Civil Society Coalitions Research Articles

Slow environmental justice: the Cuninico oil spill and the legal struggle against oil pollution in Peruvian Amazonia

ABSTRACT This paper analyzes a case of environmental activism after one of the largest oil spills in Peruvian Amazonia, the 2014 Cuninico oil spill. A relatively more independent judiciary, environmental legislation, and weak though autonomous regulatory agencies led to a shift in institutional opportunity structure over the previous 20 years. The embryonic environmental state produced evidence of environmental harm and sanctioned state-owned oil enterprise Petroperú. However, that was not enough to produce timely measures to protect the affected communities. Indigenous peoples affected by the spill worked with human rights lawyers and civil society coalitions to bring the company to court. Almost a decade of high court activism has meant a burdensome process of ‘lawfare’ with important legal triumphs for plaintiffs. In 2020, a historic ruling mandated financial compensation for affected communities. Despite these triumphs, the long wait for the restitution of justice hints at an uncertain future.

Faithful democracy: synthesising religious and political practice in the Sydney Alliance

This article examines the role religious institutions, communities, and individuals might play in democratising 21st-century cities. Based on participatory action research with the Sydney Alliance, a broad-based community organisation in Sydney, Australia, I examine how a civil society coalition attempts to draw religious communities into the political life of the city, the way religious culture and space shapes the political culture of the coalition, and the challenges faced by the coalition in working across religious and nonreligious difference. I argue that political coalitions like the Sydney Alliance that work across diverse worldviews are pulled in two different directions: the effort to democratise and make space for worldview plurality appears to lead to political moderation, despite apparent commitment to progressive social change. Whilst the effort to diversify democratic participation and syncretise the best aspects of religious and secular political cultures has promise, ultimately the contributions of religious organisations to democratisation in Sydney through the coalition is ambivalent.

Trust is personal and professional: The role of trust in the rise and fall of a South African civil society coalition

This article explores trust dynamics among a coalition of civil society organizations called Unite Behind that formed in Cape Town, South Africa, in late 2017. Unite Behind was established to demand more accountability from a state marred by corruption—and specifically for the resignation of then President Jacob Zuma. When Zuma resigned, the coalition attempted to transition to a social movement campaigning for social justice but declined as a coalition into an organization of sorts. Taking trust as a positive belief in the reliability, truth or ability of an actor or entity, this article argues that conceptions of political and social/generalized trust are of less importance in explaining the rise and fall of Unite Behind than a combination of personal trust in particular leaders, and a form of particularized trust, namely, trust in other organizations. This notion of organizational trust as a form of particularized trust is of potential wider importance to the analysis of civil society network co-ordination.

Norms of Democracy and Human Rights Within ASEAN Non-Intervention Principle Analysis of FORUM-ASIA's Participation in Facilitating Dialogues for Humanitarian Conflict Resolution in Myanmar in 2021

The paper elaborates on the challenges civil society coalitions face in advocating for democratic norms and human rights in humanitarian conflicts in Myanmar. The article discusses the challenges the coalition, FORUM-ASIA, encountered in dealing with the non-intervention principle of ASEAN countries. The analysis in this article utilizes the concept of transnational civil society (TCS) with a qualitative method involving document studies and media reports. While the dominant power and authority of the state undermine the influence of transnational actors in advocating for the interests of marginalized groups, the article argues that transnational networks and institutions must establish cultural and ideational foundations that encompass political and social interests to drive this transformative process successfully. Another significant aspect highlighted is how these actors function as media systems, both in traditional and contemporary forms, influencing public opinion and catalyzing social change.

