Re-animating a radioactive landscape: informal life politics in the wake of the Fukushima nuclear disaster

The earthquake, tsunami and nuclear accident of 11 March 2011 posed massive and continuing social challenges to communities in the affected areas. People from wide areas around the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant received vastly conflicting information about the levels of radiation released and about the likely health effects. They were left facing agonising decisions whether to remain and face possible (but uncertain) long-term health risks, or whether to move away, leaving behind homes, friends, jobs, schools and communities. Focusing on the case of the small farming community of Tōwa in Nihonmatsu City, this article examines self-help activities that have emerged in the affected areas in the wake of 3/11. The activities have included community monitoring of radiation levels and collaborative research with academic scientists to explore ways to reduce radioactive contamination in forests, farm soil and crops. The self-help activities of Tōwa residents can be seen as an example of “informal life politics” – that is, of the way in which grassroots groups respond to challenges to their livelihood or way of life by organising themselves and taking actions outside the sphere of formal governmental structures. It is argued here that the residents of Tōwa were able to respond rapidly to the challenges of the Fukushima disaster because they had already developed informal life politics practices in response to earlier challenges of local economic decline and depopulation. I also suggest that, in responding to the Fukushima disaster, the relationship between the people of Tōwa and their landscape has been profoundly changed, and that this change has implications not just for the community itself but also for the wider world.     

Public resistance to privatisation in water and energy

Since the 1990s, development agencies and international institutions have promoted private-sector involvement in infrastructure, assuming that this would inject both investment and efficiency into the under-performing public sector. In the water and energy sectors, these expectations have not been fulfilled. Private-sector investment in developing countries is falling, multinational companies have failed to make sustainable returns on their investments, and the process of privatisation in water and energy has proved widely unpopular and encountered strong political opposition. This paper examines the role of this opposition in delaying, cancelling, or reversing the privatisation of water and energy. Local civil society has successfully mobilised highly effective political activity, its opposition being based on the perceived conflicts between privatisation and equity, and over the role of the state and community in these sectors. Such opposition has involved dynamic interactions with existing political parties and structures, including the use of existing electoral and judicial mechanisms. Its success poses challenges for the multilateral and donor community, NGOs, the opposition campaigns themselves, and the future of national systems of electricity and water.     

Environmental sanitation and pollution control measures in the Odaw-Korle River catchment,Ghana

This article reports on a study that sought to understand the major factors to consider in changing poor environmental sanitation practices in urban communities in Accra, Ghana. The study focused on three main issues: the drivers of sanitation and pollution control measures in the communities; community members’ perceptions on the influence of poor planning on environmental sanitation and pollution; and how existing local governance arrangements influence environmental sanitation and pollution control. It found that efforts are made at the city, community, and individual levels to control poor environmental practices. In order to control environmental pollution, policy initiatives on sanctions should be coupled with the provision of efficient sanitation facilities and services.     

Socio-economic dynamics in slums and implications for sanitation sustainability in Kisumu,Kenya

Lack of sanitation facilities is a major challenge in slum areas, and this has implications on the health and well-being of residents. Sanitation in slums is complex due to slum living conditions, and a detailed understanding of dynamics in slums and how they impact sanitation is required. This study sought to understand the relationship between socio-economic dynamics, and sanitation provision and management in the slums of Kisumu, Kenya. The results indicate a mix of social, cultural, economic, tenancy, and relationship dynamics, all of which influence sanitation provision and management. The article calls for collaboration among various stakeholders and the use of local knowledge dissemination approaches.     

Community-supported models for girls’ education in Pakistan: the transformational processes of engagement

This article presents the case for promoting girls’ education in the contexts of geographic isolation, social conservatism, fragility, and severe financial hardship, with localised services delivered through community supported initiatives, contextualised approaches, and flexible strategies. To examine the significance of using localised approaches for improving girls’ access to education, the article explores three case studies from Pakistan in three different contexts. These cases highlight lessons learnt for establishing responsive and flexible girls’ education initiatives which are relevant in the cultural, social, financial, and political contexts of the girls and their communities.     

