationship between knowledge and power, the nature of expertise and authoritative information; a re-thinking of community and consensus; a re-interpretation of notions of space and place in information dissemination, sharing and use and a reconsideration of the role of the researcher. The article illustrates this changing research landscape through reference to the work of scholars in the Cosmopolitan Civil Societies Research Centre at the University of Technology, Sydney, published in the Centre’s journal.

Enhancing Canadian Civil Society Research and Knowledge-Based ...

International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

Enhancing Canadian Civil Society Research and Knowledge-Based Practice in a Rapidly Changing Landscape for International Development ... Women in the developing world continue to face obstacles that limit their ability to establish careers and become leaders in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and ...

Civil Society, Adult Learning and Action in India.

Science.gov (United States)

Tandon, Rajesh

2000-01-01

Five case studies of individual and collective learning projects in India demonstrate that (1) the impetus for civic action arises from local conditions; (2) transformative action requires sustained adult learning; and (3) civil society is a complex concept reflecting diverse priorities and perspectives. (SK)

Changing Landscapes in Documentation Efforts: Civil Society Documentation of Serious Human Rights Violations

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Brianne McGonigle Leyh

2017-04-01

Full Text Available Wittingly or unwittingly, civil society actors have long been faced with the task of documenting serious human rights violations. Thirty years ago, such efforts were largely organised by grassroots movements, often with little support or funding from international actors. Sharing information and best practices was difficult. Today that situation has significantly changed. The purpose of this article is to explore the changing landscape of civil society documentation of serious human rights violations, and what that means for standardising and professionalising documentation efforts. Using the recent Hisséne Habré case as an example, this article begins by looking at how civil society documentation can successfully influence an accountability process. Next, the article touches upon barriers that continue to impede greater documentation efforts. The article examines the changing landscape of documentation, focusing on technological changes and the rise of citizen journalism and unofficial investigations, using Syria as an example, as well as on the increasing support for documentation efforts both in Syria and worldwide. The changing landscape has resulted in the proliferation of international documentation initiatives aimed at providing local civil society actors guidelines and practical assistance on how to recognise, collect, manage, store and use information about serious human rights violations, as well as on how to minimise the risks associated with the documentation of human rights violations. The recent initiatives undertaken by international civil society, including those by the Public International Law & Policy Group, play an important role in helping to standardise and professionalise documentation work and promote the foundational principles of documentation, namely the ‘do no harm’ principle, and the principles of informed consent and confidentiality. Recognising the drawback that greater professionalisation may bring, it

Self-monitoring fiber reinforced polymer strengthening system for civil engineering infrastructures

Science.gov (United States)

Jiang, Guoliang; Dawood, Mina; Peters, Kara; Rizkalla, Sami

2008-03-01

Fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) materials are currently used for strengthening civil engineering infrastructures. The strengthening system is dependant on the bond characteristics of the FRP to the external surface of the structure to be effective in resisting the applied loads. This paper presents an innovative self-monitoring FRP strengthening system. The system consists of two components which can be embedded in FRP materials to monitor the global and local behavior of the strengthened structure respectively. The first component of the system is designed to evaluate the applied load acting on a structure based on elongation of the FRP layer along the entire span of the structure. Success of the global system has been demonstrated using a full-scale prestressed concrete bridge girder which was loaded up to failure. The test results indicate that this type of sensor can be used to accurately determine the load prior to failure within 15 percent of the measured value. The second sensor component consists of fiber Bragg grating sensors. The sensors were used to monitor the behavior of steel double-lap shear splices tested under tensile loading up to failure. The measurements were used to identify abnormal structural behavior such as epoxy cracking and FRP debonding. Test results were also compared to numerical values obtained from a three dimensional shear-lag model which was developed to predict the sensor response.

Political repression, civil society and the politics of responding to AIDS in the BRICS nations.

Science.gov (United States)

Gómez, Eduardo J; Harris, Joseph

2016-02-01

The policy responses to human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) in the Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS) nations have played out amid radically different political environments that have shaped state-civil society relations in critical ways. In contrasting these different environments, this article offers the first comparison of the policy response to AIDS in the BRICS nations and seeks to understand the way in which political context matters for conditioning the response to a major epidemic. Using a comparative historical approach, we find that while collaborative state-civil society relations have produced an aggressive response and successful outcomes in Brazil, democratic openness and state-civil society engagement has not necessarily correlated with an aggressive response or better outcomes in the other cases. Response to the epidemic has been worst by far in democratic South Africa, followed by Russia, where in the former, denialism and antagonistic state-civil society relations fuelled a delayed response and proved extremely costly in terms of human lives. In Russia, a lack of civil societal opportunity for mobilization and non-governmental organization (NGO) growth, political centralization and the state's unwillingness to work with NGOs led to an ineffective government response. Top-down bureaucratic rule and a reluctance to fully engage civil society in democratic India substantially delayed the state's efforts to engage in a successful partnership with NGOs. Nevertheless, China has done surprisingly well, in spite of its repressive approach and narrow engagement with civil society. And in all cases, we find the relationship between state and civil society to be evolving over time in important ways. These findings suggest the need for more research on the links between democratic openness, political repression and policy responses to epidemics. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press in

Beyond the Conflict and Weak Civil Society; Stories from Ukraine: Cases of Grassroots Initiatives for Sustainable Development

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Oksana Udovyk

2017-09-01

Full Text Available This study explores the diversity of grassroots initiatives (GIs for sustainable development that are emerging in post-EuroMaidan Ukraine. It first focuses on an overview of different theories on civil society and trends in Ukrainian civil society development. Eight cases of GIs are selected to represent different pillars of sustainability work done by the initiatives (economic, social, environmental, and political-institutional. These cases question the arguments behind the weak and pseudo-plenipotentiary vision of civil society in Ukraine, and demonstrate mechanisms of sustainable development suggested by analyzed GIs. In general, this study challenges the myth of a weak civil society in Ukraine, opens up a broader discussion on the meaning and role of civil society, and provides new ideas for building a sustainable society.

Civil society organizations' roles in health development in Vietnam: HIV as a case study

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Hoang, T.A.

2013-01-01

Civil society in contemporary Vietnam has been recognised as an important force in public health. Based on qualitative interviews and observations of 30 organisations and networks in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, this paper argues that civil society organisations (CSOs) focus almost exclusively on

The role of civil society in health care reforms: an arena for hegemonic struggles.

Science.gov (United States)

Filc, Dani

2014-12-01

The present paper argues that current mainstream understandings of civil society as ontologically different from the state and essentially positive (either normative or functionally) are problematic in order to understand the development of health care reforms. The paper proposes to ground an explanation of the role of civil society in health care reforms in a Gramscian understanding of civil society as analytically different from the state, and as an arena for hegemonic struggles. The study of health care reform in Israel serves as a case study for this claim. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The Tale of Two Civil Societies: Comparing disability rights movements in Nicaragua and Uruguay

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Stephen Meyers

2014-12-01

Full Text Available The UNCRPD is unique amongst international rights instruments because it empowers civil society organizations to represent the rights-bearers themselves—persons with disabilities. As such, DPOs in the Global South have become a major concern for UN agencies and international NGOs who believe that grassroots disability associations need political advocacy training in order to take up their role as rights advocates. These expectations contain implicit assumptions regarding civil society-state relations and the existence of governmental capacity. The authors, however, hypothesize that not all civil societies will fit the rights advocacy model due to the political culture and public resources available within their respective, local communities. Disability movements in Nicaragua and Uruguay are compared and contrasted. In Nicaragua, a disability rights coalition dismisses many international expectations in favor for continuing to follow traditional civil society expectations to provide services. In Uruguay, a long history of high levels of social spending and disability organizing enabled DPOs to successfully advocate for progressive laws. The deaf community, however, decided to implement their own, separate advocacy strategies to ensure a fairer distribution of public resources. The authors conclude that rather than top-down civil society training, the international movement should allow local organizations set their own priorities.

Civil-Society Organizations’ Capacity Building in the Local Governmental Sector: Is It Working? A Case Study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Máthé Réka Zsuzsánna

2017-06-01

Full Text Available The role that a strong civil society plays in socio-economic development is a subject of major scholarly attention today. Many benefits from having a strong civil society are reported in the literature. There is, however, no generally accepted view regarding how capacity-building efforts can help to develop a strong civil society, especially in the Central and Eastern European countries.

Civil Society Engagement in the Sulu Archipelago: Mobilizing Vibrant Networks to Win the Peace

Science.gov (United States)

2013-06-14

The revolutions of 1989 in Eastern Europe revitalized the idea of civil society. In the collapse of communist states, civil society played a...Security 26, no. 1 (Summer): 93-128. Arrow, Ruaridh. 2011. How to start a revolution. iTunes APP and Documentary. Produced by The Project Factory and

Non-Formal Education and Civil Society in Post-Soviet Russia: What Is the Relationship?

Science.gov (United States)

Morgan, W. John; Kliucharev, Grigori A.

2011-01-01

The article describes collaborative research into the relationship between non-formal education and civil society in post-Soviet Russia. It shows how through social survey data and case studies of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and other civil society organisations (CSOs), using a combination of social science perspectives, much can be…

Political culture of civil society within synergetic paradigm context

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

I. Z. Derzhko

2014-12-01

Full Text Available Political culture relates to the development and improvement of human abilities for social life within a community and creates conditions for the realization of these abilities. Typically, it is a state or a particular cultural region within the state. Despite the fact that the political culture of a society cannot and should not be subject to a management, it should be regulated and coordinated through a policy - national, which must be state policy. This paradoxical situation requires the use of specific management approaches. There is some configuration management knowledge, training or life, to work effectively, it is necessary to act at the right time and in the right place. Synergetic paradigm creates a methodological basis for a rather broad and full use of all the cultural, regional and individual diversity. Such use may be appropriate and successful implementa­tion provided competent management and, above all, self, which in turn requires a developed political culture in both the public and the private sector. It is important to understand that social system like any complex system, with not one single and multiple alternative paths of evolution. It should be clearly aware of the existence of different trends of evolution, the ambiguity of the transition to the future. Future states of complex social systems do not just open and predict­able, there are range of possible forms of the future, the field of possible ways forward. Value under the tran­sitional regime elements authoritarian and democratic organization of society is one of the most controversial issues. Between these two forms of political domination exists a close relationship than it may seem at first glance. To determine the influence of civil society in the process of becoming a democratic political regime and democratic political culture, it is necessary to outline the main characteristics of this concept. Without dwelling on the analysis of understanding of civil

A Civil Society Demands Education for Good Jobs.

Science.gov (United States)

Murnane, Richard J.; Levy, Frank

1997-01-01

To educate children for a civil society, teachers should work to raise (noncollege-bound) students' skills to the levels that good jobs require. Maintaining the status quo and educating children to participate in Jeremy Rifkin's "third sector" are misguided options. The new basic skills should include hard skills (in basic mathematics,…

Civil Society and the Democratic Experience in Kenya

African Journals Online (AJOL)

But the first chapter is somewhat lean on details while chapter 2 is theoretically thin. .... the sequel that people 'used sectors of civil society as springboards to activate political careers' (p. 115). Indeed, many opposition ..... of services to the generality of the citizens? It would also be interesting to give a comprehensive ...

Social Media for Enhancing Civil Society and Disaster Relief: Usage by Local Municipalities in Japan

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Muneo Kaigo

2015-10-01

Full Text Available This main focus of this article is a case study that analyzes social media usage by a local municipality in Japan, and on the possibilities and problems of complementary communication channels such as social networking services for promoting civil society activities and linking civil society organizations. We examine how in the past, Japanese municipalities have been using social media and social networking services for enhancing civil society and how social networking services are a potential tool that can provide vital information and connect citizens, municipal governments and civil society. This article focuses on the first phase of the Tsukuba Civic Activities Cyber-Square [Tsukuba Shimin Katsudō no Hiroba] on Facebook Experiment in 2012 and how it functioned during and after the May 6, 2012 Tsukuba city tornado disaster for the subsequent relief and support activities during May 2012.

Green Regions? Comparing Civil Society Activism in NAFTA and the European Union

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Anthony R. Zito

2016-01-01

Full Text Available This paper compares the role of environmental civil society in two regional organizations, the European Union and nafta. It uses the Transnational Advocacy Network approach to assess how non-governmental organizations make use of opportunities to influence policy, and the effects of civil society engagement. Despite wide differences between the two organizations, there are important commonalities: both provide resources and important access points for NGOS, both have limits and frustrations, and both encourage coalition-building among NGOS. 

The role of civil society in conflict resolution in the Democratic ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

1990-04-24

Apr 24, 1990 ... agreed to the participation of civil society in the peace negotiations held in. South Africa in 2002–2003. .... establishing non-governmental organisations in the DRC is just one among several forms of coping ...... the renewal of the Congolese political class, it runs the risk of setting a pervasive trend of civil ...

Neoliberal drivers in hybrid civil society organizations: Critical readings of civicness and social entrepreneurism

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Andersen, Linda Lundgaard

2018-01-01

Civil society organizations (CSOs) and social entrepreneurship take up a significant position in a welfare system in transformation. Voluntarism and civil society have played an important role in the development of the welfare state and its services in Denmark, as in the rest of Scandinavia......, for at least a century. Recently, however, the positioning and context for civic society organiza-tions has changed quite profoundly, due to neoliberal welfare policies and steering regimes. In this chapter, I point to neoliberalism as both a political discourse about the nature of rule, but also a set...... into hybrid organisations rooted in civic society and social entrepreneur-ism: firstly, the human rights subject versus the entrepreneurial labour market subject and sec-ondly, the commodification and performativity of civil services and human growth....

NETWORK CULTURE - INTEGRAL PART OF NEW VALUES OF CIVIL SOCIETY

OpenAIRE

Vyacheslav Vladimirovich Sukhanov

2014-01-01

New technologies not only improve working conditions or communication, they are also bringing new values to  the society. This article discusses the concept of «network culture», which is now perceived by society as an integral part of values that can only exist in a civil society. We can research ( find)   this kind of society in modern time period in Russia. The article analyzes the meaning of communication, how to use it, development processes in network media.  Nowadays network culture an...

Civil Society Organisations and Democratic Consolidation in Uganda1

African Journals Online (AJOL)

sulaiman.adebowale

2006-06-01

Jun 1, 2006 ... the CSOs' cause and has confined them to issues that do not ... such as business and labour, and as a result the state 'has gained greater social control .... Civil society is a reservoir of political, economic, cultural and moral re-.

Classical Concepts of Social Solidarity as the Basis of Theoretical Studies on the Institutions of Modern Civil Society

Science.gov (United States)

Naletova, Irina Vladimirovna; Okatov, Alexander Vladimirovich; Zhulikova, Olga Valentinovna

2016-01-01

Current importance of this investigation has been stipulated by the modern trends in the development of civil society. Differentiated processes of its development, increased significance of certain institutions of the civil society often require not just empirical description of the principal trends of the functions of civil society, but also need…

Karl Marx, Civil Society And Political Community in the Context Of The Jewish Problem

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Yunus ENTERİLİ

2017-04-01

Full Text Available Today, debates and discourses developed over the concepts of civil society and political society are usually made through religious discourses or religious identities, and the individual emerges as a problem of emancipation. In his “Jewish Question”, which Marx wrote during his youthful period with Bauer’s thoughts, it is thought that the religious identities and rhetoric accompanied the present debate about the emergence of the emancipation of individuals in social and political contexts. It is thought that this problem, which emerged as the problem of individual liberation or citizenship, and which is regarded as a Jewish problem and emerged in different forms in different geographies, is the result of the fact that the religious identities can not be torn from the religious part of the world. Another reason for the lack of emancipation of the individual is the understanding of colonialism that is at the core of the capitalist system. In today’s society, it wants to keep up with the existence of religions or to keep up with the capitalist system and wants to influence the capitalist system with state policies by making itself active in the political arena. Judaism and Christianity in this context religion, the effects of the formation of capitalist society, will be discussed from the rhetoric of Marx and Bauer. The issue of the citizenship identity of the individual in this study will be addressed through the relationship between civil society and political society. There will also be mentioned here some other thinkers (Hegel, Feuerbach etc. that affect Marx’s ideas about civil society and political society, besides Marx and Bauer. Civil society, citizenship, liberation of religion, political emancipation, the effects of emancipation of individuals such as the state will be handled through the Jewish example. Prior to this assessment, a better understanding of the subject will be addressed to the civil society and state relationship

Civil Society and Land Use Policy in Uganda: The Mabira Forest Case

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Patrick Hönig

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Over the past few years, the Ugandan government has repeatedly initiated proceedings to clear one-fourth of the Mabira natural forest reserve in central Uganda and give the land to a sugar company controlled by a transnational business conglomerate. Each time the government took steps to execute the Mabira project, civil society groups organised large-scale protests that pressurised the government into shelving its plans. The Save Mabira Forest campaign has been widely cited as an example of how sustained protests by civil society groups serve as a corrective of democratic deficits in decision-making processes pertaining to the commons and as a deterrent to profit-driven business schemes hatched in collusion with carefree or corrupt bureaucrats and politicians. However, an in-depth analysis of the campaign suggests that ecological and social justice concerns are mixed up with identity politics and exclusionist agendas. Examining the complex web of interactions between state, big business and civil society in Uganda, this paper sheds light on the multi-layered and often ambiguous role played by non-governmental organisations in post-conflict societies of sub-Saharan Africa.

Civil Society Action and Governance in Vietnam: Selected Findings from an Empirical Survey

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jörg Wischermann

2010-01-01

Full Text Available In this article, findings from 300 standardized interviews with representatives of Civic Organizations in Ho Chi Minh-City and Ha Noi are presented. Following a view of civil society as a specific mode of social action and interaction, data analysis unveils the existence of core dimensions of such action (respect, empathy/ sympathy, and the willingness to compromise and stick to agreed-upon rules, though the respective values of those dimensions vary strongly. Inseparably linked with such civil society action of whatever kind is consensus-seeking, an aversion to conflicts, and an affinity to synthesis. These attitudes and practices, dominating various Civic Organizations’ internal decision-making processes, represent elements of authoritarian political thinking in Civic Organizations’ leaders’ mindsets and courses of action. Combined, those characteristics make up civil society action “in Vietnamese colours”.

Civil society in modern Russia: formation and development (based on Central Federal District’s materials

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L. A. Bespalaya

2015-01-01

Full Text Available The article considers the problem of formation and development of civil society in contemporary Russia as an example of the Central Federal District. The author defines the necessary social, economic, political and cultural conditions for the successful development of civil society in our country.

Civil Society as a Self-Organizing Social System and the State: Some Objections to the Hegel Concept

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Ludmila J. Grudtsina

2014-03-01

Full Text Available In the present article author attempts by using different scientific methods used in synergy, to propose an alternative formula to the formula of Hegelian distinction of civil society and state, that are not as different and competing with each other systems as well as the necessary elements to each other converge single social system. This scientific idea is presented in an arithmetic progression in civil society - "mass", next level - the civil society itself, realizing itself, advancing and increasingly, next level – the legal state (ideal for which to strive. In this case, the state will not be the term, but the result in the formula. In the conclusion, author concludes that one can not ignore responsibility of authorities, seeking in the modern world to create institutes of civil society. Taking into account that this generally positive process can be used as a special instrument of government, including the effective management of the objective processes in society, where the presence of democratic prerequisites, no matter how weak they are, civil society inevitably grows up.

78 FR 4189 - Advisory Committee on the Secretary of State's Strategic Dialogue With Civil Society

Science.gov (United States)

2013-01-18

... Dialogue With Civil Society ACTION: Notice of meeting. SUMMARY: Pursuant to the provisions of the Federal... Civil Society will convene in Washington, DC on March 12, 2013. The Committee provides advice on the.... Please call ahead to (202) 647-2413 to facilitate entry into the building. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION...

Globalization, Credence Goods and International Civil Society

OpenAIRE

Krautheim, Sebastian; Verdier, Thierry

2012-01-01

The process of globalization is characterized by an impressive growth in global value chains, as well as the proliferation of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) interacting with production and sourcing decisions of multinational firms. In this paper, we present a simple North-South model of international trade allowing for the joint emergence of firm offshoring to South and NGO activism financed by donations from the civil society. In our model northern consumers care about unobservable “c...

Civil Society and Public Powers : Partners for Social Economy and ...

International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

Civil Society and Public Powers : Partners for Social Economy and Solidarity ... Working paper : food security and sovereignty ... to announce the results of its 2017 call for proposals to establish Cyber Policy Centres in the Global South.

Reality Checks: The state of civil society organizations in Ethiopia ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

the role of donors in supporting CSOs and the responses of the government to the ... Key words: civil society organizations; regulatory frameworks; service ..... rates; prevention and control of the spread of HIV, tuberculosis, and malaria; gender.

Civil Society and the Democratisation Processes in Kenya and ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Civil Society and the Democratisation Processes in Kenya and Uganda: A Comparative Analysis of the Contribution of the Church and NGOs. Jamu Anthony Okuku. Abstract. (Af. J. Political Science: 2002 7(2): 81-98). Full Text: EMAIL FULL TEXT EMAIL FULL TEXT · DOWNLOAD FULL TEXT DOWNLOAD FULL TEXT.

Civil Society and Civic Consciousness = Sivil Toplum ve Sosyal Bilinç

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Mert BİLGİN

2004-01-01

Full Text Available The meta-narratives of modern times are considered as the most significant factors impeding the development of the civil society' that coincided with the western definition of democracy. Nevertheless, this article suggests that the real problem was institutional inadequacy, which was produced by lack of civic consciousness. The best evidence for this argument is the search by theoreticians for a civic consciousness despite their different ideological orientations. Indeed, the demise of meta-narratives in post-modern times does not tend to lead to a more civil society because of the vicissitude of this extant institutional inadequacy, which appears to be created by the decline of cultural understanding of civic consciousness.

Reality Checks: The state of civil society organizations in Ethiopia ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Reality Checks: The state of civil society organizations in Ethiopia. ... limit the space for CSOs working on human rights and governance and it is legitimate and ... This paper contains contextualized arguments based on empirical data as reality ...

The Dilemma of Civil Society in Cameroon Since 1990: Which Way ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

sulaiman.adebowale

2008-04-09

Apr 9, 2008 ... of civil society when it has an impact on the society; if not it should be left out. .... campaign and the post-October 1992 election results. As a matter of ... from the General Agreement on Tariffs (GATT) text on Cameroon. ..... Nyamnjoh, F. B., 1997, 'Media, Tribalism and Democracy in Cameroon, in Gerddes,.

Immigration and civil society: New ways of democratic transformation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Agustin, Oscar Garcia; Jørgensen, Martin Bak

2013-01-01

society actors to challenge the institutional order rather than an achievement measured against the main characteristics of representative democracy. The seven papers which constitute this special issue all deal with 8 different aspects of immigration, civil society and democratic transformations....... Together they offer insight into different national cases by describing and analysing immigrant mobilization in Denmark (Jørgensen), France (Suárez-Krabbe), Italy (Ambrosini), Portugal (Abrantes), Spain (García; Suárez-Krabbe), Sweden (Ålund et al.), the Netherlands (Suárez-Krabbe), and United Kingdom...

Climatic crime, stop - the call made by the civil society

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Acosta, Alberto; Aurenche, Guy; Aykut, Stefan C.; Azam, Genevieve; Bassey, Nnimmo; Bihouix, Philippe; Bonneuil, Christophe; Cabanes, Valerie; Cabello, Joanna; Gilbertson, Tamra; Chapelle, Sophie; Combes, Maxime; George, Susan; Planche, Jeanne; Gemenne, Francois; Haeringer, Nicolas; Hamilton, Clive; Jordan, John; Jouzel, Jean; Masson-Delmotte, Valerie; Uyi Ojo, Godwin; Palais, Jon; Randall, Alex; Shiva, Vandana; Solon, Pablo; Klein, Naomi; McKibben, Bill; Sano, Yeb M.; Tutu, Desmond

2015-01-01

Whereas climate change actually kills as it upsets hundreds of millions of human lives - at first the poorest and most vulnerable ones, this book aims at expressing a call made by the civil society to build up a wide movement to refund our societies. It contains contributions of various people, researchers who are aware of the present deadlock, as well as victims, climate refugees or collectives struggling against the global warming process

Dissenting Daughters? Gender Politics and Civil Society in a ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Gender Politics and Civil Society in a Militarized State. Amina Mama. AJOL African Journals Online. HOW TO USE AJOL... for Researchers · for Librarians · for Authors · FAQ's · More about AJOL · AJOL's Partners · Terms and Conditions of Use · Contact AJOL · News. OTHER RESOURCES... for Researchers · for Journals ...

Civil Society Advocacy for Construction of Education Legislation in Brazil: Education Diplomacy in a National Network

Science.gov (United States)

Cara, Daniel; Pellanda, Andressa

2018-01-01

Advocacy efforts often contribute to broader Education Diplomacy goals. The Brazilian Campaign for the Right to Education coordinated an effort among diverse civil society stakeholders to ensure their voice was included in developing Brazil's National Education Plan (NEP). As a result of their advocacy strategy, civil society participated in…

[Right of access to healthcare in the context of the Royal Decree-Law 16/2012: the perspective of civil society organizations and professional associations].

Science.gov (United States)

Suess, Amets; Ruiz Pérez, Isabel; Ruiz Azarola, Ainhoa; March Cerdà, Joan Carles

2014-01-01

The recent publication of the Royal Decree-Law 16/2012 (RDL 16/2012), which introduces structural changes in the Spanish Public Healthcare System, can be placed in the broader context of budgetary adjustments in response to the current economic crisis. An analysis of the interrelationships among economic crisis, healthcare policies, and health reveals that citizen participation is one of several potential strategies for reducing the impact of this situation on the population. This observation raises the interest to know the citizens' perspectives on the modifications introduced by the RDL 16/2012. Narrative review of documents related to the RDL 16/2012 published by civil society organizations and professional associations in the Spanish context. A broad citizen response can be observed to the introduction of RDL 16/2012. The documents reviewed include an analysis of changes in the healthcare model inherent to the RDL 16/2012, as well as predictions on its impact on access to healthcare, healthcare quality, and health. The civil society organizations and professional associations offer recommendations and proposals, as well as collaboration in elaborating alternative strategies to reduce costs. The response of civil society organizations and professional associations underscores the importance of strengthening citizen participation in the development of healthcare policies aimed at maintaining the universal character and sustainability of the Spanish Public Healthcare System in the current moment of economic and systemic crisis. Copyright © 2014 SESPAS. Published by Elsevier Espana. All rights reserved.

Global environment action plant of Japan Society of Civil Engineers. ; Agenda 21 / Japan Society of Civil Engineers. Doboku gakkai chikyu kankyo kodo keikaku. ; Agenda 21 / doboku gakkai

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

1994-04-15

This paper explains the involvement of the global environment action plan of Japan Society of Civil Engineers, Agenda 21, with civil engineerings and global environmental problems, as well as the global environment action plan. Global environmental problems require handling the matters in three ways: identification and elucidation of events, effect analysis estimation, and alleviation, avoidance and prevention of the effect. Settlement and proliferation of civil engineering technologies transferred to developing countries demand indispensably understanding such features of the developing countries as social and economic conditions, natural conditions, climates, histories, races, and cultures. Realizing the sustainable development requires the followings: formation of civil engineerings that contribute to improving global environments; development of civil engineerings that make coexistence of human being and other living organisms possible; analyses of effects and mechanisms of global warming and weather change and the corresponding technique and system development; and development of techniques to build resource circulating type national land and cities. It is also essential to move forward positively structuring civil engineerings that contribute to solving such global environmental problems as acid rains and marine pollution, and technical development thereof; providing guidelines on execution of international civil engineering constructions, and technical development thereof; developing civil engineerings in developing countries and assisting training of people.

Governing AIDS through aid to civil society: Global solutions meet ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The aim of this article is to explore how international donors influence civil society organisations (CSOs) in Mozambique through funding mechanisms, the creation of partnerships, or inclusion in targeted programmes. The main focus is the relationship between donors and AIDS non-governmental organisations (NGOs).

Partners in peace : discourses and practices of civil-society peacebuilding

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Leeuwen, van M.

2008-01-01

This study looks into images, and assumptions, of civil-society peacebuilding and its support by international development organizations, and how this relates to politics and practices of peacebuilding on the ground. It is built principally on a series of case studies of peacebuilding interventions

Creating Inquiry Between Technology Developers and Civil Society Actors: Learning from Experiences Around Nanotechnology.

Science.gov (United States)

Krabbenborg, Lotte

2016-06-01

Engaging civil society actors as knowledgeable dialogue partners in the development and governance of emerging technologies is a new challenge. The starting point of this paper is the observation that the design and orchestration of current organized interaction events shows limitations, particularly in the articulation of issues and in learning how to address the indeterminacies that go with emerging technologies. This paper uses Dewey's notion of 'publics' and 'reflective inquiry' to outline ways of doing better and to develop requirements for a more productive involvement of civil society actors. By studying four novel spaces for interaction in the domain of nanotechnology, this paper examines whether and how elements of Dewey's thought are visible and under what conditions. One of the main findings is that, in our society, special efforts are needed in order for technology developers and civil society actors to engage in a joint inquiry on emerging nanotechnology. Third persons, like social scientists and philosophers, play a role in this respect in addition to external input such as empirically informed scenarios and somewhat protected spaces.

African civil society initiatives to drive a biobanking, biosecurity and ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This paper describes the formation of a civil society consortium, spurred to action by frustration over the Ebola crises, to facilitate the development of infrastructure and frameworks including policy development to support a harmonized, African approach to health crises on the continent. The Global Emerging Pathogens ...

78 FR 26100 - Advisory Committee on the Secretary of State's Strategic Dialogue With Civil Society; Notice of...

Science.gov (United States)

2013-05-03

... businesses engaged with civil society. They may include: leaders of independent public policy advocacy... DEPARTMENT OF STATE [Public Notice 8312] Advisory Committee on the Secretary of State's Strategic... of the Advisory Committee on the Secretary of State's Strategic Dialogue with Civil Society...

COMMUNITY PRACTICE, THE MILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS AND CIVIL SOCIETY MEASURES IN BRAZIL

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Caru Bowns

2011-07-01

Most of the MDGs literature focuses on the first six Goals. Comparatively little research considers the interface between MDG7 Targets and community practice, i.e. those organizational and participatory measures integral to most civil society efforts to implement MDGs objectives. This study provides a discussion of the MDGs from an environmental design perspective pertaining to substandard urban environments and the importance of community practices to facilitate participation in decisions for sustainable development. A Brazil case study serves to exemplify urban poverty in one developing country and the civil society institutions that foster “grassroots” participation in Brazil. The conclusion addresses the potential of environmental design’s community practices to expand civic participation in implementing the MDGs.

Civil society in Syria and Iran: activism in authoritarian contexts

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Aarts, P.; Cavatorta, F.

2013-01-01

What are the dynamics of civic activism in authoritarian regimes? How do new social actors--many of them informal, "below the radar" groups--interact with these regimes? What mechanisms do the power elite employ to deal with societal dissidence? The authors of Civil Society in Syria and Iran explore

76 FR 22160 - Advisory Committee on the Secretary of State's Strategic Dialogue With Civil Society; Notice of...

Science.gov (United States)

2011-04-20

... representatives who are leaders of U.S. and foreign civil society and U.S. and foreign businesses engaged with... DEPARTMENT OF STATE [Public Notice 7397] Advisory Committee on the Secretary of State's Strategic... establishment of the Advisory Committee on the Secretary of State's Strategic Dialogue with Civil Society...

Ways of Civil Society Institutes Interaction with Local Governments in the Sphere of Anti-Corruption

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kristina V. Кondrashova

2016-06-01

Full Text Available In this article author analyzes ways of civil society institutes interaction with local government bodies in the sphere of anti-corruption, legal regulation in the sphere of anti-corruption is analyzed (including the Federal law of December 25, 2008 No. 273-FZ "About anti-corruption", opinions of scientists-jurists are researched. In the conclusion the author reviews 4 examples mutually beneficial cooperation of institutes of civil society and local government bodies.

NGO Management Case Study: Civitas Foundation for Civil Society

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ramona BERE

2000-06-01

Full Text Available As idealistic as it may sound, the truth is that NGOs act to make the world a better place. They often do that by taking action in areas where the government fails to succeed or does not do a very good job. In this context I would like to present a very special NGO: CIVITAS Foundation for Civil Society, evaluating its governance and services.

Civil society participation in the health system: the case of Brazil's Health Councils.

Science.gov (United States)

Martinez, Martha Gabriela; Kohler, Jillian Clare

2016-10-26

Brazil created Health Councils to bring together civil society groups, heath professionals, and government officials in the discussion of health policies and health system resource allocation. However, several studies have concluded that Health Councils are not very influential on healthcare policy. This study probes this issue further by providing a descriptive account of some of the challenges civil society face within Brazil's Health Councils. Forty semi-structured interviews with Health Council Members at the municipal, state and national levels were conducted in June and July of 2013 and May of 2014. The geographical location of the interviewees covered all five regions of Brazil (North, Northeast, Midwest, Southeast, South) for a total of 5 different municipal Health Councils, 8 different state Health Councils, and the national Health Council in Brasilia. Interview data was analyzed using a thematic approach. Health Councils are limited by a lack of legal authority, which limits their ability to hold the government accountable for its health service performance, and thus hinders their ability to fulfill their mandate. Equally important, their membership guidelines create a limited level of inclusivity that seems to benefit only well-organized civil society groups. There is a reported lack of support and recognition from the relevant government that negatively affects the degree to which Health Council deliberations are implemented. Other deficiencies include an insufficient amount of resources for Health Council operations, and a lack of training for Health Council members. Lastly, strong individual interests among Health Council members tend to influence how members participate in Health Council discussions. Brazil's Health Councils fall short in providing an effective forum through which civil society can actively participate in health policy and resource allocation decision-making processes. Restrictive membership guidelines, a lack of autonomy from the

[Foundation of the science and society alliance in France. Towards a conscious and recognised collaboration between actors of research and civil society].

Science.gov (United States)

Fellini, Nadia; Faroult, Elie

2015-01-01

In the last two decades, the debate on the meaning of science in relation to societies that create it, nourish it, and benefit from it, focused on civil society's ability to produce knowledge. This yielded first the concept of participatory science and later the wider concept of participatory research. Throughout Europe, numerous collective experimentations have generated countless interactions, and new interfaces between the world of research and civil society are constantly being created. But in spite of the proliferation of these experiences, a paradox slows down their acknowledgment and legitimation. On the one hand, these interactions often go unseen and unrecognized by the institutions, public policies, and even at times their very creators. On the other hand, scientists, are still overwhelmingly wary of civil society and, perceiving only its intellectual deficit and lack of comprehension, they fail to consider the study and development of these interactions as being of primary importance. The Sciences and Society Alliance, which was recently founded in France, provides a platform where these collaborative experiences can be collected, studied, supported, communicated, and institutionally acknowledged. The launch of this process,which is soon to be European in scope, answers the need to bring science into the democratic path tread by the societies that create it. In its ability to compose diversity, this process is an example of deep democracy.

PERARES : Public Engagement with Research and Research Engagement with Society

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Mulder, Henk; Steinhaus, Norbert; Azman, Azlinda; Arlus, Feri; Jamsari, A; Campbell, James; Steinhaus, Norbert; Ong, Tan Kek; Winyayong, Panom

2013-01-01

PERARES is a four years funded project by the European Community's Seventh Framework Program which started in 2010. It brings together Science Shops, Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) and Universities from 16 European countries. The PERARES project aims to strengthen public engagement in research

Civil society participation in the management of the common good: a case of ethics in biological resource centres

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Patrici Calvo Cabezas

2014-10-01

Full Text Available The management of commons is now at the centre of researchers’ attention in many branches of science, particularly those related to the human or social sciences. This paper seeks to demonstrate how civil society participation in common goods or resources is not only possible but is also desirable for society because of the medium and long-term benefits it offers involved and/or affected parties. To this end, we examine the falsity of the discourse underlying the supposed incompetence of civil society to cooperate interpersonally in the pursuit of common objectives, and also analyse a specific example of the necessary and possible participation of civil society in managing common goods through biobanks.

