Role Of Brokers Research Articles

Cultural brokerage and translation of human rights in the face of cultural opposition: A case of deliberative activism in Israel

Over the past two decades, cultural brokerage and translation have become central to the anthropology of human rights. This article sheds new light on the role of cultural brokers as agents capable of placating cultural opposition to human rights. This novel perspective is informed by participant observation at a dialogue group composed of Israeli human rights activists and representatives of one group of their opponents: ultra-Orthodox Mizrahim. This form of activism is called here “deliberative activism” aimed at social learning. This refers to a dialogical activism designed to promote mutual legitimacy and respect between social groups involved in deep cultural conflicts. This activism and the form of translation discovered while observing it—“dialogue-oriented translation”—open new paths for activism that is more equal, reciprocal, and culturally sensitive. However, they also raise new questions regarding the implementation of deliberative principles in activism aimed at advancing human rights.

The Role of Knowledge Brokers in Improving Financial Literacy

Several governments around the world have tried strategies based primarily on financial education programs to improve the financial literacy of their citizens. In this study, we discuss a new strategy that involves using knowledge transfer activities carried out by intermediary agents, called financial knowledge brokers, to achieve significant improvement in financial literacy. Thus, the aim of this paper is to test the impact of the five activities of financial knowledge brokers (i.e., financial knowledge acquisition, financial knowledge integration, financial knowledge adaptation, financial knowledge dissemination, and creation of links) on financial literacy. For this, we built a database from a questionnaire carried out to nearly 103 financial advisers during the period June 2015 to June 2017. Overall, the results of Structural equation Modeling (SEM) technique showed that the financial knowledge brokerage activities (four of the five activities) have a positive impact on improving financial literacy as well as on its four dimensions, namely financial attitude, financial behavior, basic financial knowledge, and advanced financial knowledge. JEL classification numbers: D80, F65, G20, I20. Keywords: Financial literacy, Knowledge brokers, Structural equation modeling.

Enabling visibility of the clinician-scientists\u2019 knowledge broker role: a participatory design research in the Dutch nursing-home sector

BackgroundA group of clinician-scientists and managers working within a Dutch academic network, experienced difficulties in clearly defining the knowledge broker role of the clinician-scientists. They found no role clarity in literature, nor did they find tools or methods suitable for clinician-scientists. Clarifying role expectations and providing accountability for funding these knowledge broker positions was difficult. The aim of this research was to design a theory-informed tool that allowed clinician-scientists to make their knowledge broker role visible.MethodsA participatory design research was conducted in three phases, over a 21-month period, with a design group consisting of an external independent researcher, clinician-scientists and their managers from within the academic network. Phase 1 constituted a literature review, a context analysis and a needs analysis. Phase 2 constituted the design and development of a suitable tool and phase 3 was an evaluation of the tool’s perceived usefulness. Throughout the research process, the researcher logged the theoretic basis for all design decisions.ResultsThe clinician-scientist’s knowledge broker role is a knowledge-intensive role and work-tasks associated with this role are not automatically visible (phase 1). A tool (the SP-tool) was developed in Microsoft Excel. This allowed clinician-scientists to log their knowledge broker activities as distinct from their clinical work and research related activities (phase 2). The SP-tool contributed to the clinician-scientists’ ability to make their knowledge broker role visible to themselves and their stakeholders (phase 3). The theoretic contribution of the design research is a conceptual model of professionalisation of the clinician-scientist’s knowledge broker role. This model presents the relationship between work visibility and the clarification of functions of the knowledge broker role. In the professionalisation of knowledge-intensive work, visibility contributes to the definition of clinician-scientists broker functions, which is an element necessary for the professionalisation of an occupation.ConclusionsThe SP-tool that was developed in this research, contributes to creating work visibility of the clinician-scientists’ knowledge broker role. Further research using the SP-tool could establish a clearer description of the knowledge broker role at the day-to-day professional level and improved ability to support this role within organisations.

