Abitare permanente in un territorio provvisorio: i campi profughi Saharawi in Algeria

TERRITORIO ◽  
2012 ◽  
pp. 82-86
Author(s):  
Lina Scavuzzo

This paper considers the political, social, and spatial consequences of the conflict in the Western Sahara and particularly the implications this has had in the development of refugee camps in Algeria. The essay revolves around three concepts. The first regards the support policies practiced by international governing bodies, through humanitarian aid aimed exclusively at satisfying basic needs. The second is the role international co-operation plays in the construction of a process of local development and therefore permanence in a territory the local community perceives as temporary. Finally, this paper considers the critical state created when a form of permanent habitation of a temporary territory collides with hostile environmental conditions in the absence of economic resources and above all the international policies that accompany this process.

Author(s):  
José Antonio Vinagrero Ávila

When in 1975 Spain leaves to its fate the inhabitants of the former Spanish province of Western Sahara, most of the Saharawi population has to flee their homes chased by the armies of Morocco and Mauritania in the operation known as “Ecouvillon” while the civilian population marched to Saharaui territory in "The Green March" .In this flight to the desert find refuge in an inhospitable territory of the Algerian Hamada where, located in four camps, declare the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR), organizing basic services that allow the survival of the population as well as the possibility of return and government of the territory of Western Sahara in the future. Within the hardness of the situation emerges something exceptional and it is the main axis of this article. The Saharawi people are able to create in the desert refugee camps an educational system that reduces illiteracy in the population as a whole and in childhood in particular. They have been able to organize an educational system in which practically 100% of children are in school, reducing the illiteracy of 90% of the population, in colonial times, to data similar to those of developed countries. In the education of the camps you can study children's education, primary, secondary and also vocational training. In this article we will go deeper into the main characteristics and difficulties of a structured educational system practically without economic resources, but what represents a great commitment to education as a form of struggle, social and political progress. We will also analyze the role of the Spanish Government as a donor of humanitarian aid to these people, as well as its political responsibility in a conflict that has been open for more than 40 years, with Western Sahara being the only territory in the world pending decolonization.


2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (33) ◽  
pp. 46-50
Author(s):  
Arnaldo Vergara-Romero ◽  
Rafael Sorhegui-Ortega

The evolution of local development, as a strategic axis for the development of a country, is the first component involved in the political speech and in regulatory protocols in the Ecuadorian territory, which has signed agreements with international multilateral organizations. The following article analyzes the social factors of local community formation as a social system and the management of the authorities of such community. As conclusion, it is indispensable the improvement of the local government system, the development of the studied resources and the opportunities to support social activity.


2020 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 243-255
Author(s):  
E. I. Smeshko

The article is devoted to the study of the conditions of life of the Sahrawi people who live in refugee camps in Algeria since 1970s due to the Western Sahara conflict. The process of political settlement of the Western Sahara conflict has been de facto suspended, however the situation in the Sahrawi refugee camps remains unstable and requires new solutions and international cooperation. The article provides a historical overview of the emergence of the refugee camps in Tindouf and examines existing mechanisms for international supporting the Sahrawi people. The author tends to analyze activities of the UN system organizations and agencies. Annual events within the framework of the FiSahara Film Festival to support Sahrawi are reported. Particular emphasis is placed on the role of Islam in Sahrawi society and the possibilities to benefit from the Islamic identity of the Sahrawi people to the Islamic cooperation and helping for refugees from Muslimmajority states. It is shown that the authorities of the unrecognized Sahara Arab Democratic Republic (the front POLISARIO) create the image of the secular Sahrawi community to overcome Islamophobia and receive humanitarian aid from a wide range of non-governmental organizations, including Christian and secular ones. At the same time, the true religious component of refugees’ life is hidden from the international community.


2015 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 263-278 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ayham Dalal

Camps are temporal spaces where refugees are provided with humanitarian aid until durable solutions are made possible. During this period of ‘endless waiting’, these camps are planned to be economically self-contained. However, through time, refugee camps tend to urbanise: their initial empty spaces transform into vibrant markets, habitats and social spaces. In response to this ‘unexpected’ - and sometimes ‘unwanted’ - process, the economically self-contained system of camps breaks. This paper looks into the emerging socio-economic dynamics in Zaatari camp in Jordan, on the light of its urbanisation process and the Jordanian economy. It first explains the how humanitarian aid is provided, and then shows how and why, refugees use it to diversify the economy of the camp. The findings of this paper are then articulated on the existing policies to reduce the financial aid such as ‘self-reliance’ and ‘development’.


2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 45-69
Author(s):  
Benoit Challand ◽  
Joshua Rogers

This paper provides an historical exploration of local governance in Yemen across the past sixty years. It highlights the presence of a strong tradition of local self-rule, self-help, and participation “from below” as well as the presence of a rival, official, political culture upheld by central elites that celebrates centralization and the strong state. Shifts in the predominance of one or the other tendency have coincided with shifts in the political economy of the Yemeni state(s). When it favored the local, central rulers were compelled to give space to local initiatives and Yemen experienced moments of political participation and local development.