Civil society and political power in the Dominican Republic Sociedad civil y poder político en República Dominicana

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jana MORGAN

2011-03-01

Full Text Available In the Latin American context, the Dominican Republic displays high levels of civic engagement and political activism, yet they have not translated into a civil society that is able to exercise considerable influence in reforming the political system or enhancing democracy. Building on this observation, this article explores two questions. The first is if there is tendency toward dual participation in civic and political organizations, which reduces civil society’s ability to pressure political parties and the State. The second refers to the nature of the connections that civil society participants have with the State and with political parties. The analysis demonstrates that an important segment of the population that participates in civic associations also participates in political parties and in clientelist networks.República Dominicana registra un alto nivel de asociacionismo social y activismo político en el contexto latinoamericano. Esto, sin embargo, no se ha traducido en mayor capacidad de la sociedad civil dominicana para reformar el sistema político y mejorar la democracia. Con este planteamiento de fondo, se exploran dos preguntas. La primera es si existe una tendencia a la coparticipación en las organizaciones sociales y políticas que reduce la capacidad de presión de la sociedad civil sobre los partidos y el Estado. La segunda refiere a la naturaleza del vínculo de los participantes en organizaciones de la sociedad civil con el Estado y los partidos. El análisis muestra el involucramiento de un segmento de participantes en actividades cívicas, también en actividades partidarias y en redes clientelares.

Civil Society and the Public Space in Africa | Hibou | CODESRIA ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Civil Society and the Public Space in Africa. Béatrice Hibou, Richard Banégas. AJOL African Journals Online. HOW TO USE AJOL... for Researchers · for Librarians · for Authors · FAQ's · More about AJOL · AJOL's Partners · Terms and Conditions of Use · Contact AJOL · News. OTHER RESOURCES... for Researchers · for ...

The Civil Society Tradition in the Evolution of European Democracy

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hulgård, Lars

The soft revolutions in Central and Eastern Europe, which were initiated at the end of the 1980s, led to a renewed growth in interest concerning civil society in Europe in general. This was so, even though such an interest had already existed since the late sixties and early seventies...... to enhancing the role of the citizenship....

Civil Society Participation in EU Gender Policy-Making

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Agustin, Lise Rolandsen

2008-01-01

The participation of transnational advocacy networks (TANs) in the policy processes of the European Union (EU) is a potential site of substantial representation of women (SRW). In the article, it is argued that the institutional context can both enable and constrain civil society actors’ claims......-making. TANs employ framing strategies to make their claims resonate with or challenge the dominant discourse of the EU policies. The institutions use contested frames to constitute legitimate claims-makers, by recognising certain claims as more valid than others. The possibilities of SRW are delimited, since...

Countering violent extremism in Indonesia: priorities, practice and the role of civil society

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cameron Sumpter

2017-06-01

Full Text Available Indonesia has experimented with initiatives aimed at countering violent extremism (CVE since the wave of arrests following the first Bali bombing attack in 2002. Initial efforts involved police attempting to develop relationships of trust with terrorists in custody. Today, a broader range of strategies are employed, from promoting peace among youth and thwarting the allure of extremist narratives, to managing prisoners and assisting former terrorists reintegrate with society. The lead government body since 2010 has been the national counterterrorism agency, Badan Nasional Penanggulangan Terorisme (BNPT, which is tasked with coordinating stakeholders in Indonesia’s struggle with domestic terrorism. But managing the divergent and sometimes competing interests of Indonesia’s large state institutions has not been straightforward, and effective collaboration between relevant state agencies remains an obstacle to the success of CVE initiatives. Where government has fallen short, civil society organisations (CSOs often fill the gaps, and a number of dedicated practitioners now have invaluable experience, local contacts, and the specific knowledge required for countering extremism in the Indonesian context. CSOs also possess greater levels of trust among the communities they engage than security-centric state agencies could possibly hope to achieve. Yet instead of exploiting these civil society resources, the BNPT has largely preferred an independent (and top-down approach to CVE initiatives, collaborating if and when assistance is required. The Indonesian government should make better use of the unique legitimacy and expertise of civil society organisations.

STEP TO CIVIL SOCIETY (ON HISTORICAL ROLE OF JUDICIAL REFORM OF 1864

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Анна Дмитриевна Попова

2014-12-01

Full Text Available The article deals with the importance of the judicial reform of 1864 for the course of Alexander's modernization and analyzes the role of the judicial reforms for various aspects of life in the post-reform Russia. There is used a wide range of sources - archival materials, memoirs of contemporaries of that period, publications of periodicals. The author concludes that the judicial reform of 1864 should be considered as a significant step towards civil society. The analysis of the sources shows that the judicial reform of 1864 contributed to the increase in the protection of human rights and freedoms. The activities of new courts changed the public consciousness - in the society there was growing representation of rule of law, necessity to respect the rights and freedoms of others, to meet obligations. The judicial reform played a major role in the process of merging classes, the development of market relations. Thus, the introduction of the controversial independent public trial not only improved the justice, but was also an important step in the formation of civil society in Russia.

ECONOMIC, POLITICAL, AND CIVIL SOCIETIES AT PEMUTERAN VILLAGE, BALI IN COASTAL AND MARINE ENVIRONMENTAL PRESERVATION

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

I Wayan Mudana

2013-02-01

Full Text Available This study was focused on questions (1 what factors caused the economic, political, and civil societies to invest their social capital in the preservation of marine and coastal environments at Pemuteran Village? (2 What was the social capital invested by the economic, political, and civil societies in the preservation of coastal and marine environments at Pemuteran Village like? (3 What was done to discipline the maintenance of the social capital invested in the preservation of the coastal and marine environments at Pemuteran Village? Some critical theories were used to analyze the answers to the problems. Qualitative research method with the approach of cultural studies was employed in this study. The data were collected through observation, in-depth interview, and library research. The data were qualitatively and descriptively analyzed. The result of the study showed that the cooperation among the economic, political, and civil societies to invest their social capital in the preservation of the marine and coastal environments at Pemuteran Village was based on the awareness of the condition of the natural environment, ecological smartness, meaningfulness which was economic, political, sociological, and socio-religious in nature, and developmental policy. The social capital invested by the economic, political and civil societies was in the forms of the ideologies of tri hita karana, nyegara-gunung, menyama braya, kinship system, neighborhood relation, traditional village, and administrative village. It was maintained through cultural socialization process, and physical and spiritual disciplining process.

Islam, secularist government, and state-civil society interaction in Mozambique and South Africa since 1994

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kaarsholm, Preben

2015-01-01

This article explores state–civil society interactions in Mozambique and South Africa with a focus on Islamic groupings, and places the two countries within an Indian Ocean coastal continuum of links to East Africa, India, and the Arab world. Contrasting the histories of dominant-party rule since...... the transitions in 1994 to multiparty-ism in Mozambique and to democracy in South Africa, the article discusses the development of Islamic organisations including both transnational Sufi orders and modernist reform movements as important components in local civil societies. The article contrasts the spaces...

Democratization in the Gulf Monarchies and American Civil Society

OpenAIRE

Azam, M. Nazrul Islam and Muhammad; Azam, Muhammad

2015-01-01

The paper deals with the efforts made by American private sector and civil society actors after 2000 to popularize democratic values and norms in the six Gulf states, namely Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. The study is focused on areas including politics, education, culture, media, human rights, and women empowerment. The paper also deals with approaches adopted, goals and objectives set and strategies devised and employed by the American NGOs regardi...

Democratization in the Gulf Monarchies and American Civil Society

OpenAIRE

Azam, M. Nazrul Islam and Muhammad

2010-01-01

The paper deals with the efforts made by American private sector and civil society actors after 2000 to popularize democratic values and norms in the six Gulf states, namely Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. The study is focused on areas including politics, education, culture, media, human rights, and women empowerment. The paper also deals with approaches adopted, goals and objectives set and strategies devised and employed by the American NGOs regardi...

Information on Nea programmes on nuclear energy and civil society and their co-ordination

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mays, C.; Riotte, H.

2004-01-01

At its session in May 2002, the Steering Committee for Nuclear Energy welcomed the activities that the NEA standing technical committees were carrying out in the field of nuclear energy and civil society, and agreed on the value of existing co-ordination among them. Tile Committee asked the Secretariat to prepare an information document on such co-ordination activities. With this in mind, the present room document offers an up-to-date account of relevant NEA activities and their co-ordination, pending a broader review of NEA's involvement in the area of nuclear energy and civil society, in the context of the NEA Strategic Plan at an appropriate time. (author)

NETWORK CULTURE - INTEGRAL PART OF NEW VALUES OF CIVIL SOCIETY

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vyacheslav Vladimirovich Sukhanov

2014-06-01

Full Text Available New technologies not only improve working conditions or communication, they are also bringing new values to  the society. This article discusses the concept of «network culture», which is now perceived by society as an integral part of values that can only exist in a civil society. We can research ( find   this kind of society in modern time period in Russia. The article analyzes the meaning of communication, how to use it, development processes in network media.  Nowadays network culture and its influence on society are almost in all spheres of state and society, as well as changes in perception of information and content generation process. Development of the Internet and Internet technologies largely set the tone for  the development of popular culture and allows you to store or to influence the national culture. Internet press today is and example which shows us, how this kind of tool can be used to influence on citizens.DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.12731/2218-7405-2014-3-6

Religion, civil society and conflict: What is it that religion does for and to society?

OpenAIRE

Jaco Beyers

2011-01-01

Human consciousness instinctively tries to make sense of reality. Different human interpretations of reality lead to a world consisting of multiple realities. Conflict occurs when differing realities (worldviews) encounter one another. Worldviews are socially created and determine human behaviour and, as such, most often find expression in religion. The discussion of conflict and the role of religion in civil society take place within the discourse of the sociology of religion. Religion is so...

Advocating for Change? How a Civil Society-led Coalition Influences the Implementation of the Forest Rights Act in India

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Barnes, Clare; van Laerhoven, Frank; Driessen, Peter P J

2016-01-01

Forest policy implementation is a political endeavor involving both state and non-state actors. We observe that civil society organizations (CSOs) often federate into civil society-led coalitions (CSCs) in order to shape forest policies in their favor. They appear to be successful in doing this

Civil society contributions to a sustainable health workforce in the European Union

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Mans, Linda; van de Pas, Remco; Marschang, Sascha

Background: Following the adoption of the World Health Organization’s Global Code of Practice on the International Recruitment of Health Personnel (WHO Code), eight civil society organizations implemented the European Union (EU) funded project “Health Workers for All and All for Health Workers”

Civil society engagement in multi-stakeholder dialogue: a qualitative study exploring the opinions and perceptions of MeTA members.

Science.gov (United States)

Buckland-Merrett, Gemma L; Kilkenny, Catherine; Reed, Tim

2017-01-01

The Medicines Transparency Alliance (MeTA) is an initiative that brings together all stakeholders in the medicines market to create a multi-stakeholder dialogue and improve access, availability and affordability of medicines. Key to this multi-stakeholder dialogue is the participation of Civil Society Organisations. A recent MeTA annual review, identified uneven engagement of civil society organisations in the multi-stakeholder process. This study was designed to explore the engagement of Civil Society Organisations in the MeTA multi-stakeholder process and the factors influencing their participation. Participants were drawn from a convenience sample of key MeTA informants attending a MeTA global meeting in Geneva in 2014. Study participants consisted of members of MeTA, which included representatives from government, the private sector and civil society. In-depth semi-structured face-to-face interviews were conducted to identify perceptions around the barriers to civil society engagement in the multi-stakeholder process. Interviews were guided by a conceptual framework exploring the three main themes of the political environment, relative stakeholder strength and agenda setting/gatekeepers. Interviews were structured to enable additional themes to emerge and be explored. Fifteen interviews were conducted. The interviews were audio recorded, transcribed verbatim and analysed using a general inductive approach. All interviewees provided written informed consent. Findings were captured within three main overarching themes: the political environment, relative stakeholder strength and agenda setting/gatekeepers, with the opportunity for additional themes to emerge in the interviewing process. The study conformed these three themes were important in the engagement process. Participants reported that civil society engagement is particularly limited by those who set the agenda. It was largely seen that the political environment was the significant factor that enabled or

Civil society and state in the age of modernization: political dimension

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Людмила Александровна Гайнутдинова

2009-12-01

Full Text Available Socio-political practice of state, when it represented only interests of elites becomes unacceptable in the age of modernization which requires larger degrees of freedom. The solution of this conflict opens possibilities of participation in political processes for many social groups by means of political inclusion. That processes defined the shape of modern civil society.

The Problem of Modernization and Development of Russian Civil Society: the Dialectics of "We" versus "Me"

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

К S Serdobintsev

2011-03-01

Full Text Available The article provides insight into the issue of modernization and development of civil society through the lens of national character. The axis of the publication is the following argument: the economic system and the appropriate type of society are constructed by people in accordance with geographical and natural conditions. As the "construction" process advances, the fundamental social values, norms as well as the corresponding type of personality embodying national character take shape according to the prominent activity patterns. It is possible to change national character altering the norms which regulate human behaviour in economic and socio-political spheres. Thus, the Russian non-market-oriented national character has emerged ("We-civilization" as opposed to the Western market-based one ("Me-civilization". However, things are gradually changing.

The emergence of the political voice of Syria’s civil society from within the non-violent movements of the Syrian uprising

OpenAIRE

Al-Om, Tamara

2016-01-01

In The Emergence of The Political Voice of Syria’s Civil Society from within the Non-violent Movements of the Syrian Uprising, Tamara Al-Om address one of the most important aspects and ironically least addressed, of the Syrian Uprising. As Al-Om points out in her article, we are far more tempted to focus on the sensational, i.e. war, than we are on the far less dramatic, i.e. a non-violent civil society movement. Further complicating the attempt to focus ion Syria’s civil society within the ...

Civic Education Partnerships: Civil Society Organisations, Donors and the State in Fiji

Science.gov (United States)

Baleinakorodawa, Paolo; Spence, Rebecca; O'Loughlin, Micheal

2011-01-01

This article reflects on some of the challenges and opportunities presented when working in partnership in the highly politicised and contested Fijian Civil Society environment over the past five years. The authors are practitioners who specialise in working with communities which experience conflict. The paper discusses and analyses the genesis…

The civil society and the regulation of the extractive industry in Nigeria

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This article focuses on the role of civil society organisations (CSOs) in impacting on trends and developments in the extractive industry in Nigeria. For example, CSOs take on the government to promote accountability and probity in the management of the sector that is beset by ineffectual regulation; alleged collusion with ...

American Society of Civil Engineers | ASCE

Science.gov (United States)

Membership Your New Membership: Getting Started Member Value Civil Engineering Salaries Manage Your Account Vote Now Education & Careers Training & Courses Getting Licensed & Certified Live Exam Reviews Specialty Certifications Civil Engineering Body of Knowledge Volunteer Opportunities Jobs Ethics

Religion, civil society and conflict: What is it that religion does for ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Worldviews are socially created and determine human behaviour and, as such, most often find expression in religion. The discussion of conflict and the role of religion in civil society take place within the discourse of the sociology of religion. Religion is socially determined. Peter Berger's insight into the sociology of religion ...

Changing Landscapes in Documentation Efforts : Civil Society Documentation of Serious Human Rights Violations

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Mc Gonigle, B.N.

2017-01-01

Wittingly or unwittingly, civil society actors have long been faced with the task of documenting serious human rights violations. Thirty years ago, such efforts were largely organised by grassroots movements, often with little support or funding from international actors. Sharing information and

Constraining is enabling? Exploring the influence of national context on civil society strength

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kamstra, J.; Pelzer, B.J.; Elbers, W.J.; Ruben, R.

2016-01-01

This article analyses the influence of national context on civil society strength based on four key dimensions: level of democracy, political stability, rule of law and economic development. Whereas existing studies mainly focus on Western and post-communist countries, we explicitly include

Constraining Is Enabling? Exploring the Influence of National Context on Civil Society Strength

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kamstra, Jelmer; Pelzer, Ben; Elbers, Willem; Ruben, Ruerd

2016-01-01

This article analyses the influence of national context on civil society strength based on four key dimensions: level of democracy, political stability, rule of law and economic development. Whereas existing studies mainly focus on Western and post-communist countries, we explicitly include

Environmental Empowerment - the role of Co-operation between Civil Society, Universities and Science Shops

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Brodersen, Søsser; Jørgensen, Michael Søgaard; Hansen, Anne Grethe

2006-01-01

The University based Science Shops were established in the 1970s in the Netherlands, and in Denmark and other countries in the 1980s and 1990s. The aim was to give civil society organisations access to scientific knowledge and to empower citizen participation regarding environmental and social...... improvements. It has recently been suggested that the role of Science Shops should change as a consequence of the stated increasing professionalisation of the Non Governmental Organisations and Civil Society Organisations, and of industry’s increasing interest in introducing environmental management measures....... Increasing internationalisation of the environmental agenda has contributed to this as well as a general acceptance of environmental considerations in industry policy and strategy. However, with departure point in three different Science Shop projects, the article proposes that Science Shops are still...

Culture as Cure: Civil Society and Moral Debates in KwaZulu-Natal ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The paper addresses the nature of 'really existing' civil society and the workings of the public sphere in informal urban settlements on the outskirts of Durban. It focuses on debates over morality and the health of the community which have emerged locally in the context of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, and highlights the positions ...

Governmental Promotion of Social Cohesion and Its Effect on Local Civil Society Organisations

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Semino, Stella Maris

2015-01-01

This article examines how social policy influences social cohesion within a London borough. The focus is on the degree to which civil society organisations facilitate the representation of migrants within the public sphere. The policies considered are those introduced by New Labour and the current...

The Information Age and the Civil Society: An Interview with Jeremy Rifkin.

Science.gov (United States)

Slavin, Peter

1996-01-01

For over a century, American education's mission has centered on preparing future workers to enter the marketplace. Just as the Industrial Age ended slave labor, the Information Age will end mass wage labor, freeing up millions for shortened work weeks and/or work in the civil society or nonprofit sector. Service learning helps by creating social…

Gold, the Golden Rule, and Government: Civil Society and the End of the State

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

D.G. White

2009-08-01

Full Text Available Properly speaking, money and law are natural outgrowths of human society, evolving over time via the voluntary cooperation that lies at the heart of the social enterprise. And as gold and the golden rule have for millennia formed the basis, respectively, of society’s money and law, they accordingly constitute the “twin pillars of civilization,” governing the social enterprise such that, in Mises’s words, “the human species has multiplied far beyond the margin of subsistence.” It stands to reason, then, that if money and law are corrupted, the social enterprise will be corrupted as well. And as this is precisely what the state has done, essentially toppling the twin pillars of civilization, it is necessary to understand what the state is, where it came from, and how it has systematically gone about corrupting money and law, and thus the social enterprise as a whole. For only then can money and law be returned to their rightful owners, and only then can the state be put in its proper place. Which is no place so far as the proper functioning of civil society is concerned.

Stato e società civile in Gramsci (State and Civil Society in Gramsci

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Guido LIGUORI

2016-06-01

Full Text Available Gramsci is not, as at times has been said, the “theoretician of civil society”. Central to his reflections in the Prison Notebooks is instead the concept of the “integral State” or “extended State”, the dialectical union of State and civil society which allowed him to interpret the new social and political situation typical of much of the twentieth century. This new situation is characterized, on the one hand, by a new relationship between the economy and politics and, on the other, by the growing importance of the “apparatuses of consent” flanking the State’s traditional repressive apparatuses. For Gramsci the apparatuses of consent are sometimes public and sometimes apparently private but, in any case, their function is the same, namely to reinforce the hegemony of the dominant class, and to propagate a traditional common sense, thereby making it difficult to challenge the given set-ups of power. Since there has been a change in the State – the terrain of the struggle for power – the concept of revolution must also change: this is no longer an isolated insurrectionary event, as it was in the nineteenth century, but a long struggle for the conquest of “trenches and emplacements”, in other words the conquest of the centres that produce and extend consent.

Influence of Diaspora and Civil Society Actors on the Internationalisation of MNEs in Emerging Market

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rana, Mohammad Bakhtiar; Elo, Maria

2015-01-01

influence. The findings illustrate the central role of diaspora related innovation, motivation, knowledge, network and funding that supported this emerging market INV development. The study contributes to internationalization research, transnational diaspora entrepreneurship and civil society research......Multinational enterprises (MNE) are viewed as proactive global economic actors that enter new and emerging markets with an intentional strategy, building on their inherent resources and firm-specific advantages. However, there are numerous actors involved at market entry-level who may constitute...... thresholds for the entry. Emerging markets tend to possess complex institutional contexts and thus may incorporate idiographic entry challenges. Our study presents two under-examined types of stakeholders as distinct actors related to emerging market entry process: diaspora and civil society. We illustrate...

State, market and civil society: Latin American development in comparative perspective

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Menno Vellinga

2010-06-01

Full Text Available In the 1980s Latin America made a radical break with the model of development that had been pursued by most countries on the continent for the last fifty years and implemented a new development strategy, defined along neo-liberal lines. These changes have taken place under conditions of increasing globalization, e.g. they had to be realized increasingly within globally defined parameters and structures. The relationship between the state, the market and civil society was redefined. The traditional structures of interest representation of groups and classes, their legitimacy and effectiveness underwent significant changes in many countries. In this article we will explore the nature of these changes and their consequences for state reform and the relation to problems of national development. We will do so in a comparative perspective, including experiences from South East Asia. The debate about the relationship between state, market and civil society has received a new impetus from the 2008 crisis of the international financial system and the widely spread criticism of the workings of the market capitalism that it has generated. For Latin American development the conclusions of this debate and their possible translation into concrete policies are of the utmost importance.

Rebalancing EU Interest Representation? Assocative Democracy and EU funding of Civil Society Organizations

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Sanchez Salgado, R.

2014-01-01

European Union (EU) funding of civil society organizations (CSOs) is a substantial and important part of EU governance, but study of such funding is scarce and theoretically underdeveloped. To fill this gap, this article analyzes the main features of EU funding of CSOs and its effects on the EU

When Procedural Legitimacy Equals Nothing: Civil Society and Foreign Trade Policy in Brazil and Mexico

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vinícius Rodrigues Vieira

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Abstract Non-state actors contribute with inputs to the elaboration of the national interest in trade negotiations, thus enhancing its legitimacy. Nevertheless, does the participation of those actors necessarily equal influence on the part of all segments of civil society on policymaking? To answer the question, I argue that procedural legitimacy should be evaluated not only in relation to the inputs society provides to the State, but should also consider whether officials actually analyse societal contributions in decision-making. I demonstrate the empirical application of the model based upon Brazil's experience in multilateral trade negotiations during the 2000s, using Mexico as a shadow case. I conclude that foreign trade policymaking can only be democratised if, in procedural legitimacy, the State attributes equal weight to contributions from all types of societal actors, including civil society organisations and organised social movements, which tend to have less material resources and power than interest groups such as business associations and labour unions.

Legal Culture Viewed as a Factor of Civil Society Development in Russia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ya V Zubova

2010-12-01

Full Text Available The article focuses on the civil society and its development in Russia in connection with the notion of legal culture. The legal culture is integral to people's social activities and it is inextricably intertwined into the system of social relations as a result of the regulatory control of the activity, the ranking and regulation of the public intercourse based on the law. The legal culture is uniquely positioned for exercising strong influence upon an individual since it involves competence, adherence and respect for the legal standards expressing the accumulated moral and political requirements of the society.

The United States Civil War Causal Agent for Irish Assimilation and Acceptance in US Society

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Gillespie, William

2001-01-01

The American Civil War was a cornerstone event for the Irish in America. Their participation proved their duty to Union and Confederate causes, increased their acceptance in American society, and hastened assimilation...

Noble Estate Self-Government in Russia: Between the State and Civil Society

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alexander Yu. Morozov

2016-10-01

Full Text Available This article is devoted to assessing the role of noble self-governance in the history of Russia. According to Boris Mironov, before the Great Reforms of the 1860s, each noble assembly was a part of civil society. This point of view has aroused objections and debate among Russian historians. Morozov analyzed the historiographical aspect of the problem and demonstrated the impact of the socio-political context of their scientific work on Russian historians. In his opinion, from a purely legal point of view, there is reason to conclude that the autonomy of noble assemblies increased in the first half of the 19th century. However, the question of the extent to which these opportunities were realized in practice has been poorly studied. In the literature, there are examples of effective methods of influencing the government at the noble assemblies despite legal restrictions, as well as examples of noble assemblies that did not restrain the arbitrariness of the crown authority, did not protect their members from its abuse, and did not serve as the expression of public opinion. Mironov’s attempt to place in doubt the fact of the widespread presence of absenteeism seems unconvincing to Morozov. However, he agrees with Mironov that after 1861, the nobility really became a part of civil society, because the activity of noble organizations increased substantially in many different directions, including the political. For almost half a century of its history, the noble corporate organization evolved from a traditional institution into a civil one, which retained many features of traditional organization.

The possible contribution of civil society in the moral edification of South African society: The example of the ‘United Democratic Front’ and the ‘Treatment Action Campaign’ (1983–2014

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Jakobus M. Vorster

2015-03-01

Full Text Available In spite of much candid protest and overt criticism against the service delivery record and corruption of the South African government, the governing party, the African National Congress (ANC, once again secured a persuasive victory in the 2014 national elections. This situation begs the question whether the ballot box is really the only efficient instrument for disgruntled voters to influence government policy and behaviour. This article examines the possibilities that the mobilisation of civil society offers in this regard. The central theoretical argument is that civil society can be an important instrument through which the citizenry can exercise their critical function with regard to the government in an effort to address poor service delivery and corruption and to influence government policy. Christian organisations can play a crucial role in this process. Two examples of past efficient action by civil society serve to illustrate this argument. With the assistance of churches and Christian organisations,these organisations profoundly influenced government policy and are consequently presented as models for action today. The first example is the ‘United Democratic Front’ (UDF that forced the pre-1994 South African apartheid government to a negotiated settlement despite the strict security laws that the state utilised to keep the UDF in check. The second example is the ‘Treatment Action Campaign’ (TAC that forced the post-1994 Thabo Mbeki government to adopt a policy of free provision of antiretroviral drugs to HIV-positive patients. These two influential civil organisations offer models of how civil society can act as critical watchdog. In future, these models can be used to mobilise civil society, including churches and Christian organisations, to act correctively in defining and enacting government policy, despite the ANC’s strong position in government and the large majority that the governing party can secure at the voting

The expanding role of civil society in the global HIV/AIDS response: what has the President's Emergency Program For AIDS Relief's role been?

Science.gov (United States)

Coutinho, Alex; Roxo, Uchechi; Epino, Henry; Muganzi, Alex; Dorward, Emily; Pick, Billy

2012-08-15

Civil society has been part of the HIV/AIDS response from the very beginning of the epidemic, often becoming engaged before national governments. Traditional roles of civil society--advocacy, activism, serving as government watchdog, and acting as community caretaker--have been critical to the response. In addition, civil society organizations (CSOs) play an integral part in providing world-class HIV prevention and treatment services and helping to ensure continuity of care. The President's Emergency Program for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) has significantly increased the global scale-up of combination antiretroviral therapy reaching for more than 5 million people in developing countries, as well as implementation of effective evidence-based combination prevention approaches. PEPFAR databases in 5 countries and annual reports from a centrally managed initiative were mined and analyzed to determine the numbers and types of CSOs funded by PEPFAR over a 5-year period (2006-2011). Data are also presented from Uganda showing the overall resource growth in CSO working for HIV. Case studies document the evolution of 3 indigenous CSOs that increased the capacity to implement activities with PEPFAR funding. A legacy of PEPFAR has been the growth of civil society to address social and health issues as well as recognition by governments that partnerships with beneficiaries and civil society result in better outcomes. Scale-up of the global response could not have happened without the involvement of civil society and people living with HIV. This game changing partnership to jointly tackle the problems that countries face may well be the greatest benefit emerging from the HIV epidemic.

PHILANTHRPY AND ITS ROLE IN FORMING CIVIL SOCIETY IN RUSSIAN FEDERATION

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V. R. Goryatcheva

2012-01-01

Full Text Available The institution of philanthropy is an important part of any civil society. The article provides definition of a charity institution and stresses the important role of legislation in the development of philanthropy. Legislation in the field of philanthropy in the Russian Federation, including mainlegal acts and the taxation system of non-governmental non-commercial organizations, are discussed. Essential tax deductions for charitable work lead to the emergence of patterns of tax evasion, including withdrawal of funds to offshore areas.

Stasis and Bellum Civile

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lange, Carsten Hjort

2017-01-01

David Armitage’s new monograph Civil Wars: A History in Ideas (2017) will undoubtedly long remain a standard reference work. It presents readers with a vision of civil war as part of the longue durée. The argument might be further strengthened, however, if a more inclusive Greco-Roman approach...... to ancient civil war is accepted. This essay focuses on stasis vs. bellum civile, the origins of the concept of civil war, the approach of later Roman writers (such as Appian and Cassius Dio) to the concepts of stasis and bellum civile, and, finally, the question of what makes a civil war a civil war....... Whatever concepts were used, the Romans were not the first to experience internal war as a civil war—that is, a war between the citizens of a polity....

State-Phobia, Civil Society, and a Certain Vitalism

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Villadsen, Kaspar; Dean, Mitchell

2012-01-01

, movements, energies, and cultures outside of the state, and yet they are afraid that their programmatic attempts to do so may stifle these non-state agents. This is evident in the cautious enchantment with “local communities” or civil society across social, cultural, and health policies of advanced welfare...... province of the welfare state. This movement and rationality gives Michel Foucault's genealogy of what he called “state-phobia” a renewed pertinence. Second, over the same period, an anti-state attitude spread throughout influential strands of social science, which made the state a no-go domain both...... analytically and normatively. This attitude was discernable among theorists of globalization and governance,2 as well as among those who celebrated the bottom up politics of plurality,3 life-politics,4 or the rise of communities, social movements, and social networks. These strands of thought held...

CHARITY INSTITUTION AS RUSSIAN ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND CIVIL SOCIETY FORMATION INSTRUMENT

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V. R. Goryatcheva

2011-01-01

Full Text Available Broadly supported and actively functioning charity institution may essentially influence development of both the country economics and its civil society. Theoretical aspects of the impact of charity on the economy are discussed in detail. Brought about in the article is information that reflects activities of non-commercial organizations (NCO in Russia and abroad, global charity experience, ways of raising funds for NCO, methods of assessing feasibility of investment into non-commercial projects. Social entrepreneurship experience including that of running social projects is discussed.

WTO rules and practices for transparency and engagement with civil society organizations

OpenAIRE

Perez-Esteve, Maria

2012-01-01

In a rapidly changing trade environment, marked by economic slowdown and impasse in the Doha Round, the success of the WTO in promoting and legitimizing the rules-based multilateral trading system rests, to a large extent, on maintaining effective relations with civil society, including non-governmental organisations. This paper provides an overview of the WTO's rules and practices for transparency and engagement with NGOs. First, it looks at both internal and external transparency. Second, i...

Radioactive waste and civil society: Toward confidence and efficiency

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ferte, Jacques de la

2001-01-01

Radioactive waste management is a typical area where a confident and efficient relationship between decision makers and civil society is required to achieve progress. The Radioactive waste management community must now learn the lessons and borrow from the good and bad experiences of government and industry in the area of good governance. Key ingredients include not only good science and technology, but also an early association of stakeholders with the waste management development process, so as to care for social values and generate confidence in the public, notably at the local level. The new NEA Forum will now organise its future work around this concept, collecting and sharing the experience among its members, and working together in an on-going multi-year programme

Relational Goods and Their Subjects: The Ferment of a New Civil Society and Civil Democracy

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Pierpaolo Donati

2014-04-01

Full Text Available 96 Normal 0 21 false false false ES-TRAD JA X-NONE /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Tabla normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman";} From some years now, the social sciences have been highlighting the existence of a type of goods that are neither material things, nor ideas, nor functional performances but consist, instead, of social relations and, for this reason, are called relational goods. This contribution proposes to clarify this concept from the viewpoint of relational sociology, which avoids both methodological individualism and holism. Subsequently, it argues that such goods can be produced only by specific social subjects, which the Author calls ‘relational subjects’. Relying upon many theoretical and empirical researches, the paper explains in which sense and in which way relational subjects, and the goods they generate, can contribute to making civil society more robust: that is, no longer the typically capitalist society of the market, but an ‘associational’ society able to sustain a mature democracy.  

Conceptual Dimension of Problems of Joint Activity of the State and Civil Society Institutes on Ensuring National Security of the Russian Federation

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Gulyaikhin Vyacheslav N.

2016-09-01

Full Text Available In the article the main methodological approaches to the problem of interaction of institutes of the state and civil society in the context of ensuring national security of Russia are analyzed. Two main alternative concepts (liberal and etatist to which the Russian researchers adhere are allocated. Supporters of liberal approach suppose that domination of the interests of civil society and ensuring equal cooperation with government institutions at the solution of problems of ensuring national security is necessary. Adherents of the etatist concept defend an unconditional priority of government bodies in this sphere. The authors provide the conceptual analysis of estimates by domestic researchers of the main activities of associations of the citizens connected with the counteraction to threats of national security. In the article positive impact of institutes of civil society on political and social and economic processes in Russia is noted, their assistance in development of the state institutes of the state and the potential of constructive interaction with federal and regional authorities on ensuring national security is estimated. The detailed analysis of the politological concept according to which more active participation of public organizations and socially responsible citizens in ensuring national security is necessary, is carried out. Their influence on development of a security system has to become more and more considerable because of social and economic problems which are objectively demanding participation of civil society in their decision-making. It is connected also with the need of modernization breakthrough, not possible without civil initiatives. In the article the conclusion that the Russian researchers attach great value to interaction of institutes of the state and civil society in ensuring national security of the Russian Federation is drawn, conceptually proving the need of their joint activity for this direction, and

Role of political parties in the formation of civil society in Uzbekistan

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Сирожжон Насипкулович Бердикулов

2015-06-01

Full Text Available The article considers the role of political parties in the development of civil society and the rule of law, as well as issues of political parties differ from other public organizations, the concept of a multi-party system, the importance of a multi-party system in ensuring political pluralism, inter-party competition, constructive opposition, the expression of the interests of the electorate, the space of political parties in parliament and local councils (soviets

Civil society and the Health and Social Care Act in England and Wales: theory and praxis for the twenty-first century.

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Scambler, Graham; Scambler, Sasha; Speed, Ewen

2014-12-01

In this paper we revisit the notion of civil society in the light of recent attempts to privatize health care in England via the passing of the Health and Social Care Act of 2013. This legislation promises a re-commodification of the National Health Service (NHS) in England. The Bill was bitterly contested during its passage through parliament, most vigorously in 2011. Much of the opposition occurred at a time of widespread, global rebellion, most notably in the 'Arab uprisings' and through the 'occupy movement'. Despite a plethora of protests, we argue, a non-porous boundary between what we call the 'protest sector' of civil society and the wider public sphere of the lifeworld has become apparent in England. A good deal of collective action, whether campaign-focused (like opposition to the Health and Social Care Bill) or more generalized (like rejections of corporate greed), has so far proved ineffective, at least in the short-term; no crisis of legitimation is apparent. We highlight a new 'class/command dynamic', leading to oligarchic rule, in the present era of financial capitalism. We use this health care case-study to re-examine the notion of civil society and its changing properties in what Castells calls a 'networked society'. The contribution ends with a discussion of the role of the sociologist re-civil society and the advocacy of both 'action' and 'foresight sociologies'. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The Potentials of New Public Sphere For Emerging Global Civil Society

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Abul Sattar Khan

2011-12-01

Full Text Available New public sphere is characterized by the digital gadgets, global village, international citizenship and new global society. However, the common thread cutting through all these new concepts is the virtual soul of ‘connectivity’ that is riding on the ‘networking-tools’ which have now grown into an unprecedented giant ‘network-of-networks’ or simply put the ‘Internet’ with ‘social-networking’ and ‘social-software’ as the latest communication tools. International citizens travel on the information superhighways 24/7 and the communications across the planet never stops. It is however argued that NPS offers both challenges and prospects for the users depending on the availability of digital gadgets and digital literacy of the global citizens. This paper explores the pluses and minuses of this emerging environment for the members of global civil society by postulating a grounded model of the issue.

