scholarly journals What can the African diaspora contribute to innovation and knowledge creation? The case study of Zimbabwean innovators

2021 ◽  
Vol 9s1 ◽  
pp. 101-125
Author(s):  
Juliet Thondhlana ◽  
Roda Madziva ◽  
Evelyn Chiyevo Garwe
Keyword(s):  
Brain Drain ◽  
Knowledge Production ◽  
Knowledge Creation ◽  
Highly Qualified ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Challenges And Opportunities ◽  
Rich Countries ◽  
Innovation And Development

The importance of diaspora and transnational knowledge production, innovation, and development is of growing interest, particularly in the developing world. The phenomenal increase in high human capital migration from poor to rich countries has historically led to what is commonly known as brain drain, which has negatively impacted the capacity of such countries to innovate. Yet more recently the emergence of the phenomenon of transnationalism has demonstrated the potential to transform brain drain into brain circulation, for the mutual benefit of both sending and receiving contexts. This article uses the case of Zimbabwe to explore the role of diasporan professionals, scholars, and entrepreneurs in contributing to knowledge production, innovation, and development initiatives in their countries of origin. Zimbabwe is an example of many African countries that have experienced substantial attrition of highly qualified knowledge workers for various reasons. A qualitative approach, involving interviews and documentary evidence, enabled the researchers to engage with the Zimbabwean diaspora to capture their narratives regarding the challenges and opportunities, which were then used to develop successful transnational knowledge production initiatives.

scholarly journals Towards Sustainable Mobility? The Influence of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Romanian Mobile Citizens in Spain

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (7) ◽  
pp. 4023
Author(s):  
Silvia Marcu
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development Goals ◽  
Human Mobility ◽  
Sustainable Mobility ◽  
The Sustainable Development ◽  
New Models ◽  
Challenges And Opportunities ◽  
Development Goals ◽  
Depth Interviews

Using the case study of Romanians in Spain, this article highlights how the COVID-19 crisis presents both challenges and opportunities when it comes to human mobility and sustainability. Drawing on in-depth interviews with mobile people during the period of lockdown and circulation restrictions, and in accordance with the objectives of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the paper advances and contributes to the relevance of sustainability and its impact on people’s mobility in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. I argue that even in the midst of the crisis, sustainable ways may be found to promote and protect human mobility. The paper raises the way sustainability acts as a driver, gains relevance and influence, and contributes to the creation of new models of resilient mobility in times of crisis. The conclusions defend the respect for the SDGs regarding human mobility and emphasise the role of people on the move as sustainable actors learning to overcome distance and the barriers to their mobility during the pandemic.

scholarly journals Working together: A methodological case study of 'engaged scholarship'

2010 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
pp. 20-37 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Cuthill
Keyword(s):  
Participatory Action Research ◽  
Knowledge Production ◽  
Participatory Approach ◽  
Engaged Scholarship ◽  
Participatory Action ◽  
The Past ◽  
Working Together ◽  
Introductory Discussion

The concept of engaged scholarship, as a 'new' and participatory approach to knowledge production, has received much attention over the past decade. However, the term is clouded in ambiguity. This paper presents some introductory discussion around concepts of engaged scholarship, and then focuses in detail on a methodological case study of participatory action research as an example of engaged scholarship in practice. Discussion revolves around reflections on practice, drawing largely from recent reports on participatory democracy and the role of unversities in society.

Digital University-SME Interaction for Business Development

2021 ◽  
pp. 55-71
Author(s):  
Heléne Lundberg ◽  
Christina Öberg
Keyword(s):  
Knowledge Creation ◽  
Business Development ◽  
E Learning ◽  
The Creation ◽  
Learning Concept ◽  
Developing Knowledge

This chapter describes and discusses the role of e-learning for small and medium-sized firms' (SME) business development and does so specifically in university-SME interaction related to sparsely populated regions. It is based on the idea that e-learning may provide a valuable means for developing knowledge creation and expansion beyond its educational connotation. A university-SME interaction focusing on business development of firms in remote geographical areas provides ideas on the benefits of e-learning not only for the interaction to be realized, but for the creation of flexibility, interactivity, and the bringing down of guards among the participants. The chapter contributes to previous research through tying together ideas on e-learning, university-SME interaction and business development, and by extending the e-learning concept. Practically, the case study may function as the inspiration for further initiatives.

