scholarly journals Does the post-disaster resilient city really exist?

2017 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 275-291 ◽  
Author(s):  
Angeliki Paidakaki ◽  
Frank Moulaert
Keyword(s):  
Political Ecology ◽  
Social Innovation ◽  
The State ◽  
Social Progress ◽  
Housing Production ◽  
Urban Political Ecology ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Spatial Inequalities ◽  
Governance Models ◽  
Post Disaster

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to advance the understanding of “resilience” by disentangling the contentious interactions of various parameters that define and guide resilience trajectories, such as the physical infrastructure, socio-spatial inequalities, path dependencies, power relationships, competing discourses and human agency. This socio-political reconstruction of “resilience” is needed for two reasons: the concept of resilience becomes more responsive to the complex realities on the ground, and the discussion moves toward the promotion of more dynamic recovery governance models that can promote socially just allocated redundancy in housing actions, which could be seen as a key to incubating resilience. Design/methodology/approachThis is a conceptual paper that mobilizes theories of urban political ecology, social innovation and housing with the aim to examine the tensions between various discourses that steer housing production during post-disaster recovery processes, and put a spotlight on the heterogeneity in the transformative capacity of the various actors, institutions and visions of housing systems that preexist or emerge in the post-disaster city. This heterogeneity of actors (i.e. growth coalitions, neighborhood associations and housing cooperatives) consequently leads the discussion toward the investigation of “new” roles of the state in formulating relevant disaster governance models and housing (re)construction systems. FindingsThe initial stress produced by a natural event is often extended because of long-term unmet housing needs. The repercussion of this prolonged stress is a loss of social progress partly due to the reiterated oppression of alternative housing production propositions. In this paper, the authors conclude that an asset-based community development approach to recovery can provide an antidote to the vicious cycles of social stress by opening up diverse housing options. This means that the recovery destiny is not predetermined according to pre-set ideas but is molded by the various bottom-up dynamics that democratically sketch the final socially desirable reconstruction outcome(s). Originality/valueThe contribution of this paper is twofold. By using theoretical insights from urban political ecology, housing studies and social innovation, the paper first builds up onto the current reconstruction of the notion of disaster resilience. Second, by identifying a heterogeneity of “social resilience cells”, the paper leads the discussion toward the investigation of the “new” role of the state in formulating relevant recovery governance models. In this respect, the paper builds a narrative of social justice in terms of the redistribution of resources and the cultivation of empowerment across the various housing providers who struggle for their right to the reconstruction experiment.

scholarly journals Beyond "natural-disasters-are-not-natural": the work of state and nature after the 2010 earthquake in Chile

2016 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 93 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kevin A. Gould ◽  
M. Magdalena Garcia ◽  
Jacob A.C. Remes
Keyword(s):  
Political Ecology ◽  
Natural Disaster ◽  
The State ◽  
The Political ◽  
Socioeconomic Conditions ◽  
Top Down ◽  
Historical Factors ◽  
Media Reports ◽  
Post Disaster ◽  
State Nature

Since the 1970s, human ecologists, geographers, Marxian political economists and others have insisted that there is no such thing as a 'natural' disaster. This assertion opened a space not only for exploring socioeconomic conditions that render marginalized populations vulnerable to natural hazards, but also for the formation of a field, the political ecology of hazards. A few political ecologists further interrogated the idea of a natural disaster, asking how different notions of 'the natural' circulate in post-disaster politics and with what effects. This article extends the latter approach by documenting how interconnected categories of 'nature' and 'state' were mutually constituted by narratives of politicians and elites after Chile's 2010 earthquake and tsunami. Drawing on media reports, we identify three distinct pairings of state/nature: (1) nature as manageable and the state as manager; (2) nature as out of control and the state as a police state; and (3) nature as financial opportunity and the state as prudential. Influenced by socioeconomic and historical factors, these state/nature pairings contradicted and reinforced one another in the disaster's aftermath and were deployed to reinforce top-down—rather than democratic—strategies of post-disaster reconstruction. This case offers an unusual approach to disaster politics by tracing how entwined and power-laden categories of state and nature condition the governance of disaster reconstruction processes.Key words: disaster, state, nature, socionature, political ecology of hazards, media disaster, earthquake, Latin America, Chile, 27F

scholarly journals Valuing plants in devalued spaces: Caring for Baltimore's Street trees