Understanding the Role of Outsiders in Community-Based Development Interventions: A Framework with Findings from Iran

This article analyzes various roles of development practitioners (called outsiders) in five different cases of community-based development (CBD) in rural Iran. It provides a review of the literature on CBD and identifies three main types of roles fulfilled by outsiders to support indigenous development processes. These include preparing the ground, activating community-based organizations as participatory institutions, and taking on the role of brokers who bridge the gap between the local community and outside institutions—especially the state and market. From the analysis of empirical qualitative data collected during fieldwork in Iran, the article concludes that while the roles played by the outsiders in CBD interventions there correspond mostly to those identified in the literature, there are differences in their strategies of intervention and activities under each role which correspond with their contextual contingencies. Recognizing this variation is needed to deepen the understanding of CBD practices and help practitioners think about alternative perspectives and approaches.

Average time to sell a property and credit conditions: Evidence from the Italian housing market survey

AbstractThis study examines the influence of housing credit conditions on the time on market (TOM) for residential properties in Italy, using a unique dataset from the Bank of Italy survey on the Italian housing market. The analysis was carried out on a sample of roughly 1000 real estate agents over the period 2011–2015 using panel data techniques. The results support the view that an increase in housing market liquidity, measured by the loan‐to‐value ratio, reduces the average TOM of a property, thus improving the matching process between buyers and sellers. The results are found to be robust to specifications including the traditional determinants of TOM, used as controls (i.e., price revisions, potential buyers, mandates to sell, the role of brokers, and so on). The results also show that a higher price reduction, possibly associated with an initial mispricing by the seller when setting the initial listing price, seems to be associated with a higher TOM for residential properties.

Transformative Social Innovation in Rural Areas: Insights from a Rural Development Initiative in the Portuguese Region of Baixo Alentejo

Abstract The role of social innovation initiatives in contributing to sustainable rural development has been discussed both in academia and practice. Some scholars argue that, rather than delivering solely on unmet needs and services, social innovation should have a broader transformative impact. By applying Castro-Arce and Vanclay’s analytical framework for transformative social innovation (2020), the paper seeks to analyse the experience of a rural development initiative based in Portugal. The results of this exploratory study indicate that, in triggering bottom-linked governance, the initiative has taken on the bridging roles of knowledge broker, resource broker, shared vision champion, transparency and conflict resolution agent, and network enabler. Alongside taking on these bridging roles, the initiative under study, while promoting cooperation and knowledge exchange, has encountered some challenges further discussed in the paper. Finally, the paper makes some suggestions on how the proposed framework could be enriched.

The Pat Jasan drug eradication social movement in Northern Myanmar, part three: Legal pluralism & the challenge of everyday justice

This paper provides an overview of the activities of a large drug eradication movement called Pat Jasan in northern Myanmar. It will outline the different everyday justice systems available in the Myanmar borderlands to communities who are seeking to push forward a ‘solutions focused’ agenda to manage drug-related social problems. They have at their disposal a range of statutory, customary, and quasi-statutory-customary legal processes and instruments. However, a close analysis of everyday justice highlights the complex challenges posed in this contested borderland concerning how to address these issues through multiple, overlapping authorities. The paper shows how notions of legitimacy for drug related legal processes are constructed and the key role of brokers in this environment, who are vital in managing the dilemmas of governance and legal administration. It also touches upon emerging intergenerational and gendered tensions that serve to orientate ideological and political perspectives towards different outcomes as these systems are navigated. The complexity and sensitivity of the local everyday justice social field contrasts sharply with the debates conducted about Pat Jasan at a national and drugs policy reform level, in which these local actors are marginalized as disruptive and reactionary forces that work entirely outside the rule of law. The paper invites consideration of how national and international drug policy actors engage with such social movements, as well as how concerns about illicit drug use and supply within local communities provides a helpful tool of analysis for understanding other critical issues for sustainable development and peacebuilding.

Nonprofit Advocacy Coalitions in Times of COVID-19: Brokerage, Crowdfunding, and Advocacy Roles

This article analyzes the roles an advocacy coalition undertakes to support nonprofit organizations to cope with the challenges caused by lockdown and physical distance measures to stop COVID-19. We find that social workers and nonprofit members of the coalition created different kinds of solutions and innovative practices to support vulnerable target groups when confronted with the COVID-19 crisis and the resulting lockdown regulations. In particular, we show that the coalition was pushed to diversify its activities, leading to the development of three roles: a direct and indirect advocacy role, a brokerage role to provide information on new practices, and a crowdfunding role to provide finances for material aid. We conclude by emphasizing the implications of our analysis for both theory and practice.

