scholarly journals Sabotage of Development: Subverting the Censorship of Renegade Research

2018 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 5-27
Author(s):  
Japhy Wilson

In 2014, a prominent radical publishing house released a book about the influential development economist Jeffrey Sachs. The published version was one chapter shorter than the final proofs. This chapter had been removed after the publisher sought legal advice on content pertaining to fieldwork conducted in Uganda on Sachs’s Millennium Villages Project (MVP), an international development programme financed by some of the wealthiest individuals and most powerful corporations in the world. In contrast to the MVP’s remarkable claims of success, the censored chapter documented allegations of mismanagement and corruption, and told the story of the author’s detention, his pursuit by secret police on suspicion of ‘sabotage of development’, and subsequent threats of legal action made against him by the lawyers of Sachs’s philanthropic foundation. This article presents the censored chapter in its entirety, as an example of the stakes involved in transgressing ‘ethical research’ protocols that function to shield power from scrutiny. The chapter is prefaced with a discussion of the MVP and the state-capital-academia nexus, and is followed by a postscript, which sets out the principles of ‘renegade research’.

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (7) ◽  
pp. 4025
Author(s):  
Ahmet Faruk Aysan ◽  
Fouad Bergigui ◽  
Mustafa Disli

As the world is striving to recover from the shockwaves triggered by the COVID-19 crisis, all hands are needed on deck to transition towards green recovery and make peace with nature as prerequisites of a global sustainable development pathway. In this paper, we examine the blockchain hype, the gaps in the knowledge, and the tools needed to build promising use cases for blockchain technology to accelerate global efforts in this decade of action towards achieving the SDGs. We attempt to break the “hype cycle” portraying blockchain’s superiority by navigating a rational blockchain use case development approach. By prototyping an SDG Acceleration Scorecard to use blockchain-enabled solutions as SDG accelerators, we aim to provide useful insights towards developing an integrated approach that is fit-for-purpose to guide organizations and practitioners in their quest to make informed decisions to design and implement blockchain-backed solutions as SDG accelerators. Acknowledging the limitations in prototyping such tools, we believe these are minimally viable products and should be considered as living tools that can further evolve as the blockchain technology matures, its pace of adoption increases, lessons are learned, and good practices and standards are widely shared and internalized by teams and organizations working on innovation for development.


2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (4) ◽  
pp. 328-346
Author(s):  
Esther Miedema ◽  
Winny Koster ◽  
Nicky Pouw ◽  
Philippe Meyer ◽  
Albena Sotirova

There is a burgeoning body of research on the role of ‘shame’ and ‘honour’ in decisions regarding early marriage in different parts of the world. Conceptualizing shame and honour as idioms through which gendered socio-economic inequalities are created and maintained, we examine early marriage decisions in Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan, Ghana, Burkina Faso and Senegal. While we acknowledge the existence of important differences between countries in terms of the nature and manifestations of shame and honour, we argue that regardless of setting, neither shame and honour, nor female sexuality and chastity can be separated from the socio-economic hierarchies and inequalities. Thus, in this article we seek to identify the cross-cutting dynamic of marriage as a means to overcome the shame associated with young single women’s sexuality, protecting family honour and social standing, and/or securing young women’s social-economic future. Building on our data and available scholarship, we question the potential of emphasizing ‘choice’ as a means of reducing early marriage and advancing women’s emancipation in international development efforts. Instead, we argue in favour of initiatives that engage with young people and caregivers on the ways in which, at grassroot levels, communities may revise narratives of respectability, marriageability and social standing.


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.


2012 ◽  
Vol 17 (6) ◽  
pp. 1227-1251 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eric W. Bond ◽  
Kazumichi Iwasa ◽  
Kazuo Nishimura

We extend the dynamic Heckscher–Ohlin model in Bond et al. [Economic Theory(48, 171–204, 2011)] and show that if the labor-intensive good is inferior, then there may exist multiple steady states in autarky and poverty traps can arise. Poverty traps for the world economy, in the form of Pareto-dominated steady states, are also shown to exist. We show that the opening of trade can have the effect of pulling the initially poorer country out of a poverty trap, with both countries having steady state capital stocks exceeding the autarky level. However, trade can also pull an initially richer country into a poverty trap. These possibilities are a sharp contrast with dynamic Heckscher–Ohlin models with normality in consumption, where the country with the larger (smaller) capital stock than the other will reach a steady state where the level of welfare is higher (lower) than in the autarkic steady state.


Author(s):  
Mykola Ryzhkov ◽  
Anastasiia Siabro

Achievements in the sphere of automatization and telecommunication are an essential component of transformation of the international peace and security system. This article presents, that consequences of changes are of a dual character. On the one hand, new technologies are becoming an important component of society modernization strategies in developing countries, on the other hand, they can be used for armament modernization or creation of new means of confrontation in modern international relations. APR countries face the most relevant issue of information technologies usage. The article deals with the process of discussion of new challenges and threats to international security, emerging as a result of development and large-scale implementation of information-communication technologies. Positions of states regarding the adoption of resolution in the sphere of international information security were studied through examples of Japan, India, and China. It is proved in the article, that information technologies have become an important component of the security system in the world. Technologies usage may lead to steady international development as well as to information arms race. That is why working out a common position on international information security issues is of crucial importance. It is within the framework of the UN, that different states of the world are given an opportunity to express their visions of the problem of international information security and work out common approaches to its solution. The article shows, that states’ positions have similar as well as different features. For instance, all states express concern regarding possible limitation of technology transfer for the establishment of a more controlled international political environment. But states’ positions have major differences as to mechanisms of information security provision. Thus, Japan and India strive to achieve a balanced system of international information security, which should at the same time have preventive mechanisms against the emergence of threats in the information and science and technology spheres and guarantee continuation of scientific-technological development, which is a crucial component of development and modernization strategies in many countries of the world. China came forward with position of strong regulation of international information security issues and suggested framing of corresponding regulations of the states’ conduct in the cyberspace.