Making Experts of Ourselves: Laura Puffer Morgan, Pacifism, and the Logics of the Security Sector

AbstractFor more than a century, gendered divisions between “insider” experts and “outsider” activists kept women at the margins of arms control policy, despite their long-standing disarmament advocacy. In the interwar period, when opportunities for women to influence security thinking from the inside were essentially nonexistent, lobbyist and analyst Laura Puffer Morgan educated herself in the technical knowledge of weaponry, the economics of military spending, and the bureaucratic processes that governed both. Unlike many of her colleagues in the broader peace movement, Puffer Morgan was “equipped to ‘talk army’ with generals or analyze tonnages with admirals.” She believed that women could and should become security experts who would “meet the militarists on their own ground”—a goal she advanced in her own career through voluminous written analysis and through public education about the concrete details of arms reduction. By turning to technical expertise over moral appeal, she was able to act as an advisor to civil society coalitions and delegates alike during the disarmament conferences of the 1920s and 1930s, and advance a peace agenda in quarters where many of her peers were seen as radical interlopers. She was one of a small group of women able to claim the mantle of “expert” and her career illustrates an alternative way women participated in disarmament thinking.

Peran Bawaslu Sumut Dalam Mengawasi Tahapan Verifikasi Administrasi Partai Politik Calon Peserta Pemilihan Tahun 2024 Medan Barat, Sumatera Utara


 Pemilihan Umum (PEMILU) which will later be held in 2024, require every political party to complete factual verification as a condition that must be met. In Law no. 7/2017 explains that political parties that won the election in 2014 have no obligation to win elections for the next period. Certainly this policy is discriminatory towards several political parties that are relatively new, which in the end form a civil society coalition related to the review of article 173 which discusses the necessity of verification to the Constitutional Court. The analysis process in this study is to apply qualitative methods with secondary data sourced from previous research journals.
 Keywords: Political parties, Verification, Elections, Integrity

Environmental Cooperation as a Driver of ‘Low Politics’ in the Baltic Sea: An Actor-Based Analysis

The geopolitical collision between the European Union (EU) and Russia is being heightened by the recent war between Russia and Ukraine. The former has financed Ukraine for self-defence and reinforced economic sanctions against Russia. In response, the latter has ceased energy exports to and increased the military strength in bordered areas with its European counterpart. As the war continues, the security tension intensified in the Black Sea diffuses to the Baltic Sea that the two great powers share. This research casted light on four types of organisations for ‘low politics’, which bridges Europe and Russia by addressing common agenda for the environment and public health. Those are intergovernmental organisations, city networks, civil society coalitions, and university networks. The study found that although these actors are not powerful enough to reshape the landscape of regional security politics, they contribute to confidence building in the long term and enhancing living standards through cross-border cooperation.

Why are Indigenous Affairs Policies Framed in ways that Undermine Indigenous Health and Equity?

The 2007 Australian Northern Territory Emergency Response policy was harmful to the health of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. We thematically analysed 72 speech acts and reports from the three prominent perspectives: a Northern Territory government inquiry report, the Federal government, and an Aboriginal civil society coalition to examine how framings during the policy agenda setting phase constrained or supported scope for equitable health outcomes. The report authors and the coalition emphasised colonisation and other social determinants of Indigenous health. The Federal government used a discourse of pathology and white sovereignty. Our findings highlighted the need for Indigenous voice in policy making, and the need to address colonial assumptions underpinning policy framings to achieve Indigenous health equity.

Collaborative Portraits for Intersex Justice

Collaborative Portraits for Intersex Justice

Umoja: A Swahili feminist ethic for negotiating justice in Zanzibar

AbstractThis article explores umoja, a Swahili worldview of relational personhood, as an alternative cultural form to rights‐based approaches for seeking gender justice in Zanzibar. Since the colonial era, umoja— which translates roughly as “unity”—has become increasingly gendered in political discourse and used by various civil society and government groups to negotiate diverse visions of gender justice. Based on ethnographic observation of a women's savings cooperative, or vicoba, of working‐class women migrants from the Tanzanian mainland, and a feminist civil society coalition, this work explores umoja as a form of feminist solidarity and as a feminist ethic. As a type of feminist solidarity, umoja is exemplified by the vicoba, which maintains relational dignity among members and structurally mitigates within‐group inequities. As a feminist ethic, umoja involves intricately negotiating subgroup interests amidst constantly shifting individual and group relationships while maintaining conviviality in larger collectivities. By prioritizing collective conviviality, umoja avoids directly confronting patriarchal social structures, which raises questions about its potential to ensure gender justice. However, its emphasis on conviviality also acknowledges a shared humanity, which together with its treatment of inequities as intersectional and relational make umoja a holistic complement or alternative to rights‐based approaches for ensuring gendered social change.