Defining brokers, intermediaries, and boundary spanners: a systematic review

Background:A growing literature focuses on the roles of brokers, intermediaries, and boundary spanners (BIBS) in addressing the challenges of transferring research evidence between the research and practice or policy communities. Aims and objectives:In this systematic review, we examined two research questions: (1) where, how, and when are different BIBS terms (broker, intermediary, and boundary spanner) used? and (2) which BIBS terms get defined, and when these terms are defined, who are BIBS and what do they do? Methods:We conducted literature searches designed to capture articles on BIBS and the transfer of research evidence. We extracted information about eligible articles’ characteristics, use of BIBS terms, and definitions of BIBS terms. Findings:The search revealed an initial pool of 667 results, of which 277 articles were included after screening. Although we coded 430 separate uses of BIBS terms, only 37.2% of these uses provided explicit definitions. The terms, ‘broker’ and ‘brokerage’, were commonly applied in the health sector to describe a person engaged in multiple functions. The term, ‘intermediary’, was commonly applied in the education sector to describe an organisation engaged in dissemination. Finally, the terms ‘boundary spanner’ and ‘boundary spanning’ were commonly applied in the environment sector to describe people or organisations that engage in relationship building. Discussion and conclusions:Results demonstrated that when BIBS were defined, there were important (albeit implicit) distinctions between terms. Based on these results, we identify archetypal definitions for brokers, intermediaries, and boundary spanners and offer recommendations for future research.

The aporia of refugee rights in a time of crises: The role of brokers in accessing refugee protection in transit and at the border"

The aporia of refugee rights in a time of crises: The role of brokers in accessing refugee protection in transit and at the border"

The aporia of refugee rights in a time of crises: the role of brokers in accessing refugee protection in transit and at the border

Many refugees fleeing from persecution across borders, find navigating the refugee registration system extremely complicated. In many border spaces, destination or transit countries, the difficult registration processes and the lack of support services requires the intervention and support of many non-state actors. Over the past decades, neoliberal policies have increasingly relegated public responsibilities to the private sphere. In this vein, a range of organisations have been working with refugees to assist them access to their legal status. This paper seeks to critically examine on-the-ground practices of these individuals, international and local non-profit organisations—or brokers—in Malaysia and the United States of America. Using ethnographic fieldwork data from these two very disparate fieldsites—one a signatory of the Protocol to the Convention, the other a non-signatory country—we document shared difficulties, frustrations, opportunities and specific obstacles, strategies and tactics refugees and organisations deploy. Building on Hannah Arendt’s insights of an internal contradiction in the human rights framework, we point to a new aporia: Whilst there now exist international instruments to protect refugees, access to this framework and its protections is becoming ever more challenging. This means that those seeking asylum need the assistance and mediation of third-party organisations in order to access their rights. The struggle for recognition and protection thus is no longer about achieving universal rights, but rather on how vulnerable populations can access them.

The Role of the Border Region in Sino-North Korean Trading Networks: A Focus on Dandong, China

ABSTRACT This research investigated the micro-level Sino-North Korean trading practices in Chinese border city Dandong with the help of a network approach. Dandong companies had long-term business relations with North Korea and took brokerage roles by channeling North Korean information, personnel, and products to the outside world. Dandong took an indispensible role in providing access to North Korean-related businesses with the advantage coming from historically-built personal relations, convenient logistics directly linking to Pyongyang, and easy access to North Korean economic agents. They leveraged brokerage roles in Sino-North Korean trading networks and contributed to give the networks a high-level of path-dependency. The strategies of Chinese border companies and less-institutionalized trading system of North Korea provided existing partners distinctive advantages in business relations. These practices that endowed border companies unique brokerage roles are likely to persist until a dramatic change in North Korea and its international environments.

