International Scholarships and Southern Agency: An Ethnography of Alumni, Scholars, and Applicants

2021 ◽  
pp. 102831532110541
Author(s):  
Monty King ◽  
Martin Forsey ◽  
Mark Pegrum

International scholarships are an established mode of aid distribution for many donor countries and a life-changing educational opportunity for recipients from the global South. This article draws upon ethnographic field research centred on Dili, Timor-Leste, focussing on case studies of a scholarship applicant, a scholar, and an alumnus. It employs the concept of Southern agency, investigating individual practices shaped by influences that both constrain and enable action, namely local infrastructure, family and kinship groups, literacies, and the colonial legacy. Scholarship places are limited and extremely competitive, while assigning a moral imperative for alumni to learn and return to contribute to local development, often resulting in the re-production of socially normed roles echoing the colonial era. The global upheaval in higher education resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic emphasises the need for alternative interventions in the global South, including greater investment in local higher education institutions, and online learning.

Author(s):  
Laura Wenz

Since the beginning of the new millennium, a plethora of works has been published on the making of the ‘creative city’ and the urban impact of the creative economy. So far, however, limited recognition has been given to how the development of cultural industries and the creative economy as a whole influences urban transformation in the rapidly urbanising Global South, especially in Africa. In Cape Town, a steadily growing number of creative industries and ‘culturepreneurs’ (Lange 2005) are carving out new spaces from the city’s highly contested urban setting. Over the past five years, the mixed-use, inner-city fringe area of Woodstock has seen the incessant arrival of creatives from various sectors. Travelling alongside is a property sector geared towards catering specifically for the creative industries’ spatial demands by turning old industrial structures – the remains of Woodstock’s former capacity as national hub for clothing, food processing and other light manufacturing – into creative centres hosting international film studios, leading galleries and designer ‘theatre retail spaces’. After setting the stage through a comprehensive introduction to the rise of the creative economy in South Africa and Cape Town, this article tunes into the current local development of Woodstock, based on extensive field research in the area. It traces ways and forms of conflict but also new social interfaces between the new creative tenants and the old established community, on the one hand pointing to problematic issues like lingering gentrification, sociospatial polarisation and lopsided cultural representation while also trying to flesh out some of the opportunities for finding the right frequency of engagement between creative industries and spaces of vernacular creativity within Cape Town’s post-apartheid urban realm. Keywords: Creative economy, creative city, Global South, urban regeneration, gentrification, vernacular creativity


2017 ◽  
Vol 1 (6) ◽  
Author(s):  
Karina Virginia Mero Suárez ◽  
Edwin Joao Merchán Carreño ◽  
Ana Del Rocío Fernández Torres ◽  
Narcisa María Crespo Torres

El artículo aborda la necesidad de la creatividad que se impone en la era actual del conocimiento y la importancia que  constituyen las tecnologías como herramientas indispensables en todas las esferas de la vida. En Trabajo toma como campo investigativo los cambios que se llevan a cabo en esta esfera en la Universidad Estatal del Sur de Manabí y la Universidad Técnica de Babahoyo, Ecuador, donde se toman como objeto el proceso de enseñanza aprendizaje en la Educación Superior. El objetivo de la investigación fue comunicar el impacto de las Tecnologías de la Información y las Comunicaciones en las Universidades, donde se hace énfasis en el nuevo rol de los docentes y su nuevo desempeño de facilitadores del aprendizaje en los educandos a través en los nuevos escenarios mediados por las tecnologías. Para el desarrollo exitoso de esta memoria investigativa se   usó como metodología instrumentos que se basaron fundamentalmente en documentos referativos que ayudaron a justificar el problema de investigación, el cual consistía fundamentalmente en el impacto de las nuevos  dispositivos tecnológicos y su utilidad en los centros de altos estudios del país. Se concluyó que las Tecnologías de la Información y Comunicación son herramientas indispensables en la docencia y al mismo tiempo la forma de intervenir en el diseño educativo que nos llevan a explorar nuevos métodos docentes en los escenarios educativos mediados por estas. Se constató además que estas herramientas favorecen satisfactoriamente al proceso si se tiene una buena preparación por parte del docente.   Palabras clave: Herramientas tecnológicas, universidades, formación, docencia universitaria, proceso de enseñanza – aprendizaje Impact of information technology and communications: a look at higher education  Abstract The article states the need of the creativity that prevails in the current era of knowledge and the importance that technologies constitute in all spheres of life. In field research work it takes as changes take place in this area in Southern State University of Manabí and the Technical University of Babahoyo, Ecuador, where they are taken as an object the process of learning in higher education. The aim of the research was to communicate the impact of Information Technology and Communications in the universities, where the emphasis is on the new role of teachers and their new performance of facilitators of learning in students through the new scenarios mediated by technologies. For the successful development of this research report it was used as a methodology instruments based mainly on referative documents that helped to justify the research problem, which consisted mainly of the impact of new technological devices and their use in the centers of higher learning in the country. It was concluded that information technology and communication are indispensable tools in teaching and at the same time how to intervene in the educational design that lead us to explore new teaching methods in educational settings mediated by these. It was further found that these tools successfully promote the process if there is a good preparation by the teacher.