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 228-245
Author(s):  
Mariya Shcheglovitova
Keyword(s):  
Political Ecology ◽  
Urban Space ◽  
Tree Canopy ◽  
Urban Trees ◽  
Tree Planting ◽  
Urban Political Ecology ◽  
Baltimore City ◽  
Spatial Inequalities ◽  
Market Practices ◽  
Sustainability Initiatives

Baltimore City, MD is addressing its future with expansive sustainability initiatives. These include an aggressive tree planting campaign to double the city's tree canopy by 2037. While discourses of greening present tree plantings and related programs as a resolution for the legacies of racist housing market practices, these programs are themselves subject to the legacies of spatial inequalities in access to infrastructural care. Sustainability discourses present urban trees as inherently valuable economically and environmentally but these discourses are disconnected from trees' needs for ongoing care and maintenance. The daily material practices of caring for and maintaining trees are deprioritized in favor of planting more trees to gain these supposedly “inherent” benefits. In the spaces where trees were meant to bring economic and environmental vitality, their deaths reinforce the racist legacies they claim to correct. This paper examines these links and contradictions within the framework of relational urban political ecology. Through a lens of care, this paper shows how humans and non/humans actively co-construct urban space and how just spaces can come about through attention to the needs of humans and non/humans.

scholarly journals Perspectives on the role of business in social innovation

2017 ◽  
Vol 36 (5) ◽  
pp. 681-695 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fabien Martinez ◽  
Patrick O’Sullivan ◽  
Mark Smith ◽  
Mark Esposito
Keyword(s):  
Literature Review ◽  
Social Innovation ◽  
Social Process ◽  
Business Case ◽  
Social Progress ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Business In Society ◽  
Creative Capacity

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the conceptual construct of social innovation in business as distinct from social innovation implemented by civil society and the state. The general absence of sustained research and analysis of this phenomenon, and the dominance of grey and policy-oriented literature, mean that a broadly accepted definition of how social innovation theorises the changing role of business in society is missing Design/methodology/approach An integrative review of the representative literature on social innovation was conducted. The analysis focused on the key arguments made about the involvement of business actors in processes of social innovation and interweaved in this study to build a logically coherent definition of what social innovation in business means for the bulk of those who write and speak about it today. The scope of the literature review was expanded by integrating insights from the extant “business in society” and social innovation literatures, thereby adding clarity to the authors' conceptualisation. Findings The findings indicate that social innovation is best understood as a process driven by human relations, morality and creative capacity breaking routines and path dependencies. It fundamentally relies on the socially constructed dynamics between business and social actors who carry ideas, focus their energies, mobilise competences and create new complementarities to tackle social problems. Economic gain, in this approach, is at best an outcome of social innovation, not its engine. Originality/value What this literature review unveils that is unique about social innovation, and contributes to an enrichment of the “business in society” debate beyond the business case and win-win scenarios depicted by most scholars in this field, is that it best manifests itself as an informal social process that comes into existence at the margins of conventional ways of thinking and organising business activities. Business actors involved in social innovation are framed as self-directed and self-organised around the moral purpose of fostering social progress.

