scholarly journals What can ESL offer to the data collector? Describing, defining, designing and deploying an alternative ESL approach

2019 ◽  
Vol 65 (3) ◽  
pp. 345-355
Author(s):  
Clare Fisher Williams

For the World Bank, the importance of the legal climate for attracting foreign investment is axiomatic and the legal and political aspects of an investment climate are measured in the World Bank’s ‘good governance’ programme. However, the assumptions underlying this rely on quantitative research setting out correlation and highlighting a narrow range of voices. An ESL-inspired approach to empirical work can question what investors want from a host state legal system while also addressing criticisms of existing literature. As a case study, Sri Lanka is set out as a country actively engaged in attracting foreign investment through the creation of an ideal investment climate. The discussion first describes the empirical by setting out the role of World Bank rationalities in shaping Sri Lanka’s investment climate. It then defines the analytical, locating ESL in the social sciences and outlining the debates surrounding the central concept of embeddedness. It goes on to design an alternative approach by combining elements of three frames, both addressing existing criticisms and avoiding embeddedness. This is then deployed and the applications and implications for framing relations of foreign investors in Sri Lanka are set out.

Law and World ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 76-83

An economic development of the states highly depends upon the flow of private international investment. Whilst the creation of suitable investment climate which would guarantee the fair and equitable treatment of foreign investment within the depoliticized and impartial dispute resolution system had been objective of the World Bank, the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes was established under its auspices. The primary objective of the ICSID Convention has been viewed on facilitating and safeguarding of private international investment through the creation of a favorable investment climate. Arbitration under the ICSID, serves not only in favor of investors but also of host states. Whilst the favorable means are offered to the both parties for dispute resolution according to the major provisions of the Convention, the “execution of the awards”, represent the slight alteration in the disadvantageous position of the foreign investor. The aforementioned alteration as the time consuming process, fulfilled within the state bureaucracy is more sensibly approached by the foreign investors in developing countries, under which the political risk and demand for foreign investment protection is always one of the highest extent. However, by virtue of signing the Convention, the states not only accept the proposed dispute resolution mechanism, but also declare and desire to welcome the foreign investment. As states aforementioned attempts could be related to the creation of the Global Forum for delivering better Investment Climate, the demands of the World Bank in the sphere is one of the most significant importance.


2011 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 339-360 ◽  
Author(s):  
Devin Joshi

AbstractInternational development agencies argue that “good governance” is crucial to attaining the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), but there are many ways to define and measure good governance. The paper begins by examining the World Bank’s minimal state conception of governance and then proposes an alternative approach based on strengthening state capacity. The paper tests this framework by developing a provisional Millennium Governance Index (MGI) for 126 countries. In comparative empirical analysis, the MGI has noticeably higher statistical correlations than the World Bank’s governance indicators on six out of seven MDGs even after controlling for per capita income levels.


1993 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-24 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Gillies

This article examines the case for and against applying political conditions to World Bank lending, the circumstances that might trigger such conditions, and the means by which they may be applied. It also surveys the genesis and diverse meaning of the ‘good governance’ agenda and briefly examines how the Bank responded to human rights abuses in China and Kenya.


2010 ◽  
Vol 112 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-30 ◽  
Author(s):  
David T. Hansen

Background/ Context In recent years, scholars the world over in both the social sciences and humanities have reanimated the ancient idea of cosmopolitanism. They discern in the idea ways in which people today can respond creatively to rapid social, political, cultural, and economic transformations. Scholars in this burgeoning field have examined issues involving cultural hybridity, global citizenship, environmental justice, economic redistribution, and more. In the article, I examine from a philosophical perspective how a cosmopolitan-minded education can assist people in cultivating thoughtful receptivity to the new and reflective loyalty to the known. Purpose/ Objective/ Research Question/ Focus of Study Philosophical work has begun on possible relations between cosmopolitanism and education. However, there are virtually no published studies that deploy a systematic cosmopolitan frame of analysis in conjunction with qualitative or quantitative research. This article seeks to encourage such research by elucidating a distinctive conception of cosmopolitanism rooted in one of its long-standing strands. This strand is characterized as cosmopolitanism on the ground, and it features what has been called “philosophy as the art of living” and “actually existing cosmopolitanism.” Research Design The article is a philosophical investigation that builds an argument using the techniques of conceptual analysis, comparison, contrast, analogy, metaphor, illustration, and exegesis of texts. Conclusions/ Recommendations The long-standing strand of cosmopolitanism on the ground generates several key elements of a philosophy of cosmopolitan-minded education. These elements are (1) a recognition of the importance of local socialization as making possible education itself, (2) the recognition that a cosmopolitan outlook triggers a critical rather than idolatrous or negligent attitude toward tradition and custom, (3) the recognition that curriculum across all subjects can be understood as a cosmopolitan inheritance, and (4) the recognition that many teachers constitute an already existing cosmopolitan community and can build on their shared purposes to enhance educational practice the world over.


