This paper explores the dynamics of governance that underpin the survival of developed-context-informed digital platforms in contexts characterized by underdeveloped markets and informality. We argue that despite considerable research into various governance strategies that digital platform firms (DPFs) adopt to address formal institutional and market voids, there remains limited understanding of how DPFs respond to the constraining realities of informality in underdeveloped markets. We fill this lacuna by undertaking a qualitative case study of a ridesharing platform in a context fraught with market voids and informal practices that do not comply with the governing rules of the platform, yet are socially legitimized. Our findings reveal that governance in such contexts adaptively emerges from attending to and learning from the unfolding micro activities and behaviors of platform participants, which are enacted through the dynamic interplay of digital (changes involving the digital platform architecture) and nondigital (changes involving relational arrangements) responses. We discuss the implications of our findings for the theory and evolving discourse on digital platform governance.

Understanding the contexts and dynamics of poppers use among gender and sexually diverse people (GSDP) in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

The present article examines the features of the formation of informal practices in the institute of the investigation of the police department. The theoretical framework of the study is the micro-sociological approach to the understanding of social actions of individuals, presented by works in the field of ethnomethodology, semiotics, symbolic interactionism. As an auxiliary theoretical concept, the systemic theory of Niklas Luhmann and his concept of trivial and non-trivial machines act. The main thesis put forward by the authors is that investigators of the Internal Affairs Department, who are supposed to be guided solely by regulatory legal acts in their daily professional activities, cannot help but be influenced by the social norms and conditions of the social situation in which their activities unfold. This is particularly evident in the research conducted by representatives of various micro-sociological schools. In conclusion, the authors argue that 1) informal practices are a part of social reality, and 2) such actions do not necessarily constitute examples of delinquent behavior.

ABSTRACT The article examines the political underpinnings of the European Union’s “social turn” between 2014 and 2024. Taking stock of the literature indicating the importance of transnational coalitions of interest mobilising for a stronger Social Europe, the article builds on the concept of “political structuring” developed by state formation theories and argues that the increase in social policy production was accompanied by the development of new formal and informal channels, arenas and practices linking organised labour, political parties and EU institutions. These structures fostered both bottom-up mobilisation by trade unions and top-down initiatives by the Commission and the Parliament, enabling negotiation, coalition-building and joint policy production. Drawing on a qualitative assessment of EU policy documents, media outlets and elite interviews, the analysis identifies processes of vertical structuring between EU institutions and trade unions and between EU-level and national unions, as well as horizontal structuring between trade unions and political parties. The findings indicate that the social turn, alongside a phase of significant policy innovation, also coincided with a process of polity consolidation.

This article analyzes China's blood donation certificate system-whereby patients must present proof of donation for surgical priority-as a biopolitical technology of governance. Drawing on Foucault's framework, we examine how this informal practice operates through three mechanisms: temporal discipline that leverages medical urgency for compliance, territorial fragmentation that binds biological citizenship to local jurisdictions, and the paradox of anti-commodification that generates quasi-markets despite legal prohibitions on blood selling. The 2018 ban on mutual-aid donation eliminated legal mobilization pathways while institutional pressures persisted, transforming certificate requirements from biological exchange into administrative conditioning. We argue that the system's power lies precisely in the gap between formal voluntariness and practical compulsion-a space where biopower operates below legal accountability while extracting biological resources and cultivating civic complicity. This analysis illuminates how contemporary governance increasingly functions through administrative mechanisms that transform healthcare access from universal right into contribution-contingent privilege.

Quality seed is a fundamental input in agricultural production, directly influencing crop yield, resilience, and uniformity across farming systems. However, many seed production systems in developing regions still rely on informal practices that do not fully comply with established seed quality standards, resulting in low genetic purity, high contamination, and variable germination performance. This study develops a conceptual framework for the Quality Seed Production Process According to Standards by synthesizing principles from international seed certification schemes, national regulations, and best practices in field and post harvest management. The framework integrates four key layers genetic and varietal integrity, field production and isolation, post harvest handling and quality testing, and certification and traceability to illustrate how seed producers can systematically meet physical, physiological, and genetic quality requirements. The findings highlight that adherence to seed production standards can increase productivity, reduce the risk of seed-borne diseases, and improve farmers’ confidence in formal seed systems, while policy implications include strengthening certification institutions, promoting producer training, and developing digital traceability tools for seed lot monitoring.

