This tenth edition of Doing Business sheds light on how easy or difficult it is for a local entrepreneur to open and run a small to medium-size business when complying with relevant regulations. It measures and tracks changes in regulations affecting eleven areas in the life cycle of a business: starting a business, dealing with construction permits, getting electricity, registering property, getting credit, protecting investors, paying taxes, trading across borders, enforcing contracts, resolving insolvency and employing workers. Doing Business presents quantitative indicators on business regulations and the protection of property rights that can be compared across 185 economies, from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe, over time. The indicators are used to analyze economic outcomes and identify what reforms have worked, where and why. This economy profile presents the Doing Business indicators for Uzbekistan. To allow useful comparison, it also provides data for other selected economies (comparator economies) for each indicator. The data in this report are current as of June 1, 2012 (except for the paying taxes indicators, which cover the period January - December 2011).
Doing business sheds light on how easy or difficult it is for a local entrepreneur to open and run a small to medium-size business when complying with relevant regulations. It measures and tracks changes in regulations affecting 10 areas in the life cycle of a business: starting a business, dealing with construction permits, getting electricity, registering property, getting credit, protecting investors, paying taxes, trading across borders, enforcing contracts and resolving insolvency. In a series of annual reports doing business presents quantitative indicators on business regulations and the protection of property rights that can be compared across 183 economies, from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe, over time. This economy profile presents the doing business indicators for United States. To allow useful comparison, it also provides data for other selected economies (comparator economies) for each indicator. The data in this report are current as of June 1, 2011 (except for the paying taxes indicators, which cover the period January December 2010).
This tenth edition of Doing Business sheds light on how easy or difficult it is for a local entrepreneur to open and run a small to medium-size business when complying with relevant regulations. It measures and tracks changes in regulations affecting eleven areas in the life cycle of a business: starting a business, dealing with construction permits, getting electricity, registering property, getting credit, protecting investors, paying taxes, trading across borders, enforcing contracts, resolving insolvency and employing workers. Doing Business presents quantitative indicators on business regulations and the protection of property rights that can be compared across 185 economies, from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe, over time. The indicators are used to analyze economic outcomes and identify what reforms have worked, where and why. This economy profile presents the Doing Business indicators for Lao PDR. To allow useful comparison, it also provides data for other selected economies (comparator economies) for each indicator. The data in this report are current as of June 1, 2012 (except for the paying taxes indicators, which cover the period January - December 2011).
This tenth edition of Doing Business sheds light on how easy or difficult it is for a local entrepreneur to open and run a small to medium-size business when complying with relevant regulations. It measures and tracks changes in regulations affecting eleven areas in the life cycle of a business: starting a business, dealing with construction permits, getting electricity, registering property, getting credit, protecting investors, paying taxes, trading across borders, enforcing contracts, resolving insolvency and employing workers. Doing Business presents quantitative indicators on business regulations and the protection of property rights that can be compared across 185 economies, from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe, over time. The indicators are used to analyze economic outcomes and identify what reforms have worked, where and why. This economy profile presents the Doing Business indicators for Kiribati. To allow useful comparison, it also provides data for other selected economies (comparator economies) for each indicator. The data in this report are current as of June 1, 2012 (except for the paying taxes indicators, which cover the period January - December 2011).
Doing business sheds light on how easy or difficult it is for a local entrepreneur to open and run a small to medium-size business when complying with relevant regulations. It measures and tracks changes in regulations affecting 10 areas in the life cycle of a business: starting a business, dealing with construction permits, getting electricity, registering property, getting credit, protecting investors, paying taxes, trading across borders, enforcing contracts and resolving insolvency. In a series of annual reports doing business presents quantitative indicators on business regulations and the protection of property rights that can be compared across 183 economies, from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe, over time. This economy profile presents the doing business indicators for Russian Federation. To allow useful comparison, it also provides data for other selected economies (comparator economies) for each indicator. The data in this report are current as of June 1, 2011 (except for the paying taxes indicators, which cover the period January-December 2010).
A sharp divide has emerged within the Democratic foreign policy community as Israel enters the third week of its bombing campaign in Gaza. While most politicians have held to the Biden administration line — namely, that a decisive response is necessary to eliminate Hamas and prevent further atrocities against Israelis — a growing number of staffers in the State Department and Congress have questioned what they view as blanket support for human rights violations in Gaza. Josh Paul stepped into the center of this debate last week when he resigned from the State Department in protest of the administration's policy. "I cannot work in support of a set of major policy decisions, including rushing more arms to one side of the conflict, that I believe to be shortsighted, destructive, unjust, and contradictory to the very values that we publicly espouse," Paul, who was a director in the office overseeing U.S. weapons sales, wrote in a widely shared LinkedIn post. In subsequent statements, Paul claimed that senior officials have consistently ignored internal concerns about Israel's use of American weapons in alleged human rights violations. His comments suggest that the White House has fallen short in implementing its own arms transfer policy, which said the State Department should block weapons sales if it is "more likely than not" that they will be used to commit atrocities. A spokesperson for the State Department denied Paul's allegations and said the U.S. complies "with all applicable statutory requirements and regulatory requirements in our provision of military assistance to Israel, as we do to every other country in the world." RS spoke with Paul about why he resigned and how political pressures can override concerns that American weapons will be used to carry out atrocities abroad. The following conversation has been edited for length and clarity. RS: What response have you gotten from your former colleagues about your decision to resign? Do you expect more of them to express their concerns internally as well within the State Department? Paul: I've had an astonishing response from former colleagues, well beyond what I expected. I thought that barely anyone would actually want to communicate with me after I resigned because of the sensitivity of debates about Israel. But on the contrary, I've heard from so many — both within the State Department and across the U.S. government — sharing their own experiences of wanting to talk out about this issue and not being able to. It's been very moving and eye-opening. I think there are more people now talking out about this within the system. I don't know that anyone else is going to take the step that I took in resigning, but I respect that everyone has their own personal circumstances.RS: In your op-ed for the Washington Post, you wrote that "Israeli requests for ammunition started arriving immediately, including for a variety of weapons that have no applicability to the current conflict." Can you expand on that? Paul: I'll expand on it in a limited form, because these remain, in some cases, pre-decisional, and I do want to give the process time to work through these issues. But I will say that there are two things here. First of all, the sorts of things that Israel was requesting had applicability not only in Gaza, but also in the West Bank. There are videos out there now on Instagram, for example, of Israeli officials handing out M4 firearms to settlers. I think that is very concerning. It should be concerning to us because there is a track record of settler violence against Palestinian civilians. I also think that [Israel sees this as] an opportunity. There has been more significant pushback against the blind provision of military equipment to Israel in the last few years than we've seen in decades, and this is a moment in which that pushback has been sidelined. Therefore it is — frankly, in at least the way they see it — in Israel's interest to get what it can now because who knows how long this moment of opportunity, to put it quite cynically, is open for. RS: Do you oppose all U.S. arms transfers to Israel at this time? Paul: No, not at all. My opposition is to lethal arms transfers. That means items that kill people. I have no problem whatsoever with defensive items such as Iron Dome. I don't think civilians should have to live under rocket fire, and I absolutely support the provision of defensive equipment like that. Even when it comes to the lethal, I'm not saying that Israel does not have a right to defend itself and does not have a right to go after the Hamas terrorists who attacked it so brutally on October 7. Of course it does. The question is how many Palestinian civilians have to die in that process? And how does this actually lead us to real security for Israel? RS: Have State Department officials flagged specific Israeli units for human rights violations and have those flags ever led to a change in policy? Paul: What you're talking about here is Leahy vetting. Under U.S. law, any military unit that receives U.S. military grants assistance must be vetted to ensure that it has not committed gross violations of human rights. In the context of Israel, which receives more than half of all U.S. military grant assistance in the base budget, there is a special process unlike that followed by other countries. For most countries, we vet the units that are receiving the systems before they receive the assistance. In the context of Israel, we provide the assistance, and then if certain allegations come to light of potential gross violations of human rights, we investigate those and decide if such things have actually happened. There have been a number of units and individuals that have been flagged through the process that have very credible allegations of gross violations of human rights against them — allegations that are supported by significant and senior bureaus within the Department — but the process has never been able to come to a conclusion that such gross violations of human rights have occurred. There's always been a political pressure and a policy pressure to not come to that conclusion. RS: What does that look like in practice? Paul: First, a violation is flagged. Typically, it's something we see in the press, or an NGO will reach out to say, "Hey, are you aware of XYZ?" And there is a process where the bureaus with equities come together to review those allegations to determine if they are credible. If they are credible, the next step is actually to reach out to the government of Israel and see what they have to say about it, which in itself is a problem. But then once Israel comes back, there is further discussion of whether this was a gross violation of human rights. It's at that point, typically, that the process grinds to a halt, whether it is from the leadership of a bureau involved in the process or sort of a higher level guidance that, "Hey, this isn't gonna go anywhere. Let's move on to the next thing." RS: Have other states gotten arms sales approved due to political pressure despite credible allegations of human rights violations? Paul: Yes, absolutely, particularly under the previous administration, but prior to that under the Obama administration too. If you look at sales that are publicly known to other countries with dubious human