Suchergebnisse

We are faced with a development paradox. Even though people are on average living longer, healthier and wealthier lives, these advances have not succeeded in increasing people¿s sense of security. This holds true for countries all around the world and was taking hold even before the uncertainty wrought by the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic has increased this uncertainty. It has imperiled every dimension of our wellbeing and amplified a sense of fear across the globe. This, in tandem with rising geopolitical tensions, growing inequalities, democratic backsliding and devastating climate change-related weather events, threatens to reverse decades of development gains, throw progress on the Sustainable Development Goals even further off track, and delay the urgent need for a greener, more inclusive and just transition. Against this backdrop, I welcome the Special Report on New threats to human security in the Anthropocene: Demanding greater solidarity, produced by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). The report explains this paradox, highlighting the strong association between declining levels of trust and increased feelings of insecurity. It suggests that during the Anthropocene¿a term proposed to describe the era in which humans have become central drivers of planetary change, radically altering the earth¿s biosphere¿people have good reason to feel insecure. Multiple threats from COVID-19, digital technology, climate change, and biodiversity loss, have become more prominent or taken new forms in recent years. In short, humankind is making the world an increasingly insecure and precarious place. The report links these new threats with the disconnect between people and planet, arguing that they¿like the Anthropocene itself¿are deeply entwined with increasing planetary pressure. The contribution of this report is to update the concept of human security to reflect this new reality. This implies moving beyond considering the security of individuals and communities, to also consider the interdependence among people, and between people and planet, as reflected in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. In doing so, the report offers a way forward to tackle today¿s interconnected threats. First, by pursuing human security strategies that affirm the importance of solidarity, since we are all vulnerable to the unprecedented process of planetary change we are experiencing during the Anthropocene. And second, by treating people not as helpless patients, but agents of change and action capable of shaping their own futures and course correcting. The findings in the report echo some of the key themes in my report on Our Common Agenda, including the importance of investing in prevention and resilience, the protection of our planet, and rebuilding equity and trust at a global scale through solidarity and a renewed social contract. The United Nations offers a natural platform to advance these core objectives with the involvement of all relevant stakeholders. This report offers valuable insights and analyses, and I commend it to a wide global audience as we strive to advance Our Common Agenda and to use the concept of human security as a tool to accelerate the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030. ; peer-reviewed

Émile Durkheim faced his final challenge in the confrontation with pragmatism. Pragmatism had emerged as an important theoretical approach for the study of both life and action. As argued in this article, Durkheim's attempt to explain the philosophical underpinnings of sociology was sharpened by his critical engagement with pragmatism. In Durkheim's work, the confrontation between pragmatism and sociology brought the focus onto the problem of the irreducibility of thought and action. According to the French scholar, one of the main challenges for sociology was to reconstruct the basic concepts of pragmatism, but in a way that stood in opposition to various central presuppositions underlying classical forms of this philosophical doctrine. His in-depth confrontation with pragmatism gave Durkheim the opportunity to clarify the meaning of his own scientific project, including the meaning of its fundamental categories. The theory of knowledge arising from Durkheim's interpretation of pragmatism was most clearly established in his The Elementary Forms of Religious Life, resulting in a genuinely sociological understanding of action, concept, and person. More importantly, however, some of Durkheim's most valuable contributions can be derived from his effort to move away from pragmatism.

Attributed by H.N. Gay, to Gabriele Carnazza. ; Mode of access: Internet.

Bd. 1: 1147 S. - BX-17-88-001-2C-C. - ISBN 92-824-0614-8; Bd. 2: 1155 S. - BX-17-88-002-2C-C. - ISBN 92-824-0615-6

International environmental accords have become important mechanisms by which nations make promises to administer natural resources & manage the global environment. Previous studies, relying mainly on single cases or small-n data sets, have shed light on the proximate political causes of participation in these agreements. However, no study has yet systematically explained the deeper social determinants of why nations sign, ignore, or resist environmental treaties. We offer a theoretically sequenced model that exploits complementarities between rational choice institutionalism & world-systems theory. Key variables posited by realists & constructivists are also examined, using a new environmental treaty participation index based on ratifications of 22 major environmental agreements by 192 nations. Cross-sectional OLS regression & path analysis strongly supports the institutionalist claim that credibility -- the willingness & ability to honor one's international environmental commitments -- "matters." But these measures also lend considerable support to the world-systems hypothesis that state credibility is strongly influenced by a legacy of colonial incorporation into the world economy. Narrow export base -- our proxy for disadvantaged position in the world economy -- directly & indirectly (through institutions & civil society strength) explains nearly six-tenths of national propensity to sign environmental treaties. A nation's natural capital, its ecological vulnerability, & international environmental NGO memberships had no explanatory power in the path analysis. Our results indicate that new theoretical, methodological, & policy approaches are needed to address structural barriers to international cooperation. 2 Tables, 2 Figures, 6 Appendixes, 162 References. Adapted from the source document.

Intro -- Contents -- Preface -- How to Use This Book -- Guiding Ideas -- 22 Games -- 1. Arms Crossed: When conditions change, habits must change. -- 2. Avalanche: Understand the implicit rules. They can produce different results than desired or expected. -- 3. Balancing Tubes: You can't achieve long-term goals with short-term perspective. -- 4. The Bathtub Game: A level will decline only if outflows are greater than inflows. -- 5. Biodiversity Game: You can't change only one thing. -- 6. Circles in the Air: Our perspective affects the actions we take in complex systems. -- 7. Frames: To obtain consensus be clear about the mental framework you are using. -- 8. Group Juggle: Adding one more apparently minor problem can sometimes collapse the whole system. -- 9. Hands Down: When trying to understand a complex situation, don't limit your focus to where the action is. -- 10. Harvest: Over the long term, individuals often get more from cooperation than from competition. -- 11. Hit the Target: Delays between perception and response can lead to overshooting the goal. -- 12. Living Loops: It's easier to reach your goals by building a system that achieves them for you. -- 13. Paper Fold: With exponential growth, small growth rates can quickly lead to extremely large numbers. -- 14. Paper Tear: One-way communication is much less effective than interaction. -- 15. Pens: Sustainability depends more on culture than on technology. -- 16. Space for Living: Thinking outside the box can produce win-win solutions. -- 17. Squaring the Circle: Without a shared goal, cooperation is ineffective. -- 18. Thumb Wrestling: Life is not a zero-sum game. -- 19. Triangles: If you want big changes, look for the high-leverage points. -- 20. Warped Juggle: Incremental changes produce improvements -- structural changes produce transformation.