ABSTRACT Informal spatial practices in Abuja are often framed as deviations from the city's modernist master plan. This paper argues that these deviations are better understood as spatial customization: residents’ necessary adaptations to planning that failed to accommodate Nigerian spatial needs and practices, based on Lefebvre's spatial appropriation and de Certeau's everyday tactics. The study follows three planning firms (IPA, Kenzo Tange & URTEC, Milton Keynes Development Corporation) whose differing modernist approaches shaped distinct areas (Garki Village, CBD, Area 7). Using historical analysis and field surveys, it finds that planners transplanted modernist templates (British suburban standards, monumental urbanism, rigid functional zoning) into the Nigerian context, leading to fundamental misalignment between imposed planning templates and Nigerian climatic requirements, family structures, and spatial practices. Furthermore, spatial customization ranged from tactical adaptations under heightened state control to permanent modifications where control was weaker, driven by economic necessity, climatic inadequacy of designs, and cultural spatial practices. The study contributes to decolonial planning scholarship by demonstrating that spatial customization is not a planning failure, but a fundamental process through which residents negotiate imposed spatial orders in postcolonial cities. This finding demonstrates the need for contextually-responsive design that learns from residents’ spatial adaptations rather than suppressing them.

This study examines the political economy of pipeline surveillance contracts (PSCs) and their role in shaping rent distribution within Nigeria’s oil sector between 2015 and 2025. While PSCs are officially designed to curb pipeline vandalism and oil theft, they have evolved into complex mechanisms for redistributing oil rents among state actors, ex-militants, private security firms, and host communities in the Niger Delta. Anchored in Rentier State Theory and Clientelist Theory, the study interrogates how these contracts operate within Nigeria’s broader rentier political structure, where access to resource wealth is mediated through informal networks and patronage relations. Methodologically, the study adopts a qualitative approach, combining documentary analysis with Key Informant Interviews (KII) involving stakeholders from government agencies, security institutions, private contractors, civil society, and oil-producing communities. This triangulated approach enables a deeper understanding of both formal policy intentions and informal practices shaping PSC implementation. Findings reveal that PSCs function as instruments of “security patronage,” facilitating elite bargaining, co-opting former militant actors, and stabilizing fragile security arrangements in oil-producing regions. At the same time, they reinforce informal governance structures, encourage elite capture, and perpetuate unequal rent-sharing arrangements that often exclude broader community interests. Although PSCs have contributed to a reduction in pipeline vandalism and improvements in oil output in recent years, their effectiveness remains contingent on continuous financial incentives. The study concludes that PSCs represent a hybrid system of security governance and rent allocation, with significant implications for institutional development, transparency, and sustainable resource governance in Nigeria’s oil-dependent economy.

This article analyses how small urban rivers are implicated in different registers of place-making in Lewisham, London. We discuss the pleasures, possibilities and tensions that come with ‘opening up’ urban river spaces and the complex range of imaginaries and practices that feed into their production. Using a combination of archival research alongside qualitative methods, we set out how river spaces are produced by informal and formal practices including their rendering in official documents, their maintenance by local river groups (stewardship) and the daily routines of local people (authorship). The article argues that these sites pose questions about active forms of access and about the right to remake place. We further develop sociological engagements with water that have provided a rich account of how people live with water.

ABSTRACT Women’s participation as volunteers in community sport organisations has expanded significantly, yet substantial gender disparities remain in their advancement to leadership roles. This article examines the institutional barriers shaping women volunteers’ leadership trajectories, focusing on how formal policies and informal norms interact across Australia, the United Kingdom, South Africa, and Canada. Drawing on feminist institutionalism and a comprehensive review of recent literature, synthesise evidence from policy documents, empirical studies, and practical initiatives to illuminate how organisational structures and cultures affect women’s progression in volunteer pathways. The analysis reveals that despite formal commitments to gender equity, informal organisational cultures, gender stereotypes, and network-driven recruitment practices continue to constrain women’s access to governance roles. Cross-national comparisons illustrate that national sport systems and governance models mediate these dynamics, with contexts that rely on informal networks often perpetuating exclusion, whereas structured interventions (e.g. mentorship programs or board quotas) show mixed effectiveness. This study contributes to sport policy and governance scholarship by integrating feminist institutionalist theory into the analysis of volunteer development pathways. Findings underscore the need for holistic strategies that boldly reform formal structures and challenge informal practices to foster genuinely inclusive leadership environments in community sport.