The Opportunities and Challenges of using Email for Political Communication in Authoritarian States

2015 ◽  
pp. 1488-1507 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sam Takavarasha, Jr. ◽  
Eldred V. Masunungure
Keyword(s):  
Political Communication ◽  
Information Age ◽  
Email Marketing ◽  
Big Brother ◽  
Challenges And Opportunities ◽  
State Surveillance ◽  
Media Monitoring ◽  
Communicative Space

This chapter uses Illich's (1973) concept of conviviality for analysing the challenges and opportunities of using email for political communication in authoritarian states. Based on evidence from a case study of Zimbabwe's Media Monitoring Project (MMPZ), it contends that while conviviality allows the use of ICTs for political mobilisation, it also enables a counterproductive “big brother” effect. In addition to constant censorship and overt operations, covert strategies are often used for disrupting communication platforms. This calls for a framework for harnessing ICTs for political mobilisation. This chapter is a case study on how perceived state surveillance disrupted a vibrant communicative space in Zimbabwe. Based on evidence from the volumes of email traffic transacted over two weeks of panic, anger, and heroism, the chapter discusses the challenges and opportunities of using email for political mobilisation and warns against uncritical celebration of the role of ICTs in political mobilisation. It concludes by suggesting how the adaption of e-strategies from email marketing to political communication is among the skills that could break the tie between political opponents armed with the same convivial tools for political communication in the information age.

Interpreters of the Literary Canon and Their Technical Instruments: The Case of Balzac Criticism

2005 ◽  
Vol 70 (6) ◽  
pp. 992-1010 ◽  
Author(s):  
Grégoire Mallard
Keyword(s):  
Literary Criticism ◽  
Knowledge Production ◽  
Critical Edition ◽  
Honore De Balzac ◽  
Academic Field ◽  
Literary Theories ◽  
Comedie Humaine ◽  
Epistemic Cultures

Drawing insights from the ethnographies in the natural sciences, which have focused on the role of technical instruments in laboratory practices, this article asks, “What role do technical instruments play in the humanities?” Editions of La Comédie humaine, written by Honoré de Balzac, are taken as a case study. Primarily based on ethnographic research with Balzac scholars, this article traces the evolution of Balzac's text from a unified and unadorned text in the 1930s, to a single annotated text in the critical edition of the 1970s, and to a searchable electronic format of different versions. The author shows that the different schools of interpretation in Balzac criticism (traditional, semioticians, socio-critics) constructed these diverse editing technologies to influence the evolution of literary theories. For instance, traditional scholars' theory of authorship entertains en elective affinity with the critical edition of La Comédie humaine. Sociocritics challenged its assumptions and constructed electronic editions to develop their own theories, particularly on the genesis and reception of Balzac's texts. By focusing on the epistemic cultures in which research practices are embedded, this case study complements purely institutionalist perspectives on knowledge-production in the academic field and highlights the presence of diverse epistemic cultures in literary criticism.

The Janus face of social media and democracy? Reflections on Africa

2020 ◽  
Vol 42 (3) ◽  
pp. 317-328 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bruce Mutsvairo ◽  
Helge Rønning
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
New Media ◽  
Media Culture ◽  
Power Structures ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Current Case ◽  
Media Technologies ◽  
Political Processes

The purpose of this issue of Media Culture and Society is to discuss the possible role of social media in the struggle for democracy, against authoritarianism, and over hidden power structures. The articles included in this volume are meant to offer empirical interventions to beliefs, some of them unproven, on whether the emergence of new media technologies has driven Africa towards democratic change. Papers in this Special Issue cover a wide variety of African countries delving deep into comparative studies of participatory citizens’ media on the continent. This introduction is an attempt to offer an explanation on African democratisation and authoritarianism before conceptualising the role of social media in political processes with the backing of current case study dispatches in Africa, demonstrating the dilemmas of digital disparities in promoting or denting democratisation in Africa.

Functions and the role of labor agency in social welfare and personnel management in Germany (through the example of immigrants)

10.12737/4872 ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 16-25 ◽  
Author(s):  
Кудайберген ◽  
Pirimkul Kudaybergen
Keyword(s):  
Social Welfare ◽  
German Economy ◽  
German Society ◽  
Highly Qualified ◽  
African Countries ◽  
German State ◽  
Payroll Taxes ◽  
Management Processes ◽  
Single Child

