Civic Space Research Articles

Creativity and Innovation in Civic Spaces Supported by Cognitive Flexibility When Learning with AI Chatbots in Smart Cities

The purpose of this study is to advance conceptual understandings of the cognitive flexibility construct, in support of creativity and innovation in smart city civic spaces, employing the use of large language model artificial intelligence chatbots such as ChatGPT. Based on a review of the research and practice literature, this study formulates a conceptual framework for cognitive flexibility in support of creativity and innovation in AI environments, adaptable to smart cities. A research design is used that employs AI as a design material, in combination with a topical inquiry involving boundary setting and perspective taking, to co-pilot an exploration with ChatGPT-3.5/4. This study operationalizes the framework for applications to learning approaches, addressing flexibility and inclusivity in smart city spaces and regions. With the rapid evolving of chatbot technologies, ChatGPT-4 is used in the exploration of a speculative real-world urban example. This work is significant in that AI chatbots are explored for application in urban spaces involving creative ideation, iteration, engagement, and cognitive flexibility; future directions for exploration are identified pertaining to ethical and civil discourse in smart cities and learning cities, as well as the notion that AI chatbots and GPTs (generative pre-trained transformers) may become a zeitgeist for understanding and learning in smart cities.

Understanding and addressing the unintended effects of aid localisation

ABSTRACT Aid localisation is a decades-old endeavour recently catalysed by the 2016 Grand Bargain agreement. However, localisation’s unintended effects have yet to be assessed systematically. This study typologises five unintended effects in the context of Cordaid’s partnerships within the Just Future program: competition, administration, value, civic space, and climate effects. Through literature reviews and 15 key informant interviews, it finds most frequently and impactfully that localisation risks perpetuating hierarchies, as international NGOs favour partnerships with larger local NGOs that manage to meet donor requirements at the expense of community-based organisations (competition effect). In addition, it risks disproportionately increasing local administrative burdens due to donors’ low risk appetite and mistrustful perceptions of local capacities (administration effect). Localisation furthermore risks diverging from certain values, such as gender-related and LGBTQ+ rights, which are a priority for many international NGOs (value effect). Recommendations focus on adaptive management and providing technical assistance to smaller local NGOs.

The Decree Culture of Greek Sanctuaries (Delos, Delphi, the Amphiareion at Oropos and Elsewhere): The Epigraphic Dimension

Abstract: In this article, I explore the so-called “decree cultures” of selected Greek sanctuaries by studying the chronological distribution of inscribed public decrees at Delos, Delphi and the Amphiareion at Oropos. The employment of quantitative methods will allow for the careful analysis of the chronological distribution of decrees displayed within the sacred space and to compare them to public documents erected in civic spaces. Interesting questions to consider are whether local decree habits were consistent with or departed from broader practices in Greek sanctuaries, and what kind of forces and intentions lay behind the setting up of decrees in sanctuaries in the first place.

Civic Space Constraints and Crowdsourced Governance in Zimbabwe’s Second Republic

Civic Space Constraints and Crowdsourced Governance in Zimbabwe’s Second Republic

How to Stop India's Authoritatarian Slide

Abstract: Since Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Hindu-nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) came to power in 2014, the India's democracy has flagged. Modi's government has been squeezing civic space, attacking the press, political opponents, and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), and stoking ethnic tensions. The state has also used an array of laws to harass critics of the regime. Yet there is still a chance that the power of the vote will lead to a democratic revival. A regime is most vulnerable at an intermediate level of repression: where the state is undermining the rule of law to an extent that is significantly harmful to the political opposition and civil society, but the electoral door to democratic revival has not yet closed completely. This is precisely where India is today. The most promising avenue of democratic resistance is at the subnational level.