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are critical catalysts for economic growth, employment creation, and service provision, particularly in developing economies. In Zimbabwe, SMEs dominate trade-dependent sectors such as clearing and forwarding, logistics, and border services. Despite their importance, SME survival rates remain precariously low, with many firms exhibiting a high degree of revenue concentration on a single client. This study investigates client concentration risk as a structural vulnerability within Zimbabwe’s clearing and forwarding sector. Employing a qualitative, interpretivist methodology, the study employs a critical case study of Heymax Shipping, supplemented by professional sectoral observations and a documentary analysis of existing regulatory frameworks. Findings: The study reveals that client concentration risk is structurally produced by low barriers to entry, market saturation, price-driven competition, and compliance-focused regulation. Informal practices and corruption may facilitate short-term survival; however, they exacerbate long-term institutional fragility. Contributions: Theoretically, the study integrates client concentration literature with trade facilitation and regulatory theory, identifying embeddedness and relational contracting as primary mechanisms of structural vulnerability. Practically, it provides diagnostic tools for SMEs and proposes policy reforms—including client diversification incentives and professionalisation initiatives—to enhance resilience in developing economies.

Abstract Objectives This study aimed to perform the cross-cultural adaptation and psychometric validation of the Mindfulness Adherence Questionnaire (MAQ) for the Brazilian context, in order to offer an adequate instrument to measure adherence to mindfulness practice in mindfulness-based interventions. Method The adaptation process followed international guidelines for translation and semantic equivalence, including translation-back-translation methodology, review by an expert committee, and application in a pilot study. A convenience sample composed of 303 participants (82.61% women), aged between 22 and 73 years, was recruited online. Participants completed the Brazilian versions of the MAQ, Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scales (DASS-21), Big Five Inventory (BFI), Mindful Attention Awareness Scale (MAAS), and Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ). Construct validity was assessed through exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). Reliability was analyzed using Cronbach's alpha and omega coefficients. Results The factor structure showed good adequacy, with satisfactory factor loadings. Internal consistency measures were adequate. The MAQ showed positive correlations with all variables related to mindfulness and personality traits, except for anxiety and stress scores. Conclusions The Brazilian version of the MAQ demonstrated acceptable psychometric properties and the preliminary findings suggest that the MAQ shows promising evidence of validity and reliability to assess the quantity and quality of formal and informal mindfulness practice, contributing to research and the integrity of clinical practice in Brazil. Preregistration This study is not preregistered.

Purpose Guided by the Theory of Gendered Organizations and concepts of institutional isomorphism, this study aims to the maturity of gender diversity in the top management of Brazilian state-owned, publicly traded sanitation companies. Design/methodology/approach A qualitative, documentary approach analyzed corporate reports from seven sanitation companies between 2022 and 2024. A seven-indicator maturity model, grounded in literature on symbolic versus substantive representation, was developed to assess the gap between policy adoption and outcomes. Findings The findings reveal a variance in maturity, with some companies achieving “Mature” status on policy adoption while female representation remains low (averaging 20%). This exposes a significant gap between symbolic commitment and substantive change. The results suggest that embedded gendered structures and informal mechanisms like homophily persist, rendering formal policies insufficient on their own to dismantle the glass ceiling. Research limitations/implications Reliance on documentary data may not capture informal practices influencing gender equality. Practical implications The study provides a replicable framework for diversity maturity and highlights the need to move beyond policy adoption toward implementing accountability mechanisms that address informal barriers and link diversity goals to performance. Social implications By demonstrating the persistence of inequality in a sector vital for public health, it underscores the need for stronger governance to advance social justice and democratic representation in public services. Originality/value This research contributes by providing a critical analysis of diversity maturity in the context of Latin American public utilities. It refines the application of maturity models to expose the symbolic-substantive gap and advances theoretical understanding of why gendered organizations are resistant to change.

Counterfeit pharmaceuticals represent a significant and evolving threat to public health and pharmaceutical governance in India. This comprehensive narrative review examines the prevalence of counterfeit medicines across major therapeutic drug categories and analyzes the structural vulnerabilities that enable diversion within the Indian pharmaceutical supply chain. Drawing on peer-reviewed literature, policy documents, and international research, the study identifies uneven distribution of counterfeit risks, with heightened exposure observed in anti-infectives, oncology drugs, and central nervous system medicines. These high-risk categories are influenced by strong market demand, high economic value, and misuse potential. The review further highlights systemic weaknesses within India’s multi-tier distribution network, including manufacturing compliance gaps, wholesale opacity, informal retail practices, and digital marketplace expansion. Diversion mechanisms-such as warehouse theft, prescription manipulation, and parallel trade-emerge as critical pathways that blur the distinction between legitimate and illicit pharmaceutical circulation. The findings indicate that counterfeit activity in India is strategically driven by market incentives, supply chain fragmentation, and regulatory coordination challenges rather than isolated criminal acts. Emerging trends reveal increasing digitalization of counterfeit trade and convergence between diversion networks and substance misuse markets. Addressing these risks requires an integrated approach combining strengthened regulatory oversight, technological traceability systems, and improved inter-agency governance. This review underscores the need for coordinated national strategies to safeguard pharmaceutical integrity, protect patient safety, and preserve India’s global credibility as a leading supplier of generic medicines.