rights records in the region, you will see that there have been instances in which there are clear concerns about human rights, for example, in the context of the conflict in Yemen, where despite knowledge of those concerns, sales have gone forward. There is a difference, however, and this is quite technical, but it comes back to this question of 'grant military assistance.' If a country is buying from the U.S. with its own money, Leahy does not apply, and that is a problem in itself. The law that says you cannot provide military equipment to units involved in gross violations of human rights does not apply if that country is spending its own money. RS: You've mentioned the Biden administration's new Conventional Arms Transfer policy, which says the US shall not transfer weapons to countries more likely than not to use them in workarounds. Is it your view that the Biden administration has held to this policy in all cases besides Israel? Paul: Now, remember, a policy is a policy. It is not legally binding. The way the Conventional Arms Transfer policy is written, by and large, is as a framework for policymakers to make decisions rather than a directive or a checklist. But the CAT policy has always guided decisions on transfers under the Biden administration. Even before it was writ, we followed the spirit of it. And so I would say this is a unique instance. RS: So you wouldn't say that arms transfers to other countries accused of human rights abuses fell afoul of that, especially ones in the Middle East? Paul: I think we have to look at a case by case basis about what you're talking about, a lot of these sales are public. In each of those, there has been consideration of what the item is and what unit is receiving it, and those are the discussions that have played out over the course of months and years. That is what is lacking here. However, while they have all been made in accordance with the CAT policy, that doesn't mean I agree with the outcomes or the decisions, including some sales to Egypt and Saudi Arabia. RS: During your time with the State Department, did you or your colleagues at any point succeed in stopping an arms sale completely due to human rights concerns? Paul: Yes. In fact, the first step that the administration took upon taking office was to suspend two arms sales to the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen. RS: And those never went through in the end? Paul: Those have not yet gone through. They are suspended. RS: Are there any cases besides that one that you can recall? Paul: Yes, there are certainly other arms transfers to other countries that either have been under policy discussion and debate, including with Congress, for years, or which just did not go anywhere. To point you to a very public example of the constructive role Congress can play here, it's well known that Congress has played a critical role in delaying potential arms transfers to Turkey. RS: What is your advice to your former colleagues and government people that are working on this issue on how they should make the case that you're making and how they should seek to affect policy?Paul: The Civil Service does provide some unique and really important protections in terms of the ability to push back against policy internally. You cannot be fired for disagreeing with a policy decision. You can only be fired for real malfeasance, which is right, and that gives them the ability to take a stand and to push back on things where they believe that there are mistakes being made or where there are policies being pursued that are unhelpful both to American national security and to human rights. So I would encourage them, to the extent they can feel comfortable, to take advantage of those protections and to keep fighting the good fight.
Environment and trade -- Theoretical frameworks for analyzing the development of institutions in interaction with their environment -- Universal building blocks : itinerant traders, family firms, ships, and basic contracts -- Varying organizational building blocks : three institutions, three paths of migration (sea loan, funduq/caravanserai, and commenda) -- The commenda (features, origins, migration, modifications) -- Family firms in three regions -- Merchant networks -- Trade by rulers and states -- The origins of the business corporation -- The Dutch East India Company -- The English East India Company -- Why did the corporation only evolve in Europe?
This Technical Note was prepared in the context of a joint World Bank-IMF Financial Sector Assessment Program mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina during October-November 2014. Bosnia's capital markets are currently small, but they have the potential to play a more important role in the country's future.
The fate of the 2,500 troop multi-national coalition force in Iraq remains uncertain as ongoing negotiations within the context of the Iraq-US Higher Coordinating Committee decide on its future.While there is general agreement that the counter-ISIS coalition in its present structure should end, both sides agree that there is a need for ongoing military assistance but in a bi-lateral framework.One of the key players in this discussion is Iraq's National Security Advisor, Qasim al Araji, a longstanding official in the Iraqi security establishment. He was trained by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps and fought against the regime of Saddam Hussein before returning to Iraq in 2003. After the 2003 invasion, he was one of the first high-level detainees held by the Americans and released three months later, only to be detained again in 2007 and held until 2009 at Camp Bucca. Sometime after that he joined the Iranian-supported Badr Corps, was elected to Parliament in 2014 and was appointed as Iraq's Minister of Interior in 2017, and National Security Advisor in 2020. Despite a checkered relationship with the U.S. prior to 2017, his terms as Minister of Interior and National Security Advisor have won praise from foreign military and diplomatic officials who note his professionalism and willingness to work together, with the Americans in particular, on security "portfolios" of mutual concerns. In a long interview on 1 March on the sidelines of the Antalya Diplomacy Forum, he discussed the major threats facing his country with Responsible Statecraft. Asked about his thoughts on "America's obsession with Iran", he replied with humor: "My answer? Iran is obsessed with the American influence in Iraq as well. The view of the Iraqi government is that we don't support either Iranian or American influence on Iraqi decision making." RS: What do you see as the major security challenges facing Iraq today? Al Araji: Since the defeat of Daesh, narcotics are now the biggest challenge for us. The interference of other countries is another threat to our stability. Iraq believes it should not interfere in the affairs of other countries and would expect the same from other countries. RS: Are you satisfied with the support of regional neighbors on issues such as ISIS and drug trafficking? Al Araji: Narcotics and drugs are a global challenge, so it needs regional and international cooperation, not only with our neighbors but with all the world. There is already some degree of cooperation, but I think we can do more as narcotics are a common threat to the stability and prosperity of all countries. RS: How dire is the threat posed by Daesh and how prepared are the Iraqi forces to handle it alone? Al Araji: Our battle with Daesh is primarily an intelligence battle. The information we have is that Daesh does not have many fighters in Iraq, but we should cooperate with other partners in sharing intelligence, and to fight and defeat the remaining Daesh fighters. We believe the main threat is the 10,000 Daesh foreign fighters from different countries in addition to those from Iraq and Syria. The remaining Daesh fighters in Iraq do not pose a significant threat to Iraq but they are still a threat. Iraq is capable of confronting Daesh by itself, but it needs to cooperate with others to dry up the financial support and other resources to Daesh. Last year we signed around 23 memorandums of understanding with our neighbors and other countries to deal with Daesh. I also think al Hol camp is a significant threat. We need to find a way to resolve the situation in al Hol, otherwise it will keep providing extremists for Daesh. We urge countries to repatriate their citizens as there are almost 60 countries with citizens in al Hol. There are about 4,000 Iraqi families in this camp, and Iraq has repatriated about 1,924 families, but there are many more that must be repatriated.RS: There has been concern over spillover effects from the Gaza war in the region and an escalation. What are your thoughts on how this is impacting Iraq?Al Araji: The spillover from Gaza will impact Iraq and the whole region at the same time. The war crimes happening in Gaza will impact the stability of the whole region. Humanity is rejecting what is happening in Gaza right now. The policy of starvation, the policy of killing, and the policy of displacing people is affecting the whole world, and I am wondering why the international community is unable to stop this war. Nobody can stop the sympathy toward what is happening right now to the Palestinian people in Gaza. I think you know about the American Air Force airman who burned himself to death because of Gaza. RS: There has been significant questions about the role of militias in the national security structures. Why can't the militias be demobilized and incorporated into the MOD and MOI? Al Araji: These factions are not working against the government but supporting the current government. Some of them played a role in defeating Daesh in Iraq. Yes, there isn't a legal framework for their existence in Iraq, our security institutions are very obvious, and the current government is doing its best to control the weapons that are outside of the government's control. These factions first formed during the occupation of the US troops in Iraq. Any country that feels it is occupied by another country would give rise to such resistance factions. After the withdrawal of American troops from Iraq in 2011, the country was stable with few major security problems. But when Daesh invaded and occupied over one third of our territory, these factions formed again to defeat Daesh. What is happening now in Gaza is an excuse for these factions to restart their activities, and that is embarrassing the government because the government is trying to do its best to prevent an escalation.We are in communication with them. I am personally talking to these factions and if some of them are willing to join the Iraq Security Forces, we can work on that together. The stability of Iraq depends on all weapons being under control of the State and government.RS: The US has been critical about the lack of action on attacks against their forces. Why is it so hard to capture and prosecute those responsible for the attacks?Al Araji: There are very clear orders and instructions from the government to capture and prosecute anyone who is playing a role in attacking the Americans. Those who attacked the American embassy were captured and arrested. And some of those who also attacked American advisors in the Iraqi bases are being arrested as well.RS: Do you believe it is time for the US-led coalition forces to leave Iraq or is there a compelling reason for them to remain? Al Araji: The Iraqi forces are capable of confronting Daesh and other security challenges, and this is understood by the global coalition. The relationships between Iraq and the global coalition are positive and we are looking forward to keeping these relationships friendly. We are friends and partners. They are here because we asked them to be here, and after 10 years, Iraq has the right to reassess the terms of this presence. There is an Iraqi-US Higher Coordinating Committee, and it will assess the presence of the Americans and the Coalition in IraqWe are waiting for the result of these committees and depending on the reports we will take action. Iraq wants to establish separate bilateral relations with the members of the global coalition. It already has a bilateral agreement with the Americans, and we are looking forward to strengthening bilateral relations with other countries. We really want to have bilateral cooperation with the US and all the other members of the coalition. RS: The Americans seem obsessed with the influence of Iran in Iraq. Is that a justified concern? Al Araji: (laughing) My answer? Iran is obsessed with the American influence in Iraq as well. The view of the Iraqi government is that we don't support either Iranian or American influence on Iraqi decision making. We have good relations with Iran and the US, but the conflict between both is negatively affecting Iraq. Hopefully Iraq will not be a proxy battlefield for them. I think restoring relations between the US and Iran will also help the relation between Iraq and the US and will affect Iraq positively overall.
