Introduction

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christine Cheng
Keyword(s):  
Theoretical Framework ◽  
Political Authority ◽  
The State ◽  
Dual Nature ◽  
For Profit ◽  
Business Interests ◽  
Local Populations ◽  
Post Conflict ◽  
Over Time ◽  
Commercial Environment

This chapter introduces the concept of extralegal groups and a theoretical framework for analyzing them—how they emerge, develop, and become entrenched over time. It explores their dual nature as threats to the state and as local statebuilders. Formally, an extralegal group is defined as a set of individuals with a proven capacity for violence who work outside the law for profit and provide basic governance functions to sustain its business interests. This framing shows how political authority can develop as a by-product of the commercial environment, even where the state has little or no presence. In post-conflict societies, the predatory nature and historical abuses of citizens conducted in the name of the state means that government is not always more trusted or better able to look after the interests of local populations than an extralegal group. Ultimately, extralegal groups blur the lines between the formal and informal; the licit and illicit.

Extralegal Groups in Post-Conflict Liberia

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christine Cheng
Keyword(s):  
Rule Of Law ◽  
Historical Analysis ◽  
Evolutionary Process ◽  
The State ◽  
Peace Building ◽  
Security Threats ◽  
Dual Nature ◽  
The Rule Of Law ◽  
Post Conflict ◽  
Commercial Environment

In the aftermath of the Liberian civil war, groups of ex-combatants took control of natural resource enclaves. With some of them threatening a return to war, these groups were widely viewed as the most significant threats to Liberia’s hard-won peace. Building on fieldwork and socio-historical analysis, this study shows how extralegal groups emerge as a product of livelihood strategies and the political economy of war. It analyzes the trajectory of extralegal groups in three sectors of the Liberian economy: rubber, diamonds, and timber. The findings offer a counterpoint to the prevailing narrative, arguing that extralegal groups have a dual nature and should be viewed as accidental statebuilders driven to provide basic governance goods in order to create a stable commercial environment. These groups do not seek to rule; they provide governance because they need to trade—not as an end in itself. This leads to the book’s broader argument: it is trade, rather than war, that drives contemporary statebuilding. In areas where the state is weak and political authority is contested, where the rule of law is corrupt and government distrust runs deep, extralegal groups can provide order and dispute resolution, forming the basic kernel of the state. Extralegal groups also perform a series of hidden governance functions that establish public norms of compliance and cooperation with local populations. This sheds new light on how we understand violent nonstate actors, allowing us to view them as part of an evolutionary process of state-making, rather than simply as national security threats.

Theoretical Framework

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christine Cheng
Keyword(s):  
Public Goods ◽  
Theoretical Framework ◽  
Local Public Goods ◽  
Weak States ◽  
Local Institutions ◽  
Opportunity Structures ◽  
Post Conflict ◽  
Key Factor ◽  
Three Stages ◽  
Over Time

Chapter 2 provides an in-depth treatment of the extralegal groups framework. It sets out the post-conflict conditions in which the framework will be applied, and discusses the three stages of emergence, development, and entrenchment, and how a group transitions between them. The framework lays out a causal logic for how ex-combatants seeking employment can transform in response to local opportunity structures. It shows how and why these groups become enmeshed in webs of local corruption over time and argues that the key factor that determines whether an extralegal group engages in statebuilding depends on how far into the future the group believes it can control its enclave. Statebuilding need not be state-led and weak states in particular, are not always in the strongest position to build robust local institutions or to provide local public goods. Instead, extralegal groups may be better positioned to provide basic governance functions.

scholarly journals Perceptions of local populations on the state of phytodiversity in the subwatershed of Kossi river in the municipalities of Dassa-Zoumé and Glazoué in the Center of Benin

2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (9) ◽  
pp. 3200-3214
Author(s):  
Florent Essin Dissou ◽  
Jacques Boco Adjakpa ◽  
Peter D.M. Weesie
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Statistical Analysis ◽  
Plant Species ◽  
Rare Species ◽  
Temporal Dynamics ◽  
The State ◽  
Species Loss ◽  
Local Populations ◽  
Bassin Versant ◽  
Over Time