Bargaining over local public good provision in nested social dilemmas: A comparative study of variation from South India

In rural India, decentralized government schemes and assembly constituency development programs represent major channels through which local public good provision is realized. This polycentric governance structure confronts local leaders with a distributional conflict, which is nested in a social dilemma situation. Based on a controlled case study approach, we investigate the provision of small-scale infrastructure in three South Indian communities. Apart from roads and drinking water facilities that directly appeal to the residents of a community, local leaders bargain over infrastructure contracts, which serve as patronage resources in interactions with politicians from higher government levels. A comparative game-theoretic analysis of the results suggests that coordination through political party identities has translated into alternative bargaining strategies and hence varying distributional outcomes regarding contracts and local public goods in the communities under review. The study concludes with recommendations for polycentric institutional design.     

Agricultural cooperatives in Gujarat,India: Agents of equity or differentiation?

Agricultural cooperatives have been promoted in India's economic development programme as a means of encouraging large-scale agricultural production while enhancing community cooperation and equity. Focusing on sugar cooperatives in Gujarat state of western India, the author shows that these cooperatives have been successful in promoting large-scale agricultural production and in improving the economic and social standing of their members. This success, however, has been built upon the exploitation and pauperisation of local landless communities and migrant labourers. As a result, there has been an increased differentiation of the peasantry in south Gujarat.     

Community-managed rice banks: lessons from Laos

Rice banks are increasingly used in South-East Asia as a means of addressing seasonal food crises facing poor communities. Despite general agreement about the effectiveness of community-managed rice banks in improving food security, there has been almost no research into their effectiveness in reaching the poorest, or the prospects of sustainability linked to regular repayments of rice. Concern Laos sought to answer these questions through community mobilisation, forming rules and regulations to encourage the participation of the poorest, developing simple tools and procedures in line with existing community capacity, and building greater community capacity. Other challenges remain, such as changing the prevailing ‘relief’ mentality, ensuring women's participation, and establishing regular savings schemes, in order to enhance the effectiveness and sustainability of the rice banks.     

Practice-based insights in developing and implementing a sport-based programme for girls

Parivartan Plus is a structured sports mentoring programme for girls, implemented in a Mumbai slum where social expectations around gender-appropriate behaviour and good parenting restricts girls’ mobility and visibility in public spaces. This article presents practice-based learning from developing and implementing programme theory to empower girls in achieving changes in their everyday social interactions at home and beyond. Gender and social norms theory were combined with local practical wisdom to turn main implementation challenges into opportunities. The article reflects on the strategies that gave visibility to, and achieved community endorsement for, the erosion of restrictive gender norms while ensuring community safety.     

Endangering women's health for profit: health and safety in Mexico's maquiladoras

This article focuses on the situation of women in Mexico's maquiladoras (assembly plants). There are approximately 1 million Mexicans working in over 4000 maquiladoras in which violations of worker's human, labor, and health rights exist. The specific dangers of work in maquiladoras and the double burden of domestic and factory work that women already bear all contribute to a wide range of health hazards for women. These workplace hazards include toxic chemicals, unsafe equipment, poor workstation design, and excessive heat or cold, poor ventilation and lighting, harmful noise levels, and dangerously high production quotas. Since most maquiladoras illegally dump hazardous waste and spew contaminants into the surrounding environment, residents of maquiladora communities are exposed to additional health hazards simply because they live near the plants. In response to this problem, workers have organized themselves into community-based groups and democratic unions. The need for worker-controlled organizations was emphasized because workers who are organized have greater possibilities of addressing their concerns about health, safety, wages, and job security than those who are not.     

Hobsbawm in Trinidad: understanding contemporary modalities of urban violence

Eric Hobsbawm’s milestone work Bandits is attentive to the rural poor and situates social banditry within the world of peasant resistance, but his concepts are surprisingly adaptable to contemporary urban settings. Drawing on Hobsbawm’s conceptualisation of social banditry and avengers, this article examines the perspective of gangs who perceive themselves as victims of inequality, poverty and capitalism; who serve as social actors and security providers for their communities; and who at the same time engage in cruelty and high levels of violence and terror. This qualitative study is based on fieldwork undertaken in Trinidad and Tobago. Findings show that Hobsbawm’s figure of the avenger contributes to a better understanding of the contemporary modalities of urban violence and helps unpacking and characterise the ambiguity of the relationship between gangs and local communities.     

