The formation of a Kinh traditional village in Huế in early modern Vietnam

This article traces the transformation of Huế from an open migrant society to a closed community from the seventeenth through nineteenth centuries through an examination of the village documents of Thanh Phước in Thừa Thiên Huế province. In Thanh Phước, the expansion of cultivated land reached its limits around the end of the seventeenth century. Subsequently, continuous population pressure resulted in the emergence of social groups with closed and fixed membership called làng and dòng họ after the eighteenth century. A significant feature of this social development was that the patrilineal kinship favoured by Confucianism was used to protect the vested interests of the earliest inhabitants of the village and their descendants. This indicates that the penetration of Confucianism among the common people and the development and stagnation of agriculture in early modern Vietnam were mutual, complementary phenomena.

CSO and Media Contributions to the Fight Against Corruption in Ghana’s Extractive Sector: A Political Economy Analysis

Estimates show that Ghana losses approximately 30 percent of domestic revenue to corruption. Although losses due to corruption in Ghana’s extractive sector have not yet been quantified, the sector is plagued with incidents of corruption despite the country's commitment to international conventions, transparency mechanisms and best practices. A concerted efforts by state and non-actors is key to ease this canker. Understanding the role of CSOs and media in exposing corruption, promoting oversight and identifying the enablers and obstacles to their work is key to informing practise in the development space. This study examines the role of CSOs and media in the fight against extractive sector corruption. It identifies political economy factors that enable or hinder them in exposing corruption. Lastly, it identifies practical suggestions for surmounting the identified adverse political and economic factors. The research examines two cases of corruption, based on a desktop review and a survey of 11 state and non-state actors. A direct association between the role of CSOs and media and the level of corruption were established. Coalition building, using legal suits, sustaining advocacy, collaborations between media and CSOs are some enabling political economy factors identified. Inadequate resources to sustain advocacy, excessive duplicity of roles amongst oversight institutions, vested interests in extractive sector, inadequate prosecution of offenders by the legal system, inadequate evidence-based policy solutions by government, inadequate political will, limited access to information; little or no funding for legal action, increasing CSO and media employee turnover rates, are identified as some key political economy factors militating against efforts towards stemming corruption in Ghana’s extractive sector. These findings provide reliable information for CSOs and media in development practice, informs advocacy design, evaluates and improves media and CSO effectiveness in ridding the extractive sector of corruption.

Impact of Wetland Development and Degradation on the Livelihoods of Wetland-Dependent Communities: A Case Study from the Lower Gangetic Floodplains

Wetland ecosystem services exceed those provided by terrestrial ecosystems and their ‘wise use’ has implications for achieving sustainable development goals. Yet we have lost almost 87% of wetlands since pre-industrial times with losses projected to be much higher by 2050 in developing economies, particularly in Asia. Little is known about how this loss impacts people’s dependency at local scales in human-dominated landscapes. We identified 18 ecosystem services of Dankuni wetlands located in the Lower Gangetic Floodplains by analysing oral testimonies of wetland-dependent villagers. The ecosystem services include 12 provisioning services and two each of regulatory, cultural and supporting services. Farming and use of wetland products including molluscs, fuelwood, fodder, fibre and fish was found to subsidize living costs and provide diverse livelihood options to local residents. Encroachment of wetlands by factories and blockage of its riverine connection was reportedly degrading the wetland’s quality and eroding its ecosystem services since the last 20 years and especially since the last three years. In years of excessive and unseasonal rainfall such as during the study year, post-monsoon farming was severely impacted. We portray the human costs of wetland development which will affect vulnerable sections the most, especially landless widows and older residents. Respondents believed that it was possible to rejuvenate the wetland by restoring its riverine connections but stressed that local politicians had vested interests in supporting its degradation. We strongly assert the need to increase government accountability for protection of wetlands amidst a determined pursuit of development at the cost of sustainability.

Sustainability accounting and reporting: an ablative reflexive thematic analysis of climate crisis, conservative or radical reform paradigms

Every year the global financial system sends trillions of dollars to finance environmental destruction, but the climate crisis forces change. Notwithstanding vested interests and the unrecognised paradox of adopting environmental business strategies, the implementation of sustainability accounting and reporting (SAR) is imperative to catalyse economic transition away from fossil-fuel and plastic configurations to more sustainable ones. The research proceeded sequentially. First, it scanned the backdrop to the SAR problem and identified key associated institutions and a corpus of recent literature. An initial review to disentangle its conflicting threads generated three themes of ‘climate crisis’ and ‘conservative’ or more ‘radical’ SAR reform paradigms. Iteratively harnessing this thematic lens, the investigation re-examined the SAR literature corpus. It detected fragmented SAR responses to the climate crisis. Accordingly, the research reformulated its first theme to ‘dystopic climate crisis fragmentation’ but only refined the other two conservative or radical themes to take account of materiality and the split between Anglo-Saxon (IFRS, SSAB) or global and continental institutions (UN, EU, GRI). Conservatives defend incremental standard improvements but retain a single materiality investor-focus. Radicals seek to implement double materiality with a broader spectrum of stakeholders in mind. Both approaches have theoretical as well as pragmatic advantages and disadvantages, so the SAR contention rumbles on. Whilst the standard setting landscape is evolving, division, paradox and contention remain. Given vested interests in the destructive status quo, it would be naïve to expect a harmonious SAR Ithaca to emerge anytime soon. Yet the challenges impel urgent action.