Coda: Ten Questions on Globality

2020 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
The Editors ◽  
Dipesh Chakrabarty
Keyword(s):  
South Asian ◽  
The State ◽  
University Of Chicago ◽  
Subaltern Studies ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Human Understanding ◽  
The University ◽  
Asian Languages

Abstract Dipesh Chakrabarty is Lawrence A. Kimpton Distinguished Service Professor in History and South Asian Languages and Civilizations at the University of Chicago. He is the author of several books, including The Crises of Civilization (2018) and Provincializing Europe (2000); and was one of the principal founders of the editorial collective of Subaltern Studies. In this discussion he ruminates upon the state of globality; its relationship to the planet Earth; the scope and possible duration of the Anthropocene; and some of globalization's consequences for humanity and human understanding. The interview was conducted by managing editor, Kenneth Weisbrode.

Government spending shocks and economic growth: additional evidence from cyclical behavior of fiscal policy

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Olumide Olusegun Olaoye ◽  
Ukafor Ukafor Okorie ◽  
Oluwatosin Odunayo Eluwole ◽  
Mahmood Butt Fawwad
Keyword(s):  
Economic Growth ◽  
Business Cycle ◽  
Government Spending ◽  
Generalized Method Of Moments ◽  
The State ◽  
Fiscal Policies ◽  
Asymmetric Effect ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Spending Shocks ◽  
The Business Cycle

PurposeThis study examines the asymmetric effect of government spending on economic growth in Nigeria over the period 1980–2017. Specifically, this study investigates whether the response of economic growth to government spending shocks differs according to the nature of shocks on them. In addition, the authors examine whether the stabilizing effects of fiscal policies are dependent on the state of the business cycle.Design/methodology/approachThe study adopts the linear fiscal reaction function in addition to the nonlinear regression model of Hatemi-J (2011, 2012), Granger and Yoon (2002), which allows us to separate negative shocks from positive shocks to government spending. Similarly, the authors adopt the generalized method of moments (GMM) techniques of Hansen (1982) to account for simultaneity and endogeneity problems inherent in dynamic model.FindingsThe authors’ findings reveal that there is evidence of asymmetry in the government spending–economic growth nexus in Nigeria over the period of study. Specifically, the authors find that the response of economic growth to government spending shocks differs according to the nature of shocks on them. More specifically, the study established that the stabilizing effects of fiscal policies are dependent on the state of the business cycle.Originality/valueUnlike the traditional method of modeling asymmetry, which adopts the simple inclusion of a squared government spending term or by the inclusion of a cubic government spending term, the model adopted in this study allows us to model shocks and show how the responses of economic growth to government expenditure differ according to the nature of shocks on them.

Responsible innovation and social innovation: toward an integrative research framework

2019 ◽  
Vol 46 (6) ◽  
pp. 742-755 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karsten Bolz ◽  
Anne de Bruin
Keyword(s):  
Social Innovation ◽  
Field Research ◽  
Responsible Innovation ◽  
Systematic Research ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Policy Practice ◽  
Integrative Framework ◽  
Integrative Research ◽  
Conceptual Paper ◽  
Innovation Study

PurposeResponsible innovation (RI) and social innovation (SI) are two fields of innovation study experiencing burgeoning policy, practice and research interest. Despite this rapid rise in popularity, the scholarly literature in these two related areas of innovation study remains quite separate, stymieing the growth of shared research insights. The purpose of this paper is to propose a pragmatic, process-based framework that lends itself to advancing systematic research in both fields while retaining their distinct identities.Design/methodology/approachThis conceptual paper outlines an analogy-inspired framework that builds on the logical thinking put forward by Philosopher Willard Van Orman Quine in 1962. It focusses on key processes that cross-cut both fields.FindingsReflexivity, collaboration and design are identified as three broad core processes that span both the RI and SI fields and form the basis of an integrative framework that highlights the scope for cross-field research pollination.Originality/valueThe literature that draws these two fields together is virtually non-existent. The paper uses analogy to facilitate awareness of the parallels between these two areas of innovation study. The integrative framework put forward in the paper is of value for advancing cumulative research in innovation fields of critical importance to the society.