2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 203-210
Author(s):  
Viktoriia Bokovets ◽  
Olena Moskvichova ◽  
Iryna Hryhoruk ◽  
Svetlana Suprunenko

In the world economic space there is a complex transition from industrial technological system to postindustrial, in which the high tech, informatization and knowledge economy takes on the dominating role of the driving forces of development. Naturally, for such a turn of events, economic science was not well prepared, and today there is a certain gap between the practice of accelerated changes and the scientific provision of these processes. First of all, it concerns the development of a strategy and mechanisms for the development of the country's economy and identifying opportunities for realizing its innovative potential by doing innovative management. The researchers consider innovative management in their work in a number of aspects: science and art of innovative management (I. Dichkivska, P. Zavlin); kind of administrative activity in making decisions on innovations (I. Balabanov, M. Yon, V. Stadnik,); management of innovations (N. Kruglov, A. Porshnev); a system of rules of principles, norms, values orientations that regulate various spheres of innovation activity (V. Vasilenko, L. Oholova). In innovative management, the methods of socio-psychological series, heuristic and collegial (I. Ansoff, B. Gates, L. Karuushkha, A. Morita) prevail. There is a change in the general functions, structure and objectives of management (L. Danilenko, L. Oholova), there are special means and forms of organization of innovation activity (V. Vasilenko, L. Vashchenko).The study of literary sources and their generalization shows the importance of this issue, and requires a more in-depth study and analysis of international experience in implementing innovative measures. The research objective. The main purpose of this study is to analyze measures to stimulate innovation development in the countries of the world, assessment of their effectiveness, as well as consideration of the directions on the basis of their activation of innovation activity in Ukraine. The article reveals the essence of the concept of "innovative management", analyzes the international experience in implementing and stimulating the innovation process. Thus, to summarize, it can be concluded that the experience of leading countries in stimulating innovation usually involves quite similar measures, namely: subsidies, tax cuts or, in some cases, tax holidays, payment of a share of R & D expenditure. The following organizations are created: informational, technical, financial support for business engaged in innovation activities. Stimulates the development of innovations at the level of universities and other scientific institutions.  Keywords: innovative management; innovative activity; innovative measures; R&D; innovation.


2005 ◽  
Vol 44 (1) ◽  
pp. 108-111
Author(s):  
Faheem Jehangir Khan

Poverty is one of the most depressing global problems in the world today. Therefore, there is a growing consensus among development organisations that poverty alleviation should be the primary goal of cooperation between the rich and the poor countries. This consensus is due to the awareness that a widening international income gap threatens the well-being of people in the rich countries. In this volume, the author, Philip Kircher, offers a comprehensive study on the evolution, the content, the different national accentuations, and the problem of the international consensus on poverty alleviation, and provides a systematic analysis of today’s donor strategies for development cooperation for poverty reduction. The study focuses specifically on the strategic positions of the World Bank, the Department for International Development (DFID) of the United Kingdom, the Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) of Germany, and the Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA), as well as the positions presented by the governments of these countries in regard to development.


2016 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
pp. 33
Author(s):  
Jamalunlaili Abdullah ◽  
Che Bon Ahmad ◽  
Sri Rahayu Mohd Sa’ad ◽  
Shariman Abdul Wahab

Local Plan of every city in the world reflects its policies and public needs. Hence, it is vital to decide the suitable process representing the public voice. This paper analyses the process of public participation during the preparation of the Kuala Lumpur City Plan (KLCP). Its objective is to determine the levels of awareness and activism, and the planning issues, objectives, and comments that concern the public most. The outcome is expected to shed more insights into the process of public participation in planning in Malaysia concerning the urban development of the Malaysian capital.2398-4295 © 2016. The Authors. Published for AMER ABRA by e-International Publishing House, Ltd., UK.. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Peer–review under responsibility of AMER (Association of Malaysian Environment-Behaviour Researchers), ABRA (Association of Behavioural Researchers on Asians) and cE-Bs (Centre for Environment-Behaviour Studies), Faculty of Architecture, Planning & Surveying, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia.Keywords: Public participation; Kuala Lumpur Draft City Plan 20; participatory planning; Kuala Lumpur


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Pavla Vítová ◽  
Jaromír Harmáček

United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) identified in 2002 three fundamental areas of human development in which the Arab world lags behind the rest of the world. One of those specified areas was the lack of freedom and democracy. To investigate the presence of the democratic deficit, the study introduces a composite democracy index that measures and compares countries’ performances in the democratic domains. This paper aims to define and describe the democratic deficit in the context of the Islamic world, verify its existence in the Arab world, and determine its possible presence in other Muslim countries in various world regions. The study results showed that although the deficit was formulated almost twenty years ago, it is still relevant. It has been observed that Muslim countries performed, on average, worse on the index score than non-Muslim countries, which means that the Islamic countries face the democratic deficit. Moreover, the results showed that the performance of the Arab world in the democratic index is even worse than that of the other Muslim countries. The analysis additionally confirmed that the economic factor is important in verification of the deficit and its depth. On the level of individual countries, poor Muslim states often achieved the worst results, usually from the group of the least developed countries, such as Yemen, Somalia, Sudan, or Eritrea.


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