COP 26, a Just Transition, trade unions and a movement of movements

COP 26, a Just Transition, trade unions and a movement of movements Declan Owens (bio) Chico Mendes was a Brazilian rubber tapper, trade union leader and environmentalist. He fought to preserve the Amazon rainforest and advocated for the human rights of Brazilian peasants and indigenous peoples. He was assassinated by a rancher on 22 December 1988. He coined the memorable phrase that, 'Ecology without class struggle is just gardening'. When the international trade union movement mobilised ahead of and during COP 26 in pursuit of its goal to achieve a Just Transition it sought to ensure that there was more than a mass gardening exercise in Glasgow. This sentiment was reflected and reinforced in the growing 'movement of movements', which aligned trade unionists with environmental NGOs and community groups, as demonstrated during the successful events held by the COP26 Coalition in Glasgow. Environmentalists joined the GMB pickets in Glasgow and GMB members even provided Greta Thunberg with a 'human shield' as she passed through the streets of Glasgow on the Global Day of Action on 6 November 2020. I was present at events in Glasgow and there was a tangible sense of progress and hope amongst trade unionists and environmental activists despite the failures of their governments. Just Transition The International Trade Union Confederation set up its Just Transition Centre in 2016 in the aftermath of its success in securing the ILO Guidelines for a Just Transition towards Environmentally Sustainable Economies and Societies for All (2015) and reference to the term, 'Just Transition' within the Preamble to the Paris Agreement, which stated that its provisions were formulated, Taking into account the imperatives of a just transition of the workforce and the creation of decent work and quality jobs in accordance with nationally defined development priorities … The phrase 'Just Transition' itself was coined in the US trade union movement by Tony Mazzocchi, leader of the Oil, Chemical, and Atomic Workers union (OCAW), who worked to bring trade unionists into the 'ban-the-bomb' peace movement, alongside a campaign to protect atomic workers in the transition to nuclear disarmament. He served as Vice President of the OCAW from 1977 to 1988, and as secretary-treasurer from 1988 to 1991. 'Just Transition' has been watered down as a concept by its co-option by some corporate interests and it is important that trade unionists retain a focus on the principles behind the adoption of the term and fight for its implementation. The COP 26 Coalition In the run up to COP26 it was clearer than ever that global problems need global solutions as anticipated by the International Trade Union Confederation and others, such as Trade Unions for Energy Democracy. The decisions made at COP26 will continue to shape how governments respond (or not) to the climate crisis. Their decisions determine who is to be sacrificed, who will escape and who will make a profit. The COP26 Coalition was a UK-based civil society coalition of groups and individuals mobilising around climate justice during COP26. It brought together movements from across the world to build power for system change for climate justice-indigenous movements, frontline communities, trade unions, racial justice groups, youth strikers, landworkers, peasants, NGOs, grassroots community campaigns, feminist movements, faith groups. Therefore, the COP 26 Coalition put indigenous, frontline and Global South communities front and centre of their campaign and extensively platformed them at their People's Assembly, a parallel series of meetings and workshops where there was an 'inside and outside' strategy to link activists with negotiators at the COP. As trade unionists know in relation to inadequate laws protecting workers in the workplace on health and safety issues, governments have done too little too late to address climate change and its impact on workers. Governments have colluded with corporations, hiding behind green washed 'solutions' that do not exist yet, that do not address the scale of the problem, and in many cases rely on more exploitation of people and the planet. Trade unions have long recognised that justice will not be handed to workers by world leaders or delivered by corporations. Only workers and communities can imagine and build the future that works for all of us. Trade unionists know...

India's environmental policy standoff: reimagining stakeholder engagement spaces

Various stakeholders from science, policy and practice aspire to shape public policy. What are the engagement spaces they operate in, and what are the characteristics of these spaces and the implications for effective policy making? The literature on the public policy formulation process in developing countries is sparse, and this study attempts to bridge this gap. We analyzed India's recent environmental policy making engagements using the lens of 'policy spaces'. We found that strong civil society coalitions have successfully 'claimed' the policy making space. Conventional policy making operating in 'closed' and 'invited' spaces is yet to accept this change, resulting in frequent standoffs. However, when policies emanated from the 'deliberative' space, there have been successes as well. The policy development space has consequently become contested, with nature conservation, forest-based livelihoods and corporate interests all staking their claim. To break this impasse, we recommend a graduation from confrontational and authoritative engagement approaches to deliberative arenas.

