How Mediators Conceive of Peace

Author(s):  
Aly Verjee

Both contemporary and retrospective analyses of the 2013-15 regionally-led Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) mediation for South Sudan tend to overlook or oversimplify the multiple, overlapping, and competing conceptions of peace as held by the mediators who led the process until they stepped down after a peace deal was signed in August 2015. Far from an undifferentiated, homogenous entity, the mediation comprised multiple institutions, states, and officials, each with different values, goals, and understandings of peace, which also varied over time. This article identifies six conceptions of peace as held by the mediators, to help explain why the mediators were motivated and acted as they did. Such understandings and conceptions were often contradictory. To fully assess the 2013-15 process’s effectiveness such understandings can unpeel the layers of IGAD’s differentiated institutional structure and can supplement and better contextualise common critiques about the poor execution and implementation of mediation strategy, internecine regional politics, and a generalised lack of political will to resolve the conflict.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marius Warg Næss ◽  
Bård-Jørgen Bårdsen

Social inequality is pervasive in contemporary human societies. Nevertheless, there is a view that livestock, as the primary source of wealth, limits the development of inequalities, making pastoralism unable to support complex or hierarchical organisations. Thus, complex nomadic pastoral organisation is predominantly caused by external factors, i.e., historically nomadic political organisation mirrored the neighbouring sedentary population's sophistication. Using governmental statistics on reindeer herding in Norway (2001 - 2018), this study demonstrates nothing apparent in the pastoral adaptation with livestock as the main base of wealth that level wealth inequalities and limits social differentiation. This study found that inequality was generally decreasing in terms of the Gini coefficient and cumulative wealth. For example, the proportion owned by the wealthy decreased from 2001 to 2018, while the proportion owned by the poor increased. Nevertheless, rank differences persist over time with minor changes. Especially, being poor is stable: around 50% of households ranked as poor in 2001 continued to be so in 2018. In sum, results from this study indicate that pastoral wealth inequality follows the same patterns as all forms of wealth. Wealth accumulates over time, and because the highest earners can save much of their income (i.e., newborn livestock), low earners cannot. High earners can thus accumulate more and more wealth over time, leading to considerable wealth inequalities.


2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Felix Cheung

The widening income gap between the rich and the poor has important social implications. Governmental-level income redistribution through tax and welfare policies presents an opportunity to reduce income inequality and its negative consequences. The current longitudinal studies examined whether within-region changes in income redistribution over time relate to life satisfaction. Moreover, I examined potential moderators of this relationship to test the strong versus weak hypotheses of income redistribution. The strong hypothesis posits that income redistribution is beneficial to most. The weak hypothesis posits that income redistribution is beneficial to some and damaging to others. Using a nationally representative sample of 57,932 German respondents from 16 German states across 30 years (Study 1) and a sample of 112,876 respondents from 33 countries across 24 years (Study 2), I found that within-state and within-nation changes in income redistribution over time were associated with life satisfaction. The models predicted that a 10% reduction in Gini through income redistribution in Germany increased life satisfaction to the same extent as an 37% increase in annual income (Study 1), and a 5% reduction in Gini through income redistribution increased life satisfaction to the same extent as a 11% increase in GDP (Study 2). These associations were positive across individual, national, and cultural characteristics. Increases in income redistribution predicted greater satisfaction for tax-payers and welfare-receivers, for liberals and conservatives, and for the poor and the rich. These findings support the strong hypothesis of income redistribution and suggest that redistribution policies may play an important role in societal well-being.


2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 (139) ◽  
pp. 52-74
Author(s):  
Henrique Espada Lima

Abstract This article examines postmortem inventories and notarial records from Brazilian slaveholders in southern Brazil in the nineteenth century. By discussing selected cases in detail, it investigates the relationship between “precarious masters” (especially the poor and/or disabled, widows without family, and single elderly slaveholding women and men) and their slaves and former slaves to whom they bequeathed, in their testaments and final wills, manumission and property. The article reads these documents as intergenerational contractual arrangements that connected the masters’ expectations for care in illness and old age with the slaves’ and former slaves’ expectations for compensation for their work and dedication. Following these uneven relationships of interdependence and exploitation as they developed over time, the article suggests a reassessment of the role of paternalism in Brazil during the country’s final century of slavery. More than a tool to enforce relations of domination, paternalism articulated with the dynamics of vulnerability and interdependency as they changed over the life courses of both enslaved people and slave owners. This article shows how human aging became a terrain of negotiation and struggle as Brazilian slave society transformed throughout the nineteenth century.


