Democracy Beyond the State Non-state actors and the legitimacy of climate governance

2021 ◽  
pp. 237-253
Author(s):  
Jens Marquardt ◽  
Karin Bäckstrand
Keyword(s):  
The State ◽  
Climate Governance ◽  
State Actors

Contested boundaries

Focaal ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 2014 (68) ◽  
pp. 105-123
Author(s):  
Jennifer Alvey
Keyword(s):  
State Formation ◽  
The State ◽  
Discursive Construction ◽  
Representational Practices ◽  
Shared Language ◽  
Border Dispute ◽  
Land Privatization ◽  
State Actors

This article examines a 20-year border dispute between two adjacent southern interior municipalities in Nicaragua. The dispute acts as window into the politics of state formation and the consolidation of the dictatorship of Anastacio Somoza García (1936–1956). This conflict was waged by locally based “state actors” who contested each other's attempts to stake and extend spatially based claims to authority. Contending parties developed a shared language of contention that I call “administrative disorder”, which tracked closely with accusations of invasion and abuse of authority. Administrative disorder discourses were representational practices that contributed to the discursive construction of the state. They were also the means by which representatives of the state sought to justify or normalize their own activities. As such, these discourses concealed political tensions rooted in patronage networks, municipal formation, land privatization, and ethnic assimilation, which shaped the contours and longevity of the dispute, but remained lurking silences in administrative disorder discourses.

Bridging the Accountability Gap in the Protection of Internally Displaced Persons: Non-State Actors Under the Kampala Convention

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-23
Author(s):  
Romola Adeola
Keyword(s):  
The State ◽  
Internal Displacement ◽  
Internally Displaced Persons ◽  
African Union ◽  
Displaced Persons ◽  
Internally Displaced ◽  
Regional Landscape ◽  
State Actors ◽  
Accountability Gap ◽  
The Impact

Abstract Contemporary forms of internal displacement in Africa significantly reflect the emerging footprints of non-state actors on the regional landscape of internal displacement. In recognition of the impact of these actors in the internal displacement context, the African Union Convention for the Protection and Assistance of Internally Displaced Persons in Africa (Kampala Convention) specifically obligate states to regulate them in the prevention of arbitrary displacement. This is the central thrust of this article. This article examines the Kampala Convention from the perspective of non-state actors, considering the obligation of the state and the extent to which these actors may be held accountable, in the furtherance of protection and assistance of internally displaced persons (IDP s).

Playing through the Apocalypse: Preparing Children for Mass Disasters in Japan and Chile

2021 ◽  
Vol 33 (2) ◽  
pp. 239-259
Author(s):  
Chika Watanabe
Keyword(s):  
Disaster Preparedness ◽  
Nonprofit Organization ◽  
The State ◽  
Ethnographic Research ◽  
Government Officials ◽  
State Actors ◽  
Mass Disasters ◽  
As If

Abstract There is a growing trend to prepare children for future disasters. A Japanese nonprofit organization has developed an event called Iza! Kaeru Caravan, which includes games that teach children and their families how to survive disasters, from earthquakes to floods. Many disaster experts and government officials from other countries have now implemented the Caravan in their own contexts. Based on ethnographic research in Japan and Chile, this article shows how playful methods in disaster preparedness orient children, and by proxy their families, to accept an apocalyptic future, helping the neoliberal state buy time. Advocates of disaster preparedness in Japan and Chile accept that state actors will not come immediately to the rescue. Playful methods mobilize children and their families to take responsibility for their own survival through the subjunctive work of the “as if.” Ambiguously positioned between fun and education, playful methods of preparedness command attention from children and adults—what I call “attentive play”—as they frame and reframe the games to figure out, “Is this play?” Ultimately, the article shows that attentive play buys time for the state to temporarily defer its responsibilities to citizens, but the ambiguity of play can also exceed its ideological effects.

scholarly journals Examining the effectiveness of formal-informal sector engagement in municipal Pakistan political vs. institutional constraints

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Faisal Haq Shaheen
Keyword(s):  
Informal Sector ◽  
Municipal Government ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
National Policy ◽  
Social Contexts ◽  
The State ◽  
Policy Reforms ◽  
Labor Conditions ◽  
Sustainable Solutions ◽  
State Actors

