scholarly journals Blockchain technology and decentralized governance: Is the state still necessary?

2017 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 45-62 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marcella Atzori
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Disruptive Innovation ◽  
The State ◽  
Blockchain Technology ◽  
Role Of The State ◽  
Core Technology ◽  
Political Perspective ◽  
Key Points ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Decentralized Governance

The core technology of Bitcoin, the blockchain, has recently emerged as a disruptive innovation with a wide range of applications, potentially able to redesign our interactions in business, politics and society at large. Although scholarly interest in this subject is growing, a comprehensive analysis of blockchain applications from a political perspective is severely lacking to date. This paper aims to fill this gap and it discusses the key points of blockchain-based decentralized governance, which challenges to varying degrees the traditional mechanisms of State authority, citizenship and democracy. In particular, the paper verifies to which extent blockchain and decentralized platforms can be considered as hyper-political tools, capable to manage social interactions on large scale and dismiss traditional central authorities. The analysis highlights risks related to a dominant position of private powers in distributed ecosystems, which may lead to a general disempowerment of citizens and to the emergence of a stateless global society. While technological utopians urge the demise of any centralized institution, this paper advocates the role of the State as a necessary central point of coordination in society, showing that decentralization through algorithm-based consensus is an organizational theory, not a stand-alone political theory.

scholarly journals Securitisation gaps: Towards ideational understandings of state weakness

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-20
Author(s):  
Kevork Oskanian
Keyword(s):  
The State ◽  
Collective Knowledge ◽  
State Action ◽  
Role Of The State ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
State And Society ◽  
Interpretive Approach ◽  
Recent Developments ◽  
The Republic

Abstract This article contributes a securitisation-based, interpretive approach to state weakness. The long-dominant positivist approaches to the phenomenon have been extensively criticised for a wide range of deficiencies. Responding to Lemay-Hébert's suggestion of a ‘Durkheimian’, ideational-interpretive approach as a possible alternative, I base my conceptualisation on Migdal's view of state weakness as emerging from a ‘state-in-society's’ contested ‘strategies of survival’. I argue that several recent developments in Securitisation Theory enable it to capture this contested ‘collective knowledge’ on the state: a move away from state-centrism, the development of a contextualised ‘sociological’ version, linkages made between securitisation and legitimacy, and the acknowledgment of ‘securitisations’ as a contested Bourdieusian field. I introduce the concept of ‘securitisation gaps’ – divergences in the security discourses and practices of state and society – as a concept aimed at capturing this contested role of the state, operationalised along two logics (reactive/substitutive) – depending on whether they emerge from securitisations of the state action or inaction – and three intensities (latent, manifest, and violent), depending on the extent to which they involve challenges to state authority. The approach is briefly illustrated through the changing securitisation gaps in the Republic of Lebanon during the 2019–20 ‘October Uprising’.

scholarly journals Social Potential of Non-Profi t Organizations

2021 ◽  
pp. 80-100
Author(s):  
V. M. NOVIKOV
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
The State ◽  
Charitable Organizations ◽  
Specific Content ◽  
Non Profit ◽  
Regional Administration ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Non Profit Organizations ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Charitable Activities

There is a steady trend in the wide range of literature on the study of institutions: the definition of theoretical judgments often does not coincide and is not combined with the definition of general connections and patterns, which leads to ignoring the principle of systematic analysis of socio-economic processes. Indirectly, this means the priority of the random (individual) over the whole and general. Meanwhile, the concept of an institution correlates with the specific content of a phenomenon or process and is supplemented by a generalized and systematic approach. The study of such an urgent problem of the market economy as institutional choice through non-profit organizations requires the extension of the analysis not only to governmental but also to non-governmental structures, which are an element of the whole. In this regard, the article provides a historical overview of the development of nonprofit organizations and charitable activities as a large-scale social phenomenon, which made it possible to draw attention to the possibility of using the experience of past years for the purposeful organization of non-state institutions of charity, including by improving social partnerships. Analysis of the current state of non-profit organizations in Ukraine, despite the growth in their number, shows a decrease in the volume of charitable activities. In recent years, the country has taken certain steps to improve charity. However, this is not enough. The institutional environment for philanthropy needs to be improved. The solution to this problem is possible with the active influence of the state on the management of non-commercial activities. Improving the tools of functioning, financing, as well as increasing attention to the development of statistics in this area of activity is considered relevant. In this regard, the purpose of the article is to identify pressing issues and ways to improve charitable organizations. The solution to this problem is possible with the active influence of the state on the management of non-profit activities. The development of the institutional framework of the nonprofit sector of the economy means the improvement of financial reporting, greater openness of charitable organizations, streamlining of their legal relations, liberalized taxation and strengthened control over the activities of non-profit organizations. The article pays special attention to the problem of accumulation and distribution of charitable funds. The potential of charitable organizations can be expanded by shifting the focus of their regulation away from predominantly corporate to regional administration, which increases the importance of the institution of partnership in the development of charity. The article uses historical and logical methods, which allowed to study the formation and development of non-profit organizations in the evolutionary aspect.