2018 ◽  
pp. 113-119
Author(s):  
K. K. Yadav ◽  
G. P. Kafley ◽  
K. P. Yadav

Government of Nepal has adopted different models like community forestry, leasehold forestry, collaborative forestry, buffer zone community forestry and public land agroforestry for management of forest resources. Poor focused leasehold forestry is only the approach adopted since early 1990 that has two major objectives: livelihood improvement and environmental conservation. Forest user groups of 5–15 households (HHs) are provided with part of national forests for a period of initial lease of 40 years. Leased forests are managed mainly with forestry crops, forage and non-timber forest products (NTFPs) to meet the dual objectives. Past studies and researches have indicated that leasehold forests are better than the hand over time however they are inadequate in dealing with silvicultural aspects in leasehold forestry (LF). This research paper has highlighted the significance of silvicultural aspects of leasehold forestry for overall socio-economic benefits to the poor and vulnerable forest users. Review of the existing policy and legal documents, studies and progress reports of the leasehold forestry projects implemented during the last two decades, consultation with leasehold forest user groups from five districts (Tehrathum, Makawanpur, Tanahun, Pyuthan and Doti) formed the main source of data for this article. Further, author’s own experiences in the sector were taken as supporting reliable information for the study. The study found that silvicultural practices, except plantations and weeding, were not adopted in leasehold forest but there was great potential for such practices to maximize the socio-economic benefits. Proper use of silvicultural practices might have increased contribution to currently realized benefits like (i) increased income of members i.e. poorest families (having less than 3 months secured foods) were reduced over years, (ii) group members had increased access to different networks and cooperatives, (iii) participation of women, poor and indigenous people increased in the decision-making process, and (iv) forest coverage was increased with respect to the hand over time. Some issues on silviculture aspects included proper guidelines for silvicultural methods, capacity of staff and leasehold forest user group members, smaller sizes of leasehold forests, and promotion of appropriate species. Banko JanakariA Journal of Forestry Information for Nepal Special Issue No. 4, 2018, Page: 113-119 


2020 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 59-72
Author(s):  
David Seth Jones

PurposeThe aim of the paper is to examine the various aspects of the 1MDB scandal including the extent and types of corruption that occurred and the action taken to deal with them. In doing this, the paper seeks to identify the reasons for the scandal and the lessons that can be learnt to avoid such a scandal in Malaysia and elsewhere in the future.Design/methodology/approachThe research for the paper is based on evidence from court hearings, reports of watchdog and regulatory agencies, media reports, and various articles and books written about 1MDB.FindingsThe paper shows that most of the scandal involved embezzlement, bribery, false declarations and bond mispricing relating to extensive borrowing by 1MDB, and entailed a global network of shell companies and individuals through which the illicit money was passed. It also shows weak governance in 1MDB, poor internal controls within banks, the failure of watchdog and enforcement bodies to take the necessary action partly due to political control over them, and overall the lack of political will to deal with the scandal.Originality/valueThe paper builds on the findings of other papers and books written on the 1MDB scandal. It does this by linking the corruption to the borrowings of 1MDB, the international network of money-laundering and bribery through which illicit money flowed, and the poor internal controls in the organisation. It also builds on previous research by highlighting the failure of banks to identify money-laundering and of watchdog and enforcement bodies to deal with the corruption. A further value of the paper is to identify the lessons that can be learnt about combatting corruption on such a scale.


2012 ◽  
Vol 30 (5_suppl) ◽  
pp. 358-358
Author(s):  
Toni K. Choueiri ◽  
Wanling Xie ◽  
Lauren Christine Harshman ◽  
Georg A. Bjarnason ◽  
Jennifer J. Knox ◽  
...  

