Active Actors Research Articles

Of heroes and villains – How coalitions shape their narratives and what the public conservation debate is actually about?

Policy narrative analyses provide important insight to understand mechanisms and dynamic of policy change but also to explore how narratives shape or bind coalitions in a policy subsystem. The overall aim of our analysis was to check what are the dominant narratives about nature conservation manifested in public debate and who generates them. We applied a Narrative Policy Framework (NPF) that allowed for a systematic analysis of narratives generated in public debate on conservation in Poland. We collected and analyzed over 1200 sources of policy narratives published in the most popular nationwide newspapers in Poland between 2004 and 2020.Our results illustrate that the public discussion on conservation is focused on policy actors and their actions and beliefs rather than on scientific evidence. While wild nature itself is barely discussed, it is often positioned as an important, active actor in generated narratives. We identified two main coalitions that present different beliefs on nature and human role in natural systems maintenance. Both mutualists coalition and the coalition of traditionalists describe themselves as heroes, knowing the right solutions for conservation challenges, and their opponents as villains - impeding the effective conservation actions.The study illustrates the applicability of the NPF to explore beliefs and values expressed in policy narratives. The results highlight a polarization of conservation debate in a country in transition.

Revolutionary women, body, and the limits of nationalist ideology in colonial Bengal: re-reading the memoirs of Bina Das and Kamala Dasgupta

ABSTRACT This paper deals with the memoirs of two Bengali revolutionary women, Bina Das’ Srinkhal Jhankar published in 1948, translated as Bina Das: A Memoir, and Kamala Dasgupta’s Rakter Akshare (Written in Blood) in 1954 to argue how their subjective desire and experience dismantle the gendered rhetoric of nationalism in colonial Bengal. The accounts of Bina and Kamala present their involvement in militant activism and subsequent imprisonment. Notably, there is an inherent urge in their writings to sacrifice life for the nation and a determination not to retreat from the torturous conditions of the colonial prison. The paper contends that the rhetoric of nationalism in colonial Bengal is embedded in hegemonic masculinity that initially confined women to the spiritual and domestic realm and later allowed them to be educated and modern without acknowledging their subjectivity. Activities of these political women thus destabilise the gender discourse prevalent in the private and public sphere of colonial society, which calls for a revision of the nationalist historiography. So, this essay will examine how tropes of the body, self-sacrifice, and penal experience, as produced in these memoirs, negotiate the nationalist ideology, subvert the binary of masculine and feminine, and establish their political subjectivity.

A research on the Turkish shipyards in the Arctic: Opportunities and challenges

The Arctic region has been experiencing an extensive transformation and several economic opportunities have emerged due to the shrinking sea ice. While the Arctic Ocean has become more convenient for navigation, both Arctic and non-Arctic states have updated their Arctic policies according to recent developments. There has been a substantial increase in the number of studies studying three main Arctic sea routes: Northwest Passage (NWP), Northeast Passage (NEP), and Trans-Polar Sea Route (TSR). Albeit the existence of contradictory results, the interest in Arctic shipping presents a growing trend. The Turkish shipyards increasingly participate in tenders as well. While Çelik Tekne Shipyard stands out as the first Turkish shipyard to win the shipbuilding tender in accordance with polar conditions, a significant increase has been observed in the number of shipyards within the Arctic shipping tenders since 2018. In addition to Atlas and Akdeniz Shipyards, producing ice-class vehicles in accordance with the requirements of the Polar Code, it is possible to multiply examples from Beşiktaş Shipyard, which built ice class fuel ships, Sanmar Shipyard, which won the icebreaker tugboat tender, and Sefine and Kuzey Star Shipyards, which participated in the icebreaker tenders. Besides, the participation of Turkish shipyards as sole contractors in the Russian Arctic as of 2021 indicates their determination to become active actors in the Arctic shipping industry. Accordingly, this paper discusses the opportunities and challenges of Arctic shipping based on the Turkish case.