Is It Possible to Solve the Conflicts Over Conflict of Interest?; Comment on "Towards Preventing and Managing Conflict of Interest in Nutrition Policy? An Analysis of Submissions to a Consultation on a Draft WHO Tool"

Addressing conflicts of interests when developing and implementing policies to address commercial determinants of health is pivotal to ensure that these policies are free from commercial and other vested interests of unhealthy commodities industry. As a concept, this is well accepted within the tobacco control community, and supported by the existence of an international treaty, the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. But in nutrition policy the engagement of the food industry appears to remain controversial, as efforts to create partnerships are still underway. There is a need to undertake evaluation of existing conflict of interest policies to assess their implementation and outcomes, creating best practice models that can be replicated, and understanding how to change norms within governments. Additionally, a review of existing norms, codes of conduct, and ethics to determine their impact on preventing COI would guide future implementation of these measures. Finally, governments, academics, and advocates should consider how existing tools, guidelines or other instruments could help frame the COI discussion to ensure its political feasibility. There needs for a discussion on whether the current approach of separate policies for distinct industries is preferable than a broader conflict of interest policy that would be applicable to a wide range of unhealthy commodities and across governmental sectors.

Struggle of Vested-Interests on Type-C Mining Digging in Sebudi Village, Karangasem Bali

The application of regional autonomy in accordance with Article 10 of Law no. 22 of 1999 gave local governments the authority to manage natural resources, especially excavation C mining. The management of mineral C excavation in Sebudi Village will certainly have a positive impact and a negative impact on the community. The problems that then arise are that miners often violate the rules, causing damage that has an impact on the surrounding community, causing conflicts between corporations (miners) and the community. The purpose of this study was to determine the conflict and community resistance to the type-C excavation in Sebudi Village. This study uses interpretative qualitative methods through interviews, observations, and document studies. The results of this study indicate that there has been an internal conflict between the community and the miners. The conflict emphasizes the existence of unclear land tenure rights. This lack of clarity triggers small-scale disintegration triggered by the struggle for inheritance over land ownership which causes family ties to become more tenuous, resulting in mutual claims. The existence of mutual land ownership claims between families has an impact on the lack of clarity in the accountability of the land according to its rights and obligations (land certificates), thus causing uncertainty in paying taxes to the state or government. The absence of a land certificate is also one of the obstacles in managing the type-C excavation business permit which must be based on a land certificate.

Stakeholders’ Perspectives on the Current Status of Partnerships between the Food Banking and Healthcare Systems to Address Food Insecurity in the U.S.

One in eight people in the U.S. experience food insecurity (FI). To date, the food banking sector has been at the forefront of efforts to address FI, but the healthcare sector is becoming increasingly involved in such efforts. The extent of collaboration between the two sectors remains unclear. We explored food banking stakeholders’ views on the current state of partnerships between the two sectors. We used purposive sampling to recruit ten key informants for semi-structured interviews. We also conducted a national online survey to gather data from food bank directors (n = 137). Thematic analysis generated two major themes: (1) Healthcare and food banking stakeholders are coordinating to achieve collective impact, and (2) Food banking-healthcare partnerships are leveraging various resources and vested interests within the medical community. We found evidence of ongoing partnerships between the two sectors and opportunities to strengthen these partnerships through the support of backbone organizations.

Global Education Monitoring Report - Non-state actors in education: Who chooses? Who loses?

Non-state actors’ role extends beyond provision of schooling to interventions at various education levels and influence spheres. Alongside its review of progress towards SDG 4, including emerging evidence on the COVID-19 pandemic’s impact, the 2021/2 Global Education Monitoring Report urges governments to see all institutions, students and teachers as part of a single system. Standards, information, incentives and accountability should help governments protect, respect and fulfil the right to education of all, without turning their eyes away from privilege or exploitation. Publicly funded education does not have to be publicly provided but disparity in education processes, student outcomes and teacher working conditions must be addressed. Efficiency and innovation, rather than being commercial secrets, should be diffused and practised by all. To that end, transparency and integrity in the public education policy process need to be maintained to block vested interests. The report’s rallying call – Who chooses? Who loses? – invites policymakers to question relationships with non-state actors in terms of fundamental choices: between equity and freedom of choice; between encouraging initiative and setting standards; between groups of varying means and needs; between immediate commitments under SDG 4 and those to be progressively realized (e.g. post-secondary education); and between education and other social sectors. Supporting the fifth Global Education Monitoring Report are two online tools: PEER, a policy dialogue resource describing non-state activity and regulations in the world’s education systems; and VIEW, a new website consolidating sources and providing new completion rate estimates over time.

Casting the atomic canon: (R)evolving nuclear strategy

Looming decisions on arms control and strategic weapon procurements in a range of nuclear-armed states are set to shape the international security environment for decades to come. In this context, it is crucial to understand the concepts, theories, and debates that condition nuclear policymaking. This review essay dissects the four editions of The Evolution of Nuclear Strategy, the authoritative intellectual history of its subject. Using this widely acclaimed work as a looking glass into the broader field of nuclear security studies, we interrogate the field's underlying assumptions and question the correspondence between theory and practice in the realm of nuclear policy. The study of nuclear strategy, we maintain, remains largely committed to an interpretive approach that invites analysts to search for universal axioms and to abstract strategic arguments from the precise circumstances of their occurrence. While this approach is useful for analysing the locutionary dimension of strategic debates, it risks obscuring the power structures, vested interests, and illocutionary forces shaping nuclear discourse. In the conclusion, we lay out avenues for future scholarship.

Alcaraz: intrigas y mando a distancia en la época de las Comunidades de Castilla

In the interpretation of the rising in 1520 of the Comunidades de Castilla, the tendency has been to view the events within the framework of a stratification in Castilian society, real or imagined. Analysis of some flashpoints of insurgency, in particular Zamora, Murcia, Requena, Cuenca, Plasencia, Baeza and others, has shown that, whoever was involved in street skirmishes, the protagonists were often influenced and even supported by the same vested interests from elsewhere, apprehensive of the prospect of losing control of economic resources.