Author(s):  
Julia Schulte-Cloos ◽  
Paul C. Bauer

AbstractWhile a large body of literature empirically documents an electoral advantage for local candidates, the exact mechanisms accounting for this effect remain less clear. We integrate theories on the political geography of candidate-voter relations with socio-psychological accounts of citizens’ local attachment, arguing that citizens vote for candidates from their own local communities as an expression of their place-based identity. To test our argument, we exploit a unique feature of the German mixed-member electoral system. We identify the causal effect of candidates’ localness by relying on within-electoral-district variation coupled with a geo-matching strategy on the level of municipalities ($$\hbox {N}=11175$$ N = 11175 ). The results show that voters exhibit a strong bias in favor of local candidates even when they are not competitive. More than only expecting particularistic benefits from representatives, citizens appear to vote for candidates from their own local community to express their place-based social identity.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (14) ◽  
pp. 7853
Author(s):  
Xiubai Li ◽  
Jinok Susanna Kim ◽  
Timothy J. Lee

The importance of community attitude and participation for the success and sustainability of cultural festivals has been steadily increasing in recent years. The Chuncheon Puppet Festival (CPF) is an international festival that has been held every year since 1989 in Chuncheon, Korea. The festival has several distinctive characteristics as a sustainable event because: (a) it maintains its single genre of puppet performances based on modern cultural art; (b) it is well-established as the festival for the local residents of Chuncheon City and is planned by local community residents and local small companies, not by government agencies or global large entrepreneurs; (c) it helps children to have an interesting cultural experience in the local environment; and (d) it is regularly hosted in August, an off-season for festivals in Korea that was chosen by residents as it is a school holiday season. However, there is still room for improvement to secure its place as a successful sustainable festival. The following might be considered: (i) increased exchange of human resources among the festival executive members, community groups, and the public staff in Chuncheon City; (ii) local residents should maintain full control of the festival; and (iii) a local cultural trust should be established by cultural art professionals, local resident organizations, puppet show professionals, and public agency staff. The CPF is a typical example of a successful sustainable festival with proactive and supportive community participation and a large number of volunteers that help to increase local competitiveness and sustainable local development. This case report delivers insightful lessons and messages to guide what needs to be preconditioned for local cultural festivals to be sustainable and successful for a long time in many destinations, where they can contribute as efficient catalysts for regional tourism development.


2005 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 27-39
Author(s):  
Fotis Kilipiris

The full involvement of local communities in the tourism sector, not only benefits them and the environment in general, but also improves the quality of the tourism experience. Projects imposed from outside and motivated by the pursuit of rapid economic growth often override local needs, conditions and resources, and result in unacceptable environmental, social and cultural costs. Local involvement is crucial to sustainable and appropriate development, which meets the needs of the local people and safeguards their natural and cultural environments. Thus a local development strategy is essential, especially in disadvantaged areas and countries.


2003 ◽  
Vol 36 (1) ◽  
pp. 49-68 ◽  
Author(s):  
Therese C. Reitan

Determinants of political participation and electoral turnout are still of great interest within political science and three broad types of factors have been found to influence turnout significantly; individual or area-specific traits, characteristics of the electoral systems, and features relating to the political climate in individual elections. Within the first group, socio-economic resources, typically education, income, and occupation, have been found to be particularly important. This article proposes that public health is also a relevant form of social and political resources at the aggregate level. Regional data on life expectancy and electoral turnout from Russia—a country with dramatically deteriorated public health during the 1990s—were therefore correlated with each other. Overall, correlations were positive and significant, and there is, then, reason to investigate further the possible relationship between public health and the propensity to turn out at elections.


Refuge ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
pp. 72-82 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michele C. Deramo

How does a free press resist state biopower? This article studies  the development and dissemination of KANERE Free Press, a refugee-run news source operating in the Kakuma Refugee Camp, that was founded to create “a more open society in refugee camps and to develop a platform for fair public debate on refugee affairs” (KANERE Vision Statement). The analysis of KANERE and its impact on the political subjectivity of refugees living in Kakuma is framed by Foucault’s theory of biopower, the state-sanctioned right to “make live or let die” in its management of human populations. The author demonstrates the force relations between KANERE, its host country of Kenya, and the UNHCR through two ongoing stories covered by KANERE: the broad rejection of the MixMe nutritional supplement and the expressed disdain for the camp’s World Refugees Day celebration. Using ethnographic and decolonizing methodologies, the author privileges the voices and perspectives of the KANERE editors and the Kakuma residents they interviewed in order to provide a ground-level view of refugee’s lived experiences in Kakuma. As KANERE records refugees’ experiences of life in the camp, they construct a narrative community that is simultaneously produced by and resistant to the regulations and control of camp administration and state sovereignty. In doing so, KANERE creates a transgressive space that reaches beyond the confines of the camp.


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