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822. Civil Society and Democratic Oversight of the Security Sector: A Preliminary Investigation
- Author:
- Marina Caparini
- Publication Date:
- 01-2004
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Geneva Centre for Security Sector Governance (DCAF)
- Abstract:
- Civil society has become a popular term in academic, policy and foreign assistance circles. A significant body of literature and research has developed around the concept, and its key role in consolidating and sustaining democracy is now widely recognised by academics and policy-makers alike. Successive waves of democratisation in Latin America and Central and Eastern Europe have led experts to view civil society as a crucial agent for limiting authoritarian government, strengthening the empowerment of the people, and enforcing political accountability. It is considered a crucial factor in improving the quality and inclusiveness of governance.
- Topic:
- International Relations, Security, Civil Society, and Democratization
- Political Geography:
- Europe and Latin America
823. The Beijing 2008 Olympic Games: China in the limelight
- Author:
- John Bowan
- Publication Date:
- 08-2004
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Lowy Institute for International Policy
- Abstract:
- Beijing's successful bid for the 2008 Olympic Games gives China a unique opportunity to signal its emergence as a leading player in the mainstream of international affairs. The Games will provide a unique opportunity to showcase to the international public, as well as to foreign governments and international business, China's technical and organisational capabilities, its cultural and social achievements, and its standing and potential as a global economic power and partner. The ongoing strong commitment to the Games by the national Government, and the rapid and efficient progress made to date by the Beijing Olympic organisers, are impressive; from a technical point of view, China's challenging Olympic project is on track. The Games will make some limited contribution to the extraordinary economic and technological development China is making, particularly in environmental protection. Similarly, the Games have the potential to make some incremental contribution to improving human rights in China. Their significance as a force for change in this area should not be overestimated, however, and the evidence is that the Olympic influence on China's human rights has so far been limited. Despite the good cooperation at the Olympic level that has developed between China and Taiwan in recent years, the hosting of the Games would not stand in the way of drastic action by China if Taiwan pursued independence beyond the limits of its tolerance. Australia's cooperative Olympic links with China, developed during Beijing's bid, add a valuable dimension to the strong and important relationship between the two countries.
- Topic:
- International Relations, Civil Society, and Development
- Political Geography:
- China and Asia
824. Globalization and Islamisation
- Author:
- Yassine Essid
- Publication Date:
- 12-2004
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Institute on Globalization and the Human Condition, McMaster University
- Abstract:
- In the eyes of many, 'Islam' has become a problem for the whole world, at times verging on a kind of obsession. But the Islam that I discuss in this paper is at the other extreme of a concept based on received ideas, ideas of an Islam that has been reduced to a conceptual totality, a system of thoughts, and a set of practices, forever identical to themselves, that reflect public and private behaviors of the Muslim world. In short, I am referring to a kind of Islam that has been narrowed down to the notions of practices and ideas common to all so-called Muslim societies from Morocco to Pakistan. It is indeed more convenient, when we are unable to understand a civilization, to reduce a whole nation and its people, despite their diversity and particularities, to a faith, a doctrine, and a set of rituals. In this field, the Islamists show a kind of perfect solidarity with the intellectuals of the West.
- Topic:
- Civil Society, Gender Issues, Globalization, Islam, and Religion
- Political Geography:
- Pakistan and Morocco
825. Poverty reduction, civil society, farmer innovation and agricultural service provision, Uganda
- Author:
- Jannik Boesen, Sarah Kasozi, and Richard Miiro
- Publication Date:
- 01-2004
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Danish Institute for International Studies
- Abstract:
- This paper looks at the potential for poverty alleviation in one part of Uganda, based on a poverty analysis of the local, and on analyses of the local civil society and of development discourses that are often dominated by the central over the local. In response to calls for micro-studies of actually existing civil society it points to the usefulness of including community wide processes and hegemonic discourses in analyses of the local civil society's development role.
- Topic:
- Agriculture, Civil Society, and Poverty
- Political Geography:
- Uganda and Africa
826. Gendered district poverty profiles and poverty monitoring Kabarole, Masaka, Pallisa, Rakai and Tororo districts, Uganda
- Author:
- Helle Munk Ravnborg, Michael Kidoido, Zarupa Akello, Jannik Boesen, Sarah Kasozi, Anne Sorensen, Bernard Bashaasha, and Veronica Wabukawo
- Publication Date:
- 01-2004
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Danish Institute for International Studies
- Abstract:
- The overall objective of the Danida supported Agricultural Sector Programme Support (ASPS) in Uganda is to improve the conditions for the poorest part of the population and contribute to reduce gender-based inequalities in Uganda in general and in the pilot focus districts in particular. Late in 2000, Danida asked Department of Agricultural Economics, Makerere University, Kampala, and Centre for Development Research, Copenhagen, to form an external task group with the purpose of monitoring the gender and poverty impact of the ASPS.
