scholarly journals A lesson from L’Aquila: the risks of science (mis)communication

2012 ◽  
Vol 11 (04) ◽  
pp. E ◽  
Author(s):  
Giancarlo Sturloni
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Seismic Risk ◽  
Legal Aspects ◽  
Risk Society ◽  
Access To Information ◽  
Civil Protection ◽  
Science And Society ◽  
Point Of No Return ◽  
High Regard ◽  
The Town

On 22 October 2012, six members of a technical-scientific consultancy agency of the Italian Civil Protection were found guilty of multiple manslaughter and sentenced to six years in prison by the court in L’Aquila. According to the prosecution, days before the earthquake that devastated the town of L’Aquila on 6 April 2009 killing 309 people, the experts failed to correctly alert the population on the actual seismic risk. The sentence was widely interpreted as an attack to science, penalised for not accurately predicting the quake. Actually, the defendants were accused of having deprived the citizens of information that may have saved their lives. This story does not hide any attack to science. On the contrary, this is the demonstration of the high regard the civil society has for the opinions of the experts. But in the so-called risk society, access to information is an inalienable right of the citizens. Beyond the legal aspects, the impression is that the lesson from L’Aquila can mark a point of no return in the relations between science and society.

The Emergence of a Hybrid Public Sphere in Myanmar: Implications for Democratisation

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-20
Author(s):  
Carl Middleton ◽  
Tay Zar Myo Win
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Mass Media ◽  
Public Sphere ◽  
National Level ◽  
Military Coup ◽  
Political Rights ◽  
Access To Information ◽  
Military Government ◽  
Coup D'etat ◽  
Hybrid Governance

Abstract Myanmar was under a military government for almost six decades, during which time the state maintained an ‘authoritarian public sphere’ that limited independent civil society, mass media and the population's access to information. In 2010, Myanmar held flawed elections that installed a semi-civilian government and established a hybrid governance regime, within which civil, political and media freedoms expanded while the military's influence remained significant. In this paper, we examine ‘hybrid governance at work’ in the ‘hybrid public sphere’, that holds in tension elements of an authoritarian and democratic public sphere. The boundaries of these spheres are demarcated through legal means, including the 2008 military-created Constitution, associated judicial and administrative state structures and the actions of civil society and community movements toward political, military and bureaucratic elite actors. We develop our analysis first through an assessment of Myanmar's political transition at the national level and, then, in an empirical case of subnational politics in Dawei City regarding the planning of the electricity supply. We suggest that the hybrid public sphere enables discourses—associated with authoritarian popularist politics in Myanmar—that build legitimacy amongst the majority while limiting the circulation of critical discourses of marginalized groups and others challenging government policies. We conclude that for substantive democracy to deepen in Myanmar, civil society and media must actively reinforce the opportunity to produce and circulate critical discourse while also facilitating inclusive debates and consolidating legislated civil, political and media freedoms. On 1 February 2021, shortly after this article was finalized, a military coup d’état detained elected leaders and contracted the post-2010 hybrid public sphere, including constraining access to information via control of the internet and mass media and severely limiting civil and political rights.

Institute of public associations in the system of human rights enforcement in Ukraine: constitutional and legal aspect

2021 ◽  
pp. 84-93
Author(s):  
I. Mahnovskyi
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Civil Society ◽  
Direct Democracy ◽  
Legal Aspect ◽  
Functional System ◽  
Legal Framework ◽  
Legal Aspects ◽  
Practical Significance ◽  
Public Nature ◽  
Political Decision Making