In Africa, since several decades a rarefaction of many plant species because of their daily use by people can be observed. This study which was conducted in the subwatershed of the Kossi River aims to collect peasant perceptions about the state of phytodiversity. The data were collected through an individual survey in 10 villages with 492 households. The software CAP version 2.15. and R version 3.3.3. were used for the statistical analysis. In total, 94 species belonging to 83 genera and 38 families were identified. The dominant genera are Ficus, Ocimum, Acacia and Blighia. Forty-six (46) species of the listed species (48.94%) are currently rare and 9 species (19.57%) of those rare species are threatened in Benin. Value of importance (IV) of activity and the consensus value (UCs) of the choice of activity show that logging, agriculture and breeding have greatest influence on species loss. This study gives information on the most used species by the populations and those we can select for reforestation campaigns. As a perspective, a work on the temporal dynamics of the land use units of this sub-basin will be done to better appreciate their evolution over time. En Afrique, on assiste depuis plusieurs décennies à la raréfaction de plusieurs espèces végétales du fait de leur utilisation quotidienne par les populations. La présente étude conduite dans le sous-bassin versant de la rivière Kossi vise à recueillir les perceptions des populations locales sur l’état de la phytodiversité. Les données ont été collectées à travers une enquête individuelle dans 10 villages auprès de 492 ménages. Les logiciels CAP version 2.15. et R version 3.3.3. ont été utilisés pour les analyses statistiques. Au total, 94 espèces reparties en 83 genres et 38 familles ont été recensées. Les genres dominants sont Ficus, Ocimum, Acacia et Blighia et les familles les mieux représentées sont les Caesalpiniaceae, les Papilionaceae et les Combretaceae. Quarante-six des espèces recensées (48,94%) sont actuellement rares et 9 de ces espèces rares (19,57%) sont menacées au Bénin. La Valeur d’Importance (IV) de l’activité et la valeur consensuelle (UCs) du choix de l’activité ont révélé que l’exploitation forestière, l’agriculture et la transhumance sont les principaux facteurs responsables de cette raréfaction. Cette étude renseigne sur les espèces les plus utiles pour les populations et celles à apporter en cas d’enrichissement. Comme perspective, la dynamique temporelle des unités d’occupation du sol de ce sous-bassin sera abordée pour mieux apprécier leur évolution dans le temps.

CARP Plays a Key Role in Cellular Growth Under Hypertrophic Stimuli in Neonatal Rat Ventricular Myocytes

2013 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tara A Shrout
Keyword(s):  
Gene Expression ◽  
Ventricular Myocytes ◽  
Cellular Growth ◽  
Neonatal Rat ◽  
Transcriptional Level ◽  
Dual Nature ◽  
Hypertrophic Growth ◽  
Rat Ventricular Myocytes ◽  
Neonatal Rat Ventricular Myocytes ◽  
Over Time

Cardiac hypertrophy is a growth process that occurs in response to stress stimuli or injury, and leads to the induction of several pathways to alter gene expression. Under hypertrophic stimuli, sarcomeric structure is disrupted, both as a consequence of gene expression and local changes in sarcomeric proteins. Cardiac-restricted ankyrin repeat protein (CARP) is one such protein that function both in cardiac sarcomeres and at the transcriptional level. We postulate that due to this dual nature, CARP plays a key role in maintaining the cardiac sarcomere. GATA4 is another protein detected in cardiomyocytes as important in hypertrophy, as it is activated by hypertrophic stimuli, and directly binds to DNA to alter gene expression. Results of GATA4 activation over time were inconclusive; however, the role of CARP in mediating hypertrophic growth in cardiomyocytes was clearly demonstrated. In this study, Neonatal Rat Ventricular Myocytes were used as a model to detect changes over time in CARP and GATA4 under hypertrophic stimulation by phenylephrine and high serum media. Results were detected by analysis of immunoblotting. The specific role that CARP plays in mediating cellular growth under hypertrophic stimuli was studied through immunofluorescence, which demonstrated that cardiomyocyte growth with hypertrophic stimulation was significantly blunted when NRVMs were co-treated with CARP siRNA. These data suggest that CARP plays an important role in the hypertrophic response in cardiomyocytes.

Opponent Center-Surround Contrast: Colour to Grey Conversion

2020 ◽  
Vol 2020 (1) ◽  
pp. 105-108
Author(s):  
Ali Alsam
Keyword(s):  
Evolutionary Algorithms ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
The State ◽  
Colour Space ◽  
Vision Science ◽  
State Of Art ◽  
Over Time

Vision is the science that informs us about the biological and evolutionary algorithms that our eyes, opticnerves and brains have chosen over time to see. This article is an attempt to solve the problem of colour to grey conversion, by borrowing ideas from vision science. We introduce an algorithm that measures contrast along the opponent colour directions and use the results to combine a three dimensional colour space into a grey. The results indicate that the proposed algorithm competes with the state of art algorithms.

