Haphazard urbanisation: Urban informality, politics and power in Egypt

The Egyptian military regime of Abd al-Fattah el-Sisi has announced as part of its Vision 2030 its intention to eliminate informal urban areas. The regime has identified these areas – commonly known by the Arabic term ‘ashwa’iyyat (which means haphazard) – as a threat to the nation. The Egyptian state, however, has no clear conception of what urban informality constitutes or what exactly it is eradicating. To understand how and why the state has placed urban informality as central to its politics, I contend that we have to examine the political processes through which this uncertain yet powerful concept is produced. Urban informality, I argue, is a political intervention that is always fleeting and geographically specific in an otherwise haphazard context. Haphazard urbanisation points to the complex power struggles by a range of actors, both within and beyond the state, through which the formal and informal divide can mark urban life. In a critical reading of the first major study of informality in Egypt, I show how the urban was divided into the formal and informal through outdated laws. I detail, by engaging sources in English and Arabic, how the Egyptian state militarised urban informality from the 1990s onwards. I argue that it is through this historical framing that we must understand el-Sisi’s current war against urban informality. In turn, I argue that the regime’s attempt to eliminate informality has not resulted in greater control over what and how urban informality appears but has deepened the hazardisation of urban life.

How We Grow in Intellectual Virtue

This chapter provides a framework and suggestions for growth in intellectual virtue. It likens our growth in intellectual virtue to a trip to an important destination. Any well-planned trip requires a clear destination, an assessment of our current location, and a map from getting from where we are to where we want to go. Likewise, any good plan for growth in intellectual virtue requires a clear conception of intellectual virtue, an accurate assessment of our current intellectual character, and paths from getting from our current character to a more virtuous one. Chapters 1–11 provide the clear conception needed here. This chapter considers our current intellectual character by introducing the well-known categories of continence and incontinence. It suggests that many of us exhibit neither virtues nor vices, but rather, traits—like continence or incontinence—that lie between the two. It closes with several suggestions for growth in intellectual virtue, including help from friends and mentors, emulation of exemplars, and specific, intelligent practice.

The Network Approach to General Intelligence

Human intelligence is a puzzling concept. There is no consensus on the definition of intelligence, not even within specific fields that study intelligence, such as psychometrics. Within the latter, there are, for instance, major disputes over whether intelligence is one thing (a general ability) or multiple things. In our view, it is important to have a clear conception of what intelligence is. In this chapter we adhere to such a conception and present a formal model of psychometric intelligence. This model illuminates mechanisms that can explain some important and well replicated phenomena in the study of intelligence.

Conclusion

This concluding chapter takes stock of the book’s main findings and draws out their implications for the EU’s way forward, especially with regard to the Conference on the Future of Europe. The Conference, one of the main pledges of Ursula von der Leyen’s candidacy for Commission President in 2019, is to develop EU reform proposals by 2022. Based on the theory of constituent power developed in this book, the chapter assesses the debate about the design of the Conference. It argues that the blueprints of European Parliament and Commission, as well as demands put forward in civil society, lack a systematic understanding of the EU’s foundations of legitimacy and neglect the need for a supranational separation of constituent and constituted powers. What is missing is a clear conception of the relation between those who authorize and those who are authorized to engage in EU constitutional politics. The chapter concludes by advancing the argument that the Conference could serve as a catalyst for a reform of the EU’s rules of treaty change, with the goal of enabling citizens to exercise higher-level constituent power.

Ideology

This chapter argues that dehumanizing beliefs are ideological beliefs. So, to understand how dehumanization works, and to resist it effectively, the chapter stresses the need for a clear conception of ideology. One popular conception of ideology is that ideologies are beliefs that have the function of fostering oppression. The chapter agrees with and adopts this notion of ideology, because it homes in on something important that we do not have the term for. But to truly understand what ideology is, this chapter pushes the analysis further and looks closely at the two core elements of the definition: the concepts of oppression and function.

A Clear Conception of Zero and Infinity with Practical Illustrations

This paper presents a clear conception of zero and infinity and furnishes some instances to show how this may be employed in Physics.

Socrates

Socrates raises some of the basic questions of ethical theory through his question ‘How ought we to live?’, which he takes to mean ‘How ought we to live in order to be happy?’ His answer is that we ought to acquire and practise the virtues. His inquiries reveal that people lack a clear conception of the nature of the virtues. To correct our views, we should recognize that the virtues are inseparable, that knowledge is sufficient for virtue, and that virtue is sufficient for happiness. Socrates defends these convictions, in the Protagoras and the Gorgias. Socrates’ one-sided successors, the Cyrenaics and Cynics, develop his arguments in opposed directions.

