Adding to the Controversy? Civil Society’s Evaluation of the National Conference Dialogue in Yemen

ABSTRACT

This article assembles a picture of Yemen’s 2013–14 National Dialogue Conference (NDC) by collecting perspectives from local civil society organizations (CSOs), which are contrasted to the views of international commentators. Despite all efforts by internal parties as well as the international community, the dialogue failed to avert war, which broke out shortly after. Through interviews with 50 CSOs, we reconstructed the reasons for failure, as well as paying attention to the observed strengths of the dialogue. Half of the consulted organizations were directly involved in the NDC, either as an invited participant or in a brokerage role. The other half concerns outside observers. We identify aspects on which the opinion of the CSOs converge, but also highlight striking divergences depending on insider/outsider status. In contrast to the view espoused in the international literature, the CSOs overall feel that, in spite of all its procedural and substantive flaws, the NDC was a significant junction in the long road towards peace and stability and laid important groundwork for future dialogues.     

Protest by candlelight: A comparative analysis of candlelight vigils in South Korea

ABSTRACT

Protest activist leaders must make a series of decisions about the strategies they use; one such decision is the choice of tactic or performance, often informed by their cultural historic contentious repertoire. In South Korea's contentious repertoire, the use of candlelight vigils has become an increasingly prevalent form of protest tactic. Candlelight vigils have become an increasingly prominent tactic in South Korea’s repertoire over the last two decades, as evidenced by major candlelight vigils in 2002, 2008, and 2016-2017. In this study, we explore the ways in which candlelight vigils as a protest tactic have evolved over time in South Korea. We notably find that vigils emerged as a left-wing protest tactic in 2002, but right-wing protesters began adopting the tactic during the counter-protests opposing President Park Geun-Hye’s impeachment in 2016–2017 (Taegeukgi Giphoei). Additionally, we find that candlelight vigils drew participants from an increasingly wide swath of society over time and average citizens assumed greater organizational roles. This research not only contributes to the literature on South Korean social movements and civil society, but to understanding candlelight vigils as a distinct form of protest and how contentious repertoires evolve over time more broadly.     

全面建成小康社会之特质问题析论

中华人民共和国即将向世人宣布,在中国共产党集中统一领导下,通过精准扶贫,中国已经基本实现了脱贫目标,全面建成小康社会。自改革开放以后提出建设小康及小康社会以来,人们比较关注小康及小康社会的生活发展程度及其发展阶段,而对小康及小康社会的特殊性质的认识方面则存有一定的偏颇或忽略。在时间与空间的政治层面上,中国特色社会主义问题直面的是国际平台,社会主义初级阶段问题直面的是国内平台,小康社会问题直面的则是可望又可及的近期平台。如果不能正确解读小康及小康社会的特殊性质,人们对社会主义初级阶段的社会主义性质及中国特色社会主义的社会主义性质就会有某种存疑。那么,小康及小康社会的特殊性质究竟是什么呢?文章试图从比较分析小康与大同社会原本意义上的异同,小康社会与后新民主主义社会,以及社会主义初级阶段与马克思主义科学社会主义的底线入手,阐释小康及小康社会客观上所具有某种"私"及"天下为家"与中国特色社会主义所具有的"公"及作为未来情景的"天下为共"两者之间不可或缺的相互依存性特质,拟提出"社会主义小康社会",以利于我们不忘初心,牢记使命。     

Towards an era of official (involuntary) accountability of NGOs in India

In the recent past, governance reforms in India have resulted in the government and corporate sectors making serious efforts to enhance and showcase their accountability to their principals, namely citizens and shareholders. Similarly, NGOs have been pushed to demonstrate their accountability to multiple stakeholders, namely donors, communities and most importantly, the state. This viewpoint highlights this transition and also reflects on the changing contours of NGO accountability debates in India.     

European Union civil society support and the depoliticisation of Turkish civil society

Despite growing critical literature on external funding, the link between EU funding to Turkish civil society organisations (CSOs) and their depoliticisation remains understudied. This article fills this gap. This article explores EU funds in Turkey and shows the incentives it creates for a depoliticised civil society. Drawing on an original set of interviews with 45 CSOs, this article analyses how Turkish CSOs interact with EU funding and how this support impacts on Turkish civil society. This article argues that EU funding’s short-term, activity-based, measurable outcome and visibility-oriented structure contributed to the depoliticisation of those CSOs benefited from EU funds.     

Reproductive health services: “Business-in-a-Box” as a model social innovation

Access to reproductive health services and products in remote and rural communities is a critical area of concern for developing countries. This article considers a pilot intervention in three districts of Pakistan where “Business-in-a-Box” as a model of place-based social innovation is used to improve the socio-economic conditions of women in remote rural settings through socially responsible micro-franchising. It finds that such programmes help build a sense of community, ownership and grassroots capabilities and skills. The article also discusses the impacts of such actions on the individual and community life, and the need to upscale and sustain these initiatives.     

Why work “at home”? Oxfam’s value-added and the UK Poverty Programme

International development NGOs are in existential crisis. Their legitimacy and added value are increasingly challenged. While scholars have focused on legitimacy, work on “value-added” is scarce. In particular, no research addresses the value of domestic programmes to international NGOs. This article rectifies this, focusing on the case of Oxfam GB’s UK Poverty Programme (UKPP). Using empirical research from 35 interviews with Oxfam GB staff, partners and beneficiaries and over 150 archive documents, the article identifies seven assets through which the programme provides value added to Oxfam GB. It highlights the possibility that these could offer insights into the dimensions of future INGOs.     

数字社会治理的权利逻辑:以个人信息权为中心

以信息技术为核心的数字社会迅速发展,促进多元主体信息交流和资讯共享,给个人信息保护带来挑战。作为数字社会公民身份的基本表征,个人信息权既是数字公民实现全面自由发展的先决条件,也是防范和控制数字权力异化的重要工具。实现数字社会个人信息权保护的价值追求,国家立法机关应秉持作为宪法价值核心的人格尊严进行立法,明晰个人信息权的规范内涵与保护机制;行政机关应遵循权力法定原则,严格基于法律保留、公共利益和比例原则处理和使用个人信息,并建立专门的个人信息权保护的监管机构;司法机关应通过法律适用和司法解释对被侵犯的个人信息权提供及时司法救济,填补法律漏洞,实现数字社会个人信息权保护的制度正义目标。     

理解公共行政的新维度:政府与社会的互动

长期以来,对公共行政的理解是一种从政府角度的理解,其主旨是以官僚为中心,二分法和三个途径说是这一理解的代表性观点。随着新公共管理和治理的出现,这种传统的理解已经不足以对公共行政进行全面而准确的解释。公共行政生态的变化需要一种新的理解,即超越政府,从政府与社会组织共治的角度去加以理解,以期对公共行政有一种更全面的解释,并从中发现一些带有规律性的东西。     

Conceptualising and tracing the increased territorialisation of politics: insights from Argentina

The territorialisation of politics is a crucial transformation in state–society relations that has implications on how contemporary politics works. Defined here as the dispute for the physical control of space, be it a municipality, province or portion of land, within one or more politically constituted entities. It does not mean the emergence of a new regime type, but the process through which the territory re-emerges as a new cleavage after neoliberal reforms and authoritarian regimes have weakened/dissolved neo-corporatist arrangements for the resolution of socio-political conflicts in society. It is a cleavage because central political divisions are produced as a result of the physical encounter of or distance between political actors and of the dispute for the control of a territory for sociopolitical goals and causes that are not always territorially defined. Departing from this definition, I also raise potential explanatory hypotheses for the transformations that favoured this transformation in Argentina.