This book is driven by the question: what role is played by the local security research community in Kosovo’s internationally-led Security Sector Reform? Kosovo’s SSR has been heavily driven by international knowledge rather than the context-sensitive evidence, with negative implications for the legitimacy and sustainability of SSR. Centred on an analysis of an extensive interview survey of international SSR practitioners and local researchers in Kosovo and local research papers, this book highlights how local research has engaged with, challenged and contributed to international SSR. Despite the general experience of local marginalisation, local researchers have an important role to play. Following engagement with local research, international SSR practitioners may consider local context in greater depth and think more critically about SSR implications. This highlights the potentially key role that local researchers can play to support effective post-conflict recovery.
International-Led Statebuilding and Local Resistance contributes theoretical and empirical insights to the existing knowledge on the scope, challenges and results of post-conflict international state- and institution-building project focusing on post-war Kosovo. Post-war Kosovo is one of the high-profile cases of international intervention, hosting a series of international missions besides a massive inflow of international aid, technical assistance and foreign experts. Theoretically, the book goes beyond the standard narrative of international top-down institution building by exploring how international and local factors interact, bringing in the mediating role of local resistance and highlighting the hybridity of institutional change. Empirically, the book tests those alternative explanations in key areas of institutional reform – municipal governance, public administration, normalization of relations with Serbia, high education, creation of armed forces, the security sector and the hold of Salafi ideologies. The findings speak to timely and pertinent issues regarding the limits of international promotion of effective institutions; the mediating role of local agents; and the hybrid forms of institution-building taking shape in post-conflict Kosovo and similar post-war contexts more broadly. Addressing challenges of state-building at the intersection of international interventions, local strategies of resistance, and the hybridity of institution-building experience with institutional reforms in Kosovo and in post-conflict contexts more broadly, International-Led Statebuilding and Local Resistance will be of great interest to scholars of international relations, state building and post-conflict societies. The chapters were originally published as a special issue of Southeast European and Black Sea Studies.
This book explores rationales for research methodologies embedded in African contexts. Issues discussed include: contexts for adult education research in Africa; philosophical and theoretical foundations of inquiry; philosophical perspectives and their implications for research; doing a literature review; getting started with a research proposal; quantitative research designs and carrying out surveys; summarising and analysing survey data; the nature of qualitative research; carrying out qualitative studies; combining qualitative and quantitative methods; research ethics; action research; feminist research approaches; and writing up and disseminating research.
The Annual Review of Comparative and International Education covers significant developments in the field of comparative and international education. This 2020 edition begins with a collection of discussion essays about comparative education trends and directions written by both professional and scholarly leaders.
This book is a guide to research methods for practitioner research. Written in friendly and accessible language, it includes numerous practical examples based on the authors′ own experiences in the field, to support readers. The authors provide information and guidance on developing research skills such as gathering and analysing information and data, reporting findings and research design. They offer critical perspectives to help users reflect on research approaches and to scrutinise key issues in devising research questions. This book is for undergraduate and postgraduate students, teachers and practitioners in practitioner research development and leadership programmes. The team of authors are all within the School of Education at the University of Glasgow and have significant experience of working with practitioner researchers in education.
Tap into the wisdom of experts to learn what every UX practitioner needs to know. With 97 short and extremely useful articles, you'll discover new approaches to old problems, pick up road-tested best practices, and hone your skills through sound advice. Working in UX involves much more than just creating user interfaces. UX teams struggle with understanding what's important, which practices they should know deeply, and what approaches aren't helpful at all. With these 97 concise articles, editor Dan Berlin presents a wealth of advice and knowledge from experts who have practiced UX throughout their careers. Bring Themes to Exploratory Research--Shanti Kanhai Design for Content First--Marli Mesibov Design for Universal Usability--Ann Chadwick-Dias Be Wrong on Purpose--Skyler Ray Taylor Diverse Participant Recruiting Is Critical to Authentic User Research--Megan Campos Put On Your InfoSec Hat to Improve Your Designs--Julie Meridian Boost Your Emotional Intelligence to Move from Good to Great UX--Priyama Barua
This book explores international practice in landscape architecture, focusing on the provision of services from Australia to China during China’s contemporary urbanization and Australian landscape architects’ approaches to place. Landscape architectural practice requires planners and designers to have a deep understanding of local culture, site characteristics, craftsmanship and even project procedures that are often intangible. How to acquire the above local knowledge has become a major challenge for international teams. Through the survey of the practice of Australian landscape practices in China and the case study of Li Lake planning and design project, this book reveals the process and difficulties of landscape planning and design as a transnational practice, as well as its special value as a way of cross-cultural fertilization. This book is intended for students, practitioners and researchers in the fields of landscape architecture, architecture and urban planning.
The growth of global commerce depends on many different factors and strategies in order for multinational corporations to efficiently compete and thrive in the international marketplace. In addition to business strategies, corporations must also be aware of political affairs that may impact their global economic status. The Handbook of Research on Impacts of International Business and Political Affairs on the Global Economy features dual perspectives on the business and political viewpoints for nations striving to maintain their economic standing in the era of globalization. Providing insight into various economic factors impacting global businesses and international affairs, this publication is a critical reference source for students, policymakers, international diplomats, researchers, scholars, and practitioners interested in financial challenges in the era of globalization.
Extremist Propaganda in Social Media: A Threat to Homeland Security presents both an analysis of the impact of propaganda in social media and the rise of extremism in mass society from technological and social perspectives. The book identifies the current phenomenon, what shall be dubbed for purposes of this book "Blisstopian Societies"—characterized in the abiding "ignorance is bliss" principle—whereby a population is complacent and has unquestioning acceptance of a social doctrine without challenge and introspection. In these subcultures, the malleable population self-select social media content, "news," and propaganda delivery mechanisms. By doing so, they expose themselves only to content that motivates, reinforces, and contributes to their isolation, alienation, and self-regulation of the social groups and individuals. In doing this, objective news is dismissed, fake—or news otherwise intended to misinform—reinforces their stereotyped beliefs about society and the world around them. This phenomenon is, unfortunately, not "fake news," but a real threat to which counterterror, intelligence, Homeland Security, law enforcement, the military, and global organizations must be hyper-vigilant of, now and into the foreseeable future. Chapters cite numerous examples from the 2016 political election, the Russia investigation into the Trump Campaign, ISIS, domestic US terrorists, among many other examples of extremist and radicalizing rhetoric. The book illustrates throughout that this contrived and manufactured bliss has fueled the rise and perpetuation of hate crimes, radicalism, and violence in such groups as ISIS, Boko Haram, Neo-Nazis, white separatists, and white supremacists in the United States—in addition to perpetuating ethnic cleansing actions around the world. This dynamic has led to increased political polarization in the United States and abroad, while furthering an unwillingness and inability to both compromise or see others’ perspectives—further fomenting insular populations increasing willing to harm others and do violence. Extremist Propaganda in Social Media relates current Blisstopian practices to real-world hate speech and violence, connecting how such information is consumed by groups and translated into violent action. The book is an invaluable resources for those professionals that require an awareness of social media radicalization including: social media strategists, law enforcement, Homeland Security professionals, military planners and operatives—anyone tasked with countering combat such violent factions and fringes in conflict situations.