Institutions as Incentives for Civic Action: Bureaucratic Structures, Civil Society, and Disruptive Protests

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Cornell, Agnes; Grimes, Marcia

2015-01-01

This paper examines the link between political control of government bureaucracies and citizens’ likelihood to stage disruptive protests. A public administration heavily controlled by politicians, and staffed to a large extent with political appointees, allows politicians to intervene in policy...... to be more pronounced where civil society is stronger. We test the arguments empirically on data from 19 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean and the findings are consistent with the hypotheses....

What Political Framework Is Necessary to Reduce Malnutrition? A Civil Society Perspective.

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Walter, Bernhard

2016-01-01

Around 800 million people worldwide are still starving. Around 2 billion are somehow able to allay their hunger yet remain malnourished because their food does not contain sufficient nutrients. There are many reasons for this: for people living in poverty and precarious conditions, the priority is to fill their stomach, and the quality of food seems less important. Since the 1960s, global food production has been focused on increasing yield, not food quality. Mass-produced convenience food with high fat and carbohydrate contents but containing few nutrients is on the rise and - as a result of price wars - often replaces healthier locally grown products. To overcome global hunger and malnutrition, civil society organizations urge governments to turn towards sustainable and human rights-based development, including sustainable agricultural and fishing policies, to contribute to the eradication of poverty. This development is first and foremost guided by the right to food. In a policy that enables farmers to produce enough food that is healthy and rich in nutrients, the following principles should be fulfilled. Governments should assume responsibility for the international impacts of their agricultural policy decisions. The food sovereignty of other countries should be respected. Policies should enable self-supply of the population with healthy food and should promote the protection of resources, the climate, biodiversity and animal welfare. Strengthening rural structures, local economies, labor rights and small-scale food producers, establishing public programs that provide locally produced food, applying stringent standards for food labeling and the regulation of unhealthy products and paying special attention to the first 1,000 days of life as the starting point of a good and healthy well-being are core elements of such a political framework. © 2016 S. Karger AG, Basel.

Islam, civil society and social work; Muslim voluntary welfare associations in Jordan between patronage and empowerment

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Harmsen, E.

2007-01-01

This dissertation analyzes the religious discourse and the social work practices of Muslim voluntary welfare associations in Jordan on the basis of civil society theory. The need to react to western political, economic as well as cultural hegemony gave rise to relatively dogmatic and fundamentalist

"Sociedade civil global": agentes não estatais e espaço de interação na sociedade política "Global civil society": non-state agents and space of interaction in political society

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Victor Coutinho Lage

2012-06-01

Full Text Available O presente artigo visa compreender o conceito de sociedade civil global, a partir de um diálogo entre o construtivismo em Relações Internacionais e o pensador francês Michel Foucault. Dividido em três seções seguidas por uma conclusão, o texto almeja inserir-se em um espaço acadêmico de profunda contestação das bases filosóficas que permeiam as teorias convencionais nas ciências sociais e, em especial, nas Relações Internacionais. A primeira seção dedica-se à discussão acerca da sociedade civil global como espaço de interação agente-estrutura; na seção subsequente, ao conceito como um conjunto heterogêneo de agentes não estatais de escopo global. A terceira seção funde as duas partes da definição. Assim, propõem-se duas dimensões definidoras da sociedade civil global: na primeira, como espaço político; na segunda, como conjunto de agentes de características específicas. Por fim, uma breve conclusão encerra o texto - mas não a polêmica da discussão. Conclui-se que o contexto contemporâneo é marcado por uma complexidade de tal magnitude que torna urgente uma abordagem que evite oposições binárias e fronteiras ontológicas naturalizadas e reificadas, estando, assim, apta a interpretar de maneira mais adequada as relações sociais e políticas atuais.This article aims at understanding the concept of global civil society, from a dialogue between constructivism in International Relations and the French thinker Michel Foucault. Divided in three sections, followed by a conclusion, the text intends to insert itself in an academic space of a profound contestation concerning the philosophical basis of the conventional theories in the social sciences and, specially, in International Relations. The first section is dedicated to the discussion about global civil society as a space of agent-structure interaction; the next section treats the concept as a heterogeneous set of non-state agents of global scope. The

Environmental justice: a form of passive revolution and civil society against capitalist system hegemony

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Ana Keuly Luz Bezerra

2014-12-01

Full Text Available This article aims to discuss the notion of civil society, hegemony and passive revolution in the thoughts of Antonio Gramsci and its relation to the need for implementation of environmental justice. The concept of civil society in Gramsci's view appears as a group of organisms commonly designated as “private”, formed by the organizations responsible for drafting much as the dissemination of ideologies, so understanding the school system, the churches, trade unions, political parties, professional organizations, material culture of the organization, while the concept of hegemony arises within the Marxist tradition as a response to new social settings. Despite its origins in the Russian social democracy and to be present at the thought of Lenin, this concept was developed in a more elaborated by Gramsci. The concept of “passive revolution”, “revolution–restoration” or “evolutionism” is crucial category that Gramsci uses to understand the formation of the modern bourgeois state in Italy (starting from the facts of the Risorgiment o, which culminated in the national unification, to define the fundamental features of the passage of Italian capitalism to step monopoly capitalism and to point fascism as a form of “passive revolution”. It is from this understanding that we use the concept of “passive revolution” to discuss pratics the principles of environmental justice, given that this concept applies to many episodes of the story, as well as more generally, the transition from the industrial model capitalist development of the capitalist system of sustainable development. It consists in a literature review from the work of Gramsci, where it can be concluded that the movements that call for environmental justice in Brazil and the world, mitigated by civil society through a process of passive revolution, based on the insertion of dignity human and the environment as key goals of the state, propose a new model of sustainable

Islamist Civil Society Activism Malaysia Abdullah: Angkatan Belia Islam Malaysia (ABIM) Darul Arqam

OpenAIRE

Hamid, Ahmad Fauzi Abdul

2009-01-01

Without discounting the relevance of such a framework, this article seeks to look at the phenomenon of Islamism in Malaysia from the angle of Islamist civil society movements that are not directly involved in the domain of electoral politics, but that have nonetheless significantly in fenced political behavior of especially the majority Malay-Muslim population of Malaysia. The provisional impact of these new groupings form the main thread in our discussion, which narrows down to an inv...

Dealing with corruption in South African civil society: Orientating Christian communities for their role in a post-apartheid context

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Friedrich W. de Wet

2015-03-01

Full Text Available The way in which the full spectrum of Christian communities are challenged to realign themselves in addressing the impact of corruption on the contemporary South-African society can be a relevant indicator of civil society�s state and functionality in a post-apartheid democratic context. Utilising the interpretative and normative tools of practical-theological research, the researcher attempts to point out markers for Christian communities towards orientating themselves regarding their role in a complex landscape and in an asymmetrically shaped public sphere. The discussion includes an analysis of the current shape of civil society, an interpretation of the complex landscape of perceptions regarding corruption and an overview of the dilemmas faced by some of the major Christian church traditions in the post-apartheid South African context concerning their truthful presence in civil society. The discussion concludes by making a case for the need to anchor the realignment of the prophetic voice and the revitalisation of the transformative presence in a profound and far-reaching theological reorientation. Tension fields that involve critical and constructive action in a situation of endemic corruption cannot be negotiated without ridding the own presence from potential corruptive elements like hidden exclusivity, half-hearted concern and compromise.Intradisciplinary and/or interdisciplinary implications: Making use of the interdisciplinary results of social sciences and civil-society studies, the author provides an overview for Christian communities and their leaders in theologically orientating themselves for an appropriate angle of approach in entering the public sphere with a view on authentic and impactful participation in anti-corruption dialogue and actions. The key finding of the research amounts to the following: Tension fields that involve critical and constructive action in a situation of endemic corruption cannot be negotiated without

Agroecology to Promote Just Sustainability Transitions: Analysis of a Civil Society Network in the Rwenzori Region, Western Uganda

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Ellinor Isgren

2017-08-01

Full Text Available Agroecology is gaining ground within the debate on how to address systemic social and environmental problems in agriculture. However, it remains marginalized in agricultural research and development plans around the world. This paper analyzes agroecology as a socio-technical niche in Uganda, where its emergence in part can be seen as an unintended consequence of neoliberalist development. The case studied is a civil society network that links farmer groups and non-governmental organizations across different levels. Through the analytical lens of regime dimensions, we find that agroecology is practiced as a smallholder-centric approach that champions collective action, locally appropriate technologies, participatory methods in research and extension, and calls for more active state guidance of agricultural change along specific principles. However, two major concerns are raised; the niche converges with the dominant discourse around commercialization, and policy advocacy is hampered by the apolitical history of NGOs and an increasingly tense political climate. These two areas are critical for agroecology to contribute to just sustainability transitions, and civil society organizations with strong links to smallholder farmers need to be included in the growing scholarly debate both to inform it and to receive guidance from it. Transition frameworks can help facilitate the development of viable institutional designs and explicitly transformative strategies, but we also point towards the need for engagement with theories on civil society collective action and political mobilization.

Using information communication technologies to increase the institutional capacity of local health organisations in Africa: a case study of the Kenya Civil Society Portal for Health.

Science.gov (United States)

Juma, Charles; Sundsmo, Aaron; Maket, Boniface; Powell, Richard; Aluoch, Gilbert

2015-01-01

Achieving the healthcare components of the United Nations' Millennium Development Goals is significantly premised on effective service delivery by civil society organisations (CSOs). However, many CSOs across Africalack the necessary capacity to perform this role robustly. This paper reports on an evaluation of the use, and perceived impact, of aknowledge management tool upon institutional strengthening among CSOs working in Kenya's health sector. Three methods were used: analytics data; user satisfaction surveys; and a furtherkey informant survey. Satisfaction with the portal was consistently high, with 99% finding the quality and relevance of the content very good or good for institutional strengthening standards, governance, and planning and resource mobilisation. Critical facilitators to the success of knowledge management for CSO institutional strengthening were identified as people/culture (developed resources and organisational narratives) and technology (easily accessible, enabling information exchange, tools/resources available, access to consultants/partners). Critical barriers were identified as people/culture (database limitations, materials limitations, and lack of active users), and process (limited access, limited interactions, and limited approval process). This pilot study demonstrated the perceived utility of a web-based knowledge management portal among developing nations' CSOs, with widespread satisfaction across multiple domains, which increased over time. Providing increased opportunities for collective mutual learning, promoting a culture of data use for decision making, and encouraging all health organisations to be learning institutions should be a priority for those interested in promoting sustainable long-term solutions for Africa.

How does single party dominance influence civil society organisations' engagement strategies? Exploratory analysis of participative mainstreaming in a 'regional' European polity.

Science.gov (United States)

Chaney, Paul

2016-04-01

A raft of United Nations Treaties, European Union Directives and domestic laws oblige governments in 180 + countries to apply the Participative Democratic Model of mainstreaming equalities to public administration by involving those targeted by equality initiatives at all stages in their design and delivery. Notwithstanding Participative Democratic Model's deeply political nature, extant work has overlooked how governing party turnover influences civil society organisations' (CSOs) strategies. Here, this lacuna is addressed using a negative 'extreme case study' research design involving qualitative accounts from civil society organisations in Wales, a 'regional' European polity characterised by one-party dominance. The findings reveal how the absence of turnover distorts the Participative Democratic Model in relation to diverse factors including: strategic bridging, extraparliamentary politics, cognitive locks and party institutionalisation. Inter alia, the wider contribution of this analysis lies in showing the importance of turnover to effective engagement, the 'pathologies' associated with one-party dominance and the need for adaptive civil society strategies tailored to prevailing electoral politics and governing party turnover in liberal democracies.

The Civil Society Dynamic of Including and Empowering Refugees in Canada’s Urban Centres

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Oliver Schmidtke

2018-03-01

Full Text Available This article addresses the critical role that civil society at the urban level plays in integrating and empowering immigrants and minorities in Canadian society. From a place-based approach, it investigates how key agencies in the local community have been instrumental in including immigrants in general and refugees in particular into the fabric of Canadian society. Empirically the analysis focuses on Neighbourhood Houses in Greater Vancouver and the Privately-Sponsored Refugee program in Canada. With the interpretative lens on the urban context, the article shows how immigrants and refugees have gained agency and voice in the public arena through place-based communities. The insight into these two empirical cases provides the basis for conceptualizing the socio-political dynamics of immigrant settlement and integration in terms of the effects generated by urban governance structures.

For sustainable participation by civil society in Europe in the oversight of nuclear activities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Delalonde, J.C.

2010-01-01

The Aarhus Convention on access to information, public participation in decision-making and access to justice in environmental matters, was signed in 1998 by the European Community and European countries including the 27 Member States of the European Union (EU). That same year, the Committee of the Regions adopted a resolution on nuclear safety and local and regional democracy. These two texts indicate strong political and legal recognition of access to information and participation in the nuclear field. Ten years later, it would seem to be important to observe how these principles are actually implemented. As of 2009, the ANCCLI and the European Commission opened an 18-month European dialogue on the practical application of the Aarhus Convention in the nuclear field. The principle of this approach, called ACN for Aarhus Convention and Nuclear, is to promote feedback about practical application of the Aarhus Convention in the nuclear field in the various European countries, and to share this feedback in order to identify both difficulties and good practices and to initiate progress jointly with the various stakeholders concerned (authorities, civil society, operators, experts, local authorities, etc.). It is also an opportunity to look at the conditions for sustainable participation by civil society in monitoring nuclear issues. (author)

The role of civil society organizations in the institutionalization of indigenous medicine in Bolivia.

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Babis, Deby

2014-12-01

December 2013 marked a significant shift in Bolivia with the enactment of a law for the inclusion of indigenous doctors in the National Health System. This article traces the constellation of forces that led to the institutionalization of indigenous medicine in Bolivia. It identifies three factors contributing to this health policy change. The first factor is the crystallization of a strong indigenous movement fighting for the recognition of cultural rights through the foundation of civil society organizations. Second is the rise to power of Evo Morales, the first Latin American president of indigenous origin, who has promoted multicultural policies, formally supported through the promulgation of a new constitution. Lastly is the influence of the global acceptance of alternative medicine. Indigenous doctor organizations in Bolivia have been highly involved throughout the entire process of institutionalization and have played a crucial role in it. An analysis of the relationship between these civil society organizations and the Bolivian government reveals a strong partnership. This dynamic can be described in terms of Interdependence Theory, as each party relied on the other in the promotion and practice of the law to achieve the integration of indigenous medicine as part of the Bolivian Health System. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Civil Society and Residents’ Coping Strategies with Water Shortages and Household Food Insecurity in Gweru, Zimbabwe

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Winmore Kusena

2017-02-01

Full Text Available Domestic water shortages are distressing many urban areas in developing countries and require well planned and sustainable coping strategies in order to bequeath citizens decent lives. The objectives of this paper were to identify water related civil society groups present in Gweru; reveal devised coping strategies to combat water shortages and household food insecurity; and challenges faced by civil society and residents in obtaining sustainable coping strategies. A survey was conducted through interviews, questionnaires and observations as data collection instruments. The findings show that residents relied on borehole drilled in their respective areas by the municipality, Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs and through individual initiatives. Although public boreholes were available, they were found at an average of only two in a given residential area, regardless of its population. Residents also collected water in containers during late hours of the night or early hours of the day. Gweru residents in addition devised strategies to cope with household food insecurity caused by water shortages and high monthly water bills. Combined with the aforementioned water shortage coping strategies, the stratagem by residents included coming up with payment plans, denying city personnel access into their premises for water disconnection; and self-reconnection in the event of disconnection. Community gardens initiated by Non-Governmental Organisations and food imports from neighbouring countries were some of the adaptive mechanisms dealing with household food insecurity. However, despite resolute efforts by civil society and residents to muddle through water supply and food security challenges, the city needs financial aid to enhance service provision that does not solely relying on residents. Financial injection and investment in sustainable alternative water sources for the city’s multiple uses will go a long way in solving the water shortages and

HIV, sex work, and civil society in China.

Science.gov (United States)

Kaufman, Joan

2011-12-01

Harm reduction programs for sex workers have been hampered by the prioritization of law enforcement over AIDS prevention. For example, the April 2010 "strike-hard" campaign against prostitution in Beijing, during which bars, nightclubs, saunas, and karaoke bars were raided, created an atmosphere that critically impeded human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) outreach activities for sex workers. In China, criminalization has limited the growth of a coherent and cohesive set of nongovernmental organization (NGO) actors working with sex workers to prevent HIV infection. Compared with other risk groups for HIV sexual transmission, such as men who have sex with men, the NGO community for sex workers is fragmented and poorly coordinated with government efforts, and basic rights for sex workers are often violated. This article examines civil society groups working on AIDS prevention and care for female sex workers in China and reviews constraints to their operations. China's HIV prevention programs for sex workers are compared with sex worker HIV prevention in other Asian states where more well-developed NGOs exist and criminalization has been better balanced with harm reduction approaches, and recommendations are offered on improving China's policies and programs.

THE USE OF ICT IN THE MANAGEMENT OF SCHOOLS OF GENERAL EDUCATION IN THE FORMING OF CIVIL SOCIETY

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Sergiy I. Netyosov

2013-03-01

Full Text Available The status and character of the use of ICT in the management of schools of general education and related utilization of information technology in the organization of management of educational institutions with the requirements of the formation of civil society is considered in the article. The author proves that the management of general education institutions involves a significant amount of social information, and the use of ICT in these activities contributes to the inclusion of the public in the mission of education. But the actual state of realization of ICTs in management of secondary schools is mainly directed at the use of technocratic information technology capabilities and the realization of social component in the management of institutions of general education is involved partially, that is an indicator of the rather slow progress of Ukraine toward the establishment of a civil society.

The Emergence of Cambodian Civil Society within Global Educational Governance: A Morphogenetic Approach to Agency and Structure

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Edwards, D. Brent, Jr.; Brehm, William C.

2015-01-01

This paper uses Margaret Archer's morphogenetic approach to analyze the emergence of civil society within global educational governance. The purpose is to understand the intersection of historical structures with global actors and spaces that have accompanied the globalization of education. Based on findings from a study on the impact in Cambodia…

Public and Private Institutions: Educating Civil Society about European Security Concerns

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Rafael Bardají

1997-12-01

Full Text Available As an specialist in strategic studies and political adviser, the author developes three basic ideas in his speech: 1 the objective necessity of strategic thinking to increase defense awareness, with the goal of ameliorating the relations between civil society and the Armed Forces, and to create a strategic culture to help to make more permeable the Administration decision-making process; 2 public and private institutions have to understand each other, despite the fact that tradition and time pressures do negatively weigh on Administration decision-making; 3 both parts –Administration and specialists in security– have to make the effort of becoming more flexible, on the one hand, and more capable of producing relevant studies in political terms, on the other.

Law nr 2015-588 of June 2, 2015 related to the strengthening of the protection of civil nuclear installations housing nuclear materials

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hollande, Francois; Valls, Manuel; Taubira, Christiane; Le Drian, Jean-Yves; Cazeneuve, Bernard

2015-01-01

This publication contains the official text of a law adopted by the French Parliament for the strengthening of civil nuclear installations housing nuclear materials. The first article of this law is made of modifications introduced in the Defence Code. The second article states that a report is to be submitted by the Government to the Parliament on the risk and threat assessment of illegal UAVs flyovers, and on technical solutions to improve the detection and neutralisation of these aircraft, as well as on necessary legal adaptations to punish such infringements

Church’s influence on the development of civil society in Ukraine

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M. V. Melnyk

2016-03-01

Full Text Available The term church refers to a group of people governed by similar rules and beliefs, who congregate in recognition of a higher Being. In most cases the term church and religion are used synonymously. While religions is domesticated by morals that are illuminated by faith, most states are guided by politics whose orientation is generally practical empirical. In most cases the church. Church institutions have long been not only present in public life but directly influence the activity of the Ukrainian authorities. Therefore, the Church has long been performing a mediation mission in settlement of the socio-political conflict in Ukraine, with different intensity going on since the declaration of its independence. That mission lies in the formation of philosophic and moral perceptions of children and adults, inoculation of tolerance / intolerance, etc.  The features of the democratization of the political process in Ukraine and the religious factors influence the formation of a consolidated democracy. It is noted that in today’s political democratization process involves the institutionalization of power and expanding the role of non-political non-governmental actors, which include the religious association. This paper therefore intends to evaluate the relationship between church and civil society in Ukraine. This paper falls under cross cutting themes like religion, values and civil society. However, the start of the transitional period in Ukraine was rather marked with a religious revival. Suppressed by the previous regime, religion in the transition to democracy finally found a way to make itself visible and redefine its position in the new emerging social context. But, what role did religion play in the period of post-communist transition? The authors will employ philosophical methodology. This method involves analyzing issues and rationalizing. The data that will be used includes mainly secondary data. This includes information that is

True progress is tobacco-free campaign: engaging civil society to implement FCTC Article 5.3 in the Philippines

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Ralph Emerson Degollacion

2018-03-01

The campaign is not yet over. It´s has taught us to be creative, flexible, and patient. Educating civil society about the true intentions of the tobacco industry is a fight worth pursuing. Sustained financial and technical support is needed in order to reach more groups in the country.

State-Funded Activism: Lessons from Civil Society Organizations in Ireland

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Anna Visser

2016-03-01

Full Text Available Civil society organizations (CSOs in Ireland receive significant state funding and institutional support according to the logic that they are important contributors to democratic governance, with the effect that the CSO sector has expanded and become more embedded in formal decision-making processes over the past several decades. At the same time, dependency on government funding exposes CSOs to three important challenges: to stay true to activist mandates in the face of pressure from state funders to focus on service provision; to maintain accountability to constituents while also satisfying the vertically oriented accountability requirements of the state; and to nurture collaboration among CSOs in a context of competition for state funding. University-based activists, who are also reliant on (increasingly scarce government funding, face similar challenges, and therefore should pay more attention to debates regarding state funding in the CSO sphere. By working together to overcome common challenges associated with state funding, activists in both spheres can more effectively contribute to progressive social change.

Educação e desafios da multiculturalização: uma pedagogia da sociedade civil Education and the challenges of multi-culturalization: pedagogy of civil society

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Manuel Barbosa

2010-12-01

Full Text Available A progressiva complexificação cultural das sociedades contemporâneas, que se seguiu à extraordinária aceleração da mobilidade e da movimentação das pessoas através das fronteiras dos Estados, vem criando enormes desafios à coesão e à convivência no interior desses cenários e exige, em respeito aos princípios fundamentais da democracia e aos direitos humanos, respostas urgentes e adequadas. As entidades governamentais, por meio de políticas sociais e culturais de antidiscriminação e de redistribuição de bens e serviços, são necessárias ao desenho dessas respostas, porém, não são suficientes para induzir a estima social pelos estranhos culturais, em particular os recém-chegados aos países economicamente mais estáveis e avançados. O apreço pelos outros culturalmente diferentes depende essencialmente de uma mudança de atitudes e comportamentos e estes só podem evoluir para formas mais amigas das diferenças culturais com a contribuição da sociedade civil mediante uma pedagogia do exemplo, centrada em novos valores, novas atitudes, novos olhares e novos comportamentos. Este texto, a partir da análise e da reflexão sobre essa problemática, argumenta em favor do papel educativo da sociedade civil na organização da vida em comum entre estranhos culturais e propõe as linhas mestras da pedagogia que redefine a agenda educativa dessa sociedade em contextos multiculturais.The progressive cultural complexity of contemporary societies in the wake of the extraordinary acceleration of mobility and of people's movement across state frontiers is creating enormous challenges for cohesion and living within those scenarios, and requires, in a framework of respect for fundamental principles of democracy and human rights, urgent and appropriate responses. The governmental agencies, through policies of social and cultural anti-discrimination and redistribution of goods and services, are necessary to the design of these

Australian Muslim civil society organisations: Pathways to social inclusion

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Nora Shikeen Amath

2015-09-01

Full Text Available There is great interest on issues related to Muslims and Islam; however, a large concentration of the scholarly literature as well as media and political discourses focus predominantly on political issues and actions related to fundamentalism, radicalisation, militancy and terrorism. The dominance of these issues in the discourses does not provide a holistic understanding of Muslims, particularly their role, place and identity as minorities in a Western society. Indeed, we know relatively little about the larger number of Muslim political actors engaged in civil society, especially those involved in creating pathways to social inclusion. Utilising descriptive phenomenology, this paper explores the complex issues of social inclusion and the Australian Muslim communities. Underpinning this discussion is the theory of social capital; as noted by a number of scholars and social policy experts, the theory of social inclusion alone is inadequate and ineffective in creating participation, equality and cohesion. This paper also observes that while many reports and studies provide pragmatic suggestions on how to work towards the social inclusion of Australian Muslims, the concentration on these suggestions tend to focus on how the government can provide these solutions. What is lacking in the literature is the recognition of the Australian Muslim community’s role and agency in initiating and executing the programs needed to address such issues of social exclusion. The 30 unstructured phenomenological interviews demonstrate that Australian MCSOs are proactively engaging with their communities to ensure that they are responding appropriately to these issues. Moreover, they are creating pathways and access for Australian Muslims to better participate, engage in and contribute to mainstream society. In particular, the MCSO actors revealed four themes related to social inclusion: supporting participation in education and training, facilitating participation

For the youth : juvenile delinquency, colonial civil society and the late colonial state in the Netherlands Indies, 1872-1942

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Dirks, Annelieke

2011-01-01

This dissertation project focuses on forced re-education policies for juvenile delinquents in the Netherlands Indies (now Indonesia) and uses this topic to show the interaction between a 'modernizing' Dutch colonial state and the growth of a colonial civil society, between approximately 1872 and

The ambiguities of the 'partnership' between civil society and the state in Uganda's AIDS response during the 1990s and 2000s as demonstrated in the development of TASO.

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Grebe, Eduard

2016-01-01

This article critically investigates state-civil society relations in the Ugandan AIDS response by tracing the history of Uganda's 'multisectoral' and 'partnership' approaches, particularly as it pertains to The AIDS Support Organisation (TASO). It finds that the Ugandan government's reputation for good leadership on AIDS is more ambiguous than commonly supposed and that the much-vaunted 'partnership' approach has not enabled strong critical civil society voices to emerge or prevented the harmful impact of a socially conservative agenda. By the 1990s, TASO had become the most important provider of medical and psychosocial support services to HIV/AIDS patients, but was less effective in influencing policy or holding the state accountable (because the political context prevented a more activist stance). The effectiveness of civil society has been constrained by an authoritarian political culture and institutions that discourage vocal criticism. Despite these limitations, however, state-civil society partnership did contribute to the emergence of a relatively effective coalition for action against HIV/AIDS. Donors were essential in encouraging the emergence of this coalition.

Les ressorts de l’essor de la société civile en Guadeloupe Springs of expansion of civil society in Guadeloupe

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Murielle Vairac

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Les effets de la crise du capitalisme se sont traduits en Guadeloupe en janvier 2009 par un mouvement social sans précédent, dirigé par un collectif qui a suscité l’adhésion en raison de son expression du malaise social et de la gestion des revendications adressées au gouvernement. Ce mouvement social est innovant en Guadeloupe en raison de la pluralité des acteurs et de la nature de ses revendications. C’est donc sur son sens qu’il convient de s’interroger. Une société civile s’est réveillée créant de nouveaux espaces de débat.Capitalism’s crisis effects resulted in social movement unprecedented led by a group that mobilized in the style of expressing unrest and managing demands that were sent to French government. This social movement is new in Guadeloupe because of variety actions and type of demands. It’s therefore necessary to consider its meaning: a civil society woke up creating new spaces for debate.

State-Civil Society Partnership: issues for debate and new researches [Parceria entre o Estado e a Sociedade Civil: pontos para o debate e novas pesquisas

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Mário Vasconcellos

2011-12-01

Full Text Available In this paper we look at the literature related to partnership between state and civil society, especially partnership between public and non-for-profi t organisations. We discuss the differing perspectives of partnership and attempt to identify some of the main theoretical concerns about partnership between state and civil society in the governance context. In this paper, we argue that the historical background of partnership has not been included among factors used in explaining the resort to partnership in governance. In spite of existing analyses showing that partnership brings social benefi ts in their own right, we try to show that there is no evidence that this ‘social technology’ contributes effectively to bringing power to powerless people and social groups. Most of the literature shows that partnership tries to make relationship between local people and local governance stronger and improve the possibilities for powerless people and social groups to participate in local governance. However, we do not fi nd clear evidence in the literature that partnership allows for a shift in political power. Finally, we show that it is unclear whether the interaction between ordinary people and the state through a participatory process has successfully helped to build social cohesiveness for different social groups. The main contribution of this paper is to expand the understanding of the factors that infl uence the process of partnership between state and civil society (positively and negatively for local development. ---- Parceria entre o Estado e a Sociedade Civil: pontos para o debate e novas pesquisas ---- Resumo ---- Neste artigo analisamos a literatura de parceria entre o estado e a sociedade civil, em particular sobre a parceria entre as organizações públicas e as organizações sem fins lucrativos. Discutimos as diferentes perspectivas do conceito de parceria e objetivamos destacar algumas das principais preocupações teóricas sobre

Improving the police activities in ensuring the constitutional rights and freedoms of man and citizen and interaction with civil society institutions: comprehensive measures

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Kirichek E.V.

2014-12-01

Full Text Available Russian police reform is another important step to modernize the country and public administration system. The main purpose of ongoing reforms is to create the modern and efficient law enforcement system, to form a new image of police officer in the XXI century and to change the social role of law enforcement agencies in society. Unfortunately, the results expected by society aren’t achieved. It’s stated that the reform is only at its beginning, many decisions are still to be made and implemented. The main focus is on comprehensive measures aimed at improving the police activities in ensuring the constitutional rights and freedoms of man and citizen and interaction with civil society institutions. Some features and problems of interaction between police and civil society institutions are considered. Statistics is provided. A number of constructive conclusions concerning further progressive development of interaction of police with civil society institutions are made. Despite the significant number of papers devoted to these issues, it’s necessary to note the insufficient elaboration of problems in this area. The reason is the ongoing reforms in Russia in general and police reform in particular, the instability of the current legislation regulating these issues. A lack of a clear concept of the reform, arising from a clear understanding of the police role and functions, is evident. These and other circumstances determine the topicality and practical importance of the research, the necessity of studying the peculiarities of police activities to improve its efficiency. They also indicate the need for scientific and practical recommendations.

The Idea to Promote the Development of E-Government in the Civil Aviation System

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Renliang, Jiang

E-government has a significant impact on the organizational structure, working mechanism, operating methods and behavior patterns of the civil aviation administration department.The purpose of this research is to find some countermeasures propelling the electronization, network and office automation of the civil aviation system.The method used in the study was field and literature research.The studies showed that government departments in the civil aviation system could promote the development of e-government further by promoting open administration and implementing democratic and scientific decision-making, strengthening the popularization of information technology and information technology training on civil servants, paying attention to the integration and sharing of information resources, formulating a standard e-government system for the civil aviation system, developing the legal security system for the e-government and strengthening the network security.

A CRITICAL ASSESSMENT OF THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION’S CIVIL SOCIETY DISCOURSE AND SOCIAL PLATFORM OF EUROPEAN NGOs

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

KUTAY, RIZA ACAR

2011-01-01

European NGO network, the Social Platform of European NGOs. The common understanding conceives of these organizations as conducive to democratization of EU governance within the scope of participatory democracy. However, I endeavour to argue that the Commission has had an aim to make use of the civil...... society discourse for its institutional interests, while intentionally and unintentionally shaping (and reshaping) civic action in Europe. Participatory democracy project, which is promoted by the Commission, can be seen as a deliberate venture of shaping civic action and state-society relationships......, which has been particularly created by the Commission to disperse the participatory democracy and good governance discourse in Europe....

Civil Society and Paths to Abolition

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Seymour DRESCHER

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Abstract Through a comparative analysis, this article aims to present an overview of British, French, Russian, American and Brazilian abolitionist action, between the late eighteenth century and throughout the nineteenth century. Indicating the struggles of pro-abolition civil associations, the paths taken in Britain, France, the US and Brazil are presented in parallel - either to emphasize approaches, either to highlight the undeniable peculiarities - revealing the marks of violence and negotiation present in the emancipation process.

Locating the fourth helix: Rethinking the role of civil society in developing smart learning cities

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Borkowska, Katarzyna; Osborne, Michael

2018-06-01

In the Global North and increasingly in the Global South, smart city technologies are enthusiastically seen as a solution to urban problems and as an alternative to austerity. However, to move beyond a narrow technological focus, it is necessary to explore the degree to which smart initiatives are committed to building socially inclusive innovation with learning at its core. Using the particular case of the Future City Demonstrator Initiative in Glasgow, United Kingdom, the most high-profile initiative of its kind funded by government, the authors of this article assess the extent to which this smart city adopts such an inclusive approach. They use the quadruple helix model (government - academia - industry - civil society) as a starting point and develop an analytic framework composed of four strands: (1) supporting participation of citizens in decision-making; (2) implementing technological innovation which positions citizens as active users; (3) implementing technological innovation to benefit the community; and (4) evaluating technological innovation in the light of the experiences and needs of citizens. Unlike most analyses, the principal focus of this article is on the fourth element of the helix, civil society. The authors argue that Glasgow's rhetoric of smart urbanism, while aspiring to problem-solving, devalues certain principles of human agency. They emphasise that urban change, including the city's desire to become technologically innovative, would more fully facilitate active citizenship, social inclusion and learning opportunities for all if it were underpinned by the broader conceptions and frameworks of learning cities.

What role for government? The promotion of civil society through forestry-related climate change interventions in post-conflict Nepal

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rutt, Rebecca Leigh; Lund, Jens Friis

2014-01-01

This study examines rationales behind the choice of local interlocutors by forestry-related climate change projects in post-conflict Nepal. In their stated objectives, all projects claim to involve the government, and most project decision makers are in favor of government involvement, yet project...... resources overwhelmingly favor civil society institutions. Project decision makers’ choices are shaped by a combination of donor conditionalities, contextual constraints, and beliefs about which institutional attributes matter and how to address historical marginalization. The projects’ empowerment of civil...... and collectively reassess the role of forestry-related climate change projects in the larger process of post-conflict reconstruction in Nepal....

Civil Society Organizations’ Participation in the EU and Its Challenges for Democratic Representation

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Nicolle Zeegers

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Online consultations and the European Citizens’ Initiative (ECI are tools that have been put into place by the European Union (EU in order to increase the participation of citizens and Civil Society Organizations (CSO in its politics and policy making. The current CSO representation at the system level of the EU is claimed to be biased in favor of the interests of economic producers and CSOs coming from old member states. The central question of this article is whether these tools help make participation more representative of the diversity of societal groups within the EU. The concept of ‘actor representativeness’ as well as ‘discourse representativeness’ will be applied in order to answer this question.

New actors in environmental management: The case of the civil society in Ensenada

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Nain Martínez

2014-01-01

Full Text Available The environment is a complex space where multiple interests converge, so the traditional government has been insufficient to respond to the new demands of the environmental management. In this sense, the theory governance suggests a bigger role for social actors in decision-making for a more effective resolution of environmental problems. This article focuses on the Civil Society Organizations (cso’s of Ensenada, due to its relevance in the public sphere and the ecological value of the area. Twenty two csos, its participants and the network of actors were characterized through a survey. It was found that three types of csos are focusing on the conservation agenda and urban sustainability.

Arab Civil Society and Education in Israel: The Arab Pedagogical Council as a Contentious Performance to Achieve National Recognition

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Agbaria, Ayman K.