358 Background: Survival estimates for patients with mRCC are traditionally reported from the time of TT initiation. These survival projections, however, may not be applicable to patients who have already survived a period of time after initiating therapy. CS accounts for elapsed time since starting therapy, providing more relevant prognostic information. Methods: Data on 1673 patients treated with first-line VEGF TT between 4/7/2003 and 10/12/2010 was analyzed. Median follow up for patients still alive is 20.1 months. Conditioned survival was calculated on the set of patients alive or on TT at 3 months and using 3 months increments for up to 18 months. Results: The 2-year CS probability tends to slightly improve from 44 to 51% when conditioned on having already survived 0 to18 months since initiation of TT, respectively. The Heng et al (JCO 2009) risk criteria (defined at therapy initiation) retains prognostic ability over time independent of previous survival time or previous time on TT up to 18 months (p<0.0001 for all comparisons). In the subgroup analysis stratified by Heng risk groups, 2-year CS minimally changes over time in the favorable (FAV) and in the intermediate (INT) groups, but in the poor risk group, the 2-year CS improves from 11% initially to 33% after 18 months. When conditioned on time on TT, 2-year CS improves from 44% to 68% overall, from 74% to 90% in the FAV risk group, 49% to 57% in the INT risk group and 11% to 73% in the poor-risk group. Conclusions: Conditional survival may be a more relevant measure of prognosis for those who have already survived or have been on TT for a period of time. The largest improvement was seen in patients in the poor risk group. [Table: see text]


2014 ◽  
Vol 2014 ◽  
pp. 1-12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francesco Di Pierro

Despite the great marketing success, most physicians attribute poor efficacy to herbals. This perception is due to two situations that are an integral part of the herbal topic. The first is the poor phytochemical reproducibility obtained during the production process of herbal extracts, as herbal extracts are not always standardized in the whole manufacturing process, but only in their titer. The second problem is linked to the evolution of important enzymatic systems: cytochromes and ABC proteins. They are both enzyme classes with detoxifying properties and seem to have evolved from the molecular mould provided by active plant substances. During the evolution, as still happens today, polyphenols, saponins, terpenes, and alkaloids were ingested together with food. They do not possess any nutritional value but seem to be provided with a potential pharmacological activity. Cytochromes and ABC proteins, which evolved over time to detoxify food from vegetable chemical “actives,” now seem to limit the action of herbal derivatives. The comprehension of these 2 events may explain the origin of the widespread scepticism of physicians about herbal medicine and suggests that, after correct herbal standardization, use of antagonists of cytochromes and ABC systems will make it possible to recover their pharmacological potential.


2018 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 80
Author(s):  
Münür Bilgili

The aim of this study is to understand the relationships between critical theory-based approaches and its implementations in geography teaching departments in Turkey. Critical theory dates back to 1930s and has developed over time aiming to deal with institutions, culture and society through critical lens. Currently, critical theory-based research designs and research paradigms inspire a large number of books, articles especially in qualitative researches due to their beneficial outcomes for the vulnerable, the poor and the othered segments of society with which critical researches are mainly concerned.In the study, firstly it was described critical theory and critical research characteristics. Secondly, human geography and critical research relationships covered. Thirdly, human geography courses in geography teaching departments in Turkey explained in connection with critical theory. The relationships between these courses, critical theory and critical research were tried to explore. The study emphasized the importance of critical theory in courses in human geography considering far-reaching effects of critical theory on humanities, social sciences and art studies. Human geography has and should have close connections with other disciplines and sub-disciplines drawing on multiple theories, concepts and approaches.


Significance The announcement comes as security deteriorates, evidenced by the flow of refugees into Uganda, estimated at over 795,000 people. After a year of renewed fighting, South Sudan is shaping regional politics and relations. Impacts A proliferation of armed groups will complicate the prospects for halting hostilities. The economy will fail to improve significantly amid insecurity. Declining US interest in the conflict opens opportunities for regional states to increase their influence.


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