Continuity and change in housing and settlement patterns in post-earthquake Gujarat, India

2015 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 140-155 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer Erica Duyne Barenstein
Keyword(s):  
Building Materials ◽  
Longitudinal Research ◽  
Social Consequences ◽  
Spatial Organisation ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Social Transformations ◽  
Continuity And Change ◽  
Efficiency Cost ◽  
Building Culture ◽  
Post Disaster

Purpose – This paper aims to examine people's strategies to regain control over the socio-spatial organisation of their villages and transform their agency-built houses in culturally meaningful places post-disaster. In the aftermath of a disaster, building processes are often taken over by external agencies whose approach towards reconstruction is governed by considerations such as safety, efficiency, cost-effectiveness and – in some cases – also by an explicit will to trigger social transformations. As a result, reconstruction often entails dramatic changes in settlement location and morphologies, housing designs, building materials and construction processes. Design/methodology/approach – Based on an ongoing interdisciplinary empirical research project focusing on communities’ patterns of adaptation to post-disaster relocated settlements in India, the paper examines people’s strategies to regain control over the socio-spatial organisation of their villages and to transform their agency-built houses in culturally meaningful places. Findings – The paper shows that people are not passive recipients of external agencies’ often culturally insensitive project and that they have the capacity to transform externally imposed notions of appropriate housing to meet their cultural- and livelihood-specific needs. Based on a micro-level case study of a village in Gujarat, it is argued that underestimating communities’ capacity to rebuild their own houses and villages and the failure to recognise the inherent functionality of local housing and building culture often entail not only missing the opportunity to enhance their resilience but also, in some cases, may lead to increasing their vulnerability. Originality/value – This paper presents a rare example of longitudinal research, calling attention to the long-term impacts of post-disaster reconstruction. It is of particular interest to scholars and humanitarian agencies concerned about the social consequences of relocation and reconstruction after natural disasters.

The impact of labor freedom on geographic cost of living differentials

2017 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 385-395
Author(s):  
Richard Cebula ◽  
James E. Payne ◽  
Donnie Horner ◽  
Robert Boylan
Keyword(s):  
Labor Market ◽  
State Level ◽  
The State ◽  
Annual Data ◽  
Significant Finding ◽  
Cost Of Living ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Usa ◽  
The Cost ◽  
The Impact

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of labor market freedom on state-level cost of living differentials in the USA using cross-sectional data for 2016 after allowing for the impacts of economic and quality of life factors. Design/methodology/approach The study uses two-stage least squares estimation controlling for factors contributing to cost of living differences across states. Findings The results reveal that an increase in labor market freedom reduces the overall cost of living. Research limitations/implications The study can be extended using panel data and alternative measures of labor market freedom. Practical implications In general, the finding that less intrusive government and greater labor freedom are associated with a reduced cost of living should not be surprising. This is because less government intrusion and greater labor freedom both inherently allow markets to be more efficient in the rationalization of and interplay with forces of supply and demand. Social implications The findings of this and future related studies could prove very useful to policy makers and entrepreneurs, as well as small business owners and public corporations of all sizes – particularly those considering either location in, relocation to, or expansion into other markets within the USA. Furthermore, the potential benefits of the National Right-to-Work Law currently under consideration in Congress could add cost of living reductions to the debate. Originality/value The authors extend the literature on cost of living differentials by investigating whether higher amounts of state-level labor market freedom act to reduce the states’ cost of living using the most recent annual data available (2016). That labor freedom has a systemic efficiency impact on the state-level cost of living is a significant finding. In our opinion, it is likely that labor market freedom is increasing the efficiency of labor market transactions in the production and distribution of goods and services, and acts to reduce the cost of living in states. In addition, unlike previous related studies, the authors investigate the impact of not only overall labor market freedom on the state-level cost of living, but also how the three sub-indices of labor market freedom, as identified and measured by Stansel et al. (2014, 2015), impact the cost of living state by state.