2015-01-01

Focusing on recent developments in the field of education, this article grapples with the educational activism of Arab civil society in Israel. Specifically, it presents a case study of a recent initiative to establish an independent Arab Pedagogical Council (APC). I argue that this initiative, although controversial and challenging to the very…

Maps and civilization cartography in culture and society

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Thrower, Norman J W

2008-01-01

In this concise introduction to the history of cartography, Norman J. W. Thrower charts the intimate links between maps and history from antiquity to the present day. A wealth of illustrations, including the oldest known map and contemporary examples made using Geographical Information Systems (GIS), illuminate the many ways in which various human cultures have interpreted spatial relationships.The third edition of Maps and Civilization incorporates numerous revisions, features new material throughout the book, and includes a new alphabetized bibliography. Praise for previous editions of Maps and Civilization:"A marvelous compendium of map lore. Anyone truly interested in the development of cartography will want to have his or her own copy to annotate, underline, and index for handy referencing."-L. M. Sebert, Geomatica

Sociedad civil: una concepción radical

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Domingo García Marzá

2012-02-01

Full Text Available El presente trabajo tiene como objetivos presentar un concepto de sociedad civil desde una perspectiva crítica, una perspectiva que pueda dar razón del potencial de cambio y transformación social que encierra este ámbito de la interacción social. Con este fin, se adentra en primer lugar en la difícil relación entre democracia y sociedad civil, analizándola desde el paso de las democracias participativas a las democracias deliberativas. El carácter global de la sociedad civil y los problemas de realización práctica nos conducen, en segundo lugar, a la discusión de la propuesta de autores como J. Habermas y M. Kaldor, destacando las insuficiencias de sus respectivos enfoques. A continuación, y en discusión con los trabajos de J. Keane, se presenta una propuesta de definición y fundamentación del concepto de sociedad civil apoyado en una hermenéutica crítica, capaz de justificar su núcleo moral como ética de la sociedad civil y, al mismo tiempo, de sus posibilidades reales de aplicación. Por último, se propone el concepto de recursos morales para reconstruir las características básicas que definen a los recursos propios de la sociedad civil.The objective of this paper is to present a concept of civil society from a critical perspective that can explain the potential for change and social transformation encompassed within this sphere of social interaction. To this end, we first explore the difficult relationship between democracy and civil society, through an analysis of the shift from participative to deliberative democracy. The global character of civil society and the problems of its practical achievement lead us, in a second stage, to discuss proposals from authors such as J. Habermas and M. Kaldor, and to uncover the inadequacies of their respective approaches. This is followed by a proposal, arising from debate on the works of J. Keane, in which the concept of civil society is defined and grounded �

马克思对黑格尔市民社会理论的批判与超越%Marx＇s Critism and Transecendence on the Theory of Hegel＇s Civil Society

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

袁春剑

2011-01-01

市民社会在马克思早期著作中占有重要的地位，在遇到林木盗窃法以及关于摩塞尔地区农民贫困原因的论战等物质利益的困惑后使他感到黑格尔国家和现实的对立。马克思通过对黑格尔市民社会理论的批判认识到市民社会决定国家和法，并促使他从政治经济学中去解剖市民社会，从而实现对黑格尔市民社会理论的超越。%Civil society has played an important role in Marx＇s early works.After the confusion of the Act of Stealing Wood and the material interest,such as the debate about the reason of the famers＇ poverty in Moser,he sensed the antithesis between the Hegel＇s nation and the reality.Marx realized that civil society decided the country and law by criticizing the theory of Hegel＇ s civil society,which impels him to dissect the civil society from plutonomy.Then it surpassed the theory of Hegel＇s civil society.

Depoliticizing the politicized? : the effects of the EU’s civil society funding in the context of hegemonic struggles in Turkey

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Muehlenhoff, H.L.M.

2015-01-01

In my dissertation I analyze the effects of the European Union’s (EU) funding of human rights organizations in Turkey between 2002 and 2013. I argue that the EU’s funding is based on liberal as well neo-liberal governmentality which may politicize and/or depoliticize civil society organizations

Captivity mark as Foundation of Civil Liability for Risk in Prol Consumer

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Fernando Antônio de Vasconcelos

2016-06-01

Full Text Available The postmodern society can be seen as risk society. From the Ulrich Beck’s idea that the acquired knowledge allows the current development model, but its generates uncontrollable risks, this study attempts to make a validation of trademark captivity theory as the basis for civil liability for risk. The strength of the brands as fundamental goals in today’s economic process is seen as a vector of liability for consumers as a vulnerable class. The difficulty of consumers in the process of accountability for damages suffered in their relations is still present. The supply process is complex and is formed by a network arrangements which stresses the consumer’s vulnerability. The trademark captivity allows the identification of an economic group participants by sharing the brand. The proposal in this article, is to strengthen the idea of   captivity mark as accountability paradigm from the brand with the theory of risk, examining its feasibility framing the sole paragraph of Article 927 of the Brazilian Civil Code.The methodology will be based on a legal-economic aspect and depart from an inductive analysis and bibliographic surveys, with the theoretical framework of Ulrich Beck, Antonny Giddens and Claudia Lima Marques.

Two faces of global open society

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Cvetićanin Neven

2008-01-01

Full Text Available The Essay considers 'the rule' of the so called post-civil political centre that corresponds to the familiar concept of open society, questioning the good as well as the bad sides of such 'rule'. The research is in the first place about global open society stability and attention is addressed to its present enemies - from terrorism, over organized crime, all the way to the so called local legitimates that are confronting the universal and global legitimates represented by the followers of the open society from the post civil political centre area. The Essay presents the debate with Fukuyama's thesis about the 'end of history' considering that open society, i.e. global post civil political centre has visible enemies who do not allow for dialectics of history to stand still as Fukuyama believed. Instead of Fukuyama's 'end of history' the Essay comes to the conclusion that present global situation is marked by post-modern opposition of liberal-democratic post civil centre and extreme anti civil margins, with reference to the opposition of open society and its enemies, which will put under limits further steps of history towards new socio-historical forms.

Engagement citoyen et société civile

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Gautier Pirotte

2009-11-01

Full Text Available Cet article cherche à rapprocher par la réflexion la notion de société civile de celle de l’engagement citoyen à partir de l’expérience postcommuniste roumaine. Si le domaine de la société civile ne concentre pas tous les phénomènes d’engagement citoyen, il demeure néanmoins un espace privilégié d’expression de cet engagement. La question qui anime ce texte est assez simple : comment envisager l’étude de l’engagement du citoyen à l’intérieur des nouvelles sociétés civiles d’Europe Centrale et Orientale, et plus spécifiquement au sein de la nouvelle société civile roumaine ? Cette interrogation, si simple soit-elle, se révèle bien vite plus complexe si l’on tient compte des problèmes que soulèvent à la fois les concepts de société civile et d’engagement mobilisés ici mais aussi l’expérience postcommuniste souvent abordée de manière homogène alors qu’elle se révèle empiriquement très hétéroclite.Citizen commitment and civil society. A reflexion based upon the Romanian project of post-communist civil societyUsing the post-communist experience in Romania, this article reflects upon the way to bring together the concepts of civil society and citizen commitment. Whilst civil society does not concentrate all the phenomena of citizenship, the concept remains nonetheless a privileged expression of citizen commitment. The question underlying this text is relatively simple: how should the study of citizen commitment be approached within the new civil societies of Central and Eastern Europe, and more specifically within the new Romanian civil society ? As simple as it may appear, the question becomes rapidly more complex as soon as the problems deriding from the concepts of civil society and citizen commitment themselves are taken into consideration but also because the post-communist experience is often treated in a homogeneous way whilst it is in fact empirically very heterogeneous

Western Interventions in Current Wars: Political Justification and Civil Society´s Response

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Noelia Bueno Gómez

2017-01-01

Full Text Available On the one hand, it seems to be an agreement in Western countries in favor of values included in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. On the other hand, Western countries initiate or intervene in armed conflicts outside their territories, which implies actions contrary to such values. This article examines this apparent contradiction: it describes briefly the international context of contemporary conflicts and it refers to the just-war tradition in order to analyze both the position of the Charter of the United Nations and the justifications given by Western countries. Moreover, the arguments used by the US and the Spanish Governments to justify their interventions in the Afghanistan (2001 and Iraq (2008 wars, and the responses of civil society are considered.

Influencing Student Beliefs about the Role of the Civil Engineer in Society

Science.gov (United States)

Nesbit, Susan E.; Sianchuk, Robert; Aleksejuniene, Jolanta; Kindiak, Rebecca

2012-01-01

This study suggests that community service learning experiences facilitate the reconstruction of civil engineering student beliefs about both the type of work performed by civil engineers and the broad impact of civil engineering knowledge. Further, the service learning experiences highlight for students 1) the importance of relationships between…

Re-thinking civil disobedience

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Theresa Züger

2013-11-01

Full Text Available This article points out a struggle of today’s societies with the traditional concepts of civil disobedience and stresses the need for reevaluation of the concept of civil disobedience for policy making and public discourse. Starting with a minimal definition of civil disobedience, the article introduces Hannah Arendt’s approach for a legitimisation of civil disobedience and discusses her ideas for digital actions, which are increasingly framed as digital forms of civil disobedience. Addressing WikiLeaks as an example of digital civil disobedience, the author problematises the internal secrecy of WikiLeaks and the focus on Julian Assange as a single decision-maker. Both aspects challenge Arendt’s understanding of legitimate civil disobedience. Even though traditional criteria of civil disobedience need to be revisited in the digital age, organisations or disobedience actors might themselves in their actions be well-advised to comply with the principles they fight for.

Transition to a post-carbon society: Linking environmental justice and just transition discourses

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Evans, Geoff; Phelan, Liam

2016-01-01

The Hunter Valley, in New South Wales, Australia, is a globally significant coal mining and exporting region. The Hunter economy's strong basis in fossil fuel production and consumption is challenged by civil society campaigns employing environmental justice discourses. This paper analyses how two civil society campaigns in the Hunter region (‘Stop T4′ and 'Groundswell’) have countered the regional hegemony of fossil fuel interests from an environmental justice perspective. However, the discursive dominance of the 'jobs versus environment’ frame hinders efforts to build solidarity amongst local environmental justice goals on the one hand, and workers and union aspirations for secure, quality jobs on the other. Long-term structural decline of global coal markets adds pressure for economic transition. We argue that campaigns to open up possibilities for transition away from fossil fuel dependency to a post-carbon society can be strengthened by engaging with the 'just transition’ discourses that are typically associated with organised labour. Doing so can create synergy for social change by aligning community and labour movement interests. Inclusive social movement partnerships around this synergy must address structural disadvantage that creates social and economic insecurity if communities are to prevail over the fossil fuel sector's hegemony. - Highlights: • Jobs versus environment. • Environmental justice. • Just transition. • Counter-hegemonic forces.

The effects of national and international HIV/AIDS funding and governance mechanisms on the development of civil-society responses to HIV/AIDS in East and Southern Africa.

Science.gov (United States)

Kelly, Kevin J; Birdsall, Karen

2010-01-01

The study takes stock of the exponential growth in the number of new civil-society organisations (CSOs) working in the HIV/AIDS field in East and Southern Africa during the period 1996-2004. We researched this development through a survey of 439 CSOs in six countries and case studies focused on the evolution of community responses to HIV/AIDS in specific communities in eight countries. We describe the types of CSOs that emerged, their relationships with governments and donors, and their activities, organisational characteristics and funding requirements. The data presented show that the vision of social mobilisation of HIV/AIDS responses through community-level organisations has faced strong external challenges. Evidence from survey data, national HIV/AIDS spending assessments and case studies shows that in some respects the changing international aid environment undermines the prospects for development of the civil-society sector's contributions in HIV/AIDS responses. Of particular interest is to understand how the "Three Ones" and the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness have reshaped international funding for HIV/AIDS responses. There has been relatively little attention paid to the impact of the new management and funding modalities--including national performance frameworks, general budget support, joint funding arrangements and basket funds--on civil-society agencies at the forefront of community HIV/AIDS responses. Evidence is presented to show that in important respects the new modalities limit the unique contribution that CSOs can make to national HIV/AIDS responses. It is also shown that the drive to rapidly intensify the scale of HIV/AIDS responses has involved using community organisations as service providers for externally formulated programmes. We discuss this as a strong threat to the development of sustainable civil-society economies as well as to CSOs' diversity and responsiveness. The ways in which CSOs are responding to these challenges are

El actor aglutinante: Nacionalismo y sociedad civil en Quebec.

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Pablo Giori

2016-10-01

Full Text Available This article aims to reconstruct the history of civil society in Quebec (Canada to relate it with nationalism, the rise of the welfare state, trade unions, Catholic Church and civil society, the dynamic forces of society. Through in-depth interviews with key leaders, exploration of institutional archives and specific literature, we work with a particular case that, when compared to Catalonia, will allow us to evaluate the importance of civil society within nationalism. This actor is not usually considered as the central subject of researches and rarely token into account, unlike political parties, their leaders or intellectuals. Currently, in a context of crisis of the state and political parties, it has begun to be considered that civil society can be a key factor for its ability to produce alliances between sectors, build hegemony and dialogue directly with the population. The study is divided into four parts: 1 the development of the theoretical framework along with the construction of the object of study and the hypotheses; 2 an analysis about the importance of the involvement of civil society in the construction of the nationalist movement in Quebec; 3 a comparison with the Catalan case; and, 4 finally some conclusions.

Challenges to Reducing Discrimination and Health Inequity Through Existing Civil Rights Laws

Science.gov (United States)

Chandra, Amitabh; Frakes, Michael; Malani, Anup

2017-01-01

Fifty years after the passage of Civil Rights Act, minority healthcare remains separate and unequal. We combine insights from Civil Rights Law and research on racial-disparities to understand whether stronger enforcement of existing Civil Rights laws would improve minority healthcare today, or whether complementary approaches are also necessary. Despite earlier success, modern challenges to improving minority healthcare are different than those confronted during de jure segregation. We review these challenges and the potential effectiveness of existing Civil Rights legislation in overcoming them. We conclude that enforcement could be strengthened by executive orders that strengthen existing laws, but Congressional action would be required to allow private individuals to bring suits against discriminatory providers. We contrast the relative benefits of this approach to wider non-litigation-based solutions. We conclude that a combination of the two approaches would better address the challenge of improving minority healthcare in the 21st century. PMID:28583962

Morocco in transition: Democracy, civil society and human development / Marruecos en transición: democracia, sociedad civil y desarrollo humano

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Silvia Mª Dorado Nogueras

2011-10-01

Full Text Available This article reflects an overview of the current socio-political situation in Morocco, a country with great relationship and link with Spain he has played, plays and will play an important role in the current geopolitical map. It provides a generic touch on developments in this country in recent years after the death of Hassan II, until the reign of Mohammed VI, and a new way to understand and address the political situation in the country. After a brief overview of the concepts and important events in recent years, will deepen the important role of civil society in all its manifestations and the importance of human development in this context and its relationship to democracy, to really reflect on whether human development in Morocco is producing the most appropriate according to the parameters in the theoretical and practical underpinning.

Civil society involvement in informing population on potential risks of nuclear power

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Georgescu, C.; Andrei, L.

1996-01-01

In 1977 the town Cernavoda, Romania has been selected for the construction of the first Romanian Nuclear Power Plant provided with five CANDU type reactors, planned, at that time, to cover one third of the country power demand. The first Cernavoda Unit has been commissioned on December 2, 1996. The paper presents the preoccupation of different non-governmental organizations with respect to the impact of the nuclear plant operation on the environment and public health and, more generally, of the Uranium mining, heavy water production plants and radioactive waste disposal problems. Such issues, concerning the the energy efficiency and the nuclear power problems in Romania were not exposed so far to the public debate and little, if any, reliable information was provided to the population. The paper stresses the role of civil society in informing population on the risks implied by the nuclear power projects. 2 refs

Some Partners Are More Equal than Others: EFA and Civil Society in Papua New Guinea and Vanuatu Education Policy Processes

Science.gov (United States)

McCormick, Alexandra

2011-01-01

This article considers a parallel marginalisation of Education for All (EFA) as a holistic approach to education, and the civil society actors and coalitions who address sidelined Dakar goals of early childhood care and education, adult literacy, quality and non-formal education. I argue that in spite of over two decades of EFA rhetoric prizing…

Chernobyl catastrophe and establishment of civil society in Ukraine

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Scherbak, Yuri

2013-01-01

Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Ukraine described secret exhibition for Chernobyl accident and a civil movement called the Green World movement. Chernobyl accident had also a great impact on the government and society in such totalitarian state as the Soviet Union was in 1986. Soviet authorities took unprecedented measures to block any information about the nature of explosion levels and number of victims. In 1987, a group of writers and scientists from the Academy of Science of Ukraine established 'Green World'. Green World received serious support from the quasi-nongovernmental organization. The main principles of the Green World were the following: (1) the primacy of environment over economy and politics; (2) democracy and full transparency in environmental issues; (3) all-people's participation in solving environmental issues; (4) combination of scientific and humanistic principles; (5) environmentalization of education and awareness-raising. The author was elected a member of the Soviet Union Parliament, and head of the Subcommittee for Nuclear Energy and Environment of the Parliamentary Committee for Environmental Issues. The 1990 Chernobyl Declaration stated the following; 'It was established that the full burden of the responsibility for the catastrophe should be placed on the state, its authorities and leadership, guilty of criminal actions, along with the political leadership of republics, who created a command-administrative bureaucratic system with its totalitarian regime.' (N.T.)

[Funding of a free healthcare campaign in a rural district of Cameroon: optimizing the role of civil society in sub-Saharan Africa].

Science.gov (United States)

Keugoung, B; Fouelifack Ymele, F; Dongtsa Mabou, J; Nangue, C; Ngouadjio Kougoum, P; Takoudjou, L; Hercot, D; Meli, J

2013-05-01

Financial barriers represent a major obstacle to access to health care in sub-Saharan Africa and thus to the implementation of the Bamako Initiative. We describe an experience in which a civil society organization financed a free healthcare campaign in a rural health district in Cameroon. In all, 2,073 patients received free consultations, laboratory tests, and drugs. Adults older than 40 years accounted for 55.7% of all patients. The most frequent diseases were: osteoarticular conditions (24.1%), malaria (20.8%), and intestinal parasitosis (12.5%). In health systems financed mainly by cost recovery, some population needs remain uncovered by health services. There is a need to involve and reinforce the role of civil society in health system financing. It can help to pool more funds and improve the management of health resources to increase financial access to health care for poor people.

Nuclear energy and civilization

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Soentono, S.

1996-01-01

The role of energy is indeed very important since without it there will be no living-things in this world. A country's ability to cultivate energy determines the levels of her civilization and wealth. Sufficient energy supply is needed for economic growth, industrialization, and modernization. In a modern civilization, the prosperity and security of a country depends more on the capability of her people rather than the wealth of her natural resources. Energy supplies the wealth, prosperity and security, and sufficient reliable continuous supply of energy secures the sustainable development. The energy supply to sustain the development has to improve the quality of life covering also the quality of environment to support the ever increasing demand of human race civilization. Energy has a closer relationship with civilization in a modern society and will have to become even closer in the future more civilized and more modern society. The utilization of nuclear energy has, however, some problems and challenges, e.g. misleading information and understanding which need serious efforts for public information, public relation, and public acceptance, and possible deviation of nuclear materials for non-peaceful uses which needs serious efforts for technological and administrative barriers, precaution, prevention, safety, physical protection, safeguard, and transparency. These require cooperation among nuclear community. The cooperation should be more pronounced by heterogeneous growing Asian countries to reach harmony for mutual benefits toward better civilization. (J.P.N.)

Strengthening Canada's nuclear liability regime

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

McCauley, D.; Henault, J.

2014-01-01

On January 30, 2014, a Bill entitled the Energy Safety and Security Act, was introduced in Parliament that, among other things, would strengthen Canada's nuclear civil liability legislation by replacing the current Nuclear Liability Act. The proposed legislation also includes implementing provisions that would permit Canada to join the International Atomic Energy Agency's Convention on Supplementary Compensation for Nuclear Damage. This paper will discuss the importance of a comprehensive civil liability regime for nuclear damage to a country's legislative framework for nuclear development and will present the key elements of Canada's new legislation and the policy considerations behind them. (author))

The impact of spiritual and moral values of the youth on the Russian society civil culture

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N A Tkacheva

2017-12-01

Full Text Available The authors conducted a sociological analysis of the spiritual and moral values of the youth and their impact on the civil culture, which largely determines the forms of individual and group social activity and the functioning of social institutions. The implementation of the key function of values, i.e. the achievement of material goods and the spiritual development, to a certain extent, will allow to overcome the cultural gap between elites and common citizens, which is considered one of the main reasons for the failure of reforms in Russia. The study of transformation processes determined great interest in the social potential of the youth as a subject of social reproduction, and the civil culture is a key factor and element of modernization for it changes and activates value orientations of the younger generations and leads to the qualitative transformations of all spheres of society. The article is based on the empirical data of a number of sociological surveys conducted in 2016 in five cities of the south of the Tyumen Region. The empirical data prove that there is an obvious emerging shift from paternalistic expectations, passivity and low estimates of the future to the rationality, individualization and self-reliance. The authors emphasize the influence of mass media as one of the factors of the civil culture formation, which is evident in the impact of media on the moral and spiritual values of the younger generations.

National and transnational strategies of LGBT civil society organizations in different political environments : Modes of interaction in Western and Eastern Europe for equality

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Holzhacker, Ronald

This article focuses on the national and transnational strategies of five European Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender civil society organizations (CSOs) pressing for equality and non-discrimination. We present three modes of interaction between CSOs and their political environment. The first

Civil liberties and nuclear terrorism

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Goldberg, S.

1987-01-01

The importance of preventing nuclear terrorism is so great that it is easy to believe that the usual concern with civil liberties must take a back seat. But it is precisely when emergencies are invoked that the authors must not forget the importance of freedoms. Emergency powers are easily abused, and, even in the absence of abuse, mistakes can be made. It is hard to understand why they care about civil liberties if every suspect is guilty, every wiretap is necessary, and every search is justified. But sometimes suspects are innocent, wiretaps are used for political ends, and searches disrupt lives to no end. Civil liberties do not exist in a vacuum. If society is destroyed, civil liberties are likely to be destroyed as well. Virtually every legal doctrine this study addresses involves a recognition that individual rights must be balanced against valid social needs. The civil liberties focus on here fall under the general headings of freedom of speech and association, privacy, due process rights for suspects, and freedom from unreasonable searches and seizures. One essential point applied to all these areas: although a counterterrorist activity is legal, that does not mean the activity has no impact on civil liberties. It may be legal, for example, to have a massive federal police force that provides hundreds of guards for every shipment of plutonium. Even so, that procedure still raises civil liberties concerns, since many Americans would feel less free in a society of that type

Interfacial stresses in strengthened beam with shear cohesive zone ...

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

Department of Civil Engineering, University of Constantine 1, Constantine, Algeria e-mail: zergua.abdesselam@umc.edu.dz. MS received 24 April 2014; revised 14 July 2014; accepted 12 September 2014. Abstract. The failure of strengthened beams with fibre-reinforced polymer (FRP) materials is due to high stress ...

Expert Talks: Understanding civil registration and vital statistics ...

International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

2017-09-13

Sep 13, 2017 ... Case studies and successes in CRVS reform. Cambodia, New Zealand, Peru, Uganda, and others offer important lessons in strengthening civil registration and vital statistics systems. These interviews feature innovative case studies that have led to new and improved CRVS approaches.

Partnership in civil society : a case of building trust between non-profit associations and international NGOs in Lao PDR

OpenAIRE

Purdin, Sky

2015-01-01

The purpose of this Master's thesis is to develop a context-specific substantive theory of trust building based on the experiences of development workers in Laos, as well as the methods they identify as keys to a better partnership. The research material is based on eleven interviews with civil society development workers in Vientiane, Laos. The study context is partnerships between in-country International Non-Governmental Organizations and local Non-Profit Associations. ...

Local climate activities in co-operation between municipality, civil society and science shop

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jørgensen, Michael Søgaard

The Science Shop at DTU co-operates with the local municipal administration and the local branch of an environmental NGO about climate change. The co-operation was initiated by a proposal to the Science Shop from the municipal administration. Since the Science Shop requests civil society...... involvement in projects it was proposed to involve the local branch of the environmental NGO. The starting point was topics developed by the administration and the NGO together and announced to students as part of the Science Shop project supply. The focus is climate impact of local activities and strategies...... are initiated and co-ordinated by a group with members from municipal administration, the local NGO and the Science Shop. All projects have involved student projects, but most projects have also contributed to ongoing research activities. The projects up till now have focused on the municipal food supply...

[The Alliance for the Prevention of Colorectal Cancer in Spain. A civil commitment to society].

Science.gov (United States)

Morillas, Juan Diego; Castells, Antoni; Oriol, Isabel; Pastor, Ana; Pérez-Segura, Pedro; Echevarría, José Manuel; Caballero, Begoña; González-Navarro, Andrés; Bandrés, Fernando; Brullet, Enric; Iniesta, Antonio; Carballo, Fernando; Bouzas, Rosa; Ariza, Aurelio; Ibisate, Alfredo; García-Alfonso, Pilar; Escudero, Beatriz; Camacho, Silvia; Fernández-Marcos, Ana; González, Teresa; Quintero, Enrique; Lanas, Angel; Marzo, Mercè; Mascort, Juanjo; Andréu, Monserrat; Cerezo, Laura; Vázquez-Sequeiros, Enrique; Borrás, Josep María; Salas, Dolores; Ascunce, Nieves; Portillo, Isabel; Herráiz, Mayte; Valle, María Luisa; Sotoca, Amalia; Nieto, Santiago; Hué, Carlos; Paz-Ares, Luis

2012-03-01

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the most common malignant tumor in Spain, when men and women are considered together, and the second leading cause of cancer death. Every week in Spain over 500 cases of CRC are diagnosed, and nearly 260 people die from the disease. Epidemiologic estimations for the coming years show a significant increase in the number of annual cases. CRC is a perfectly preventable tumor and can be cured in 90% of cases if detected in the early stages. Population-based screening programs have been shown to reduce the incidence of CRC and mortality from the disease. Unless early detection programs are established in Spain, it is estimated that in the coming years, 1 out of 20 men and 1 out of 30 women will develop CRC before the age of 75. The Alliance for the Prevention of Colorectal Cancer in Spain is an independent and non-profit organization created in 2008 that integrates patients' associations, altruistic non-governmental organizations and scientific societies. Its main objective is to raise awareness and disseminate information on the social and healthcare importance of CRC in Spain and to promote screening measures, early detection and prevention programs. Health professionals, scientific societies, healthcare institutions and civil society should be sensitized to this highly important health problem that requires the participation of all sectors of society. The early detection of CRC is an issue that affects the whole of society and therefore it is imperative for all sectors to work together. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier España, S.L. y AEEH y AEG. All rights reserved.

Public health within the EU policy space: a qualitative study of Organized Civil Society (OCS) and the Health in All Policies (HiAP) approach.

Science.gov (United States)

Franklin, P K

2016-07-01

This article reviews how Organized Civil Society (OCS) groups in the field of public health work across the boundaries between European institutions and policy areas. In particular, it explores 1) how the Health in All Policies (HiAP) approach is conducted by these groups informally within the formal governance structures, and 2) how this advocacy work creates space for public health within the broader political determinants of health. A qualitative mixed-methods framework. Political ethnography, including 20 semi-structured interviews conducted with EU health strategy stakeholders and participant observations in public health events (n = 22) in Brussels over a three-year period (2012-2015), as well as four interviews with EU Member State representatives. Three additional semi-structured interviews were conducted with World Health Organization Regional Office for Europe staff members who had been involved in the drafting of the Health 2020 framework and strategy and the accompanying main implementation pillar, European Action Plan for Strengthening Public Health Capacities and Services (EAP-PHS). The findings provide an insight into OCS work in the field of European public health, offering an account of the experiences of HiAP work conducted by the research participants. The OCS groups perceive themselves as communicators between policy areas within European institutions and between local and supranational levels. The structures and political determinants of health that impose limitations on a public institution can at points be transcended by stakeholders, who conduct HiAP work at supranational level, thus negotiating space for public health within the competitive, globalized policy space. Copyright © 2016 The Royal Society for Public Health. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The National Politics of Educational Advocacy in the Context of Global Governance: International Funding and Support for Civil Society Engagement in Cambodia

Science.gov (United States)

Edwards, D. Brent, Jr.; Brehm, Willian C.; Storen, Inga

2018-01-01

This paper examines the Civil Society Education Fund's (CSEF) impact on the non-governmental organisation education partnership (NEP) in Cambodia. With financial backing from the World Bank and the Fast Track Initiative, the CSEF is an initiative that is managed internationally by the Global Campaign for Education. Its goal is to help national…

Local self-organization of population and its role in the development of the civil society in Ukraine

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

V. P. Berezinskiy

2017-07-01

It has been shown that in general the bodies of self-organization of population are focused on the protection of social, eco-nomic and cultural issues, such as the organization and activities of local self-performed in compliance with law; transparency; voluntarily taking on certain powers of the respective local council; territoriality; election; accountability and responsibility to the respective councils; accountability and responsibility to the residents who have chosen community organizations; financial and institutional independence. It has been proven that the local self-organization of population in Ukraine plays an important role in the development of civil society, reflects the level of democratization at the local level and in the whole state. The experience of democratization of Ukrainian society confirms that democracy originates «from below», that is, with the personal participation of citizens in solving specific life issues that directly affect the conditions of their lives.

The Contribution of Civil Society Organizations in Achieving Health ...

International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

Global gaps in health care The World Health Organization's Health for All ... Making the invisible visible: gender, data, and evidence for development ... Strengthening Governance in Health Systems for Reproductive Health and Rights in ...

What drives Web 2.0 adoption in South African civil society organisations

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Kiru Pillay

2014-10-01

Full Text Available Background: The impact and consequences of social media adoption on society are only just being realised and studied in detail; consequently, there is no universal agreement as to the reasons for the adoption of these services. Even understanding why some social media services are popular remains to some extent elusive. The practical use of Web 2.0 does not provide any answers either with, for example, a noticeable difference in the way social media was strategically used by Barack Obama and Mitch Romney in the lead-up to the 2009 American elections. However, recent studies that have focused on social media adoption within specific sectors have begun to shed some light on these emerging adoption patterns; two studies in particular are illustrative: a 2012 study on the newspaper sector and a study on social media adoption and e-government. Objectives: This study investigates why South African civil society organisations (CSOs adopt Web 2.0 services and the perceived and actual benefits of such adoption. Method: A survey questionnaire was sent to 1712 South African CSOs listed in the Prodder database to explore why certain social media services were adopted and the perceived benefits thereof. Results: Internal reasons for the adoption of social media services by South African CSOs coalesce around organisational visibility and access to information. External reasons focus on organisations needing to become more relevant and more connected to like-minded organisations and initiatives. Conclusion: The pervasiveness of Web 2.0 technologies makes it inevitable that CSOs will have to restructure themselves to remain relevant.

[Strengthening primary health care: a strategy to maximize coordination of care].

Science.gov (United States)

de Almeida, Patty Fidelis; Fausto, Márcia Cristina Rodrigues; Giovanella, Lígia

2011-02-01

To describe and analyze the actions developed in four large cities to strengthen the family health strategy (FHS) in Brazil. Case studies were carried out in Aracaju, Belo Horizonte, Florianópolis, and Vitória based on semi-structured interviews with health care managers. In addition, a cross-sectional study was conducted with questionnaires administered to a sample of FHS workers and services users. Actions needed to strengthen primary health care services were identified in all four cities. These include increasing the number of services offered at the primary health care level, removing barriers to access, restructuring primary services as the entry point to the health care system, enhancing problem-solving capacity (diagnostic and therapeutic support and networking between health units to organize the work process, training, and supervision), as well as improving articulation between surveillance and care actions. The cities studied have gained solid experience in the reorganization of the health care model based on a strengthening of health primary care and of the capacity to undertake the role of health care coordinator. However, to make the primary care level the customary entry point and first choice for users, additional actions are required to balance supplier-induced and consumer-driven demands. Consumer driven demand is the biggest challenge for the organization of teamwork processes. Support for and recognition of FHS as a basis for primary health care is still an issue. Initiatives to make FHS better known to the population, health care professionals at all levels, and civil society organizations are still needed.

Civil Sciety Organisations and peacebuilding in Northern Ghana. Understanding the factors that have facilitated the successful entry of Civil Society Organizations in conflict zones

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mathias Awonnatey Ateng

2016-04-01

Full Text Available Civil Society Organizations (CSOs in the Northern Region of Ghana have played significant roles in peacebuilding processes, resulting in the peaceful settlement of disputes. This paper examined the factors that have facilitated the successful entry of CSOs in peacebuilding processes in northern Ghana. Employing qualitative and quantitative research approaches, the study revealed that, the neutrality and impartiality of CSOs have made conflicting parties to trust their work. Again, the capacity of CSOs, method of delivery and visibility has made their work more acceptable by all. Finally, the idea of coordination and networking has shaped the concept of peacebuilding and the avoidance of the duplication of efforts. This research concludes that CSOs are more recognized, respected and preferred by communities experiencing conflicts, than state institutions.

Amy Caiazza, Mothers and Soldiers. Gender, Citizenship and Civil Society in Contemporary Russia. Routledge. New York and London 2002.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Elena Zdravomyslova

2005-04-01

Full Text Available This book examines the importance of gender and citizenship ideologies and the opportunities available for interest groups and related civic initiatives in relation to the role of conscripts mother’s in contemporary Russia. Amy Ciazza asks: what is the role of gender culture in the development of the Russian civil society? The author argues that gender-typing of citizenship and popular beliefs about the different civic obligations of men and women can be efficiently mobilized by interest grou...

The Politics of Civil Society Organizations (CSOs Post-Reformation 1998

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Aditya Perdana

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 Setelah Reformasi tahun 1998, sebagian organisasi organisasi masyarakat sipil (OMS mendorong agenda perubahan kebijakan dari luar pemerintahan dan terlibat dalam berbagai tim asistensi implementasi program pembangunan dari berbagai kementrian. Perubahan tindakan politik kelompok OMS dari luar pemerintahan dan menjadi bagian pemerintahan disebabkan oleh adanya kesempatan politik yang lebih terbuka dan akomodatif dari rejim politik paska Reformasi. Meskipun OMS memanfaatkan kesempatan politik tersebut, OMS menghadapi tantangan serius dalam arena politik yaitu fragmentasi kelompok masyarakat sipil dalam mendorong berbagai perubahan dan reformasi kebijakan dan tidak adanya dukungan perubahan struktur budaya politik yang masih mewarisi hubungan patronase diantara para aktor. Studi ini memperkuat argumen dari Aspinall (2013a dan Mietzner (2013 dalam hal memanfaatkan kesempatan politik paska Reformasi dan tantangan serta respon OMS dalam struktur warisan politik rejim Suharto di dua arena politik: pembuatan kebijakan dan politik elektoral. OMS di Indonesia mengalami ketidaksolidan dan lemah dalam mendorong isu-isu perubahan dalam pembentukan kebijakan di DPR dan lemahnya dukungan politik elektoral bagi pemenangan kandidat dari kelompok OMS di semua pemilihan umum.Untuk mendapatkan data yang terkait aktivitas politik OMS dalam ranah pembuatan undang-undang serta partisipasi politik aktor OMS dalam pemilu, studi ini menggunakan metode pelacakan proses. After the Reformation (reformasi in 1998, some civil society organizations (CSOs have endorsed policy changes from outside the government and have involved in many ministries’ assistance team to implement government’s development programs. These CSOs’political action changes from outside to become inside the government are caused by the openness of political opportunity from political regime after Reformasi

WHISTLEBLOWING IN CIVIL SERVICE: EXPERIENCE OF EUROPE

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Maria A. Batishcheva

2014-01-01

Full Text Available In this article it is examined the whistleblowing practice in civil service across Europe. The analysis lets to arrive at a conclusion that the whistleblowing mechanism unevenly functions in different parts of Europe: it is more widespread in East and South. It is indicated the following reasons for that: differences in institutional systems of society, models of civil service («continental» and anglosaxon and sociocultural distinctions. Based on the Hofstede dimensions of national culture it is noted that cultural characteristics correlate with presence/absence of whistleblowing law and practice and effectiveness of this mechanism as a whole. Focusing on the role of whistleblowing in control of deviations of civil servants' behavior, it is supposed that the whistleblowing needs to be implemented in the Russian civil service. Obstacles to the whistleblowing design and implementation were also shown and some recommendations were given, taking into account sociocultural characteristics of the Russian society.

