Charity’s dilemmas: an ethnography of gift-giving and social class in Croatia

2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 11-24 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karin Doolan ◽  
Dražen Cepić ◽  
Jeremy F. Walton
Keyword(s):  
Social Class ◽  
Charitable Giving ◽  
Participant Observation ◽  
The State ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Poverty Relief ◽  
Role Of The State ◽  
Moral Economies ◽  
A Site

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore charitable giving and receiving as a site of social class interaction in Croatia today, particularly in relation to the country’s socialist past and capitalist present. Design/methodology/approach Ethnographic fieldwork was conducted in three charity organisations in Croatia. The reported material is based on participant observation, interviews and informal conversations with organisation members, activists, employees and end users. Findings The authors find that charity activists and recipients of aid occupy distinct but overlapping moral economies in relation to questions of poverty, charity and the role of the state. Originality/value The authors develop a unique perspective on charitable giving and receiving in a context in which memories of socialism shape understandings of the role of the state today vis-à-vis poverty relief.

scholarly journals ÁGUA EM ESTADO VIVO: conflito socioambiental e r-existência em torno do rio Dendê, Barcarena, Pará

2020 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 28
Author(s):  
Jaqueline do Nascimento Cruz ◽  
Marcel Theodoor Hazeu
Keyword(s):  
Conflicts Of Interest ◽  
Participant Observation ◽  
The State ◽  
Public Prosecutor ◽  
Way Of Life ◽  
The Public ◽  
Role Of The State ◽  
State Apparatus ◽  
The Voice

A Amazônia é um hidroterritório e um bioma que comporta milhares de pessoas, espécies da fauna e flora. O Rio Dendê, em Barcarena-Pará, faz parte deste cenário. Este rio é palco de conflitos de interesses entre empresas transnacionais, o estado e comunidades ribeirinhas. O estudo analisa, a partir de estudo documental e observação participante, estes conflitos, situando-os em um panorama histórico-interpretativo, com foco no papel do Estado e na r-existência das comunidades ribeirinhas. O aparato estatal se apresenta através da ação da Companhia de Desenvolvimento Econômico, da Secretaria de Estado de Meio Ambiente e Sustentabilidade e do Ministério Público A voz das comunidades serve como contrapartida. Conclui, ainda, que o apoio do estado é fundamental para o avanço do capital sobre o hidroterritório Dendê, empobrecendo-o e transformando o modo de vida dos ribeirinhos que mesmo assim r-existem.Palavras-chave: Conflito socioambiental. Hidroterritório. Estado. R-existência. Amazônia.WATER IN LIVING STATE: socio-environmental conflict and r-existence around the Dendê River, Barcarena, ParáAbstractThe Amazon is a hydroterritory and a biome that holds thousands of people, species of fauna and flora. The Dendê River in Barcarena-Pará is part of this scenario. This river is the scene of conflicts of interest between transnational corporations, the state and riverside communities. From documentary study and participant observation, we analyze these conflicts, situating them in a historical-interpretative panorama, focusing on the role of the state and the r-existence of riverside communities. The state apparatus is presented through the action of the Company of Economic Development, the State Secretariat ofEnvironment and Sustainability and the Public Prosecutor. The voice of the communities serves as a counterpart. It can be concluded that state support is fundamental for the advancement of capital over the Dendê hydroterritory, impoverishing it and transforming the way of life of the riverside communities.Keywords: Socioenvironmental conflict. Hydroterritory. State. R-existence. Amazon.

Party plenum strengthens Xi’s grip on China

2019 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Communist Party ◽  
Social Life ◽  
The State ◽  
Senior Leaders ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Role Of The State ◽  
Political Economic

Subject The Communist Party's recent Fourth Plenum meeting. Significance The Communist Party concluded a five-day meeting of senior leaders on October 31. The meeting, called the ‘Fourth Plenum’, focused on institutional and intra-Party affairs. Press statements that followed were short on policy detail, but the meeting appears to have reaffirmed President Xi Jinping's efforts to place the Party and its ideology at the centre of China's political, economic and social life. Impacts Xi’s grip on the Party appears unassailable. There are no signs of Xi lining up a successor; he looks likely to remain leader for a third term. There are no indications that Beijing will compromise on US demands to reduce the role of the state in industry.