En este artículo se propone una transformación del gobierno de las universidades públicas de Colombia en el marco de una propuesta de reforma de la educación superior. En esta se debe introducir la idea de la profundización de la democracia en consonancia con las transformaciones políticas y sociales que se están dando en el país en el sentido de un cambio en las estructuras de poder político. Esta transformación tiene que darse mediante una radicalización de la representación profesoral y estudiantil. ; Aunque es común referirse al imperio internacional de la ley, es menos común definirlo o explorar lo que significa. En este ensayo examino el imperio internacional de la ley en la práctica y en teoría. Esto es importante porque muchas controversias sobre la dirección de la política mundial se basan de hecho en explicaciones diferentes del imperio internacional de la ley. Comprender las diferentes maneras en que se usa esta idea y sus implicaciones para la elección de políticas puede ayudar a clarificar lo que se está discutiendo y lo que no en las controversias globales. Yo planteo tres enfoques distintos del concepto de imperio internacional de la ley y los comparo con la práctica estatal contemporánea. El primero está anclado en la obligación de los estados de cumplir sus obligaciones legales internacionales. El segundo traza una analogía con el imperio doméstico de la ley. El tercero parte de la observación de que los estados invocan la ley internacional para explicar y justificar sus políticas – de aquí se amplía a un modelo de la ley como parte integral de la legitimación política. Me parece que el tercero ofrece la comprensión conceptualmente más coherente del imperio internacional de la ley y tiene implicaciones interesantes para el estudio de la ley y la política internacionales. ; El autor aborda la tendencia del crecimiento del capital por encima de la expansión económica, que ha generado una excesiva desigualdad, mostrando que esto además ha coincidido con el retroceso en el estado de bienestar, incidiendo en las políticas nacionales y por ello generando una transformación del estatus de ciudadano hacia un productor de bienes y consumidor. Los argumentos se dirigen a mostrar cómo esta situación contradice los principios de protección de las mínimas condiciones sociales y económicas esgrimidos por la declaración universal de los derechos humanos y el modo como el capital internacional incide en las decisiones políticas transformando el concepto tradicional de soberanía y de ciudadanía. Se evidencia pues una necesidad de decisiones que, en términos políticos impongan cargas económicas al capital, sobre todo al internacional. ; La filosofía estándar de la economía presupone que en el dominio de los fenómenos económicos subyacen regularidades estables, las cuales pueden explicarse mediante el funcionamiento de mecanismos o de máquinas socioeconómicas. Asimismo, se considera que una vez puestos en funcionamiento, su comportamiento no necesita de subsecuentes intervenciones. Esto implica asumir que los procesos socioeconómicos tienen una naturaleza semejante a los de las ciencias naturales. No obstante, dichas regularidades son por lo general examinadas a la luz de algún modelo económico, por lo cual pierden muchas veces contacto con el mundo real. Este trabajo tiene como objetivo poner en el centro del análisis otro objeto de estudio: los procesos económicos basados en expectativas. Se trata de procesos en los cuales la acción humana funciona como nexo causal entre las variables económicas y en los que dicha acción es producto de una formación previa de expectativas, las cuales son sensibles a la información del contexto. Se mostrará que en esta clase de procesos la intervención sistemática sobre las condiciones de fondo y sobre las expectativas es fundamental si lo que se busca es alcanzar un objetivo deseado o lograr un proceso estable. Esta intervención requerirá no solo del conocimiento proporcionado por los modelos, sino también de un conocimiento extrateorético o interdisciplinario. ; El desarrollo y la especialización que sufrieran los organismos policiales durante la modernidad condujeron a un cuestionamiento en torno a sus competencias para afectar las formas de vida de la sociedad, llegando a un punto máximo cuando esta intervención comprendía limitar la libertad —tanto pública como privada— de los ciudadanos. El debate que surge en torno a la actividad policial en relación con estos dos puntos —entre coerción y libertad— es el presentado a la luz de los pensamientos de Fichte y Hegel, con vista a analizar las condiciones (y las condicionantes que impone) en las que ejerce su acción dentro de la sociedad. ; En este artículo se expone una reflexión desde la propuesta teórica de Charles Taylor sobre la construcción de la identidad individual como una narración social frente a la crítica de Amartya Sen, quien propone la identidad como resultado solo de la elección personal. Se argumenta que las críticas que Amartya Sen hace a los argumentos de Taylor son infundadas, ya que la perspectiva de Charles Taylor se centra más en el carácter fundamentalmente constructivo, narrativo y dialógico de la identidad que en la pérdida de la libertad y la mera aceptación acrítica de la identidad asumida. Se concluye que la identidad como narración social desde la perspectiva teoría de Taylor sí da cabida a la capacidad de elegir de los individuos y a la consideración de las identidades múltiples y múltiples lealtades identitarias, pero se hace notar la importancia del contexto social y del grupo por encima de la elección personal en el momento en que una persona construye su identidad, ya que les da valor a los bienes externos como la comunidad cultural y lingüística a la que la pertenece y que hacen posible la inteligibilidad y la narración de lo que somos y de quiénes somos. ; Se examina la relación entre razones y causas de la acción en el psicoanálisis freudiano. Hay acuerdo en que Freud confundía, o por lo menos no hizo una distinción rigurosa a lo largo de su trabajo, entre razones y causas. Se analizarán dos interpretaciones al respecto. De un lado, la que sostiene que había en él una tendencia naturalista y que, en ese sentido, nunca abandonó su pretensión de encontrar las causas de la acción humana; de otro lado, la que defiende que en Freud imperó siempre una orientación más psicologizante, con base en la cual defendió la búsqueda del sentido de actos fallidos, sueños, etc.; lo cual lo llevó a abandonar su orientación cientificista y a concentrarse en la comprensión o interpretación de la acción. Como alternativa se propone considerar que el conflicto en Freud se soluciona si dejamos de lado los dualismos razones / causas y comprensión /explicación. ; El objetivo de este trabajo es discutir la interpretación tradicional según la cual los razonamientos de Zenón de Elea en contra de la multiplicidad constituyen una defensa de la tesis monista. Intentaré demostrar que las objeciones zenonianas a la multiplicidad suponen una crítica previa a la existencia de "lo uno". Por este motivo, Zenón no es monista ni pluralista, sino, más bien, un crítico de las perspectivas metafísicas que consideran al ser en términos numéricos, i. e. como uno o como múltiple. Para ello me concentraré en el análisis de la interpretación que Aristóteles desarrolla sobre la filosofía de Zenón, considerando algunos pasajes de Física, Refutaciones sofísticas y, fundamentalmente, Metafísica, III. 4. 1001b7-13 (DK 29 A 21). También incluiré algunos testimonios del comentario a la Física de Simplicio, en los que se discuten las interpretaciones de Eudemo de Rodas y Alejandro de Afrodisia, que ratifican el punto de vista aristotélico sobre la filosofía de Zenón (In Ph. 99.7-18, DK 29 A 21; 138.3-6, DK 29 A 22). ; A fines de los 50 y a lo largo de los años 60 Feyerabend formula su doctrina de la proliferación teórica. Con ella busca inicialmente destacar la presencia positiva de la metafísica en el proceso de explicación teórica. Concretamente, pretende dar cuenta de la impotencia de toda teoría científica de explicar realísticamente el mundo si no estuviera informada por supuestos que sus interlocutores juzgan como a-científicos o pre-científicos. Ahora bien, para poder precisar el papel que juega la metafísica en el proceso de explicación teórica es preciso dilucidar qué entiende Feyerabend por realismo. Entre los especialistas existe una discusión acerca de si este defiende un realismo científico o un antirrealismo. Con el propósito de poder comprender en qué sentido Feyerabend sostiene que la metafísica provee vías de acceso para explicar el mundo, procuraremos demostrar la naturaleza normativa de su realismo.
