Civil Society Actors Research Articles

Children’s Rights and Online Age Assurance Systems

Abstract Age assurance is a way to prevent children accessing content, products or services that are potentially harmful to them, ranging from gambling services or alcohol or tobacco or, increasingly, certain products and services online. Now that children’s lives are mediated by digital technologies, policymakers are deliberating over the legal, technical and practical challenges. These have been little examined from the perspective of children’s rights. By combining legal and social research methods, this article examines the legal requirements for age assurance in Europe, assesses compliance by companies and reveals the consequences for family life. In law and practice, we show that age assurance is often ineffective in protecting children from online risk of harm. Further, as currently implemented it risks children’s other rights – to non-discrimination, privacy, to be heard, and their civil rights and freedoms, and remedy. We identify promising directions for the use of age assurance in child online protection, focusing on European policy, regulators and civil society actors.

Reforming School Choice Systems to Reduce Segregation in Schools: A Comparative Political Economy Study of Education Reform in Belgium, Chile, and the Netherlands

ABSTRACT This study offers a comparative examination of desegregation policy reforms in Belgium, Chile, and the Netherlands, addressing equity reforms to universal school choice systems. Through an analysis of the reform trajectories, we explore the evolution of policies, the causal mechanisms of change, efforts to institutionalize policies, and the sources of resistance to reform. We then undertake a cross-national comparison to discern trends and confirm or disconfirm theorized causes. Policy strategies from each context included nondiscrimination policies, fiscal incentives, and eventually reform of admissions procedures. Causal mechanisms facilitating equity reforms included shifts in political context, grassroots mobilization, generated focusing events through scholarly work and reports of civil society and transnational actors, and effective framing. Oppositional forces from non-state school networks and middle-class/white parents emerged in each context, affecting reform design and the path to institutionalization, but were unable to block reforms. The resulting reforms in each context were the products of compromise that retreated from deeper structural changes, likely mitigating the effects of reforms on school-based segregation.

Urban services and the invisibility of local governments in Nigeria in a COVID-19 pandemic context

The Covid pandemic was expected to provide a catalyst for better service provision by governments in general and local governments in particular. However, the complexity of governance suggests that citizens’ expectations of performance of constitutionally assigned roles may not always meet the realities of state–state relations. This paper provides a nuanced example of the interplay between state–state relations, citizens’ expectations and state–society relations in a three-tiered multi-governance context. Using findings from a virtual focus group discussion and online survey conducted in the first-wave lockdown in Lagos, Nigeria, it is shown that existing state–state relations influenced the relegation of local governments in the Covid-19 response structure, while citizens’ expectations continually demanded their visibility in service provision, a role that community actors and civil society groups took up. It is argued that it is not enough for services (particularly in health emergencies) to be provided in local government areas and through local governments, but services provided by local governments provide the competency local governments need to partner with civil society and other actors, thereby strengthening their capacity to assume devolved roles.

Civil society, local government and rural health in an eastern Indian state

ABSTRACT This paper explores how civil society mobilization makes a difference in local government performance in delivering rural healthcare. The study was carried out during 2019–2020 in tribal-dominated Nilgiri and Daringbadi blocks of Odisha state in eastern India. Civil society activism is found to interject more programmatic priorities into local governance of health in Nilgiri than in Daringbadi. Success in Nilgiri is linked to its history of subaltern mobilization, the organizational efforts of a pro-poor political party and a comparatively mobilized civil society. Conversely, failure in Daringbadi is linked to a fractured community, little if any history of civil society mobilization and hegemony of the ruling party which uses local government to advance its own political agenda.