Cultivating Ice over Time: On the Idea of Timeless Knowledge and Places in the Himalayas

1969 ◽  
Vol 58 (2) ◽  
pp. 193-210 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karine Gagné
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Sense Of Community ◽  
Local Knowledge ◽  
Local Communities ◽  
International Organisations ◽  
Change Over Time ◽  
Local Populations ◽  
Close Study ◽  
Indian Himalayas ◽  
Over Time

Assumptions that local communities have an endogenous capacity to adapt to climate change stemming from time-tested knowledge and an inherent sense of community that prompts mobilisation are becoming increasingly common in material produced by international organisations. This discourse, which relies on ahistorical and apolitical conceptions of localities and populations, is based on ideas of timeless knowledge and places. Analysing the water-place nexus in Ladakh, in the Indian Himalayas, through a close study of glacier practices as they change over time, the article argues that local knowledge is subject to change and must be analysed in light of changing conceptions and experiences of place by the state and by local populations alike.

Environmentalists, Nuclear Waste, and the Politics of Passive Exclusion in Germany

2001 ◽  
Vol 19 (4) ◽  
pp. 43-63 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christian Hunold
Keyword(s):  
Public Policy ◽  
Public Sphere ◽  
Nuclear Waste ◽  
Environmental Movement ◽  
The State ◽  
Radioactive Wastes ◽  
Liberal Democratic ◽  
Democratic State ◽  
Ecological Democracy ◽  
Over Time

In this essay I examine the dispute between the German GreenParty and some of the country’s environmental nongovernmentalorganizations (NGOs) over the March 2001 renewal of rail shipmentsof highly radioactive wastes to Gorleben. My purpose indoing so is to test John Dryzek’s 1996 claim that environmentalistsought to beware of what they wish for concerning inclusion in theliberal democratic state. Inclusion on the wrong terms, arguesDryzek, may prove detrimental to the goals of greening and democratizingpublic policy because such inclusion may compromise thesurvival of a green public sphere that is vital to both. Prospects forecological democracy, understood in terms of strong ecologicalmodernization here, depend on historically conditioned relationshipsbetween the state and the environmental movement that fosterthe emergence and persistence over time of such a public sphere.

The Power of Public Positions

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Sinclair
Keyword(s):  
Detailed Analysis ◽  
Political Authority ◽  
The State ◽  
Sufficient Condition ◽  
Necessary And Sufficient Condition ◽  
State Institutions ◽  
State Of Nature ◽  
Necessary And Sufficient

The Kantian account of political authority holds that the state is a necessary and sufficient condition of our freedom. We cannot be free outside the state, Kantians argue, because any attempt to have the “acquired rights” necessary for our freedom implicates us in objectionable relations of dependence on private judgment. Only in the state can this problem be overcome. But it is not clear how mere institutions could make the necessary difference, and contemporary Kantians have not offered compelling explanations. A detailed analysis is presented of the problems Kantians identify with the state of nature and the objections they face in claiming that the state overcomes them. A response is sketched on behalf of Kantians. The key idea is that under state institutions, a person can make claims of acquired right without presupposing that she is by nature exceptional in her capacity to bind others.

Church and State

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael P. DeJonge
Keyword(s):  
Church And State ◽  
Political Authority ◽  
The State ◽  
Political Life ◽  
The World ◽  
The Church

Chapter 3’s discussion of kingdoms and orders in the context of political life leads naturally into the topic of this chapter: the church, the state, and their relationship. The present chapter locates the state (or, better, political authority in general) in relationship to Chapter 3’s categories by presenting it as one of the orders by which God’s structures the world. It is an important actor in the temporal kingdom, where God has ordained it to preserve the world through law. The church in its essence is an agent of the spiritual kingdom, bearing God’s redemptive word to the world. The themes of preservation and redemption, the kingdoms, and the orders find many of their concrete expressions in themes of the church, the state, and their relationship.

Conclusion

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christine Cheng
Keyword(s):  
Local Authority ◽  
The State ◽  
State Of Nature ◽  
Post Conflict ◽  
First Time

After war, rebuilding the state’s presence—or building it up for the first time—is both a physical and social endeavor requiring new norms of compliance and cooperation. Local authority is deeply contested and the state typically has minimal presence. These conditions are akin to those described in the state of nature. To escape these conditions, Hobbes and Locke argued for the necessity of a sovereign to impose order and impartial justice to form what I call the kernel of the state. Extralegal groups orient societies in that direction by performing a set of visible and hidden functions in contemporary post-conflict environments. But they are not intentionally state-making. Rather, extralegal groups are driven by the need to create a stable trading environment and state-making is a by-product of this imperative. In the contemporary era, the motivation that drives extralegal groups to begin state-making is trade, not war.

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