Urbanization and Development: The Emergence of International Nongovernmental Organizations amid Declining States

2000 ◽  
Vol 43 (1) ◽  
pp. 97-116 ◽  
Author(s):  
York W. Bradshaw ◽  
Mark J. Schafer

Half of the world's population will live in cities by the early twenty-first century, and, of the ten most populated cities, nine will be in the developing world. Unfortunately, this is occurring at a time when national governments are increasingly unable to provide basic public services to growing populations. International nongovernmental organizations (INGOs) have dramatically increased their efforts in urban areas and in economic and social development in general. Although sociologists have examined the causes and effects of Third World urbanization and development, they have not focused on the role of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) in this process. We argue that inclusion of NGOs in the literature is necessary and even compatible with several current theories of development. We test the impact of INGOs on three interrelated measures of urbanization and development: overurbanization, economic growth, and access to safe water. The results show that INGOs slow overurbanization and promote economic and social development.

1979 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 89-93
Author(s):  
Thomas F. Malone

The International Symposium on Science and Technology for Development, held in Singapore from 22–26 January 1979:(1) Demonstrated that cooperative action could be taken by international nongovernmental organizations which are concerned about the role of science and technology in the UN Conference on Science and Technology for Development (UNCSTD);(2) Caused a coalescing of these concerns in a commitment to bring the resources of science and technology to bear on Third-World problems;(3) Resulted in a strengthened commitment to revitalize the patterns of cooperation of nongovernmental scientific and technical (S&T) organizations to expand their ties to intergovernmental agencies; and(4) Led to an advised framework of action involving four groups, proposing: a) a network of institutions in developing countries to identify problems from the perspective of the developing countries themselves; b) a ‘switching mechanism’ in the nongovernmental sector to link the less developed countries (LDCs) with the resources of scientific and technological talent in industrialized nations; c) a multiplication of the collaboration of donor institutions; and d) a revitalization of the UN system for due application of S&T to development, accompanied by a more active working partnership with international nongovernmental organizations.


Author(s):  
Steven McKevitt

Chapter 1 looks at consumption, consumerism, and the emergence of the consumer society in Britain at the end of the twentieth century. It draws out the main academic debates concerning consumption and its evolving role in society and explores changes in work, leisure, gender roles, family life, and living standards in the UK in the twentieth century. There follows an examination of the impact of the New Right and its ideology in Britain in the 1980s and 1990s and also the renaissance in popular culture from the 1970s, which not only helped to drive the expansion of the mass media but was also fueled by it. It concludes with an analysis of arguments presented by critics of affluence from the post-war period to the early twenty-first century. There is particular emphasis on the role of persuasion within market economies.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Grazia Ietto-Gillies

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to analyse the impact of major structural changes on the conceptualization of the transnational corporation (TNC) based on foreign direct investment (FDI) and on indicators of transnationality. Design/methodology/approach Analysis of three major structural changes which impact the current conception of transnationality. They are: the rise of digital companies; the increased role of finance in the economy; externalization of activities via non-equity modalities (NEMs) with an impact on FDI and on the labour market. Findings The paper finds that the current concept of transnationality needs widening to take account of companies with a low degree of fixed assets abroad such as the digital and the financial companies and those internationalizing via NEMs, as well as to take account of the evolving relationship between TNCs and labour. Research limitations/implications Future research along the lines proposed should consider: working explicitly with the new, inclusive concept of transnationality and arrive at an empirical estimate of the proposed indices of transnationality which modify and amplify the current United Nations Conference on Trade and Development indices. Social implications Useful for understanding the nature of transnationality in the twenty-first century and for developing policies. Originality/value The paper proposes a new concept of transnationality and of the TNC, one that allows for new ways of organizing direct business activities abroad. It also proposes broadening the list of indicators of transnationality.


2021 ◽  
Vol 59 (1) ◽  
pp. 287-289

Andreas Grein of Zicklin School of Business, Baruch College, City University of New York reviews “Outside the Box: How Globalization Changed from Moving Stuff to Spreading Ideas,” by Marc Levinson. The Econlit abstract of this book begins: “Explores the development of globalization in the early twenty-first century, focusing on the role of transportation, communication, and information technology in enabling firms to organize their businesses around long-distance value chains.”


Author(s):  
Alfred L. Brophy

This chapter discusses the role of historical analysis in property law. The history of property has been used to offer support for property rights. Their long history makes the distribution of property look normal, indeed natural and something that cannot or should not be challenged. However, historically in the U.S there have been competing visions of property. From the Progressive era onward especially, the history of property has been used to show the unequal distribution of property and to offer an alternative vision that expands the rights of non-owners of property. In the late twentieth and early twenty-first century, the history of opposition to feudalism and protection of the rights of non-owners was used to protect the rights of non-owners. Thus, the history of property has been a tool of judges and legislators to support property rights and it has also been, less frequently, a tool of critique.