Richard White’s Inventing Australia: revisiting the invention forty years later

On the occasion of the fortieth anniversary of Richard White's germinal text, Inventing Australia, this article presents a cultural history of the book, with particular attention to its influence on the fields of cultural history and Australian studies. Influenced by poststructuralist theory, White's book has prompted generations of scholars and students to critically examine the ways in which the Australian nation is 'invented' and the particular role of cultural power brokers in this process. Although White identifies historians as playing a particular role in the process of inventing the nation, it is striking to the contemporary reader how little he ultimately engaged with this observation in the text. The article compares White's approach to understanding the idea of the Australian nation and Russel Ward's exploration of Australian character in The Australian Legend, and considers the important work performed by Catriona Elder's extension of White's ideas in Being Australian. Ultimately, White's book remains an important touchstone not just in terms of understanding the invention of Australia, but for analysing the role we play as scholars in this.

Roadmap for Innovators in the Process of Innovation for Development

This study aims to provide valuable insights into the process of innovation for development. We selected the “Reinvent the Toilet Challenge”, an initiative of the Gates Foundation, with the objective of creating sustainable sanitation solutions for the 2.5 billion people across the globe who lack access to safe and affordable sanitation. The Naturally Acceptable and Technologically Sustainable (NATS) team at the Asian Institute of Technology (AIT), Thailand was appointed by the Gates Foundation to serve as an innovative fecal sludge management (FSM) hub in Southeast Asia and collaborate with other researchers in the region, as well as with other teams from around the world to develop innovative FSM techniques that can help to solve the world sanitation problem. By gaining insights into how innovators interact with key stakeholders, we can understand the process of innovation for development and the role of innovation brokers in the innovation process, and then suggest a roadmap from the perspective of responsible research and innovation (RRI) to guide innovators, project leaders, industry partners, local government, and policy makers in the process of innovation for development.

La innovación en el sector rural de México: el papel del gestor sistémico

We analyzed the role of broker of three cases of innovation promotion in the rural sector. Their profile, their position in the network and the context in which they operate were considered. It was found that the greater the tendency to allow the participation of local or exogenous actors to the territory, their influence decreases and the relationships in the network increase. This tendency is influenced by the broker’s profile and the context in which they operate. Identifying these elements is relevant for the sustainability of initiatives that promote the creation of innovation networks.

The Role of Farmers’ Social Networks in Adopting Climate Smart Agriculture: Case of Horticultural Farmers in Nyeri County, Kenya

This paper aimed at depicting how farmers use their informal networks to share information on climate smart agriculture especially on conservation agriculture. The study used social network analysis (SNA) in UCINET to depict the pattern of information sharing on conservation agriculture among individual farmers and farmers groups. The study identified the structural importance of various actors in the farmers’ social networks.Power and centrality measures of various farmers were identified. Values for ego betweenness, coordinator and gatekeeper brokerage roles were normalized so that differences in network sizes were accounted for. The study identified several farmers who were identified to be critical in information sharing among horticultural farmers in Nyeri County. Farmers’social networks were found to play a pivotal role in the dissemination of information with key farmers identified as central actors in the network.Social network theory examines social structure from the perspective that relationships between two parties or more are partly influenced by the external ties possessed by each other with the degree of influence varying among the actors. This research demonstrates the need for agricultural research institutions to identify and liaise with actors with high degree of centrality in the jurisdiction of information and resource dissemination to guarantee maximum adoption of new technologies by the target groups.

The private sector in knowledge brokering for international development: what the experts say

This article contributes to the emerging body of knowledge on the role of the private sector in knowledge brokering in international development because very little is known about the role of the private sector. It attempts to validate the findings of the only literature review to date (Kiwanuka et al, In Press) on the subject and other literature on knowledge brokering by consulting international experts in the field of knowledge brokering, identifying policy and research implications. The conceptual lens employed is the ‘extended’ Glegg and Hoens’ (2016) meta-framework of knowledge brokering, in combination with the cognitive, relational and structural aspects of social capital (Nahapiet and Ghoshal 1998). An online questionnaire survey was distributed to international experts in both the private, public and civil society sectors with some 203 respondents. The questions were developed on the basis of the literature. Respondents from the private sector and their colleagues from the public sector and civil society placed considerable emphasis on opportunities to meet, the existence of personal relationships and brokering by third parties as catalysts to working with the private sector. In addition to developing recommendations for policymakers, the paper has added to the emerging body of academic knowledge on the private sector as an unusual suspect in knowledge brokering and provides a conceptual framework linking social capital to knowledge brokering roles. Policymakers and funders can facilitate cooperation between the private sector and other development actors by creating physical spaces and funding instruments to encourage collaboration with the private sector. One of the novel findings is that the public sector needs to be better prepared to collaborate with the private sector.