En este artículo se propone una transformación del gobierno de las universidades públicas de Colombia en el marco de una propuesta de reforma de la educación superior. En esta se debe introducir la idea de la profundización de la democracia en consonancia con las transformaciones políticas y sociales que se están dando en el país en el sentido de un cambio en las estructuras de poder político. Esta transformación tiene que darse mediante una radicalización de la representación profesoral y estudiantil. ; Aunque es común referirse al imperio internacional de la ley, es menos común definirlo o explorar lo que significa. En este ensayo examino el imperio internacional de la ley en la práctica y en teoría. Esto es importante porque muchas controversias sobre la dirección de la política mundial se basan de hecho en explicaciones diferentes del imperio internacional de la ley. Comprender las diferentes maneras en que se usa esta idea y sus implicaciones para la elección de políticas puede ayudar a clarificar lo que se está discutiendo y lo que no en las controversias globales. Yo planteo tres enfoques distintos del concepto de imperio internacional de la ley y los comparo con la práctica estatal contemporánea. El primero está anclado en la obligación de los estados de cumplir sus obligaciones legales internacionales. El segundo traza una analogía con el imperio doméstico de la ley. El tercero parte de la observación de que los estados invocan la ley internacional para explicar y justificar sus políticas – de aquí se amplía a un modelo de la ley como parte integral de la legitimación política. Me parece que el tercero ofrece la comprensión conceptualmente más coherente del imperio internacional de la ley y tiene implicaciones interesantes para el estudio de la ley y la política internacionales. ; El autor aborda la tendencia del crecimiento del capital por encima de la expansión económica, que ha generado una excesiva desigualdad, mostrando que esto además ha coincidido con el retroceso en el estado de bienestar, incidiendo en las políticas nacionales y por ello generando una transformación del estatus de ciudadano hacia un productor de bienes y consumidor. Los argumentos se dirigen a mostrar cómo esta situación contradice los principios de protección de las mínimas condiciones sociales y económicas esgrimidos por la declaración universal de los derechos humanos y el modo como el capital internacional incide en las decisiones políticas transformando el concepto tradicional de soberanía y de ciudadanía. Se evidencia pues una necesidad de decisiones que, en términos políticos impongan cargas económicas al capital, sobre todo al internacional. ; La filosofía estándar de la economía presupone que en el dominio de los fenómenos económicos subyacen regularidades estables, las cuales pueden explicarse mediante el funcionamiento de mecanismos o de máquinas socioeconómicas. Asimismo, se considera que una vez puestos en funcionamiento, su comportamiento no necesita de subsecuentes intervenciones. Esto implica asumir que los procesos socioeconómicos tienen una naturaleza semejante a los de las ciencias naturales. No obstante, dichas regularidades son por lo general examinadas a la luz de algún modelo económico, por lo cual pierden muchas veces contacto con el mundo real. Este trabajo tiene como objetivo poner en el centro del análisis otro objeto de estudio: los procesos económicos basados en expectativas. Se trata de procesos en los cuales la acción humana funciona como nexo causal entre las variables económicas y en los que dicha acción es producto de una formación previa de expectativas, las cuales son sensibles a la información del contexto. Se mostrará que en esta clase de procesos la intervención sistemática sobre las condiciones de fondo y sobre las expectativas es fundamental si lo que se busca es alcanzar un objetivo deseado o lograr un proceso estable. Esta intervención requerirá no solo del conocimiento proporcionado por los modelos, sino también de un conocimiento extrateorético o interdisciplinario. ; El desarrollo y la especialización que sufrieran los organismos policiales durante la modernidad condujeron a un cuestionamiento en torno a sus competencias para afectar las formas de vida de la sociedad, llegando a un punto máximo cuando esta intervención comprendía limitar la libertad —tanto pública como privada— de los ciudadanos. El debate que surge en torno a la actividad policial en relación con estos dos puntos —entre coerción y libertad— es el presentado a la luz de los pensamientos de Fichte y Hegel, con vista a analizar las condiciones (y las condicionantes que impone) en las que ejerce su acción dentro de la sociedad. ; En este artículo se expone una reflexión desde la propuesta teórica de Charles Taylor sobre la construcción de la identidad individual como una narración social frente a la crítica de Amartya Sen, quien propone la identidad como resultado solo de la elección personal. Se argumenta que las críticas que Amartya Sen hace a los argumentos de Taylor son infundadas, ya que la perspectiva de Charles Taylor se centra más en el carácter fundamentalmente constructivo, narrativo y dialógico de la identidad que en la pérdida de la libertad y la mera aceptación acrítica de la identidad asumida. Se concluye que la identidad como narración social desde la perspectiva teoría de Taylor sí da cabida a la capacidad de elegir de los individuos y a la consideración de las identidades múltiples y múltiples lealtades identitarias, pero se hace notar la importancia del contexto social y del grupo por encima de la elección personal en el momento en que una persona construye su identidad, ya que les da valor a los bienes externos como la comunidad cultural y lingüística a la que la pertenece y que hacen posible la inteligibilidad y la narración de lo que somos y de quiénes somos. ; Se examina la relación entre razones y causas de la acción en el psicoanálisis freudiano. Hay acuerdo en que Freud confundía, o por lo menos no hizo una distinción rigurosa a lo largo de su trabajo, entre razones y causas. Se analizarán dos interpretaciones al respecto. De un lado, la que sostiene que había en él una tendencia naturalista y que, en ese sentido, nunca abandonó su pretensión de encontrar las causas de la acción humana; de otro lado, la que defiende que en Freud imperó siempre una orientación más psicologizante, con base en la cual defendió la búsqueda del sentido de actos fallidos, sueños, etc.; lo cual lo llevó a abandonar su orientación cientificista y a concentrarse en la comprensión o interpretación de la acción. Como alternativa se propone considerar que el conflicto en Freud se soluciona si dejamos de lado los dualismos razones / causas y comprensión /explicación. ; El objetivo de este trabajo es discutir la interpretación tradicional según la cual los razonamientos de Zenón de Elea en contra de la multiplicidad constituyen una defensa de la tesis monista. Intentaré demostrar que las objeciones zenonianas a la multiplicidad suponen una crítica previa a la existencia de "lo uno". Por este motivo, Zenón no es monista ni pluralista, sino, más bien, un crítico de las perspectivas metafísicas que consideran al ser en términos numéricos, i. e. como uno o como múltiple. Para ello me concentraré en el análisis de la interpretación que Aristóteles desarrolla sobre la filosofía de Zenón, considerando algunos pasajes de Física, Refutaciones sofísticas y, fundamentalmente, Metafísica, III. 4. 1001b7-13 (DK 29 A 21). También incluiré algunos testimonios del comentario a la Física de Simplicio, en los que se discuten las interpretaciones de Eudemo de Rodas y Alejandro de Afrodisia, que ratifican el punto de vista aristotélico sobre la filosofía de Zenón (In Ph. 99.7-18, DK 29 A 21; 138.3-6, DK 29 A 22). ; A fines de los 50 y a lo largo de los años 60 Feyerabend formula su doctrina de la proliferación teórica. Con ella busca inicialmente destacar la presencia positiva de la metafísica en el proceso de explicación teórica. Concretamente, pretende dar cuenta de la impotencia de toda teoría científica de explicar realísticamente el mundo si no estuviera informada por supuestos que sus interlocutores juzgan como a-científicos o pre-científicos. Ahora bien, para poder precisar el papel que juega la metafísica en el proceso de explicación teórica es preciso dilucidar qué entiende Feyerabend por realismo. Entre los especialistas existe una discusión acerca de si este defiende un realismo científico o un antirrealismo. Con el propósito de poder comprender en qué sentido Feyerabend sostiene que la metafísica provee vías de acceso para explicar el mundo, procuraremos demostrar la naturaleza normativa de su realismo.