Author(s):  
Alika Guchua

Abstract: The article deals with new type of asymmetric warfare and hybrid war. The potential threats in international politics and global security issues, Euro-Atlantic Alliance policy of fighting against terrorism. A serious challenge to modern security creates many problems around the world. The beginning of the twenty-first century was marked by proliferation of hybrid wars, held between flexible and sophisticated adversaries engaged in asymmetric conflicts using various forms. The hybrid war is caused by a hybrid threat, a blend of military and non-military assets and operations, terrorism, guerrilla tactics, criminality and cyber attacks. The use of hybrid type tactics can ensure the achievement of the main objectives of an international actor, with a minimum of effort, usually without using the force, and can deny to the target/victim the possibility to take any defensive actions. The complexity, diversity, the nature and dynamics of contemporary conflicts represent challenges that should be widely studied. The war, be it ancient or modern, hybrid or not, is always complex and cannot be described by a single adjective. The work focuses on the role of NATO in ensuring peace worldwide in the context of new asymmetric threats. The aim of the research topic: analyzing global challenges, which pose a serious threat to international security.


Author(s):  
Stan Yu ◽  
Darrell McLaughlin

In the twenty-first century, the call for International Non-governmental Organizations (INGOs) to demonstrate their effectiveness has become popularized. This has given rise to scholarly attention examining the roles of program evaluation and impact assessment in assisting INGOs in demonstrating their effectiveness. While previous studies suggest that INGOs actively conduct program evaluation and impact assessment, this article explores the perspectives of two Canadian INGOs on how they understand, use, and experience evaluation and assessment as it relates to their work. Our study uncovers three continuing challenges: evaluation and assessment are largely descriptive and lack more sophisticated analyses; efforts to conduct evaluation and assessment are consolidated within organizations’ head offices, while staff members and volunteers are largely excluded; and evaluation and assessment remain rooted in the paradigm of quantifiable results, which do not truly reflect the nature of work being conducted on the ground. Au vingt-et-unième siècle, on veut de plus en plus que les organisations non gouvernementales internationales (ONGI) démontrent leur efficacité. Ce désir a motivé les chercheurs à se pencher sur les évaluations de programme et les études d’impact pour voir dans quelle mesure celles-ci peuvent aider les ONGI à montrer qu’elles sont efficaces. Des études antérieures suggèrent que les ONGI mènent de manière concertée des évaluations de programme et des études d’impact. Cet article explore comment aujourd’hui deux ONGI canadiens comprennent, utilisent et vivent l’évaluation et la mesure de leur travail. Notre étude relève trois défis actuels : l’évaluation et la mesure tendent à être descriptives sans offrir d’analyses plus poussées; ce sont les sièges sociaux des organismes qui gèrent l’évaluation et la mesure en excluant ainsi bon nombre de fonctionnaires et volontaires; l’évaluation et la mesure se limitent au paradigme des résultats mesurables et par conséquent elles ne reflètent pas nécessairement le véritable travail mené sur le terrain.


2020 ◽  
Vol 31 (3) ◽  
pp. 351-358
Author(s):  
Andrew Scull

Michel Foucault remains one of the most influential intellectuals in the early twenty-first century world. This paper examines the origins and impact of his first major work, Folie et déraison, on the history of psychiatry, particularly though not exclusively in the world of Anglo-American scholarship. The impact and limits of Foucault’s work on the author’s own contributions to the history of psychiatry are examined, as is the larger influence of Madness and Civilization (as it is known to most Anglophones) on the nascent social history of psychiatry. The paper concludes with an assessment of the sources of the appeal of Foucault’s work among some scholars, and notes his declining influence on contemporary scholars working on the history of psychiatry.


2019 ◽  
Vol 47 (2) ◽  
pp. 287-303
Author(s):  
Shuhai Zhang ◽  
Gert de Roo ◽  
Ward Rauws

This article explores the mechanisms of urban self-organization and the role of formal institutions in shaping peri-urban areas. A case study of Gaobeidian, a former rural village that is now part of Beijing, examines the mechanisms of change and the interdependent relations between institutions and bottom-up initiatives that drive peri-urban transformations. The paper presents two main contributions: (1) it identifies the differences between government-controlled planning, shared governance, self-governance and self-organization and how these intertwine in urban transformations; (2) it proposes three distinct roles played by institutions in relation to self-organization: triggering, constraining and enabling. The empirical study of this Chinese case will enrich the current debate on planning for self-organizing cities by revealing the impact of, and the various responses to, self-organization dynamics in a hierarchical institutional environment.


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