scholarly journals Drone Journalism as Visual Aggregation: Toward a Critical History

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 64-74
Author(s):  
James F. Hamilton
Keyword(s):  
Visual Culture ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Critical History ◽  
Key Points ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
News Organizations ◽  
Aerial View ◽  
Data Journalism ◽  
Journalistic Practice ◽  
Statistical Summary

The use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs—commonly referred to as drones) in journalism has emerged only recently, and has grown significantly. This article explores what makes drone imagery as an instance of what scholars of visual culture call an aerial view so compelling for major news organizations as to warrant such attention and investment. To do this, the concept ‘visual aggregation’ is introduced to theorize the authority of drone imagery in conventional journalistic practice. Imagery produced through drone journalism is a visual analogy to statistical summary and, more recently, of what is referred to as data journalism. Just as these combine an aggregate of cases to produce an understanding of an overall trend, drone imagery aggregates space visually, its broad visual field revealing large-scale spatial patterns in ways analogous to the statistical capture/analysis of large bodies of data. The article then employs a cultural and historical approach to identify key points in the emergence of visual aggregation as authoritative truth. The aerial view as a claim to truth is manifest in a wide range of antecedent social formations, devices and practices prior to their amalgamation in what has today become drone journalism. This analysis aids understanding of how drone journalism is a response to the institutional crises of journalism today.

scholarly journals Blockchain Beyond Cryptocurrency: Non-Fungible Tokens

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Burcu Sakız ◽  
Ayşen Hiç Gencer
Keyword(s):  
Business Models ◽  
Disruptive Innovation ◽  
Peer To Peer ◽  
Smart Contracts ◽  
Blockchain Technology ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Peer Network ◽  
Work Mechanism ◽  
Distributed Networking ◽  
Peer To Peer Network

Blockchain technology is a disruptive innovation with the potential to replace existing business models that rely on centralized systems and third parties for trust. Even if there are a lot of application areas, blockchain used primarily for cryptocurrencies. Satoshi Nakamoto implemented the first blockchain application and invented the world’s first digital currency which is named as Bitcoin in 2008. Fundementally Bitcoin relies on cryptographic “proof of work” mechanism, digital signatures, and peer to peer distributed networking layer in order to provide a distributed ledger holding transactions. In 2014, a second generation of blockchains allow to program and execute them over distributed networks such as Ethereum project. The code to program any asset stored in blockchain’s peer-to-peer network is called as "smart contract" and smart contracts gives a powerful tool to developers for decentralized applications. There are various types of tokens that anyone can built on top of Ethereum and by combining smart contracts and new tokens, this paved the way of possibility to build a wide range of decentralized projects. One of the disruptive blockchain based innovation impacting intellectual property is called non-fungible-tokens or NFTs firstly introcuced in late 2017 on Ethereum network. This research contends that blockchain and non-fungible tokens (NFTs) which are cryptographically unique, scarce, non-replicable digital assets created through smart contracts and provably digital collectible assets. Our objective is to give NFT taxonomy, review NFT platforms and discuss technical challenges as well as recent advances in tackling the challenges. Moreover, this paper also aims to point out the future directions for NFT technology.

