How rebel groups form in genocide: The Warsaw Ghetto fighters

The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising is emblematic of armed Jewish resistance to the Holocaust; it should also be emblematic of rebel organization formation and capacity building in the most extreme power asymmetry. The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising happened because civilians who were directly experiencing a genocide formed rebel organizations that gained the capacity to hold territory. Drawing from video testimonies and memoirs of survivors, diaries of witnesses, and the work of historians, this study analyzes the formation and evolution of the Jewish Fighting Organization (ŻOB) to create and begin to validate a generalizable theory on how rebel organizations form in genocide, and how they create the capacity to hold territory from the genocidal opponent. The ŻOB evolved from a violent resistance organization to a rebel organization with a military infrastructure that could hold territory against the Nazis; further, it was this capacity to hold territory that allowed the ŻOB to win the survival of many Jews. These findings offer important insights on the possibility of rebel group mobilization against genocidal persecution, and can be used to understand contemporary genocide resisters.

Armed groups, IHL and the invisible world: How spiritual beliefs shape warfare

“Secret societies”, “traditional hunters”, “charms” and “mystical weapons” are recurrent terms when analyzing some of the present armed conflicts in the Sub-Saharan region. However, though spiritual beliefs shape armed groups’ behaviour, and such beliefs are integrated into the modus operandi of some armed groups, the role of these beliefs in warfare is largely overlooked. Far from being something anecdotal or incidental, the invisible world plays a role in shaping armed groups’ behaviour and framing warfare dynamics. Spiritual beliefs might influence the respect afforded to international humanitarian law and international human rights law. Such beliefs may also serve various strategic functions, including for legitimation of the group, mobilization of support, control, cohesion, discipline, motivation and protection. Digging further into the matter and understanding how such beliefs impact the internal dynamics of armed groups and their external relations, including with the State, other armed groups and communities, is an essential part of understanding armed conflicts and their aftermath.

The Generational and Institutional Sources of the Global Decline in Voter Turnout

ABSTRACT Why has voter turnout declined in democracies all over the world? This article draws on findings from microlevel studies and theorizes two explanations: generational change and a rise in the number of elective institutions. The empirical section tests these hypotheses along with other explanations proposed in the literature—shifts in party/candidate competition, voting-age reform, weakening group mobilization, income inequality, and economic globalization. The authors conduct two analyses. The first analysis employs an original data set covering all post-1945 democratic national elections. The second studies individual-level data from the Comparative Study of Electoral Systems and British, Canadian, and US national election studies. The results strongly support the generational change and elective institutions hypotheses, which account for most of the decline in voter turnout. These findings have important implications for a better understanding of the current transformations of representative democracy and the challenges it faces.

The Motivation to Enlist Among Kurds

Although humans have voluntarily joined militaries throughout history, research on the motivation to enlist has increased dramatically since the adoption of the All-Volunteer Force in the United States. Moskos categorized the motivations to enlist as institutional (the value alignment of the individual with the military) or occupational (the seeking of monetary rewards for competencies at market rates). This study explores the prevalence of these two traditional motivations in addition to two less commonly studied motivations—group mobilization and revenge-seeking—in an important context: the Kurds of northern Iraq. A survey of 2301 Kurdish soldiers (Peshmerga) during their war against the Islamic State (IS) indicates that institutional motivations are the most prevalent, although all four motivations are present. The importance of group mobilization and revenge-seeking represent important variations from the better-studied Western contexts that complicate our understanding of the motivation to enlist.

GESTÃO EDUCACIONAL E A FORMAÇÃO DOCENTE NA CONSTRUÇÃO DA IDENTIDADE DOS PROFESSORES DE BEBÊS E DAS CRIANÇAS BEM PEQUENAS

A atuação da gestão escolar requer a constante aprendizagem e um olhar empático voltado à coletividade. Este artigo apresenta uma discussão teórico-prática a partir do Estágio Supervisionado IV, tendo como objeto de pesquisa a gestão educacional. O objetivo do estudo foi refletir sobre o papel da Gestão Escolar na elaboração de uma proposta educativa democrática e participativa que promova e viabilize oportunidades para a formação docente continuada. A realização deste trabalho contou com um estudo teórico à luz dos estudiosos Darling-Hammond e Bransford (2019); Imbernón (2012) e Nóvoa (2019) que abordam a formação de professores; Lück (1997, 2009, 2014) e Libâneo (2012, 2015) que discutem a gestão escolar; Gonzalez-Mena e Eyer (2014) que debatem sobre um currículo de educação e cuidados baseado em relações qualificadas. A opção metodológica para subsidiar essa pesquisa se constitui numa abordagem qualitativa tomando a pesquisa-ação como perspectiva da investigação e transformação da realidade. Para tal, foi apresentado um plano de ação destinado às educadoras da Rede Municipal de Ensino de Brusque que atuam com bebês e crianças bem pequenas. As estratégias de formação utilizadas promoveram algumas ações, como: a interlocução entre teoria e prática por meio do estudo do tema “Apego”; registro escrito no diário de bordo; partilha das considerações no grupo de estudos; mobilização de reflexões sobre o papel da gestão na construção da identidade pessoal do professor; qualificação na relação com a especificidade do trabalho educativo do professor de bebês e crianças bem pequenas; compreensão da gestão sobre a proposta de formação permanente. Palavras-chave: Gestão Escolar. Formação de Professores. Bebês. Crianças bem pequenas. ABSTRACT The performance of school management requires constant learning and an empathic look towards the community. This article presents a theoretical-practical discussion based on Supervised Internship IV, with educational management as the object of research. The objective of the study was to reflect on the role of the School Manager in the elaboration of a democratic and participative educational proposal that promotes and enables opportunities for continuing teacher education. The realization of this work included a theoretical study in the light of the scholars Darling-Hammond and Bransford (2019); Imbernón (2012) and Nóvoa (2019) that address teacher training; Lück (1997, 2009, 2014) and Libâneo (2012, 2015) who discuss school management; Gonzalez-Mena and Eyer (2014) who debate about an education and care curriculum based on qualified relationships. The methodological option to support this research is a qualitative approach taking action research as a perspective of investigation and transformation of reality. To this end, an action plan was presented to educators from the Municipal Education Network of Brusque who work with babies and very young children. The training strategies used promoted some actions, such as: the dialogue between theory and practice through the study of the theme “Attachment”; record written in the logbook; sharing of considerations in the study group; mobilization of reflections on the role of management in the construction of the teacher's personal identity; qualification in relation to the specificity of the educational work of the teacher of babies and very young children; management's understanding of the proposal for ongoing formation. Keywords: School management. Teacher training. Babies. Very small children