Advocacy coalition formation and key actors within the policy

Abstract The article discusses advocacy coalition formation and the roles of key actors in science, technology and innovation (ST&I) policies for social inclusion in a subnational context. The policy subsystem category and concept of advocacy coalition are used in the context of the advocacy coalition framework and address the need to understand the influences of key actors (policy broker and policy entrepreneur) on it. The policy subsystem was outlined using case-oriented research and the discourse was analyzed in order to understand the policy actors’ beliefs. The analysis of two cases of ST&I policy processes for social inclusion (assistive technology and social technology) highlighted policy broker and policy entrepreneur key roles in the emergence of policy subsystems, but had different effects on advocacy coalition formation. The policy entrepreneur had a closer relationship with advocacy coalition building when setting up regular mechanisms to share beliefs and policy-oriented learning, as well as taking initiatives to coordinate the collective action of members in the early advocacy coalition. Although relevant in agenda setting and maintaining a specific social inclusion agenda in the policy process, the policy broker did not achieve a positive relationship with advocacy coalition building. The article corroborates the possibility of incorporating the concept of policy entrepreneur in analyses of the advocacy coalition framework and highlights this actor’s characteristics through this analytical model.

Illuminating the empowerment journey of caregivers of children with disabilities: Understanding lessons learnt from Ghana.

BackgroundEmpowerment is an increasingly popular goal, considered core to a transformative agenda for children with disabilities and their families. However, it can still be a poorly understood concept in practice.ObjectiveThis article is an empirical analysis of the ‘empowerment journeys’ of caregivers participating in a community-based training programme in Ghana.MethodIn-depth interviews were conducted with 18 caregivers at three time points over 14 months. Thematic analysis was conducted on the full data set, with three representative case studies selected for more detailed analysis to illustrate the dynamism of time and context in shaping the empowerment journey.ResultsOur findings illuminate the complexity and non-linearity of the caregiver empowerment journey. There were important gains in individual dimensions of power and the nascent emergence of collective power, through improved knowledge and valuable peer support from group membership. However, further gains were impeded by their limited influence over wider economic and sociopolitical structural issues that perpetuated their experiences of poverty, stigma and the gendered nature of caregiving. The support group facilitator often played a valuable brokering role to help traverse individual agency and structural issues.ConclusionA richer and more nuanced understanding of caregiver empowerment in the community and family context can inform the wider discourse on disability. Guidelines on working with people with disabilities, and the role of empowerment, should not neglect the pivotal role of caregivers. There are important lessons to be learnt if we want to improve family-centred interventions and transform the lives of children with disabilities.

Interpreting for EFL Speakers in Humanitarian Organizations (MSF- Jordan): Roles and Challenges

This paper sheds light on the subjective experiences of interpreters who work with an international, medical humanitarian organization, namely MSF-Jordan. The paper seeks to explore the role/s that interpreters identify themselves as performing when working with MSF-Jordan, the challenges they encounter when working for such organizations where most of the officials are EFL speakers, and the strategies they adopt to overcome the challenges. The study uses a qualitative method through conducting interviews in the form of a questionnaire that was sent to seventeen interpreters who worked or still working with MSF-Jordan between 2011-2019. The questionnaire used in this study was developed by Stahuljak and its selection is based on its suitability for the purposes of the current study. Eleven interpreters responded, and the data was analyzed considering the research questions. The results show that interpreters identify themselves as performing the roles of conduits, culture brokers, and other. The interpreters identified challenges related to their lack of experience specifically in specialized terminologies, officials' accents, officials’ speaking pace, their feel of lack of recognition, too much work and having additional tasks other than interpreting. The study further shows that interpreters opt for various strategies to overcome the challenges such as asking for help in relevance to lack of knowledge, asking officials to repeat, guessing, and asking the officials to write down what they say to overcome the impediment of EFL.