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What is the status and role in public action of the knowledge possessed by 'simple' citizens, users and professionals? That is the question broached in both this article and the entire special issue for which it serves as the introduction. To this end, we explore the abundant scientific literature pertaining to the topic and try to situate our own position within the broader setting. After discussing the gradual questioning of the social representations that have made scientific knowledge the ideal and standard by which we measure all knowledge, we argue that many authors with an essentialist approach to knowledge have stressed the differences between scientific knowledge and non-scientific knowledge, often leaving us at an impasse. We argue therefore that it is preferable to advance an approach in which knowledge is as at once relational and in a constant process of hybridization. Having opted for and justified this position, we then focus on the – hybrid – knowledge possessed by citizens, users and professionals, by first probing the reasons for the growing involvement of these actors in the production of knowledge and policies. We then ponder the nature and foundations of the complaints and criticisms frequently levelled at participatory mechanisms as to the actual role played in these areas by the knowledge held by 'local' actors. In the end, we identify proposals defended by certain authors to make the interactions of actors from different social worlds more symmetrical.

Multidimensional Peacebuilding analyzes the role of local actors in working towards sustainable peace in Mindanao, Philippines. Wendy Kroeker examines the mediatory and solidarity-affirming role of these peacebuilders in the ongoing peace process regarding the conflict in Mindanao.

Metadata only record ; This review samples the rapidly expanding literature on decentralization in Africa. It examines design and implementation issues emerging in decentralization and identifies fruitful areas for policy research and analysis in this critical governance domain. From the review of the literature, it appears that decentralization is not taking the forms necessary to realize the benefits that theory predicts, because it fails to entrust downwardly accountable representative actors with significant domains of autonomous discretionary power. The decentralizations under way differ in terms of the level of legal reform involved; the scale and number of layers of local government; the kinds of local authorities being engaged and developed; the mix of powers and obligations devolved; the sectors involved; the nature of the enabling environment; and the motives of governments for launching the reforms in the first place. These variables are examined with respect to how they shape expected outcomes.

This study analyzes the factors that motivate the candidates who run for Village Head in Air Hangat District, Kerinci Regency, Jambi Province. In determining the informants, the researcher used the purposive sampling technique, and the data was collected using interviews and documentation studies. Test the validity of the data using source poles. The results showed intrinsic and extrinsic motivations for the Village Head candidates in the 2019 Village Head Election (Pilkades) in Air Hangat District. Intrinsic motivation consists of motivation to gain achievement, power, income, and prestige. Extrinsic motivation consists of developing human resources and providing a sense of security, comfort, and harmony. Based on the study results, it showed that the quality of Village Head candidates in the 2019 Village Head Election (Pilkades) was still at a low level. It can be seen from the low level of education and work experience in government. Community leaders, traditional leaders, and religious leaders are also of the view that village head candidates do not have the readiness to become village heads with a lack of experience in leadership.

Decentralized decision making has created restructuring from larger to smaller administrative units, but in many places, strays little from existing arrangements. Moves toward decentralization from central government to city‐regions, and in some areas, below city‐region scale to neighborhoods, reflect a mandate for reform. What is the nature and extent of desired reforms? Using an institutionalist lens, homogeneity and heterogeneity in local narratives about possible future reform can be surfaced. This article emphasizes the importance of understanding the role of local actors' narratives in shaping decentralized institutions. This article uses the findings from a Q‐methodology study to identify and interrogate distinctive local viewpoints on attempts to decentralize decision making in England. In a systematic empirical analysis, local actors' narratives were largely in favor of relatively minor modifications to the status quo. The findings question a conflation of decentralization with participation in decision making.

This paper explains the conspiracy and involvement boss mine (coal) in several provincial elections (regents and governors) in South Kalimantan. As is known, the political landscape of post Soeharto New Order government that gave birth to democracy and radical change in the institutions of power, namely from the centralized power-authoritarian system to a democratic system of government has spawned a democratic transition which was prolonged until today. In the midst of a prolonged transition to democracy at this time, the arena of democracy has been hijacked and the stage of political and economic power has been controlled by entrepreneurs or local and national capitalist power by doing pesekongkolan between candidates authorities or local authorities that one of them through the local election process. The businessmen are involved as a supplier of funds to the local authorities candidate to win as a form of money politics and transactional politics. In some cases the local elections in South Kalimantan, such as the election of the regent and the governor, political practice is utilized with clarity and has already become a political culture that is structured within massive post-New Order government. Therefore, democracy is being woken up in Indonesia after the New Order.

Devils on the doorstep: China and "foreign influence" -- Global discourses and NGO development inside China -- Development along China's periphery: Yunnan -- The Ford Foundation's poverty alleviation project: unintended consequences of participatory discourse -- NGO activism against Nu River Hydropower Dam: horizontal dynamics in transnational activism -- Saving the last great places: the irony of China's first national park -- Conclusion: local actors in transnational activation

Based on a sociological perspective, problems in village financial management are not only in administrative problem but structural problem, which is an intervention from the government, so that access to village financial management is only owned by a handful of people. It has implications for the community participation space so the village development is not in accordance with the real hopes and needs of the village community. This study aims to identify local people who control village financial management and measure the influence index of these actors in carrying out their respective roles in Purwabakti Village and Sukadamai Village in Bogor Regency. The research was conducted using mixed methods The results showed that there were six dominant local actors in village financial management. Five of the six actors are village government officials who can be used as village secretary, village treasurer and chairman of the LPM, while one other actor is the head of the TPK Lapang for infrastructure development from the community. Based on the average value of the influence index of each actor, it can be concluded that the economic capital of the actor is the most important capital to be able to influence the community in the village with the rural characteristic, while the capital of moral actors is the most important capital to influence the community in teh village with the semi-urban characteristic. Actors in semi-urban villages also showed that their educational background and interaction with outsiders contribute to carrying out a structural role in the village.

In Uganda, environmental and natural resource management is decentralized and has been the responsibility of local districts since 1996. This environmental management arrangement was part of a broader decentralization process and was intended to increase local ownership and improve environmental policy; however, its implementation has encountered several major challenges over the last decade. This article reviews some of the key structural problems facing decentralized environmental policy in this central African country and examines these issues within the wider framework of political decentralization. Tensions have arisen between technical staff and politicians, between various levels of governance, and between environmental and other policy domains. This review offers a critical reflection on the perspectives and limitations of decentralized environmental governance in Uganda. Our conclusions focus on the need to balance administrative staff and local politicians, the mainstreaming of local environmental policy, and the role of international donors.