Immediate versus secondary DIEP flap breast reconstruction: a multicenter outcome study

Purpose Immediate breast reconstruction (IBR) at the time of mastectomy is gaining popularity, as studies show no negative impact on recurrence or patient survival, but better aesthetic outcome, less psychological distress and lower treatment costs. Using the largest database available in Europe, the presented study compared outcomes and complications of IBR vs. delayed breast reconstruction (DBR). Methods 3926 female patients underwent 4577 free DIEP-flap breast reconstructions after malignancies in 22 different German breast cancer centers. The cases were divided into two groups according to the time of reconstruction: an IBR and a DBR group. Surgical complications were accounted for and the groups were then compared. Results Overall, the rate of partial-(1.0 versus 1.2 percent of cases; p = 0.706) and total flap loss (2.3 versus 1.9 percent of cases; p = 0.516) showed no significant difference between the groups. The rate of revision surgery was slightly, but significantly lower in the IBR group (7.7 versus 9.8 percent; p = 0.039). Postoperative mobilization was commenced significantly earlier in the IBR group (mobilization on postoperative day 1: 82.1 versus 68.7 percent; p < 0.001), and concordantly the mean length of hospital stay was significantly shorter (7.3 (SD3.7) versus 8.9 (SD13.0) days; p < 0.001). Conclusion IBR is feasible and cannot be considered a risk factor for complications or flap outcome. Our results support the current trend towards an increasing number of IBR. Especially in times of economic pressure in health care, the importance of a decrease of hospitalization cannot be overemphasized.

Digital games, developing democracies, and civic engagement: a study of games in Kenya and Nigeria

The use of serious games for civic learning and engagement is an area of growing interest. However, research to date has predominately examined such games in established democratic contexts and has primarily focused on the potential of in-game content and game mechanics for achieving learning and behavior change outcomes. This study used in-depth interviews with key developmental stakeholders for two civic-focused games, Haki2 in Kenya and Your Excellency in Nigeria, to further our understanding in two important but understudied areas: the potential for games to facilitate civic learning and engagement outcomes in developing democratic contexts; and the role of game production and dissemination processes in this potential. I argue that these processes provide opportunities for direct civic engagement, participatory learning, and group mobilization relevant to facilitating civic behavior in developing democratic contexts. While this research identifies critical limitations for games used as stand-alone tools to achieve civic learning and engagement outcomes, it also identifies the potential for game production and dissemination to engage communities in democratic deliberation, in identifying relevant civic-issues and solutions, to facilitate community discussion, and to mobilize players around relevant issues.

Towards Explaining Varying Degrees of Politicization of EU Trade Agreement Negotiations

Over the last decade, European Union (EU) trade agreement negotiations in the form of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) and the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) with Canada have been strongly contested. By contrast, many other EU trade negotiations have sailed on with far less politicization, or barely any at all. In this contribution, we assess a series of plausible explanation for these very varying degrees of politicization across EU trade agreement negotiations—conceived of as the combination of polarization of opinions, salience given to them in public debate, and the expansion of the number of societal actors involved therein. Through a review of existing explanations, we show how each of these explanations faces a set of challenges. In the third section, we argue it is useful to conceive of these existing explanations as structural background conditions enabling agency on the part of interest group and civil society organizations. We therefore close by sketching how literature on the relationship between interest group mobilization and public opinion could inform further comparative research on trade policy negotiations, and on politicization of EU policy making in general.

The American Institute and the Problem of Interest Group Mobilization in Antebellum United States

This article explores the formation and early history of the American Institute of the City of New-York, which in the 1830s became the leading lobby association of “friends of industry” in the United States. More specifically, the article considers how the institute’s officers sought to overcome obstacles of collective mobilization that had plagued earlier pro-industry associations. Pre–Civil War interest groups is an understudied area, and historians typically depict the years following in the Compromise of 1833 as a period essentially devoid of pro-industry agitation. However, it was in precisely in these years that friends of industry for the first time managed to obtain the resources necessary for sustained mobilization. Key to the American Institute’s success, this article argues, was the development of annual manufacturing fairs, events that provided steady revenue, strengthened internal cohesion, attracted new members, facilitated coordination with like-minded groups, and provided opportunities to engage in popular politics in an ordered manner.