scholarly journals Child Labour, Parental Neglect, School Boards, and Teacher Quality: School Inspector Reports on the Supply and Demand of Schooling in Mid-nineteenth-century Sweden

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Germund Larsson ◽  
Johannes Westberg
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
School Boards ◽  
Economic History ◽  
Supply And Demand ◽  
Child Labour ◽  
Research Field ◽  
The State ◽  
Local Conditions ◽  
Role Of The State ◽  
Wide Range

By examining the state school inspector reports of 1861–1863, which provide rich insights into the local conditions of schooling in Sweden, this article sheds further light on the wide range of factors that weakened school enrolment and attendance in nineteenth-century Sweden. In terms of parental demand, these included child labour on farms, at manors, and in industries; the transformation of the servant system among rural households; and religious practices, such as the confirmation and the beliefs of Protestant sectarian groups. On the supply side, factors that school inspectors reported included the inability of Swedish teacher seminars to examine enough teachers and the problematic behaviour of local school boards. As a result, this article provides additional input into the debate in educational history regarding the role of the state, religion, rural elites, and parents in the rise of mass schooling, while simultaneously providing further qualitative evidence to a quantitatively oriented research field in economic history on the determinants of schooling.

scholarly journals Organizational and economic priorities for the agro-industrial complex development in Russia at the regional level

2021 ◽  
Vol 937 (3) ◽  
pp. 032061
Author(s):  
N Osadchaya ◽  
A Murzin ◽  
R Revunov ◽  
G Plokhotnikova
Keyword(s):  
Russian Federation ◽  
Agricultural Production ◽  
Crop Production ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Climatic Factors ◽  
The State ◽  
Industrial Complex ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Complex Development ◽  
The Russian Federation

Abstract The purpose of this study is to identify the main trends in the agro-industrial complex development of the Russian Federation, substantiate the organizational and economic recommendations aimed at stimulating Russian agricultural production and enhancing of this economy sector competitiveness. An extensive corpus of empirical data reflecting the agro-industrial complex development in the Russian Federation in 2016-2020, as well as its place in foreign trade operations of the Russian Federation has been thoroughly studied in frames of this research. Using the tools of statistical data processing (sampling, observation, summary and grouping), the methods of econometric analysis, the dynamics of agro-industrial complex products manufacturing, the rate of the main indicators’ change, the place of agro-industrial complex in export-import operations of the Russian Federation have been revealed, the main indicators have been compared. The geographic conditions diversity of the Russian Federation, combined with a wide range of climatic features, the availability of land and water resources creates favorable conditions for productive agricultural activities. It has been established that large-scale agricultural producers dominate in agro-industrial complex of the Russian Federation. The directions of agro-industrial complex, in particular, crop production and cattle rising, are unevenly developing in the Russian Federation. The constituent entities of the Russian Federation, which administratively represent the Southern Federal and North Caucasian Federal Districts specialize mainly in the cultivation of grain and oilseeds due to the natural and climatic factors’ action. State authorities of the Russian Federation successfully implement the tools to stimulate agricultural production, in particular: preferential taxation regime, subsidies for lending to the agro-industrial complex economic entities from the state budget, leasing development, etc. The state support mechanism effectiveness can be intensified by using the organizational and economic tools substantiated by the authors.

