Democratic Change Research Articles

Did Russia want liberation of Bulgaria? New interpretations and myths in Bulgarian academic and popular literature

With the beginning of democratic changes in Bulgarian historical science faced the problem of reconsideration of many accepted assertions and interpretations concerning the Russo-Turkish war of 1877-1878 and the liberation of Bulgaria from the Ottoman rule. Historical revisionism was presented with exceptional persistence, often aggression, on the pages of journalistic essays. The following paper examines modern trends in interpreting the events that happened 140 years ago and explores the existing myths and conditions facilitating their spreading. The main academic works on the subject published in the last 30 years, as well as journalistic popular works and publications in mass media are analysed by the author.

Voices from the Sudanese Revolution

24 | International Union Rights | 26/3 TOWARDS UNIVERSAL RATIFICATION OF C87 AND 98 Sudan ratified ILO Convention No. 98 on collective bargaining and protection of the right to organise as far back as 1957, but it has not ratified Convention No. 87, the principle freedom of association instrument. Given recent instability there is little immediate prospect for ratification, but as the country marks its transition to a new political future there is fundamental concern with the country’s trade union structures and with the concepts of freedom of association. Fathi El Fadl is Vice President of ICTUR in Khartoum The beginnings of the trade union movement in Sudan was closely linked with the upsurge of the movement and struggle for national independence in the late 1940s. This stage of building the union movement was characterised by democratic and mass participation. Rank and file members were actively involved in the discussions and consultation that led to the establishment of the first workers’ trade union. At different times trade unions faced repressive measures, detention of leaders, banning of organisations, attempts to create fictitious organisations and assassinations. But governments and regimes come and go; the Sudanese democratic trade unions continued to live and develop. In 1989 the Muslim Brotherhood took power through a military coup, overthrowing the democratically elected government, banning political parties and trade union organisations. The 1990s were the darkest period in the history of Sudan. Thousands of trade unionists, politicians, women, youth and student leaders were jailed. Tens were tortured to death and over 250,000 were dismissed from work. In their attempt to stifle workers’ resistance, the dictatorship embarked on a policy of privatisation, dismantling the public sector and establishing organisations that were part of the regime. Labour laws were reformed to stifle trade union democracy and abolish independent trade union organisations. This practice continued until 11 April 2019. Sudanese democratic trade unions continued to struggle under very difficult conditions, to fight for their rights and against repressions. Thanks to international solidarity and assistance rendered by trade union organisations such as ICTUR, the democratic trade union movement survived the brutal repression and managed to organise even under the most difficult conditions. Professional bodies started to appear and organise independently. Gradually they managed to present an alternative to the government-controlled bodies. Today there is still a long way to go to reach the goals of the mass uprising: Freedom, Peace and Justice. However the Sudanese Professionals’ Association, a pillar of the mass protest movement, is working hard to rebuild democratic, independent and unified trade union organisations. Sara Abdelgali is President of the Sudan Doctors’ Union (UK) Unions in Sudan have always been fighting for democracy, that is part of our history, and professional unions always played a role in democratic change in Sudan in the 1960s and the 1980s. Since the 1940s we had independent unions, but in 1989 these were demolished and went to work underground, while pro-regime unions were formed [under the government-controlled Sudanese Workers’ Trade Union Federation, SWTUF] which was politically affiliated to the NCP [Omar alBashir ’s National Congress Party]. They re-organised the unions to make them more generalised, including different sectors together, and abolished a lot of rights. This was new for Sudan, because even in the two previous dictatorships, the unions were still there, but this regime demolished them. The SWTUF did not serve its members. In Sudan in the last thirty years there have been a lot of proposals and activities, but these activities have not been reflected in the lives of the professionals or citizens of Sudan. Implementation of any change was not done unless it was in the interests of the regime. The SWTUF leadership was not democratically chosen, they were appointed based on their affiliation to the regime. We continued independently and separately, not only the doctors but also other professionals. It took a while for these unions to gather, but there have been several previous attempts at calling for unity. Mostly this was not successful, for different reasons. One of the doctors [Dr. Ali Fadul of the Sudan Doctors’ Union] was tortured and killed in 1990, following a strike. Others have been arrested, expelled from...