Poor communities as corporate stakeholders: A bottom-up research approach

Abstract

This article strives to provide an understanding of salient issues affecting the daily lives of participants from various developing communities in the country, and within the bigger picture, discuss some implications for organisations that affect or are affected by such communities. A key implication is that the process of constant connectivity and dialogue, including dissent, with communities as corporate stakeholders, may be more important in establishing trust and earning accountability, than the outcomes of well-planned corporate social responsibility campaigns. The study is based on qualitative research undertaken between 2006 and 2008 in 35 South African rural and township communities in Limpopo Province, North-West and Gauteng. A bottom-up research approach was proposed by the researchers, which, instead of evaluating the effects of corporate communication campaigns on communities, was to begin at a grassroots level with communities themselves, by exploring top-of-mind issues. From the findings it was apparent that a vicious cycle of extreme and endemic poverty was the focal area that occupied community members’ minds. This study provides a linkage between certain aspects of corporate social responsibility, normative stakeholder theory, strategic communication and stakeholder dialogue, in an attempt to provide organisations with guidelines to evaluate and respond to the challenges of poor communities, and offer a perspective on the way strategic communication with poor communities should take place.     

Sustainable rural livelihoods approach for climate change adaptation in Western Odisha,Eastern India

The economy of Odisha is primarily agrarian. Over 80% of the population of Odisha live in rural areas, where levels of poverty are higher than in the state's towns and cities. They depend for their livelihoods on farming and collecting forest products. During the dry season, many migrate elsewhere in Odisha and nearby states in search of temporary work as labourers. Odisha has the highest proportion of inhabitants from scheduled tribes and scheduled castes of all the states in India (39.9% compared to 24% nationally). These groups are marginalised and experience high rates of poverty, low levels of education and poor health. They are highly vulnerable to climate change, due to poverty and dependence on climate-sensitive livelihoods in a vulnerable region. The Western Odisha Rural Livelihoods Project sought to reduce poverty by improving communities' water resources, agriculture, and incomes. Communities were involved throughout and are now better able to respond to climate variability (both droughts and heavy rains). The Government of Odisha took full ownership of the project and state and national governments subsequently adopted approaches used by WORLP.     

Utilisation of maternal health services in Ethiopia: a key informant research project

This article explores the application of key informant research to examine barriers and facilitators to maternal health services in rural and pastoralist Ethiopia. The key informants were health extension workers (HEWs) who assist women with birth preparedness and facilitate timely referral to health centres for birth. While women encounter many barriers to giving birth in health facilities, where HEWs are supported by their communities and health centre staff, they can effectively encourage women to travel to health centres to give birth with skilled birth attendants rather than at home with unskilled relatives or traditional birth attendants.     

Constructing alternatives to globalisation: strengthening tradition through innovation

With the inability of international economic integration to create opportunities for important segments of society, many Mexicans are searching for ways to forge their own alternatives. These strategies are the concrete manifestations of the realisation that the ‘mainstream’ path of the search for proletarian employment is no longer viable and that a return to traditional forms of cooperation, organised around mechanisms for ecosystem management, might offer greater security and a better quality of life. People are finding ways to strengthen their communities, to ensure that their families can remain in the rural areas as part of dynamic communities searching for a new relationship to their regions, as well as to the nation of which they wish to continue to be a part. This article illustrates this process with an analysis of a project that focuses on creating a new product—low-fat pork—that can command a premium price in the market, and in the process contribute to strengthening a community, providing new opportunities for women, and improving environmental management.     