Iraqi heritage restoration, grassroots interventions and post-conflict recovery: reflections from Mosul

The deliberate targeting and violent destruction of cultural heritage in Iraq’s ancient city of Mosul by the Islamic State (2014–17) has recently given way to the emergence of heritage initiatives aimed at restoring its urban character and reviving its cosmopolitan spirit. Such restoration projects invariably stir debates over timing, funding and local consultation, as well as their potential to contribute to post-war social cohesion and communal healing. This article argues that in post-conflict settings heritage restoration is always an ambivalent and contingent process, involving the selective use of emotive historic symbols to create new realities. Based on 50 in-depth interviews with a diverse section of Moslawi society and site observations from Mosul (2022–23), the article explores local perspectives and the ongoing dynamic negotiation of heritage restoration. Amidst conflicting communal perceptions of large-scale internationally funded reconstruction projects, the article highlights the potential for grassroots heritage initiatives to offer a new impetus towards communal rehabilitation. The paper focuses on three less examined but locally championed Moslawi heritage sites—the souqs, Qila’yat district and heritage homes. These civic spaces may offer greater opportunity for social recovery through economic development, cultural exchange and everyday co-existence.

Democracy and Civic Space: Normative Models and Ukrainian Discourse

The article, authored by Ukrainian and Polish social researchers, analyses normative approaches towards understanding models of democracy and their relation to civic space. Despite the existence of multiple models of democracy, they can largely be reduced to two main forms: direct and representative democracy.Deliberative democracy is posited as a third form, which, according to some scientists, combines elements of representative, direct, and participatory democracy. The analysis is based on the assessment of democracy and civic space in Ukraine, utilising data from six applied international social studies, as well as the evaluation of the modern characteristics of some components of Ukrainian civic space. According to the rating of CIVICUS Monitor, Ukraine has been classified in the category of countries where the civic space is «obstructed» from 2019 to the present time (Autumn 2023). Currently, the advancement of civic space in Ukraine towards more favourable forms of freedom of association, peaceful assembly, and expression of opinion in the country are threatened by several factors simultaneously, with the dominant role being Russia's full-scale war against Ukraine.During the martial law and in the post-war context of Ukraine, civil society acts as an indispensable ally of the authorities in the process of democratic reconstruction. Civil society organizations (CSOs) represent a wide range of social interests, ensuring that the voices of different groups and segments of thepopulation are heard and taken into account. Their broad base allows them to bridge the gap between government and citizens, helping to build trust and ensuring transparency. CSOs have a proven track record of institutional monitoring, which is a critical factor in preserving and strengthening democratic values in a post-conflict environment.The article also uses the results of the authors' previous and current academic research*, as well as the results of twenty years of advocacy and analytical work as public experts in Ukraine and Europe. ==== *Remark. The Ukrainian author relies on the results of her own previous and current academic research within the H. Skovoroda Institute of Philosophy of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine and analytical studies as a public expert, and the research of the Polish co-author was supported by the National Science Center (research project 2019/33/B/HS5/02648).

New Trends in Civic Activism in Central and Eastern Europe

Transitions, democratization and recent democratic backsliding in CEE provide a rich context for examining the meaning and shifting of civic activism and how people participate and organize in civil society today. This article offers a fresh and comparative analysis based on empirical data on the question of what motivates formal and informal activism, and the potentially transformative role of civil society that has recently faced such challenges as democratic backsliding, shrinking public space and polarization. It looks specifically at the responses of Polish and Hungarian activists and advocacy CSOs to these new challenges. Their strategies bring an important lesson on how civil society actors can adapt, continue their mission, or even turn challenges into opportunities. These new trends indicate that civic space in CEE is shifting which is further influenced by the reactions to new forms of social, economic and political crises. It is argued that this shift and the new trends in civic activism require not only fresh empirical data, but also a revision of normative and methodological approaches that have so far been used in civil society and social movement research.

