scholarly journals Disaster Governance in Conflict-Affected Authoritarian Contexts: The Cases of Ethiopia, Myanmar, and Zimbabwe

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 343-354 ◽  
Author(s):  
Isabelle Desportes ◽  
Dorothea Hilhorst

Disaster governance in conflict areas is of growing academic concern, but most existing research comprises either single case studies or studies of a variety of country contexts that group all types of conflict together. Based on three case studies, this article offers a middle-ground scenario-based approach, focusing on disaster governance in authoritarian contexts experiencing low-intensity conflict. Low-intensity conflict is characterized by intense political tensions and violence that is more readily expressed in ways other than direct physical harm. Inspired by Olson’s (2000) maxim that disasters are intrinsically political, this article explores the politics of disaster response by asking what is at stake and what happened, unpacking these questions for state, civil society, and international humanitarian actors. Using data from a total of one year of qualitative fieldwork, the article analyzes disaster governance in 2016 drought-ridden Ethiopia, marked by protests and a State of Emergency; 2015 flooded Myanmar, characterized by explosive identity politics; and 2016–2019 drought-ridden Zimbabwe, with its intense socioeconomic and political turbulence. The study’s findings show how framing and power processes in disaster governance—comprising state and non-state actors—largely lean toward the state, with the consequence that political interests, rather than needs assessments, steer who and what will be protected from disaster impact.

Author(s):  
Helen Simons

This chapter explores case study as a major approach to research and evaluation. After first noting various contexts in which case studies are commonly used, the chapter focuses on case study research directly Strengths and potential problematic issues are outlined and then key phases of the process. The chapter emphasizes how important it is to design the case, to collect and interpret data in ways that highlight the qualitative, to have an ethical practice that values multiple perspectives and political interests, and to report creatively to facilitate use in policy making and practice. Finally, it explores how to generalize from the single case. Concluding questions center on the need to think more imaginatively about design and the range of methods and forms of reporting requiredto persuade audiences to value qualitative ways of knowing in case study research.


Author(s):  
Helen Simons

This chapter explores case study as a major approach to research and evaluation. After first noting various contexts in which case studies are commonly used, the chapter focuses on case study research directly. Strengths and potential problematic issues are outlined, followed by key phases of the process. The chapter emphasizes how important it is to design the case, to collect and interpret data in ways that highlight the qualitative, to have an ethical practice that values multiple perspectives and political interests, and to report creatively to facilitate use in policymaking and practice. Finally, the chapter explores how to generalize from the single case. Concluding issues center on the need to think more imaginatively about design and the range of methods and forms of reporting required to persuade audiences to value qualitative ways of knowing in case study research.


Author(s):  
Cheng Chen

The studies of post-communist Russia and China have traditionally been dominated by single-case studies and within-region comparisons. This chapter explores why the CAS of post-communist Russia and China is difficult, why it is rare, and how it could yield significant and unique intellectual payoffs. The cross-regional comparative study of anti-corruption campaigns in contemporary Russia and China is used as an example in this chapter to argue that a well-matched and context-sensitive comparison could reveal significant divergence in the elite politics and institutional capacities of these regimes that would otherwise likely be obscured by single-case studies or studies restricted to one single geographical area such as “Eastern Europe” or “East Asia.” By breaking Russia and China out of their respective “regions,” the CAS perspective thus enables us to better capture the full range of existing diversity of post-communist authoritarianism.


1993 ◽  
Vol 21 (3) ◽  
pp. 275-279 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Turnbull

Polydipsia is a disorder that has received little attention in the research literature. Treatment has been mainly confined to medical or pharmacological intervention. Few studies have reported the use of contingency management techniques and none have sought to encourage self-management. This study shows how such a procedure brought about a significant change in rates of water drinking in a thirty-one year old man with a mild learning disability.


