scholarly journals Drawing Out Experiential Conflict Knowledge in Myanmar: Arts-Based Methods in Qualitative Research With Conflict-Affected Communities

2021 ◽  
pp. 154231662110159
Author(s):  
Berit Bliesemann de Guevara ◽  
Elisabeth El Refaie ◽  
Ellen Furnari ◽  
Sofia Gameiro ◽  
Rachel Julian ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Research ◽  
Violent Conflict ◽  
Safe Space ◽  
Civilian Protection ◽  
Local Actors ◽  
Sociocultural Contexts ◽  
Development Initiatives ◽  
Context Specific ◽  
Positive Impacts

This article argues that arts-based methods such as drawing are particularly useful as means to explore experiential insights into how violent conflict impacts individuals and communities in specific sociocultural contexts and shapes their views of development and peace. It illustrates this through the discussion of a drawing workshop with members of violence-affected communities in Kachin state, Myanmar. Reflecting on the workshop findings and dynamics and on the positive impacts the methods’ adoption had on practices of an international civilian protection NGO in Myanmar, the article concludes that, when implemented with care, arts-based methods do not only help accessing deep context-specific insights to complement outsider-expert analyses, by creating a safe space to share experiences, but they also enable new engagements among local actors and with outside organisations, which can strengthen the primacy of local actors in peacebuilding and development initiatives.

The Role of Local Actors in Peacekeeping: The Cases of Liberia and Sierra Leone

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Norman Sempijja ◽  
Ekeminiabasi Eyita-Okon
Keyword(s):  
Cold War ◽  
Sierra Leone ◽  
Local Communities ◽  
Violent Conflict ◽  
Post Cold War ◽  
Un Peacekeeping ◽  
Strategic Role ◽  
Local Actors ◽  
Policy Work

With the advent of multidimensional peacekeeping, in considering the changing nature of conflicts in the post–Cold War period, the role of local actors has become crucial to the execution of the United Nations (UN) peacekeeping mandate. Just as peacekeeping does not have space in the UN charter, local actors do not have a clearly defined space in the UN-led conflict resolution process. However, they have gained recognition, especially in policy work, and slowly in the academic discourse, as academics and practitioners have begun to find ways of making peacekeeping and peacebuilding more effective in the 21st century. Therefore the construction and perception of local actors by international arbitrators play an important and strategic role in creating and shaping space for the former to actively establish peace where violent conflict is imminent. Local actors have independently occupied spaces during and after the conflict, and although they bring a comparative advantage, especially as gatekeepers to local communities, they have largely been kept on the periphery.

Transdisciplinary Design of Adaptation Pathways in Peri-urban India: Planning for Water Needs in a Sustainable Urban Transition 

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sharlene L. Gomes ◽  
Sarah Luft ◽  
Shreya Chakraborty ◽  
Leon M. Hermans ◽  
Carsten Butsch
Keyword(s):  
Water Resources ◽  
Urban Communities ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Urban Water ◽  
Urban Context ◽  
Urban Transition ◽  
Local Actors ◽  
Context Specific ◽  
Key Steps ◽  
Urban Institutions

<p>This research, conducted within the H2O-T2S project, is located in peri-urban areas of three cities in India: Pune, Hyderabad, Kolkata. Peri-urban areas are where the rural to urban transition is most visible. A key challenge for peri-urban areas is sustainable management of water resources. Peri-urban water resources in India are under threat from growing water demand and ineffective institutions. Interdisciplinary research of existing water-based livelihoods, household water use, and peri-urban institutions in these three regions shows that current urban transformations are unsustainable. Given the dynamic nature of peri-urban contexts, short and long-term vulnerabilities must be considered. An adaptation policy pathways approach can help peri-urban actors develop longer-term transformative plans. This study describes the design and execution of a participatory process to design context-specific pathways with peri-urban communities and governments in India.</p><p>This presentation outlines the key steps in our customized pathways approach for the peri-urban context. Due to the covid-19 pandemic, initial plans to implement these steps through a series of stakeholder workshops were replaced by remote pathways design using the Delphi method. We present a step-by-step methodology to engage peri-urban actors in the design of longer-term adaptive plans for water resources in the future. Results are presented for Hadia village (Kolkata), one of the three peri-urban case studies. It reveals the range of future normative scenarios developed for this village and a pathways schematic towards these scenarios.</p><p>Our results demonstrate the value of engaging local actors in the design of adaptive plans for peri-urban water resources. This study offers insights for ways to conduct transdisciplinary research even when face to face interactions are not feasible.</p>

The Stories We Choose to Tell: Fulfilling the Promise of Qualitative Research for Special Education