Performative Mo(nu)ments

Abstract The forms of popular and mass theater developed in Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany reached back to classical antiquity to reinvent theater as a secular rite. At first glance, the use of the theatrical medium is at odds with the classicizing monumentality that characterized the cultural expression of fascist regimes. Theatrical performances are by their very nature ephemeral events; unlike monuments, they do not leave their mark on civic space, and can barely provide a testament to generations to come. Drawing on performance theory and cultural history, the author argues that these antiquity-inspired performances provided powerful sites of re-enacting the myth of national rebirth. Fascist regimes used open-air theaters and forms modelled on Greek theater, whilst also tapping into the notions of performance that had been developed within the traditions of the theatrical vanguard to offer the experience of a reborn past. These performances brought forth grandiose visions of classical antiquity through living bodies and helped to embed the imagined past into a mythicized present. The intertwining between the theatrical medium and classical reception allow us to demonstrate the significance of embodied practices in shaping fascism’s political radicalism.

Challenges of Shrinking Civic Space and the Path towards Sustainable Democracy in Nigeria: Lessons from the President Muhammadu Buhari Administration

This paper examines the experienced challenges of shrinking civic space and the path towards sustainable democracy in Nigeria during the President Muhammadu Buhari administration. It discusses the etymology and problems of shrinking civic space in Nigeria under democratic dispensation. The paper also highlights the potential consequences and some practical instances of shrunk civic spaces during Buhari’s administration. It goes further to link the concept, roles, setbacks and examples of Civil Society Organisations (CSOs)and how they attempted to promote and safeguard civil space. The paper identifies the connectivity between Marxism and Liberalism theory in the Nigerian civic space and highlights the efforts made by these theories to address the shrinking of civil space. Furthermore, it presents a comprehensive analysis of the prospects and challenges of the civic space in Nigeria and provides steps for policy reforms as a roadmap towards achieving sustainable democracy. The researchers recommend amongst others that the government should prioritize transparency and accountability in its actions and policies. This could be done by promoting access to information and ensuring that public officials are held accountable for their actions and combating corruption. By promoting transparency and accountability, the government is most likely to build trust with citizens, strengthen democratic institutions, and create an environment conducive to sustainable democracy in Nigeria.

Indigenous Peoples Organisations’ Approaches to Social and Community Development in Cambodia

Although Indigenous peoples’ organisations (IPOs) are positioned to make vital contributions to the social and community development of Indigenous peoples (IPs), the development-studies literature offers limited research about IPOs’ approaches and unique contributions to development as defined by IPs. This article explores the roles of IPOs in social and community development involving Indigenous populations in Cambodia. The case study of six IPOs, involving 46 semi-structured interviews and four focus group discussions, captures leadership perspectives on desired development for Indigenous communities and the ways in which IPOs can contribute to achieving community goals. The analysis shows common goals and strategies and the gaps to be addressed by the IPOs. The study argues that Cambodian IPOs complement one another in advancing local development and raising Indigenous voices at the national level. However, the civic space for bringing about sustainable social change is shrinking. Similar Indigenous contexts in other countries may find the analysis useful.

Advocacy non-governmental organizations (NGOs) resiliency to shrinking civic space in Tanzania

PurposeThe world is experiencing democratic backsliding such that the situation is down back to 1986. This has resulted in the global shrinking of civic space for civil society organizations (CSOs). NGOs engaging in advocacy activities are seen to be among the CSOs affected. Using four NGOs cases from Tanzania, the study contributes to the civic space debate by uncovering how advocacy NGOs become resilient.Design/methodology/approachThe study is anchored in interpretivism and a cross-sectional case study design, following a qualitative approach path. Data were collected through interviews and a documentary review.FindingsResults show that several strategies such as complying, building community back-up, collaboration, strategic litigation, using digital media and changing the scope are applied. However, strategies face obstacles including scope limitations, expected democratic roles, high cost, changes in the scope and being outsmarted by the government, and hence their effectiveness is questionable.Research limitations/implicationsThis study focused on advocacy NGOs. More studies can be conducted for other advocacy-related CSOs on how they become resilient.Practical implicationsWhile NGOs are allowed to exist in the country, their freedom continue to be curtailed. Even the effectiveness of resiliency becomes temporary and depends on the political will of the existing regime.Originality/valueTanzania NGOs have to build strong bonds with citizens, expand the scope of strategies and use deliberative democratic principles to educate the government to change laws and tolerate plural political culture. Also, NGOs in other countries with confined civic space can apply the same.

