Post-hegemony and Gramsci: a bridge too far?

This article expands upon the theory of post-hegemony so as to maintain the multitude as an operative political category alongside the State. Ironically, it does so by returning to Antonio Gramsci. It argues that the multitude – or, for Gramsci ‘civil society’ – is constitutive of statal politics in two specific ways: (1) the multitude as a constitutive outside or alterity that the State carries; and (2) constitutive in its positivity, as a productive immanence that affects the social field from which the State is drawn. This relationship of constituent participation – not representation – is demonstrated by investigating changes in politics-as-usual in Venezuela.     

Will the regulation of governmental accounting go too far?

The establishment of the Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) ushered in a new era in the regulation of governmental accounting. The promotion of uniform accounting standards for all state and local governments and the adoption of more effective regulations in certain areas, such as pension reporting, may lead to lower borrowing costs for governmental units. The GASB should, however, be concerned not only with the potential benefits associated with any new regulations but also with the related costs of implementing these regulations.     

“Feminists make too much noise!”: generational differences and ambivalence in feminist development politics in Ghana

Despite the crucial role feminist movements play in securing progressive development policies, legislation and socio-legal protections for women, labeling women’s rights issues as feminist has contradictory, mostly negative, effects on the women’s movement in Africa. This paper discusses research findings that show that older women (activists) are more likely to self-identify as feminists than younger women in Ghana. I argue that, while resistance to feminism may have roots in anti-imperialism, socio-cultural and economic privileges play a crucial role in such resistance at an individual level. Based on findings discussed in the paper I suggest the following. First, the perceived threat of feminism to African socio-cultural norms dialectically enhances opportunities for advancing women’s rights in development planning through a more transformative civil liberties route as opposed to a “special victims’ unit” approach. Second, further empirical research is needed to assess the impact of various intersecting variables (class, age, ethnicity, sexuality, religion and geographical location) on feminist politics in Africa.     

Don’t push too hard. Examining the managerial behaviours of local authorities in collaborative networks with nonprofit organisations

In recent years, collaborative networks have been at the forefront of theoretical, empirical and practical research into local governance. Nevertheless, the managerial behaviours local managers should employ in order to improve the performance of these networks are unclear. Following scholars' examinations of governance and the complementary relationship between government bodies and nonprofit organisations, we empirically examined – so far as we know for the first time – the relationship between local authority managerial behaviours towards nonprofit organisations, and the performance of collaborative networks. We found that above and beyond micro- and macro-level factors, the more the local authority employs inclusive governance and financial support behaviours towards the nonprofit organisation, the higher the performance of the collaborative network. In addition, the more the local authority employs monitoring-controlling behaviours, the lower the performance of the collaborative network. Theoretical and practical implications of our findings are developed in the context of local governance.