2001 ◽  
Vol 67 (4) ◽  
pp. 439-453 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marleen C. Pugach
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Research ◽  
Special Education ◽  
Qualitative Methods ◽  
Research Paradigm ◽  
Individuals With Disabilities ◽  
Systematic Inquiry ◽  
Sociocultural Contexts ◽  
Educational Scholarship ◽  
Made In

In recent years qualitative research has earned an increasingly legitimate place as a form of systematic inquiry in educational scholarship. Special education researchers who draw on qualitative methods have responded by using this research paradigm chiefly to document stories of individuals with disabilities. However, rarely have these studies been extended to consider the broader sociocultural contexts within which disability exists. A case is made in this article for broadening the view of qualitative research that governs its practice within special education in an effort to challenge both the nature of the stories we choose to tell about disability as well as the frameworks by which these stories are disciplined.

Sonic Ethnography in Theory and Practice

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Walter S. Gershon
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Research ◽  
Ethnographic Study ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Sound Art ◽  
Audio Recording ◽  
Ethnographic Studies ◽  
Academic Fields ◽  
Sociocultural Contexts ◽  
Educational Interactions ◽  
Ways Of Being

As its name suggests, sonic ethnography sits at the intersection of studies of sound and ethnographic methodologies. This methodological category can be applied to interpretive studies of sound, ethnographic studies that foreground sound theoretically and metaphorically, and studies that utilize sound practices similar to those found in forms of audio recording and sound art, for example. Just as using ocular metaphors or video practices does not make an ethnographic study any more truthful, the use of sonic metaphors or audio recording practices still requires the painstaking, ethical, reflexivity, time, thought, analysis, and care that are hallmarks for strong ethnographies across academic fields and disciplines. Similarly, the purpose of sonic ethnography is not to suggest that sound is any more real or important than other sensuous understandings but is instead to underscore the power and potential of the sonic for qualitative researchers within and outside of education. A move to the sonic is theoretically, methodologically, and practically significant for a variety of reasons, not least of which are (a) its ability to interrupt ocular pathways for conceptualizing and conducting qualitative research; (b) for providing a mode for more actively listening to local educational ecologies and the wide variety of things, processes, and understandings of which they are comprised; (c) ethical and more transparent means for expressing findings; and (d) a complex and deep tool for gathering, analyzing, and expressing ethnographic information. In sum, sonic ethnography opens a world of sound possibilities for educational researchers that at once deepen and provide alternate pathways for understanding everyday educational interactions and the sociocultural contexts that help render those ways of being, doing, and knowing sensible.

New Possibilities for a Peaceful Digital Society in Violence Prevalent Geographies

2020 ◽  
pp. 154231662095867
Author(s):  
Francis Onditi
Keyword(s):  
Human Security ◽  
Analytical Framework ◽  
Violent Conflict ◽  
New Model ◽  
Digital Society ◽  
Development Initiatives

In recent years, scholars and practitioners alike have discussed technology and its relationship with peacebuilding and development. This debate has proffered clarity on how the lack of technology can aggravate underdevelopment and violent conflict. However, although this relationship has informed the evolving discourse over what constitutes a digital society, in practice, application of technology without considering human security dimensions can be counterproductive. To address this dilemma, the article draws upon lessons from the implementation of peacebuilding and development initiatives from Kenya’s conflict hotspot zones to propose a typology for bridging the divide between the desirable and disruptive attributes of technology. As a result, a cyclical relationship is designed to create an alternative analytical framework for reimagining the ecosystem of a peaceful digital society, herein coined technology for peaceful society (T4PS). Finally, some broader implications of the new model for scholars and practitioners involved in peacebuilding and development activities are suggested.

scholarly journals The Local Provision of Restorative Justice in Scotland: an Exploratory Empirical Study

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Giuseppe Maglione ◽  
Jamie Buchan ◽  
Laura Robertson
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Research ◽  
Empirical Study ◽  
Restorative Justice ◽  
Action Plan ◽  
Original Data ◽  
Organizational Models ◽  
National Guidance ◽  
Scottish Government ◽  
Context Specific ◽  
Recent Policy

AbstractThis article presents the results of the first empirical qualitative research on the provision of restorative justice (RJ) in Scotland, based on interviews with 14 practitioners. In Scotland, RJ has attracted the attention of penal reformers and practitioners since the late 1980s, offering an alternative to criminal justice practices based on retribution and/or rehabilitation whilst promising to reduce reoffending and heal people harmed by crime. In 2017, the Scottish Government has fully recognized the existence of RJ by issuing the first national ‘Guidance’ for the delivery of this process, followed by an ambitious ‘Action Plan’. In spite of such a long-lasting interest and recent policy recognition, there is a lack of knowledge regarding the organization and actual delivery of RJ in Scotland. In fact, research on this subject is scant, anecdotal and dated. This article addresses this knowledge gap by presenting original data on the provision of RJ within Scottish local authorities. The findings show similar understandings of RJ, context-specific organizational models and common systemic challenges characterizing RJ providers, generating evidence to critically assess recent Scottish policy on RJ, whilst drawing implications with relevance for the development of RJ across Europe.