These three words; community activation, knowledge sharing and collaboration through letterpress printing

Commoners Press is a small, newly established experimental letterpress studio in North Coburg,Australia. As part of the 2022 Melbourne Design Week, Commoners Press presented the project thesethree words in response to the festival’s theme of ‘civic spaces’. This article discusses the project as anexample of a mode of public pedagogy (Charman & Dixon, 2021) which enables moments of collectivereflection, inclusiveness, community activation, local knowledge sharing as well as collaborativemaking, creative exploration, social aspiration and being together. The project asked participants torespond to the provocation: Thinking about the future liveability of your community, what three wordscome to mind? Participants set their ‘three words’ in type and they were letterpress printed in a momentthat externalised and materialised participants’ concepts in ink and paper. Thus the redundanttechnology of letterpress introduced – through its labour and slowness – a sense of mindfulness,achievement and ‘access to the means of production’ that elevated participants’ words into a publiccollaborative endeavour. As each participants’ printed words were revealed, they were celebrated anddiscussed within the group. A week later participants were given the opportunity to attend a roundtableto reflect on their own and others’ ‘three words’ as a collective imagining of possible futures, alldifferent, all together (Escobar, 2017). The pedagogy here brought participants together to form an“interpretive community” (Santos, 2017) by allowing them to teach one another new things aboutcommunity, collaboration, creativity, and what the future may hold.

Amplifying Civil Society Narratives: CIVICUS’s Journey in Exploring Trends in Engagement and Civic Space Conditions

Abstract Civil society groups, in all their diversity, contribute to the creation of peaceful, just, equal and sustainable societies in myriad ways: as sources of innovation and solutions to pressing problems, as service providers for equity, as watchdogs over public resources and more. But they continue to face an onslaught of attacks and civic space restrictions in most countries. This article examines three key research and analysis initiatives developed over a decade by CIVICUS, the global civil society alliance, to help shine a spotlight on civic participation and freedoms, and the challenges and opportunities that gave rise to each and that helped shape a growing focus on civil society narratives.

Navigating a ‘Shrinking Space’: Selective In/Visibilities and EU Engagement with Civil Society in Azerbaijan

In a context of legal and political repression, wherein even EU funding came to be politicised, Azerbaijan’s civic space has been shrinking. This article problematises EU engagement with civil society in the neighbourhood by examining its on-the-ground negotiation in a complex field of visibility. It argues that human rights groups in Azerbaijan strategically activate selective in/visibilities to navigate the competing understandings of civil society's role mobilised by the European Union and the authoritarian state. While EU support deepens the dichotomy of independent versus government-organised civil society, the emergence of new subject positions beyond the NGO realm prefigures a critique of neoliberal donor–recipient ties.

Bowed, Bent, & Broken: Duterte's Assaults on Civil Society in the Philippines

The Philippines has historically been known to have one of the most robust and politically active civil societies in the world. With a deep affinity with democracy, civil society became a reliable bulwark against abuses of power and endemic corruption. However, it came under attack under the populist, illiberal Duterte administration (2016–2022) through intimidation, persecution, massive disinformation, and even outright violence. This article examines why Philippine civil society – despite its attempted pushback against democratic erosion – was generally neutralized by Duterte. Apart from its weakened state given polarizing elite conflicts in the 2000s, Duterte engaged in executive assaults against civil society through the four strategies of exploiting divisions within civil society; securitizing public; regulating civic space to weed out opposition voices; and controlling the media environment. This article concludes by examining the implications of a weakened civil society and prospects for its reinvigoration under a restored Marcos dynasty, which won the 2022 Philippine presidential elections.