Supervision of local government in Zimbabwe: The travails of mayors

ABSTRACT The discourse on decentralisation theoretically supports central government supervision of local government. The exercise of such powers by the central government of Zimbabwe is mired in controversy. Mayors are often suspended and/or dismissed to safeguard so-called "public interests". In particular, those who are from the opposition political party, the Movement for Democratic Change, have been greatly affected in this regard. The supervisory interventions of the Zimbabwe African National Unity-Patriotic Front led national (central) government have raised questions about the very existence of local democracy and the parameters within which supervision should be implemented. The inadequacy of the laws regulating central supervision over local government and, in some cases, the blatant disregard of such laws by the supervising authority have left mayors vulnerable to arbitrary suspensions and/or dismissal. Such interventions have been motivated mainly by sinister political objectives rather than a genuine desire to improve local governance. A case study methodology focusing on the supervision of mayors in Zimbabwe since independence has been adopted. Keywords: Local government, local autonomy, mayors, supervision, power politics, decentralisation, Zimbabwe

The alter-politics of complementary currencies: The case of Sardex

This paper addresses the question whether complementary currencies can help us think and practice politics in new and different ways which contribute to democratic change and civic empowerment in o...

FOREIGN POLICY OF AZERBAIJAN AND THE USA IN CASPIAN REGION

The foreign policy role of the USA in the Caspian region is investigated. The US-Azerbaijan relations are analyzed in the conditions of modern geopolitical situation. The main goals and strategy of the United States in the region are defined. The foreign policy priorities and the course of the Azerbaijan Republic towards the US in the Caspian region are substantiated. The relations between Azerbaijan and the US in the Caspian region have a long history. After 1994, one of the main subjects of political and economic interaction was the transportation and extraction of oil and gas. The United States has always supported the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan project. In the foreign policy of Azerbaijan, cooperation with the US in the field of energy is a priority. Interest in the US in the Caspian region was evident already during the reign of B. Clinton and J. Bush Jr. After 2001, an important stage of bilateral relations begins. Azerbaijan becomes a member of NATO counter-terrorism operations in Afghanistan and Iraq. Azerbaijan's significant contribution made it possible to expand bilateral cooperation, which today can be assessed as a strategic partnership. However, the problematic aspects of bilateral relations between Azerbaijan and the United States are the policy of double standards directed against the government of Azerbaijan, the requirements under the slogans of democratic change, and so on. American companies continue to operate in the Caspian Sea, but after the accession of D.Tramp, significant changes in relations between these states are not observed. Thus, US-Azerbaijani relations in the Caspian region are stable, mutually beneficial and have a positive tendency for future development. The purpose of this analysis, which is based on primary sources, specialized literature and media reports, is to present the most important aspects of the implementation of US foreign policy in the Caspian region in the context of relations with the Republic of Azerbaijan Key words : Azerbaijan, USA, Caspian region, foreign policy, geopolitics.

Building from The Rubble: the labour movement in Zimbabwe since 2000 ed. by Lloyd Sachikonye, Brian Raftopoulos, Godfrey Kanyenze

