International Debate Research Articles

By Hook or By Crook: A History of the Hudson River Sloop Clearwater, Chapter 8: Growing Pains

Internal debates over the focus of the Clearwater organization again came to a head in 1977 and 1978. During that time, several attempts were made to more clearly define the organization's role in the environmental movement, and in each case controversy erupted. These cases included proposals to align the group with advocates of organized labor or civil rights. The largest issue in question was whether or not the Clearwater should sail to Seabrook, New Hampshire to take part in large protests against the construction of a nuclear power plant. At the heart of each of these controversies was the question of whether the Clearwater organization should identify with the more mainstream elements of the American environmental movement or the more radical elements, as well as whether its focus should be strictly regional or more broad. In the minds of many Clearwater members, the debate went to the core of the organization's mission, and each issue prompted passionate arguments on all sides of the issue. Because these debates came about in quick succession and lasted for several months, it seemed to many that too much effort was spent arguing and a bad impression was left in the minds of many casual participants in the organization. The Seabrook controversy and others hurt the organization in terms of its reputation for uniting people with mixed interests, but at the same time the organization was strengthened by establishing a more clear focus and mission as it approached the end of the Clearwater's first decade on the Hudson River.

The importance of water-sensitive planning and design approaches for resilience to flood disaster risk in Istanbul: Evaluation of examples in Çatalca and Beykoz districts

Nowadays, climatic changes are coming to the forefront of the global agenda due to their significant impact. Effects can be seen on rainfall and the hydraulic cycle, the number of disasters such as landslides, floods, and flash floods, which are especially increasing in cities. In recent times, flood and flash flood events have adversely affected many settlement areas in Istanbul. Istanbul, which is the main agglomeration of the country, has expanded spatially towards the urban peripheries due to population growth. The study focuses on the innovative basic principles of water-sensitive planning and design approaches for flood risk reduction, which have gained importance in light of international debates. In this context, the study examines the conditions for developing water-sensitive planning and design approaches in Istanbul and makes recommendations. For this purpose, a comprehensive and detailed literature review was conducted and scientific documents such as articles, international-national conventions, institutional research reports and national legislation were utilized. The study aims to determine the current situation in the areas where flood disasters occur in Istanbul, to identify the causes of the disasters, to question whether the land use decisions and urban planning approaches in the existing legal-administrative structure consider the risk factors for reducing flood disasters. Çatalca district, which is located on the urban periphery of the European side of the city, is very rich in water resources and is where the highest loss of life and material damage occurred in the flood disaster of 2009, was selected as the sample area in the study. Beykoz district, which is located on the periphery of the Anatolian side of Istanbul and very rich in water resources, was selected as another sample area. Within the scope of the study, data were obtained through interviews with relevant local institutions and organizations. Previous studies and existing data on the sample areas have been compiled and evaluated. When the practices of the institutions in the sample locations are examined, it is understood that the method of protection distances determined by legislation for the prevention of flood risk in stream beds is insufficient. In areas where flood risk is experienced, it is tried to be prevented by rehabilitation of streams. There is no holistic approach with planning decisions at the basin scale. As the population, settlement area and impervious surfaces increase in the basins where stream rehabilitation is carried out at high costs, these projects will be insufficient to prevent flood risk. Water-sensitive urban planning and design approaches with participatory and collaborative processes in basin scale should be start for resilience to flood disaster risk in Istanbul.

Conceptual Development in Higher Education Sustainability Initiatives: Insights from a Change Laboratory Research Intervention

An international debate is taking place about embedding sustainability in higher education institutions (HEIs). Separate strands of literature address the importance of sustainability concepts and strategic change approaches. This paper explores conceptual development as an unfolding process within sustainability change initiatives. Data are derived from nine Change Laboratory workshops, conducted over 6 months, in which 20 stakeholders of varying backgrounds worked to create “a sustainable campus” in an HEI in Ireland. Transcribed video recordings and artefacts produced in workshops are analysed using activity theory principles to examine conceptual development, identifying four novel concepts created by stakeholders. The development of the Campus Sustainability Statement (CSS) concept is analysed in depth. It was produced in four stages of development—pursuing, in turn, a purposeful definition of “sustainability”, a shared framework to contextualise different actions, a mission statement for the campus, and the CSS proper. Each stage arose from a conflict of motives expressed within the coalition of participants, which was addressed by suggesting an abstract idea and considering its implications, with the latter stages also including attempts to embed and objectify the concept. Successive ideas were challenged, refined, and/or abandoned by participants on the grounds of ethics, fit with the institution, and relevance to subsequent action, with the eventual CSS judged to be an acceptable basis for institutional work. This paper emphasises the processual importance of developing sustainability concepts within institutions, including the creative potential for addressing value tensions and the possibility for nurturing new forms of collective agency.