Community involvement in constructing village health buildings in Uganda and Sierra Leone

Three public health projects in Uganda and Sierra Leone are used to illustrate a new approach to construction of health buildings in villages. Emphasis is placed on community involvement. The health projects were comprehensive and relied on health education, employment of local village health workers, and establishment of village health committees. The objective of community involvement was described as encouragement of people to change their own diets and living conditions. This approach to primary health care is considered to be a strong basis for sustainable social development. Each of the three communities initiated the building projects slightly differently. There was a range of structures: traditional meeting halls, simple rooms with imported materials and a pit latrine, new buildings combining local and imported materials and labor, new nontraditional buildings, rehabilitated existing nontraditional buildings with imported labor and materials, and temporary mobile clinics. Community involvement was at different levels. All three projects were the result of a combined effort of national governments or mission hospitals, nongovernmental organizations, and the host community. The following should be considered before beginning construction: a suitable site, appropriate staff accommodation, the likely motivation of the host community, seasonality, local materials available, availability of skilled labor, and design. A plan of work during construction should include a building design, site supervision, transportation of local and non-local materials, unskilled labor, and skilled labor. Village health committees with or without government help would be responsible for maintenance of buildings after construction. A key feature of this approach is the assessment of the community's ability and capacity to contribute.     

Textbook citizens: Education for democracy and political culture in el Salvador

Political education can play a crucial role in the process of democratization precisely because it is moulding the norms and expectations of the ‘ordinary’ citizen. After identifying three politico‐cultural obstacles to democratization, ‐ exclusion, violence and institutional manipulation ‐ the article explains how education for democracy programmes might undermine these obstacles. An assessment of several projects follows, including a new school curriculum and non‐governmental organization programmes among young people and poor communities. Given the enthusiasm shown towards such initiatives, it is paradoxical that levels of formal political participation via the parties are very low. The article explores the credibility gap of the parties, especially notable during elections, and which is leading the parties to respond by adopting more participatory practices at the base. El Salvador is in an advantageous position precisely because of its greatest problem: the lack of a liberal democratic history which is now allowing ordinary citizens to ‘create’ their democracy from scratch and to imagine for themselves a new identity as citizens.     

The Practice of Deliberative Democracy: A Study of 16 Deliberative Organizations

This article investigates 16 organizations that attempt to foster better public deliberation in local and national communities. It develops a typology of these organizations and discusses them in the context of the scholarly literature on deliberative democracy. It particularly focuses upon the contributions these organizations may make to debates within the literature between advocates of relational and rational modes of deliberation. It finds that, much like the literature, practitioners of deliberative democracy wrestle with the competing demands of inclusiveness and group cohesion. Organizations attempt to solve this dilemma by stressing group action. However, this emphasis on action raises another dilemma associated with the relation between deliberative and representative models of politics. The essay concludes by suggesting that these organizations have accepted the challenge of improving public life through discourse that has been laid down by deliberative democratic theory. As such, they represent a natural experiment in deliberative democracy that deserves the serious attention of the scholarly community.     

Partnerships,learning, and development: a case study from Ghana

Decades of development practice suggest the fundamental importance of improving aid-delivery systems and stakeholder competence in order to improve the well-being of poor people. However, it is questionable whether the aid system is able to change its attitudes and values through such partnerships in a way that will do this. This paper suggests that for this change to be possible, processes of individual, organisational, and inter-organisational learning have to be encouraged, in ways that do not sacrifice the knowledge obtained by aid workers in the processes of global management. The paper explores procedures of bilaterally funded community education projects in Ghana, in order to give insights into the working of partnership arrangements as a means to contribute to the alleviation of global poverty. Critical instances from the case study projects reveal the ways in which learning is facilitated, used, ignored, and hindered as the organisational relations develop.     

A training approach for community maternal health volunteers that builds sustainable capacity

This article examines a training approach for community health volunteers which increased access to maternal health services in rural communities in Zambia. The effectiveness of the training approach was evaluated in an operations research component. Skilled birth attendance rates increased by 63% from baseline over a two-year period in the intervention districts, out-performing increases recorded in control sites at statistically significant levels. As a low-cost, high-impact intervention which shows good sustainability potential, the approach is suitable for national level scale-up and for adaptation for use in other countries in support of maternal and new-born health goals.