Inequalities in health are a prevalent feature of societies. And as societies, we condemn inequalities that are rooted in immutable circumstances such as gender, race, and parental background. Consequently, policy makers are interested in measuring and understanding the causes of health inequalities rooted in circumstances. However, identifying causal estimates of these relationships is very ambitious for reasons such as the presence of confounders or measurement error in the data. This thesis contributes to this ambitious endeavour by addressing these challenges in four chapters. In the first Chapter, I use 25 years of rich health information to describe three features of intergenerational health mobility in Germany. First, we describe the joint permanent health distribution of the parents and their children. A ten percentile increase in parental permanent health is associated with a 2.3 percentile increase in their child's health. Second, a percentile point increase in permanent health ranks is associated with a 0.8% to 1.4% increase in permanent income for, both, children, and parents, respectively. Non-linearities in the association between permanent health and income create incentives to escape the bottom of the permanent health distribution. Third, upward mobility in permanent health varies with parental socio-economic status. In the second Chapter, we estimate the effect of maternal schooling on children's mental health in adulthood. Using the Socio-Economic Panel and the mental health measure based on the SF-12 questionnaire, we exploit a compulsory schooling law reform to identify the causal effect of maternal schooling on children's mental health. While the theoretical considerations are not clear, we do not find that the mother's schooling has an effect on the mental health of the children. However, we find a positive effect on children's physical health operating mainly through physical functioning. In addition, albeit with the absence of a reduced-form effect on mental health, we find evidence that the number of friends moderates the relationship between maternal schooling and their children's mental health. In the third Chapter, against a background of increasing violence against non-natives, we estimate the effect of hate crime on refugees' mental health in Germany. For this purpose, we combine two datasets: administrative records on xenophobic crime against refugee shelters by the Federal Criminal Office and the IAB-BAMF-SOEP Survey of Refugees. We apply a regression discontinuity design in time to estimate the effect of interest. Our results indicate that hate crime has a substantial negative effect on several mental health indicators, including the Mental Component Summary score and the Patient Health Questionnaire-4 score. The effects are stronger for refugees with closer geographic proximity to the focal hate crime and refugees with low country-specific human capital. While the estimated effect is only transitory, we argue that negative mental health shocks during the critical period after arrival have important long-term consequences. In the last Chapter of this thesis, we investigate how the economic consequences of the pandemic and the government-mandated measures to contain its spread affect the self-employed – particularly women– in Germany. For our analysis, we use representative, real-time survey data in which respondents were asked about their situation during the COVID-19 pandemic. Our findings indicate that among the self-employed, who generally face a higher likelihood of income losses due to COVID-19 than employees, women are 35% more likely to experience income losses than their male counterparts. We do not find a comparable gender gap among employees. Our results further suggest that the gender gap among the self-employed is largely explained by the fact that women disproportionately work in industries that are more severely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Our analysis of potential mechanisms reveals that women are significantly more likely to be impacted by government-imposed restrictions, e.g., the regulation of opening hours. We conclude that future policy measures intending to mitigate the consequences of such shocks should account for this considerable variation in economic hardship. ; Sozioökonomische Unterschiede beim Gesundheitszustand oder in den Folgen von Gesundheitsschocks zeigen sich in allen modernen Gesellschaften. Es besteht gesellschaftlicher Konsens darin, dass diese gesundheitlichen Unterschiede ungerecht sind, insofern sie durch unterschiedliche Lebensumstände, wie den familiären Hintergrund, Migrationsstatus oder Geschlecht, verursacht werden. In vielen Ländern zielen die Bemühungen von Politikmaßnahmen darauf ab, gesundheitliche Unterschiede, die durch unterschiedliche sozioökonomische Umstände verursacht werden, sowie Unterschiede, die auf die Ausbreitung von Krankheiten zurück zu führen sind, zu beseitigen. Die Entwicklung passgenauer Maßnahmen zur Erreichung dieser Ziele erfordert Erkenntnisse über die diesen Phänomenen zu Grunde liegenden Prozesse. Diese Dissertation leistet wichtige Beiträge zur Messung und zum Verständnis ebendieser Prozesse. Im Folgenden fasse ich die einzelnen Kapitel der Dissertation sowie deren Implikationen für die Gestaltung von Politikmaßnahmen kurz zusammen. Kapitel 1 beschreibt die erste Quantifizierung der intergenerationalen Mobilität in der permanenten Gesundheit in Deutschland. Unter Verwendung des Sozioökonomischen Panels (SOEP), das über mehr als 25 Jahre umfassender Gesundheitsinformationen zur Verfügung stellt, werden in Kapitel 1 Rangordnungsregressionen des Perzentil-Rangs der Kinder auf den elterlichen Perzentil-Rang in der Verteilung der permanenten Gesundheit vorgestellt. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass die Rang-Rang-Steigung 0,232 entspricht und die Schätzungen der Aufwärts- und Abwärtsmobilität 44,43 bzw. 56,54 betragen. Die Schätzungen der Rang-Rang-Steigung für Deutschland liegen in einer ähnlichen Größenordnung wie vergleichbare Schätzungen der intergenerationalen Mobilität für das permanente Einkommen. Darüber hinaus liegt Deutschland im Vergleich zu den USA und Dänemark bezüglich der intergenerationalen Mobilität im Mittelfeld, was die Rangfolge der Länder bei der intergenerationalen Einkommensmobilität widerspiegelt. Die Ergebnisse zeigen auch, dass ein Anstieg von einem Perzentil-Rang in der Verteilung der permanenten Gesundheit mit einem Anstieg des permanenten Einkommens um 0,8 bis 1,4% verbunden ist. Am unteren Ende der Verteilung der dauerhaften Gesundheit ist dieser Zusammenhang jedoch stark nichtlinear. Das heißt, Veränderungen in der Verteilung der permanenten Gesundheit am unteren Ende der Verteilung sind hier besonders relevant für das permanente Einkommen. Darüber hinaus deuten die Ergebnisse von Kapitel 1 darauf hin, dass ein höherer sozioökonomischer Status der Eltern mit einer höheren Aufwärtsmobilität bei der permanenten Gesundheit verbunden ist. Dies ist ein wichtiger Unterschied zu Studien aus den Vereinigten Staaten, die zeigen, dass ein besserer elterlicher sozioökonomischer Status mit einer besseren Gesundheit der Kinder über die gesamte elterliche Verteilung der dauerhaften Gesundheit verbunden ist. Kapitel 1 schließt mit dem Argument, dass die intergenerationale Mobilität in Gesundheit Aufschluss darüber gibt, wie gerecht eine Gesellschaft ist. Kapitel 2 präsentiert die ersten Schätzungen des Effekts der Bildung der Mütter auf die psychische Gesundheit ihrer Kinder im Erwachsenenalter. Dies ist eine wichtige Frage, da psychische Erkrankungen eine der Hauptursachen für die hohen Kosten von nicht übertragbaren Krankheiten sind. Um konsistente Schätzungen des Effekts der mütterlichen Bildung auf die psychische Gesundheit der Kinder im Erwachsenenalter zu