Boosting Influence: Türkiye’s New Military Activism In The Balkans

Boosting Influence: Türkiye’s New Military Activism In The Balkans

Preliminary Notes toward a Destituent Art

This article argues that, by looking to the generalization of a certain kind of artistic or creative character in paradigms of work, there is a view onto a different kind of relationship between culture and militant action and fugitivity. Here, the term destituent art is proposed to sketch out a form of cultural production that does or might lay waste not only to institutional targets of critique but also to the structurally immanent belief in institutional reform that underlies the aesthetics of that critique. It is an invitation to reconsider some key myths that structure art discourse (even if they appear as objects of critique) and an appeal to read that discursivity as not just productive but potentially destituent. To do so, the author reads operaismo's rereading of Marx against Marxism alongside theorizations of destituent insurrection through the subject of the artist. Some recent social movements in New York City targeting art institutions are analyzed to consider this connection. Like Colectivo Situaciones’ discussion of destituent insurrection as a grammar that unifies surplus populations through their expressions of refusal (the riot, the strike, the commune) that are simultaneously modes of reorganizing forms of life, a destituent art would not signal a turn to a productive pessimism—that all creative work is already subsumed—but that the cultivation of destituent power actualizes and is actualized by the aesthetic production of places of action.

Ad Hoc Tools for Urban Renewal: The San Borja Remodeling in Santiago, Chile, 1967-1976

Conceived, developed, and built in Santiago de Chile between 1967 and 1976, the San Borja Remodeling project was the flagship of the first years of the Urban Improvement Corporation (Corporación de Mejoramiento Urbano, CORMU), a State agency created in 1966 that would become an active actor in the renovation of Chilean cities. Despite the project's significance, not only in terms of its scale and location in the centre of the Chilean capital city but also for having pushed the capacities of both the State and private companies, previous research has not addressed the full variety of tools brought together to carry out a project of this magnitude and ambition. This article describes the complexities of the San Borja project in its development. It argues that the ambition to renovate a central area in the capital city led its designers to shape and rely on ad hoc design and legal tools to make it possible. Rather than imposing a totalizing design for the city, there was a pragmatic approach aimed at developing an incremental urban renewal plan led by the State, far from both centralized planning and neoliberal urbanism.

Multiple Criteria Stakeholder’s Roles in Ensuring the Sustainability of Gringsing Weaving

Bali is known to have the most types of wastra (traditional cloth) in Indonesia and is full of local wisdom values, one of which is Gringsing Weaving. This cloth is the only woven cloth in Indonesia that uses a double ikat weaving technique that takes a long time. The motifs and coloring are still traditional and use natural materials. Gringsing weaving has not only aesthetic value but also social and economic value. However, the departure of gringsing weaving is threatened due to the regeneration of craftsmen and competition with other relatively cheap fabric products. This research aims to analyze stakeholders' role in ensuring Tenun Gringsing's wishes, including convergence and divergence between actors. This research uses prospective analysis with MACTOR as tool analysis, where the data collection process is carried out through FGD. The respondents in the FGD are craftsmen, local figures, and the government. The identification results show that three internal and six external stakeholders are related and have an interest. Meanwhile, the objectives in context include economic, environmental, social, and cultural aspects. The results of the MACTOR analysis show that the most active actors in Gringsing Weaving tourism are traditional leaders. Tourists are stakeholders who have a value of disapproval of the goals of developing the human resources of craftsmen. Traditional leaders converge most with the Tenganan Village community and craftsmen related to Gringsing weaving. Traditional leaders have substantial differences with tourists. This further emphasizes the importance of the role of traditional leaders. This research contributes to the stakeholder scenario regarding the sustainability of Gringsing Weaving.

Harlem, Addis, and Johannesburg: African Solidarity and African American Internationalism in Harlem from the 1960s to the 1990s

Abstract This 2021 ASA Presidential Lecture combines sociopolitical history with personal reflections on Black Harlem during African decolonization. It begins at the turn of the twentieth century and traces Harlem’s transformation into an international center of pan-Africanist activism and cultural production. Brown explores solidarities that grew as Harlem politicians, grassroots leaders, and residents encountered political exiles and cultural leaders from the continent, the diaspora, and aligned political movements worldwide. These alliances and modes of protest facilitated a hardening of militant activist traditions and cultural cohesion that shaped an anti-imperialist pan-African movement and ultimately a multinational Black political movement in the 1960’s to 1990s.

