Challenges of impact assessment in Social Innovation: A qualitative study from two European rural regions

Over recent years, various approaches to assessing the impacts of social innovation (SI) have developed without a uniform method having arisen. There are some issues around how impacts can be assessed, connected with the questions on the nature of impacts, the levels of analysis and effects of a purely positivist approach to impact assessment. While attempting to assess such impacts, various SI initiatives face the diversity of challenges. To this end, the aim of the article is to investigate the experience of said initiatives promoting social innovation related to impact assessment of social innovation. The paper is based on an empirical study conducted with the local development associations and local action groups involved in social innovation projects in two rural regions of Austria and Portugal. The results indicate that, despite recognising the importance of impact assessment regarding social innovation activities and the opportunities it provides, local organisations in question face many challenges in assessing the impacts of social innovation, including conceptual and practical difficulties.

Dispute about the Nature of Law

The article analyzes the conditions for a dialogue between Western and post-Soviet philosophy and theory of law on the nature of law (in terms of the first), or understanding of law (in terms of the second), which would create an opportunity for the organic inclusion of the “dispute about the nature of law” elements in the context of the discussion and solving issues relevant to the post-Soviet philosophy of law, including the shift of emphasis from the theoretical to the practical aspect of the problem of the nature of law. The research begins with a general description of the peculiarities of the “discourse of legal thinking (understanding of law)” inherent in post-Soviet jurisprudence and the identification of ontological and analytical criteria for classifying the types of understanding of law (natural law, positivist, sociological) as the basis for further convergence of post-Soviet and Western experience of understanding of law. Further, the meaning of the concept of validity of law in its social, moral and legal varieties for understanding the nature of law in general and the corresponding types of such understanding are revealed. In the final part, attention is drawn to the practical aspects of the study of the nature of law, carried out in the context of “extraordinary cases” existing on the verge of law and un-law. Further analysis reveals the methodological possibilities of comprehending the concept of law through the correlation with the counter-concept of “un-law” using examples: post-Soviet discussions about the relationship between law and statute, legal and non-legal law; Hegel’s concept of right and non-right; contemporary non-positivist approach by Robert Alexy in accordance with the criterion of the “limiting border” of law according to the Radbruch formula. The conclusions summarize the provisions on the general and distinctive features of the “discourse of the nature of law” and “discourse of understanding of law”, determine the prospects for their rapprochement.

Collaborative governance in increasing the competitiveness of Micro Small Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) through the Jakpreneur program

Based on the 2016 Economic Census, the number of businesses in DKI Jakarta has reached more than one million businesses, or 98.78%. The potential of MSMEs is able to reduce the unemployment rate and can drive the wheels of the Indonesian economy and DKI Jakarta specifically. However, in the current conditions, MSMEs in DKI Jakarta still have many limitations in terms of management and empowerment. Therefore, the DKI Jakarta Provincial Government created the JakPreneur Program to help MSMEs advance to class to be competitive and maintain their business. The DKI Jakarta Provincial Government embraces stakeholders to collaborate in developing the JakPreneur Program. The purpose of this study is to describe precisely the process and form of collaboration through the approach of collaborative governance in the JakPreneur Program and provide recommendations for program improvement. This study used a post-positivist approach with a qualitative method through interviews and literature study. The results of this study indicate that the collaboration process takes place effectively between the relevant stakeholders. The collaboration formed in this context is represented by implementing a number of activities from the P1-P7 stages of the JakPreneur program.

