Civil Society Responses to Changing Civic Spaces
Civil Society Responses to Changing Civic Spaces

Author: Kees Biekart

Publisher: Springer Nature

Published: 2023-05-24

Total Pages: 300

ISBN-13: 3031233050

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This open access book contributes to thriving debates in academic as well as professional circles about the role of civil society in shrinking civic spaces, rising authoritarianism and right-wing populism, conflicts, fragile states, and most lately, the global COVID-19 pandemic. This is one of the first books to address the implications of changing civic spaces for civil society organizations worldwide. It offers a unique overview of how social movements and civil society groups in very different settings are responding to state-imposed restrictions of basic civic freedoms. The authors are all experts in the field, and their analyses are based on original and onsite research. This unique book also contributes to a better understanding of the conceptualizations and practices of civil society. It is of keen interest to academic scholars, students, civil society practitioners, and policy makers in the field of international development research and civil society action.

The Elgar Companion to the World Bank
The Elgar Companion to the World Bank

Author: Antje Vetterlein

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

Published: 2024-09-06

Total Pages: 467

ISBN-13: 1802204784

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The Elgar Companion to The World Bank provides a comprehensive review of the past 80 years for this powerful development institution. Using different theoretical approaches from an expert group of scholars as well as practitioners, it presents an interdisciplinary exploration of the World Bank and the wider field of International Relations.

Practices of Citizenship in East Africa
Practices of Citizenship in East Africa

Author: Katariina Holma

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2019-11-04

Total Pages: 322

ISBN-13: 1000732428

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Practices of Citizenship in East Africa uses insights from philosophical pragmatism to explore how to strengthen citizenship within developing countries. Using a bottom-up approach, the book investigates the various everyday practices in which citizenship habits are formed and reformulated. In particular, the book reflects on the challenges of implementing the ideals of transformative and critical learning in the attempts to promote active citizenship. Drawing on extensive empirical research from rural Uganda and Tanzania and bringing forward the voices of African researchers and academics, the book highlights the importance of context in defining how habits and practices of citizenship are constructed and understood within communities. The book demonstrates how conceptualizations derived from philosophical pragmatism facilitate identification of the dynamics of incremental change in citizenship. It also provides a definition of learning as reformulation of habits, which helps to understand the difficulties in promoting change. This book will be of interest to scholars within the fields of development, governance, and educational philosophy. Practitioners and policy-makers working on inclusive citizenship and interventions to strengthen civil society will also find the concepts explored in this book useful to their work. The Open Access version of this book, available at https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/e/9780429279171, has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 license

Civil Society and Peacebuilding in Sierra Leone
Civil Society and Peacebuilding in Sierra Leone

Author: Vandy Kanyako

Publisher: Taylor & Francis

Published: 2024-04-23

Total Pages: 270

ISBN-13: 1040022073

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This book investigates the important role of local actors in Sierra Leone in helping to foster peace and provide for the needs of vulnerable populations following the end of the civil war. Despite severe economic, political, and in some cases security challenges, local civil society organizations in Sierra Leone have expanded rapidly over the last 20 years, incorporating their local knowledge and traditions into their work to cater to the needs of war- affected populations. However, the preference of international development donors for funneling resources and technical assistance through civil society groups at the expense of central government has also created some resentment and backlash. This book examines this intersection between civil society, donors, and government in Sierra Leone, considering both the relevance of civil society activities, and their limitations, and what this means ultimately for human security in the country. Highlighting the importance of African civil society actors as proactive agents of change, this book will be of interest to researchers and stakeholders across the fields of African peacebuilding, development, and conflict resolution.

Elgar Encyclopedia of Development
Elgar Encyclopedia of Development

Author: Matthew Clarke

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

Published: 2023-10-06

Total Pages: 661

ISBN-13: 1800372124

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The Elgar Encyclopedia of Development is a ground-breaking resource that provides a starting point for those wishing to grasp how and why development occurs, while also providing further expansion appropriate for more experienced academics.

Challenging Global Development
Challenging Global Development

Author: Henning Melber

Publisher: Springer Nature

Published: 2023-11-18

Total Pages: 267

ISBN-13: 3031303083

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This open access book presents contributions to decolonize development studies. It seeks to promote and sustain new forms of solidarity and conviviality that work towards achieving social justice.Recognising global poverty and inequalities as historic injustices, the book addresses how these can be challenged through teaching, research, and engagement in policy and practice, and the sorts of political barriers these might encounter. From a variety of perspectives and contexts, these chapters examine how decoloniality and solidarity can be developed, offering in-depth historical, theoretical, epistemological, and empirical analyses.