INDIVISIBLE AGAINST TRUMP: COALITION STRATEGIES AND MOVEMENT SUCCESS ACROSS CITY CONTEXTS

Coalitions can be critical to social movement success. This article compares thirty-five Indivisible groups founded after the 2017 Women’s March in ten U.S. cities. Through analysis of Facebook pages and interviews with activists, I find that groups that work more often in coalition mobilize more events and are more likely to survive. In cities with long histories of activism, groups tend to engage in more coalitions and a particular type of deep coalition work I call “supercoalitions” that strategically coordinate across a city and work to accumulate and channel resources to pre-existing organizations. In cities without long histories of activism, groups are less likely to engage in coalitions. However, when they do, they tend to organize into broad civil society coalitions that bring together a diversity of political and nonpolitical actors which can be very successful over time. This analysis highlights how coalitions are shaped by local political context.

Does counter‐mobilization contain right‐wing populist movements? Evidence from Germany

AbstractRight‐wing populist (RWP) movements have been on the rise in Western democracies. Outside of party politics, such movements regularly organize demonstrations against political elites and minority groups. At the same time, civil society coalitions have mobilized against these movements. Yet we know little about the effect of counter‐demonstrations on RWP protest activities. We derive competing theoretical expectations from previous work. On the one hand, counter‐mobilization reduces mobilization because the original movement is less likely to achieve its goals (expected utility/costs). On the other hand, clashes and standoffs between opposing movements facilitate mobilization through polarization and anger (identity/emotions). We empirically analyze movement–countermovement dynamics using a new city‐level event dataset on street protests by the German Pegida movement and its opponents. In our quantitative analysis, we investigate how counter‐mobilization is associated with the onset of Pegida protests, their intensity in terms of participant numbers, and their demobilization. Counter‐mobilization does not prevent protest onset, but large counter‐demonstrations are associated with larger subsequent Pegida protests, and violence against Pegida supporters reduces the likelihood that they will stop protesting.

Civil society coalitions as pathways to PSB reform in Southern Africa

Democracy requires open public service broadcasting (PSB) institutions that constantly interact with active informed citizens. This article posits that a more proactive network of civil society across Southern Africa can produce an impact on PSB institutions in these countries enhancing reform and accountability to the public. We enter this topic by identifying pathways towards increased cooperation among public service broadcasters, civil society coalitions and other stakeholders in South Africa and Zimbabwe. The main focus is on the interaction between broadcasters, policy-makers and civil society groups, namely SOS: Support Public Broadcasting in South Africa and the Media Alliance of Zimbabwe, two leading media activist organizations in Southern Africa. The engagement by such networks can deepen public interest and reconnect PSB institutions and PSB staff to the PSB mandate and mission. Civil society coalitions working collaboratively with PSB will engender a context within which a collaboratively defined PSB mission, institutional structure and programme outcomes are constantly foregrounded in the operations and performance of the broadcasters.

KOALISI MASYARAKAT SIPIL DALAM ADVOKASI KEBIJAKAN RELOKASI WARGA TAMBAKREJO KOTA SEMARANG

The development policy of East Flood Canal (BKT)in Semarang City did not work accordingly purposes because it had to deal with settlements along the river banks. In addition, expansion to overcome physical problems, but not focusing enough to the social and economic aspects of society, otherwise emerged new obstacles. These conditions encourage the activism of affected citizens with community of civil society to advocate for policies. This study intended to explain the political advocacy carried out by the civil society coalition in the city of Semarang with the residents of Tambakrejo over the relocation policy. A qualitative method was conducted in this study through interviewing the accompanying actors, documentation and observation. The results of the study showed that coalition advocacy was the key to the presence of various strategies because of the accumulation of resources of each organization that was able to work together rather than compete. In addition, the ability of civil society coalition actors in conducting political relations with policy stakeholders was the key to changing technocratic policies.