Reviewed by: Building from The Rubble: the labour movement in Zimbabwe since 2000 ed. by Lloyd Sachikonye, Brian Raftopoulos, Godfrey Kanyenze Bill Freund (bio) Lloyd Sachikonye, Brian Raftopoulos and Godfrey Kanyenze (eds) (2018) Building from The Rubble: the labour movement in Zimbabwe since 2000. Harare: Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, Weaver Press The authors of this study describe it as third in a series on Zimbabwe’s labour history. The first covered the Rhodesian era, Keep on Knocking, a story ably summarised here by Raftopoulos. Whereas in South Africa, the dominant liberation movement, the ANC, established an alliance if not without differences, that still holds with COSATU, the dominant union federation, in Zimbabwe ZANU and later ZANU-PF, generally experienced a relationship with the unions marked by suspicion and mutual hostility. In Southern Rhodesia, black trade unionism was legal and the unions had international ties. The former white union movement began to integrate. This is a major reason why the cities and the economically vital white-owned farming country around remained relatively peaceful during the Bush War to the anger of ZANU. The unions, if anything, supported ZANU’s less successful but important rival ZAPU. In consequence, a big strike wave and demonstration of militancy marked not the Smith years but the first Mugabe years and these were harshly repressed. Mugabe then tailor-made, as so typically in post-colonial situations in Africa and elsewhere, a state-generated patrimonial union movement which would hopefully regulate labour relations, broker labour peace but could continue to exhibit some militancy aimed theoretically at white-owned businesses. This was the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions. In the final chapter of Building from the Rubble, Zakeyo Mtimtema reviews [End Page 129] the somewhat bewildering and inconsistent labour legislation and labour law judgments over the years. However the détente with the state did not last. As economic conditions deteriorated after 1990, Zimbabwe was no longer a ‘Frontline state’ to be dealt with on tenterhooks by the West while the state pursued a pseudo-austere economic policy but was unable to forego its position as worker patron. Under these circumstances, the ZCTU became more independent, more antagonistic to the ruling party. By the end of the millennium, the ZCTU had become the heart of an opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change and its leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, transformed into the MDC leader. This story, which forms the heart of Striking Back, the second volume of the trilogy, is summarised here in a chapter by Lloyd Sachikonye, doyen of writing on Zimbabwean labour and still based at the University of Zimbabwe. The result was a threefold disaster, to which this current third volume provides a good introduction. The first of these was the MDC link. The ZCTU put its eggs into the MDC basket and counted on becoming the vanguard of a big electoral victory. This was not to happen. Mugabe by fair means and foul held on to power as did ZANU-PF, a situation for which the union federation was completely unprepared. Union leaders experienced arrests and torture at times. A second disaster in a sense was that the MDC coalition of forces was orientated not to labour’s needs but to a neo-liberal reform that Mugabe had always resisted. When for a period the MDC did enter a coalition government (2009–14), it accomplished little and that little was largely in a direction aimed at righting the economy in a market direction. The third disaster dominates this collection. Between the failure to adopt neo-liberal reforms and the land invasions that destroyed the big capitalist farms and drove out most of the remaining white minority with their business skills and orientation, the more advanced sectors of the Zimbabwean economy in large part collapsed. The impressive record of this process by Godfrey Kanyenze, who leads the Labour and Educational Research Institute of Zimbabwe (LEDRIZ) is probably the most valuable part of the book. In this period, new investment in the economy virtually stopped. The story can be encapsulated by two figures: from Appendix 1, we learn that ZCTU union membership (and the movement was further crippled by splits in part generated by the state) fell from...

Theories of Democratic Change III: Transitions from Conflict

The notion that robust democracy and violent conflict are linked is commonplace. Many observers of international politics attribute violent conflict in contexts as diverse as Myanmar and Syria to failures of democracy. Conversely, most agree that continuing political violence undermines any effort to build strong democratic institutions in Libya or South Sudan. As a matter of policy, democratization has often been promoted not only as an end in itself but as a means toward building peace in societies scarred by violence. Development professionals tackle these challenges daily, confronting vicious cycles of political violence and weak democratic institutions. At the same time, scholars have dedicated intense scrutiny to these questions, often finding that the interrelationships between conflict and democracy belie easy categorization. This report, the third in a series on democratic theories of change, critically engages with this literature to ask three questions: Under what circumstances do democratic practice or movement toward democracy quell (or exacerbate) the risk of different kinds of violent conflict? Under what circumstances do the risk and experience of violent conflict undermine democratic practice? How can external interventions mitigate risks and capitalize on opportunities inherent in transitions to democracy and peace? To answer these questions, a research team at George Mason University and Georgetown University spent eight months compiling, organizing, and evaluating the academic literature connecting democratic practice and violent conflict, which spans the fields of political science, economics, peace studies, anthropology, sociology, and psychology. This work was funded by USAID’s Center of Excellence on Democracy, Human Rights, and Governance (the DRG Center), under the Institute of International Education’s (IIE’s) Democracy Fellows and Grants Program. Beginning in May 2018, the authors organized a team of three research assistants, who read and summarized more than 600 journal articles, books, reports, and newspaper articles. The resulting White Paper was the subject of an August 2018 workshop with representatives from USAID and an interdisciplinary group of eight scholars with expertise in conflict and democracy. Based on their feedback, the authors developed a new Theories of Change Matrix and White Paper in October 2018. This draft received further written feedback from USAID and another three scholars. The core team then revised the report again to produce this final draft. This report’s approach to the literature differs from past phases of the Theories of Democratic Change project. While past reports detailed the hypothesized causes of democratic backsliding (Phase I) and democratic transitions (Phase II), this report focuses on the reciprocal relationship between democratic practice and conflict. The report therefore organizes hypotheses into two questions and then sub-categories within each question.