2020 ◽  
Vol 58 (3) ◽  
pp. 397-424
Author(s):  
Jesse Salah Ovadia ◽  
Jasper Abembia Ayelazuno ◽  
James Van Alstine

ABSTRACTWith much fanfare, Ghana's Jubilee Oil Field was discovered in 2007 and began producing oil in 2010. In the six coastal districts nearest the offshore fields, expectations of oil-backed development have been raised. However, there is growing concern over what locals perceive to be negative impacts of oil and gas production. Based on field research conducted in 2010 and 2015 in the same communities in each district, this paper presents a longitudinal study of the impacts (real and perceived) of oil and gas production in Ghana. With few identifiable benefits beyond corporate social responsibility projects often disconnected from local development priorities, communities are growing angrier at their loss of livelihoods, increased social ills and dispossession from land and ocean. Assuming that others must be benefiting from the petroleum resources being extracted near their communities, there is growing frustration. High expectations, real and perceived grievances, and increasing social fragmentation threaten to lead to conflict and underdevelopment.


2010 ◽  
pp. 99-118
Author(s):  

The aim of the paper is to analyse the role of rural credit unions (CRs) in the local financial system and their position as potential primary stakeholders in communitytype destinations. These destinations could be considered as networks characterised by relationships to be understood through the network approach and stakeholder theory. In community-type destinations the level of integration of the tourist offer depends on the intensity and structure of relationships, that is, on the coordination among enterprises, public bodies, local communities and destination management organisations, that manage only a part of the resources and participate with distinct roles, capabilities and power. In these destinations the local credit system has a fundamental role, since it funds enterprises and takes part in local development projects. The CRs are cooperative banks that - by statute - foster economic and social development of the territory. The field research conducted in a typical community-type destination in Italy investigated if there exists a link between the role of the CRs and the development of the tourist offer, to test if they are also primary stakeholders for the tourist development of the territory. The research highlights that CRs are primary stakeholders for the development of traditional economic activities and that they have mainly a financing role for the development of the tourist offer. Signals of change in role are perceivable within the network: from financier to partner in the planning of initiatives and support activities of the tourist development. The results suggest a possible re-positioning of local banks in the network for tourist development projects.


2021 ◽  
pp. 147821032110553
Author(s):  
Matt M Husain

This special issue contributes to the vibrant debates concerning the ‘responses and intensifying inequalities in the Global South’ underway with regard to COVID-19 and the subsequent crises of higher education. With neoliberal globalization in a deeper crisis by the pandemic, transforming higher education and teaching configurations in ways that appease the rich and powerful players, while simultaneously seeking to neutralize forms of equity in education. Rather than pointing fingers at the broken structures and wider external economic framework, we argue that re-centring the humanistic, holistic and bottom-up approach that frames the post-pandemic higher education offers a more useful framework for understanding educational transformation in the contemporary period.


2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (6(J)) ◽  
pp. 188-198
Author(s):  
L J Thabane ◽  
P Q Radebe ◽  
M. Dhurup

Administrators are an important human resource in Higher Education because they perform various duties that are critical to the daily operations of universities. In light of this, organisational commitment and job satisfaction of administrators are essential for the efficiency and effectiveness of universities. Notwithstanding the critical relevance and necessity of organisational commitment and job satisfaction, there is evidence of paucity of research on these areas among administrative staff in the South African higher education sector. The objective of this study was to examine the relationship between organisational commitment and overall job satisfaction on the organisational commitment of administrators at a university in Gauteng. To achieve the aforementioned objective, a quantitative survey approach was used to examine the relationship between overall job satisfaction and organisational commitment. The selfadministered structured questionnaires were issued to 383 administrative staff members. Descriptive statistics was utilised to assess the levels of both organisational commitment and job satisfaction, results of which revealed that administrators were satisfied with and committed to the university. Spearman’s rho correlation analysis showed that there was a strong correlation between affective commitment and job satisfaction; and moderate correlations between job satisfaction and moral imperative. Similar strong correlation was observed between indebted obligation and job satisfaction. Conversely, a weak correlation occurred between job satisfaction and continuance commitment. Regression coefficients indicated that job satisfaction contributed positively to the prediction of affective commitment, moral imperative, indebted obligation and continuance commitment. Based on these findings, the recommendations and future research opportunities were suggested.