Deliberation through contestation: EU investments in cultural and artistic spaces beyond the EU

ABSTRACT The role of culture in democratization processes has increasingly been emphasized by the EU. Insisting on the value of culture for peaceful inter-community relations, the European Commission argues that cultural and artistic spaces can function as spaces for deliberation facilitating alternative engagement with politics through debate, education and free expression. The need for such spaces has become more urgent in a time in which democracies have come under pressure. This article examines how civil society actors in the Western Balkans create spaces of deliberation by engaging in EU funded cultural initiatives. In the projects that are being developed, civil society actors experiment with different forms of community-based management of resources and co-production, opening up new perspectives for social and political transformation. Their insistence to generate radical imagination through culture and arts and to create instances in which a different world can be prefigured has led to a boost of citizen participation in cultural projects which resulted in the emergence of ‘counter-public’, self-managed, post-Yugoslav spheres. In indirect, unexpected and contradictory ways, the EU funding schemes are both subject as well as facilitators of the discussions held at these spaces adding new dimensions to European democratization processes.

Policy entrepreneurship for transformative governance

AbstractScholarship is growing on societal transitions, describing radical societal change involving multiple sectors and scales, and transformative governance, describing how public, private, and civil society actors use tools of policy to pursue this fundamental change, aiming to build resiliency and sustainability. Much of this literature has a systems‐level focus and does not closely examine how governance participants, working individually or collectively, can steer a jurisdiction toward or away from transformativeness. This paper offers a corrective, integrating policy entrepreneurship scholarship with transformative governance research to advance understanding of how human agency underpins societal change. Drawing on accounts from 50 interviewees across eight case studies of US cities grappling with flooding hazards, we show how policy entrepreneurship can boost the political and economic resources that city officials rely upon to help propel radical shifts towards greater social, economic, and environmental equity.

Navigating research ethics during COVID-19 in authoritarian Southeast Asia: a feminist approach to combining online and in-person qualitative methods

ABSTRACT In-person data collection remains the cornerstone of much critical feminist and human geography research, while online and in-person methods are rarely positioned as complementary. Conducting fieldwork during the COVID-19 pandemic prompted me to combine multiple online and in-person qualitative methods in ways that extend methodological debates in human geography. Guided by feminist research ethics, I developed a methodological approach that was necessarily flexible, reflexive, and collaborative to navigate the dilemmas of conducting qualitative fieldwork during COVID-19 and in authoritarian Southeast Asia. Inspired by Guasco’s ‘ethic of not (always) going there,’ I show how online methods can generate meaningful long-term collaborations with civil society actors and build the foundations for engaged in-person fieldwork, if the researcher chooses to ‘go there.’ In-person fieldwork can enrich online methods by providing different embodied experiences and opportunities to build rapport ‘outside’ the formal interview. These research findings are relevant as geographers increasingly turn to online and hybrid methods in a range of contexts where in-person fieldwork is restricted. The ethical considerations outlined here are important for different modes of fieldwork and across contexts, authoritarian or otherwise.

Indigenous knowledge for climate action at the Ekyisalhalha kya Karoro sacred site, adjacent to Rwenzori mountains national park in Kasese

PurposeThis case study examines the contribution of Indigenous knowledge (IK) and practices to climate action at Ekisalhalha kya Kororo sacred site, adjacent to Rwenzori Mountains National Park in the Kasese district of Western Uganda. This paper is intended to make a case for IK as an important component of climate change mitigation strategies especially if the knowledge is profiled and publicised. The paper presents aspects of traditional knowledge in terms of ceremonies, rituals, norms and customs that can be re-energised for climate change.Design/methodology/approachThe authors employed mainly a participatory and qualitative data collection methodology. The data were collected in Kasese district largely from the local government officials, cultural leaders, civil society actors and representatives of indigenous minority communities such as the Basongora. Data were collected from both primary and secondary sources, at the desk and through community interactions to collect various narratives based on IK. Primary data were collected during individual interviews, by administering a semi-structured questionnaire and holding focus group discussions with different stakeholders in Kasese, Uganda. The respondents were carefully identified and included cultural leaders, young people, local government authorities and representatives of civil society organisations responsible for implementing climate change mitigation strategies.FindingsClimate change effects are manifest in rising temperatures, flooding, desertification and other natural hazards. The Kasese district, in particular, has faced several climatic change catastrophes and there has been limited use or mainstreaming of the existing IK of the communities in the region in different climate action interventions. Amongst the key research findings was that IK can be utilised to address or mitigate climate change risks/hazards and provide valuable insights into climate adaptation strategies, including rain-water harvesting, weather forecasting and preparedness, and sustainable farming practices. In addition, it is easily accessible, especially in areas that modern science has not reached.Research limitations/implicationsFew elders with IK related to climate change mitigation and the disconnect between young people and IK bearers were limitations encountered during data collection.Originality/valueThe information in the article is an original compilation by the authors based on previous published work from the NetZero Heritage for Climate Action research project.

