scholarly journals International Discussions on Religious Factor in Global Bioethics

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 123-141
Author(s):  
N. P. Shok ◽  
N. A. Belyakova

The article analyzes the cooperation of UN structures with religious non-governmental organizations, as well as with faith-based communities. The authors consider diff erent levels of the infl uence of the religious factor on the UN activity, and also articulate new directions of its development, outlined during the COVID-19 period. The authors focus on the latent semantic and structural confl ict nature of the global agenda, which is formulated by elites who recognize the “benefi ts” of religious institutions and seek to use the possibilities of religious networks, on the one hand. On the other hand, they point to internal disagreements characteristic of national religious communities, which, as a result of their participation in international dialogue, bring additional tension both to global discussions and to the internal processes of their countries. Global health, which has become an important part of international relations, puts on the agenda the search for a new ethic of global dialogue, of which religious values and religious actors are becoming a part. In the COVID-19 pandemic, trends have emerged that have made the role of religion more visible in the current global health and bioethics agenda. First of all, in connection with the threats of a global pandemic, the need to create new forms of global health management and response to epidemic threats, as well as the organization of a system of “assistance” to developing countries in the fi eld of public health.

Author(s):  
Marco Zenone ◽  
Benjamin Hawkins

Suzuki et al. have identified commonalities in the policy positions adopted at a global forum by commercial sector actors and high-income countries, on the one hand, and non-governmental organizations and low- and middle-income countries, on the other, in ways that may allow commercial sector actors to block or delay evidence-based policies through the creation of political controversy. The ability of industry actors to draw on the support of the most politically and economically powerful countries for their favoured policy agenda is an important contribution to understanding the dynamics of global health governance in the area of non-communicable diseases and beyond. Here we assess the relevance of this paper for the field of corporate actors’ research and the potential avenues this opens up for further study. More specifically we emphasize the need for comparative, cross disciplinary research to examine the power of heath-harming industries and the relevance of these findings for decolonizing global health.


Author(s):  
Hannah Smidt ◽  
Dominic Perera ◽  
Neil J. Mitchell ◽  
Kristin M. Bakke

Abstract International ‘naming and shaming’ campaigns rely on domestic civil society organizations (CSOs) for information on local human rights conditions. To stop this flow of information, some governments restrict CSOs, for example by limiting their access to funding. Do such restrictions reduce international naming and shaming campaigns that rely on information from domestic CSOs? This article argues that on the one hand, restrictions may reduce CSOs’ ability and motives to monitor local abuses. On the other hand, these organizations may mobilize against restrictions and find new ways of delivering information on human rights violations to international publics. Using a cross-national dataset and in-depth evidence from Egypt, the study finds that low numbers of restrictions trigger shaming by international non-governmental organizations. Yet once governments impose multiple types of restrictions, it becomes harder for CSOs to adapt, resulting in fewer international shaming campaigns.


2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 461-489 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alessandro CHECHI

AbstractThe philosophy underlying the UNESCO World Heritage Convention of 1972 [WHC] consists in promoting a system of international co-operation in the context of which the States Parties commit to preserving the cultural treasures of “outstanding universal value” located within their territories. However, it is a fact that today many properties inscribed on the List set under the WHC are endangered. This paper will focus on the role played by “non-state actors” in the enforcement of the WHC. It will thus dwell upon the relationships between public and private interests, on the one hand, and between international and domestic legal orders, on the other. Its purpose is to map out and discuss the most salient problems about the involvement of non-state actors—particularly non-governmental organizations [NGOs] and private companies—in the monitoring and implementation of the WHC.


2014 ◽  
Vol 18 (3) ◽  
pp. 269-288 ◽  
Author(s):  
Evan Berry

This paper presents basic empirical research about the role of religion and religious actors in the global politics of sustainability. Drawing on insights from three overlapping fields of study—environmental politics, religious transnationalism, and religion and ecology—this study analyzes data gathered through ethnographic interviews with representatives of religious non-governmental organizations at the 2012 United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, known as Rio+20. These interviews asked respondents to discuss their understanding of the meaning, role, and position of religion within civil society efforts to address sustainability concerns. Content analysis of interview responses suggests that religious actors hold divergent views about the salience of religion to global sustainability politics. The central finding is that the boundary between religious and secular civil society groups is a permeable one.


2011 ◽  
Vol 37 (6) ◽  
pp. 819-827 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bettina Hitzer ◽  
Joachim Schlör

This article introduces a special issue that investigates the place of religion in the spatial and cultural organization of west and east European cities in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Discussing different frameworks for a conceptualization of the role of religion within the urban context during the past two hundred years, it argues for adopting a broader perspective that takes into account the multiple and often conflicting processes and practices of religious modernization. Thus, it places particular emphasis on scrutinizing a space in between, that is to say, the area of contact between the outward influence on the spatial development of religious communities on the one hand and the inner workings of such communities on the other hand. Based on an 1880s debate over the way Jewish immigrants changed the religious landscape of New York Jewry as well as on the results of the following contributions, it supports a fresh look at the turn of the century as a period of intensified religious life and visibility within metropolises that contributed to the development of more “modern,” individualized forms of religious sociability and, in the same vein, fostered the emergence of modern urbanity.