Author(s):  
Viktor MAZUR ◽  
Hanna PANTSYREVA ◽  
Kateryna MAZUR

In today's conditions of agrarian production in Ukraine, due to the rapid development of scientific and technological progress, a significant contribution belongs to scientific research based on world recognition, and publications in scientific journals indexed in the international science-computer databases of Web of Science and Scopus will lead to the possibility of modernization of modern science in agrarian institutions of higher education. It is established that realization of scientific researches in higher agricultural educational institutions is a prerequisite for increasing their competitiveness in the international scientific and educational space. So, agricultural universities, along with the implementation of their main function - educational - are engaged in field research and development of innovative research in the agrarian sector. Today, in our country, there is already an experience in defining scientific research and innovation priorities, but until now, the research of domestic scientists did not take into account the use of large-scale modern information capacities to determine the effectiveness of scientific activity. In this regard, the attraction of information technology in combination with the use of international science-computer databases Web of Science and Scopus in the agrarian sphere will significantly expand the scientific outlook of scientists. The aim of the study is to determine the main advantages of using the international science-computer databases Web of Science and Scopus for research in the agrarian sector and to provide suggestions for the search for data and selection of journals for their effective use in the research work of scientific and pedagogical workers of higher agrarian institutions. The information base of the study consists of the current legislation and normative acts of Ukraine, resolutions of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, official data of the State Statistics Service of Ukraine on scientific and innovative activities, data presented in the international science-computer databases of Web of Science and Scopus. Current issues of the transformation of the scientific system at the state and world levels, which have a positive effect on the level of provision of the research sphere in combination with the staffing component of the scientific and technological potential, remain relevant in modern conditions. Today, we are seeing a deepening of the integration of education and agrarian science within the university sector, which is due to the increasing importance of scientific research and training of agronomists-researchers of the proper level. It has been established that the publication of the results of laboratory-field research in scientific journals indexed in the science science of Web of Science and Scopus should become a promising direction and actively develop among scientific groups of young scientists, in particular, when performing scientific research in agronomy. At the present stage, the development of agrarian production is based not only on the achievements of agricultural sciences such as crop production, agriculture, ecology, fodder production, but also on a number of economic sciences. The studies have taken into account that the importance of research in agrarian science of this interaction is intensified in the conditions of structural transformations of the agricultural economy, as well as the provision of its innovative development, since the integrated interaction of agrarian production, science and agricultural education institutions has a positive effect. In this scientific work, the necessity of the development of science-based research in agrarian universities was determined and the world's bibliometric platforms Web of Science and Scopus were analyzed. It also proved expediency of carrying out scientific researches with the use of science-based studies on the basis of agrarian institutions of higher education. Under the international science and technology databases of Web of Science and Scopus, the criteria and standards necessary for the qualitative use of science in research are researched. Taking into account the results, the main criteria for the selection of science-computer platforms and their indicators were selected: the coverage of Ukrainian scientific publications and publications, the accuracy of data, including the veracity of the citation of the scientific publication, the filtering of excess data, the possibility of obtaining all information about the publication by author. The general characteristics of science-metric databases of Web of Science and Scopus (interface language, data volume, data source, science-metrics) were investigated and the main technical and functional characteristics were determined. Considered the availability of advanced search, the ability to communicate with scientists, the identification of a scientist, the possibility of a reference to a scientific publication. After analyzing specialized literature and sites for the development of international science-computer databases for further thorough research, the course of publications to readers in the Internet space was determined, which is related to the active participation of authors in the placement of scientific articles in such information systems as Google Scholar, ORCID, Research ID. Thus, in agrarian educational institutions, the availability of information and analytical activities in the context of complex changes in the information environment transforms the educational institution into a center of social communication, which is important for conducting research. In this regard, the involvement of information technology in conjunction with the use of international science-computer databases Web of Science and Scopus in the agrarian sphere will significantly expand the scientific outlook of scientists. Information provision of the scientific and educational process at the expense of publications of scientific articles of the corresponding level enhances the role of scientific and pedagogical workers in solving the problems faced by agrarian higher educational institutions at the present stage of development. Therefore, one of the priority directions of activity of scientific and pedagogical workers of agricultural higher educational institutions is the development of navigation functions in the world of science-computer systems in order to facilitate the transformation from the element of research into the participant of scientific and educational work and increase the scientific status of the university.