- Topic:
- Agriculture, Civil Society, and Poverty
- Political Geography:
- Uganda and Africa
827. The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly' – Esping-Andersen's Regime Typology and the Religious Roots of the Western Welfare State
- Author:
- Philip Manow
- Publication Date:
- 09-2004
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies
- Abstract:
- Esping-Andersen's, Three World of Welfare Capitalism' has been the most influential contribution of recent years to the comparative welfare state research literature. According to Esping-Andersen, the welfare state basically comes in three variants: as a social-democratic, a conservative, or as a liberal regime. Yet, at a closer look particularly the conservative regime type proves to be a highly problematic category. The article claims that major problems of the 'three worlds'-typology originate from Esping-Andersen's sole focus on the class conflict, whereas he only very selectively accounts for the importance of religious cleavages. Major empirical problems of his approach vanish once we take into account not only the impact of the Catholic social doctrine on the development of the welfare state, but consider also the influence of social Protestantism, especially that of reformed, ,free', disestablished or dissenting Protestantism. The paper substantiates this claim with data-analysis for the early formative period of welfare state formation (1890-1920) and for its times of growth and crisis (1960s-1990).
- Topic:
- Civil Society, Government, and Human Welfare
828. Security Society Revisited: From the Interdependece of Similarities to the Co-habitation of Differences
- Author:
- Beril Dedeoglu
- Publication Date:
- 12-2004
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Uluslararasi Iliskiler
- Institution:
- Uluslararasi Iliskiler
- Abstract:
- Karl Deutsch's "security community" approach which defends that development of mutual relations between societies rather than states will be beneficial, suggests that the increase of communication and displacement possibilities between social sectors allowing the elaboration of common values. largely contributed to this comprehension. This approach insists that establishment of mutual confidence between similar societies is important to assure peace. This kind of cooperation has also contributed to the formation of an opponent, enemy or "the other". In the actual complex interdependence system, those who are defined as the others are threatening the security of societies. Deutsch's approach which offers several important clues regarding the assurence of confidence between societies, when applied to the relationship between different societies rather than similar ones, could help reestablishing security societies.
- Topic:
- Security and Civil Society
829. Immanuel Wallerstein: Reapproaching Social Sciences
- Author:
- Elçin Aktoprak
- Publication Date:
- 12-2004
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Uluslararasi Iliskiler
- Institution:
- Uluslararasi Iliskiler
- Abstract:
- Immanuel Wallerstein is one of the distinguished social scientists differentiating our general way of understanding and perceiving the world by developing the thesis that is based on world-system analysis. The aim of this article is limited to a short explanation of his approach. In this context, in the first chapter Wallerstein's world-system analysis and social sciences approach will be dealt with and in the second chapter modern world-system will be examined. Wallerstein considers modern world-system as a capitalist world-economy. Hence, Wallerstein's perception on capitalism and geoculture and his opinions on class, race, national and ethnic identity will be held in the second chapter.
- Topic:
- Civil Society, Economics, and Globalization
830. The Evolving Dialectic Between State-centric and Human-centric Security
- Author:
- Pauline Kerr
- Publication Date:
- 09-2003
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Australian National University Department of International Relations
- Abstract:
- This paper makes three main arguments. First, a critique of both the traditional state-centric approach to security and the more recently articulated human-centric approach suggests that each is necessary but not sufficient to address the contemporary security agenda. Second, there is however conceptual and empirical evidence that shows there is an evolving dialectic between these two approaches which is producing new thinking about security. The dialectic is between two referent objects, the state and people, between internal and external threats to these referent objects and between the various military and non-military means for enhancing the security of each. The dialectic also involves causal and constitutive connections between these elements. The final argument is that this evolving dialectic suffers from a number of problems, not least of which is the difficulty of achieving a balance between the two approaches on any given security issue. Nonetheless, in principle a dialectic between the state-centric and human-centric approaches offers a promising way of addressing the contemporary security agenda of state, trans-state and intra-state security issues and the connections between them.
- Topic:
- Security, Civil Society, Development, and Government