Purpose. The aim of the work is to analyze in the constitutional and legal aspects public associations as a constitutional institution of public nature, to determine its role and importance in the system of human rights enforcement in Ukraine, to clarify the peculiarities of formation and effective activities of this institution. Methodology. The methodology includes a comprehensive analysis and generalization of available scientific and theoretical material and the formulation of relevant conclusions and recommendations. The following methods of scientific reseach have been implemented: terminological, logical-semantic, functional, system-structural, logical-normative. Results. The study states that the driving force of a democratic, legal process is the growth of an active civil position, which is the basis for the formation of public associations, which are a basic component of civil society. The institute of public associations is an important component of the system of constitutional law of Ukraine. Involving citizens in political decision-making is one of the main principles of direct democracy. The focus is on improving the legal framework of the institute of public associations. Scientific novelty. The study has revealed that public associations, as institutions, should be an integral part of civil society in the formation of democracy; to introduce constitutional and legal mechanisms of interaction with the institution of public associations and to identify their real practical effectiveness for ensuring human rights and needs in society. Practical significance. The results of the study can be used in law-making and law enforcement activities during the functioning of the institution of public associations in the system of human rights.

Risky Ideas in the Risk Society

1996 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 321-331 ◽  
Author(s):  
Enid Mumford
Keyword(s):  
Rapid Response ◽  
Risk Society ◽  
Point Of No Return ◽  
Buckminster Fuller

This paper describes a new kind of risk with which managers are now confronted. This is the risk that arises from their rapid response to new, often untested, ideas that are offered to the management community and eagerly accepted by it. I am aware that humanity Is approaching a crisis In which its residual ignorance, shortsightedness And circumstance-biased viewpoints May dominate Thus carrying humanity Beyond the point of no return. R. Buckminster Fuller

Enduring Peace: a Case Study of the Opportunities and the Challenges for Engaging in Myanmar’s Peace Process

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 115-136
Author(s):  
José María Arraiza ◽  
Sara E. Davies
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Peace Process ◽  
Access To Information ◽  
Personal Safety ◽  
International Organisations ◽  
Implementation Gap ◽  
Civil Society Organisations ◽  
Information And Communication ◽  
Specific Barriers

In 2015, the Myanmar Government, the Myanmar Tatmadaw (military) and eight ethnic armed organisations (eaos) signed the 2015 National Ceasefire Agreement (nca). In 2019, this agreement was signed by three more eaos, and there have been four annual conferences (Union Peace Panglong Conference 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019). The ceasefire arrangements, which are present primarily in Southeast Myanmar, have failed to make significant progress in key areas such as the provision of access to civil documents and land to returning refugees, displaced persons and conflict-affected communities. Violence has escalated in the last two years. It is not an exaggeration to say that Myanmar is at a critical juncture of transition. This article examines how the peace process is being communicated amongst different civil society organisations, international organisations, donor organisations, and government representatives in an area directly affected by the peace process. The article details the experiences of these participants exchanged in workshop in Mon State in July 2018. The exchanges during the workshop reveal a practical obstacles faced by civil society organisations, especially, in their attempt to support returnees. Many reported frustration with the implementation gap between promoting a peace process and providing for local enabling conditions that support peace. Specific barriers faced by civil society organisations, and in turn the communities they are seeking to help were threefold: information and communication barriers concerning the peace process; women’s fear and reluctance to seek services due to personal safety concerns, and the persistence of traditional gender norms which affects access to information.

e-Exclusion and Bot Rights: Legal aspects of the robots exclusion standard for public agencies and other public sector bodies with Swedish examples

First Monday ◽  
2007 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicklas Lundblad
Keyword(s):  
Public Sector ◽  
Legal Aspects ◽  
Public Access ◽  
Access To Information ◽  
Public Agencies ◽  
Legal Problems ◽  
Public Sector Information

Public sector use of the robot exclusion standard raises interesting questions about transparency, availability of public sector information and the principle of public access to information. This paper explores both actual examples of how public sector agencies in Sweden use the standard and an analysis of the legal problems related to use of the standard.

CONSTITUTIONAL AND LEGAL ASPECT OF THE RIGHT FOR INFORMATION

2015 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 119-125
Author(s):  
Щеголева ◽  
Natalya Shchegoleva ◽  
Силаев ◽  
Pavel Silaev
Keyword(s):  
Comparative Method ◽  
Legal Aspect ◽  
Legal Aspects ◽  
Access To Information ◽  
The Right

In the article the author considers constitutional and legal aspects affirming the right for information. Using a comparative method of research of this perspective, the author comes to a conclusion that the content of the concept «right for information» shouldn´t be identified with «the right for access to information» as standard loading of the specified concepts isn´t identical.