erzielen, verwenden wir exogene Variation in der mütterlichen Schulbildung, die sich durch eine Reform des Schulpflichtgesetzes ergibt, in deren Rahmen die Anzahl der Pflichtschuljahre von acht auf neun erhöht wurde. Diese Analyse stützt sich auf die Daten des SOEP. Die Daten zur psychischen Gesundheit der Kinder beruhen auf dem Mental Component Summary (MCS) Score, einem Index für die allgemeine psychische Gesundheit. Wir liefern auch Erkenntnisse über die Dimension der körperlichen Gesundheit der Kinder, die durch den Physical Component Summary (PCS) Score erfasst wird. Der PCS Score ist das Äquivalent zum MCS Score für die Dimension der physischen Gesundheit. Beide Maße werden aus einer Hauptkomponentenanalyse der 12 Items des Short Form-12 (SF-12)-Fragebogens abgeleitet. Die Ergebnisse in Kapitel 2 deuten darauf hin, dass die Anzahl der Jahre der Schulbildung der Mutter keinen Einfluss auf die psychische Gesundheit der Kinder im Erwachsenenalter hat. Allerdings werden frühere Ergebnisse zur Anzahl der Jahre mütterlicher Schulbildung auf die physische Gesundheit der Kinder repliziert. Weitergehende Analysen deuten darauf hin, dass vor allem die körperlichen Funktionen der Kinder positiv beeinflusst werden. Dieses Ergebnis konnte bisher in der ökonomischen Literatur nicht gezeigt werden. Zwar deuten die Schätzungen der mütterlichen Schuljahre auf die psychische Gesundheit der Kinder im Erwachsenenalter auf die Abwesenheit eines Effekts hin, dies schließt jedoch die Existenz von Mediatoren des betrachteten Zusammenhangs nicht aus. Wir testen daher potenzielle Mediatoren und finden Hinweise darauf, dass die Anzahl der Freunde, ein häufig verwendetes Maß für soziales Kapital, ein Mediator des Zusammenhangs zwischen der Anzahl der mütterlichen Schuljahre und der psychischen Gesundheit der Kinder im Erwachsenenalter ist. Der implizierte Gesamteffekt des Mediators ist jedoch nur sehr klein, was mit einem Gesamteffekt von Null konsistent ist. Kapitel 3 ergänzt die Literatur zu gesundheitlichen Unterschieden zwischen Migranten und der einheimischen Bevölkerung, indem es die Auswirkungen von Hasskriminalität auf die psychische Gesundheit von Geflüchteten aufzeigt. Dies ist von besonderer Relevanz, sind doch die Anzahl der Geflüchteten und die Häufigkeit von Hasskriminalität im gleichen Zeitraum sprunghaft angestiegen. Konsistente Schätzungen werden durch eine Regressionsdiskontinuitätsanalyse im Zeitverlauf und der IAB-BAMF-SOEP-Befragung von Geflüchteten, einer Sondererhebung zu Geflüchteten in Deutschland, erzielt. Die Maße für die psychische Gesundheit in dieser Studie sind der MCS-Score und der Patient Health Questionnaire-4 (PHQ-4) Score. Letzterer ist ein Maß für die Häufigkeit von Depressions- und Angstsymptomen. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass Hasskriminalität den MCS und PHQ-4 Score um etwa 37 bzw. 28% einer Standardabweichung reduzieren. Weiterhin zeigen die in Kapitel 3 vorgestellten Ergebnisse, dass länderspezifisches Humankapital, wie Sprachkenntnisse und Anzahl der deutschen Freunde, den Effekt moderiert. Dies weist auf die Bedeutung der Möglichkeit zur Informationsbeschaffung hin, die Geflüchteten hilft ihre subjektive Wahrnehmung mit der tatsächlichen Wahrscheinlichkeit, Opfer von Hasskriminalität zu werden, in Einklang zu bringen. Kapitel 4 zeigt, wie sich eine öffentliche Gesundheitskrise, wie die COVID-19-Pandemie, auf unterschiedliche Weise auf die wirtschaftlichen Ergebnisse von Männern und Frauen auswirken kann. Die COVID-19-Pandemie ist wahrscheinlich die größte Herausforderung für moderne Gesellschaften seit dem Zweiten Weltkrieg. Sie hat in Ländern auf der ganzen Welt schwere Wirtschaftskrisen ausgelöst und zur Entwicklung von Maßnahmen geführt, die darauf abzielen, die Ausbreitung des Virus zu reduzieren. Kapitel 4 zeigt, dass die COVID-19-Pandemie dazu führte, dass die Wahrscheinlichkeit einer Einkommensminderung bei selbständigen Frauen um rund 35% höher war als bei selbständigen Männern. Des Weiteren zeigt Kapitel 4, dass dieser Effekt größtenteils auf die überproportionale Selektion von Frauen in die von der COVID-19-Pandemie am stärksten betroffenen Branchen zurückzuführen ist. Diese geschlechtsspezifischen Unterschiede sind auch deshalb entstanden, weil die Sektoren, in denen Frauen mit größerer Wahrscheinlichkeit arbeiten, stärker von staatlichen Regelungen zur Bekämpfung der Pandemie betroffen sind. Im Folgenden fasse ich kurz zusammen, wie die Ergebnisse der jeweiligen Kapitel das Design von verschieden Politikmaßnahmen beeinflussen können. Kapitel 1 und 2 konzentrieren sich auf den familiären Hintergrund als mögliche Ursache für gesundheitliche Unterschiede. Die dort zu Tage gebrachten Erkenntnisse sind besonders relevant, da politische Maßnahmen zum Ausgleich von Gesundheitsunterschieden, die in der Kindheit wurzeln, oft mit großen Kosten assoziiert sind. Wenn diese Ressourcen auf im Lebenszyklus frühe Interventionen verlagert werden könnten, könnte dies Spielraum für Effizienzgewinne bieten. Kapitel 1 trägt hierzu ebenfalls bei, indem es wichtige Erkenntnisse über die Persistenz der dauerhaften Gesundheit über Generationen hinweg liefert und darüber, wie sich Unterschiede in der permanenten Gesundheit in Unterschiede im permanenten Einkommen niederschlagen. Auch wenn auf Basis dieser Evidenz keine kausalen Behauptungen möglich sind, finden wir, dass ein günstiger sozioökonomischer Hintergrund der Eltern häufig mit einer höheren Aufwärtsmobilität verbunden ist. Hält man die Mobilität auf allen anderen Perzentil-Rängen konstant, könnte dies ein gangbarer Weg sein, um Pareto-Verbesserungen in der Gesundheit zu erreichen. Darüber hinaus könnte unser Befund, dass die Anzahl der Schuljahre der Mütter am unteren Ende der Bildungsverteilung keinen Einfluss auf die psychische Gesundheit der Kinder hat, wichtig für die Bemühungen des öffentlichen Gesundheitswesens sein, den sozioökonomischen Gradienten in psychischer Gesundheit zu verringern. Dieser Befund schließt jedoch einen Effekt der mütterlichen Bildung auf die psychische Gesundheit der Kinder nicht aus, da die Reform des Schulpflichtgesetzes keine rechtlichen Konsequenzen in Bezug auf den Zugang zu verschiedenen Berufsoder Hochschulausbildungen hatte. Die Erforschung dieses Zusammenhangs an unterschiedlichen Bildungsrändern wäre eine vielversprechende Möglichkeit für zukünftige Forschung. Unsere Erkenntnisse über die Auswirkungen von Hassverbrechen auf die psychische Gesundheit von Geflüchteten und die potenziellen Auswirkungen auf die Integration und den langfristigen Erfolg von Geflüchteten und ihren Kindern sollte ebenfalls für politische Entscheidungsträger von größter Bedeutung sein. Bisherige Forschungsergebnisse legen nahe, dass Hassverbrechen die Integration von Geflüchteten behindern und diese daher nicht entsprechend ihres eigentlichen Potenzials zum Wirtschaftswachstum des Aufnahmelandes beitragen können. Kapitel 3 sollte daher die politischen Entscheidungsträger motivieren, Ressourcen in die Förderung einer Willkommensatmosphäre für Geflüchtete sowie ihrer psychischen Gesundheit zu investieren. Kapitel 4 zeigt, wie eine dringend notwendige politische Maßnahme zur Verhinderung der Ausbreitung einer übertragbaren Krankheit unterschiedliche wirtschaftliche Auswirkungen auf Frauen und Männer haben kann. Politische Entscheidungsträger sollten diese unterschiedlichen Auswirkungen berücksichtigen und darauf abzielen, Ausgleichsregelungen zu treffen, die universell im Anspruch, aber proportional zur Betroffenheit sind, um die entstandenen Unterschiede zu beseitigen. Geschieht dies nicht, besteht die Gefahr, dass das wirtschaftliche Potenzial der Selbstständigen, und insbesondere der selbstständigen Frauen, die eine wichtige Quelle für Innovationen und damit für langfristiges Wachstum sind, nicht ausreichend genutzt wird.
