scholarly journals Love for the Motherland

2016 ◽  
Vol 1 (4) ◽  
pp. 418-449 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Paul Goode
Keyword(s):  
Collective Action ◽  
Focus Groups ◽  
Public Choice ◽  
Russian Government ◽  
Authoritarian Rule ◽  
The Government ◽  
Depth Interviews

In recent years, the Russian government has promoted patriotism as a means to unify society and secure the legitimacy of Putin’s regime. This paper considers the effectiveness of this campaign by examining everyday understandings of patriotism among Russian citizens. Drawing on in-depth interviews and focus groups conducted in two regions in 2014–2015, patriotism is lived and experienced among ordinary Russians as a personal, normative, and apolitical ideal that diverges significantly from official patriotic narratives. At the same time, Russians are convinced that the majority of fellow citizens are patriotic in the ways envisioned by the government. As a result, the government’s use of patriotism is more effective in raising barriers to collective action than cultivating legitimacy. At the same time, everyday forms of patriotism encourage citizens to sacrifice public choice and to tolerate authoritarian rule.

scholarly journals Implied truth, complementary media practices, and successful atomized activism in China

2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 275-293 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yipeng Xi ◽  
Aaron Ng
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Mass Media ◽  
Collective Action ◽  
Resource Mobilization ◽  
Middle Ground ◽  
External Pressures ◽  
The Government ◽  
Media Practices ◽  
Depth Interviews ◽  
Ruling Party

While much research stereotypes mass media in authoritarian contexts as mouthpieces of the ruling party, we argue that successful social media–driven activism also requires the support of mass media, even in authoritarian contexts. To investigate the roles of social media and mass media on collective mobilization, we analyzed a case in Guangzhou, China, and conducted in-depth interviews to conceptualize the interconnected relationship between social media and mass media from the perspective of resource mobilization. Findings reveal that social media facilitated the mobilization of participants by providing less fungible and timely resources at the initial stages of collective action. However, it is the more fungible and enduring resources provided by the mass media that sustain the intensity of external pressures to the government. The complementarity between social and mass media in atomized collective action in China is in essence the configuration between exclusive and monopolized resources mediated by a middle-ground discursive mode—“implied truth.”

scholarly journals How to Make Physical Activity Promotion Work in Thai Schools: Perspectives of Multiple Stakeholders

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-8
Author(s):  
Areekul Amornsriwatanakul ◽  
Narongsak Noosorn ◽  
Kittipong Poonchob ◽  
Rung Wongwat ◽  
Somkiat Sornprasit ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Physical Activity ◽  
Focus Groups ◽  
School Setting ◽  
Physical Activity Promotion ◽  
School Level ◽  
Information Support ◽  
School Based ◽  
Activity Promotion ◽  
The Government ◽  
Depth Interviews

Background: This study aimed to determine current practice in physical activity (PA) promotion in Thai schools, explore barriers and facilitators to PA promotion within the school setting, and identify strategies to support schools’ future practice. Methods: A qualitative study design was applied comprising document analysis, focus groups, in-depth interviews, and onsite observations. The focus groups and in-depth interviews were conducted with 144 informants, purposively recruited through 24 schools in 4 regions across Thailand. Inductive content analysis was used. Results: Most schools were promoting PA in the absence of written policies, and without an accurate understanding of PA. Nonalignment of school performance indicators and policies, concerns about children’s academic performance, and lack of budget were raised as barriers to PA promotion, whereas strong partnerships with multiple local stakeholders facilitated school-based PA promotion. Mandated government PA policies and more information support were suggested as strategies to enhance schools’ future practices. Conclusions: For PA promotion to be successful in the school setting, significant challenges will need to be addressed. Results from this study help the government and concerned stakeholders to better understand the situation at the school level, and further strive for achieving the target PA levels specified in the National PA Plan.

scholarly journals Emotional Transition in Social Movements. The PAH Case

2019 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
pp. 89-100
Author(s):  
Ferran Giménez Azagra
Keyword(s):  
Social Movements ◽  
Collective Action ◽  
Focus Groups ◽  
Ethnographic Study ◽  
Home Foreclosure ◽  
Political Project ◽  
Emotional Transition ◽  
Hearts And Minds ◽  
Depth Interviews ◽  
Participatory Observation

We find that some fractured societies, in grappling with Neo-Liberalism as a political project, embark on an emotional transition to win hearts and minds for new, fairer policies to tackle inequalities.Thus, there are ’affective spaces’ facilitating this emotional transition, thereby allowing the building of collective action. For these spaces to work well, they must be configured as chains of interactionrituals, which use emotional transformation to drive social change.This paper is based on a documental analysis and an ethnographic study carried out between 2013 and 2018 in several assemblies of and actions taken by the PAH (a platform for those affected by home foreclosure) in several Catalan municipalities. It was conducted by participatory observation, focus groups and in-depth interviews with activists.

