Suchergebnisse

Upon recognizing that there is a scarcity regarding the literature in the country on the civil society in general and the Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in particular, we ask the following questions in this article: What role does international NGOs play regarding human rights in Colombia? What tools do they have at their disposal? After a few contemplations on the human rights subject in terms of: 1) the international legal context, 2) the application mandate, and 3) the activism deployed by these organizations, this article concludes that international NGOs in Colombia further intense public action, in networks, that distinguishes them, more than as activities, but as resolute agents. A double momentum in their repertoire allows them to be assertive in the national as well as the international state. They censure when rights are vulnerated; when there is no national legislation, they appeal to international regulations so that violations are punished, and they are always striving to save lives. (Colombia Internacional/GIGA)

In the months following his death on 20 August, Ethiopia's Prime Minister Meles Zenawi has been eulogized and demonized in equal measure. But his policies, and the transformational paradigm on which they were based, have rarely been elucidated. While alive, Meles was equally indifferent to praise and blame. To those who acclaimed Ethiopia's remarkable economic growth, he would ask, do they understand that his policies completely contradicted the neo-liberal Washington Consensus? To those who condemned his measures against the political opposition and civil society organizations, he demanded to know how they would define democracy and seek a feasible path to it, in a political economy dominated by patronage and rent seeking? Meles did not hide his views, but neither did he ever fully present his theory of the 'democratic developmental state' to an international audience. Over nearly 25 years, I was fortunate to be able to discuss political economy with him regularly, including critiquing his incomplete and unpublished master's dissertation. During this time, his thinking evolved, but his basic principles and sensibilities remained constant. World leaders have lauded Meles' economic achievements without acknowledging their theoretical basis. Human rights organizations have decried his political record as though he were a routine despot with no agenda other than hanging on to power. Reviewing his writings on the developmental state, this essay shows the unity of his theory and practice. Meles had the quiet certitude of someone who had been tested -- and seen his people tested -- to the limit. Along with his comrades in arms in the leadership of the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), he had looked into the abyss of collective destruction, and his career was coloured by the knowledge that Ethiopia could still go over that precipice. Many times during sixteen years of armed struggle in the mountains ... Adapted from the source document.

В статье рассматривается один из дискуссионных вопросов концепции глобального гражданского общества, касающийся типологии негосударственных участников международных отношений. Акцентируется внимание на неоднозначности термина «негосударственные акторы мировой политики». Обобщен опыт теоретического исследования данной проблемы, выделены существующие варианты их типологии на основании различных критериев. Обозначены институты глобального гражданского общества в зависимости от парадигмы его понимания. Обосновывается преимущественное значение международных неправительственных организаций как акторов глобального гражданского общества, представлены их разновидности. Подчеркивается воздействие акторов глобального гражданского общества на процесс глобализации в зависимости от отношения к ее противоречивым процессам, и выделены стратегии их поведения. Указаны формы глобального протеста институтов гражданского общества против глобализации на международном уровне. ; The article discusses one of the controversial issues of the concept of global civil society relating to the typology of non-state participants of international relations. Focuses on the ambiguity of the term «nonstate actors in world politics». The experience of theoretical research of this problem, highlighted existing typologies based on various criteria. The designated institutions of global civil society, depending on the paradigm of his understanding. Justified priority international non-governmental organizations as actors of global civil society, presented their varieties. Emphasizes the influence of actors in global civil society to the globalization process depending on the relation to its contradictory processes and highlighted strategies for their behavior. Specified forms of global protest of civil society against globalization at the international level.

Through a case study of community organizing in the global city of London and an examination of the legacy of Saul Alinsky around the world, this book develops a constructive account of the relationship between religious diversity, democratic citizenship, and economic and political accountability. Based on an in-depth, ethnographic study, Part I identifies and depicts a consociational, populist and post-secular vision of democratic citizenship by reflecting on the different strands of thought and practice that feed into and help constitute community organizing. Particular attention is given to how organizing mediates the relationship between Christianity, Islam and Judaism and those without a religious commitment in order to forge a common life. Part II then unpacks the implications of this vision for how we respond to the spheres in which citizenship is enacted, namely, civil society, the sovereign nation-state, and the globalized economy. Overall, the book outlines a way of re-imagining democracy, developing innovative public policy, and addressing poverty in the contemporary context

В статье исследуется идеологическая сфера современного политически организованного общества. Установлены основания появления гражданского общества, которое рассматривается как правовой феномен. Обосновывается тезис о том, что для формирования гражданского общества в системе политических факторов первичным фактором является идеологический. На основе различия идеологической сферы проводится дифференциация гражданского общества, с одной стороны и традиционного и массового общества, с другой. показана специфика идеологической сферы современного политически организованного общества западного типа. ; Today, ideological foundation of civil society is actual problem. The urgency of the consideration is related to the well-observed correlation of the structural characteristics of civil society and certain characteristics of the ideological sphere of modern politically organized society. In the present article, I explore the ideological sphere of modern politically organized society, which is characterized by phenomena, such as constitutional state and civil society. I show the specificity of the ideological sphere in the leading role of legal ideology, as a special mechanism of its organization. In this case, legal ideology includes a segment of legal ideology of civil society, and the segment of legal ideology of the state. In the study of the ideological sphere of modern society, I apply a systematic approach, functional-structural method, formal-logical, sociological methods, and methods of philosophical and legal analysis. In my article, I established the grounds of emergence of civil society which is regarded as a legal phenomenon; I also justify the idea that for the formation of civil society in the system of political factors, the primary factor is ideological. Civil society is characterized by the presence of legal ideology as the axioms of civil justice; without such ideology the civil society does not arise. Based on the difference in the ideological sphere, I held differentiation of civil society, on the one hand, and traditional and mass society, on the other.