Navigating challenging and complex civic spaces is nothing new for local organizations working to advance the rights and inclusion of LGBTI communities. Join NDI Senior Program Officer for Citizen Participation for a conversation with three partners from across the globe working to sustain their advocacy for equality and inclusion, while tackling some of the unprecedented challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. Find us on: SoundCloud | Apple Podcasts | Spotify | RSS | Google Play Whitney Pfeifer: Navigating challenging and complex civic spaces is nothing new for local organizations working to advance the rights and inclusion of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex communities. Regardless of the levels of tolerance and legal protection in a country, these groups know how to quickly adapt and utilize innovative approaches to maintaining their work and advocating for change. Although the COVID-19 pandemic has forced organizations to cancel Pride events, training, and in-person advocacy efforts, LGBTI organizations have been quick to respond and adjust, playing an integral role in meeting the basic needs of LGBTI individuals while utilizing online creativity to stay connected and sustain LGBTI community building. Today, we are joined by three partners from across the globe, each working to sustain their advocacy for equality and inclusion, while tackling some of the unprecedented challenges posed by the pandemic. We'll be speaking to each of these local partners to discover how they have successfully built digital communities that achieved real-life results. Welcome to DemWorks. In Panama, Fundación Iguales is working to shift social attitudes towards greater respect and acceptance of LGBTI communities. Part of this process includes collecting stories of how LGBTI communities are being impacted by COVID-19 and its response, demonstrating that as humans, we are all impacted by the pandemic, regardless of how we identify. We spoke with Ivan to learn more. Ivan, thank you for joining us. Ivan: Thank you. WP: Could you tell us a little bit more about the LGBTI community in Panama and the types of challenges LGBTI individuals face in building and maintaining a community? I: We are a country between Costa Rica, who just last month legalized civil marriage for same sex couples, and Colombia, a country with equal marriage since April 2016. We're a part of that less of the 30% of Latin Americans who live in a territory where marriage equality is prohibited. Moreover, are known for public policies that takes into consideration LGBTI persons. The challenges, there are many. As a gay person, for example, I'm not protected by any non-discrimination law, or the gender identity of the trans community is not part of what is respected by the government. There is unfortunately still a lot of stigma and discrimination for being queer. We're a small country where there's a strong control from conservatives and religious groups, but what are the good news, I guess? The civil society is finally organized, and organizations like Fundación Iguales are doing a marvelous work promoting the respect of our human rights, creating community, helping the LGBTIQ community to be more visible, and therefore more respected by the general public. We start a legal process to have marriage equality in Panama since 2016. We are very optimistic we will conquer in the courts and in the public opinion, by strategic innovative and emphatic messages of equality. WP: You alluded briefly to how Fundación is contributing to building and strengthening the community in Panama. Could you discuss the facts a little bit more about how Fundación is contributing to and strengthening during these uncertain times? I: First of all, with positive messages and with a clear presence in national conversations about the measures during the pandemic, highlighting the reality of LGBTI persons. We have had a very tough situation with restriction based on sex to restrain mobility of people here in Panama, and that had impacted dramatically the trans community and the nonbinary community of Panama, in some cases affecting their access to food and medicines. Yes, to be able to even go to the supermarket and buy bread and milk. We decided to join forces with other organizations, specifically with an organization called Hombres Trans Panamá. It's an organization conformed by trans men to create a solidarity network. The network was created for two main activities. The first one, it is to assist directly trans and non binary people who register for humanitarian assistance. We already covered 120 people who were in need of food and medicines. The second part of that program is an online survey to register discrimination cases for the trans community during the quarantine time. We have already had the report of 26 cases, mostly of trans person who were restricted to enter supermarkets to buy food because their gender identity or expression did not match what the police "expect" from them that day. That report was sent to the government, to regional organizations that monitor human rights, and we hope that impact possibly their lives. For other programs that Fundación Iguales is promoting during this times of pandemic, one that is very important is a series of podcasts called Panademia LGBTIQ+, a program of Fundación Iguales with [foreign language 00:06:20], which is an independent group of journalists to highlight stories of LGBTI persons during these times, telling their stories, especially the trans community. WP: That sounds like a lot of excellent work and strengthening the collaboration between groups has been really effective, I think, in this COVID pandemic situation. I: Indeed. WP: You alluded briefly to these podcasts. Are there other forms of technology that Fundación is using to continue the work that you're doing? I: Yes, and that's very interesting because we have to reinvent our work, basically. Just before COVID, we finished a super nice, unprecedented program going through the different provinces of Panama that we call the human rights tour, with the idea to be more democratic on the contents of human rights, specifically talking about Inter-American Court of Human Rights decision on equal marriage and gender identity, the Advisory Opinion 24. It was such a success and we planned to right away continue around the whole country. With this situation we have, being confined at home with mobility restrictions, we have to change all that, but we were lucky to have a strong presence in social media with a robust content that we were able to share and build from it. Also, our capacity of doing initiatives jointly with other NGOs like I mentioned before and you highlight, were also key to show the work that we were doing on respecting human rights. That coordination and collaborations, like the podcast example, the solidarity network, the level of infographic videos and social media interactions of Fundación Iguales are very solid. Since we dedicate an important part of our work to be present in national and international platforms for political participation, that allowed us to be more visible and not to be forget during these complicated times, WP: It sounds that you've been able to pivot pretty smoothly and quickly, despite I'm sure what have appeared to be challenges that we're all facing during the pandemic. Would you be willing to talk about kind of the role and benefits of partnering with international organizations such as NDI in your work? I: When I started Fundación Iguales, I was very privileged to know that working with international organizations like NDI was essential. I lived almost eight years in Washington, D.C., And before that I studied in New York City, and I worked for almost eight years in multilateral organizations. That experience gave me a different look to understand how, and how specifically a country like Panama, a country with so many challenges, with the lack of the government support and local support, I would say, organizations and enterprises and so on ... so for me, it was very important to know that a key part of my work was to knock some doors abroad because it's essential to boost the work that we do here. Definitely, without the help, assistance, donations and more important, the moral support of embassies and organizations like NDI, our work would have been way more difficult than what actually is. WP: As NDI, we like to partner and collaborate with our partners and recognize you as the experts and provide the technical assistance and guidance as needed. So it's good to hear that this has been beneficial for Fundación. My last question is about what's next for Fundación? I: We're very focused that we want a social change for our country in a social change for good. We want a Panama where all persons will be respected and where they can all be happy. We want Panama to join the club of countries where same sex couples can have the support and protection of the government, and more importantly, where society in general welcomes their families. We're trans persons can fully live and decide about their dreams and lives. And we're going to conquer that by strategic campaigns, with messages, with empathy. WP: Thank you, Ivan, for taking the time to speak with us. We look forward to seeing what Fundación is able to do in creating a safer and more equal space for LGBTI communities in Panama. I: Thank you, it's been a pleasure. WP: For more than 35 years, NDI has been honored to work with thousands of courageous and committed democratic activists around the world to help countries develop the institution's practices and skills necessary for democracy's success. For more information, please visit our website at www.ndi.org. You've heard about how an organization is engaging with communities and collecting stories to plan for future advocacy efforts from Fundación Iguales. But what happens when you are in the middle of a project, when things get disrupted? LGBTI communities in Romania successfully organized to prevent an amendment to the constitution that would ban same sex marriage that was put to a referendum in 2018. In the aftermath of these efforts, there was a need to establish priorities moving forward and create space for dialogue within the community about the next steps for the overall movement. Mosaic organized different segments of the LGBTI community, including transgender communities, LGBTI, Roma, women, and older people to build consensus around an advocacy agenda moving forward. In the midst of these community outreach efforts, COVID-19 happened. Vlad Viski, executive director of MosaiQ is with us. Vlad, thanks for joining us. Vlad Viski: Thank you for having me. WP: Can you tell us a little bit more about your project? VV: Between 2015 and 2018, in Romania, there was a national campaign to change the constitution and ban gay marriages, initiatives which were supported by conservative groups and a large share of the political party. For three years, in Romania, society has been talking, probably for the first time in a very serious manner, about LGBTI rights, about the place for the LGBT community in society. This conservative effort ended with a failure at the polls for the referendum to change the constitution, only 20% of Romanians actually casting the vote for this issue when the minimum threshold of votation, of turnout, was 30%. This was possible with quite a successful campaign coming not from not only from MosaiQ but from other LGBTI organizations in Romania throughout the country. We all kind of went on the boycott strategy, we're actually asking people to boycott the referendum because human rights cannot be subject to a popular vote. Once the referendum in 2018 failed in Romania, there was a question in the community. What should we do next? How should our agenda look like for the next couple of years? We at Mosaic, we really tried to focus and we really thought the issue of intersectionality as being extremely important. This is how the idea of this project started, Engage and Empower was the name of the project. It focused on six groups within the LGBT community: transgender people, LBTQ women, elderly, people living with HIV, Roma LGBT people, and sex workers. WP: Could you talk a little bit more about how the