Author(s):  
Wilson Alves de Araújo ◽  
Mônica de Moura Pires

O objetivo geral deste artigo é analisar a sustentabilidade ambiental do turismo na Bahia, sob a ótica do desenvolvimento local, tomando como referência o município de Itacaré que tem vivenciado nos anos 2000 uma “explosão” dessa atividade. Insere-se o aspecto ambiental em função de que o turismo desenvolvido no município está fortemente associado ao meio ambiente local. Parte-se assim dos intensos debates acerca das relações entre desenvolvimento e meio ambiente, propondo-se uma abordagem interdisciplinar baseada na problemática ambiental, especificamente a respeito das externalidades derivadas da atividade econômica exercida pelo homem sobre o meio natural, aqui tratada pela ótica da atividade turística. Em termos metodológicos, faz-se uso da pesquisa descritiva e metodológica, a partir da análise bibliográfica e de pesquisa de campo. Foram entrevistados e solicitados a responder ao questionário estruturado 30 empreendedores, diretores e gerentes das empresas que atuam no setor de hospedagem, no período de 13 a 21 de junho 2016, na localidade de Itacaré, Bahia. Esse destino turístico está inserido na Costa do Cacau, onde prevalece a prática do Ecoturismo. Este se diferencia, dos demais segmentos do turismo, por se apoiar em valores que reforçam o compromisso com a preservação ambiental e a interação com a comunidade local. Para tanto, a pesquisa privilegia dois recortes metodológicos: um recorte quantitativo, denominado Quociente Locacional (QL) e, um recorte analítico, utilizado para a caracterização de aglomerações produtivas em regiões de baixo e médio desenvolvimento, denominado Arranjo Produtivo Local (APL). Diante das análises realizadas, concluiu-se que a localidade estudada pode ser identificada como APL de turismo em fase de consolidação. Na dimensão ambiental constatou-se a necessidade de implementação de ações, públicas e privadas, que direcionem e potencializem medidas que elevem a atividade turística de forma sustentável. Especificamente, relacionadas a redução do consumo de água e energia, aproveitamento da água da chuva, gerenciamento de resíduos sólidos e implementação de coleta seletiva. Espera-se como resultado deste trabalho, subsidiar o desenvolvimento de políticas públicas direcionadas ao desenvolvimento sustentável do turismo. Ecotourism and Local Productive Arrangement: an analysis of environmental sustainability in Itacaré (BA, Brazil) ABSTRACT The general objective of this article is to analyze the environmental sustainability of tourism in Bahia under the perspective of local development, taking as reference the municipality of Itacaré, which has experienced in the year 2000 an "explosion" of this activity. The environmental aspect is inserted because tourism developed in the municipality is strongly associated with the local environment. It is based on the intense debates about the relationship between development and the environment, proposing an interdisciplinary approach based on the environmental issue, specifically on the externalities derived from economic activity carried out by the man on the natural environment, here treated by the view of tourist activity. In methodological terms, descriptive and methodological research is used, from bibliographic analysis and field research. Thirty entrepreneurs, directors and managers of companies operating in the lodging sector were interviewed and asked to respond to the structured questionnaire, from June 13 to 21, 2016, in the city of Itacaré, Bahia. This tourist destination is inserted in the Cacao Coast where the practice of Ecotourism prevails. This is different from other tourism segments, because it relies on values that reinforce the commitment to environmental preservation and interaction with the local community. For this, the research privileges two methodological cuts: a quantitative cut, called Locational Quotient (QL) and, an analytical cut, used for the characterization of productive agglomerations in low and medium development regions, denominated Local Productive Arrangement (APL). In view of the analysis carried out, it was concluded that the studied locality can be identified as APL of tourism in consolidation phase. In the environmental dimension, it was verified the need to implement public and private actions that direct and potentiate measures that increase tourism activity in a sustainable manner. Specifically, related to reduction of water and energy consumption, use of rainwater, solid waste management and implementation of selective collection. As a result of this work, it is hoped to support the development of public policies directed to the sustainable development of tourism. KEYWORDS Tourism; Clusters; Local Development; Sustainability Indicators; Environment.


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