Strict Liability and the Purpose of Punishment

The main argument of this article is that only a clear conception of the purpose of punishment can orient the debate about the positioning of the fault requirement and strict liability doctrine in criminal law. A categorization of the varieties of strict liability offenses, as well as an adequate model for normatively appraising the legitimacy of these deviations from the principle of culpability, should be based on a systematic analysis of criminal law’s role and function in society. As is argued, the original purpose of criminal law consists in the stabilization of norms by means of punishment. Taking up that finding, this work provides a detailed view of the distinct mechanism of placing blame, allowing for the presentation of a clear scheme for categorizing and appraising the variety of strict liability offenses. It is stated that offenses substantively deviating from the standard mechanism of placing blame can potentially result in over-punishment, which is dysfunctional and not justifiable. Properly placing blame is essential for the appropriate fulfillment of criminal law’s purpose in society. Therefore, the claim of the principle of culpability and critiques of strict liability doctrine find their basis not only in considerations of fairness, but also social necessity. By presenting a systematic categorization of strict liability offenses, this research offers a clear approach to a frequently discussed doctrine and establishes new arguments against its legitimacy.

The Heart in Newman’s Thought

Newman’s view of the heart corresponds with the recent Catechism of the Catholic Church. His motto, Cor ad cor loquitur, exhibits his central religious preoccupation. There are three factors involved in religious existence: intellectual apprehension, emotional realization, and moral action. The center, located in the heart, is typically considered secondary: clear conception and moral action are all that is required. For Newman, this is truncated religion, for religion has its deepest root in the heart. Here is where he considers conscience. Like taste and common sense, it is an intellectual virtue; but unlike the former, it is always emotional. It is a privileged place of relation to God, the Supreme Judge. A peculiar set of emotional matters cluster around this relation. It plays in relation to the work of intellect as theology in relation to devotion. This exhibits an instance of the larger relation between notional and real assent. The latter deals with concrete matters and is a relation of “the whole person.” Its aim is to realize what we already accept. That may occur organically through experience, but it can also be invoked meditatively in solitude. Imagination is the chief vehicle of that realization.

PERANAN SIMPAN PINJAM PEREMPUAN DALAM PNPM-MP UNTUK KESEJAHTERAAN MASYARAKAT

ABSTRAK Penelitian ini dilakukan dengan tujuan Untuk mengetahui bagaimana pelaksanaan Simpan Pinjam Perempuan dalam Program Nasional Pemberdayaan Masyarakat Mandiri Perdesaan (PNPM-MP) dan peranan Simpan Pinjam Perempuan pada Program Nasional Pemberdayaan Masyarakat Mandiri Perdesaan (PNPM-MP) dalam meningkatkan kesejahteraan masyarakat Desa Payaman. Teknik pengumpulan data dilakukan dengan wawancara, catatan lapangan dan observasi (pengamatan). Metode analisis data yang digunakan dalam penelitian ini adalah metode analisis deskriptif kualitatif yaitu data yang diperoleh disusun secara sistematis kemudian disimpulkan sehingga dapat diperoleh gambaran yang baik, jelas dan dapat memberikan data seteliti mungkin mengenai obyek penelitian. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa SPP dalam Program Nasional Pemberdayaan Masyarakat Mandiri Perdesaan dilaksanakan sesuai dengan tahapan-tahapan yang ada dalam PTO (Petunjuk Teknis Operasional) PNPM. SPP PNPM Mandiri Perdesaan sangat berperan bagi masyarakat desa payaman antara lain dapat meningkatkatkan kegiatan usaha, memperluas kesempatan kerja dan sumber pendapatan masyarakat khususnya kaum perempuan, mengembangkan perekonomian masyarakat pedesaan dan menjadi modal yang mudah dijangkau dan berkelanjutan. Program SPP yang dilaksanakan di desa Payaman sudah berjalan sesuai dengan tahapan-tahapan dalam PTO, untuk itu sebaiknya perlu ada jaminan, sanksi atau denda diterapkan disetiap kelompok dan diharapkan pemanfaat SPP dapat memelihara kelompoknya masing-masing supaya tetap berjalan sesuai alurnya, sehingga dana yang diberikan bisa memberikan manfaat yang tepat dan sesuai sasaran. This research was conducted with the aim of finding out how the implementation of the Women's Savings and Loans in the National Program for Empowerment of Rural Independent Communities (PNPM-MP) and the role of the Women's Savings and Loans in the National Program for Empowerment of Independent Rural Communities (PNPM-MP) in improving the welfare of the Payaman Village community. Data collection techniques carried out by interviews, field notes and observations. Data analysis method used in this research is qualitative description analysis, the data obtained are arranged systematically with the good result that can be concluded as clear conception. It also can be provided precise research data about the object of this research. The results showed that SPP in the National Program for Empowerment of Independent Rural Communities was carried out in accordance with the phases in PNPM's PTO (Technical Operational Guidelines). SPP PNPM Mandiri in Rural Areas play a very important role for the Payaman village community, among others, it also can increase business activities, expand employment opportunities and become sources of income especially for women. On the other hand, it also develop the economy of rural communities and become asset that is accessible easily and sustainable. The SPP program carried out in Payaman village has been running in accordance with every steps in the PTO, for this reason there should be guarantees, sanctions or fines applied in each group and it is expected that SPP beneficiaries can be applied to their respective groups so that they should continue to run according to the flow, so the funds can provide benefits in right way and on the target. Kata kunci: SPP dan PNPM-MP, Kesejahteraan Masyarakat.