The state and civil society in transition: the role of non-governmental organizations in South Korea

2000 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 595-613 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hyuk-Rae Kim
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
South Korea ◽  
The State ◽  
Governmental Organizations ◽  
Non Governmental Organizations

Insurgency and Advocacy: Unauthorized Foreign Workers and Civil Society in South Korea

2003 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 237-269 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joon Kim
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
South Korea ◽  
Structural Changes ◽  
Manufacturing Sector ◽  
Foreign Workers ◽  
South Korean ◽  
Governmental Organizations ◽  
Non Governmental Organizations ◽  
Contract Labor

Due to major structural changes in the 1980s, South Korea initiated an international contract labor program known as the industrial trainee system in 1991. Started ostensibly as a temporary measure to deal with domestic labor shortage in the declining manufacturing sector, the program has spread recently to other sectors, including fisheries, construction and agriculture. Currently, over 300,000 unskilled foreigners reside in South Korea, of which two out of every three persons are identified as unauthorized workers. This article examines how the South Korean industrial trainee program systematically produces unauthorized workers and highlights the role of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in protecting the human rights of foreign workers. The successful collaboration of South Korea's civil society stems from its unique historical formation, rooted in democracy movements of earlier decades. It also implicates strong prospects for substantive integration of foreign workers and, as a consequence, suggests important changes in the country's social and economic structures.

From Local Activism to Local Politics: The Case of Moscow

2018 ◽  
Vol 3 (4) ◽  
pp. 577-604 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yana Gorokhovskaia
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Local Politics ◽  
Local Level ◽  
The State ◽  
Political Candidates ◽  
Governmental Organizations ◽  
Private Realm ◽  
Non Governmental Organizations ◽  
Local Problems ◽  
Training And Support

Conventional wisdom holds that civil society is a sphere of activity separate from the state and the private realm. Due to a combination of historical, developmental and institutional factors, Russian civil society today is dominated by the state. While not all interactions with the state are seen as harmful, scholars acknowledge that most politically oriented or oppositional non-governmental organizations today face difficult conditions in Russia. In response to the restrictions on civil society and the unresponsive nature of Russia’s hybrid authoritarian regime, some civil society actors in Moscow have made the transition into organized politics at the local level. This transition was motivated by their desire to solve local problems and was facilitated by independent electoral initiatives which provided timely training and support for opposition political candidates running in municipal elections. Once elected, these activists turned municipal deputies are able to perform some of the functions traditionally ascribed to civil society, including enforcing greater accountability and transparency from the state and defending the interest of citizens.

Environmental Non-Governmental Organizations and Russian Environmental Governance: Accountability, Participation and Collaboration

2014 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 341-371 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ekaterina Sofronova ◽  
Cameron Holley ◽  
Vijaya Nagarajan
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Governance ◽  
The State ◽  
Collaborative Relationship ◽  
Accountability Measures ◽  
Governmental Organizations ◽  
Non Governmental Organizations ◽  
Effective Role ◽  
The Impact

AbstractThis article examines the role of environmental non-governmental organizations (ENGOs) in Russia and the impact of tightening governmental accountability measures. Drawing on 18 interviews conducted in 2012–13 with Russian and international ENGOs, the article examines three key governance issues, namely: the collaborative relationship between the state and ENGOs, the impact of accountability measures on ENGO activities, and the relationships between ENGOs themselves. The findings reveal that ENGOs maintain a legitimate and effective role within Russian environmental governance. However, their legitimacy and success is significantly limited and threatened by increasing accountability measures and state actions. The article accordingly identifies a number of recommendations for increasing the likelihood of successful ENGO action in Russian environmental governance, including improving ENGO collaboration with the state and resolving tensions between participation and accountability.

Religion and Sustainability in Global Civil Society

2014 ◽  
Vol 18 (3) ◽  
pp. 269-288 ◽  
Author(s):  
Evan Berry
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Global Politics ◽  
Religion And Ecology ◽  
Governmental Organizations ◽  
Ethnographic Interviews ◽  
Fields Of Study ◽  
Non Governmental Organizations ◽  
Role Of Religion ◽  
Religious Actors

This paper presents basic empirical research about the role of religion and religious actors in the global politics of sustainability. Drawing on insights from three overlapping fields of study—environmental politics, religious transnationalism, and religion and ecology—this study analyzes data gathered through ethnographic interviews with representatives of religious non-governmental organizations at the 2012 United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, known as Rio+20. These interviews asked respondents to discuss their understanding of the meaning, role, and position of religion within civil society efforts to address sustainability concerns. Content analysis of interview responses suggests that religious actors hold divergent views about the salience of religion to global sustainability politics. The central finding is that the boundary between religious and secular civil society groups is a permeable one.