Влияние региональных игроков на политический статус афганского движения «Талибан»

This article examines the role of the countries of the Arab region and Asia in shaping the political status of the Taliban movement (prohibited in the Russian Federation) after its return to power in Afghanistan in 2021. The reaction of regional actors to regime change in the country is described. A comparative analysis of the relationship of these states with the first (1996–2001) and second (2021 – present) Tali-ban regimes is presented. The article highlights Afghanistan's interaction with other countries in the economic, financial and humanitarian fields, as well as in the field of infrastructure projects. Common interests that contribute to intensifying partnerships between Afghanistan and regional powers are as-sessed. At the same time, risks associated with the terrorist activities of militants stationed in the coun-try have been identified. Measures of supporting and counteracting the domestic and foreign policies of the Taliban movement by other countries are analyzed.

Tapping on Collective National Trauma

Tapping on Collective National Trauma

Through the eyes of a child: the meaning and negotiation of integration from the perspective of pupils in Vienna

Scholars have pointed out that the dominant discourse on integration in Austria is characterized by an assimilationist view. This is particularly evident in various education policy measures – e.g., German support classes (Deutschförderklassen) – which illustrate that the well-being of migrants is not sufficiently taken into account. Against this backdrop, it is interesting to elaborate to what extent the prevailing discourse shapes young people’s understanding of integration. Applying a child-centered approach, we conducted 87 interviews and 13 focus groups with pupils at six secondary schools in Vienna. Not only did we find many different understandings of integration but also contradictions, ambiguities and ambivalences with regard to the concept of integration. Our findings suggest that it is vital for society to perceive young people as active actors in the integration discourse and to take into account the meaning and negotiation of integration as well as the needs and well-being of migrants from the perspective of pupils in order to sustain the integration process of migrant children.

Security Challenges and Economic Development in Emerging Economics: The Nigeria Experience

The study focused on security challenges and economic development in emerging economic in Nigeria and solutions. The continuous rise in insecurity and deterioration in the economic development in Nigeria call for a concern among researchers and policy makers over the years. Nigeria has witnessed an unprecedented security challenge occasioned by the activities of militants in the South-South region, kidnappers in the south east, violent armed robbery in almost parts of the country, political assassination, ritual killings and more recently activities of Boko Haram in some parts of the northern region especially north east. These social menaces, when put together impinge on the security of lives and property of both Nigerian citizens and foreigners living or even trying to invest in the country. To ensure economic development in Nigeria therefore, the study recommends various measures of curbing security challenges including preventive community policing, human capital development, equitable distribution of resources as well as channeling of resources to frontline sectors of the economy among others. This paper recommend that Federal government should engage peace and conflict resolution experts in dealing with issues concerning Fulani herdsmen and Farmers crises and that ranching method of cattle rearing location across the country while the herdsmen should be given needed training for effective and efficient management of the ranching. Also, effective leadership and good governance as a panacea to solving problems of insecurity, unemployment, poverty, hunger, disease, among other negative indices.

The End of Learning

Do evil means justify moving towards a noble goal? In this work of philosophical short story fiction, Paul is six years old when his school suffers from, and his best friend dies in, yet another school shooting. The experience changes young Paul and he spends his life working to change gun laws and prevent future school shootings. As a student, he starts the organization, Students-Saving-Students (“SSS”) that holds periodic student walkaways in support of stronger gun legislation. Paul drops out of school to pursue gun legislation full time, however, by the time he is seventeen years old, he has made little progress. That is when he gets a strange call from SSS alumni who propose taking more militant action. SSS alumni have come to the conclusion that adults who have lost children to gun violence are very likely to support gun regulation and, therefore, they should kill the fifty children with guns of the legislative members most adamantly against gun controls. They have called Paul to give him the final “go/no go” decision. Paul refuses to endorse the plan, however, as soon as he hands up the phone, he already has his doubts on if he made the right choice.