organization is trying to maintain momentum in this community building efforts, despite what's going on with the pandemic? VV: We at MosaiQ, we had to reimagine some of the projects that we were involved in, so that included canceling events or postponing them or rescheduling for the fall. But the problem is also that we don't really know the timeline for this story or when it will end. We've had issues related to personal issues of people in the community. People living with HIV were not getting their treatment due to the fact that hospitals were closed except for the coronavirus. Then we've had issues related to sex workers not being able to work anymore. The issue of poverty has been quite an important issue. A lot of people have been laid off, a lot of people were not able to pay rent, a lot of people were either in unemployment benefits, and so on. At the personal level for us and as an organization, all of a sudden we got a lot more messages from people asking for help. We've tried to help them on a case by case basis. We are not a social health kind of organization, but we've tried to fix as many problems as we were able to. Then throughout this, and actually talking about issue of intersectionality and the issue of the project and the way we work with the Roma LGBT community, what we've witnessed throughout this pandemic and the lockdowns, especially, was an increase in violence, against Roma people from the police. So together with colleagues from civil society, especially Roma groups, we had to monitor hate speech in the media, monitor cases of abuse and violence from the police, and also make statements and letters to official institution, to the president and the prime minister and so on. So for us, it was an issue of also solidarity with other groups affected by the pandemic. WP: I believe that you've had to move some of your activities online, correct? VV: That was another part, which we kind of tried to make the best out of the situation. We felt that there were a lot of young kids, for example, who, because schools were closed, they had to go back and live with their homophobic parents. A lot of organizations, LGBT organizations in Romania were not able to have the Zoom meetings with their volunteers because they were living with homophobic or transphobic parents so they could not reveal what they were doing or who they were talking to. So the issue of depression and psychological pressure that comes on people being locked down, people trying to survive throughout this pandemic, we decided to have a campaign online, which was called MosaiQ Quarantine, and that included parties online in order to support queer artists who were not able to earn any money because there were no gigs. We organized these online parties and we paid them and we supported their work. Then we had the zoom talks with, or like talks online, with all of the organizations and groups in Romania, LGBT groups, to kind of better see the situation on the ground in different cities in Romania. That was for us extremely important because we felt like there was a need to have this dialogue within the community. Then we had the all sorts of posts on social media and different kinds of events. We also talked with organizations from the region, from the US, from Moldova, from Russia, to kind of see what the feeling also over there. So for us, it was quite an exercise to take advantage of the fact that using social media and using online tools, we were able to reach out to people who otherwise would not have been able to participate in our events, being so far away. WP: It sounds like Mosaic has certainly stepped up to the challenges. Could you just briefly talk about what NDI support has meant to Mosaic? VV: I think the project funded by NDI was extremely important, both for the community ... right now, we have an active Roma LGBT group. We have all of these, the issue of intersectionality being put on the agenda. We have the [inaudible 00:19:36] sports, which is a sports club run by women who is also trying to grow based also on the support that Mosaic has offered through NDI. We've had, at the Pride last season, the first Roma LGBT contingent putting the issue on the agenda. So for us, in many regards, this project kind of focused us more on this intersectional approach to activism and the need to include all voices within the community. The trust that they had in us was very important. WP: I'm glad to hear that it's been a fruitful partnership, both for NDI and Mosaic. Vlad, thank you so much for taking the time to speak with us. VV: Oh, that's it. WP: We'll be back after this short message. To hear more from democracy heroes and why inclusion is critical to democracy, listen to our DemWorks podcast, available on iTunes and SoundCloud. Before the break we heard from two partners using digital platforms to create and support communities. But how are groups sustaining their online networks and communities once created? Rainbow Rights trained paralegals in the Philippines on legal issues related to sexual orientation and gender identity and how to support LGBTI communities. Through Google Classroom, these paralegals formed an online network to help communities facing discrimination and violence. Eljay, welcome to our podcast. Could you tell us a little bit more about the paralegal support project? Eljay: Yeah. One of the main components of our community paralegal program is to create a national online platform wherein all of the trained paralegals of our organization will be able to share their experiences, their cases, and they could also refer some of the difficult cases to us. So that's the main idea. It's just that it gained a deeper significance in this COVID-19 pandemic that we're experiencing because a lot of legal organizations hurried to do to do what we had been doing in the past year, which is to create an online platform. Right now, even though there's a lot of problems in the Philippines barring the central autocracy, we have been maintaining the platform. People are still referring cases to us and we are working on those cases. Part of the deeper significance that it has is in the Philippines, human rights violations have increased because of the lockdown. So it became a source of reporting documentation for these human rights violations during the lockdown. We did not expect that it will evolve that way but we're happy that it has, and despite some connectivity issues in the Philippines, it has been reaping as well. WP: So when you're talking about the program, there've been increased human rights reports, is that generally more broad human rights abuses? Or are we talking specifically to the LGBTI community? E: Yeah, we accept every report on numerous violations, but we take on the LGBTI human rights violations specifically. When we receive human rights violations that is not really in our lane, so to speak, we refer them to bigger organizations. We have seen increased numerous violation against the LGBTQI community here. WP: You had mentioned that Rainbow Rights fortunately had organized the training for the paralegals before the pandemic hit and already have a plan in place to use online platforms, which was Google Classroom, to create this network across the country. You've briefly referenced what the current situation is like now, but could you go a little deeper into that? What kind of challenges is Rainbow Rights facing in continuing to engage with the community? E: As I have mentioned, maybe a bigger challenge is the connectivity issues in the Philippines. We don't have good internet here, and that's a challenge. It's also challenged to keep the interest level of our paralegals and keep them engaged. That is also challenged because they have bigger problems now. Because of the pandemic, they're thinking of their health, they're thinking of their livelihoods, and that is a challenge during these times. However, before the pandemic, we also saw that we had to be creative at the level of interest, so that's a challenge. The situation, it's working. Overall situation's working. We have referrals, we continue to share modules in our platform, refreshing their memory on the training. We also try to be light. There are some light moments so that they be so that they keep themselves also, the interest level is high and that they see us and they trust us in maintaining this platform. WP: You alluded to the fact that it's often difficult to maintain interest of your paralegals when engaging online. E: Basically, we had a two-pronged approach on this. One is to find the people who has a genuine interest to serve the community. So in our selection process, we have chosen people who have track records of service in their communities. The other side of the approach is to build on the spirit of camaraderie, friendship, and community solidarity between us. So even before the pandemic, we have been setting up calls and checking on them, even adding them on Facebook and Twitter just to continually engage with them. I think that's a big part of our strategies. We're also looking to ... I think in my personal view, I think a lot of what they do is labor, so I think in the future, we will be able to compensate them for their efforts in their community and we're looking into that as well. WP: That's really interesting. Could you speak a little bit more to the role and benefits of partnering with international organizations such as NDI in your work and as well as helping to sustain this national network? E: Yeah. I think it's invaluable. Foreign support, foreign funding support such as the NDI had been really great for us. We have been envisioning this project for a long time and NDI gave us the opportunity to really implement it. They also gave us a level of freedom in how to execute the program because there's a recognition that we in the ground know how to solve our problems. But there's also a lot of technical support aside from the funding. Like in digital security, NDI has given us a lot of resources, even given us a training for this and how to secure our online platforms. They also provided a lot of coalition building resources. So there, and I think we are also sharing what our experience with NDI to our other funders, because I think with NDI, we had a lot of freedom and we had a lot of support because you guys always check on us, so that's great. WP: Well, I'm glad to hear that NDI is taking care of our partners. Thinking about how June is Pride Month for a lot of communities around the world, and Pride is often equated to the community of LGBTI people around the world how would you say Rainbow Rights efforts have contributed to strengthening the community in the light of the violence and the discrimination that LGBTI people face on a daily basis in the Philippines? E: Since 2005, Rainbow Rights has been doing this approach wherein we come ... a top down approach at the policy level, but we also complement it with from the grassroots, bottom up approach. We make sure that whatever we bring at the policy level, it is informed by our grassroots services. I think that's one of our biggest contribution, is to really complement policy with experience on the ground. Most of the policies that we've pushed for is really coming from what our experiences and what are the real needs of the people that we serve in the communities. I think that's one of our biggest contributions in our approach. We're not just the legal, we don't just bring cases to court. We don't just bring legal expertise, but we also inform it with community level approaches and grassroots approaches. WP: Well, thank you LJ again for taking the time to speak with us and telling us a little bit more about how Rainbow Rights is contributing to a holistic support system to the LGBTI community in the Philippines. E: Thank you so much for this opportunity. WP: Thank you to Ivan, Vlad, and Eljay for sharing their experiences and for the work you're doing to advance LGBTI equality and inclusion, and thank you to our listeners. To learn more about NDI or to listen to other DemWorks podcasts, please visit us at ndi.org
Rainbow Rights Paralegal Training
A Conversation With LGBTI Activists on Community-Building
Democracy (General), Podcast Listen LGBTI Pride National Democratic Institute NDICountries: All Regions
