The origins of international child sponsorship

International child sponsorship typically involves the pairing of an individual, identifiable child, or young adult in a developing country with an individual donor or sponsor in a relatively wealthy country. Regular payments by sponsors, accompanied by the exchange of personal information, characterise a fundraising phenomenon which currently links sponsors to more than eight million children globally. Although child sponsorship underpins a multi-billion dollar flow of funds to developing countries, its origins have become obscured by the passing of time, to the point where many international NGOs utilising it as a fundraising mechanism are unaware of the aims and context of its early use. This article argues that the pairing of individual children with international donors was initiated by the UK-based Save the Children Fund and the Society of Friends Relief Mission in post-First World War Austria in 1919. Unlike the long-term support that would characterise later programmes, early sponsorship funded the short-term assistance of children and avoided the creation of dependency.     

The marginalisation of participation “as an end” development: an Ecuadorean case study

The evolution of participatory practices clearly evidences movement away from local participatory projects implemented with the use of participatory methodologies such as participatory rural appraisal, and towards citizen participation in government activities. This trend reflects development discourse concerning participation, and in particular responds to the critique aimed at local participatory development. Using case study data from Ecuador, the article discusses the previously overlooked effects of this phenomenon, namely a uniformity of participatory development practice and a lack of opportunities for people to engage in development activities that provide participation “as an end” benefits such as empowerment and confidence-building.     

信息公开与政治公议的合法化展开——一种关于“网络谣言”的宪政主义解读及解决思路

当下围绕着"公意主题事件"而生成的"网络谣言",多为公民基于参与公共政治的联动机制而形成的信息求索机制,属于公民权利的宪法机能形式。它在填补公民参与公共政治的信息赤字的同时,为建构良性的官民互动和公信机制提供了充分契机。伴随着互联网所建构的平面化信息交流机制的日益深入,以及开放、透明的公共信息机制需求在现代国家的民主政治建设中的作用日益凸显,制度设置必须提供更为开放和多元的信息交流机制,尤其是公民参与政治的公共信息获取路径。因此,需要阐明互联网上的信息生成和传递作为国民公共信息获取程式的必要性,澄清政治公议的宪法化展开逻辑,为"网络谣言"所犯政法禁忌解套,实现借助互联网有别于官方话语系统的政治公议的常态化和合法化,并最终寻求其正当性的法理根基。     

Contesting Citizenship in the Arab Revolutions: Youth,Women, and Refugees

Focusing on youth, women, and refugees in the context of the ongoing Arab revolutions, this article explores how constructions of citizenship are being challenged. More than 40 percent of the population in the Arab world is under the age of eighteen, and youth are expressing a strong civic motivation and agency for change. Second, with regard to women’s participation in the Arab revolutions, while highly visible on the Arab streets, to date they have been largely excluded from participating in subsequent more formal political processes. Third, the ensuing large refugee populations in the Arab world further challenge understandings of citizenship. This article proposes that exploring the role of youth, women, and refugees in contesting citizenship in the ongoing revolutions of the Arab world challenges not only conceptions of citizenship in the Arab world but also how we understand conceptions of civil society.     

正当利益条款的中国法构造——基于《民法典》第998条

正当利益条款为纷繁复杂的价值及利益冲突留下必要的缓和空间,这对数字经济的发展尤为重要。通过构建"抖音案"的请求权规范链条可以发现,《民法典》及《个人信息保护法》关于个人信息处理行为的合法性基础的直接规定难以容纳个体性商业利益,有必要确立正当利益条款。作为对侵害非物质性人格权责任认定的一般规定,《民法典》第998条与正当利益条款在功能上具有一致性,而且在内容上互为补充,由此即可形成我国的正当利益条款。落实到个案裁判,应区分价值及利益冲突与具体考量因素两个层次,并注重二者之间的密切联系,通过权衡方法达致更为合乎理性的结论。借此,不仅能重构和修正"抖音案"的裁判理由,而且能完整呈现正当利益条款的中国法构造。     

Cassava value chain and its products in Morogoro rural district,Tanzania

This study was conducted to examine the cassava value chain and determine strategies for enhancing farmers' profitable participation in the chain, to reduce poverty in Tanzania. Data were collected from 98 farmers from three villages of Morogoro rural district. Profit and marketing margins along the cassava value chain were computed. A linear model was estimated whereby farm size, experience, total family labour, group participation, non-crop livelihood sources, and food insecurity were the main determinants of profitability. The emerging recommendation was for farmers' participation in profitable cassava value chain strands by strengthened coordination, improved cassava varieties, and enhanced agronomic practices and processing technologies.     

Participatory appraisal of competitive advantage (PACA) approach in local economic development

In South Africa, local economic development has become the focus to overcome obstacles such as low skills, low entrepreneurial culture, weak support mechanisms, and spatial marginalisation, which lead to high unemployment and poverty. With conventional approaches having little effect, local communities are looking for innovative approaches to their economic challenges. PACA methodology prepares an action-oriented diagnostic of the local economy to initiate economic development initiatives. It mobilises local stakeholders to take an active role through fast analysis and action learning. This article assesses how the PACA approach implemented by George Municipality was applied, and what advantages and limitations were experienced.     

错位与回归:民事再审制度之反思——以民事程序体系的新发展为背景

民事再审程序是《民事诉讼法》两次修法的"交集",以程序体系的最新架构为运行环境,新《民事诉讼法》的正式施行必将使再审程序面临着制度内部和外部关系的新问题、新挑战。在本体论方面,需要强化再审程序的特殊性和例外性,理性认识"再审难"的内在正当性,遏制特殊救济程序向通常救济程序的异化;在关系论方面,再审程序与简易程序、小额程序、二审程序以及"新增型"非讼程序之间的关系,需要予以进一步明晰和矫正;在性质论方面,应当以比例原则、利益权衡原则、有限纠错原则、穷尽其他救济原则等为基本纲领,从法解释学和立法论两条路径,对再审领域的实体事项和程序事项予以优化。     

论检察机关与公益诉讼——以新民事诉讼法为背景

民事诉讼法第二次修订的惊喜亮点,体现出法治民主的重大进步,并从此开启了我国公益诉讼之门。然而,这一条款对公益诉讼主体规定得比较模糊,难以把握。之前认同度极高的检察机关并未获得法定主体资格,这将检察机关已开展多年的公益诉讼探索陷于维谷。因此,检察机关必须重新定位自身在公益诉讼中的地位与作用。     

‘Resistance as creation’: a new sociability in Argentina

While everyday forms of resistance are not new in Argentina, the spontaneity that characterised the insurrection on 19 and 20 December 2001 was unprecedented. It showed how the absence of leadership, co-ordination, and promise might open the doors to powerful forms of mobilisation and radical practices in direct democracy. The author suggests that in challenging capitalism and the social paradigms that it generates, the values and practices of counter-power, self-affirmation, collectivity, and multiplicity can all play a vital role in the success and survival of radical democracy. The article is largely inspired by the works of Colectivo Situaciones, an autonomous research collective in Buenos Aires, and draws on the example of the Movimiento de Trabajadores Desocupados (MTD) Solano. This movement of unemployed workers struggles against capitalist and state violence by practising a constantly renewed spiral of rebellion and creativity. From the perspective of a participant observer the article considers their successes, challenges, and limitations in developing radical democratic thought and practice.