Contested narratives of encounter from a bridge-building project in northern England

ABSTRACT

Recent years of community engagement under the war on terror in the UK have seen the co-option of bridge-building initiatives into wider narratives of securing communities. Through ethnographic insights into a peace building inter-faith initiative that made it onto the news as a ‘deradicalization’ workshop, I show how encounters in such projects are susceptible to being reframed into the very narrative in which encounters are sought after in the first place as a political settlement to growing inter-ethnic tension and conflict. This paper contributes to the growing geographies of encounter literature by making more explicit the narratives that shape how encounters function.     

Signing up to devolution: the prevalence of contract over governance in English devolution policy

Initial analyses of the ‘devolution deals’ that form the cornerstone of current efforts to devolve power within England assess the policy against conventional governance criteria: accountability, transparency, and the quality of governance systems. In fact, English devolution policy has little connection with territorial governance. Instead, it closely resembles a contractual process, with central government determining the terms on which it will outsource specified programmes and projects to local governments, complete with requirements for ‘business readiness’, implementation plans, evaluation requirements, and future joint working. Accountability, governance and even geography take second place to the aim of improving central policy outcomes via a contract-style relationship. This perspective is styled ‘post-territorial devolution’: it accounts more effectively for the shape of the policy so far than traditional governance perspectives, which are often laced with normative positions.     

Are integrated impact assessments the way forward for mainstreaming in the European Union?

This article assesses the utility of impact assessments (IAs) as an effective tool for mainstreaming. Specifically, it analyses whether the European Union's (EU's) system of integrated impact assessments (IIAs) contributes to the realization of six mainstreaming objectives defined in the EU treaties. The article first studies whether the legal framework for the EU's system of IIAs makes it a viable tool for mainstreaming. It then proceeds with an empirical analysis of 35 IAs to assess the extent to which mainstreaming objectives are taken into account in practice. The analysis shows that all six mainstreaming objectives have a place within the IIA system, but the system does not ensure systematic consideration of them. There is considerable variation across mainstreaming agendas, as well as across Directorates‐General. The article concludes that the IIA system is no panacea for mainstreaming, and proposes changes to the institutional framework to improve its mainstreaming potential.     

全球治理中的跨国反洗钱台作

全球治理是国际社会应对全球问题而变革传统治理模式的一种构想,它的兴起为全球反洗钱控制与治理提供了重要的理论指导。在跨国反洗钱控制的全球治理模式中,国家和政府间、国际组织间的制度性合作机制仍然占据主导地位,发挥着不可替代的规范性与约束性的治理作用。但值得注意的是,非国家行为主体在跨国反洗钱的全球治理中日益发挥着越来越重要的促进作用和参与作用,并能在一定程度上缓解传统治理模式的＂民主赤字＂问题。     

论人工智能赋值国家治理:方法、视角与维度

赋值是智能政治学的重要研究课题,赋值研究是智能政治学的重要分析方法.人工智能赋值国家治理,从分析视角来看,表现为人工智能科学、人工智能技术、人工智能形态和人工智能体对国家治理的多重赋值和多源性影响作用.从分析维度来讲,表现为人工智能从赋益、赋义、赋能、赋权、赋则和赋责等多维度影响作用或赋值国家治理,甚至推动国家治理从"...     

整体性基层党建何以可能:空间治理的工作路径

城市基层党建存在社会参与不足、合作治理乏力的现实困境.基层党组织如何通过空间治理路径促进整体性党建发展,实现共建共治共享社会治理格局是当前基层党建创新的重要议题.通过构建"结构—过程—绩效"分析框架,从上海市J街道党建空间治理实践入手,探究空间治理实现整体性党建的实现机制.从而发现,党组织、政府组织和社会主体的多元行动...     

司法解释场域的“央地矛盾”及其纾解——以“地方释法”为中心的分析

在以统一法制为目标的法律解释体制下,最高司法机关供给的司法解释资源无法满足地方司法机关的释法需求,构成了司法解释场域的“央地矛盾”.为了缓解供需矛盾,地方司法机关开始自发转向“地方释法”,试图以发布地方释法文件的方式实现司法治理效果.中央虽对“地方释法”持禁止态度,但制定的相关规制规范却过于宽松,未能起到应有的限制作用...     

都市生态治理中党政干部领导力探讨

推进都市生态治理是促进区域经济社会协调可持续发展的应有之义.本文以A省S市都市生态治理中党政干部领导力为基点,阐释了S市党政干部在生态治理中发挥的核心作用,同时也发现其中面临领导动力弱化、领导效益损耗、领导协同失效、领导制度选择性执行等困局.因此,应从增强都市生态治理中党政干部领导自洽力、提升领导转换力、激活领导制度力...     

执政合法性的一般理论及其启示——执政党建设的全球化视角

执政合法性问题不是一个法律概念,而是一个政治概念。任何政党在执政后都有一个执政合法性的问题。西方国家在实践中形成的执政合法性理论,对当代中国共产党具有借鉴意义。增强执政基础,不能单纯依靠经济发展,必须同时解决好政治、文化和社会发展问题,处理好合法性与合法化、合法性与有效性、合法性与合道义性的关系。     

Community forestry,labor migration and agrarian change in a Nepali village: 1980 to 2010

This paper follows forest conditions, agricultural practices, and livelihoods in a Nepali village between 1980 and 2010. A survey was administered to all village households in 1980, 1990 and 2010; semi-structured interviews were also conducted. Tree species frequency, density and dominance were determined for eight forest patches during each survey. Over this period the population of the village remained stable; the number of children decreased, and the number of people over 50 increased. Famers keep significantly fewer livestock, and have become less dependent on farming and more engaged in commercial activities. In 1980 the number of out-migrants was so few that they were not recorded; by 2010, 29 percent of the adult male population was engaged in migration. Nepal initiated an acclaimed Community Forestry program in the early 1990s; by 2010 about half the village’s forests showed improved tree density and size. Contrary to expectations and published literature, the study found that forest conditions in half of the village’s forests were not improved; and while livelihoods appeared to be better in 2010 than in 1980, they are not more secure as they are increasingly dependent on remittance incomes and hence at the whims of the international labor market.