ABSTRACT This article traces how European mediation has repeatedly rebalanced three variables—(1) the source of mediator authority, (2) the degree of institutionalization, and (3) the operative meaning of voluntariness—from antiquity to the present. Using three periods—Proto‐Mediation (c. 500 BCE–c. 1750), Classical Mediation (c. 1750–1976), and ADR‐Era Mediation (1976–present)—it shows how authority migrated from communal standing to professional or court‐adjacent credential; how informal practice became standardized procedure; and how voluntariness shifted from social expectation to legally managed participation (sometimes via “mandatory” gateways). The analysis explains contemporary court‐connected designs as the latest turn in a long European cycle and offers a historically grounded synthesis centred on the authority–institutionalization–voluntariness triad. How have authority, institutionalization, and voluntariness been historically reconfigured in European mediation, and what do these recurrent configurations imply for the design and legitimacy of contemporary court‐connected mediation?

The methodological aspects of conducting qualitative near-sociological studies of informal communities in the context of urban studies have been studied. The paper analyzes the research approach transformation in the study of youth groups in the historical district of Rzhevka-Porokhovye in the Krasnogvardeysky district of St. Petersburg. The object of the research is the youth communities of the district, the subject is the informal rules and patterns of their intra-group interaction. The purpose of the study is to establish and systematize a set of unspoken rules that have been used for successful implementation of the included observation method in the study of closed social groups. The study result is a consolidated methodological analysis of the basic informal rules used to implement inclusive monitoring of youth groups in a specific urban environment. This study is a generalization of the results obtained in the framework of a successfully presented Master’s thesis in Urban Planning at the Higher School of Economics (Moscow) on the topic “Urban planning factors in youth groups formation: St. Petersburg’s Rzhevka-Porokhovye district case”. The established methodology of working with complex communities is of applied importance for urban and sociological research, as well as for working with youth.

This study investigates whether informal engagement with special-interest content can foster the acquisition of specialised English vocabulary and how such learning is shaped by individual and experiential factors. One hundred and forty-six Italian university students, who had received only general-purpose English instruction, completed a background questionnaire, a general Vocabulary Size Test (VST), a specialised VST targeting cooking terminology (with accuracy and reaction times), and a figurative-language interpretation task. The specialised test contained 120 cooking-related items (verbs, nouns and adjectives) sampled from B1–C2 levels and presented in a four-option multiple-choice format. Results show substantial knowledge of specialised culinary vocabulary despite the absence of formal instruction, with a clear proficiency gradient and a verb advantage across levels. At lower proficiency levels, specialised scores were strongly associated with general vocabulary size and with self-reported intensity of exposure to English-language videos. Regression analyses indicated that specialised knowledge was best predicted by proficiency, reading in English and domain-specific habits (e.g., language of recipes), whereas the same variables explained little variance in general vocabulary. Reaction-time data suggested partial “automatisation” of specialised items, particularly for intermediate learners. Figurative-language performance revealed that, for many participants, specialised lexical representations were sufficiently deep to support interpretation in novel, non-literal contexts, especially when learners frequently followed recipes or watched cooking videos in English. The findings highlight both the potential and the limits of learning specialised vocabulary through informal digital practices and point to ways in which formal instruction can systematically build on learners’ extramural experiences.