Analysis Of Open Selection Mechanism In The Government Of Bantul District 2016

ARISTO ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Vindhi Putri Pratiwi ◽  
Muhammad Eko Atmojo ◽  
Dyah Mutiarin ◽  
Awang Darumurti ◽  
Helen Dian Fridayani
Keyword(s):  
Resource Management ◽  
Human Resource Management ◽  
Human Resource ◽  
Selection Process ◽  
The State ◽  
Selection Mechanism ◽  
Government Bureaucracy ◽  
The Government ◽  
Bureaucratic Reform ◽  
Depth Interviews

The purpose of this research is to see the open selection mechanism in the government of Bantul district. Because the success of bureaucratic reform is a part of human resources within the government bureaucracy. Therefore it is necessary to have human resource management to realize a state of civil apparatus with integrity, professionalism and competence. In this study, researchers used qualitative approach methods. Where in the technique is done in-depth interviews to get information and gather other supporting documents on this research. Human resource management could be done by structuring employees through an open selection mechanism. The Government of Bantul District has conducted an open selection in structuring employees who are in their government. Because the open selection is considered a solution in the screening of the state civil apparatus. Moreover, the Bantul Government in the open selection process uses several stages including administration selection, competency tests, interviews, and paper presentations. With the existence of several stages carried out in the open selection process by the Bantul Government, it is expected to capture and create a state civil apparatus who are professional and competent in running of bureaucracy in the government. So the existence of the state civil apparatus competent then will be influenced in its performance.

The Agrarian Question in Contemporary Zimbabwe

2019 ◽  
Vol 49 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Toendepi Shonhe
Keyword(s):  
Capital Accumulation ◽  
Crop Production ◽  
Job Creation ◽  
Food Crop ◽  
Contract Farming ◽  
Agrarian Question ◽  
Food Crop Production ◽  
The Government ◽  
Agrarian Transition ◽  
Depth Interviews

The reinvestment of rural agrarian surplus is driving capital accumulation in Zimbabwe's countryside, providing a scope to foster national (re-) industrialisation and job creation. Contrary to Bernstein's view, the Agrarian Question on capital remains unresolved in Southern Africa. Even though export finance, accessed through contract farming, provides an impetus for export cash crop production, and the government-mediated command agriculture supports food crop production, the reinvestment of proceeds from the sale of agricultural commodities is now driving capital accumulation. Drawing from empirical data, gathered through surveys and in-depth interviews from Hwedza district and Mvurwi farming area in Mazowe district in Zimbabwe, the findings of this study revealed the pre-eminence of the Agrarian Question, linked to an ongoing agrarian transition in Zimbabwe. This agrarian capital elaborates rural-urban interconnections and economic development, following two decades of de-industrialisation in Zimbabwe. 

Ransoming Russians from Tatars: Justification and Practice

2020 ◽  
Vol 47 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 91-99
Author(s):  
Donald Ostrowski
Keyword(s):  
Early Modern ◽  
Social Status ◽  
Russian Orthodox ◽  
Orthodox Church ◽  
Russian Government ◽  
Russian Orthodox Church ◽  
Gender And Age ◽  
Sliding Scale ◽  
The Government ◽  
Modern Russian

The early modern Russian government and Russian Orthodox Church identified as one of their main duties the ransoming of Russian Christians from Muslim Tatar captors. The process of ransoming could be an involved one with negotiations being carried on by different agents and by the potential ransomees themselves. Different amounts of ransom were paid on a sliding scale depending upon the ransomee’s social status, gender, and age. One of our main sources for the justification of this practice was the Stoglav (100 Chapters) Church Council in 1551, which discussed the issue of ransom in some detail. The Law Code (Ulozhenie) of 1649 specifies the conditions and amounts to be paid to redeem captives. Church writers justified the ransoming of Christian captives of the Muslim Tatars by citing Scripture, and they also specified that the government should pay the ransom out of its own treasury.

Developing the Assessment and Indicators for Local Institutions in Dealing with Forest Fire Dilemma

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 163-163
Author(s):  
Eko Priyo Purnomo ◽  
Agustiyara ◽  
Rijal Ramdani ◽  
Dina Wahyu Trisnawati
Keyword(s):  
Forest Management ◽  
Forest Fire ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Local Institutions ◽  
Microsoft Excel ◽  
Organization Capacity ◽  
The Government ◽  
Depth Interviews ◽  
Fire Incidence

This study analyzes the main criteria and indicators in strengthening local institutions in charge of forest management towards dealing with forest fire incidence in Riau Province, Indonesia. Data were collected using in-depth interviews, observation, and questionnaires and analyzed with Microsoft Excel spreadsheets and other Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) techniques such as SPSS and Smart PLS. Moreover, only 87 out of the 120 questionnaires administered to related stakeholders were retrieved. Four variables, including Organization, Capacity, Authority, and Governance, were measured using ten indicators for each. The results showed a significant correlation between local institutions and these variables in solving forest management issues. It means there is a need to strengthen the institutions' structural plans to ensure the effective management of natural resources, and this is achievable through the support and help of the government and communities. Keywords: forest fire, local institutions, forest management.