Whistleblowing In Civil Service: Experience Of Europe

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Maria A. Batishcheva

2014-01-01

Full Text Available In this article it is examined the whistleblowing practice in civil service across Europe. The analysis lets to arrive at a conclusion that the whistleblowing mechanism unevenly functions in different parts of Europe: it is more widespread in East and South. It is indicated the following reasons for that: differences in institutional systems of society, models of civil service («continental» and anglosaxon and sociocultural distinctions. Based on the Hofstede dimensions of national culture it is noted that cultural characteristics correlate with presence/absence of whistleblowing law and practice and effectiveness of this mechanism as a whole. Focusing on the role of whistleblowing in control of deviations of civil servants' behavior, it is supposed that the whistleblowing needs to be implemented in the Russian civil service. Obstacles to the whistleblowing design and implementation were also shown and some recommendations were given, taking into account sociocultural characteristics of the Russian society.

William Knocke receives 2008 Virginia Outstanding Civil Engineer Award

OpenAIRE

Daniilidi, Christina

2008-01-01

William R. Knocke, W.C. English Professor and head of the Charles E. Via, Jr. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Virginia Tech, was awarded the 2008 Virginia Outstanding Civil Engineer Award at the Virginia Section of the American Society of Civil Engineers' (ASCE) banquet, held recently in Williamsburg, Va.

The role of civil society in health policy making in South Africa: a review of the strategies adopted by the Treatment Action Campaign.

Science.gov (United States)

Sabi, Stella C; Rieker, Mark

2017-03-01

The diagnosis of AIDS in 1982 in South Africa was followed by a rapid rise in the number of people living with the virus and dying from AIDS-related illnesses. The 2016 report by the Statistics South Africa indicated that about 7.03 million South Africans were infected with HIV/AIDS - the highest rate in the world. Despite the emergence of effective drugs in the mid-1990s, medical treatment remained unavailable in South Africa, particularly in public hospitals. This prompted civil society groups to establish platforms to discuss health policy change in South Africa. Prominent among these was the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC), formed in 1998, which aimed to advocate for improved HIV/AIDS health service delivery. The efforts succeeded in shaping the current HIV/AIDS policy through various initiatives such as the use of constitutional law in legal action against profiteering drug companies. This paper examines the role of civil society, and particularly the TAC engagement with the state in health policy making, and the subsequent implementation of health policy on HIV/AIDS in post-apartheid South Africa.

Victims, civil society and transitional justice in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Humphrey Michael

2012-01-01

Full Text Available The role of victim organizations in the transitional justice process is examined in postwar Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH. These organizations emerged in the context of the top-down accountability agenda driven by the international crisis intervention in the Balkan wars and the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY. By contrast, in Latin America victim organizations emerged as a self-conscious movements of individuals galvanized by their traumatic experience of state repression and demanding accountability from the bottom-up. In BiH accountability became a condition for re-establishing state political and legal authority but also international financing for reconstruction and progress towards EU accession. Victim organizations were part of the NGO sector which grew rapidly in response to the neoliberal governance model of selforganizing civil society to transform post-socialist and postwar BiH. Non-governmental organizations (NGOs, run largely by professional middle class displaced from careers in the downsized state bureaucracy, became intermediaries between external donors and war affected populations. Victim organizations participated in the transitional justice process by supporting victims/witnesses in international and national prosecutions, tracing the missing persons and supporting the right of return of displaced populations. In BiH, victims’ organizations did not emerge as social movements advocating for citizenship and social justice, but became incorporated in the neoliberal governance model, sponsored by international agendas for stabilization, democratization and EU accession.

International Migration, US Immigration Law and Civil Society: From the Pre-Colonial Era to the 113th Congress (Edited by Leonir Mario Chiarello and Donald Kerwin, Scalabrini International Migration Network, 2014

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Breana George

2014-09-01

Full Text Available International Migration, US Immigration Law and Civil Society: From the Pre-Colonial Era to the 113th Congress, published by the Scalabrini International Migration Network in collaboration with the Center for Migration Studies of New York, offers an overview of immigration law and policy that contextualizes the present challenges in reaching policy consensus in the immigration debate. This book review highlights the debate on executive action in relation to a chapter on the evolution of US immigration laws by Charles Wheeler and a chapter on the role of civil society in immigration policymaking by Sara Campos. 

PROTECTIVE GUARANTEES AND OTHER REQUIREMENTS TO STRENGTHEN DEVELOPMENT OF THE BANK-CUSTOMER CONTRACTUAL RELATIONSHIP

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MEDAR LUCIAN-ION

2013-02-01

Full Text Available Contractual relationships between individuals and credit institutions are increasingly lower in the sphere of lendingactivity. Implementation of the new Civil Procedure Code starting with February, 2013, strengthened even moreconsumer protection which has disturbed some commercial banks. Trust between banks and customers is an essentialrequirement for developing banking businesses. As a result of occurrence of new legislation is necessary to know themain elements that strengthen bank-client contractual relationship.

Humanization of the civil service in the context of the European integration of Ukraine

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O. A. Lyndyuk

2017-03-01

Full Text Available European integration of Ukraine requires new philosophy of governance modernization and organization, an effective functioning of the civil service system. The urgency of the implementation of humanization approach is a priority for modernization of the national civil service system. The problem of humanization of the civil service in the context of the European integration of Ukraine has been studied in the article. The essence of concepts of «humanism» and «humanization of the civil service» has been considered. Humanism is understood as reflected anthropocentrism, with the human being the object with the highest value. The term «humanization of the civil service» means a deliberate reorientation of the civil service and its objects to recognize a human as an absolute value, «a measure of all things» and to meet the vital needs of society, creating conditions for its full self-realization and ensuring sustainable human development. The civil service must guarantee the security and stability of life and protect rights, freedoms and interests of each individual. Humanization of civil service is also determined as strengthening the rights and freedoms of civil servants, special protection of their dignity and the formation of new humanistic principles of civil service. The features of humanization of the national civil service have been analyzed. It has been found that the human is considered to be the highest value and the content and direction of civil servants activity is determined by ensuring his rights and freedoms. The necessity of changing the priorities of civil service modernization on the basis of humanization, orientation on meeting the needs of human and citizen, as well as creating conditions for closer implementation of national civil service standards to those used in the European Union has been proved. Changes in the philosophy of the civil service of Ukraine should be directed to «serving people», functioning of �

17 CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE AND DEMOCRATIC SUSTAINABILITY IN ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

HP

To Socrates, civil disobedience was morally wrong even when there were justifiable reasons ... issue between the majority and the minority in the society. It is a protest ..... government businesses were halted for about a week and the government of .... 11 William A Herr, “Thoreau: A Civil Disobedience?,” Ethics, Vol. 81, No.

Disaster, Civil Society and Education in China: A Case Study of an Independent Non-Government Organization Working in the Aftermath of the Wenchuan Earthquake

Science.gov (United States)

Menefee, Trey; Nordtveit, Bjorn Harald

2012-01-01

In May 2008 nearly 90,000 people died in the most powerful earthquake in modern Chinese history. Many were students killed in substandard schools, creating a sensitive disaster zone inside a nation whose civil society organizations are beginning to flourish. This paper examines the education earthquake relief program of an international NGO, and…

DEFENCE, DEMOCRACY AND SOUTH AFRICA’S CIVIL-MILITARY GAP

OpenAIRE

Lindy Heinecken

2011-01-01

Civil-military relations theory suggests that a functional and effective military requires a unique culture, separate from its parent society. This is based on the assumption that a “gap” between the military and society is inevitable as the military’s function, the lawful application of military force in accordance with government direction, is fundamentally different from civilian business. Those interested in civil-military relations are essentially concerned with determining when the “gap...

The Civil Behavior of Students: A Survey of School Professionals

Science.gov (United States)

Wilkins, Keely; Caldarella, Paul; Crook-Lyon, Rachel E.; Young, K. Richard

2010-01-01

Many authors regard education as a way of increasing civility in society, and some have implemented interventions to improve civility in schools. However, very little empirical data exist on the extent and nature of students' civil behavior. The present study systematically gathered data from 251 school professionals regarding their perceptions of…

Tradición, modernidad y sociedad civil en la costa de Yucatán Tradición, modernidad y sociedad civil en la costa de Yucatán

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Citlalli Cantú Gutiérrez

2012-02-01

Full Text Available It describes the organizational processes of civil society on the coast of Yucatan. His players built their associations, came into conflict and collapsed their organizational structures. Weanalyze the causes of the recent past and shaping processes of associative structures of civil society. In the cases presented showed that the erosion of the ancestral forms of organization and influence of the individual patterns represent endogenous and exogenous historical causes that increase the entropy of the organizational processes of local civil society. Wediscuss the peaceful non-profit and organizational behavior defined by law, act limiting the right of rebellion and restoring the power. Yes organized civil society bows to government funding processes, becomes bureaucratized and mimics mechanisms, corruption can occurprocesses that collapses.Se describen procesos de organización de la sociedad civil en la costa de Yucatán, donde sus actores construyeron asociaciones civiles, entraron en conflicto y colapsaron sus estructuras organizativas. Se analizan las causas últimas y recientes de los procesos de conformación de estructuras asociativas de la sociedad civil. En los casos presentados se observó que la erosión de las formas ancestrales de organización y la influencia de los patrones individualistas representan causas históricas endógenas y exógenas que incrementan la entropía de los procesos de organización de la sociedad civil local. Se discute el carácter no lucrativo y pacífico del comportamiento organizacional definido en la ley; acto que limita el derecho a la rebelión y la recuperación del poder. Sí la sociedad civil organizada se pliega a los procesos gubernamentales de financiamiento, se burocratiza e imita mecanismos, pueden presentarse procesos de corrupción que la colapsa.

Strengthening mathematics, science and economic policy capacity ...

International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

Afghanistan and Central Asia face serious climate and economic challenges. ... focus on advancing women scientists; and build the capacity of officials and civil ... management through that university's Mountain Societies Research Institute.

Civil-Military Relations: A Selected Bibliography

Science.gov (United States)

2011-05-01

Society 29, no. 3 (Spring 2003): 373-391. Sage Rosen , Frederik. "Third-Generation Civil-Military Relations: Moving Beyond the Security- Development Nexus... Barak , Oren. The Lebanese Army: A National Institution in a Divided Society. Albany: State University of New York Press, 2009. 272pp. (UA853 .L4B37

Atores da sociedade civil e ação coletiva: relações com a comunicação de massa Civil society actors and collective action: relationship with mass communication

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Rousiley C. M. Maia

2009-01-01

Full Text Available Este artigo tem por objetivo investigar diferentes modos de entender as relações que os atores cívicos estabelecem com os media de massa, a fim de configurar a política pública e promover a comunicação com amplas audiências. Para tanto, exploramos dois modelos: um, derivado das teorias de mobilização de recursos e da mobilização política, e outro decorrente das teorias de identidade coletiva e do reconhecimento. Examinamos as premissas desses modelos e algumas das contribuições e lacunas teóricas que apresentam para tratar a influência que os atores coletivos cívicos podem exercer, por meio da comunicação de massa, nas esferas políticas e civil. O objetivo não é advogar a superação de um paradigma por outro, mas, ao invés disso, apontar que um modelo integrado permite articular as arenas informais da sociedade civil com as arenas formais do sistema político. Permite, também, fazer importantes distinções entre diversas formas de comunicação, tais como a expressão estética, a barganha e a argumentação, as quais apresentam lógicas, efeitos e critérios de sucesso distintos.The aim of this paper is to investigate different ways of understanding the relationship that civil society actors establish with the mass media, in order to shape public policies and to communicate with broad audiences. Therefore, we explore two models - one derived from the theories of resources mobilization and political mobilization, and the other derived from the theories of collective identity and recognition. We examine the premises and some theoretical contributions and weaknesses of these models to approach the influence that collective civic actors may exert on the political and civic spheres, through mass media communication. The objective is not to argue that one model should overcome the other, but rather to point out that an integrated model allows for the articulation between the informal arenas of civil society and the formal

Civil-military relations : enhancing international security

OpenAIRE

Fekete, Florian

2003-01-01

Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited The thesis describes how civil-military relations at the international level enhance international security, in particular, the way of development of international society in trying to orient its progress towards international peace, security and sustainable development. It focuses upon civil-military relationships in the League of Nations and the United Nations, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, The International Committee of Re...

"Bases legales para la transformación de Sociedades Civiles en Sociedades Cooperativas" (Legal bases for the transformation of Civil Societies into Cooperative Societies

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Enrique Gadea Soler

2013-01-01

Full Text Available El Derecho interno vigente permite abiertamente la transformaciónde Sociedades Civiles con personalidad jurídica, Asociaciones y Fundaciones,en Cooperativas. Ello está además integrado en las propuestas del ParlamentoEuropeo en beneficio del empleo, la lucha contra la exclusión en la UEy el mantenimiento del bienestar social en la Unión.

Strengthening Health Systems Governance in Latin American ...

International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

This project seeks to improve the governance of health systems by designing and ... of the data (locally elected officials, health authorities, civil society groups), the ... In partnership with UNESCO's Organization for Women in Science for the ...

Strengthening mathematics, science and economic policy capacity ...

International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

responsive teaching methods; enhance scientific teaching and climate change research in Afghan and Tajik universities with a special focus on advancing women scientists; and build the capacity of officials and civil society organizations in all three ...

Curriculum and Civil Society in Afghanistan

Science.gov (United States)

Jones, Adele

2009-01-01

Although research has traditionally discussed the ways in which societies in conflict develop educational practices, only recently have scholars begun to examine the role of education in creating or sustaining conflict. In Afghanistan, changing regimes have had an impact on state-sanctioned curricula over the past fifty years, drastically altering…

The Civilian Putsch of 2018: Debunking the Myth of a Civil-Military Leadership Rift

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Mastriano, Douglas

2002-01-01

.... drug interdiction, disaster relief), the cultural clash between the military leadership and the Clinton administration and the strengthening of the military via the Goldwater-Nichols Act, etc, The selfsame proponents of the civil...

Co-production of community mental health services: Organising the interplay between public services and civil society in Denmark.

Science.gov (United States)

Vaeggemose, Ulla; Ankersen, Pia Vedel; Aagaard, Jørgen; Burau, Viola

2018-01-01

Co-production involves knowledge and skills based on both lived experiences of citizens and professionally training of staff. In Europe, co-production is viewed as an essential tool for meeting the demographic, political and economic challenges of welfare states. However, co-production is facing challenges because public services and civil society are rooted in two very different logics. These challenges are typically encountered by provider organisations and their staff who must convert policies and strategies into practice. Denmark is a welfare state with a strong public services sector and a relatively low involvement of volunteers. The aim of this study was to investigate how provider organisations and their staff navigate between the two logics. The present analysis is a critical case study of two municipalities selected from seven participating municipalities, for their maximum diversity. The study setting was the Community Families programme, which aim to support the social network of mental health users by offering regular contact with selected private families/individuals. The task of the municipalities was to initiate and support Community Families. The analysis built on qualitative data generated at the organisational level in the seven participating municipalities. Within the two "case study" municipalities, qualitative interviews were conducted with front-line co-ordinators (six) and line managers (two). The interviews were recorded, transcribed verbatim and coded using the software program NVivo. The results confirm the central role played by staff and identify a close interplay between public services and civil society logics as essential for the organisation of co-production. Corresponding objectives, activities and collaborative relations of provider organisations are keys for facilitating the co-productive practice of individual staff. Organised in this way, co-production can succeed even in a mental health setting associated with social stigma

First report of the Civil Nuclear Power Working Group to the Technical Comittee of the National Society for Clean Air -Summer 1988

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1988-01-01

The accident at the Chernobyl reactor in April 1986 had serious consequences, not just for Russia but for many countries in Europe. Following the accident, the National Society for Clean Air formed a Working Group to look at the Society's policy on civil nuclear power. Its finding and recommendations are presented in this first report. The subject was considered under several headings - radioactivity (public education in measurement and dose evaluation), emergency procedures in the event of incidents overseas, radiation monitoring, a national monitoring and information service, plant safety, nuclear materials handling and radioactive waste disposal, energy policy and conservation. Four main recommendations are made on public education, risk assessment and radiation monitoring, radioactive waste disposal and energy policy. (U.K.)

The Khôra of the commons. The role of civil society in two productive landscapes of Llobregat River

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Javier Rocamonde Lourido

2018-03-01

Full Text Available The starting point of this article is The Khôra of the commons metaphor. First of all, we’ll discuss the role of civil society in the design and preservation of two productive landscapes linked to the Llobregat River. In addition, we will analyse the relationship between agents and landscape that follows dynamics dependent of social, economic and urban context. We will compare two case studies in order to better understand those phenomena (Infanta canal and Can Batlló factory. In conclusion this paper synthetizes several periods common to both case studies that explain the changing relationship between actors and landscape.

Strengthening National and International Collaboration to End ...

International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

Samdrup Jongkhar Initiative : a Model of Integrated Ecologically-friendly Development. The Samdrup Jongkhar Initiative is a civil society project in southeastern Bhutan designed to foster ecologically friendly development in harmony with Bhutan's holistic philosophy, which... View moreSamdrup Jongkhar Initiative : a Model ...

Evaluation of civil engineering training in respect to disaster ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This paper focuses on the training aspect of civil engineers as one sector of professionals whose contribution is necessary in reducing disaster impact in society. The paper identifies areas, which need to be integrated in the current training of civil engineers to make them more effective in the use of engineering tools to ...

Civil Society and Public Powers : Partners for Social Economy and ...

International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

Études. Estudio de casos brasileños : la dinámica de relaciones entre los foros de economía solidaria y las políticas públicas para la economía solidaria en Brasil. Téléchargez le PDF. Études. Estudio de casos bolivianos : las políticas públicas de economía social y el diálogo entre los poderes públicos y la sociedad civil.

Civil legal responsibility for environmental pollution

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Pajtić Bojan L.

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Serbia's EU accession process has actualised the need to harmonise our legislation with the common legal regulations of the European community of nations. The accelerated economic growth produces environmental challenges associated with harmful emissions. This paper gives an account of international declarations, conventions, directives and other state and civil society instruments of legal protection against the environmental damage. A special focus is placed on our positive legislation and enforcement of legal regulations in ensuring the civil legal responsibility, i.e. prevention of the occurrence of damage and indemnification for the damage caused.

Students: Preparing the Next Generation of Students for the Civil Society.

Science.gov (United States)

Rifkin, Jeremy

1996-01-01

Suggests that changes in employment brought on by the information age will force a reevaluation of the nature of education. Argues that the nonprofit civil sector, or the "Third Sector," will become crucial in providing employment. Proposes that community college service-learning programs will be crucial to future job-training efforts. (MAB)

From Passive Victims to Partners in Their Own Reintegration: Civil society’s role in empowering returned Thai fishermen

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David Rousseau

2018-04-01

Full Text Available Despite the significant international attention to human trafficking in the fishing industry in Southeast Asia, victims continue to experience poor outcomes after their return to Thailand. The Labour Rights Promotion Network (LPN has assisted many returned fishermen in the difficult journey that begins after their rescue and repatriation. In this paper, we argue that the poor outcomes are the product of systemic failures in the aftercare processes, which are not sufficiently victim-centred and discourage trafficked fishermen’s participation in prosecutions. This is the case in the criminal justice system, where flaws in victim identification and evidence collection can undermine trafficked persons’ rights and make it extremely difficult for them to obtain compensation—a significant factor in their recovery and reintegration. This same cycle of disenfranchisement is pervasive in reintegration services at large in Thailand, many of which are overly paternalistic and neglect survivors’ individual needs and interests. Civil society organisations can remediate these problems by supporting the government in its efforts to strengthen prosecutions and make the criminal justice system more victim-friendly. More broadly, civil society can contribute to a victim-centred approach that places aftercare in a larger perspective—one that extends beyond the purview of the criminal justice system. This paper will examine two emerging models in post-trafficking service provision: Unconditional Cash Transfers (UCTs and volunteer social networks, which recognise victim empowerment not just as a means towards better law enforcement, but as an end in itself.

Supporting and Strengthening the Policy Roles and Practices of ...

International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

... to focus its policy and program efforts on Canadian civil society and development effectiveness. ... New funding opportunity for gender equality and climate change ... IDRC invests in research and knowledge to empower women in India.

EU Contribution to Strengthening Regional Development and Cooperation in the Black Sea Basin

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Voicu-Dorobanțu Roxana

2017-01-01

Full Text Available EU's agenda had for some time a topic (at least at an idea level about the “strengthening ofcooperation in the Black Sea Region.” It faced an interesting paradox: the lack of (or, in the caseof existence, sub-optimal economic relations between countries in this area, regardless of theirgeographical proximity. The paradoxical situation considered to be mostly due to their differenthistorical and political backgrounds. Therefore, a form of support of regional development in thearea was necessary, as it has been considered in EU's Black Sea Synergy, which encouragescooperation between countries in the Basin while offering a forum for solving common issues andpromoting political and economic reform. Regional cooperation in various areas stems from a highpolitical involvement as the main initiator but requires a strong involvement and participation ofboth civil society and private sector as main drivers of cross-border cooperation. Our paperfocuses, apart from its conceptual research background, on mapping the effective outcomes of theEU initiatives in the area and on providing future perspectives for EU contribution tostrengthening regional development and cooperation in the Black Sea Basin.

Reflections on civil society and gender.

Science.gov (United States)

Thacker, P

1997-07-01

This article discusses ways to empower women in rural Nepal. Nepal needs to plan for the expected doubling of its population in the next 28 years. It is important that priorities be established in national development strategies. Nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and the private sector will also play a role in development. Nepal is a multiethnic society with about 42% of its population living in poverty. About 42% are aged under 15 years. A major task of development is to engender a sense of hopefulness for young people, despite a deteriorating social situation. The government, the private sector, and NGOs must all act in a socially responsible manner by creating job opportunities and building infrastructure. Development should not concentrate on projects alone and should contribute to an equitable and just society, distributive justice, and sustainability. Economic growth is a lesser concern. Activism and intuition are necessary subjective approaches outside the realm of objective academic research. It is important to retain women's knowledge base of indigenous ways of doing things. Women are participating in NGOs in a variety of capacities. Although women's NGO participation may build important bridges of cooperation, their work remains invisible. NGOs are key players in exposing poor people's agenda in international forums. NGOs work with different ideologies and without political bases, which must be surmounted in building cooperation with the private sector. Elites must act responsibly to expose patriarchy and gender insubordination. Development interventions must be based on gender, economic, and social class relations.

Study on the continuing education innovative talents training mode of civil engineering major

Science.gov (United States)

Sun, Shengnan; Su, Zhibin; Cui, Shicai

2017-12-01

According to the characteristics of civil engineering professional continuing education, continuing education of innovative talents training mode suitable for the characteristics of our school is put forward in this paper. The characteristics of the model include: the education of professional basic courses and specialized courses should be paid attention to; engineering training should be strengthened and engineering quality should be trained; the concept of large civil engineering should be highlighted, the specialized areas should be broadened, and the curriculum system should be reconstructed; the mechanism of personnel training program should be constructed by the employers, the domestic highlevel institutions and our university. It is hoped that the new training model will promote the development of continuing education of civil engineering specialty in our university.

Civil engineering at the crossroads in the twenty-first century.

Science.gov (United States)

Ramírez, Francisco; Seco, Andres

2012-12-01

The twenty-first century presents a major challenge for civil engineering. The magnitude and future importance of some of the problems perceived by society are directly related to the field of the civil engineer, implying an inescapable burden of responsibility for a group whose technical soundness, rational approach and efficiency is highly valued and respected by the citizen. However, the substantial changes in society and in the way it perceives the problems that it considers important call for a thorough review of our structures, both professional and educational; so that our profession, with its undeniable historical prestige, may modernize certain approaches and attitudes in order to continue to be a reliable instrument in the service of society, giving priority from an ethical standpoint to its actions in pursuit of "the public good". It possesses important tools to facilitate this work (new technologies, the development of communications, the transmission of scientific thought.···); but there is nevertheless a need for deep reflection on the very essence of civil engineering: what we want it to be in the future, and the ability and willingness to take the lead at a time when society needs disinterested messages, technically supported, reasonably presented and dispassionately transmitted.

Paradigm shifts and the interplay between state, business and civil sectors

Science.gov (United States)

Encarnação, Sara; Santos, Fernando P.; Santos, Francisco C.; Blass, Vered; Pacheco, Jorge M.; Portugali, Juval

2016-12-01

The recent rise of the civil sector as a main player of socio-political actions, next to public and private sectors, has largely increased the complexity underlying the interplay between different sectors of our society. From urban planning to global governance, analysis of these complex interactions requires new mathematical and computational approaches. Here, we develop a novel framework, grounded on evolutionary game theory, to envisage situations in which each of these sectors is confronted with the dilemma of deciding between maintaining a status quo scenario or shifting towards a new paradigm. We consider multisector conflicts regarding environmentally friendly policies as an example of application, but the framework developed here has a considerably broader scope. We show that the public sector is crucial in initiating the shift, and determine explicitly under which conditions the civil sector-reflecting the emergent reality of civil society organizations playing an active role in modern societies-may influence the decision-making processes accruing to other sectors, while fostering new routes towards a paradigm shift of the society as a whole. Our results are shown to be robust to a wide variety of assumptions and model parametrizations.

Social media and mobile communications adoption patterns of South African civil society organisations

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Kiru Pillay

2014-08-01

Objectives: This study focuses on how South African civil society organisations (CSOs deploy Web 2.0 services and technologies for social advocacy and the context of this technology use. Whilst the literature points to many studies relating to the use of the Internet for advocacy, it also suggests that the role and impact of emerging technologies have not been studied in any detail in CSOs. Such studies have the potential to provide new perspectives to current theoretical frameworks and also to add to the discourse around the use of emerging technologies for advocacy. Method: A survey of South African CSOs explored the level of knowledge of social media services and revealed which services in particular were being adopted. Results: The key findings that emerged were that the sector has a low level of knowledge of social media services and an accompanying low level of adoption. These are partly explained by factors such as macro-economic policies and low levels of Internet penetration and ICT readiness. Conclusion: Further research to determine why certain social media services have been embraced more willingly than others and an analysis of the patterns of adoption to determine any underlying significance or relationships is necessary. An analysis of how CSOs build their advocacy capabilities by appropriating social media and how they thus provide alternate discourses and agendas would be instructive.

At the Turning Point of the Current Techno-Economic Paradigm: Commons-Based Peer Production, Desktop Manufacturing and the Role of Civil Society in the Perezian Framework

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Vasilis Kostakis

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Following the theory of techno-economic paradigm shifts (TEPS, this paper calls attention to the phenomenon of Commons-based peer production (CBPP. In the context of the current paradigm, it argues that civil society can play an important role in creating favourable conditions for a more sustainable global knowledge society. Approaching tentatively the ways in which 3D printing and other desktop manufacturing technologies can be used in CBPP, it also explores the ways in which the partnership with the state may provide a supportive innovative institutional basis for taking the maximum advantage of the emerging synergies in the vein of TEPS theory.

Einschränkung der Nationalen Gestaltungsmöglichkeiten Angesichts der Wachsenden Globalisierung und die Rolle der Zivilgesellschaft für Mögliche Gegenstrategien / Restriction of national design options given the growing globalization and the role of civil society for possible counter-strategies

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Friedrich Müller

2012-12-01

Full Text Available The nation-state has been severely restricted in the course of globalization in its effect, especially in economic, financial, social and environmental policy. But even so it became unnecessary. Because the nation state retains at the same time crucial political functions in the defense of the republic, democracy and the constitutional state, as well it mainly retains human development at the national, supra-national and trans-national level - and civil rights. Then it should join strategically to resistance movements in civil society that are working towards a public conscience on a global scale and a global civil society.Zusammenfassung:Der Nationalstaat ist im Verlauf der Globalisierung in seiner Wirkung stark eingeschränkt worden, vor allem wirtschafts-, finanz-, sozial- und umweltpolitisch. Er wurde aber deswegen nicht überflüssig. Denn zugleich behält er unverzichtbare politische Funktionen bei derVerteidigung von Republik, Demokratie und Rechtsstaat und besonders auch bei der nationalen, supranationalen und transnationalen Entwicklung der Menschen- und Bürgerrechte. Er sollte sich dabei mit den Widerstandsbewegungen aus der Zivilgesellschaft strategisch verbünden, die in Richtung auf ein öffentliches Gewissen im Weltmaßstab und auf eine globale civil society arbeiten.

Evaluation of civil society projects in countries with high HIV prevalence: a methodological discussion - DOI: 10.3395/reciis.v1i2.82en

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Wilza Vieira Villela

2007-12-01

Full Text Available This article approaches methodological aspects of the evaluation of community projects in countries where HIV/AIDS prevalence is high, from the assumption that these countries need to adjust epidemic reduction actions to development initiatives. It originates from work carried out in the Republic of Mozambique in 2006 , in which 160 of the 1124 civil society projects supported by the government were evaluated, with a focus on their relevance, design quality, efficiency, intervention quality, coverage, supervision, organizational capacity, and support received from the government. In order to set a value for the performance of each project, with an eye to the differences in each of the various organizations and of the context in which they were developed, a system of variables and indicators, composed of quantitative and qualitative information, collected by means of questionnaires, interviews, visits to the projects and document analysis was designed, which proved adequate for the purposes of the work. It is considered that the evaluation of the civil society interventions in poor countries, and other places where the epidemics are disseminated, must be guided by tools capable of intercepting the challenges generated from the combination of AIDS, poverty, and culture, so as to build an operational understanding of the socio-cultural and economic factors which contribute to the success or failure of community initiatives for combating the epidemics.

'You Wouldn't have Your Granny Using Them': Drawing Boundaries Between Acceptable and Unacceptable Applications of Civil Drones.

Science.gov (United States)

Boucher, Philip

2016-10-01

Some industry and policy actors are concerned about public opposition to civil drones, in particular because of their association with military drones. However, very little is understood about public reactions to the technology. Strategies to 'manage public acceptance' have so far relied upon several untested assumptions. We conducted public engagement activities to explore citizens' visions of civil drones. Several insights counteracted the prevailing assumptions. Rejecting the notion of blanket support for or opposition to civil drones, we found that citizens make nuanced decisions about the acceptability of civil drones depending upon the purpose of the flight and the actors involved. The results are positioned in support for calls to strengthen the role of citizens in civil drone development and, in particular, to shift away from the current focus on citizens' acceptance of civil drone development towards the development of civil drones that are acceptable to citizens.

On the history of codification of Hungarian civil law and the new Hungarian civil code

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Salma Jožef

2014-01-01

Full Text Available The first part of the paper examines the basic tendencies in the development of the codification of Hungarian civil law in the period of representative and civil society. The second part deals with the new Hungarian Civil Code (2013/14 its content, methods of regulation and its relation to other civil legislation, temporal validity with the adherence to the idea of validity pro futuro, as well as its tendency to harmonize its norms with the guidelines of the European civil law. In accordance with the idea of completeness, the lawmakers incorporated all of the areas of civil law according to the pandecta system - personal law, corporate law with civil association law, family law, obligations and inheritance. The Code is based on the principle of equality of parties in civil relations, the principle of good faith, fraus legis prohibition. Family law is based on specific principles of protection of marriage, family and children. Contract law is based on the freedom of contract, limited by good customs and morality. Tort law is guided by the principle of prohibiting the harm to others, full compensation of material and imaterial damages. Contractual responsibility is regulated separately, so that the tort rules apply if the specific rules of contractual responsibility donot say otherwise. Other grounds for obligations are also regulated, as well as unjustified enrichment, doing business without order or authority, unilateral expression of intention and securities. The grounds for inheritance are contractual, statutory or based on the will. Freedom of disposition by will is limited by statutory rules regulating the forced share. The system of transfer of property ex lege after the death is adopted. The state is a successor if there are no testamentary, statutory or contractual inheritors.

Biotechnologies and biomimetics for civil engineering

CERN Document Server

Labrincha, J; Diamanti, M; Yu, C-P; Lee, H

2015-01-01

Putting forward an innovative approach to solving current technological problems faced by human society, this book encompasses a holistic way of perceiving the potential of natural systems. Nature has developed several materials and processes which both maintain an optimal performance and are also totally biodegradable, properties which can be used in civil engineering. Delivering the latest research findings to building industry professionals and other practitioners, as well as containing information useful to the public, ‘Biotechnologies and Biomimetics for Civil Engineering’ serves as an important tool to tackle the challenges of a more sustainable construction industry and the future of buildings.

The Fundamentals of Civil Disobedience in John Rawls

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Eduardo Baldissera Carvalho Salles

2016-11-01

Full Text Available Investigating civil disobedience from a liberal perspective, the working thread through the thought of John Rawls, exposed in the work A Theory of Justice, presenting the phenomenon as a kind of political resistance as well as the theoretical framework that legitimizes as processing instrument contemporary society and guarantor of individual rights. Thus, discusses the duty to obey unjust laws defining what the justification of civil disobedience, designed to Rawls just almost just, democratic and orderly.

The Influence of Biblical Culture on American Spiritual Civilization

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

李惠子

2014-01-01

Biblical culture is deeply rooted into current American society and culture,widely impacting every aspect of American people’s life.Through discussing about the historical accumulation of biblical culture reflected in America’s societal and spiritual civilization,this essay analyses the importance and function of biblical culture from the aspect of society inheritance,value,literature creation and customs etc.,helping us to further understand and study American society and culture.

The Influence of Biblical Culture on American Spiritual Civilization

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

李惠子

2014-01-01

Biblical culture is deeply rooted into current American society and culture, widely impacting every aspect of American people’s life. Through discussing about the historical accumulation of biblical culture reflected in America’s societal and spiritual civilization, this essay analyses the importance and function of biblical culture from the aspect of society inheritance, value, literature creation and customs etc., helping us to further understand and study American society and culture.

Politics of civility: the case of the Association of Undocumented People of Madrid

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Agustin, Oscar Garcia

2013-01-01

The mobilization of undocumented immigrants in civil society reflects the politics of civility, defined by Balibar as the creation of a space for an inclusive political community based on equality. The case analysed in this article, the Association of Undocumented People of Madrid, refers......, they also require a more radical change in society (i.e. ‘societal change’). Thinking beyond the framework of national citizenship, migrants, as workers, attempt to foster alternative economic and social conditions....

La disolución de la sociedad civil: sobre los ideales y las vaguedades en la esfera de las asociaciones de voluntariado

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Paul Dekker

2012-02-01

Full Text Available El pensamiento sobre la sociedad civil siempre ha estado caracterizado por una doble referencia hacia las relaciones sociales existentes y hacia los ideales sociales. La principal hipótesis de numerosas investigaciones sobre la sociedad civil es que una floreciente esfera que lleva este nombre es el portador del ideal de una sociedad más civilizada. Este artículo empieza con una pequeña discusión sobre el trasfondo histórico y los debates públicos en torno a la sociedad civil, y continúa con un planteamiento más analítico del concepto como designación de un orden social asociacional y una esfera de la sociedad dominada por las asociaciones voluntarias. Más adelante nos centramos en esta esfera describiendo sus caracteres nacionales en Europa y analizando las reivindicaciones de sus beneficios civilizadores: la formación de capital social y de discurso público. Encontramos muy pocas evidencias para tales reivindicaciones y por ello profundizamos en el desarrollo de la sociedad moderna occidental, una sociedad en la que las asociaciones voluntarias se han convertido en menos relevantes, mientras que otras esferas de la sociedad, en particular los ensanchados márgenes de la sociedad civil, son más importantes para el desarrollo de una sociedad más civilizada.The thinking about civil society has always been characterized by the double reference to existing social relations and to societal ideals. The basic hypothesis of much civil society research is that a flourishing sphere with this name is the carrier of the ideal of more civilized society. This article starts with a brief discussion of the historical background and public debates about civil society, and continues with a more analytic approach of the concept as designation of an associational social order and a sphere of society dominated by voluntary associations. We further focus on this sphere, describe its national patterns in Europe and analyze claims of its

Who's making global civil society: philanthropy and US empire in world society.