2000 ◽  
Vol 17 (3) ◽  
pp. 111-115
Author(s):  
Nazila Ghana-Hercock

The author is an associate professor of political science at the University ofSouthern California. Her previous publications include a 1982 Praeger publication,"The Women's Rights Movement in Iran: Mutiny, Appeasement, andRepression from I 900 co Khomeini."Religious Minorities in Iran is of interest to political scientists, particularlythose focused on the Middle East; Iran experts; Islamic studies experts concernedwith modem-day politics and governance; those in the field of religiousstudies or comparative religion; and also lawyers, academics, and those workingin Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) in the human rights field whoare interested in issues related to minority rights, freedom of religion or belief,and human rights in the Middle East.The book focuses on those identified as the main ethnoreligious componentsof the non-Muslim religious communities in Iran: Armenians, Assyrians,Chaldeans, Jews, Zorascrians, Baha'fs, and Iranian Christian converts. Themain period of study is the first decade of the Islamic Revolution of Iran, 1979to 1989. The author gives three reasons for focusing on this period; she arguesthat this was the most ideologically charged moment of the revolution, that theposition of recognized non-Muslim minorities was largely routinized by thelate 1980s, and because she wants to avoid the nuances that emerge and complicatethe political scene after the end of the cold war and the formation ofpost-Soviet states. Later periods are mainly considered only when they beardirect relevance to the points being made and in the concluding chapter ...


Author(s):  
Agnieszka Smalec ◽  
Agata Niemczyk ◽  
Renata Seweryn

The independence of territorial self-governments in the process of implementing the tasks imposed on them does not mean that they have to implement them independently. Achieving the assumed goals of action often requires skillful cooperation with other entities, including non- governmental organizations. Local government is the closest partner of non-governmental organizations, not only through action in the local community, but above all through a community of purpose, which is to meet the needs of residents. NGOs represent the local community. The basis for the functioning of the state is social dialogue. The guarantee of successful cooperation between partners is cooperation based, on the one hand, on the awareness of local governments of jointly diagnosing and solving local problems, and on the other ‒ on the awareness of non-governmental organizations to jointly implement their goals. It should be emphasized that territorial self-government ‒ fulfilling statutory tasks and non- governmental organizations (voluntary associations of people devoting their time and energy to achieve social goals) are two different types of entities. Dialogue and cooperation between them should aim to integrate and mobilize entities to improve the quality of life in small homelands. The main goal of the article is therefore to draw attention to the importance of cooperation between territorial self-governments and non-governmental organizations in order to achieve positive results. It emphasizes the principles on which such cooperation should be based. The areas of this cooperation were indicated, giving examples of practices. The work mainly uses the desk research method in the form of literature analysis, reports and exploitation of online resources, as well as case analysis.


2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 33
Author(s):  
Septi Gumiandari ◽  
Ilman Nafi'a

<p>The trend in terrorist acts nowadays is using women as <em>perpetrators with a feminine approach. To respond to the condition, the figure of the Cirebon women ulama takes a very significant role. When women could be recruited as terrorists, it should be easier too to get them back to become agents of peace. This study originally attempts to describe the experiences and efforts of Cirebon women ulama in the process of socio-religious transformation in the Cirebon society towards a better direction, namely counteracting religious-based intolerance in Cirebon. This study was conducted through a descriptive qualitative method with a phenomenology approach. Primary data were obtained through documentation study, interviews, and direct observations with Cirebon women activists from various community organizations and non-governmental organizations. The results showed that there are several strategies used by Cirebon women ulama in countering religious radicalism such as (1) developing religious literacy among Cirebon society; (2) shifting communication patterns from monolog to dialog; (3) reviewing curriculum and the process of learning; (4) live-in with other religious communities and beliefs, and (5) establish institutional networking.</em></p><p><em> </em></p><p><em><br /></em><em></em></p>


Author(s):  
Juan de Lucas Osorio

This article aims to show how the pandemic situation has given rise to the digital exodus of activities that were originally designed to be carried out in person, organized by public bodies (town councils, county council and the Andalusian Ministry of Employment, Training and Autonomous Work) and non-governmental organizations (associations, foundations of Andalusia), raising the following questions: Are face-to-face activities transferred to the digital sphere without adapting? Are there triggers to encourage participation? Do you offer a solution in terms of technological tools or digital literacy to access the activity? To give answers to these questions, between April and September 2020 we have analyzed 233 activities, 91 activities of public organizations and 142 of social entities: training course, informative workshops, conferences, orientation, and presentation of resources. In these activities the main areas covered were: employment, social revitalization, new technologies, gender equality, health, entrepreneurship and resources for youth. With these questions, necessary and current, we obtain answers that lead to a lack of transformation of face-to-face activities towards the digital field, which does not take advantage of the benefits of digital tools; Institutions and organizations do not take into account the degree of knowledge of the public with respect to communication channels and that they require them to know how to use, without forgetting the economic circumstance and assuming that each person has the necessary software and hardware to be a connected citizen. In parallel, we have discovered that this acceleration of the digital transformation of face-to-face activities has found social entities devoid of knowledge and materials. On the one hand, it does not have the materials to carry out the subsidized programs, but the administration requires it to develop them, and on the other hand, it does not have the resources to offer citizens quality technological services, since its mission was based on in the face-to-face field, for which they demand training for their workers and collaborators, as well as computer equipment not only so that citizens can participate but also so that the organization itself can develop its relationship with the administrations.


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