Pakistan’s urban informal sector (IS) has been the subject of increased attention in recent years. In light of national policy failures and the rapid growth of the IS, this study asks whether there are differences in the political will and capacity in engaging the IS between upper and lower tiered state actors, and whether this engagement can be in a sustainable manner. The social contexts of housing, water and sanitation, transportation and labor conditions are examined in the cities of Lahore and Karachi to assess the experiences of the urban informal sector’s engagement with the state. A survey of state and non-state actors is carried out in field interviews to obtain the perspectives of state policies towards the IS as well as to understand the processes, constraints and possible solutions to engaging the IS. Evidence from the study supports the hypothesis that lower tiers of the state are capable of engaging the IS, but due to constraints from upper levels, are unable to do so. The study’s findings suggest that the combination of grassroots civil society efforts in mobilizing the urban IS alongside the provision of well resourced, accountable capacities of lower tiers of municipal government can generate low cost sustainable solutions to urban service delivery. Evidence also points to the benefits of civil society’s engagement with lower tiers of government to ensure that upper-level bureaucrats are held accountable for ill-conceived policy and its failures. The research shows that before success in national and provincial policy reforms can be expected, emphasis of policy has to be on the recognition and development of interactions between the IS and lower tiers of the state.

scholarly journals Implementing Peace Curriculum at Catholic Senior High School in Bali

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Agustinus Sumaryono ◽  
Sugiyono Sugiyono
Keyword(s):  
High School ◽  
Civil Society ◽  
The State ◽  
Senior High School ◽  
Role Of The State ◽  
State Actors

This research investigates how curriculum has contributed to society, especially in the context of maintaining peace in Indonesia. Unlike former studies that have paid the most attention to the fundamental role of the state actors or civil society, this study emphasizes the importance of school to build peace. This research pays attention to the case of catholic senior high school in Bali. The finding suggests that school can be agent of peace through implement the peace curriculum in school. This study demonstrates that the peace curriculum should be implemented in school to prevent the violence action. Hence, providing space for further discussion about the content of peace curriculum that can be implemented in Indonesia.

scholarly journals The Problem of State Violence

Daedalus ◽  
2022 ◽  
Vol 151 (1) ◽  
pp. 22-37
Author(s):  
Paul Butler
Keyword(s):  
Use Of Force ◽  
State Violence ◽  
The State ◽  
Power Sharing ◽  
The Public ◽  
Role Of The State ◽  
Abuse And Neglect ◽  
The Future ◽  
State Actors

Abstract When violence occurs, the state has an obligation to respond to and reduce the impacts of it; yet often the state originates, or at least contributes to, the violence. This may occur in a variety of ways, including through the use of force by police, pretrial incarceration at local jails, long periods of incarceration in prisons, or abuse and neglect of people who are incarcerated. This essay explores the role of the state in responding to violence and how it should contribute to reducing violence in communities, as well as in its own operations. Finally, it explores what the future of collaboration between state actors and the community looks like and offers examples of successful power-sharing and co-producing of safety between the state and the public.

Japanese Civil Society in the Age of Deregulation: The Case of Consumers

2002 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 217-242 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patricia L. Maclachlan
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Contemporary Literature ◽  
Regulatory Reform ◽  
The State ◽  
Private Firms ◽  
Consumer Society ◽  
Industrial Democracies ◽  
State Actors

Although scholars have long been interested in the relationships among civil society, the state and the market in advanced industrial democracies, the implications of state disengagement from the affairs of private firms for civil society have yet to be explored in the contemporary literature. My purpose in this essay has been to address this issue by examining the effects of deregulation on Japanese consumer society, paying particular attention to how legislative and bureaucratic changes in the wake of regulatory reform have affected consumer relations with business and, more significantly, state actors.

State Actor Dynamics in Brunei’s Healthcare Policies

2020 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
Author(s):  
Syazana Fauzi
Keyword(s):  
Medical Ethics ◽  
Crucial Role ◽  
World Health Organisation ◽  
The State ◽  
World Health ◽  
Top Down ◽  
The World ◽  
Prevention And Treatment ◽  
State Actor ◽  
State Actors

This study seeks to ascertain the state actor dynamics in Brunei’s healthcare policies from the perspectives of an Islamic system of governance, by first identifying the state actors, or institutions, involved in influencing, formulating and implementing Brunei’s healthcare policies. The ‘IGC Matrix’ is employed to establish the Islamic health ‘sets of expectations’ (SoEs), particularly in terms of prevention and treatment, and medical ethics, primarily derived from the Qur’ān and Prophet Muhammadﷺ’s Sunnah, in order to construct for this study a framework of reference. The SoEs are then compared against Brunei’s healthcare policies and activities to determine how much of the Islamic health SoEs are met. This study reveals that Brunei’s healthcare policies are largely motivated by non-Islamic inspirations, specifically by the World Health Organisation (WHO), but with numerous overlaps with Islamic demands. In other words, Brunei’s healthcare policies may be stemmed from a non-Islamic influence, but it does not necessarily mean that they are un-Islamic. And most, if not all, of Brunei’s healthcare policies demonstrate a top-down approach, where the state actors play a crucial role in shaping Brunei’s dynamical SoEs.

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