This paper aims to examine how power struggles, competing leadership logics and governance failures shaped organisational learning and crisis response in Portuguese public hospitals during the COVID-19 pandemic. By analysing tensions between managerial, clinical and political actors, this study explores how fragmented authority and informal leadership networks conditioned hospitals' adaptive capacity under sustained systemic pressure. This study draws on 41 semi-structured interviews with hospital managers, clinical leaders and frontline coordinators across three major public hospitals, complemented by documentary analysis of contingency plans, internal communications and official reports. A deductive thematic analysis was conducted, supported by systematic triangulation, inter-coder validation and critical incident reconstruction. Three interrelated patterns emerged: strained relationships between hospital management and central and regional authorities undermined coordination and trust; informal leadership networks developed within clinical departments to address operational bottlenecks, frequently bypassing formal hierarchies; and political interference intensified power rivalries, reducing coherence, transparency and institutional learning. Although these dynamics often constrained organisational learning, they also enabled pockets of rapid local adaptation driven by autonomous clinical leadership. This study is limited by its focus on three large hospitals in Northern Portugal, which restricts generalisation to other regions or smaller institutions. The qualitative design, although suitable for exploring governance dynamics, captures perceptions that may be influenced by hindsight bias and the exceptional pressures of the pandemic. The absence of quantitative performance indicators limits the ability to assess the measurable effects of governance tensions. Future research should incorporate mixed methods, include diverse organisational contexts and examine longitudinal integration of informal practices into formal governance and learning systems. Hospitals require governance arrangements that recognise and integrate informal leadership and frontline expertise during crises. Strengthening transparent communication channels, formalising multi-level coordination mechanisms and embedding learning processes within crisis governance frameworks are critical for enhancing resilience and leadership effectiveness. This study highlights how governance tensions during the COVID-19 pandemic affected not only hospital functioning but also the broader social experience of healthcare. Unclear authority structures and delayed decisions contributed to public uncertainty, reduced confidence in health institutions and inconsistent communication with patients. Conversely, the emergence of informal leadership networks helped sustain essential services, mitigating the social impact of system fragmentation. Strengthening crisis governance, ensuring transparent decision-making and valuing frontline expertise can improve public trust and equity in access to care during future emergencies. These insights support more socially resilient and trustworthy health systems. This study advances current understandings of crisis leadership and power dynamics in healthcare by demonstrating how national governance cultures interact with organisational learning processes and informal leadership practices during systemic shocks. Drawing on comparative and multi-level qualitative evidence from Portugal, it offers actionable insights to inform future hospital governance reforms.

ABSTRACT This article advances the third generation of expertise scholarship by exploring how expertise is produced through socio-material practices within global climate governance. The Paris Agreement commits international climate policy to be grounded in the ‘best available science,’ yet the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) lacks a formal mechanism for scientific uptake. Focusing on the expert groups established under the UNFCCC’s Warsaw International Mechanism for Climate Change Loss and Damage, the study shows that expertise is the outcome of intertwined material arrangements and social relations. Through interviews and ethnographic observations, the analysis shows how terms of reference and expert rosters formally structure who may participate, while informal relational practices enable the loss and damage Committee to selectively recruit and socialise experts. These dynamics stabilise and legitimise a contested policy area, shaping what becomes recognised as ‘global loss and damage expertise’. However, these practices also create exclusions, privileging actors aligned with UN working cultures, those perceived as politically acceptable and those able to self-fund participation. Such practices risk limiting representational diversity and constrain expert’s autonomy in shaping their work. The findings highlight the need for greater transparency and resourcing of expert groups to broaden participation and address knowledge gaps.

Purpose This study aims to explore how corporate professionals in Chinese business environments interpret the role of Guanxi in navigating ethical dilemmas, focusing on its dual nature as both a facilitator of business relationships and a source of ethical complexity. Design/methodology/approach Drawing on a qualitative research design, in-depth interviews were conducted with 28 corporate professionals in China. Thematic analysis was used to identify patterns in participants’ narratives, leading to the development of two core categories: the double-edged nature of Guanxi in decision-making and the negotiating boundaries between personal ties and professional integrity. Findings The analysis reveals that professionals interpret Guanxi as a double-edged tool that strengthens trust, facilitates opportunities and sustains relational stability, while simultaneously creating risks of favoritism, distorted decisions and weakened integrity. Participants describe how relational obligations often clash with ethical principles like transparency and fairness. In practice, this tension requires professionals to set personal “red lines,” bend rules selectively or rationalize informal practices as cultural necessities. Guanxi is therefore understood not as a static cultural relic but as a dynamic compass for navigating ethical dilemmas. It enables adaptive decision-making while exposing enduring tensions between cultural obligations and organizational standards. Originality/value This study contributes to the business ethics literature by developing a culturally grounded framework that integrates social capital theory with the ethical dimensions of Guanxi. The study offers new insights into how professionals subjectively interpret Guanxi not only as a mechanism of trust and reciprocity but also as a source of ethical dilemmas, thereby filling a gap in interpretive dimensions compared to prior research that primarily examined Guanxi as a network structure, social capital resource or organizational mechanism influencing firm performance and economic outcomes. It provides practical insights for organizations to develop tailored ethical training and governance that respect cultural norms while fostering accountability in China’s market-driven economy.