Proces wprowadzania dwujęzycznych nazw miejscowości na Opolszczyźnie i ich społeczny odbiór

Lata 90. ubiegłego stulecia sprawiły, że na fali przemian ustrojowo-demokratycznych w Polsce na terenach zamieszkanych przez mniejszości narodowe i etniczne zaczęto podejmować działania zmierzające do zamanifestowania własnej tożsamości w przestrzeni publicznej. Jednym z tego przejawów było dążenie do wprowadzenia nazw miejscowości w języku mniejszości na tabli­cach drogowych. Umożliwiła to oficjalnie dopiero Ustawa o mniejszościach narodowych i etnicznych oraz o języku regionalnym z 2005 r. W opracowaniu został przedstawiony przebieg wprowadzania dwujęzycznych nazw na terenie Śląska Opolskiego jako największego skupiska ludności pochodze­nia niemieckiego, a także działania administracji z tym związane oraz towarzyszące temu procesowi reakcje społeczne. W tekście podjęta została próba pokazania różnorodności postaw miesz­kańców regionu wobec polsko-niemieckich nazw miejscowości (od pełnej akceptacji podwójnego nazewnictwa przez postawy obojętne po całkowite odrzucenie).

Biographically oriented cooperative inquiry: a shift to complexity in theories of learning

The author reflects on the power of biographical methods in recomposing the dichotomies that dominate the mainstream of education and research – theory/practice, research/education, body/mind, individual/collective, and so on. Dominant theories of learning are focused on the single rational individual, acting based on conscious purpose, while democratic and social change is undervalued in favour of neoliberal goals. The problems created by this hegemonic western epistemology can be healed by thinking in terms of stories, as suggested by systems’ theorist Gregory Bateson. An epistemological shift is then needed, in the light of complexity theories, and their concepts of self-organisation, emergence, and embodied cognition. Self-narratives illuminate more than individual lives, to sustain a complex view of learning as the emergent feature of entangled interactions, at different levels: micro, meso, and macro – that is, individual, interactional, and social. Adult education needs methods to overcome the dominant view and re-establish its fundamental role in granting social justice and peaceful co-existence. Biographically oriented cooperative inquiry is presented as such a method, dialogically working on contents and processes to build liveable knowledge based on human embodied and shared experience and able to foster systemic change through deliberate action.

To Grunge or Not to Grunge on the Periphery? The Polish Grunge Scene of the 1990s and the Assimilation of Cultural Patterns

To Grunge or Not to Grunge on the Periphery? The Polish Grunge Scene of the 1990s and the Assimilation of Cultural Patterns