Author(s):  
David MacDougall

Research in the sciences, including the social sciences, is usually supposed to be conducted in a systematic way, working from research questions to the gathering of empirical data, to conclusions. But in an analogy drawn from the art of fencing, the author argues for an alternative approach in visual anthropology. Films look at the world differently from the ways we conventionally see, and these differences have optical, social, and structural origins. To overcome these differences, filmmakers may have to voluntarily ‘dislocate’ themselves in order to put themselves in a position to view their subject from a different perspective, and so uncover new knowledge. The argument is supported by a discussion of the realities of ethnographic fieldwork, the processes of filmmaking, and the role of play and improvisation in the arts and other human endeavours.


2014 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 332-349 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julia Gallagher

This article explores norms as idealizations, in an attempt to grasp their significance as projects for international organizations. We can think about norms as ‘standards of proper behaviour’. In this sense they are somehow natural, things to be taken for granted, noticed only really when they are absent. We can also think about norms as ‘understandings about what is good and appropriate’. In this sense, norms embody a stronger sense of virtue and an ability to enable progress or improvement. Norms become ideal when they are able to conflate what is good with what is appropriate, standard, or proper. It is when the good becomes ‘natural’ that a norm appears immanent and non-contestable, and so acquires an idealized form.45Along with the other articles in this special issue, I will attempt to challenge some of the complacency surrounding the apparent naturalness and universality of norms employed in international relations.


2012 ◽  
Vol 51 (No. 2) ◽  
pp. 57-63 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Lošťák

In relation to sustainable rural development, the paper starts with the question of its conditions. One of them is social acceptance of various projects or programmes. This issue is joined with the co-ordination of human activities. The mechanism facilitating the co-ordination in contemporary societies is related to social capital. Its concept is outlined through the references to the basic literature about the topic. Using content analysis, based on the quantification of the categories created through the analysis of the literature about the topic, the social capital in selected municipalities is investigated. The main aim of the paper, however, is to show the role of this method in social capital fast identification. Although the approach necessitates further elaboration, it can be considered as the first important step in the practice of development activities. The background of the paper reflects the challenges of the World Bank concerning the elaboration and development of the new methods of measuring social capital.


2020 ◽  
pp. 122-134
Author(s):  
Beruniy ALIMOV

This article analyzes the impact of the country's media image on foreign investment flows. Researches show, that the development of any country tensely depends on its reputation in information space. Media coverage of economic reforms and important political changes is the main reason why investors in other states show interest in the country. As a result, it is possible to achieve a multiple increase in the inflow of foreign investments. The investment of foreign investors in the national economy depends not only on the rating of enterprises or on the results of economic activity, but also on the geopolitical location of the country and its domestic and foreign policy. Investors choose the most stable countries to invest capital. That is why all countries around the world are trying to do as much as possible to minimize investment risks. Like all countries in the world, Uzbekistan is making a lot of efforts to improve the attractiveness of the investment climate in the national economy. In particular, in recent years, a special attention has been paid to the investment policy of the Republic. At the same time, mass media in Uzbekistan are trying to spread the information about the great achievements of the country to the world. In this process, modern technologies of national mass media, in particular the Internet and satellite capabilities are being used. However, it would be desirable to increase the effectiveness of the existing information capacity, strengthen mechanisms for enhancing the country's image in the global media space.


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