Science.gov (United States)

Vogel, Ann

2006-12-01

Theories of US hegemony commonly ignore the role of American philanthropy in the contemporary transformations of world society and the globalization of capitalism. In this essay, I suggest that the philanthropic foundation, and with it the institution of philanthropy, is being invigorated by the expansion of its domestic role to foreign activities and to globally framed activities within the USA. I propose that US philanthropy exports American understandings of democracy and simultaneously organizes global reflexivity through citizenship education for the US populace. I offer a preliminary theoretical interpretation of the empirical patterns of international grant-making activities by US foundations, considering John W. Meyer's concept of 'instrumental culture' and some arguments made by Foucauldian 'governmentality' scholars. I emphasize the need to conceptualize the cultural-symbolic and organizational dimensions of hegemony and suggest further sociological analysis of philanthropic activities as integral to current politically and economically led transformations of societies around the globe.

The idea of civil control in the European political and legal thought

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T D Sokolova

2015-12-01

Full Text Available The article discusses the problem of defining the role and functions of civil control from the political and legal thought perspective and in the context of the possible ways of civil society and state authorities interaction. The demand for external evaluation as a prerequisite for the development of political system and the demand for establishing an effective feedback mechanism within it together with the lack of a unified approach to the interpretation of civil control in the political science and legal doctrines determined the relevance of the study of the established traditions in the interpretation of civil control in social sciences and humanities. Whereas social and power relations always develop within a specific legislative framework, whose maturity and consistency largely determine the state of civil society, it is not possible to evaluate control functions of the public sector otherwise than through the study of the legal framework of the state. Thus, the article describes the evolution of the views on possible formats of social and power relations in the context of transformations of the European social thought and political and legal approaches to the perception of power institutions, building a dialogue between social and political organizations, defining the forms of civic participation in political decision-making and interpretation of civil control.

Los Determinantes Sociales de Salud y la lucha por la equidad en salud: desafíos para el estado y la sociedad civil The Social Determinants of Health and the struggle for health equity: challenges for states and civil society

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Eugenio Villar

2007-12-01

between unequal distribution of SDH and their consequences, unequal health outcomes. Processes like globalization under a neo-liberal brand and climate change influence the SDH, resulting in acute inequities and social marginalization. There are some successful examples of countries with policies addressing the SDH. For example, Sweden, with due regard to its particular political and institutional context, has developed public health intersectoral policies that aim at decreasing health inequities. These policies also encourage a participatory model as a means of efficiently tackling the SDH. Another example is Chile which is building a children social protection system (Chile Crece Contigo using an integrated approach that includes right-based and SDH approaches. The programme's objective is universal coverage with a life cycle approach. A major milestone for civil society in Latin America is the effort by the Americas' Civil Society organizations to strengthen a dialogue that fosters a common agenda on the SDH. The organizations are working with the governments of Brazil, Chile, the OIAS, PAHO and WHO. Their goal is to introduce a new participatory and sustainable development mode, one which is participatory, rights-based and ensures sustainable improvements of SDHs and benefits all people.

A atuação da sociedade civil na construção do campo da Alimentação e Nutrição no Brasil: elementos para reflexão The role of civil society in building the field of Food and Nutrition in Brazil: elements for reflection

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Luciene Burlandy

2011-01-01

. It was concluded that the role of the civil society was crucial for the consolidation of the National Policy of FN and the National Policy of Food and Nutrition Security. The institutional engineering and the profile of social organizations were very different, ranging from social movements to policy networks. The topics on the agenda have changed over the period studied, with the strengthening of ethnic, racial and gender issues. The gains of this process depend on public sector capacity to regulate and support the functioning of these institutional arenas and to involve governmental segments that actually has decision making power.

India's energy security: A sample of business, government, civil society, and university perspectives

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bambawale, Malavika Jain; Sovacool, Benjamin K.

2011-01-01

This article explores the concept of energy security perceived and understood by a sample of government, business, civil society, and university stakeholders in India. Based on a literature review, the authors hypothesize what energy experts suggest energy security is for India. The article then tests these hypotheses through the use of a survey completed by 172 Indian respondents. The article begins by describing its methodology before summarizing the results of the literature review to distill seven working hypotheses related to energy security in India. These hypotheses relate to (1) security of energy supply, (2) equitable access to energy services, (3) research and development of new energy technologies, (4) energy efficiency and conservation, (5) self-sufficiency and trade in energy fuels, (6) nuclear power, and (7) the energy-water nexus. It then tests these hypotheses with our survey instrument before concluding with implications for energy policy in India and beyond. - Research highlights: → We measured the concept of energy security for India through a survey that tested the importance of 16 dimensions. → For our sample of respondents from India, as hypothesized, security of fossil fuel supply, R and D in new technologies, centralized energy systems, and the availability of clean water emerged as important dimensions. → Equitable access to energy and low energy intensity did not emerge as important dimensions of energy security for our sample even though we hypothesized them to be so.

Ademe et Vous. International Newsletter No. 39, November 2016. Civil society at the forefront of the fight against climate change

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Martin, Valerie; Seguin-Jacques, Catherine; Tappero, Denis

2016-11-01

The first edition of Climate Chance, the international summit for non-state actors and organisations, took place in Nantes on 26-28 September. It was the opportunity to assess the progress made by the civil society in the fight against climate change and to discuss the best way to support this action. As a long-term partner on various businesses' energy and environmental strategies, ADEME is providing small and medium-sized businesses and innovative start-ups with financial and technical support, via specific programs. The Habitat III conference, the third UN meeting on sustainable housing and development, was held from 17 to 20 October in Quito (Ecuador). Fully conscious of the major challenge that tomorrow's cities represent, ADEME took part in the discussions

Predicting civil religion at a cross-cultural level

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Lavrič Miran

2009-01-01

Full Text Available The concept of civil religion has caught major attention among scholars studying the junction of religion and politics (J.-J. Rousseau, E. Durkheim, R. Bellah. The notion focuses on the phenomenon of cultural contents sacralizing and ritualizing the ruling political institutions of a society, extending support to the integration of the political and social system at a cultural level. The notion of civil religion has recently been operationalized crossculturally, but light has not been shed upon its predictors. In this paper authoritarianism is tested as a predictor of civil religion cross-culturally. Four student samples of Bosnian, Serbian, Slovenian and US students were analyzed. Very strong, significant associations between authoritarianism, as operationalized by a modified Lane scale, and civil religion were found in all cases. Moreover, upon introducing femininity, anxiety and gender into the analysis, a strong, dominant and significant impact on the part of authoritarianism was still found when civil religion was observed crossculturally. When the same predictors were applied to explaining general religiosity, authoritarianism fell short of being a significant predictor in most of the environments observed. Such results suggest an especially close link between civil religion and authoritarianism.

Civil Education in the Theory and Practice of Women's Civil Work Association in the Second Polish Republic

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Piwowarczyk Mirosław

2014-11-01

Full Text Available One of the main aims of Women's Civil Work Association (Związek Pracy Obywatelskiej Kobiet (1928–1939: the largest and the most influential women's organisation of the Sanation political camp in Poland in the interwar period, was the creation of a new model of a woman citizen and forming and educating women, in concordance with ideological and political ideas of the Sanation (the state-forming idea of J. Piłsudski, to be “a new type of citizens”, aware of their rights and duties, who take an interest in the affairs of the state and who take an active stance towards the strengthening of the new independent state. The Association tried to achieve this aim by organising various forms and methods of civil education, setting up and running various educational, supportive, an economic institutions, which made it possible for the Association to bring into effect its ideas, including the main goal, that is, the creation of a modern, active, and responsible woman citizen.

[Jörg Hackmann (Hrsg.). Vereinskultur und Zivilgesellschaft in Nordosteuropa : regionale Spezifik und europäische Zusammenhänge = Associational culture and civil society in North Eastern Europe : regional features and the European context] / Rüdi

Index Scriptorium Estoniae

Ritter, Rüdiger

2014-01-01

Arvustus: Vereinskultur und Zivilgesellschaft in Nordosteuropa : regionale Spezifik und europäische Zusammenhänge = Associational culture and civil society in North Eastern Europe : regional features and the European context. Wien: Böhlau Verlag 2012

Gender Differences in Job Satisfaction, Satisfaction with Society and Satisfaction from their Salary in Greek Civil Servants who are working under conditions of Labour—Intensive

Science.gov (United States)

Antonakas, Nikolaos; Mironaki, Amalia

2009-08-01

The objective of this study is to determine empirically the existence of differences in three dimensions of satisfaction in Greek civil servants' gender, when they work under conditions of stress and tension. The three dimensions of satisfaction selected to be considered were job satisfaction, satisfaction with society and satisfaction from their salary. For this a two parts questionnaire was used. The first part included, besides sex and socially demographic characteristics of employees and the second part consisted of the above aspects of satisfaction. Used a sample of 290 employees and a factor analysis was conducted on the results of the questionnaire. The central question of this paper was whether the strength of the force of better wage, compared with the average civil servant, affects a different way to meet women and men's satisfaction who work under working conditions—intensity. The main finding of this study was the existence differences between women and men in the dimension of satisfaction from the salary.

Comunitarismo, sociedade civil e a reforma da educação na era FHC (1995-2002/Communitarianism, civil society and the education reforms in Brazil during the Fernando Henrique Cardoso government (1995-2002

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Sidney Reinaldo da Silva

2007-12-01

Full Text Available Este artigo discute a relação entre as reformas da educação e a concepção de sociedde civil na era FHC, a partir de uma crítica ao comunitarismo. Apontamos que a concepção de formação humana pressuposta nas reformas do período em questão, voltada para a aprendizagem do trade off econômico e moral (ajudar os pobres como forma de compensar os benefícios recebidos pela sociedade, como o emprego, bolsas de estudos coaduna-se com o neoliberalismo e com o reforço da histórica cisão “moral” da sociedade brasileira. This paper argues the relationship between education reforms and the civil society conception in Brazil during the Fernando Henrique Cardoso government (1995-2002. We analizes the communitarian people moral formation conception of such reforms showing how it harmonises with the neoliberal values like the exigence of the apprenticeship of the economic and moral trade-off: the market rationality. But such a trend does not help the brazilian people eliminate his historical moral cision grounded on deep economic inequalities conected with an “imoral” social subornination even for liberal values.

Museums, Memory, and the Just Nation in Post-Civil War El Salvador

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Robin DeLugan

2015-07-01

Full Text Available In 1992 El Salvador ended a 12-year civil war infamous in part for the high level of state violence against innocent civilians. A United Nations Truth Commission report, which detailed these and other excesses, recommended that state and society commemorate the war and its violence to advance the establishment of a more just nation. The postwar government did construct an impressive new National Museum of Anthropology to actively promote national culture, history, and identity. However, this important museum remains silent about the civil war. In contrast, new public—though not official - museums and monuments are finally bringing attention to the civil war and past state violence. This paper explores the social memory work of non-official museums, arguing that by combating silence and forgetting, their truth-telling aims to shape ideas about the nation and improve state-society dynamics.

Kenya | Page 42 | IDRC - International Development Research Centre

International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

Language English. Read more about Participation de la société civile à la gouvernance des systèmes d'éducation. Language French. Read more about Civil Society Participation in the Governance of Educational Systems. Language English. Read more about Strengthening the Health System through a Maternal Death ...

The Resilient Society: On volunteering, civil society and corporate community involvement in transition

NARCIS (Netherlands)

L.C.P.M. Meijs (Lucas)

2004-01-01

textabstractChanges in the Dutch non-profit regime necessitate the direct participation of citizens and businesses in non-profit organisations. Dutch society must re-invent the commitment of citizens, businesses, foundations, universities and various other organisations by increasing both ‘community

The strategies of Portuguese civil society organizations in the field of the environment

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Brígida Rocha Brito

2012-01-01

Full Text Available “The strategies of civil society organizations in the field of the environment” is the result of research conducted as part of the Project “strategies of international players in the area of the environment” carried out at OBSERVARE, the Observatory for External Relations of Universidade Autónoma de Lisboa. The objective of the study was to understand and characterize the involvement of Portuguese NGOs, or of those based in Portugal, in the field of the environment, identifying and evaluating the relationships they have established with external partners, namely with regard to the following: privileged countries; types of partners; intervention areas; methodologies and tools. The study was based on the concepts of development cooperation, including players and tools, partnership in international relations, and social and environmental sustainability, taking also into account the Millennium Development Goals, in particular as regards the Seventh Target: Guaranteeing Environmental Sustainability. Given the broad scope of the study, a short questionnaire was built following the principle of guaranteed anonymity and made available online. After making a list of NGOs (ENGOs and DNGOs, the questionnaire was sent to many of these organizations, requesting them to respond to the questionnaire (N=43. From the data analysis and by confronting it with the concepts previously explored, it emerged that the majority undertake joint activity in Portugal and in partner countries, mostly with other similar organizations after the establishment of partnerships. The activity focuses on social and environmental projects of local relevance, with mixed funding that is mostly international in nature, and has clear objectives for promoting development.

Finding Political Opportunities: Civil Society, Industrial Power, and the Governance of Nanotechnology in the European Union

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Anna Lamprou

2016-06-01

Full Text Available The European Union encourages and institutionalizes participation by environmental, consumer, and labor organizations in the governance of nanotechnology. Interviews with leaders of the civil society organizations (CSOs show that they identified multiple problems with nanotechnology policy but had only limited success in gaining the changes that they sought. CSO leaders explain their lack of success as due to the overwhelming power of industry and the support of the European Commission for new industrial development, including nanotechnology. We analyze the perspectives of CSO leaders about their difficulties to develop the theory of the political opportunity structure in the situation of a highly scientized policy field with strong industrial monitoring. We suggest the need to extend the theory to pay more attention to the strategies that reformers can use to maneuver in and to open a relatively closed political opportunity structure. We argue that formal stakeholder engagement is not very effective and suggest instead the importance of the following: building coalitions with government actors, threatening or mobilizing grassroots mobilization, making the issue salient to the public, and pursuing the full range of institutional repertoires.

A neoliberalisation of civil society? Self-help groups and the labouring class poor in rural South India.

Science.gov (United States)

Pattenden, Jonathan

2010-01-01

This paper notes the prominence of self-help groups (SHGs) within current anti-poverty policy in India, and analyses the impacts of government- and NGO-backed SHGs in rural North Karnataka. It argues that self-help groups represent a partial neoliberalisation of civil society in that they address poverty through low-cost methods that do not challenge the existing distribution of power and resources between the dominant class and the labouring class poor. It finds that intra-group savings and loans and external loans/subsidies can provide marginal economic and political gains for members of the dominant class and those members of the labouring classes whose insecure employment patterns currently provide above poverty line consumption levels, but provide neither material nor political gains for the labouring class poor. Target-oriented SHG catalysts are inattentive to how the social relations of production reproduce poverty and tend to overlook class relations and socio-economic and political differentiation within and outside of groups, which are subject to interference by dominant class local politicians and landowners.

Social Responsibility Networks (SRN: The Role of the International Civil Society in Redressing the Negative Effects of Globalization at the Local Level Social Responsibility Networks (SRN: The Role of the International Civil Society in Redressing the Negative Effects of Globalization at the Local Level

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Maria Alejandra Gonzalez-Perez

2008-12-01

Full Text Available Evidencias, tanto teóricas como emp��ricas, indican que la globalización de laeconomía ha intensificado la exclusión social, los problemas medio ambientales y haexacerbado desigualdades en materia social y laboral. Para revertir estas situacionesse requiere de sistemas transnacionales de gobernabilidad legítimos y transparentes,que cuenten con la participación activa y reconocida de los trabajadores.Este documento se basa en una investigación empírica en la cual se presentaun modelo de participación transnacional de los actores de la sociedad civil(incluyendo los sindicatos y otras organizaciones de trabajadores, así como tambiénlas corporaciones privadas y las agencias gubernamentales. De esta manera se desarrolla una plataforma que opera como un sistema de responsabilidad socialcuyo alcance sobrepasa a la responsabilidad social empresarial (RSE. There is both theoretical and empirical evidence which indicates that the processes of globalization have intensified the onset of social exclusion and environmental problems. Globalized processes may also exacerbate inequalities that, in order to be readdressed, require transnational, transparent, accountable and participative governance systems,  with an active and recognised contribution by the local community in the amelioration of these problems.This paper focuses on transnational participation of civil society actors as well as private corporations and state agencies, which together provide a platform for the development of a broader scope for corporate social responsibility (CSR.

Time-history simulation of civil architecture earthquake disaster relief- based on the three-dimensional dynamic finite element method

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Liu Bing

2014-10-01

Full Text Available Earthquake action is the main external factor which influences long-term safe operation of civil construction, especially of the high-rise building. Applying time-history method to simulate earthquake response process of civil construction foundation surrounding rock is an effective method for the anti-knock study of civil buildings. Therefore, this paper develops a civil building earthquake disaster three-dimensional dynamic finite element numerical simulation system. The system adopts the explicit central difference method. Strengthening characteristics of materials under high strain rate and damage characteristics of surrounding rock under the action of cyclic loading are considered. Then, dynamic constitutive model of rock mass suitable for civil building aseismic analysis is put forward. At the same time, through the earthquake disaster of time-history simulation of Shenzhen Children’s Palace, reliability and practicability of system program is verified in the analysis of practical engineering problems.

The development of an information society for Uganda's industrial ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This paper examines the environment within which Uganda can be productively involved in the process of building an information society for industrial development. There are concerted efforts by the government of Uganda and civil society organisations in the country towards the development of information literacy and ...

Popularizing Geological Education among Civil Engineering Students

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Xiang-jun; Zhou, Ying

2012-01-01

The sustainable development of an economy and a society cannot be realized without the help of modern geoscience. Engineering geology knowledge is necessary on a civil engineering construction site to ensure the construction work goes smoothly. This paper first discusses the importance of geoscience, especially the study of engineering geology.…

Service learning: Connecting higher education and civil society ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The decline in civic participation, dwindling support for social services and deficits in state budgets, has created a climate in which higher education, supported by several policies, has to make a commitment to contribute to the reconstruction and development of society by linking academic programmes to community-based ...

Schools and Civil Society: Corporate or Community Governance

Science.gov (United States)

Ranson, Stewart

2012-01-01

School improvement depends upon mediating the cultural conditions of learning as young people journey between their parochial worlds and the public world of cosmopolitan society. Governing bodies have a crucial role in including or diminishing the representation of different cultural traditions and in enabling or frustrating the expression of…

Protection of personality rights in civil law

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Simonović Ivana

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Personality rights have long been described as the youngest member of the civil law family of absolute subjective (individual civil rights. By establishing these rights, an individual is guaranteed full and direct legal authority and control over one's personal assets, which include the most important human values such as: life, integrity, dignity and privacy. The ultimate importance of these personal assets is supported by appropriate legal protection of personality rights, which have been guaranteed in numerous provisions of constitutional law, civil law, criminal law and administrative law. The legal protection of personality rights stems from the understanding that a human being cannot be reduced to a biological entity; being part of the community, man is also a social being. Taking into account constant interactions and mutual relations between members of the society, man should be guaranteed certain rights. It primarily implies the guaranteed right to inviolability of one's personality, which is the basis for generating other personality rights. These rights are inherent, inalienable and absolute in terms of their effects; as such, they provide protection from the interference of the state and any third party. Focusing on the rules of civil law, the authors have explored the potentials and the scope of legal protection of personality rights provided by awarding a civil sanction. Although civil sanction is basically monetary sanction, it is deemed to be quite appropriate for the protection of personal (non-patrimonial assets.

SEVERAL OBSERVATIONS REGARDING THE REGULATION OF THE CONTRACT OF PARTNERSHIP IN THE NEW CIVIL CODE

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IOLANDA-ELENA CADARIU-LUNGU

2012-05-01

Full Text Available Following the model of the Italian Civil Code, of the Civil Code from Quebec, the Swiss and the Dutch ones, the new Romanian Civil Code has adopted the monist conception of regulating the private law relationships, gathering in the same normative act traditional civil law dispositions as well as dispositions that are specific to the commercial relationships among professionals. In this regulating context, one of the fundamental changes the new Civil Code brings is the unification of the legal regime applicable to civil and commercial contracts, with all the consequences that derive from this new legislative approach. This fundamental modification is first determined by the profound change of the character of social, economic and juridical relationships, by the change of the cultural level of the Romanian society, by the closeness of the two branches of civil and commercial law and, last but not least, by the evolution of the business environment. In this line of thought, we can identify important changes in the matter of the contract of partnership which, as regulated by the new Civil Code, constitutes the common law both for the simple partnerships (former civil societies as well as for the commercial companies, to which the special legislation still in force in the matter still applies. In this study we aimed at analyzing the general common features of all associative forms listed by art. 1.888 Civil Code and the new elements in the matter, with critical observations where needed, which take the form of a comparison with the specific legislation in the field from the Civil Codes that served as a source of inspiration for the Romanian legislator.

Social cohesion and civil law: marriage, divorce and religious courts

OpenAIRE

Douglas, Gillian; Doe, Christopher Norman; Gilliat-Ray, Sophie; Sandberg, Russell; Khan, Asma

2011-01-01

This Cardiff University study of religious courts and tribunals across the UK has been funded by the AHRC/ESRC Religion and Society Programme. The project, „Social Cohesion and Civil Law: Marriage, Divorce and Religious Courts‟, explores how religious law functions alongside civil law in England and Wales.\\ud The context, though not the catalyst, for our study, is the lecture given by the Archbishop of Canterbury in 2008 on the relationship between religious law - primarily though not exclusi...

Strengthening the link between science and society

CERN Multimedia

Katarina Anthony

2011-01-01

On Friday 8 July, the lifts in the Main Building filled with directors-general, assistant directors-general, chiefs of staff, and secretaries-general from a veritable alphabet soup of international organisations. They were heading to a round-table discussion about science and society, chaired by CERN Director-General, Rolf Heuer. “We need to get away from talking like the dense books we read, and start speaking in ‘normal’ language,” said one of the delegates during the round table. The 19 high-ranking delegates from UNESCO, DOE, WHO, WMO, and OECD – to name but a few – sat over coffee and a working lunch, sharing ideas and opinions in a deliberately informal setting. Are the benefits of science being appropriately communicated to decision makers? How will basic research cope during these tough economic times? How can the applications of scientific research be more firmly linked to basic scientific research? Delegates jumped from topic to topic: fr...

CIVIL JUSTICE IN SOUTH AFRICA

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

D. Van Loggerenberg

2016-01-01

Full Text Available The South African adversarial system of civil procedure in the High Court owes its origin to that of England. As with all civil procedural systems, the South African system is not stagnant. Its primary sources, namely Acts of Parliament and rules of court, are constantly amended in an attempt to meet the changing needs of society. Court delay and costinefficient procedural mechanisms, however, contribute to public dismay. The High Court, in the exercise of its inherent power to regulate its process, do so with the purpose of enhancing access to justice. The advantage of the system lies in the fact that it is not cast in stone but could, subject to the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996, be developed to make it more accessible to the public whilst protecting the public’s fundamental rights entrenched in the Constitution and, in this regard, particularly the right to afair trial embedded in sec. 34 of the Constitution. This contribution gives an overview of the system with reference to the court structure, the judiciary, the process in the High Court and its underlying principles, appeals, class actions and alternative civil dispute resolution mechanisms.

The Process Of Advocacy In Romanian Public Policy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Elena Gurgu

2016-04-01

Full Text Available Influencing public policy in favor of interest groups can be achieved through advocacy associations legally constituted whose mission is to: promovate professional excellence in the application of advanced practices of advocacy, strengthen civil society participation in development of public policies and continuously develop policies to private firms.. Through advocacy associations can uphold and enforce the values of entrepreneurship and free enterprise. Any resource used in advocacy efforts associations should generate added value and impact, contribute to the progress, development and improved quality of life. Advocacy associations must primarily promotes technical and professional skills of advocacy for any civil society interested group with honesty, dignity, mutual respect, transparency and social responsibility in order to strengthen the system of participatory democracy to which they are signatories.

Renewable Energy, Climate Action and Resilient Societies: Accelerating the Global and Local Paradigm Shift

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Spencer, Thomas; Levai, David; Wang, Xin

2017-07-01

and job creation, while mitigating climate change. In this context, the marginalization of civil society in some G20 countries is alarming. Regarding climate change, foundations have a crucial role to play as a bridge between public sector, private sector, and civil society. This report represents a commitment from the participating foundations. As partners to both the public sector and the open society, they will ensure that climate change is at the core of philanthropic work going forward. 4. Despite the emergence of a global transition, the pace of change is insufficient to achieve the global community's objective of limiting warming to well below 2 deg. C, much less 1.5 deg. C. A strong and coordinated strengthening of public policies is required, and G20 countries have a particular responsibility in this regard. The Paris Agreement and the Sustainable Development Goals should form the basis of a new mandate to be established for the G20, to make climate protection and sustainability one of its core objectives. In this context, the F20 platform condemns unreservedly the decision of the US Administration to withdraw the United States from the Paris Agreement, an agreement which has rightly garnered unprecedented global support

Intervenciones internacionales noviolentas en los territorios palestinos. Contribuciones de la sociedad civil global a la lucha no-violenta contra la ocupación

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Diego Checa Hidalgo

2015-06-01

Full Text Available Este artículo presenta el fenómeno de las intervenciones internacionales noviolentas para la transformación de conflictos a partir del estudio del caso del conflicto palestino-israelí y de la lucha no-violenta emprendida por la sociedad civil palestina e israelí para poner fin a la ocupación. Este fenómeno es desarrollado desde sectores de la sociedad civil global para beneficiar a los movimientos sociales de base proporcionándoles protección frente a la violencia y facilitando sus procesos de empoderamiento. Junto a ellos, estas intervenciones están extendiendo la cultura de paz en la región y desafiando el militarismo existente en las sociedades israelí y palestina.Palabras clave: Resistencia Civil, Transformación de Conflictos, Oriente Medio, Sociedad Civil Global._______________This paper discusses the phenomenon of nonviolent international interventions for conflict transformation. It studies the case of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and it analyses the non-violent struggle waged by the Palestinian and Israeli civil society to end the occupation. Global civil society sectors carry out nonviolent international interventions to benefit grassroots social movements. They provide protection against violence and facilitate empowerment processes. Together they are spreading the culture of peace in the region and challenging the existing militarism in the Israeli and Palestinian societies.Keywords: Civil Resistance, Conflict Transformation, Middle East, Global Civil Society.

Improving brain computer interface research through user involvement - The transformative potential of integrating civil society organisations in research projects

Science.gov (United States)

Wakunuma, Kutoma; Rainey, Stephen; Hansen, Christian

2017-01-01

Research on Brain Computer Interfaces (BCI) often aims to provide solutions for vulnerable populations, such as individuals with diseases, conditions or disabilities that keep them from using traditional interfaces. Such research thereby contributes to the public good. This contribution to the public good corresponds to a broader drive of research and funding policy that focuses on promoting beneficial societal impact. One way of achieving this is to engage with the public. In practical terms this can be done by integrating civil society organisations (CSOs) in research. The open question at the heart of this paper is whether and how such CSO integration can transform the research and contribute to the public good. To answer this question the paper describes five detailed qualitative case studies of research projects including CSOs. The paper finds that transformative impact of CSO integration is possible but by no means assured. It provides recommendations on how transformative impact can be promoted. PMID:28207882

Improving brain computer interface research through user involvement - The transformative potential of integrating civil society organisations in research projects.

Science.gov (United States)

Stahl, Bernd Carsten; Wakunuma, Kutoma; Rainey, Stephen; Hansen, Christian

2017-01-01

Research on Brain Computer Interfaces (BCI) often aims to provide solutions for vulnerable populations, such as individuals with diseases, conditions or disabilities that keep them from using traditional interfaces. Such research thereby contributes to the public good. This contribution to the public good corresponds to a broader drive of research and funding policy that focuses on promoting beneficial societal impact. One way of achieving this is to engage with the public. In practical terms this can be done by integrating civil society organisations (CSOs) in research. The open question at the heart of this paper is whether and how such CSO integration can transform the research and contribute to the public good. To answer this question the paper describes five detailed qualitative case studies of research projects including CSOs. The paper finds that transformative impact of CSO integration is possible but by no means assured. It provides recommendations on how transformative impact can be promoted.

Strengthening Community-University Research Partnerships: Science Shops in the Netherlands

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Mulder, Henk; Straver, Gerard; Hall, Budd; Tandon, Rajesh; Tremblay, Crystal

2015-01-01

Although they have been around for a long time already, the Science Shop approach is still seen as innovative in bridging the gap between science and civil society. The Dutch Science Shops are often taken as an example for similar activities abroad, and receive much support from the European

Ungoverned Spaces and Armed Civil Conflicts: The Predicament of Developing Nations

Science.gov (United States)

2015-06-01

questions about deviance , collective action, and civil war in a society. The second, Section B, deals with the dynamic relationship between the state...influencing this dynamic relationship. A. SOCIOLOGY OF POWER, AUTHORITY, AND CIVIL WAR Why do some people effectively control the behavior of others? Why...do people even go farther to legitimize control by some people over their behavior ? What causes some people to be opposed to the control of their

3 CFR 8452 - Proclamation 8452 of November 9, 2009. World Freedom Day, 2009

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... all nations to strengthen civil societies, support democratic institutions and the rule of law, and... America's enduring commitment and steady leadership. From our first days as a Nation, Americans have felt...

Crisis or Fluidity? Florian Znaniecki’s Theory of Civilization

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Elżbieta Hałas

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The preoccupation with the processes of globalization, which has become a key concept in the analysis of the sociocultural condition of postmodernity, has led to a decreased interest in the theory of civilization. The ideological burden of the concept of civilization and its stigmatization by critics of post-Enlightenment modernity also contribute to this current state. However, issues associated with the processes of civilization have once again come to the fore, as shown by the reconstruction of threads associated with civilization in social theory, including sociological works. The views on civilization presented by Weber, Durkheim and Mauss, by their successors Sorokin, Elias and Nelson, down to the contemporary publications of Huntington and Eisenstadt are widely known, whereas works published on this subject in Polish by Florian Znaniecki are not. On a backdrop of the genesis of civilization-associated discourse and its antinomy as regards religion, the article presents Znaniecki’s concept of civilization processes as the social integration of culture, developed on the basis of his theory of cultural and social systems. Two types of human participation in culture are significant here: cultural communities and social groups which create a cultural bond. The de-civilizing processes which Znaniecki described are shown. The article analyzes Znaniecki’s idea of a fluid civilization and the conditions which are necessary for its existence, in the shape of reflexive cultural knowledge as the answer to a cultural crisis. The new type of cultural crisis stems from cultural innovations. The article shows the differences between Znaniecki’s concept of fluidity and Bauman’s liquid modernity. It presents the concept of “civilization of the future” as a pan-human civilization, which requires the formation of a new type of cultural community – the world culture society.

Civil Society in Mexico and Regionalisation A Framework for Analysis on Transborder Civic Activism

NARCIS (Netherlands)

R.A. Icaza Garza (Rosalba)

2004-01-01

textabstractAbstract: The paper theoretically analyses the emergence of oppositional TCA responses towards the disruptive socio-economic effects of regionalisation processes. In particular the paper discusses how neo-Gramscian and Polanyian IPE traditions look at the transborder agency of civil

What can the World Health Organization learn from EU lessons in civil society engagement and participation for health?

Science.gov (United States)

Battams, Samantha

2014-01-01

This article explores challenges for and the development of civil society engagement and stakeholder representation, transparency, and accountability measures in the European Union, with a specific focus on health policy. The stance of the European Union on stakeholder participation within reform debates of the World Health Organization (WHO) is also considered, along with EU lessons for multi-stakeholders at the WHO. The European Commission has developed a number of measures for stakeholder engagement and transparency; however, the European Union has been prone to lobbying interests and has found difficulty in leading and making accountable the private sector when it comes to achieving its own health policy goals. The strong influence of corporate lobbyists on the European Union has come to light, with concerns about a lack of transparency and accountability in decision-making processes. While the WHO could learn from the European Union in terms of its strategies for stakeholder engagement, it could also heed some of the important lessons for the European Union when it comes to working with a broad range of stakeholders.

Southern voices on climate policy choices: Analysis of and lessons learned from civil society advocacy on climate change

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Reid, Hannah; Ampomah, Gifty; Prera, Maria Isabel Olazabal; Rabbani, Golam; Zvigadza, Shepard

2012-05-15

This report provides an analysis of the tools and tactics advocacy groups use to influence policy responses to climate change at international, regional, national and sub-national levels. More than 20 climate networks and their member organisations have contributed to the report with their experiences of advocacy on climate change, including over 70 case studies from a wide range of countries - including many of the poorest - in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Pacific. These advocacy activities primarily target national governments, but also international and regional processes, donors and the private sector. Analyses and case studies show how civil society plays key roles in pushing for new laws, programmes, policies or strategies on climate change, in holding governments to account on their commitments; in identifying the lack of joined-up government responses to climate change; and in ensuring that national policy making does not forget the poor and vulnerable. The report is the first joint product of the Southern Voices Capacity Building Programme, or for short: Southern Voices on Climate Change.

Acoustic emission monitoring of concrete columns and beams strengthened with fiber reinforced polymer sheets

Science.gov (United States)

Ma, Gao; Li, Hui; Zhou, Wensong; Xian, Guijun

2012-04-01

Acoustic emission (AE) technique is an effective method in the nondestructive testing (NDT) field of civil engineering. During the last two decades, Fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) has been widely used in repairing and strengthening concrete structures. The damage state of FRP strengthened concrete structures has become an important issue during the service period of the structure and it is a meaningful work to use AE technique as a nondestructive method to assess its damage state. The present study reports AE monitoring results of axial compression tests carried on basalt fiber reinforced polymer (BFRP) confined concrete columns and three-point-bending tests carried on BFRP reinforced concrete beams. AE parameters analysis was firstly utilized to give preliminary results of the concrete fracture process of these specimens. It was found that cumulative AE events can reflect the fracture development trend of both BFRP confined concrete columns and BFRP strengthened concrete beams and AE events had an abrupt increase at the point of BFRP breakage. Then the fracture process of BFRP confined concrete columns and BFRP strengthened concrete beams was studied through RA value-average frequency analysis. The RA value-average frequency tendencies of BFRP confined concrete were found different from that of BFRP strengthened concrete beams. The variation tendency of concrete crack patterns during the loading process was revealed.

Information and Communication Technologies for Reconstruction and Development: Afghanistan Challenges and Opportunities

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Wentz, Larry; Kramer, Frank; Starr, Stuart

2008-01-01

..., market development, and livelihood practices. Internationally, ICTs are viewed as a basic enabler of informal social and economic discourse, leading to a strengthening of civil society and the promotion of economic activity...

Cultura ciudadana. Renegotiating the Boundary between State and Society

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Stacey L. Hunt

2015-05-01

Full Text Available In this paper I analyze the continued existence of the Colombian state despite widespread crime and violence. Contemporary theorists posit that the state must subscribe to the image of an entity that is relatively autonomous from civil society and able to monopolize violence. However, citizen culture (cultura ciudadana, the innovative crime reduction policy I study here, is based on the premise that the state is unable to provide security for its inhabitants given the existence of a culture of violence. The policy encourages citizens to assume responsibility for their own security provision by adopting a culture of citizenship. I argue that citizen culture functions to legitimize the state despite ongoing violence by transferring responsibility for security provision from the state to civil society. It does so by inundating public space with educational spectacles, symbols, and slogans that circumscribe public debate and instruct citizen’s behavior. Citizen culture uses educational and symbolic programming to shift responsibility for security provision from the state to society, thereby altering the boundary between state and society and redefining the very essence of the modern state.