Methodology and Method in Case Study Research

2022 ◽  
pp. 138-154
Author(s):  
Catherine Hayes
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Research ◽  
Methodological Approach ◽  
Case Study Research ◽  
Study Research ◽  
Situational Specificity ◽  
Practice Based Research ◽  
Context Specific ◽  
Active Contribution ◽  
Insight Into

It is the situational specificity or context of qualitative research that ensures the case study remains a methodological approach, inherently valuable in practice-based research. Since this is inherently complex and multifaceted by nature, being able to provide a means of systematically analysing and framing research investigations is pivotal to the credibility of research that can highlight and illuminate these specific contextual issues. This chapter provides a means by which researchers can begin to frame the complexity of phenomena they wish to investigate by deliberately determining its parameter or scope and then framing or binding this. Beyond these processes, an insight into the collection, analysis, and interpretation of data will be provided so that theoretical outcomes can be framed and posited as part of an active contribution to knowledge. The fact that case study can be posited as both methodology and method ensures its capacity to address the need of being able to undertake context-specific evaluatory research or the overall complexity.

scholarly journals Evaluation development in Senegal

2013 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Monica Lomeña-Gelis
Keyword(s):  
Poverty Reduction ◽  
Grey Literature ◽  
Policy Cycle ◽  
Evaluation Practice ◽  
Reduction Strategies ◽  
Local Actors ◽  
Development Evaluation ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Context Specific ◽  
High Level

Background: This article outlined the diversified history, the current state and future prospects of planning and evaluation in Senegal. Objectives: The aim was to nurture debate on the quest for a more ‘African-rooted evaluation practice’. Method: The article was based on an extensive grey literature review, the author’s involvement in SenEval and personal interviews. The literature on development evaluation and evaluation capacity development helped to frame the overall analysis. Results: Donor policies and practices have heavily influenced evaluation practice in Senegal but recent changes are shifting the emphasis to more context-specific practice. Some encouraging signs are the creation of a high-level commission for evaluation, the impulsion of results-based management in public administrations and the improved monitoring of poverty reduction strategies. Also promising are the individual evaluation capacities of some local actors and more diversified, professionalised training. The last flagship activities promoted by SenEval, a voluntary organisation of professional evaluators, and the prospects of its formalisation, could be a turning point in the development of evaluation in Senegal. Nevertheless, evaluation practice remains today focused more on accountability and controlthan on learning. Moreover, the institutional setup is not coherent and consolidated to ensure a perennial system to manage, conduct and use evaluations, ensuring their quality and inclusion in the policy cycle. Conclusion: We argued that SenEval has a significant role to play in boosting demand, strengthening the policy and institutional framework and promoting exchanges with the African and international evaluation community. 

Abundant water, abundant knowledge: Cognitive patterns for policy changes in Brussels’ water management system

2016 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 54-71 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicola Francesco Dotti
Keyword(s):  
Water Management ◽  
Policy Change ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
Community Context ◽  
Management Policy ◽  
Policy Issues ◽  
Policy Paradigm ◽  
City Regions ◽  
Local Actors ◽  
Context Specific

Knowledge plays an essential key role in the policymaking process for interpreting the available information, defining policy issues at stake and evaluating possible solutions – especially in complex policy issues like water management. However, for city-regions, knowledge is often a scarce resource due to the small size of the policy community, context-specific issues, limited availability of resources and experts, as well as the challenge of addressing complex issues that are often supra-local. This paper explores which patterns of local knowledge promote policy change and learning. Starting from the ‘policy paradigm’ concept, a cognitive–evolutionary approach is applied to analyse Brussels’ water management policy, which aims to address the major challenge of flooding. The variety of knowledge by local actors, the role of the policy paradigm of the local policymaking community in vetting information and evaluating alternative solutions, and the importance of local governments for retaining knowledge, are the main dimensions to understanding policy change and learning. City-regions benefit from direct contacts between actors facilitating exchange of knowledge, while supra-local decisions (e.g. EU directives) and local accidents can also trigger major changes. Based on my findings, policymakers tend to rely on technocratic patterns using already available knowledge, mainly whether decentralisation reshapes the policymaking community. While a technocratic pattern determines only minor changes and institutional instability undermines policy learning, policy entrepreneurs and participative patterns can promote major changes and learning if they are able to engage in dialogue with the dominant policy paradigm.

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