Analisis Kualitas Pelayanan dalam Penerbitan Sertifikat Tanah di Badan Pertanahan Nasional Kabupaten Nagan Raya

The purpose of this study is to analyze the quality of service in the issuance of land certificates at Badan Pertanahan Nasional (BPN) Nagan Raya Regency. This research is qualitative research with a post-positivist approach. In this study the data obtained by researchers from observations, interviews, and documentation. The results of this study note that the certainty of the time and method of service in the issuance of land certificates at the BPN Nagan Raya Regency is still not done well. This is because officers still often extend the process of making land certificates, then in terms of the cost of obtaining land title certificates at the Nagan Raya BPN office, there are still many people who feel dissatisfied because there are additional costs that must be met by the community such as transportation costs for officers. Then regarding the obstacles that are often encountered by officers in terms of issuing land certificates are the frequent occurrence of disputes or disputes over land, incomplete files in the management of land certificates, boundary stakes, and lack of timeliness. Therefore, it is expected that employees at the Nagan Raya Regency BPN Office can provide accurate explanations to the community when processing land certificates both in terms of completeness of files, costs and time required by employees, so that with this the community can feel good service and comfort. and employees can carry out their duties according to the tempo that has been given to the community.

Thinking as an Engelsian

In this essay, I address the question of how Marxism influences our thought and action as radical intellectuals by focusing on Friedrich Engels’ work, Dialectics of Nature, the way it has been taken up in critical environmental studies and how Engels’ thinking has influenced me. In later life, Engels made important contributions on topics that are distinct from Marx's economic work. He attempted to apply dialectical methods to the “natural sciences” and he also used his knowledge of anthropology to produce a study of the historical origins of private property and women's oppression. In both cases he has been accused of adopting a positivist approach that lacks the emphasis on human agency found in Marx. Here, I challenge this view by showing how Engels’ work has been of use to practicing scientists – particularly to Richard Levins and Richard Lewontin in their book The Dialectical Biologist. I further argue that this understanding of dialectics is fully commensurable and actually advances an approach to Marxism that is based on human self-emancipation. As an undergraduate biology student these scientists inspired me with their approach to their subject as well as their activism. The essay concludes with some brief thoughts on the importance and limitations of adopting a Marxist method when considering socio-environmental change.

The Distinction Between Law qnd Morality in Legal Positivism: Socio-Philosophical Dimension

The article deals with the main conceptions of the relationship between law and morality in legal positivism. The research relevance is caused by legal positivism which is influential and dynamically developing in both domestic and foreign science. The purpose of the study is to consider the features that describe the positivist approach to the differentiation between legal and moral regulation in the context of the dialectical interaction of individual and social principles in society. It presupposes the establishment of both general and special in legal positivism’s views regarding the interaction of these social regulators. Special attention is paid to the consideration of not only positive aspects of the proposed concepts but also the difficulty that arise within legal positivism. The research methodology is based on the dialectical method, the method of analysis, comparative and historical methods. These methods allow us to analyze in a historical perspective the development of views on the relationship between law and morality in legal positivism, to analyze specific features in the visions of the most influential philosophers of this doctrine, to identify common ideas that unite the philosophers considered. As a result of the conducted research, it is argued that legal positivism is characterized by the correlation of law and morality as sovereign socio-normative systems that closely interact in the structure of society, but do not have the necessary connection that mutually determines their content. The sovereign nature of legal and moral regulation implies the search for models of their interaction. It is important to determine the demarcation line of the spheres and limits of each social regulator. As a result, it is concluded that there are three possible models of this interaction, and the consequences of their implementation in society. In particular, it is determined that law and morality within the structure of society can be either indifferent to each other or have identical content realized through both regulation forms or be in relation to a contradiction adducing to a social conflict.

University Infrastructure Quality and Students Engagement at a Private University in Uganda

This study assessed the influence of university infrastructure quality on students’ engagement at the western branch of a private University in Bushenyi District, Uganda. Particularly, the study assessed the influence of lecture rooms infrastructure, university-level infrastructure and university utilities. Using the positivist approach, the study was guided by the correlational research design, collecting data using a questionnaire on a sample of 183 students. Descriptive analysis revealed that student engagement was high, lecture rooms’ infrastructure and university utilities were good. However, the students rated university-level infrastructure as fair. Regression analysis showed that lecture rooms’ infrastructure and university utilities were significant positive predictors of students’ engagement. However, university-level infrastructure had a positive but insignificant influence on students’ engagement. Thus, the quality of lecture rooms’ infrastructure is imperative, university utilities are essential and improved university-level infrastructure is a requirement for enhancing students’ engagement. Therefore, it was recommended that universities emphasise providing quality to classroom infrastructure, improve university-level infrastructure, and establish quality university utilities.