Why do political actors undertake reforms that constrain their own discretion? We argue that uncertainty generated by political competition is a major driver of such reforms, and test this argument using subnational data on Mexican states' adoption of state-level access to information (ATI) laws. Examining data from 31 Mexican states plus the Federal District, we find that more politically competitive states passed ATI laws more rapidly, even taking into account the party in power, levels of corruption, civil society, and other factors. The fine-grained nature of our data, reflecting the staggered timing of elections, inauguration dates, and dates of passage, allows us to distinguish between different theoretical mechanisms. We find the greatest evidence in favor of an insurance mechanism, by which incumbent parties who face uncertainty over future political control seek to ensure access to government information, and means of monitoring incumbents, in the future in case they lose power.

Transitional Justice is a long-term process which seeks to address severe human rights abuses of the past through measures such as trials, commissions of inquiry, memorials, apologies, reforms of the legal or security sector, school textbook reforms, and reconciliation projects. These measures are usually applied by governments, but can also be initiated by civil society groups, such as victim groups, or the international community, for example the European Union or the UNHCR. Transitional justice measures are seen as catalysts for coming to terms with the past and establishing new, stable, and often democratic societies. As such, the measures are linked to the performance and efficacy of democratic institutions in the context of their accountability and responsiveness, transparency, and level of citizen participation. Thus, transitional justice is a process that aims to reconcile divided and conflict-torn societies by re-establishing (democratic) institutions. These measures can be catalysts to leverage institutional performance. Adapted from the source document.

This article uses the moralized markets and markets as politics literatures in economic sociology to explore the emerging industry of private consultants who produce 'democratic' dialogues for organizational clients from all sectors. In multi-method field research, we (a) trace moralized processes by which market activity and political process are distinguished in an era of financial crisis, and (b) argue that the ability to produce authentic civic-ness is valuable specifically because distinctions between business, government and civil society have become less meaningful in contemporary neoliberal governance. Engagement consultants construct social and economic profits as interdependent and mutually reinforcing, while claiming protection from both business as usual and ordinary politics-a 'positive' outcome useful for budget-slashing and benefit-cutting at a moment when authorities face a loss of public faith. Such findings contribute to a better understanding of the historical resiliency of neoliberalism and reveal the meaning-centered dynamics of politicization in moralized markets. Adapted from the source document.

The Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) signed in October 2008 between the Caribbean and the European Union has been the subject of much controversy. There has been a marked split within the Caribbean between the officials and politicians who negotiated -- and thus championed -- the EPA and the wider academic and civil society community that subjected it to heavy criticism. The paper examines these debates in detail and situates them within the broader intellectual and practical panorama of Caribbean development alternatives. Specifically, it discusses how the terrain upon which development has been both theorised and practised in the region has narrowed significantly since the 1980s, with the EPA being the latest manifestation of this evolving trend. The paper consequently goes beyond an analysis of the short-term politics of the EPA to elucidate the deeper, structural explanations for the divisions over the EPA between the policy and academic communities and the wider implications of the Agreement for contemporary Caribbean development. Adapted from the source document.

Transitional Justice is a long-term process which seeks to address severe human rights abuses of the past through measures such as trials, commissions of inquiry, memorials, apologies, reforms of the legal or security sector, school textbook reforms, and reconciliation projects. These measures are usually applied by governments, but can also be initiated by civil society groups, such as victim groups, or the international community, for example the European Union or the UNHCR. Transitional justice measures are seen as catalysts for coming to terms with the past and establishing new, stable, and often democratic societies. As such, the measures are linked to the performance and efficacy of democratic institutions in the context of their accountability and responsiveness, transparency, and level of citizen participation. Thus, transitional justice is a process that aims to reconcile divided and conflict-torn societies by re-establishing (democratic) institutions. These measures can be catalysts to leverage institutional performance. Adapted from the source document.

Most studies of regionalism in Southeast Asia pay little attention to environmental concerns as part of the region's empirical dynamic. In contrast, this article examines the ways in which governments have come to "govern" environmental issues at a regional scale under the auspices of ASEAN, against the backdrop of debates about the political topography of Southeast Asian regionalism. The framework adopted here brings together analyses of the public space of formal regional governance arrangements, the inter-subjective space of regional identity building, and the private space of regional social practices. Underpinning this is the question of whether moves to supposedly "flatter" forms of regional governance have been accompanied by for more democratic or participatory forms of regionalism. I conclude that regional environmental structures under ASEAN are more akin to "invited spaces" and have generally failed to offer effective channels of communication for, or democratic representation of, a wider range of stakeholders, including civil society groups and local communities. Adapted from the source document.