considerable advantages, too, for the spread of producer co-operatives. In addition, while bypassing the obstacle posed by economic fragmentation, such investments would nevertheless be attacking it, thus raising the degree of economic integration. No doubt, these investments would require industrial inputs at a higher level than before and the financing of this might imply that the planners have to give up some of the surplus extracted from the agricultural sector for use by it within its boundaries. In our opinion, this approach provides the basis for achieving high growth targets in the medium term without compromising on the distributional front at the class, sector, or regional levels. Two qualifications need to be registered. First, this does not imply that the DTYP target of y = 7.5 per cent per annum becomes feasible in this strategy. Even in Case A, the argument was only partly that it was probably not achievable; rather, that achieving it with n = 3.5 per cent would almost certainly lead to a vicious inflationary spiral, thereby worsening income distribution. In Case B, the burden of financing would be shared in an egalitarian manner through the rationing system but its average level would not be any different. What is being argued is that, first, for any given n, y* (C) > y* (A, B), and second, the rate of growth of n would be substantially greater over time in Case C than in Case A or B. Thus, Case C could be viewed as laying the basis for an eventual second phase of an industrialisation drive of the type now being proposed, in our view, prematurely. Second, it is probable that under Case C, rural foodgrain consumption would rise in the short run. In this strategy, too, state farms would play a crucial part in the transitional phase and beyond. It is necessary therefore to assist them in achieving efficiency quickly, and to overcome the problems of haphazard location and early growth. A period of consolidation might be necessary prior to any further expansion on any large scale. Finally, we need to turn our focus to the problems of urban poverty and unemployment which are not directly handled in any of the three cases. A separate policy component is therefore called for. A two-pronged approach is necessary. The first of these is to ensure that all low-income earners are covered by the urban rationing system. In the present context, this would require extending the coverage to the smaller urban centres and even in the larger ones to that lowest strata which might not be registered in any urban kebele. Thus, the AMC needs to grow greatly and quickly. It is in this context that the current and future role of the state farm sector has to be seen. Even within the framework of Case C, it will be some time before the area of stable grain yields is extended to a point where the urban populations are not held to ransom by the weather all too frequently; in the meantime, the state farms provide an insurance cover which is indispensible. (A corresponding function would be performed in the food-insecure rural areas by the grain banks suggested earlier.) Further, the kebele shops need to move more into the inferior cereals, in particular, sorghum, maize and black teff. Improving the storage facilities of the AMC and state farms could achieve the welcome result of lowering cost by anything up to 15-20 per cent on some crops. All such gains registered should reflect themselves in lower prices for the inferior, rather than for the superior, cereals as appears to have been the case in the recent past.

2013 ◽  
pp. 183-184
Keyword(s):  
Low Income ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Agricultural Sector ◽  
The State ◽  
State Farm ◽  
Insurance Cover ◽  
Role Of The State ◽  
Present Context ◽  
Short Run

scholarly journals Re-imagining the Indian state: External forces and the transformation of telecommunications policy, 1947–present

2018 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 65-83 ◽  
Author(s):  
Colin Agur
Keyword(s):  
Policy Development ◽  
The State ◽  
Telecommunications Policy ◽  
Indian Government ◽  
Role Of The State ◽  
Network Building ◽  
Government Documents ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Indian State ◽  
External Forces

This article examines Indian telecom policy from independence to the present. Dividing this period into three phases – from 1947 to 1984, 1984 to 1991 and 1991 to the present – the article explores the role of the state in India’s dramatic transformation from a telecommunications laggard to one of the world’s largest markets in mobile communication. It draws on a wide range of government documents, institutional surveys (domestic and international) of Indian telephony, memoirs and analyses by policy officials, and interviews with telecom executives. This article makes two arguments. First, it emphasizes the importance of external forces, including economic pressures, obligations to foreign creditors and the arrival of outsiders into key policymaking positions. Second, it provides an alternative to the simplistic argument that the state has ‘left telecommunications to the private sector’. Rather than abandon its role in network building and maintenance, the Indian government has deployed its power in specific and deliberate ways. While much of this policy development was unanticipated and at times accidental, Indian telephony has been transformed from an inward-looking and defensive statist monopoly to an internationalized, technocratic marketplace.

The Energy Politics of Latin America

2019 ◽  
pp. 662-686
Author(s):  
Sylvia Gaylord
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Energy Resource ◽  
Indigenous Communities ◽  
The State ◽  
Inclusive Development ◽  
Policy Debates ◽  
Role Of The State ◽  
Poverty And Inequality

Energy policy debates in Latin America are tied to the region’s fundamental policy dilemmas regarding the role of the state and the market in the economy and the quest for inclusive development. The global commodity boom that started in 2003 and lasted a decade allowed socially minded governments to address poverty and inequality and reassert the role of the state in energy resource extraction and management. At the same time, the commodity boom spurred resistance, as broad sectors of society view globalization as a driver of profound change that brings uneven benefits and threatens more disadvantaged sectors of society. This opposition became evident in the increase in social protests against large-scale energy projects, in particular by indigenous communities embracing a new environmental agenda based on identity and human rights.

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