Офицеры петровской армии по сказкам военной коллегии и герольдмейстерской конторы сената: сравнительный анализ свидетельств начала и второй половины 1720-х гг

Introduction. The study of the Russian nobility of the Peter the Great era is often complicated by the lack of sources created directly by the nobles. Therefore, researchers have to study noble identities and aspirations through interpretations of their actions. Nevertheless, there is a set of documents created from the words of the nobles – skazki. Skazki‘s reflect various aspects of the life of serving nobles and can be used for a comprehensive study. At the same time, it is important to find out how much we can trust these testimonies. Materials and methods. The basis of the research is the skazki‘s of the Military College, collected in 1720-1721, as well as the skazki‘s of the Senate Heraldmaster's Office collected in 1726-1728. The skazki‘s of the same people are studied, which makes it possible to trace the changes that took place in the lives of officers, as well as to see the transformations in the description of reality that also occurred during the 1720s. An important task is also to verify information, to assess the correspondence of information from earlier skazki‘s to the data that are present in later skazki‘s. Results. Most of skazki‘s, in particular those related to the beginning of service, service regiments, literacy and social origin, coincide in both tales. Despite this, there are also less reliable indicators. These include information about the years of promotion and the nobles who approved the promotion. Indicators of the property status and counties where nobles were own estates reflect the dynamics. In our case, the main trend is to improve the property status of officers. It has been established that officers in different skazki‘s could call different nobles involved in the same promotion, and in some cases do not mention any of them. Changes in the self-identification of officers are shown, at least in the public sphere. The high literacy of the officers is shown. Conclusion. The author concludes that the skazki‘s of officers are a complex source, different indicators of which have different reliability. Nevertheless, for some in-dicators, skazki‘s can be considered to reflect reality, and actively used in research. If the information given by the officer in the skazki for different years differs, it is necessary to look for the reason for such a difference. Moreover, the reason may be not only forgetfulness. Based on the discrepancy between the data on the involvement of nobles in different skazki‘s to the same appointment of an officer, it is assumed that such differences purposefully appear. In addition, based on the research data and additional materials, the dynamism of the concept of "gentry" for the 1720s is shown. All this indicates that the officers were active actors in the process of creating skazki‘s.

Perspectives and Trends in Foreign Language Policies in China: The Case of Portuguese

This case study aims to provide a review of language policies pertaining to foreign language teaching in China through the lens of China's geopolitical position and its self-perception as one of the leaders and most active actors in developing South-South cooperation. From an initial study of 127 academic materials, documents, and news articles containing explicit or implicit references to policies, initiatives, or proposals related to the development and planning of less commonly taught foreign languages —Portuguese among them— at the tertiary level, 35 sources were selected for further analysis of the relationship between foreign language education and China’s foreign policy. These sources shed light on the multifaceted nature of language policies in China, particularly in relation to foreign language teaching. Ultimately, this analysis seeks to identify patterns, developments, and implications for China's foreign language instruction approach.

Green Supply Chain Management based on Artificial Intelligence of Everything

Aim/purpose – This research aims to design an analytical framework to investigate the dimensions, factors, and key indicators affecting the green supply chain based on the innovative technology of Artificial Intelligence of Everything (AIoE). Understanding the cause-and-effect relationships of all actors in this smart and sustainable system is also one of the critical goals of this research. Also, examining the key features of AIoE tech- nology as a new hybrid technology is one of this research’s most essential features. Design/methodology/approach – This research has tried to extract and refine the most critical parameters affecting the green supply chain based on technology by reviewing the literature and examining the opinions of active experts in the field of study. Then, by using the focus group, it has been tried to provide an analytical framework to express the cause-and-effect relationships of all actors active in this system by examining the basic features of AIoE. Finally, this framework was validated and approved using experts’ opinions and the focus group, emphasizing integrity, comprehensiveness, and effectiveness. Findings – This research identified the dimensions, components, and indicators affecting the smart, green, and sustainable supply chain based on Artificial Intelligence (AI). It also presented an analytical framework that shows the cause-and-effect relationships of all active actors in this system. Research implications/limitations – This research simultaneously offers significant insights into implementing intelligent and sustainable process-oriented systems. However, it is important to note the limitations. One of the most significant challenges in presenting the framework was finding experts with sufficient awareness, knowledge, and experi- ence and participants to analyze cause-and-effect relationships. Originality/value/contribution – This research provides a practical analysis of AIoE technology for the first time. The results strongly support the argument that hybrid AIoE technology can tremendously impact the sustainability and greenness of supply chain processes. Keywords: green supply chain, sustainable supply chain, Artificial Intelligence of Eve- rything (AIoE), AIoE-based supply chain. JEL Codes: O32