‘What Will We Be without Them?’ Rural Intellectuals in the State and NGOs in Zimbabwe’s Crisis-Ridden Countryside

2016 ◽  
Vol 44 (4-5) ◽  
pp. 595-610 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Moore ◽  
Zenzo Moyo
Keyword(s):  
Social Movements ◽  
Civil Society ◽  
Political Parties ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
The State ◽  
Governmental Organizations ◽  
South West ◽  
Non Governmental Organizations ◽  
State Organizations ◽  
The Many

Research on NGOs in rural Zimbabwe suggests that ideas of automatic opposition between ‘civil society’ and/or non-governmental organizations and authoritarian states are too simple. Rather, relations between state and non-state organizations such as those referenced in this article, in the rural district of Mangwe about 200 kilometres south-west of Zimbabwe’s Bulawayo, are symbiotic. This contrasts with urban areas where political histories have led to more contested state-civil society relations in the last two decades, during which social movements with a degree of counter-hegemonic (or counter-regime) aspirations were allied with many NGOs and opposition political parties. Gramsci’s idea of ‘rural intellectuals’ could complement the widely used notion of ‘organic intellectuals’ to examine the members of the intelligentsia appearing to be at one with subordinate groups in the countryside and at odds with the state. Likewise state workers distant from the centre and close to their class peers in NGOs as well as their ‘subjects’ may operate with autonomy from their masters in ruling parties and states to assist, rather than repress, citizens and also to co-operate with NGO workers. This research indicates that discerning how hegemony works across whole state-society complexes is more complicated than usually perceived, given the many regional variations therein.

scholarly journals AID FOR AFRICA AS ONE OF THE ACTIVITIES CARRIED OUT BY POLISH NGOs: LEGAL AND SOCIOLOGICAL APPROACH

MEST Journal ◽  
2022 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 72-81
Author(s):  
Marek Stych ◽  
Beata Pawlica ◽  
Malgorzata Kmak
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Legal System ◽  
Humanitarian Aid ◽  
International Aid ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Sociological Approach ◽  
Governmental Organizations ◽  
Non Governmental Organizations ◽  
The People

This article tackles the issue of aid for African states. Africa is one of the poorest continents, with many people living on the verge of poverty and suffering from malnutrition or famine. Hence, the humanitarian aid provided to the people of this continent is of particular importance. In Poland, such aid activities undertake entities defined in the Polish legal system as non-governmental organizations (NGOs). NGOs also conduct many other kinds of activities. The Act on public benefit and volunteer work is an example of creating legal mechanisms for the functioning of civil society in the legal system to provide international aid to those it needs. Assisting other societies is important for modern civil society the same as political or economic cooperations are. The role of NGOs operating in health protection, education, or entrepreneurship areas is crucially important. The authors of this paper discuss the issue of the said aid provided by selected Polish NGOs. The article aims to determine the extent and scope of the assistance to African countries provided by the NGOs, based on the respondents' experiences, whether such assistance is necessary, and what form it should take.

Nevalstiskās organizācijas kā vēstures skaidrojumu veidotājas un izplatītājas valsts varas vajadzībām Krievijā

2021 ◽  
pp. 55-64
Author(s):  
Inese Grumolte-Lerhe ◽  
◽  
Ainārs Lerhis ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
20Th Century ◽  
The State ◽  
Governmental Organizations ◽  
Non Governmental Organizations

The aim of this article is to analyse the activity of agents of civil society – the non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in Russia, which create and disseminate the interpretations of historic milestones of the 20th century. The article demonstrates how factors, which have classically been regarded as characte-ristics for the civil society that is independent from direct interference of the state, become the tools directly controlled by the state. Thus, democratic and rational discussion on milestones of history is dis-torted. Several NGOs disseminate narratives elaborated and supported one-sidedly by the state while pre-sented as independent from it and thus – reliable and sound. The arguments put forward by these agents to justify their claims marginalize alternative views due to their imperative nature.

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