The VeTOOLS Project: an example of how to strengthen collaboration between scientists and Civil Protections in disaster risk reduction

Science.gov (United States)

Marti, Joan; Bartolini, Stefania; Becerril, Laura

2016-04-01

VeTOOLS is a project funded by the European Commission's Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection department (ECHO), and aims at creating an integrated software platform specially designed to assess and manage volcanic risk. The project facilitates interaction and cooperation between scientists and Civil Protection Agencies in order to share, unify, and exchange procedures, methodologies and technologies to effectively reduce the impacts of volcanic disasters. The project aims at 1) improving and developing volcanic risk assessment and management capacities in active volcanic regions; 2) developing universal methodologies, scenario definitions, response strategies and alert protocols to cope with the full range of volcanic threats; 4) improving quantitative methods and tools for vulnerability and risk assessment; and 5) defining thresholds and protocols for civil protection. With these objectives, the VeTOOLS project points to two of the Sendai Framework resolutions for implementing it: i) Provide guidance on methodologies and standards for risk assessments, disaster risk modelling and the use of data; ii) Promote and support the availability and application of science and technology to decision-making, and offers a good example on how a close collaboration between science and civil protection is an effective way to contribute to DRR. European Commission ECHO Grant SI2.695524

[Developments in civil and disciplinary law. A view of the revision of the Netherlands Society for Dentistry (NMT) administration of justice].

Science.gov (United States)

Brands, W G

2004-06-01

According to some people, the renewed Dutch civil disciplinary law is not fulfilling the expectations. Some procedures seem to be reductant for accused dentists. Besides the civil disciplinary law, also the professional disciplinary law of Dutch Dental Association is questionable. The Association is planning to change the current professional disciplinary law. However, the proposed amendments may have the consequence that a Dutch dentist more frequently will be faced with a civil disciplinary law procedure or normal civil law procedure.

Structure of the Russian internet-community according to the motives and types of civil activity

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Trotsuk Irina V.

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Today in the sociological discipline, there is an impressive collection of empirical data and conceptual approaches to the study of civil society as a complex and ambiguous phenomenon, including a set of empirical indicators for assessing its development, strength, and sustainability. However, the authors believe that this impressive collection of theoretical models and empirical findings still does not explain a specific phenomenon, which is very important for the Russian society - various formats of civil activism that are not always permanent or widespread, and, thus, ignored by the researchers. The article provides a model for conceptualization and empirical study of civil activism that aims to fill this gap and was tested in the online survey. The questionnaire of the online survey provides the criteria for structuring the Internet community according to the involvement in civil activity, and allows identifying its key motives and barriers. The results of the online survey, in particular, present seven types of Internet users according to different formats of civil activism: super-activists, volunteers, online activists, members of public organizations, passive observers, only voting in the elections, and outsiders.

Carbon fiber epoxy composites for both strengthening and health monitoring of structures.

Science.gov (United States)

Salvado, Rita; Lopes, Catarina; Szojda, Leszek; Araújo, Pedro; Gorski, Marcin; Velez, Fernando José; Castro-Gomes, João; Krzywon, Rafal

2015-05-06

This paper presents a study of the electrical and mechanical behavior of several continuous carbon fibers epoxy composites for both strengthening and monitoring of structures. In these composites, the arrangement of fibers was deliberately diversified to test and understand the ability of the composites for self-sensing low strains. Composites with different arrangements of fibers and textile weaves, mainly unidirectional continuous carbon reinforced composites, were tested at the dynamometer. A two-probe method was considered to measure the relative electrical resistance of these composites during loading. The measured relative electrical resistance includes volume and contact electrical resistances. For all tested specimens, it increases with an increase in tensile strain, at low strain values. This is explained by the improved alignment of fibers and resulting reduction of the number of possible contacts between fibers during loading, increasing as a consequence the contact electrical resistance of the composite. Laboratory tests on strengthening of structural elements were also performed, making hand-made composites by the "wet process", which is commonly used in civil engineering for the strengthening of all types of structures in-situ. Results show that the woven epoxy composite, used for strengthening of concrete elements is also able to sense low deformations, below 1%. Moreover, results clearly show that this textile sensor also improves the mechanical work of the strengthened structural elements, increasing their bearing capacity. Finally, the set of obtained results supports the concept of a textile fabric capable of both structural upgrade and self-monitoring of structures, especially large structures of difficult access and needing constant, sometimes very expensive, health monitoring.

The paradox of civilizing

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Gilliam, Laura

As in most other European Countries, immigrants from “non-Western” countries are increasingly perceived as a threat to integration, equality and harmony in Danish society. Especially the immigrant boys are depicted as aggressive, troublesome and in lack of social competencies. This makes this group...... minority youngsters, which are seen as a threat to the stability and harmony of Danish society. Based on ethnographic material from 11 months of fieldwork among ethnic minority pupils in two schools in Copenhagen, this paper will look into the schools’ effort to civilize youth of outsider status. Through....... For their part, the boys - in search of alternative strength and recognition - invert the image of good behavior presented to them by the school, and come to identify strongly with aggression, rude language and tough masculinity. Drawing on Elias’ discussions of dominant group’s efforts to both integrate...

Network effects in environmental justice struggles: An investigation of conflicts between mining companies and civil society organizations from a network perspective.

Science.gov (United States)

Aydin, Cem Iskender; Ozkaynak, Begum; Rodríguez-Labajos, Beatriz; Yenilmez, Taylan

2017-01-01

This paper examines conflicts that occur between mining companies and civil society organizations (CSOs) around the world and offers an innovative analysis of mining conflicts from a social network perspective. The analysis showed that, as the number of CSOs involved in a conflict increased, its outcome was more likely to be perceived as a success in terms of environmental justice (EJ); if a CSO was connected to other central CSOs, the average perception of EJ success was likely to increase; and as network distance between two conflicts increased (or decreased), they were more likely to lead to different (or similar) EJ outcomes. Such network effects in mining conflicts have policy implications for EJ movements. It would be a strategic move on the part of successful CSOs to become involved in other major conflicts and disseminate information about how they achieved greater EJ success.

Less Arguing, More Listening: Improving Civility in Classrooms

Science.gov (United States)

Crocco, Margaret; Halvorsen, Anne-Lise; Jacobsen, Rebecca; Segall, Avner

2018-01-01

Today's youth increasingly are being expected to engage in civil deliberation in classrooms while simultaneously living in a society with a high level of political incivility. However, teaching students to argue--particularly in oral form--is enormously complex and challenging work. In this article, the authors report on a study of four high…

The new totalitarian society

OpenAIRE

Vlajki Emil

2011-01-01

The new totalitarian society is a euphemized expression denoting the New World Order, which in itself denotes the American globalization. The underpinning of this mindset is rationality, which is characteristic of Western civilization. Christianity engendered rationality by introducing it through St. Thomas Aquinas, Aristotle, and especially formal logic. Since it is obvious that religion and logic cannot ultimately be harmonized, this combination has proven lethal in many cases throughout hi...

What we do | Page 95 | IDRC - International Development Research ...

International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

West and Central African Research and Education Networking (WACREN) ... substantial changes in the relative weight of different countries and regions. PROJECT. Strengthening the Role of Civil Society in Water Governance in African Cities ...

Registration of civil status: formal link between family and succession intestate

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Malena Proenza-Reyes

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The work presented to assess the main issues of the registration procedure in the field of civil status to inheritance effects, regard certificates issued by the Civil Registry official proof of family status as the main requirement to have place intestate succession; advertising of the facts and acts which constitute the formal link between this family and inheritance law on registration insufficient treatment, generates the violation of subjective rights that can be a starter. Supported the present methods of social research and analysis-synthesis and analysis of content, make important results in the national context from the characteristics presented Cuban society today and especially the Registers of Civil Status in the country.

India's energy security: A sample of business, government, civil society, and university perspectives

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bambawale, Malavika Jain, E-mail: sppmjb@nus.edu.s [Energy Governance Program, Centre on Asia and Globalisation, Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore, Oei Tiong Ham Building, 469C Bukit Timah Road, Singapore 259772 (Singapore); Sovacool, Benjamin K., E-mail: bsovacool@nus.edu.s [Energy Governance Program, Centre on Asia and Globalisation, Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore, Oei Tiong Ham Building, 469C Bukit Timah Road, Singapore 259772 (Singapore)

2011-03-15

This article explores the concept of energy security perceived and understood by a sample of government, business, civil society, and university stakeholders in India. Based on a literature review, the authors hypothesize what energy experts suggest energy security is for India. The article then tests these hypotheses through the use of a survey completed by 172 Indian respondents. The article begins by describing its methodology before summarizing the results of the literature review to distill seven working hypotheses related to energy security in India. These hypotheses relate to (1) security of energy supply, (2) equitable access to energy services, (3) research and development of new energy technologies, (4) energy efficiency and conservation, (5) self-sufficiency and trade in energy fuels, (6) nuclear power, and (7) the energy-water nexus. It then tests these hypotheses with our survey instrument before concluding with implications for energy policy in India and beyond. - Research highlights: {yields} We measured the concept of energy security for India through a survey that tested the importance of 16 dimensions. {yields} For our sample of respondents from India, as hypothesized, security of fossil fuel supply, R and D in new technologies, centralized energy systems, and the availability of clean water emerged as important dimensions. {yields} Equitable access to energy and low energy intensity did not emerge as important dimensions of energy security for our sample even though we hypothesized them to be so.

#digital_disruption @amnesty international: from digital to networked to hybrid activism - A case study of the meaning and adoption of digital activism in changing 20th century civil society organisations

OpenAIRE

Özkula, Suay Melisa

2017-01-01

Like many organisations in the 21st century, longstanding civil society organisations are facing new challenges in adapting to the digital age. This thesis addresses those concerns through an exploration of the social meaning and contextualised effects of digital activism at case study Amnesty International. It provides a socio-cultural account of AI and a conceptual perspective on digital activism as part of Amnesty's digitalisation processes. It explores existing concerns around the tension...

Static and dynamic experimental study of strengthened reinforced short concrete corbel by using carbon fabrics, crack path in shear zone

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

I. Ivanova

2015-10-01

Full Text Available The paper presents an experimental analysis of tracking the path of the cracks and crack growth in strengthened or repair reinforced concrete short corbels bonded by carbon fiber fabrics under static and dynamic loads. The reinforced short concrete corbel is a used precast element, for industrial buildings and structures. In fact, their functioning interestingly unconventional is compared to classical beam type elements. Then the effects of bending and shearing are combined in this case. The horizontal reinforced steel is localized to resist to tensile strength induced in bending top and a transversal strength-absorbing contribution. The introduction of carbon fiber composite in the field of Civil Engineering allows to strengthen or repair reinforced concrete structures using adhesive. So the carbon fiber material has many advantages as its low weight, flexibility, easier handling and also interesting physicochemical properties. However maintenance of civil engineering works is to protect them by ensuring better sealing or limiting corrosion. Then strengthening is to repair structures by using bonding technique to compensate their rigidity loss and limit the cracking. This allows to improve their performance and durability. Bonding of composite material in tensile zone of corbel retrieves most tensile stress and allows the structure to extend their load-bearing capacity. The local behavior of the structure is measured by means of the extensometer technique based on electrical strain gauges. This technique allowed to measure strains of steel, carbon fiber fabrics and concrete. The results of this investigation showed that strengthened reinforced concrete corbel bonded by carbon fiber fabrics can improve the ultimate load to twice and stiffens less than a third. The ultimate load, strain and displacement of the specimen are compared to reference experimental model of monotonic and cyclic applied loads. The success of strengthening depends strongly

Sociedad civil, política y dominio colonial en Cuba (1878-1895

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

José A. PIQUERAS

2010-02-01

Full Text Available RESUMEN: El presente artículo se interesa por la evolución de la sociedad cubana en el período de entreguerras comprendido entre 1878 y 1895 y por el marco político en que pudieron expresarse la diversidad de formas e intereses sociales. Se destaca el desarrollo superior de la sociedad civil en relación a un sistema político que debía asegurar el dominio español. La instauración de ese sistema político, sin embargo, legalizó las expresiones políticas y las situó en un terreno público contribuyendo a poner de relieve las insuficiencias y el carácter opresivo de la dependencia, fomentando con ello la conciencia de discriminación que estuvo en la base de la nación emergente en vísperas de la insurrección de 1895. Palabras Clave: Cuba, política, sociedad civil, nacionalismo, insurrección. ABSTRACT: This article deals with the evolution of Cuban society in the period between wars (1878-1895 and with the political framework in which a variety of social forms and interests were expressed. It focuses on the higher development of civil society in comparison with a political system which had to ensure Spanish control. The establishment of that political system, however, legalized political expression and placed it in the public arena, thus helping to underline the inadequacy and oppressive character of dependence, and to foster the awareness of discrimination which was in the foundations of the emerging nation on the eve of the 1895 insurrection. Key words: Cuba, Politics, Civil Society, Nationalism, Insurrection.

Current status of International Linear Collider Project in Technical Design stage and activities of Japan Society of Civil Engineers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2008-01-01

In order to invite the International Linear Collider (ILC) in Japan, Japan Society of Civil Engineers (JSCE) established the Linear Collider Subcommittee of JSCE (LC subcommittee) in April, 2006. Abstracts of the activities and objects of LC subcommittee are stated. The LC subcommittee consists of five working groups. Each working group investigated the previous reports of 2006 and 2007 and reported some important notices. The working group on planning and project and management reported the site conditions of Japan, tunnels and facilities. The working group on geological survey, test and environmental design stated the earthquake, fault, ground water, water quality, long-term displacement and survey methods. The working group on structural and environmental design described the tunnel design in fault and fracture zone, hollow, beam tunnel and service tunnel. The working group on construction and maintenance reported some examples of troubles in granite zone, survey for steering, shaft and inclined shaft. The working group on information investigation of ILC described analysis of reference materials, construction of LHC, beam tunnel and some points under consideration. (S.Y.)

Sociedad civil y educación de la conciencia moral

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

José Manuel TOURIÑÁN LÓPEZ

2009-11-01

Full Text Available RESUMEN: El sentido de lo social se ha enriquecido en nuestros días debido al carácter transnacional de las acciones globales. Ya no hablamos simplemente de derechos sociales que requieren la subsidiación del Estado con unos medios que no pertenecen a ningún individuo en particular; hablamos de derechos que reclaman la cooperación positiva de los Estados y la sociedad civil, más allá de las fronteras territoriales. Esto modifica el carácter de territorialidad del Estado y el sentido del compromiso de la sociedad civil.Este nuevo desafío tiene que asumir las consecuencias de entender la transnacionalidad y la glocalización como condiciones inherentes de los derechos de tercera generación y esto exige replantear los problemas en la sociedad civil desde una ética que asume la realidad del otro y está elaborada a partir de la singularidad de las situaciones y la universalidad de los valores.ABSTRACT: The meaning of «social» has been enriched nowadays due to the cross-cultural nature of global actions. We do not now simply refer to social rights under the State supervision with means that do not belong to any concrete individual. We talk about rights that require the positive co-operation of States and civil society, co-operation which surpass countries' boundaries. Indeed, this modifies the state belonging sense and the civil society's commitments.This new challenge has to be able to manage the consequences of seeing both cross-culturalism and glocalism as inherent conditions of the third generation rights, and all of that requires rethinking the problems within civil society from an ethic scheme that understands «the other» and that is also based on the singularity of each situation and the universalisation of (human values.SOMMAIRE: Le sens de ce qui est social c'est enrichi dans nos jours, étant donné le caractère transnational des actions globales. Nous ne parlons pas simplement de droits sociaux qui requièrent l

Network effects in environmental justice struggles: An investigation of conflicts between mining companies and civil society organizations from a network perspective.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cem Iskender Aydin

Full Text Available This paper examines conflicts that occur between mining companies and civil society organizations (CSOs around the world and offers an innovative analysis of mining conflicts from a social network perspective. The analysis showed that, as the number of CSOs involved in a conflict increased, its outcome was more likely to be perceived as a success in terms of environmental justice (EJ; if a CSO was connected to other central CSOs, the average perception of EJ success was likely to increase; and as network distance between two conflicts increased (or decreased, they were more likely to lead to different (or similar EJ outcomes. Such network effects in mining conflicts have policy implications for EJ movements. It would be a strategic move on the part of successful CSOs to become involved in other major conflicts and disseminate information about how they achieved greater EJ success.

Network effects in environmental justice struggles: An investigation of conflicts between mining companies and civil society organizations from a network perspective

Science.gov (United States)

Aydin, Cem Iskender; Ozkaynak, Begum; Rodríguez-Labajos, Beatriz

2017-01-01

This paper examines conflicts that occur between mining companies and civil society organizations (CSOs) around the world and offers an innovative analysis of mining conflicts from a social network perspective. The analysis showed that, as the number of CSOs involved in a conflict increased, its outcome was more likely to be perceived as a success in terms of environmental justice (EJ); if a CSO was connected to other central CSOs, the average perception of EJ success was likely to increase; and as network distance between two conflicts increased (or decreased), they were more likely to lead to different (or similar) EJ outcomes. Such network effects in mining conflicts have policy implications for EJ movements. It would be a strategic move on the part of successful CSOs to become involved in other major conflicts and disseminate information about how they achieved greater EJ success. PMID:28686618

Carbon Fiber Epoxy Composites for Both Strengthening and Health Monitoring of Structures

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rita Salvado

2015-05-01

Full Text Available This paper presents a study of the electrical and mechanical behavior of several continuous carbon fibers epoxy composites for both strengthening and monitoring of structures. In these composites, the arrangement of fibers was deliberately diversified to test and understand the ability of the composites for self-sensing low strains. Composites with different arrangements of fibers and textile weaves, mainly unidirectional continuous carbon reinforced composites, were tested at the dynamometer. A two-probe method was considered to measure the relative electrical resistance of these composites during loading. The measured relative electrical resistance includes volume and contact electrical resistances. For all tested specimens, it increases with an increase in tensile strain, at low strain values. This is explained by the improved alignment of fibers and resulting reduction of the number of possible contacts between fibers during loading, increasing as a consequence the contact electrical resistance of the composite. Laboratory tests on strengthening of structural elements were also performed, making hand-made composites by the “wet process”, which is commonly used in civil engineering for the strengthening of all types of structures in-situ. Results show that the woven epoxy composite, used for strengthening of concrete elements is also able to sense low deformations, below 1%. Moreover, results clearly show that this textile sensor also improves the mechanical work of the strengthened structural elements, increasing their bearing capacity. Finally, the set of obtained results supports the concept of a textile fabric capable of both structural upgrade and self-monitoring of structures, especially large structures of difficult access and needing constant, sometimes very expensive, health monitoring.

Post-Suharto Muslim engagements with civil society and democratization

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bruinessen, M.M. van

2004-01-01

Does Islam as a system of beliefs or as a political force have something positive to contribute to the hoped-for democratisation of Indonesia, or will it largely be an impediment and a threat to the emergence of an open society? Many participants in the political process have strong opinions on

Employment discrimination and HIV stigma: survey results from civil ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The article presents findings from three surveys of people living with HIV (PLHIV) and civil society organisations about the experience of employment discrimination and stigma in the workplace. The work seeks to contribute to efforts by businesses and other organisations to effectively respond to the HIV epidemic within the ...

Mungiki, Vernacular Organization and Political Society in Kenya

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Frederiksen, Bodil Folke

2010-01-01

of Mungiki have been recruited by political leaders and functioned as violent militia; concurrently, it seeks representation in formal and parliamentary politics. The organization is distinct from ‘respectable’ segments of Kenya's civil society who participate in NGO activities and mainstream churches...

Proceedings of the 2007 annual conference of the Canadian Society for Civil Engineering : where the road ends, ingenuity begins : cold regions civil engineering in Canada's North

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hodgins, K.L.W.

2007-01-01

This conference provided a forum to discuss recent developments in all areas of civil engineering. It provided an opportunity for national and international delegates from industrial, research, and academic institutions to interact and learn about innovative technologies in the different areas of civil engineering and to identify future directions. The presentations addressed a broad range of issues, such as the need for sustainable infrastructure while improving the safety of roads, dams, water supply and sewage treatment systems. Technical sessions addressed infrastructure management issues, risk assessment, hydrotechnical engineering and transportation engineering. The conference featured 98 presentations, of which 25 have been catalogued separately for inclusion in this database

[Vereinskultur und Zivilgesellschaft in Nordosteuropa : regionale Spezifik und europäische Zusammenhänge = Associational culture and civil society in North Eastern Europe : regional features and the European context. Hrsg. von Jörg Hackmann] / Sir

Index Scriptorium Estoniae

Tamul, Sirje, 1951-

2013-01-01

Arvustus: Vereinskultur und Zivilgesellschaft in Nordosteuropa : regionale Spezifik und europäische Zusammenhänge = Associational culture and civil society in North Eastern Europe : regional features and the European context (Quellen und Studien zur baltischen Geschichte, 20; Veröffentlichungen der Aue-Stiftung, 26). Hrsg. von Jörg Hackmann. Böhlau Verlag. Köln u.a. 2012

The Good Society: Lessons for Integrated Governance

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Neesham C.

2009-12-01

Full Text Available In this paper I argue that philosophies of the good society can inform theories of integrated governance in two significant ways. Firstly, they can provide a reasonable foundation for legitimating forms of authority to govern a society across the government, corporate and civil sector. Secondly, they promote value systems that can be constitutive of a normative theory of integrated governance. In developing this argument, I explore conceptions of the good society put forward by Marquis de Condorcet, Adam Smith and Karl Marx, and evaluate the modalities in which the social projects proposed by these authors involve issues of integrated governance. For this purpose, I examine the three theories in relation to three questions: (1 What goals (or objectives should social action be directed to? (2 What should be the scope and limits of social responsibility lying behind the social authority of each sector (government, market or civil society? (3 How is social authority to be exercised beyond legislation? What source(s of legitimacy should one appeal to? Although Condorcet’s idea of the natural social order, Smith’s system of natural liberty and Marx’s political economy of human value have all received their fair share of criticism from empirical theories of society, I suggest that these conceptions are still useful to us today as radical normative experiments. These experiments can have guiding value in formulating models of integrated governance. However, the fundamental differences displayed by these three conceptions reveal the importance of determining whether one can develop models of integrated governance that would accommodate plural, incompatible, or unknown conceptions of the good society.

Performance evaluation recommendations of nuclear power plants outdoor significant civil structures earthquake resistance. Performance evaluation examples

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2005-06-01

The Japan Society of Civil Engineers has updated performance evaluation recommendations of nuclear power plants outdoor significant civil structures earthquake resistance in June 2005. Based on experimental and analytical considerations, analytical seismic models of soils for underground structures, effects of vertical motions on time-history dynamic analysis and shear fracture of reinforced concretes by cyclic loadings have been incorporated in new recommendations. This document shows outdoor civil structures earthquake resistance and endurance performance evaluation examples based on revised recommendations. (T. Tanaka)

The impact of the information society on the customs relations

OpenAIRE

Troyan, Elena

2017-01-01

The Information Society is a new civilization; it is based on the information technologies. They influence on all spheres of life, including the customs service. Customs in the information society cooperates with other state bodies of the Russian Federation and the participants of foreign economic activity, so that it becomes involved in the global information process. The article examines how the information society effects on the customs legal relations, as well as identifies the positive a...

HIPAA's Individual Right of Access to Genomic Data: Reconciling Safety and Civil Rights.

Science.gov (United States)

Evans, Barbara J

2018-01-04

In 2014, the United States granted individuals a right of access to their own laboratory test results, including genomic data. Many observers feel that this right is in tension with regulatory and bioethical standards designed to protect the safety of people who undergo genomic testing. This commentary attributes this tension to growing pains within an expanding federal regulatory program for genetic and genomic testing. The Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008 expanded the regulatory agenda to encompass civil rights and consumer safety. The individual access right, as it applies to genomic data, is best understood as a civil-rights regulation. Competing regulatory objectives-safety and civil rights-were not successfully integrated during the initial rollout of genomic civil-rights regulations after 2008. Federal law clarifies how to prioritize safety and civil rights when the two come into conflict, although with careful policy design, the two need not collide. This commentary opens a dialog about possible solutions to advance safety and civil rights together. Copyright © 2017 American Society of Human Genetics. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Ética civil y ética religiosa en España

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alaminos Chica, Antonio

2012-08-01

Full Text Available This study shows the existence of a civil ethics in Spain, consistent with the process of secularisation and modernisation experienced by european societies. Following a discussion of what “civil ethics” are actually based on, using data from the international pew globes attitudes project survey, a series of hypotheses for Spain are contrasted concerning the weight of structural factors (sex, age, education and ideology inthe acceptance of a civic or religious ethics; and its influence on opinions, attitudes and behaviors related to religion in public life. The empirical analysis of the specified hypotheses reveals the influence that theethical option exerts on public opinion with regard to the State, society and religion. the results are consistent with those obtained in previous research, and are validated by using alternative phrasing and allowing for innovative analysis of civil and religious ethics in Spanish society.

Se muestra la existencia en España de una ética civil, coherente con el proceso de secularización y modernización experimentado por las sociedades europeas. tras una exposición de las bases conceptuales de lo que se considera “ética civil”, y empleando los datos de la encuesta internacional Pew Global Attitudes Project, se contrastan un conjunto de hipótesis para España relativas al peso de factores estructurales (sexo, edad, educación e ideología en la aceptación de una ética cívica o religiosa, y la influencia de esta en opiniones, actitudes y comportamientos relacionados con la religión en la vida pública. el contraste empírico de las hipótesis especificadas revela la influencia que tiene la opción ética en la opinión pública referida al estado, la sociedad y la religión. los resultados son acordes con los expuestos por investigaciones anteriores, validándolos, al emplear expresiones alternativas y permitiendo un análisis novedoso de la ética civil y religiosa en la sociedad española.

Terrorism as a slap in the face of the civilized world

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

I Šubrt

2016-12-01

Full Text Available The article summarizes the key scientific approaches to the study of terror in the contemporary world focusing on the concepts of (demodernization, (decivilization, and the revival of religious movements with rational economic aims under the slogans of “just war” or “cosmic war” with the forces of evil. The author starts from Norbert Elias’ work on the civilization process and the formation of the modern state as a pacified society to underline that the problem of violence lies outside Elias’ scope, and demonstrate the existing approaches to supplementing his theory with (a the definition of decivilization trends and the criteria for the identification of decivilization processes; (b the description of the role and place of brutal violence in modern society; (c a comprehensive but also heterogeneous picture of terrorism, especially suicide terrorism, i.e. its causes, manifestations and consequences. The author agrees with S.P. Huntington, that we live in a world with an increased risk of conflicts between civilizations and cultural strains rooting in the religious tradition (the re-politicization of religion and religious nationalism are considered attempts to fuse traditional religion with modern politics. Thus, the author concludes that the contemporary terrorism and especially its suicidal form is not only a specific form of (political struggle, but also - metaphorically speaking - a “slap in the face” of the civilized Western world, an effort to challenge, shake and undermine the stability and the patterns of life in modern society. However, terrorism wants to influence not only the power system of society, but also the collective psyche of large groups and parts of the population to create a sort of theatre of horror with the rationally designed, staged and performed means of violence.

“Why do I have to trust you?” The perspective from civil society on active citizenship in post–communist Albania

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dhembo Elona

2015-08-01

Full Text Available Civil society (CS is the main medium in which active citizenship can flourish and have an impact on good governance and democracy. The communist past has played a major role in CS underdevelopment across Eastern European countries but research primarily targeting the elites has explained little of how citizenry has developed and mapped little of the cross-country variation. This paper attempts to increase understanding, looking at the case of Albania, where low levels of active citizenships are documented1, as the main indicator of this underdevelopment. Data from in-depth interviews with key informants explain that it results from a combination of historical factors with current determinants such as the low perceived level of impact, the transparency of CS actors and the political influence believed to often dictate their agendas. These and additional explorations of gender and age differences lead to suggested new strategies to boost active citizenship in the country.

Professional Mobility of the Staff in the Risk Society

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Otenko Vasyl I.

2016-02-01

Full Text Available Unanticipated crises in various spheres of society are becoming a main object of attention of the mankind and civilization forming a new model of civilization – the risk society. Although this model is reflected in many works by scientists from different areas, methodological and practical justification of mechanisms for complex study of risks both at the society and enterprise level still remain relevant. The main resource for solving the problem of adaptation to life in the risk society is a person, who has both a high level of creativity and social responsibility. The unpredictability of enterprise risks can be overcome by developing professional mobility of its staff. This quality of a person is formed under the influence of a large number of external and internal factors. Among them the most difficult are the creative motivation of a person’s behavior and his/her internal mental set. In order to develop a methodological basis for formation of the staff professional mobility, it is necessary to formulate the main idea and hypothesis of a new theory, justify a list of disciplines studying certain aspects of the risk society and professional mobility, analyze paradigms of related sciences and choose ideas to form foundations of a new paradigm for creating a multidisciplinary system of concepts, principles and methods of research information support, rules of qualitative and quantitative assessment of its subject.

Risk society and amoral morality

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nedeljković Radica M.

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The modern world is the world of change. Modernity changed all aspects of life in width and depth. The changes are so fast and so many people have impression that they are trapped in a multitude of events that they cannot understand nor control. Instead of society as a system, we are talking about society as a network of different relationships of individuals and social groups. Instead of a harmonious society as a space in which the man resides, developing their potential and needs, we are talking about society as a threatening force that destroys everything in its way as 'Moloch' (Giddens, the 'risk society' (Beck in which the doctrine produced in equal measure the conditions for prosperity, but also the risks and destruction; the simulation of society (Baudrillard which glorifies lies and deceit. Instead of society as a community, we are talking about the disappearance of society (Popper. Can we, therefore, rationally understand and express the world, the world of modernity; this world of profound change resembles the maze in which we are lost and wandering without meaning? Starting with Ulrich Beck and his theory of the risk society, the author points out that the way in which the western civilization started, which is imposed as a mandatory form for the rest of the world, leads to amoral morality. The ideology of progress, which is irrational and without a clear vision and clearly defined values, pushes us into an uncertain future of numerous risks and ever growing individualism. Thus we come to the conviction that without common values, collective values, we are lost in this world of risk. Solidarity and trust are the key values for the stable community, but they are non-existent in the risk society dominated by individualism. In the period of uncertainty in the risk society, only religion provides a healthy basis for communal living. Therefore, the way out of the crisis is not in politics, which is placed at the service of the economy, but

[History of the Strasbourg Society of Biology].

Science.gov (United States)

Antony, Pierre; Romier, Christophe; Mantz, Jean-Marie

2017-01-01

The Society of Biology of Strasbourg (SBS) is a learned society that was created in 1919 based on the model of the Society of Biology of which it is a subsidiary. Like its Parisian colleague, SBS aims at diffusing and promoting scientific knowledge in biology. To achieve this goal, SBS initiated since its creation a dialogue interface between researchers in biology and physicians, and more recently with other scientific disciplines, industry and the civil society. At the dawn of its first century, the Society of Biology of Strasbourg must continue to reinvent itself to pursue its development and to fulfil its mission of sharing scientific knowledge. This work continues in strong collaboration with our partners that share with SBS the willingness to foster excellence in biological research in Strasbourg, its region and beyond. © Société de Biologie, 2017.

Civil war: is it all about disease and xenophobia? A comment on Letendre, Fincher & Thornhill.

Science.gov (United States)

Hendrix, Cullen S; Gleditsch, Kristian Skrede

2012-02-01

Letendre, Fincher & Thornhill (2010) argue that pathogen intensity provides the ultimate explanation for why some countries are more prone to civil war than others. They argue that the economic and political factors highlighted in previous research on civil war are largely caused by underlying differences in pathogen intensity, and contend that disease proneness increases the risk of civil war through its effects on resource competition and xenophobia. They present empirical evidence that they interpret as consistent with their argument: a statistically significant correlation between pathogen intensity and civil war onset. In this comment, we raise concerns over their interpretation of the empirical evidence and their proposed causal mechanisms. We find that the data provide stronger evidence for the reverse causal relationship, namely that civil war causes disease to become more prevalent. This finding is consistent with the literatures on the public health effects of civil war as well as research on state capacity and public health. © 2011 The Authors. Biological Reviews © 2011 Cambridge Philosophical Society.

Philosophical Reflection Smart-Society as a New Model of the Information Society and its Impact on the Education of the 21st Century

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Valentina Voronkova

2017-07-01

Full Text Available This article presents philosophical and educational reflection of smart-society as a new model of the information society and presents its impact on human (intellectual capital. It reveals timeliness of this topic, which is innovative and hardly developed. It analyses international experience in establishment and growth of smart-society and dimensions of axiological field of smart-society, which is based on axiological matrix of information and knowledge, which are considered and being civilized dimensions of modern society. The main idea is to prove the evolution of the information society to smart-society and the possibility of establishment of smart-society in Ukraine. The analysis of smart-society formation was made and its characteristics were defined, which claims priority role in the world information space formation and contribute to the competitiveness of Ukraine in the international information space.

Societies of Control: State techno-surveillance and Civic Resistance in Mexico

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Paola Ricaurte Quijano

2014-08-01

Full Text Available The aim of this article is to discuss the global and local implications of State surveillance in the light of the theoretical approach around control societies. We hold that the systematic, continuous and total techno-surveillance is an undeniable fact that promotes and requires multivaried forms of civil resistance. To demonstrate our position, we conducted a brief count of the actions undertaken by the Mexican civil society against the laws that promote the use of technology as a monitoring tool in Mexico, and the presence of spyware in Mexican operators. Finally, we present the consequences of techno-surveillance for journalists, activists and human rights advocates. This article concludes that monitoring practices in control societies are implemented by means of socio-technical mechanisms which articulate the public with the private sphere and are carried out with the civilian consent. However, various forms of civic resistance emerge in the continuity of the private and the public, the virtual and the physical, the local and the global.

A participação da sociedade civil em instrumentos da política ambiental brasileira

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Roseli Nunes Coletti

2012-06-01

Full Text Available This paper focuses on the evaluation of the civil society participation in the decision-making process of a number of instruments of the Brazilian environmental policy, such as: environmental zoning, environmental impact evaluation, environmental licensing. The current relevance of the matter is emphasized. A brief literature review of the issue is done in order to establish a conceptual theoretical framework about the opportunities for public participation in environmental decision-making process. The need to improve the instruments, techniques and communicative processes is emphasized through documental analysis, in order to encourage a wide and unrestricted participation of the civil society in decision--making of the environmental processes.

Art and Civil Action : Cultural Organizations in the European Civil Domain

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Gielen, Pascal; Lijster, Thijs

2017-01-01

In this article, the place of new cultural organizationsin the civil domain is analysed. The authors describe a theoretical model that they call the ‘civil chain’, describing the different phases in which civil organizations develop themselves. The civil chain delivers analytic insights into the

Features of transformation of the civil identity in the Russian political process

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ponedelkov Aleksander Vasilievich

2013-02-01

Full Text Available The analysis of the dynamics of the political process in Russia shows that institutional changes are taking place in the political system. Integration into the world community is accompanied with a request from the Russian society to a civil dialogue with the government, social stability based on democratic principles, the institutionalization of the turnover of the elites. Problems of search of civil identity are caused by the actualization in the public mind the necessity to mobilize the nation on the principles of patriotism, moral revival.