Asset Return in Money Laundering

Money Laundering Crime as a further criminal act has placed and involved two main perpetrators, namely active actors as parties trying to hide or disguise the origin of assets that are the result of criminal acts in various ways, and passive actors as parties who receive Money Laundering Crime assets. The return of Money Laundering Crime assets is not only through coercive measures, but also requires a voluntary return by the receiving party. In practice, voluntary returns create uncertainty when the receiving party (passive actor) from the beginning does not know the origin of the assets received. Through various money laundering cases in Indonesia in June-July 2022, the Authors are very interested in analyzing the extent of obligations related to the return of Money Laundering Crime assets. This research uses normative juridical methodology with Law approach and concept approach. The purpose of this study is to determine the obligations that must be carried out by passive trafficking actors based on Law No. 8 of 2010.

Pendekatan Komunikatif David Nunan (Studi Kasus dalam Pembelajaran Bahasa Arab di Markas Bahasa Arab Pondok Pesantren Banyuanyar Pamekasan)

The Communicative Approach, also known as communicative language teaching (CLT), emphasizes interaction and problem solving as both a means and an end goal of learning a particular language. This approach emphasizes role-playing activities such as language learning activities in pairs and language learning in certain groups. This results in the transfer of the role and focus of learning from teacer oriented to student oriented, namely students as the main focus and active actors of learning. The implementation of Arabic learning at the Arabic language headquarters of the Banyuanyar Islamic boarding school has largely been in accordance with the communitive approach initiated by David Nunan

Reconfiguration of Citizenship Beyond State Boundaries in Rojava

This paper seeks to investigate different modes of practicing citizenship in two political settings. One, in which an ethno-national state sets boundaries of membership and excludes some groups accordingly. The other, a democratic confederal system where neither state nor ethnic boundaries play a role in the configuration of citizenship. This empirical study looks at the individual perceptions and experiences of membership by stateless persons living in Rojava before and after the establishment of the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria. The stateless Kurds in the north of Syria, in the time of the Ba’ath government, had limited access to resources and their social life was restricted. When northern Syria (‘Rojava’) went through fundamental institution-building to implement democratic self-administration and confederalism, the conceptualisation of citizenship changed within the context of reclaiming power from the State. This is understood as a transformation from people as state objects into active actors. My discussion here focuses on how the stateless groups develop a sense of belonging, reposition the political demands and arrange social engagement horizontally. An important issue emerging from the findings is that daily membership experiences are remarkably associated with active voluntary participation in the organisation of the community. In the self-organising system, regardless of the precarious legal status the persons are holding, citizenship content and consequences in daily life are more inclusionary and egalitarian.

Narrative selfies and player–character intimacy in interface games

This paper discusses the use of selfies in narrative-driven interface games, that is games that place the narrative within fictionalized interfaces resembling those of computers or smartphones, as methods of creating intimacy between the characters and the player, while simultaneously maintaining the player’s separateness as a witness of personal stories, rather than their active actor. The article analyses how inter-character and player–character intimacy and emotional distance can be negotiated through the implementation of selfies into the narrative within interface games. The inherent intimacy of such games, which often tell personal stories of people of marginalized identities, is juxtaposed with the constrictions on the player’s agency—both in the overall gameplay and in their inability to take the selfies themselves. Three games are discussed according to three frameworks used to discuss selfies as noted by Gabriel Faimau (2020): a dramaturgic lens (the selfie as self-presentation), a sociosemiotic approach (the selfie as an art of communication), and a dialectical framework (selfie as a social critique).