Equity as a priority in EAT-Lancet-aligned food system transformations.

Food systems drive human and environmental change, reflect diverse cultural and ecological contexts, and, in their diversity, can bolster nutrition and planetary health. Ignoring structural inequities in food system transformations risks offsetting potential gains. We summarize current evidence on the context-dependent implications of EAT-Lancet goals and propose six priority areas to guide equitable food system transformations, targeting food and nutrition security, just sustainability and cultural diversity. Priority areas-namely, diverse and nutritious food access, food industry regulation, climate-resilient food production, localized, small-scale food systems, cultural diversity and social well-being-can be achieved through public, private and civil society action.

Environmental Activism in Ukraine: Everyday Concerns as Reasons for Civic Mobilization1

ABSTRACT Based on the results of a representative survey and 30 semi-structured interviews with environmental CSO leaders, we argue that citizens in Ukraine are more likely to participate in public mobilization efforts when they relate to unmet day-to-day problems such as environmental protection. Despite the relatively weak professionalization of many environmental organizations and weak citizen involvement, environmental activism has been strengthened in recent decades by growing awareness of its importance and potential to bring desirable changes, especially locally. This problem-based research asks how civic potential to address everyday problems by citizens themselves and the evolving political opportunity structure including the new civil society development strategy and decentralization reform impact environmental activism and the condition of civil society in Ukraine. Our findings demonstrate that environmental and animal protection have a particularly strong impact on civic activism, which has several important public and social functions from service providing and raising awareness to advocacy. Yet this activism to be sustained requires supportive and collaborative relationship between civil society actors and the state.

Streetscapes and memories of real socialist anti-fascism in south-eastern Europe: between dystopianism and utopianism

Abstract Historical revisionism towards the Yugoslavian experience of real socialism is gaining ground in Croatia and Slovenia, as exemplified, for example, by the 2017 renaming of Zagreb’s Marshal Tito Square and similar cases in Šibenik or Karlovac, as well as parallel developments in Ljubljana. However, the spaces that once represented the Yugoslavian workers’ movement and the anti-fascist struggle can be also subject to nostalgic practices termed Titostalgia. This study employs an analysis inspired by a discourse-historical approach to scrutinize the arguments used in naming controversies in nine Croatian and Slovenian localities from 2011 to 2022. The investigation of semiotic landscapes draws from extensive fieldwork, including photographic documentation consisting of 1,658 images. Dystopian interpretations of Yugoslavia’s past turn out to be propagated through top–down discourses, circulating in media outlets and endorsed by local authorities through infrastructural signage. These discourses are typically initiated by civil society actors aligned with right and far right politics. Besides mild media opposition, which mainly invokes anti-fascist values, smaller urban centres exhibit passive resistance or inertia towards the renaming, observable in grassroots signage. Conversely, capital cities emerge as hubs of intense expressive and predominantly progressive ideological semiotic practices within the renamed spaces.

Civil society activism for Africa's vaccine and local manufacturing agenda: Can mpox be the test case?

Civil society activism for Africa's vaccine and local manufacturing agenda: Can mpox be the test case?