Legal and Anthropological Approaches to International Refugee Law

This chapter offers an overview of the contribution of anthropology to the study of international refugee law. It starts with a review of the positivist legal approach, which has long dominated the field of international refugee law, with its focus on rules and states, and argues that this approach is unable to fully explain how refugee law is created and how it develops. Two recent strands—the transnational approach and the participatory approach—have criticized the limitations of the positivist approach and emphasized the role of transnational activities and actors in the process of lawmaking. However, these strands remain rooted in a liberal theory of international law, and they do not capture the complexities of the relevant human experiences. The chapter argues that an anthropological approach shifts the focus from states, borders, and citizenship towards the individual by combining and embedding human interpretations, behaviours, cultural contexts, and personal interactions with the law. Moreover, anthropological methods can enrich the understanding of the implementation of refugee law by empirically assessing legal issues. Beyond that, the chapter suggests areas that could benefit from future academic research at the interface of anthropology and refugee law.

The spirit of the law versus the letter of the law: the nature of correlation

The subject of the research is the categories “the spirit of the law” and “the letter of the law” in their regulatory sense.The purpose of the research is to confirm or disprove hypothesis that the concept of “the spirit of the law” fundamentally impacts the methodology of legal research, legal con-sciousness and the mechanism of legal regulation.The methodology for researching the spirit of the law presupposes an adequate selection of means of knowledge. It is impossible to study the spirit of the law with the tools of ma-terialism or economic determinism. The spiritual-moral, axiological, metaphysical, systemic methods and the method of synthesis are preferred for the study of the spirit of the law. The legal system of society ceases to meet the elementary requirements of the formation of a person's legal consciousness, his improvement and spiritual health when the spirit of the law is denied. It is generally impossible to understand how law functions and achieves a regulatory effect using the dogmatic, positivist approach to law as a dominant method of cognition.The main results, scope of application. The problem of the operation of the spirit of the law is one of the ignored problems of legal practice. If the legal act is at odds with the spirit of the law, the law enforcer faces a difficult choice: either morality or law. This dilemma is fraught with serious conflicts both in the mental, psychological sphere of the law enforce-ment officer himself, and between all participants in the legal process. Every person has an internal imbalance if he makes decisions and performs actions that are contrary to his con-science. Jurisprudence, which adequately perceives the subordination between the spirit of the law and the letter of the law, warns against the temptation to consider law as a sphere independent of spiritual absolutes. The current law is not exactly what is set out in the texts of regulatory acts. Distinguishing between the spirit of the law and the letter of the law, therefore, requires special types of interpretation of texts (broad, restrictive), as well as analogies of legislation and analogies of law.

Exploring Intersectionality: Theoretical Concept and Potential Methodological Efficacy in the Context of Nepal

This article engages in theoretical discussions of intersectionality on such issues as: how does Kimberle Crenshaw's intersectionality theory function in various forms of social divisions, and how do various scholars respond to it? Why is intersectionality theoretically and methodologically critical to examining Nepali political and social contexts, especially on women and Dalit's issues? This article examines the overview of intersectional theoretical standpoints explicitly based on Crenshaw's ideas and how it problematizes political practices of domination and discrimination against minority groups in societies today. Rather than providing an empirical and positivist approach to findings, this write-up offers a theoretical framework that helps conceptualize and utilize it in examining power exercise and politics in the Nepali context. It emphasizes discourse analysis to explore the systemic discrimination and the genealogy of structural violence to moot debates about central and marginal subjects concerning women and Dalit issues in Nepal.