Higher Education and the Politics of the Radical Imagination

In this paper, I address the vital civic principle that democracies cannot exist without informed citizens and that education itself must be about more than training and is essential to creating critical and engaged citizens. Such an understanding is imperative at a time when democracy is under siege all over the globe. As an example of both the rise of authoritarianism and the challenge it poses to higher education, I focus on not only the election and presidency of Donald Trump but also an emboldened culture of manufactured illiteracy that exhibits a disdain for any notion of education wedded to the pursuit of the truth, science, and the public good. I argue that the Trump administration is engaged in not simply a neoliberal political project designed to consolidate wealth and power in the hands of the financial elite, but also is reworking of the very meaning of education both as an institution and as a broader cultural force. Democracy and politics itself are both in crisis and under siege. The central issue for this essay is what it might mean for educators to take seriously the notion that democracy should be a way of thinking about education - one that thrives on connecting equity to excellence, learning to ethics, and agency to the imperatives of social responsibility and the public good. Regarding the discourse of civic courage, social responsibility and the ethical imagination, I argue that civic literacy is crucial to a democracy and that the university must play a vital role in creating the formative cultures that make critically engaged citizens possible. In addition to taking up these issues, I will point to several recommendations that provide an alternative to some of the oppressive conditions now shaping institutions of higher learning, particularly in the United States. In doing so, I conclude with a particular emphasis on the need for educators to develop a new language of governance accompanied by reclaiming the discourse of civic courage and the ethical imagination, all of which I believe are central to any viable notion of transformative democratic change.

The Struggle over State Power in Zimbabwe: Law and Politics since 1950

The “normal standards of due process” did not apply when dealing with less “civilized” peoples, especially the Africans of what was then Southern Rhodesia and is now Zimbabwe. Such was the ruling white government’s approach to increasing indigenous political dissent and physical protests in the 1950s. Africans, writes this careful scholar of the evolution of the law and its place in Zimbabwean society, were “discursively constructed as simpletons or errant children”This book discusses the use of the law in all of its social extension to repress African aspirations from 1890 to 1980, to take farming lands away from Africans, and to curtail their access to urban life and amenities. Segregation, an apartheid-lite regime, was legally arranged as well as socially observed through World War II and, to some extent, afterward. The law, as the author indicates, was deployed creatively in the interest of ruling whites, a small minority of the total population. Later, it was used unilaterally to declare “independence” from Britain by white postcolonial usurpers.Following real independence in 1980, and the transfer of power to Africans, President Robert Mugabe’s increasingly authoritarian government used the old legal framework to limit the movement and free expression of opponents, to hamstring their rights of assembly, to remove most press freedom, to rig elections, and to reduce human rights. It also confiscated white-owned land, wholesale and illegally. The author also shows how customary law was made to serve the state instead of traditional society.This book is one of a handful of African examinations of the nature of legal history in sub-Saharan Africa. It is welcome on that score for its thorough scholarship, as well as for its explicit connection of law with state power in a manner that few other scholars have attempted. The making and employing of the full legal mechanism was coercive, in the usual manner, but also productive and discursive.This book closely examines the legal battles, and hence the political battles, that roiled independent Zimbabwe. The author portrays the legal pleading by accomplished lawyers, shows how the Movement for Democratic Change and Mugbe’s Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front attempted to overcome each other’s legal arguments, and indicates some of the ways in which civil society tried to use legal means to free citizens from governmental constraints.The author interviewed a number of judges in the course of his research. He also quotes, tellingly, several courtroom exchanges between baffled and largely clueless state witnesses and experienced advocates to demonstrate how the laws of the land were misused and abused. But the author fails to say enough about the loss of judicial independence after 1999, and about what the shift from a principled to a regime-controlled judiciary meant for indigenous freedom and the contemporary evolution of his homeland.

Spatial crossings: gender, race and politics in Yucatecan Maya municipalities

Challenging conventional understandings of Mexican politics, this article focuses on how bodily and spatial understandings of gender, race and ethnicity effected how female indigenous mayors were perceived by constituents once elected and how these women responded to those reactions. I argue that public municipal spaces in rural Yucatán are key components in articulating notions of gender, race and ethnicity. Female indigenous mayors challenge discourses of power in Mexico that place female and indigenous bodies as inadequate to occupy city hall. The material changes female mayors made in their municipalities are subtle yet important ways to trace new democratic changes at a local level. Through the case study of female indigenous mayors, I wish to bring together theoretical arguments about racial and ethnic performances and the corporeality of the body in politics outside Western democracies. Understanding ‘the body’ in relation to the space it occupies allows us to see municipal public places such as city hall and the main square as performative spaces embedded in multiple power relations. In this sense, this article aids in comprehending how newly elected female indigenous mayors alter notions concerning the space specific gendered, ethnically racialised bodies occupy.