Political and Legal Dimension of the Prospects for Ukraine's Invitation to NATO

The purpose of the research is to reveal the possibilities of inviting Ukraine to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in the context of the escalation of Russian aggression. The research methodology is based on the principles of historicism, systematicity, scientificity, verification, authorial objectivity, moderate narrative constructivism, as well as the use of general scientific (analysis, synthesis, generalization) and special-historical (historical-genetic, historical-typological, historical-systemic ) methods. The scientific novelty is that for the first time in historiography, the current prospects of Ukraine's invitation to NATO have been considered. Conclusions. Accession to NATO is a constitutionally enshrined main priority of Ukraine, a fundamental condition for its survival. Today, the political elite of Ukraine and Western governments are unanimous on the issue of Ukraine's membership in NATO. The Russian-Ukrainian war acts as an arena in which the political and military strategies of the global West are formed and break into the intentions of those world forces that promote anti-democratic values and, using Western technologies, intend to play a leading role in world civilization. The further development of the world system depends on Ukraine for a long period, and possibly for centuries to come. The need to invite Ukraine to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization is due to the possibility of overcoming the global crisis of international security. In favor of the rapid Euro-Atlantic integration of Ukraine, the uniqueness of the military experience in the large-scale modern war against powerful Russia, the removal of the financial burden from the NATO members, the demonstration of the unity of the Alliance and the ability to respond to modern challenges testify. Ukraine demonstrates commitment to high spiritual values, such as freedom, independence, dignity and self-respect, on which the Alliance is built. Thanks to its armed forces and active civil society, it deserves NATO membership.

The essence of the system of actors ensuring national security

The article aims to clarify the actual essence of the system of actors ensuring national security of Ukraine. To achieve the goal of the research, a complex of general and specific methods of scientific knowledge is used (dialectical, abstraction, analysis and generalization, documentary analysis, summarization). It is argued that this system is not a set of entities, because the set of elements does not form a system since it is not characterized by the degree of interaction of its components, which leads to the appearance of a qualitatively new integrity – the form of expression of the structure which actually forms the system. Based on the analysis of scientific literature, it is identified that during the post-Soviet period of the development of the doctrine of national security and its provision, the essence of the complex of actors ensuring national security was understood as a set of these entities. In the current development of these doctrines, this complex is interpreted as a system. The modern understanding of national security and its provision indicates that certain foundations (principles of responsibility, patriotism, and national solidarity) impose requirements extending to a wide range of subjects, encompassing both public service agencies and civil society actors. Furthermore, it creates conditions for holistic interaction between different types of subjects, forming a subsystem of the national security system from these entities. The complex of actors ensuring national security of Ukraine appears as a system because it has its key features.

Homeless or refugee? Civil Society Actors and the (un)making of internal borders in an Italian frontier town

ABSTRACT Migrants’ access to the national territory is filtered through categorisation processes that entangle the legal–administrative statuses produced by immigration controls with stratified access to social and political rights, representing a form of internal bordering. Drawing upon qualitative data on Civil Society Actors (CSAs) who provide services to homeless migrants in an Italian frontier town, this article identifies two main types of practices that can be used by CSAs to reshape internal borders: either de-institutionalising internal borders through the circulation of non-state resources or engaging with institutionalised internal borders by expanding or ensuring migrants’ access to state resources through a mix of cooperation and conflict with governmental actors. The article contributes to the broader debate on the role of CSAs in drawing internal borders in frontier towns and discusses the policy implications of CSAs’ actions at the local level and beyond.

Public sector readiness for value co-creation: the diffusion of a governance innovation

IMPACT Public services, particularly in sparsely populated areas, are increasingly required to demonstrate their value—especially in terms of the public benefits they provide to local communities. In Scandinavia, local civil society organizations have long been overlooked as key partners in creating public value together with municipalities. Since 2010, Sweden has been experimenting with collaborative co-creation models that involve both municipal and third sector service providers. This article explores the specifics and reception of such models in rural areas of Finland and identifies the key lessons learned. It delves into the impact of legal frameworks and entrenched public sector norms on the success of these initiatives. The aim is to enhance the understanding of the prerequisites for applying this model among public and civil society actors.