Understanding policy change for obesity prevention: learning from sugar-sweetened beverages taxes in Mexico and Chile.

This article examines the policy change process that resulted in the current sugar-sweetened beverages taxes in Mexico and Chile, using the Kaleidoscope Model for Policy Change, a framework developed for nutrition and food policy change analysis. We used a qualitative study design, including 24 key informant (KI) interviews (16 researchers, 5 civil society representatives and 3 food/beverage industry representatives), encompassing global and in-country perspectives. The analysis shows concurrence with the Kaleidoscope Model, highlighting commonalities in the policy change process. These included the importance of focusing events and coalitions for agenda-setting. Both top-down executive leadership and bottom-up pressure from civil society coalitions were important for the policy adoption as were flexible framing of the tax, and taking advantage of windows of opportunity. In both countries, the tax resulted from national, revenue-seeking fiscal reforms and in sub-optimal tax rates, as a result of the industry influence. KIs also discussed emerging evaluation results, highlighting differences in interpretation concerning the magnitude of change from the tax, and shared potential modifications to the current policies. This analysis contributes to a greater understanding of the policy change process focused on obesity prevention, using an innovative theoretical framework developed specifically for food and nutrition policy.

Combating police corruption in Japan: new challenges ahead?

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to analyze Japanese police corruption and assess the effectiveness of the police reforms to minimize it.Design/methodology/approachThis paper focusses on police corruption in Japan by analyzing its causes and evaluating the effectiveness of measures to prevent it. The paper concludes with some recommendations for minimizing police corruption in Japan.FindingsEven though recent preventive measures in Japan initiated through police reforms have reduced opportunities for police corruption, it is still necessary to improve public trust in the police. The Japanese police do not initiate anti-corruption measures, but focus instead on prevention through ethics training and reliance on stringent regulations. Fostering a civil society coalition for monitoring police corruption, conducting public perceptions surveys of corruption and bringing police corruption studies into academic discussions are tools for tackling police corruption.Originality/valueThis paper will be useful for scholars, policy-makers and anti-corruption practitioners interested in learning how the Japanese police prevent corruption.

Civil society coalitions, power relations, and socio-political ideas: Discourse creation and redesigning energy policies and actor networks in Thailand

Consideration of language is vital in reframing energy policy as such language is then used in fields such as environment, ecology, sustainability, green economy, and energy security. This study examines the language used to reflect social and political ideas in the deconstruction of power relations between hegemonic and alternative ideas of energy policy. To better understand this critical discourse, Thailand is presented as a case study to examine the various discourses present in the debate of government energy policies from 1987 to 2017, with a particular focus on the following questions: (1) who led and participated in the movements? and (2) how did they determine a strategic discourse that would convey their agenda against the energy policies of different governments? Qualitative discourse analysis was utilized to classify the various themes and the members of the different discourse communities. Digital archives of newspapers were searched for reporting on the backgrounds of these movements; 433 news clippings were found and their utilization of language was analyzed. This article reveals how local community movements and urban middle-class movements legitimized their voice and restructured power relations with the government through the combined ideas of social class, transparency regarding negative impact investigations, energy democracy and justice, and resource nationalism.

Making the future by using the future: A study on influencing privacy protection rules through anticipatory storylines

This article investigates how futures of privacy protection are made in Europe. The public consultation phase of the European Union’s data protection reform is analysed as a case of making the future by using the future, that is, influencing institutional change through anticipatory storylines. A qualitative analysis of consultation responses is conducted, and two discourse coalitions are identified. The industry coalition promotes market liberalisation to allow the digital future to emerge. The civil society coalition, in turn, argues for rescuing privacy with strict rules. The article suggests that plausibility in relation to the discursive and extra-discursive environment is crucial for the success of storylines. The second storyline was relatively successful because it was more plausible in light of the trend of legalism and the predominant future-oriented narrative of privacy in danger. The ‘anticipatory institutionalism’ approach opens novel perspectives concerning actors’ future-oriented projects in relation to historical processes.