Legislative Experiences, Ideology, and Socio-Demographic Background: The “Orange Wave” New Democratic Party Members of Parliament

ABSTRACTThe “Orange Wave” in the 2011 federal election produced the largest and most diverse federal NDP caucus in Canadian history. This article uses interviews with members of this caucus to study their legislative experiences. It finds that a shared commitment to creating social democratic change generated an overarching similarity in the experiences of these MPs across sociodemographic groups. NDP MPs that were young, visible minorities, and from Quebec were not found to have significantly different legislative experiences when compared to the NDP MPs not from those groups. Female NDP MPs did report different legislative experiences compared to male NDP MPs, but these differences were limited and more present among younger female NDP MPs. The conclusion argues that ideology shapes legislative experiences, interviewing method affects the results of legislative experiences studies, the intersectionality of MPs’ identities could be important, and gathering large cross-party interview samples of Canadian MPs is a challenge.

"Re-Imagining" the Homeland? Languages and National Belonging in Ukrainian Diasporas since the Euromaidan

From the first days of the Euromaidan protests, Ukrainian diasporas around the globe took an active part in supporting democratic change in Ukraine. These diasporic communities actively used social media to “represent” their national identity, to promote their visions of Ukraine’s past and future, and to network and coordinate their actions. This paper argues that the events of the Euromaidan made Ukrainian diasporas in Western countries “re-invent” and “re-imagine” their national belonging. In these processes historical memory, language, and regional identifications play a crucial part within the continuum between conservative ethnonationalist identities and “civic” ones that try to accommodate the ethnic and linguistic diversity of Ukraine in the diasporic setting. This study reveals that “civic” identity elements became more visible across Ukrainian diasporas, but that Russian aggression somewhat haltered the acceptance of diversity and reinforced previously existing conservative sentiments.

Paradoxy česko-slovenských vztahů

Since the split of the Czechoslovak federation in 1992, the Czech and Slovak relations have been generally presented and perceived as being still very close. This has been both stressed many times during highly formal intergovernmental events and manifested in countless nonofficial meetings between the two countries leaders. The Czecho-Slovak example is sometimes taken for a model to be followed in situations where any possible split or secession comes on the agenda in a unitary or regional state. First, this article suggests that the Czecho-Slovak case raises still after some 25 years doubts on the true legitimacy of the way the split of the federation was performed. Therefore cannot give ground for democratic constitutional change. Second, this article opens debate on paradoxes which may, if not taken seriously, prevent the development of the presumed proximity of both countries. Some trends towards eloignement are elaborated.

Politics, Centralisation and Service Delivery in Urban Zimbabwe

The politics of urban control has revolved around centralisation since independence in 1980. However, such politics became more pronounced after 2000 owing to the rise of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) as the main governing party in urban areas. Political tensions and contradictions ensued between central government, under the Zimbabwe African National Union (Patriotic Front) (ZANU[PF]), and local authorities, under the MDC, over the control and administration of urban areas. Based on 30 interviews, the article explains how central government and, by extension, ZANU(PF) attempted to regain control of urban areas through centralisation of water and vehicle licensing functions. This practice, however, contravenes existing laws. Hitherto, scholarship has attributed centralisation by the government to a strategy to defuse the opposition rule in cities. This article extends reasons for centralisation to include ZANU(PF)’s strong ideological belief in centralisation, access to resources in a failing economy and maintaining a firm grip on power. In particular, the article focuses on how urban politics is manifested in the transfer of water and sanitation and vehicle licensing functions from local authorities to government-run entities. It is also evident that the prioritisation of survival politics neglects key service delivery in urban centres. In the absence of a functionally devolved system of governance, this casts doubt on the feasibility and success of opposition political parties in governing African cities.