‘A very thriving place’: the peopling of Swansea in the eighteenth century

Urban History ◽  
2005 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
pp. 68-87 ◽  
Author(s):  
ROBERT ANTHONY
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
Eighteenth Century ◽  
Urban Development ◽  
Population Change ◽  
Rank Order ◽  
Physical Development ◽  
High Regard ◽  
The Town

In this article, the town of Swansea is suggested as an exemplar of pre-nineteenth-century Welsh industrial and urban development. Small in comparison with English towns, Swansea in 1801 had nevertheless risen up the Welsh urban rank-order to stand second only, in terms of population, to the industrial boomtown Merthyr Tydfil. Contemporary descriptions of Swansea as ‘Copperopolis’, ‘the Metropolis of Wales’, ‘the Mecca of Nonconformity’ and ‘the Brighton [or Naples] of Wales’ reflect the range of its functions at this time, and the high regard in which the town was held, both by its inhabitants and by visitors. Such a town inevitably attracted settlers and this article also examines eighteenth-century population change, the scale of immigration and the provenance of the settlers, and attempts to link the influx with the physical development of the town.

English Provincial Towns in the Early Sixteenth Century

1956 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
pp. 1-19 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. G. Hoskins
Keyword(s):  
Eighteenth Century ◽  
Sixteenth Century ◽  
Social Structure ◽  
Social History ◽  
Legal Aspects ◽  
Physical Growth ◽  
Town Development ◽  
Legal Concepts ◽  
The Village ◽  
The Town

English historians have concentrated almost exclusively upon the constitutional and legal aspects of town development. They have concerned themselves with the borough rather than the town, with legal concepts rather than topography or social history, just as the agrarian historians have been pre-occupied with the manor rather than the village. Local historians of towns and villages have, with two or three notable exceptions, followed suit in this ill-balanced emphasis. The result is that we know surprisingly little about the economy, social structure, and physical growth of English towns before the latter part of the eighteenth century.

scholarly journals The right to information about the activities of public authorities: certain theoretical and legal aspects

2021 ◽  
pp. 9-14
Author(s):  
Alla IVANOVSKA ◽  
Olena HALUS ◽  
Iryna RYZHUK
Keyword(s):  
Active Form ◽  
Relevant Information ◽  
Legal Regulation ◽  
Legal Aspects ◽  
Access To Information ◽  
Public Authorities ◽  
The Public ◽  
Democratic State ◽  
Right To Information ◽  
The Right

It is found that the right to information about the activities of public authorities is linked to the more general constitutional right of everyone to freely collect, store and disseminate information in any lawful manner. The analyzed law is subject to international and domestic rules governing the right of access to information in general. At the same time, this right is regulated in great detail by special regulations that establish additional guarantees. An important guarantee that ensures the realization of the right of citizens to information about the activities of public authorities is the principle of transparency, which applies in many democracies around the world. The principle of transparency is manifested, firstly, in the fact that public authorities are obliged to inform the public about their activities, and secondly, every member of society has the appropriate right to receive such information, and the level of access to information about activities of public authorities is very important. Forms of exercising the right to information about the activities of public authorities, taking into account the peculiarities of legal regulation, are divided into passive and active. The passive form presupposes that the citizen himself gets acquainted with the information about the activity of the public authority, which duty is to make it public. An active form of exercising this right involves direct appeals of citizens or their groups to public authorities with requests to provide relevant information. It is concluded that ensuring the exercise of the right to information about the activities of public authorities is the key to building a democratic state governed by the rule of law and relies on public authorities, which are obliged to create all conditions for public participation in the adoption of legal acts by these bodies and to provide adequate access to complete and objective information about their activities.

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