Contested Civic Spaces
Contested Civic Spaces

Author: Siri Hummel

Publisher: Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG

Published: 2023-07-04

Total Pages: 316

ISBN-13: 3111070786

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For some years, we have observed a broad public discussion over the shrinking civic space. While the focus has generally been on countries with authoritarian governance systems, it has more recently become apparent that the issue is neither restricted to these countries nor indeed to countries with weak or non-existing democracies. It has been demonstrated that the space in which civil society actors and individual citizens may contribute to public affairs is undergoing fundamental changes in Europe. While in some areas, the clout of civic initiative is larger today than ever before, in others, civic action is highly disputed and governments are attempting to crowd out non-governmental actors from the public sphere. This edited volume examines the wellbeing of civil society in the Europe and its riparian states. Presented by experts from 12 European countries the book presents insights in the latest developments of civil society and aspect like the shifting interaction between the state, market and civil society or the influence of populist movements on civil society and tackles the question wether there is a shrinking civic space in Europe. It addresses policy and decision makers, civil society academics and actors in the field, as well as the public.

Responding to Closing Civic Space
Responding to Closing Civic Space

Author: Fabian Hetz

Publisher:

Published: 2018

Total Pages: 18

ISBN-13:

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The global phenomenon of closing civic space is no longer new. How best to respond to this decade-long trend as governments increasingly restrict space for civil society activities? The restriction of civic space comes in many forms, ranging from ad hoc intimidation and harassment of civic activists to growing legal restrictions that make it difficult or impossible for civil society organizations (CSOs) to receive funding and carry out activities. Governments and non-governmental actors have pushed back against these restrictive measures in various ways, with varying degrees of success. This report captures some of their recent learning experiences by examining in particular the approaches of cross-border initiatives that are led by civil society organizations and operate globally, in order to make this knowledge available to other initiatives struggling to reclaim spaces.

Barriers to Effective Civil Society Organisations
Barriers to Effective Civil Society Organisations

Author: Ibrahim Natil

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2020-08-31

Total Pages: 157

ISBN-13: 1000163881

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This book provides an insight into the historical changes and present-day circumstances that have influenced, and continue to influence, the development and future of civil society. Civil society organisations (CSOs) play a crucial role in international development, however their impact on policy and practice is limited by a range of shifts across their political, social and financial landscapes. Barriers to Effective Civil Society Organisations is divided into three parts addressing each of these shifts in turn, and places particular emphasis on civil society actors linked not only by political constraints, but also by ethnic and cultural diversities that are crucial markers of political and social identity. This book draws on case studies from across Latin America, Africa, MENA and Ireland to highlight how CSOs in these countries are shaped by, and react to, shifting challenges. Reflecting on solutions for the sector, the authors provide an understanding of the various ‘self-accommodation’ policies and techniques employed by CSOs in order to continue their services and increase their credibility across global contexts. Aimed at researchers, policy makers and CSO/NGO workers looking to better understand the current state and future of the sector from the perspective of emerging scholars working in these regions, and in the Global South in particular, this innovative book is a celebration of the important work of CSOs and a reaffirmation of their right to sit at the policy table.

Changing Images of Civil Society
Changing Images of Civil Society

Author: Bruno Jobert

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2008-06-10

Total Pages: 236

ISBN-13: 1134036787

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Civil society has become one of the key parts of the reference framework for governance, seeking to replace traditional public action in which representative democracy is combined with bureaucratic implementation. The success of the civil society myth contrasts with and consequently manifests itself in the problems of political and social legitimacy and representation. This book assesses the shift in the meaning and application of civil society, from citizen protests to its incorporation into public action. It examines the diversity of interpretations and uses of civil society in different political contexts and seeks to understand the reasons for its surfacing and its multiple forms in political discourse. The authors critically analyze and compare how different types of regimes in countries such as Italy, France and the UK, Poland and Czechoslovakia, South Africa, China, India and Chile; have incorporated or otherwise responded to the new discourse. Analyzing the surfacing and uses of civil society, this book will be of interest to students and scholars of political science, analysts, policymakers, non-profit think tanks and organizations interested in comparative international studies on the third sector.