Demographic Shifts Influencing the Political Landscape of the Lake Victoria Basin in Uganda

High population growth in Uganda is associated with substantial reduction in Infant and Child mortality without commensurate reduction in fertility. Kampala city (100% urban) and Wakiso district (59% urban) are densely populated with 9,429 and 1,100 people per square km respectively (UBOS [1]). The paper explains strong links between high population growth rate of 3.03% / annum, high rate of urbanization (5.1% / annum) one of the major demographic shifts in the country and the changing political landscape of Kampala City and Wakiso district. The paper utilizes both primary and secondary data. Time series gridded population density data was obtained from the Center for International Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN) database and processed in ArcGIS 10.1 program. Change detection analysis for three periods; 2000, 2010 and 2015 was conducted to determine the spatial and temporal patterns of population density in the Lake Victoria Basin. Primary data was obtained from in-depth interviews. Secondary population data was obtained from Uganda Population and Housing Census results (UPHC) 1991, 2002 and 2014; and Uganda Presidential Election results of 2001, 2006, 2011 and 2016. Results based on the imagery analysis of the gridded data reveals increasing concentration and hotspot of population density in the Lake Victoria Basin signifying it not only an economic center but also a political hotspot region. The paper reveals that high population growth rate and urbanization have influenced dependency ratio, unemployment, underemployment, poverty, standards of social services and infrastructure as well as political landscape and ramblings. It explains why the National Resistance Movement (NRM) ruling party despite its national strength performs poorly in the urban areas as compared to opposition led by Forum for Democratic Change (FDC). The paper recommends fast tracking the establishment of Kampala metropolitan area, consultative development planning that balances economic and environmental concerns and emphasizing urban development as opposed to creation of new districts.

The Egyptian human rights movement and the 2011 Revolution: the implications of a missed opportunity

ABSTRACT The 2011 uprising that led to the overthrow of Mubarak was perceived as an expression of the awakening of civil society in the face of authoritarian rule, leading to a re-examination of its role as an agent for democratic change. Nevertheless, the re-entrenchment of authoritarianism confirmed prior critical discussions regarding civil society limitations. This paper focuses on the role of the human rights movement during the revolution and its aftermath and reveals the activists’ reflections on its failure. The discussion refers to the limitations of human rights organizations but also exposes the possibilities created by the revolution and the impact of the ‘new civic activism’, which extricated human rights activism from the enclaves of the professional organizations. This analysis requires us to reconsider the definitions of civil society, which focus on formal organizations, and view it as a space in which various actors, including fluid and horizontal forms of activism, engage through contention and cooperation. Such an analysis drew our attention to the activists themselves and exposes the variety of actors working for reform, their various interpretations of the anti-democratic reality, and their potential to establish an anti-hegemonic narrative.

REDES SOCIAIS NA PRODUÇÃO CIENTÍFICA EM ADMINISTRAÇÃO PÚBLICA DA SAÚDE NO BRASIL

Resumo A reforma administrativa no Brasil, iniciada com a Constituição de 1988, permitiu a efetivação de políticas públicas descentralizadas, incluindo a municipalização do setor saúde e participação popular. Objetivando apreender como essas mudanças democráticas ecoaram na literatura internacional, o artigo analisou a produção científica da administração pública da saúde no Brasil, adotando o estudo de redes sociais. A pesquisa foi feita na base do Web of Science, utilizando termos relacionados com administração, delimitada por “Brazil” e “health”, e softwares auxiliares BibExcel e Ucinet. A rede de publicações da administração se mostrou coesa, com práticas de democracia deliberativa e participação social. Ao incluir o termo “saúde”, houve maior variação de temas, com destaque para a Reforma Sanitária e descentralização do Sistema Único de Saúde, de forma crítica e reflexiva, e notada ausência do controle social.