2021 ◽  
Vol 115 (3) ◽  
pp. 558-567

On February 1, 2021, the military in Burma overthrew the democratically elected government, declared a one-year state of emergency, and installed Senior General Min Aung Hlaing as the head of government. Since the coup, the military has cracked down on protestors, killing over 800 people and detaining many more. Numerous countries and international organizations, including the United States and the United Nations, have condemned the coup and ensuing violence and called for the restoration of a democratic government. The United States and other countries have also imposed rigorous sanctions on the Burmese military, its officials and affiliated corporations, and social media companies have imposed content restrictions to prevent the spread of pro-military propaganda.


Author(s):  
Sarah Anne Reynolds

Abstract Background Research finds center-based child care typically benefits children of low socio-economic status (SES) but few studies have examined if it also reduces inequalities in developmental disadvantage. Objective I test if the length of time in center-based care between ages one and three years associates with child development scores at age three years, focusing on the impact for groups of children in the lower tercile of child development scores and in the lower SES tercile. Method Using data from 1,606 children collected in a nationally representative Chilean survey, I apply a value-added approach to measure gains in child development scores between age one and three years that are associated with length of time in center-based child care. Results Disadvantages at age one year were associated with lower child development scores at age three years. No benefits of additional time in center-based care were found for the non-disadvantaged group, but positive associations were found between more time in center-based care and child development outcomes for children with the SES disadvantage only. Center-based care was not associated with child development trajectories of children with lower child development scores at age one year, no matter their SES status. Conclusions There is evidence that Chilean center-based child care reduces SES inequality in child development scores between ages one and three years, but only if children already were not low-scorers at age one year.


2015 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 152-175 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul F. Steinberg

This article considers the role of generalization in comparative case studies, using as exemplars the contributions to this special issue on climate change politics. As a research practice, generalization is a logical argument for extending one’s claims beyond the data, positing a connection between events that were studied and those that were not. No methodological tradition is exempt from the requirement to demonstrate a compelling logic of generalization. The article presents a taxonomy of the logics of generalization underlying diverse research methodologies, which often go unstated and unexamined. I introduce the concept of resonance groups, which provide a causeway for cross-system generalization from single case studies. Overall the results suggest that in the comparative study of complex political systems, case study research is, ceteris paribus, on par with large-N research with respect to generalizability.


Circulation ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 144 (Suppl_2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jana Smalcova ◽  
Katerina Rusinova ◽  
Iván Ortega-Deballon ◽  
Eva Pokorna ◽  
Ondrej Franek ◽  
...  

Introduction: In refractory cardiac arrest, extracorporeal cardiopulmonary resuscitation (ECPR) may increase the chance of survival. However, in brain death or donation after cardiac death scenario, ECPR may also become an important organ donor source. Hypothesis: We hypothesized that 1/ the implementation of ECPR into the daily routine of a high volume cardiac arrest centre might increase the availability of organ donors, and 2/ ECPR might assure the same long-term function of donated organs as non-ECPR care. Methods: We retrospectively evaluated pre-ECPR (2007-2011) and ECPR (2012-2020) periods in terms of donors recruited from the out-of-hospital and in-hospital cardiac arrest population. We assessed the number of donors referred, the number of organs harvested and their one- and five-year survival. Results: In the pre-ECPR period, 11 donors were referred, of which 7 were accepted. During the ECPR period, the number of donors increased to 80, of which 42 were accepted. The number of donated organs in respective periods were 18 and 119, corresponding to 3,6 vs 13,2 (p =0.033) organs per year harvested. One-year survival of transplanted organs was 94.4% vs 100%, and five-year survival was 94.4% vs 87,5%, in relevant periods. Survival of organs obtained from donors after CPR and ECPR at one year (98.9% vs 100%) and five years (90,2% vs 88.9%) was the same. Graft failure was not the cause of death in any single case. Conclusions: Establishing a high volume cardiac arrest/ECPR centre may lead to a higher number of potential and subsequently accepted organ donors. The length of survival of donated organs is high and comparable between ECPR vs non-ECPR cardiac arrest donors.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document