Motivation of staff in the civil service of Ukraine: problems and prospects

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nataliia Trokhymivna Honcharuk

2013-11-01

Full Text Available The problems and prospects of motivation in the civil service of Ukraine are analyzed in the article. Categorical analysis in the scientific literature the terms “motivated”, “motivation of staff of the Civil Service”, “motivation”, “financial motivation” has been done. The evolution of concepts and theories of motivation based on the needs, interests, motives and incentives is analyzed. The authors propose to take all the best from these concepts and theories to use in today’s development of Ukrainian society. The current state of public servants motivation and its regulatory provision is researched. Domestic and foreign experience motivation of public service motivation is generalized. The possibility of using new technologies of human resource management improvement in the public service is researched, the new provisions of the Law of Ukraine “On Civil Service” dated November 11, 2011 № 4050 on the motivation of civil servants in Ukraine is described.

Strengthening of Shear Walls

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hansen, Christian Skodborg

The theory for concrete structures strengthened with fiber reinforced polymer materials has been developing for approximately two decades, and there are at the present time numerous guidelines covering strengthening of many commonly encountered structural building elements. Strengthening of in...... that describes a unit width strip of a strengthened disk. The unit width strip is named a strengthened concrete tension member and contains a single tensile crack and four debonding cracks. Analysis of the member results in closed form expressions for the load-crack opening relationship. Further analysis...... of the response, results in the ability to determine and characterize the two-way crack propagation, i.e. the relationship between tensile cracking in the concrete and interface debonding between strengthening and concrete. Using the load-crack opening relationship from the strengthened concrete tension member...

Lineage of global civil engineering. Global civil engineering no keifu

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hashimoto, M

1994-04-15

This paper considers which way the global civil engineering should go in the future. Civil engineering has now a paradigm with a new dimension debuted as the global environmental problems are taken up specifically. Achieving the target of civil engineering requires a critical review that how the cost effect and efficiency discussions in only the dimensions of the conventional technologies and economies can be incorporated into the dimensions and measures of new fields to create the new horizons. Conceiving the relationship between civil engineered structures and environmental climate encounters the indispensable judgment criterion on how such social scientific conditions as weather, culture, religion, economy, and politics are combined to reach a judgment. The global civil engineering is desired to have the ideas and directional role to work on the ultimate assignment of environment and development called a global environmental problem analytically, comprehensively, innovatively and creatively as the civil engineering science, rather than as a mere existence of one area of the advanced civil engineering science. 5 refs., 1 tab.

Sud du Sahara | Page 158 | CRDI - Centre de recherches pour le ...

International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

Langue English. Read more about Supporting and Strengthening the Policy Roles and Practices of Canadian Civil Society Organizations' for Development Effectiveness. Langue English. Read more about Youth Employment and Migration in West Africa. Langue English. Read more about HarassMap: Using Crowdsourced ...

Reality Checks: The state of civil society organizations in Ethiopia

African Journals Online (AJOL)

development; human rights and advocacy; Ethiopia .... first two studies were carried out in Addis Ababa City, Bahir Dar (Amhara Region), ... from members of CSOs (in the case of societies), beneficiaries of CSOs (in the case of ... organizations, associations, networks, and groups that promote public interests and that.

Issues of Media Education of the USA and Canada in the Information Society

Science.gov (United States)

Holovchenko, Hlib

2014-01-01

The experience of different countries concerning the formation of preconditions for the development of the information society has been considered. The consequences of "totalitarian" model during the transition to open democratic civil society and the role of education and educators in this process have been defined on the example of…

Performance evaluation recommendations of nuclear power plants outdoor significant civil structures earthquake resistance. Technical documentation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2005-06-01

The Japan Society of Civil Engineers has updated performance evaluation recommendations of nuclear power plants outdoor significant civil structures earthquake resistance in June 2005. Experimental and analytical considerations on the seismic effects evaluation criteria, such as analytical seismic models of soils for underground structures, effects of vertical motions on time-history dynamic analysis and shear fracture of reinforced concretes by cyclic loadings, were shown in this document and incorporated in new recommendations. (T. Tanaka)

Nuclear Research and Society: Introduction

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Meskens, G.

2007-01-01

Throughout the last decades, the ever growing use of technology in our society has brought along the need to reflect on the related impact on the ecosystem and on society as such. There is growing evidence that the complexity of issues of risk governance and ethics coming with applications of nuclear technology, fossil fuels, human cloning and genetically modified crops cannot be tackled by pure rational technological and economical reasoning alone. In order to provide an answer to the concerns of civil society, this complexity needs a transdisciplinary approach, taking into account social and ethical aspects. Starting from the insight that a full understanding of the benefits and risks of applications of radioactivity and nuclear technology requires also an understanding of the context of application and a sense for the social and ethical aspects of the situation, SCK-CEN started in 1999 with its PISA research programme (Programme of Integration of Social Aspects into nuclear research). The aim of the research was (and still is) to give the nuclear researchers more insight into the complex social and ethical aspects of nuclear applications and to shed at the same time new lights on how to organise in a more effective way the dialogue and interaction with civil society. Originally, the programme was set up along thematic research tracks, involving nuclear scientists, engineers, philosophers and social scientists, and focussing on specific projects carried out by way of PhD- or post-doc research in cooperation with universities. The research tracks focussed on themes such as Sustainability and nuclear development, Transgenerational ethics of radioactive waste management, Legal aspects and liability, Risk governance and Expert culture. In addition to this thematic research, PISA organised reflection groups in interaction with universities, authorities and private actors. These interdisciplinary discussion sessions aimed to exchange knowledge and views on typical

Analysis of the Construction of Ecological Civilization in the Western Ethnic Areas

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

Wang Yongli

2017-01-01

each province; and the characteris￣tics of ecological protection and resource environ￣ment in ethnic areas. First of all, we should change the concept of government at all levels and the entire society in western ethnic areas, and improve the system of ecological civilization construction. For this pur￣pose, we must:( i) strengthen the top-level de￣sign of the ecological civilization system; ( ii) im￣prove relevant systems, such as the development of the national land space; and ( iii ) improve envi￣ronmental protection and ecological compensation in the western ethnic areas and the whole country. Furthermore, through making use of both formal systems, such as political, economic and legal ones, and informal systems, such as ecological culture, we should jointly safeguard and promote the construction of ecological civilization. On the one hand, we must establish and improve various policies related to finance, tax, population and land to improve the level of ecological political civ￣ilization in the western ethnic areas from the level of central government to local administrations. On the other hand, the central government and local administrations in the western ethnic areas must enhance the awareness of the construction of eco￣logical civilization through various ways, including school education and the internet. Secondly, we should vigorously develop the advantages of the ecological industry in western ethnic areas, such as ecological tourism, ecologi￣cal agriculture and other ecological industries. The construction of ecological civilization should strive to find a balance between ecological environment and stable economic growth. Therefore, according to the characteristics of their ecological environ￣ment, resources, climate and the capacity of the ecological carrying capacity, we should choose ec￣ological industries suitable for regional develop￣ment, such as ecological agriculture, ecological tourism;change the original model of

Science in the Information Society

CERN Document Server

2003-01-01

CERN will host the Role of Science in the Information Society (RSIS) conference on Monday and Tuesday, focusing on how science-driven information and communication technologies can help close the digital divide. There will be an army of bodyguards at CERN at the beginning of December. CERN will not only host the official visits, but also around 500 scientists, politicians, and members of civil society who will descend on the Main Auditorium for the Role of Science in the Information Society (RSIS) conference on 8-9 December. The RSIS conference hosted by CERN is a high-profile event focusing on how to make information technologies work for the greatest human benefit - a marked change from keeping a relatively low profile so far, making its discoveries available to all with little input in how they are applied. The RSIS, held 8-9 December at CERN, will be a Summit Event of the World Summit on the Information Society taking place at Palexpo on 9-13 December. RSIS participants will apply a scientific point of...

[Is it possible to rejuvenate the aging global civilization?

Science.gov (United States)

Makrushin, A V; Aladin, N V; Vasiliev, A S

2017-01-01

Society is not only social system but also biological system. Growing complexity of biological systems will inevitably lead to the loss of their potential immortality and to the appeared attribute of aging. The aging of the present-day civilization is evidenced by the problems having accumulated. The answer to the question concerning the possibility to prevent collapse depends on the answer to the more general question - whether supra-organismal system that due to the growth of the structure complexity has acquired the property to age without losing achieved complexity can return to ancestral potential immortality. A positive response is given to this question. Supra-organismal systems having been freed from the necessity to age exist. Those are communities of social insects. Some of them were mortal initially but in the course of evolution have lost attribute of aging. Therefore, complex supra-organismal systems, including present-day civilization, can return to ancestral potential immortality not losing the achieved structural complexity. The main obstacle to rejuvenating civilization is not the nature of things but the human mentality.

Sustainable Development in Engineering Education

Science.gov (United States)

Taoussanidis, Nikolaos N.; Antoniadou, Myrofora A.

2006-01-01

The principles and practice of environmentally and socially sustainable engineering are in line with growing community expectations and the strengthening voice of civil society in engineering interventions. Pressures towards internationalization and globalization are reflected in new course accreditation criteria and higher education structures.…

PERARES: Public Engagement with Research and Research Engagement with Society

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Steinhaus, Norbert; Mulder, Henk A.J.

2014-01-01

PERARES is a four-year project funded by the European Community's Seventh Framework Programme which started in 2010. The acronym stands for "Public Engagement with Research and Research Engagement with Society”. The project brings together Science Shops, Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) and

The new totalitarian society

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vlajki Emil

2011-01-01

Full Text Available The new totalitarian society is a euphemized expression denoting the New World Order, which in itself denotes the American globalization. The underpinning of this mindset is rationality, which is characteristic of Western civilization. Christianity engendered rationality by introducing it through St. Thomas Aquinas, Aristotle, and especially formal logic. Since it is obvious that religion and logic cannot ultimately be harmonized, this combination has proven lethal in many cases throughout history. For instance, the Inquisition, which, contrary to what happened at scholastic universities, severely berated rational thinking in practice. Catholicism helped carry out genocide against the Jews, and Orthodoxy is in a certain manner tied in with Stalinism. The new totalitarian society is anchored in American Protestantism. On the whole, Christian rationalism is a sphere of science, techniques and technologies efficiently employed to promote the West to the status of a society of plenty and the conception of human rights, which turn into their opposite and irrational behavior of the worst kind. An example of such inhumanity is the attack against Yugoslavia/Serbia in 1999.

Promoting Environmental Justice through Civil-Based Instruments in South Africa

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Michelle Toxopeüs and Louis J. Kotzé

2017-06-01

Full Text Available Achieving environmental justice in South Africa is critically important, not only because of historical reasons rooted in the country’s apartheid past, but also to ensure that everyone in the country, especially marginalized and vulnerable sectors of society, are properly protected from disproportional environmental impacts. Another aim of environmental justice in South Africa is to ensure that everyone equally shares in the benefits of the country’s resources. In this article, we interrogate ways through which to achieve environmental justice in South Africa through the use of civil-based instruments (CBIs of environmental governance. The central hypothesis is that CBIs are particularly well-suited to contribute to the achievement of environmental justice since they are essentially instruments which empower civil society to become central stakeholders in environmental governance by fostering active participation in the decisions that may impact on the environment and people’s health and well-being. Through these instruments all of society, particularly disenfranchised people suffering most from environmental injustice, are afforded a platform to pursue their environment-related interests that may be affected by the decisions taken by government and private actors such as polluting companies. For the purpose of the discussion we focus specifically on public participation, access to information and access to justice, all of which are generally accepted as CBIs, including in international law.

Performance evaluation recommendations and manuals of nuclear power plants outdoor significant civil structures earthquake resistance

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2005-06-01

Performance evaluation recommendations and manuals of nuclear power plants outdoor significant civil structures earthquake resistance have been updated in June 2005 by the Japan Society of Civil Engineers. Based on experimental and analytical considerations on the recommendations of May 2002, analytical seismic models of soils for underground structures, effects of vertical motions on time-history dynamic analysis and shear fracture of reinforced concretes by cyclic loadings have been evaluated and incorporated in new recommendations. (T. Tanaka)

Research on Ecological Civilization Construction and Environmental Sustainable Development in the New Era

Science.gov (United States)

Xiang-chao, Pan

2018-05-01

After the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, the Socialism with Chinese Characteristics entered a new era. However, the contradiction between China’s economic and social development and the sustainable development of environment is still outstanding. That is mainly due to the fact that China pays some attention to the economic development but neglects the ecological protection to a certain extent. In the report of the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, it is clearly proposed that it is necessary to adhere to the harmonious coexistence between man and nature, and to establish the concept of green development firmly, focusing on solving the problem of the environmental pollution and destruction and other outstanding issues, and strengthening the construction of the ecological environment supervision system, and the legal guarantee of the construction of ecological civilization. Only by adhering to the concept of ecological civilization in the new era can we finally realize the fundamental improvement of ecological environment.

African Transitional Justice Research Network - Phase II | CRDI ...

International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

The African Transitional Justice Research Network (ATJRN) aims to strengthen the capacity of African researchers and civil society institutions to conduct effective human rights advocacy through the production of high-quality, locally based and targeted empirical research. Phase I of the project (102862) focused on creating ...

Research calls for preventive approach to gender-based violence in ...

International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

Their research looked at the root causes and impacts of violence against women and also assessed the effectiveness of existing strategies to prevent and combat gender-based violence. Their work has identified key strategies to strengthen civil society and public organizations engaged in preventing violence against ...

Funding Democracy, Funding Social Services? The European Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights in the Context of Competing Narratives in Turkey

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Muehlenhoff, H.L.M.

2014-01-01

Within the process of Turkey's European Union (EU) accession, the EU aims to strengthen Turkey's democratization through various programmes focusing on the role of civil society. By funding non-governmental organizations (NGOs), the EU intends to empower NGOs to take on a self-responsible role in

Telecentres, Access and Development : Experience and Lessons ...

International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

IDRC at the World Conference of Science Journalists 2017 ... Youth Citizen Security Platform - Mexico and Central America ... Supporting Effective African Civil Society Participation in the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) ... This funding will help strengthen the Makerere Institute of Social Research's (MISR) role as a ...

African Transitional Justice Research Network - Phase II | IDRC ...

International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

The African Transitional Justice Research Network (ATJRN) aims to strengthen the capacity of African researchers and civil society institutions to conduct effective human rights advocacy through the production of high-quality, locally based and targeted empirical research. Phase I of the project (102862) focused on creating ...

For a world governance of the civil and military nuclear

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gere, Francois

2010-04-01

This report first proposes an overview of the history of the emergence of the civil and military nuclear activities, of their relationship and of their distinction. It notably refers to some initiatives like Atoms for Peace in 1953, and the ups and downs of arms control. It discusses the relationship between the power of States and their nuclear capacities, the motivations for the acquisition of nuclear weapons, the disturbance created by nuclear weapons, the emergence of the notion of non proliferation and the evolution of the perception of the national interest. It comments the relationship between war and military nuclear, the role of military nuclear in peace keeping, the role of civil nuclear for peace through sustainable development and compensation of inequalities, the relationship between nuclear and terrorism. The second part describes the evolutions for the century to come (end of Cold War, new energy needs, preservation of the planet) and discusses the possible ban of nuclear weapons. Several proposals are then formulated to strengthen the foundations of a new diplomacy, to act at the institutional level (notably through existing or proposed bodies, for verification and financing), and to elaborate a new social contract about the nuclear

Convergence, Creative Industries and Civil Society Towards a New Agenda for Cultural Policy and Cultural Studies

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Colin Mercer

2009-10-01

Full Text Available In this article I start with a personal experience "cameo" from 1996 in Australia and extrapolate from that some issues that remain relevant in the sometimes trou-bled relationship between cultural studies and cultural policy. These are encapsu-lated in the three "cs" of convergence, creative industries and civil society which provide a new context for both new research and new policy settings. The argu-ment is developed and situated in historical terms by examining the "cultural technologies", especially the newspaper, and subsequently print media in the 19th century, electronic media in the 20th century and digital media in the 21st century which provide the content, the technologies and the rituals for "imagining" our sense of place and belonging. This is then linked to ways of understanding culture and cultural technologies in the context of governmentality and the emergence of culture as a strategic object of policy with the aim of citizen- and population for-mation and management. This argument is then linked to four contemporary "testbeds" - cultural mapping and planning, cultural statistics and indicators, cul-tural citizenship and identity, and research of and for cultural policy - and priori-ties for cultural policy where cultural studies work has been extremely enabling and productive. The article concludes with an argument, derived from the early 20th century work of Patrick Geddes of the necessity of linking, researching, un-derstanding and operationalising the three key elements and disciplines of Folk (anthropology, Work (economics, and Place (geography in order to properly situate cultural policy, mapping and planning and their relationship to cultural studies and other disciplines.

Olympic and world sport: making transnational society?

Science.gov (United States)

Giulianotti, Richard; Brownell, Susan

2012-06-01

This paper introduces the special issue of the British Journal of Sociology on the subject of the transnational aspects of Olympic and world sport. The special issue is underpinned by the perspective that because sport provides a space for the forging of transnational connections and global consciousness, it is increasingly significant within contemporary processes of globalization and the making of transnational society. In this article, we examine in turn eight social scientific themes or problems that are prominent within the special issue: globalization, glocalization, neo-liberal ideologies and policies, transnational society, securitization, global civil society, transnational/global public sphere, and fantasy/imagination. We conclude by highlighting five 'circles' of future research inquiry within world sport that should be explored by social scientists. © London School of Economics and Political Science 2012.

Strategy of Strengthening Social Capital of Farmer Group in Agricultural Development

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Galih Mukti Annas Wibisono

2016-06-01

Full Text Available In the village, the agricultural development is not certainly oriented to the economic aspect. The social intervention is very important and very helpful for the citizens and the development of the agricultural itself. The purpose of this research is to analyze the social existence, the social influence, and also the systematic strategy that can strengthen the society in developing the agriculture. The method used in this research is the qualitative analysis with phenomenology approach. The qualitative analysis is conducted by the direct observation in the field and in-depth interviews with the respondents that are selected by the purposive sampling. The result shows that a society has formed the farmer organization to have mutual coordination among the members. However, there are some problems that occur on this organization. The values and norms begin to fade and have become the major problem. Another problem is the sense of trust among the citizens and the unoptimal social network utilization. The conclusion is, the Analytic Network Process (ANP shows that to make a progress of agricultural development, they need to strengthen the social relationship among the citizens to face all the problems that may occur.

Tocqueville celebrated the role of civil society in the growth of

African Journals Online (AJOL)

there are two modes of incorporation and, each producing a different effect on the state~society relations. These are integrated domination with the state at the ..... Confederation of Cameroon Trade Unions(CCTU), despite its .... disintegrating.

The ethics of truth in the era of technological civilization and the information

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

N. V. Nesprava

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The technological civilization and information society give a lot of advantages to a modern man in various fields. However, at the same time, we do not see a decrease in hostility and injustice in the society. Moreover, technological progress has led to the fact that human civilization is on the verge of a serious challenge caused by environmental disasters and opportunity for unprecedented disastrous consequences of the World War III. In these circumstances, the search for the causes of the current crisis is actual as well as the development of concepts that can contribute to overcoming this crisis. One of the most promising theories in this context is the ethics of truth. In modern civilization the issue of the importance of truth is shifted to the periphery of the intellectual discourse. Modern civilization uses only substitutes of the issue. Veracity in science together with popular opinions in the field of information circulating are such substitutes of truth. However, these substitutes do not fully reflect the true contents of the truth issue. The truth is not confined to the veracity of a celebrity’s opinion. Analyzing the theories by H. Jonas, В. Hübner, V. Stepin and T. Voronina, the study argues that the processes of losing of the meaning of life are intensifying in the modern civilization. We argue that a lack of a proper attention in modern civilization to the issue of truth inevitably stimulates processes of diluting the meaning of human life. Based on the theories by G. Hegel, H.-G. Gadamer and J. Neidleman T. Osborne, the study demonstrates that without thinking about the issue of the truth one cannot come near to the transcendent, and thus, his life could not be convincingly endowed with meaning, fullness and a purpose of existence. Understanding the issue of truth is especially important in conditions of the modern civilization, because our civilization is facing the possibility of self-destruction as a result of its

Strengthening rehabilitation services in Indonesia: A brief situation analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Nugraha, Boya; Setyono, Garry Rahardian; Defi, Irma Ruslina; Gutenbrunner, Christoph

2018-04-18

People with disability (PWD) in Indonesia are often neglected by society. Improving their life situation towards full participation in society is crucial. As a health strategy, rehabilitation can improve func-tioning, quality of life and participation in society. However, rehabilitation services in Indonesia need improvement. Making a situation analysis of rehabilitation services and their provision in the country is a pre-requisite to taking any action towards improvement. This paper compiles available data related to disability and rehabilitation services in Indonesia, using the Rehabilitation Services Assessment Tool (RSAT) as a framework. Gaps in provision were analysed, resulting in the compilation of a list of generic recommendations to improve rehabilitation services in the country. Indonesia faces many challenges in rehabilitation services, including the health workforce and the provision of services. This situation analysis and list of generic recommendations may be used in further discussions with relevant stakeholders in the country to develop a national strategy to strengthen rehabilitation services.

Paz, conflicto y sociedad civil en América latina y el Caribe | IDRC ...

International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

2007-01-01

Jan 1, 2007 ... This volume is a collection of studies conducted by the Coordinadora Regional de Investigaciones Económicas y Sociales (CRIES) into the problems of civil society and armed or violent conflicts in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Civil Identity

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Petersen, Lars Axel

In this paper I will go through a catalogue of examples of contexts in which the term civil identity is currently used, ranging from the formal and technical process of linking a set of administrative and other events to an individual biological person by means of identity cards, fingerprints, iris...... of Israel to Luce Irigaray's Feminist agenda of elaborating gender specific civil identities. My intention is to investigate whether these different employments of 'civil identity' point towards a common, and fairly well defined object field asking questions of contemporary relevance to the philosophy...

Challenges To Reducing Discrimination And Health Inequity Through Existing Civil Rights Laws.

Science.gov (United States)

Chandra, Amitabh; Frakes, Michael; Malani, Anup

2017-06-01

More than fifty years after the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, health care for racial and ethnic minorities remains in many ways separate and unequal in the United States. Moreover, efforts to improve minority health care face challenges that differ from those confronted during de jure segregation. We review these challenges and examine whether stronger enforcement of existing civil rights legislation could help overcome them. We conclude that stronger enforcement of existing laws-for example, through executive orders to strengthen enforcement of the laws and congressional action to allow private individuals to bring lawsuits against providers who might have engaged in discrimination-would improve minority health care, but this approach is limited in what it can achieve. Complementary approaches outside the legal arena, such as quality improvement efforts and direct transfers of money to minority-serving providers-those seeing a disproportionate number of minority patients relative to their share of the population-might prove to be more effective. Project HOPE—The People-to-People Health Foundation, Inc.

77 FR 14031 - Public Listening Sessions To Obtain Input on the Multi-Stakeholder Group Tasked With the...

Science.gov (United States)

2012-03-08

... governments and companies to publicly disclose in parallel the revenues paid and received for extraction of... work with industry and civil society to implement USEITI. EITI will strengthen relationships among the... in the multi-stakeholder group? How best can a balance of interests and perspectives, be achieved in...

Descentralizacón y manejo ambiental: Gobernanza Costera en ...

International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

2008-03-01

Mar 1, 2008 ... To govern nowadays means to foster interdependency among the different actors of a given society, be they public, private, political or civil. This process involves strengthening capacities at regional levels so that the regions can determine their own development options according to their biological, social, ...

Search Results | Page 11 | IDRC - International Development ...

International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

Results 101 - 110 of 162 ... Strengthening the Role of Civil Society in Water Governance in African Cities - Durban, Maputo, Nairobi. Achieving water security in Africa remains a major challenge for policymakers. Moreover, there is evidence linking climate variability to deteriorating water security in the region, particularly its ...

Analysis on optimization of the critical path for civil construction period of Fangjiashan nuclear island constructed under EPC mode

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Liu Yongqing; Wu Youcong; Qiu Jinhong

2011-01-01

Based on the actual situation of nuclear island civil construction in Fangjiashan nuclear power plant and combined with the arrangement of the construction schedule, the analysis on optimization of the critical path for civil construction period is conducted. The result shows that on the premise of not increasing the contract price and the total engineering cost based on the original 57-month construction period, the construction period can be shorten to 21 month through strengthening the schedule control, keeping the critical work in a reasonable duration and rearranging the link between programmers. In addition, in view of the economic analysis, if we increase the mechanical engagement and adopt special method, the 2-month construction period can be even shortened to 20 months. (authors)

The Role of Romanian NGOs in Democratization Process of the SOCIETY After 1990

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marton BALOGH

2006-06-01

Full Text Available This paper strives to critically discuss the role that NGOs1 played in the democratization process of the Romanian society after the changes from 1990. In the transition process from a dictatorial system to a democratic one, NGOs functioning is absolutely necessary. There is a variety of ways in which the civil society can contribute to the democratization of a country. To some, the very proliferation of civil society organizations - no matter what their type, agenda, or influence are - builds the infrastructure of democracy, because according to the supporters of this view an active associational life is a precursor of democracy. The right to free elections, the freedoms of speech, and citizen’s participation to governance (including free access to public interest information are only few aspects whose evolution is worth studying in this paper. Also, the existence of a strong NGO sector provides a great opportunity in a society, mainly because its involvement in community development is thought to build skills and foster democratic values and attitudes in individuals that will eventually spread to the broader society. They also enhance the prospects for democratization because they foster associational life, empower individuals, and provide them with the skills and attitudes that are useful for democratization.

Old and new memories of the Civil War

OpenAIRE

Dominguez Prats, Pilar

2014-01-01

This article examines autobiographical narratives of the Spanish Civil War by way of war diaries, letters and memoirs which have been published between 2006 and 2013. Since the beginning of the war the trauma caused to Spanish society has led to a substantial number of personal narratives. These sources, based upon individual experiences, are of great value for constructing a multi-faceted history of the war itself. We examine memoirs and diaries which for various reasons have not been publis...

Educação, cidadania e sociedade civil. Repensando sentidos e articulações em tempos de mudança

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Manuel BARBOSA

2009-01-01

Full Text Available RESUMEN: El presente artículo proyecta una nueva mirada sobre la conocida relación entre la educación, la ciudadanía y la sociedad civil, repensando, con espíritu crítico, los sentidos y las articulaciones que esa relación puede asumir en la cotidianidad de sociedades profundamente marcadas por las dinámicas de la cosmopolitización y por las exigencias de un reconocimiento sin márgenes para discriminaciones. La intención es aclarar, en primer lugar, la necesidad de reconfigurar las relaciones de la educación con la ciudadanía, sabiendo que los nuevos conceptos de ciudadanía son influyentes a ese respecto. En segundo lugar se promueve la «desocultación» de las agendas que se construyen sobre esa relación, partiendo de un análisis hermenéutico de las principales corrientes políticas de nuestra contemporaneidad, tanto en términos de concepciones de sociedad civil como de ciudadanía y de educación para la ciudadanía. Por último, se pregunta sobre lo que podemos esperar de la simbiosis entre educación, ciudadanía y sociedad civil no sin cuestionar y lanzar algunas sospechas a los discursos que sobrevaloran las aportaciones educativas de la sociedad civil en materia de ciudadanía. La cuestión es simplemente ésta: ¿A quién interesa hoy por hoy sobrestimar las virtudes educativas de la sociedad civil? El tramo final del artículo elige a los destinatarios y lanza luz sobre lo que pretenden.ABSTRACT: This paper provides a fresh examination of the familiar relationship between education, citizenship and civil society, by critically rethinking the meanings and the articulations that this relationship may take on in societies that are deeply marked by the dynamics of cosmopolitanism and by the demands for recognition without discrimination. It seeks, first of all, to clarify the need to reconfigure the relationships between education and citizenship, bearing in mind that the new concepts of citizenship play a decisive role

Strategy for Strengthening Farmer Groups by Institutional Strengthening

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Purbayu Budi Santoso

2015-08-01

Full Text Available Agriculture sector becomes a spotlight because this sector will be full of potential but the welfare of farmers who become the leading actor is not guaranteed and has a poor tendency. The purpose of this study is to formulate strategies to strengthen farmers' groups in order to create the marketing of the agricultural sector that benefit farmers. The method used to achieve this goal is to use a qualitative approach and Analytical Network Process. In addition to the secondary data obtained from several agencies, this study also uses primary data obtained by in-depth interviews and observations. This research results a priority of aspects of the institutional strengthening of farmer groups as well as priority issues and priorities of the solution of each aspect. In addition, the priority of alternative strategies resulted based on the problems and solutions that have been analyzed in order to solve the problems in the institutional strengthening of farmer groups in Demak.

An Indirect Approach to Map Ethnic Identities in Post-conflict Societies

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bochsler, Daniel; Schläpfer, Basil

2016-01-01

Ethnicity remains one of the most salient layers of individuals' social identities, and information about the distribution of ethnic identities turns out to be crucial for many studies that investigate political or social processes in divided societies. In the aftermath of civil wars, however, ce...

Civil law

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Hesselink, M.W.; Gibbons, M.T.

2014-01-01

The concept of civil law has two distinct meanings. that is, disputes between private parties (individuals, corporations), as opposed to other branches of the law, such as administrative law or criminal law, which relate to disputes between individuals and the state. Second, the term civil law is

What we do | Page 94 | IDRC - International Development Research ...

International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

This project aims to strengthen the capacity of Canadian civil society organizations (CSOs) to inform Canadian policy on human rights and global justice. ... Extensive areas of sub-Saharan and especially East Africa, are particularly vulnerable to the long-term consequences of climate change and the short-term increase in ...

Political anomalies and web-based civil antibodies in Silvio Berlusconi’s Bel Paese

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Giovanni Navarria

2012-02-01

Full Text Available Italy’s complex history has produced some remarkable path-breaking experiences and quite a few dangerous anomalies (such as Silvio Berlusconi’s media driven political regime,but it has also made the country the perfect ground for testing experimental antibodies that can contrast such anomalies. One of these antibodies is the web-based civil society orbitingaround the blog Beppegrillo.it. This article argues that the story of such community shows the path to follow for the Italian civil society. Grillo and his fellow bloggers in fact have so far demonstrated that new communication media have the potential to free citizens’ from control and at the same time increase their capacity to keep a close watch on power.La compleja historia de Italia presenta algunas experiencias innovadoras así como bastantes anomalías peligrosas (por ejemplo el régimen mediáticamente controlado de SilvioBerlusconi, pero ha convertido también el país en el territorio perfecto para el surgimiento de anticuerpos que pueden contrastar dichas anomalías. Uno de estos anticuerpos es la sociedad civil basada en la web que gira en torno al blog Beppegrillo.it. Este artículo argumenta que la historia de dicha comunidad muestra el camino a seguir para la sociedad civil italiana. Grillo y el conjunto de sus seguidores blogeros han demostrado de hecho que nuevos medios de comunicación tienen el potencial de liberar a los ciudadanos del control y a su vez aumentar su capacidad para mantener estrechamente vigilado al poder.

Risk to civilization: A planetary science perspective

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chapman, C.R.; Morrison, D.

1988-01-01

One of the most profound changes in our perspective of the solar system resulting from the first quarter century of planetary exploration by spacecraft is the recognition that planets, including Earth, were bombarded by cosmic projectiles for 4.5 aeons and continue to be bombarded today. Although the planetary cratering rate is much lower now than it was during the first 0.5 aeons, sizeable Earth-approaching asteroids and comets continue to hit the Earth at a rate that poses a finite risk to civilization. The evolution of this planetary perspective on impact cratering is gradual over the last two decades. It took explorations of Mars and Mercury by early Mariner spacecraft and of the outer solar system by the Voyagers to reveal the significance of asteroidal and cometary impacts in shaping the morphologies and even chemical compositions of the planets. An unsettling implication of the new perspective is addressed: the risk to human civilization. Serious scientific attention was given to this issue in July 1981 at a NASA-sponsored Spacewatch Workshop in Snowmass, Colorado. The basic conclusion of the 1981 NASA sponsored workshop still stands: the risk that civilization might be destroyed by impact with an as-yet-undiscovered asteroid or comet exceeds risk levels that are sometimes deemed unacceptable by modern societies in other contexts. Yet these impact risks have gone almost undiscussed and undebated. The tentative quantitative assessment by some members of the 1981 workshop was that each year, civilization is threatened with destruction with a probability of about 1 in 100,000. The enormous spread in risk levels deemed by the public to be at the threshold of acceptability derives from a host of psychological factors that were widely discussed in the risk assessment literature

Foresight as the design technology of the future: the latest mechanisms of interaction of public authorities, business and civil companies

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

S. A. Kvitka

2016-09-01

The article concludes that Foresight as a modern technology of designing and programming of the future has the necessary methods and instrument to create policies and projects for socio-economic development of regions and communities, and the whole of Ukraine on the basis of the synergy and resources of stakeholders - the three sectors of society - government, business and civil society. The use of this technology can open new opportunities of state management in the achievement in the Ukrainian society of political consensus on the future direction of development of the country. Meanwhile, Foresight progress in academia is slow, and in practical terms, the number of foresight projects in Ukraine is insignificant and has no significant impact. This becomes an additional factor in the preservation of stagnation in all spheres of society and prevent any real strategic planning of development of regions and communities in Ukraine. Still, in thier view, there is reason to hope that foresight can be claimed by the government authorities, business and civil society. Hope - because the future will come definitely and it is impossible to prevent it.

Reconceptualizing Civil Regulation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Galang, Roberto Martin; Castello, Itziar

2011-01-01

This article re-conceptualizes the notion of civil regulation, through an analysis of 775 projects by firms located in 21 Asian countries, wherein we map the state of civil regulation initiatives in the region. We challenge two established assumptions in the Corporate Social Responsibility litera....... Finally, we argue that, in Asia, governments act as a structuration mechanism which challenges the current understanding of CSR.......This article re-conceptualizes the notion of civil regulation, through an analysis of 775 projects by firms located in 21 Asian countries, wherein we map the state of civil regulation initiatives in the region. We challenge two established assumptions in the Corporate Social Responsibility...... and environmental standards; but also that local, small and medium companies play a key role in the development of Asian civil regulation. We call this second finding the “CSR importation trap”. Our findings are supported by evidence on the limitations in the interchangeable properties of business and governments...

Revolutionary Self-Sufficiency: the Diggers' Digging in the English Civil War, 1648-1650

OpenAIRE

Levi, Jane

2016-01-01

The Diggers were small groups that appeared after the English Civil War who cultivated common land with carrots, beans and corn. This paper looks at the religiosity of the Diggers and how their ideas about bread, creation and the right use of land underpinned their thinking about every aspect of society.

Civil partnerships five years on.

Science.gov (United States)

Ross, Helen; Gask, Karen; Berrington, Ann

2011-01-01

The Civil Partnership Act 2004, which came into force in December 2005 allowing same-sex couples in the UK to register their relationship for the first time, celebrated its fifth anniversary in December 2010. This article examines civil partnership in England and Wales, five years on from its introduction. The characteristics of those forming civil partnerships between 2005 and 2010 including age, sex and previous marital/civil partnership status are examined. These are then compared with the characteristics of those marrying over the same period. Further comparisons are also made between civil partnership dissolutions and divorce. The article presents estimates of the number of people currently in civil partnerships and children of civil partners. Finally the article examines attitudes towards same-sex and civil partner couples both in the UK and in other countries across Europe.

Advanced information society (9)

Science.gov (United States)

Kamata, Hiroki

This article discusses the U.S. and European national strategies and policies for information society. Coping with the declining competitiveness in high-tech products and Japanese technological advantages both have been trying hard to strengthen technology base and to deregulate the telecommunications services markets. The U.S. approach in 1980's, unlike its liberalist principle, has been characterized by technological protectlonism and defense-oriented policies. European Communities' approach has been more comprehensive and systematic, investing heavily telecommunication infrastructure, deregulating domestic market, and promoting cooperation of member countries. However, both of these approaches have, so far, been unable to achieve a considerable success.

[Between individual therapy and political intervention: campaigns against "diseases of civilization" between 1920 and 1960].

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