Shrinking or expanding access to civic space? The consequences of hate speech, threats and harassment within Swedish civil society

ABSTRACT Previous research has focused on how governments and public authorities can limit civil society organisations’ (CSOs) autonomy by shrinking their operational civic space and their democratic functions. There has been less attention paid to how other external actors and types of pressure might restrict access to civic space and how it can induce coping responses on both an individual and organizational level. This article draws on an interview study with representatives, employees and volunteers in Swedish CSOs and focuses on their strategies on coping with hate speech, threats and harassment or the perceived risk thereof and explores if and how the fear of being subjected to hate speech, threats and harassment restricts civil society actors in their autonomy and affects their democratic functions. Results show that there is a tendency towards withdrawal from public debates by making themselves more anonymous and less accessible, by depoliticizing contentious issues and by disrupting the chain of representation. These coping responses are problematic, as they limit civil society’s ability to act as an independent and critical voice, but the personal costs for being visible in the public sphere are often considered too high.

Bibliometric Analysis of Open Government: A Study on the Open Government Partnership

This study aims to analyze the Open Government Partnership (OGP) bibliometrics. The OGP is a global effort to realize open government. In the Google Scholar database, in the span of the last decade, there have been 117 OGP articles that have been cited 486 times. From the article, there are 15 keyword clusters, 1196 total link strengths, and 428 occurrences. Open government partnership, national government, action plans, local government, and multilateral institutions are the keywords with the highest scores. Currently, 73 countries and 110 local governments have joined the OGP. To achieve open government, OGP is committed to increasing the availability of information on government activities, supporting citizen participation, applying the highest standards of professional integrity, and increasing access to new technologies. As a follow-up, OGP established ten policy areas, namely: anti-corruption and integrity, civic space, digital governance, fiscal openness, inclusion, justice, natural resources, open parliaments, public service delivery, and the right to information. OGP has also forged partnerships with leading multilateral institutions to promote and support open government

Exploring service‐providing non‐governmental organization perceptions of shifting civic space in Ghana: Impacts of government and international actors

AbstractCivil society space is constantly shifting, either negatively (e.g., shrinking, narrowing) or positively (e.g., expanding). These shifts are predominantly attributed to actions by central government actors, such as the implementation and enforcement of laws. Emergent work, however, also recognizes that in the context of the Global South, the international community can take actions to shrink or expand civil society space. Recently, Ghana in West Africa—known for its democratic stability—has introduced significant legislative and administrative reforms aimed at regulating the NGO sector. We interview 20 Ghanaian service‐providing NGOs to explore perceived shifts in civil society space and the impacts of these shifts, as well as strategies service‐providing NGOs are employing in response to shifting civic space. Findings identify perceived shifts in civic space caused by international actors and the Ghanaian government, as well as strategies for combating and mitigating shifting space.

Unintended transformation? Organizational responses to regulative crackdown on civil society in Azerbaijan

ABSTRACT Whereas nearly half of the world’s countries have imposed restrictions on civil society organizations (CSOs) since the 1990s, little is known about how those regulations reshape the civic space and actors. This article delves into the patterns of transformation of organizational behaviours of traditional non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and new CSOs before and following the enforcement of coercive state policies against civil society in Azerbaijan. By applying the theory of new institutionalism, the article first analyzes the development of post-independence Azerbaijani civil society and the vulnerabilities thereof. Then, it uses original data to portray CSOs’ survival strategies in the face of institutional pressures – operationalizing Christine Oliver’s typology of strategic responses. The findings underscore dual unintended consequences. First, extant and emerging democracy-oriented Azerbaijani CSOs have pursued existence outside the regulative institutional control of the authoritarian regime since 2015. Second, the crackdown brought about marked de-NGOization of civil society while engendering alternative modes of organization in civic associations.