Internally displaced families in Khartoum-Sudan: challenges and policy implications

2016 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 252-263 ◽  
Author(s):  
Azza Abdelmoneium
Keyword(s):  
Basic Needs ◽  
The State ◽  
Policy Implications ◽  
Group Discussions ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Internally Displaced ◽  
Role Of The State ◽  
Displaced People ◽  
Access To Shelter

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine how internally displaced families in Khartoum-Sudan face difficulties and challenges in meeting their basic needs of shelter and health when they are displaced from their homes. By using empirical data, the factors that hinder families in getting access to shelter and health provision and how they survive with few facilities provided to them will be discussed. The paper will also highlight the role of the state in the situation of the displaced families and the services provided to them. Design/methodology/approach Various methods were used in the research, among them were interviews and focus-group discussions. Interviews were conducted with children aged 10-18 years. A sample of 129 children from four camps was selected, and parents or guardians of the children were interviewed. The theoretical section on what is displacement and how displaced people meet their basic needs and rights gives a background on how displaced families in Sudan survive and struggle to meet their health and shelter rights. Findings The basic needs for the displaced families were not met, and if they were met, it would have led to better living conditions, stability and security for these people. The paper concludes with some recommendations. Originality/value The state should meet the basic needs and rights of the internally displaced people. It is the responsibility of the state to ensure that health and shelter are provided to displaced people.

The State, Public Order, and Local Theater in South China

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wing Chung Ng
Keyword(s):  
Public Space ◽  
South China ◽  
Physical Violence ◽  
The State ◽  
Role Of The State ◽  
Cantonese Opera ◽  
The Many ◽  
A Site ◽  
Nationalist Government

This chapter explores the theater as a site of chaos and unruly behavior, and examines the role of the state in managing the Cantonese opera theater as a public space. It considers the many scars of physical violence borne by the opera community, some inflicted from the outside, and others occasioned by eruptions of factionalism. The division from within became chronic especially in the mid-1920s when politics in Guangzhou took a radical turn. This development was no small irony in an age of state-building when different government authorities—including the British in colonial Hong Kong, the successive warlord regimes in control of South China, and the Chinese Nationalist government after 1927—all, to various degrees, sought to police the theater and assert control in the interest of mobilization, discipline, and order.

scholarly journals Global perspectives on volunteerism

2016 ◽  
Vol 36 (7/8) ◽  
pp. 456-468 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jamie Halsall ◽  
Ian Cook ◽  
Paresh Wankhade
Keyword(s):  
Social Capital ◽  
The State ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Global Perspectives ◽  
Academic Texts ◽  
Role Of The State

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the concept of volunteerism in three different case countries, namely, that of USA, UK and China while highlighting the role of the state, society and social capital. Design/methodology/approach – The paper reviews the extant literature on the volunteering traditions in the chosen case study countries highlighting the idiosyncrasies while analysing implications for future research. Findings – The paper highlights the role of the state, society and social capital in the chosen countries, each deriving its origins from the specific traditions in those countries. Research limitations/implications – This paper provides a conceptual review focusing on the key literature in the field. The authors have examined various academic texts and published materials. Practical implications – This paper provided an update critically discussion on the concept of volunteerism in three different case countries. Social implications – This paper is highly relevant to academics and social policy makers. Moreover, this paper has been written from an international context. Originality/value – The paper makes an original contribution by comparing and contrasting three important countries with different histories and traditions of volunteerism highlighting diversity of type and application.

Feminism and Child Daycare

1996 ◽  
Vol 25 (4) ◽  
pp. 485-505 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vicky Randall
Keyword(s):  
Social Change ◽  
Social Class ◽  
The State ◽  
Proper Role ◽  
Role Of The State ◽  
Second Wave Feminism ◽  
Short And Long Term ◽  
Second Wave

ABSTRACTThis article explores some of the main reasons why feminist mobilisation around the issue of child daycare in Britain has been so limited and its impact so modest. It describes this mobilisation, comparing it with experience in other countries and with mobilisation on other issues. It suggests that the modest achievement to date is largely attributable to factors other than the lack of feminist pressure. Indeed feminist reservations were partly a realistic response to these external constraints. But they were also a consequence of the particular character of second wave feminism in Britain and of the questions posed by the issue of childcare for feminists. These questions included the nature and proper role of the state, motherhood, the value of paid employment for women, social class and the tension between short and long-term strategies for social change.