The paper considers functions of the Labor Agency (Agency), which is an important mechanism for workforce management processes and procedures in the context of socially-oriented German economy. Agency activities are analyzed and how it practically implements social welfare principles (as exemplified by immigrants from CSI, Asian and African countries). The author operates based on his research and personal experience, gained while working in various German universities and companies. Special attention is given to how the Agency’s Center of Employment provide unemployed with unemployment relief and workplaces. Practical measures conducive to unemployment reduction are highlighted. It is emphasized that while Germany has powerful system of social welfare and sufficient unemployment reliefs, payroll taxes are also relatively high. Consequently, many immigrants try their hard to avoid working and prefer to live on the dole. Along with that the author reveals the reasons and ways through which German state officials discriminate immigrants thus favoring natives of Germany. Nevertheless, given one million vacancies to be filled throughout the country, many Germans reject the German tax system, emigrate and work successfully abroad (e.g., 65% of doctors in Switzerland are expatriate Germans). The paper specially emphasizes, that the majority of immigrants to Germany are poorly educated, poorly civilized Asians and Africans with extra families, while among native Germans single-child families prevail and highly qualified specialists do prevail among emigrants. Such social discrepancy arose discontent among German burghers which results in annual neo-Nazi anti-German marches in towns and villages. In conclusion the author provides recommendations for immigrants and Russians, willing to work in German, on how to integrate in the German society and adapt to labor market conditions of Germany.

scholarly journals Hunger in Madagascar: A Case Study

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. p21
Author(s):  
Lincoln J. Fry
Keyword(s):  
Agricultural Sector ◽  
Asset Ownership ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Individual Country ◽  
Role Of Government ◽  
Country Level ◽  
The Government ◽  
National Probability Sample

This paper is a continuation of a larger study which assesses hunger in African countries. The purpose of these papers in this is to look at the scope of hunger in countries and then to identify the factors that predict hunger in each individual country. This is the 5th paper in the series and is concerned with hunger in Madagascar, one of Africa’s and the world’s hungriest countries. The paper is important for several reasons. One is the fact that it, like all the country level papers, is based on a national probability sample, something the literature stresses is lacking and needed to improve hunger research. A second is that all the papers in the series, including this one, found that the literature’s suggestion that gender and the rural-urban dimension are significant predictors of hunger. These studies have provided a consistent list of significant hunger predictors. Employment in the country’s agricultural sector, wealth as measured by asset ownership, education and age were consistent significant predictors, .The surprising findings were related to respondent perception of the role of government in addressing hunger, questions like the way the government was handling whether people had enough to eat or addressing the living standards of the poor. The major policy implication of this and earlier papers is that governments need to reach out to citizens, presenting them with their food related plans and assuring them that the government is doing everything within its power to address hunger in their countries.

scholarly journals Sustaining the Women, Peace, and Security Agenda: The Role of UN Peacekeeping in Africa

2020 ◽  
pp. 103-121
Author(s):  
Lisa Sharland
Keyword(s):  
Peace Operations ◽  
Peace Processes ◽  
Sustainable Peace ◽  
Un Peacekeeping ◽  
Women's Participation ◽  
Peace Operation ◽  
Challenges And Opportunities ◽  
Women And Girls

Abstract Peacebuilding is less likely to succeed without the participation and consideration of women. In the last two decades, peace operations deployed on the African continent under the banner of the United Nations and the African Union have included mandates focused on strengthening women’s participation in peace processes, ensuring the protection of women and girls, and integrating gender considerations into the approach of missions at building sustainable peace. This chapter examines the approaches undertaken in two case study countries—Liberia (where a long-standing UN peace operation has recently departed) and South Sudan (where a UN peace operation continues to operate with significant constraints)—in order to examine some of the challenges and opportunities that UN engagement has offered in terms of advancing equality and women’s security in each country.

Design Thinking Mindset

2019 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Leanne SOBEL ◽  
Jochen SCHWEITZER ◽  
Bridget MALCOLM ◽  
Lars GROEGER
Keyword(s):  
Design Thinking ◽  
Building Design ◽  
Professional Services ◽  
Professional Service ◽  
Capability Development ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Measurement Tools ◽  
Challenges And Opportunities

This case study reflects on the role of design thinking mindsets in building design thinking capability within professional services consultancies. The nine design thinking mindset attributes developed by Schweitzer et. al (2016) formed the basis of five engagements with consultancies including workshops and semi-structured interviews. Data collection and observation by the authors identified key themes relating to the role of design thinking mindsets at an individual, team and organisational level, as well as the challenges and opportunities of embedding design thinking mindsets to build capability. The authors believe that capability development through the use of design thinking mindsets has the potential to support professional service consultancies to make more significant progress in embedding design thinking beyond the current focus on methods. Potential experiential learning frameworks and measurement tools are also identified.

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