Two decades of women’s underrepresentation in public service leadership: the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan

ABSTRACT During the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan (2001–2021), the expected representation of Afghan women in leadership and executive roles was not achieved. This study examines factors contributing to this glass ceiling effect. Our research involved 317 participants, comprising 302 civil service professionals and 15 civil society activists. Employing a mixed-methods approach, thematic analysis was conducted for the qualitative data. For the quantitative data, descriptive statistics such as mean and standard deviation were utilized to characterize the data, and analysis of variance (ANOVA) was employed to explore differences in responses across key demographic and professional categories. We found that several glass ceiling perceptions, specifically ‘Cultural Barrier Factors’ including entrenched patriarchal norms and familial challenges; ‘Individual Factors’ such as work-family conflict (WFC); ‘Work-Environment Factors’ like nepotism and the absence of merit-based systems; and ‘Interpersonal Relationships’ including weak support networks and the existence of ‘Queen Bee Syndrome’, impeded the advancement of Afghan women in leadership roles.

Decarbonization, hegemonic projects, and the green growth policy-planning network: the case of Québec

ABSTRACT Since 2010, grassroots-led socio-ecological movements in Québec, Canada played a key role in overturning carbon extractivist proposals. Building on their successes, these groups now aim to move energy transition debates toward a broader conception of transition that includes radical social justice and post-capitalist alternatives. Meanwhile, corporate actors and the state enlisted major environmental NGOs and union federations into various technocentric ‘green growth’ projects. These hegemonic and counter-hegemonic struggles define how transition unfolds in the province, yet few have studied how actual social actors organize to carry out these divergent responses to the climate crisis. We develop a structural analysis of the green growth policy-planning network in Québec. Starting from five organizations at the core of transition debates, we analyze the network of board interlocks they are embedded in. We describe the overall structure of the network and its main corporate, civil society, and individual actors. Analysis outlines the possibility of a new hegemonic bloc forming, positioned around the green growth project and the cleantech sector, close to achieving dominance in Quebec, that would threaten deeper decarbonization efforts. Thus, despite the recent ban on petroleum extraction, like elsewhere, energy transition in Quebec still faces deep social and ecological contradictions.

The Importance of Accounting for the Dead in Migration

Executive Summary This article highlights the importance of accounting for the dead in migration contexts, from international humanitarian law (IHL), international human rights law (IHRL), and forensic perspectives. Starting by reviewing obligations under IHL and IHRL for the processes of accounting, the article discusses forensic action and the role that accounting can play to protect the dead and clarify the fate and whereabouts of the missing for their families. Considering the complexity of missing and deceased migrant cases, this problem must be approached from several complementary angles, including States codifying international legal obligations related to accounting for the dead in domestic legal or policy frameworks; developing national mechanisms to collect, centralize, and report disaggregated information on migrant deaths; addressing migrant deaths from a public health perspective; pursuing identification efforts including participating in transnational coordination mechanisms; developing strong partnerships with civil society actors; and coupling accounting initiatives with policies that promote the search for missing migrants.

Mapping the discursive landscape of data activism: Articulations and actors in an emerging movement

Growing awareness of the societal consequences of datafication in recent years has given rise to a new form of civil society engagement called data activism. This article examines the discourse surrounding data activism on the social media platform Twitter. Through a mixed-methods approach combining computational analysis of Twitter content and close readings of Twitter profiles, we explore how new forms of civil society action related to data justice are articulated and linked to other forms of activism, conflicts and problems, and the actors involved in these articulations. Our analysis reveals a distinction between two articulatory patterns in the data activism discourse. The first involves grassroots actors, such as community organisations and individual citizens, who challenge existing power structures and advocate for social change. The second, on the other hand, is associated with academics, capitalists and policymakers who already hold positions of power and influence. This asymmetry is consistent with previous findings in data activism research. We encourage future research to extend these patterns, using additional methods and case studies, to further refine and contextualise the understanding of data activism within the civil society realm.