Beyond consensus: the state and industrial relations in the United Kingdom from 1964 to 2014

2015 ◽  
Vol 37 (6) ◽  
pp. 692-704 ◽  
Author(s):  
Miguel Martinez Lucio
Keyword(s):  
Industrial Relations ◽  
Health And Safety ◽  
Political Context ◽  
The State ◽  
Employee Relations ◽  
The Political ◽  
Worker Rights ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Role Of The State

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to reflect on some of the problems and issues emerging from the changing role of the state in the UK’s industrial relations since 1964 – the year the Labour Party was elected to power under Harold Wilson’s leadership. The paper argues that the UK has seen an uneven set of developments in terms of the role of the state in the industrial relations system. Increasingly progressive interventions on a range of subjects such as equality, health and safety and others have coincided with a greater commercialisation of the state and greater fragmentation. Design/methodology/approach – This is based on a reflective review of various texts and a personal interest in the role of the political in the arena of employee relations. It references a range of texts on the subject of the state in the context of the UK’s employee relations system. Findings – In political terms there has been an uneven and incoherent set of positions which have meant that there is a growing set of tensions and breakdown in the political consensus over worker rights. In addition, the agencies of the state and other state bodies entrusted with the development of a more socially driven view of industrial relations have been increasingly and steadily undermined and weakened by governments especially those on the right. The political context of industrial relations has become fractured and unable to sustain a coherent longer term view. Originality/value – The paper tries to bring out the role of the political context and the way in has shaped the changing terrain of industrial relations and argues that the question of fragmentation is not solely visible in employee relations but in the broader political context.

Women in rural South Africa: a post-wage existence and the role of the state

2018 ◽  
Vol 37 (4) ◽  
pp. 392-410 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michelle Williams
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Rural Communities ◽  
The State ◽  
Eastern Cape ◽  
Alternative Mode ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Rural Villages ◽  
Role Of The State ◽  
Depth Interviews

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to consider women in rural villages of Keiskammahoek in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. What the author discovered is that some women are carving out a space through a complex, triple relation to the state. The state is distributor of social grants, a midwife of economic activity, and a technocratic system of governance and “service delivery.” The paper asks whether post-wage livelihoods are simply survivalists or have emancipatory potential. Design/methodology/approach The paper is based on research conducted in 2013-2015 in the rural villages of Keiskammahoek. The author spent time in the villages informally speaking to women and conducted 39 in-depth interviews. Findings The author found that the women are finding ways to engender non-capitalist relations in new and creative ways within their rural communities. The three sources of state activity (and power) – grants, economic projects, and governance – are engaged and used in different ways, but together create an interesting nexus of livelihoods and survival. What is interesting is the survivalist livelihoods – even if not representing an alternative mode of production – are allowing women a degree of independence, dignity, and self-determination. Originality/value The research has not been published and this argument has not been made before. The manuscript is a new approach to understanding post-wage livelihoods.

scholarly journals The role of the state in stock farming in rural areas: A case study of Hertzog, Eastern Cape, South Africa

2014 ◽  
Vol 85 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Vimbai R. Jenjezwa ◽  
Cecil E.P. Seethal
Keyword(s):  
Service Delivery ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Participant Observation ◽  
The State ◽  
Eastern Cape ◽  
Veterinary Services ◽  
Role Of The State ◽  
Skilled Personnel ◽  
State Employees

This study examined the role of the state in providing veterinary services to resource-poor stock farmers. Communal stock farmers in most rural areas have low incomes and generally poor access to commercial veterinary healthcare. The state veterinary services thus offer a means for stock farmers to maintain the health of their livestock and receive information on animal healthcare. Interviews and participant observation were used to collect data about animal healthcare practices in Hertzog, a village in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa.The findings were that the state played an important role in animal healthcare and in the education of farmers. However, the lack of a skilled workforce was a constraint to effective service delivery, whilst veterinary educational institutions that disseminate information to the stock farmers were not utilised. It is thus important to fully utilise training centres to educate stock farmers and for more incentives to be given to state employees, so as to attract the necessary skilled personnel to improve service delivery.

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