Combatting organised crime and terrorism in Central Asia

2018 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 309-319 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emma van Santen
Keyword(s):  
Central Asia ◽  
Explanatory Power ◽  
Academic Research ◽  
Organised Crime ◽  
The State ◽  
State Crime ◽  
International Policy ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Central Asian ◽  
Terrorist Groups

Purpose This paper aims to examine the shift away from the traditional distinction between organised crime and terrorist groups towards their conceptual convergence under the crime-terror nexus narrative in the context of international security and development policy in post-Soviet Central Asia. It assesses the empirical basis for the crime-terror and state-crime nexus in three Central Asian countries – Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan – and argues that the exclusion of the state from the analytical framework undermines the relevance of the crime-terror paradigm for policy-making. Design/methodology/approach This paper draws on a literature review of academic research, recent case studies highlighting new empirical evidence in Central Asia and international policy publications. Findings There is a weak empirical connection between organised crime and Islamic extremists, such as the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan and Hizbut Tahrir, in Central Asia. The state-crime paradigm, including concepts of criminal capture, criminal sovereignty and criminal penetration, hold more explanatory power for international policy in Central Asia. The crime-terror paradigm has resulted in a narrow and ineffective security-oriented law enforcement approach to counter-narcotics and counter-terrorism but does not address the underlying weak state governance structures and political grievances that motivate organised crime and terrorist groups respectively. Originality/value International policy and scholarship is currently focussed on the areas of convergence between organised crime and terrorist groups. This paper highlights the continued relevance of the traditional conceptual separation of terrorist and organised crime groups based on their different motives, methods and relationship with the state, for security and democratic governance initiatives in the under-researched Central Asian region.

An experimental study on feature-based SLAM for multi-legged robots with RGB-D sensors

2017 ◽  
Vol 44 (4) ◽  
pp. 428-441 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michał R. Nowicki ◽  
Dominik Belter ◽  
Aleksander Kostusiak ◽  
Petr Cížek ◽  
Jan Faigl ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Performance Metrics ◽  
State Of The Art ◽  
Building Blocks ◽  
Bundle Adjustment ◽  
The State ◽  
Legged Robots ◽  
Evaluation Methodology ◽  
Walking Robots ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Feature Based

Purpose This paper aims to evaluate four different simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) systems in the context of localization of multi-legged walking robots equipped with compact RGB-D sensors. This paper identifies problems related to in-motion data acquisition in a legged robot and evaluates the particular building blocks and concepts applied in contemporary SLAM systems against these problems. The SLAM systems are evaluated on two independent experimental set-ups, applying a well-established methodology and performance metrics. Design/methodology/approach Four feature-based SLAM architectures are evaluated with respect to their suitability for localization of multi-legged walking robots. The evaluation methodology is based on the computation of the absolute trajectory error (ATE) and relative pose error (RPE), which are performance metrics well-established in the robotics community. Four sequences of RGB-D frames acquired in two independent experiments using two different six-legged walking robots are used in the evaluation process. Findings The experiments revealed that the predominant problem characteristics of the legged robots as platforms for SLAM are the abrupt and unpredictable sensor motions, as well as oscillations and vibrations, which corrupt the images captured in-motion. The tested adaptive gait allowed the evaluated SLAM systems to reconstruct proper trajectories. The bundle adjustment-based SLAM systems produced best results, thanks to the use of a map, which enables to establish a large number of constraints for the estimated trajectory. Research limitations/implications The evaluation was performed using indoor mockups of terrain. Experiments in more natural and challenging environments are envisioned as part of future research. Practical implications The lack of accurate self-localization methods is considered as one of the most important limitations of walking robots. Thus, the evaluation of the state-of-the-art SLAM methods on legged platforms may be useful for all researchers working on walking robots’ autonomy and their use in various applications, such as search, security, agriculture and mining. Originality/value The main contribution lies in the integration of the state-of-the-art SLAM methods on walking robots and their thorough experimental evaluation using a well-established methodology. Moreover, a SLAM system designed especially for RGB-D sensors and real-world applications is presented in details.

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