scholarly journals Towards the Development of Sustainable Tourism in Pakistan: A Study of the Role of Tour Operators

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (9) ◽  
pp. 4902
Author(s):  
Zia Ullah ◽  
Rana Tahir Naveed ◽  
Atta Ur Rehman ◽  
Naveed Ahmad ◽  
Miklas Scholz ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Tourism ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
Least Developed Countries ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Phone Calls ◽  
The Government ◽  
Social Environmental ◽  
Sole Criterion ◽  
Depth Interviews

The literature on sustainable tourism is scant, particularly in the least developed countries. Very few studies touch upon the concept and no holistic theoretical or conceptual frameworks around the idea of sustainable tourism have been formulated. This study aims at exploring the role of tour operators in developing sustainable tourism in Pakistan and how the tour operators (TOs) conceive their role in this regard. TOs were reached through phone calls, emails, and virtual sources as face-to-face interviews were not possible due to COVID-19 pandemic and restrictions on travel by the government. In-depth interviews were conducted to gather data. Results suggest that the TOs although realize the importance of social, environmental, and economic dimensions of tourism on the communities but have no management systems in place to cater accordingly. There are no incentives in place by the government facilitate TOs to design and implement such systems. The TOs do not select a destination based on Global Sustainable Tourism Council criterion, but rather the selection of destination is mostly demand-based and profit-oriented. The study suggests that corporate profit motive is the sole criterion for decision making and is one of the major causes impeding sustainable tourism in Pakistan. The role of TOs in developing sustainable tourism is vague as the TOs do not have any systems in place to implement sustainable models. The study recommends that efforts need to be put in place to incentivize sustainable tourism in Pakistan and proper laws should be set forth by the authorities to comply by the TOs. The role of TOs is important and understood, however, there is a need to put proper systems in place.

scholarly journals The challenges of donor engagement with faith-based organizations in Cameroon’s health sector: a qualitative study

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sibylle Herzig van Wees ◽  
Michael Jennings
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Study ◽  
Health Outcomes ◽  
International Development ◽  
Health Sector ◽  
Top Down ◽  
Faith Based ◽  
The Past ◽  
Faith Based Organizations ◽  
The Government ◽  
Depth Interviews

Abstract Substantial global advocacy efforts have been made over the past decade to encourage partnerships and funding of faith-based organizations in international development programmes in efforts to improve social and health outcomes. Whilst there is a wealth of knowledge on religion and development, including its controversies, less attention has been payed to the role that donors might play. The aim of this study was to describe and analyse the engagement between donors and faith-based organizations in Cameroon’s health sector, following the implementation of the Cameroon Health Sector Partnership Strategy (2012). Forty-six in-depth interviews were conducted in selected regions in Cameroon. The findings show that global advocacy efforts to increase partnerships with faith-based organizations have created a space for increasing donor engagement of faith-based organizations following the implementation of the strategy. However, the policy was perceived as top down as it did not take into account some of the existing challenges. The policy arguably accentuated some of the existing tensions between the government and faith-based organizations, fed faith-controversies and complicated the health system landscape. Moreover, it provided donors with a framework for haphazard engagement with faith-based organizations. As such, putting the implications of donor engagement with FBOs on the research map acknowledges the limitations of efforts to collaborate with faith-based organizations and brings to the surface still-remaining blinkers and limited assumptions in donor definitions of faith-based organizations and in ways of collaborating with them.

Russia’s ‘fortresses of solitude’: Social imaginaries of loneliness after the fall of the USSR

2020 ◽  
Vol 59 (2) ◽  
pp. 288-309
Author(s):  
Sergei Akopov
Keyword(s):  
Cross Cultural ◽  
Popular Media ◽  
Individual Rights ◽  
Cultural Perspective ◽  
Russian Government ◽  
Authoritarian Rule ◽  
Social Imaginaries ◽  
Official Discourse ◽  
Specific Focus

Based on the distinction between three approaches to loneliness, and the development of the phenomenological and existential framework of loneliness studies, this article explores Russia’s discourse of national loneliness on three levels: a) the level of the official discourse of the Russian government; b) the level of political and philosophical concepts; and c) the level of popular media and cinema (with a specific focus on a case-study of the post-Soviet Russian blockbuster film Brother and its sequel, Brother 2). In this article I concentrate on the particular experiences of loneliness and their interpretations in Russia after the fall of the USSR. The case of the fall of the USSR has shown that social and political exploitations of different forms of national loneliness can become the flip side of the doctrine of autonomy, equal individual rights and freedom from authoritarian rule. This should be considered and never disregarded within our analysis of the contours and new transformations of emerging hegemonic discourses, including the different forms of nationalism in Russia, and in a wider cross-cultural perspective.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document