Health Concepts in Medicine and the Role of Philosophy

Philosophers interested in medicine and healthcare research should focus on the choice of health concepts. Conceptual choice is akin to conceptual engineering but, in addition to assessing whether a concept suits an objective, or offering a better one, it evaluates objectives, ranks them, and discusses stakeholders’ entitlement. To show the importance of choosing health concepts, I summarize the internal debate in medicine, showcasing definitions, constructs, and scales. To argue it is a philosophical task, I analyze the medical controversy over health as adaptation and self-management. I conclude with a to-do list of conceptual choice tasks, generalizable beyond medicine.

Beneath the Crescent: Unveiling Political Allegories About Muslims in Elkanah Settle's The Empress of Morocco

This study challenges the traditional critical commentary on the negative representation of Muslims in Restoration drama– as simply reflecting anti-Muslim sentiment at the time. Utilizing a new historicist approach, the researchers argue that playwrights like Elkanah Settle used Muslim characters and settings allegorically to address anxieties surrounding the sexual and political climate of Charles II's court. Analyzing Settle's The Empress of Morocco (1673) as a case study, the text demonstrates how depictions of lascivious Moors served as veiled critiques of the King's libertine lifestyle and the perceived moral corruption within the court. Furthermore, the new historicist lens reveals how Restoration playwrights in general employed Muslim characters as a smokescreen to comment on contemporary English politics, using them not just to reflect existing attitudes but to explore the complex interplay between cultural anxieties and political power. Thus, this study underscores the significance of analyzing early modern drama with respect to the internal sexual debates and power dynamics of British society.

The external impact of EU climate policy: political responses to the EU’s carbon border adjustment mechanism

Abstract With the adoption of a Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) the European Union (EU) is extending its carbon price to certain imported goods to advance the decarbonisation of European energy-intensive industries while preventing carbon leakage. The CBAM carries the potential to drive climate policy efforts in non-EU countries but also poses significant economic and political challenges to the EU’s trade partners. Accordingly, the CBAM has stirred up a vibrant international debate about the adequacy and legitimacy of unilateral climate policies. This article systematically analyses political responses to the EU CBAM to assess if and how it is driving climate policies internationally. To that end, it empirically maps political responses to the EU CBAM (covering opposition, cooperation and policy adoption) of 32 countries from 2019 to 2024 distinguishing across three perspectives on CBAM’s significant others. The article finds that the CBAM has triggered a wide range of political reactions across all countries analysed, highlighting its political relevance. Responses thereby seem to have shifted from opposition towards cooperation and policy adoption from 2021 onwards. Furthermore, the CBAM seems to have driven the development of climate policies in several countries, suggesting that unilateral climate policies can work as a climate policy driver internationally. The article advances the academic literature on unilateral climate measures as well as the literature on the EU’s regulatory power.

The legal framework for religious education in Norway - towards a Kantian balance between rights of state and rights of the citizen

ABSTRACT Politicisation of education has for the last decade been a topic in the international debate on religious education (RE). Concerns have been raised about the legitimacy of politicisation of both confessional and non-confessional variants of RE. The Norwegian subject has gained special attention internationally due to the censure by the UN’s HRC and the verdict from the ECtHR. The aim of this article is to assess the legitimacy of the legal framework for RE in Norway, based on the presumption that positive law should be consistent with universal right. I will do this from the perspective of Kant’s doctrine of right which has a basic normative structure established independent of any material values, making it especially suited for the challenge to promote and preserve a shared political identity in societies with growing cultural and religious diversity. The main question of this article is whether and to what extent changes of the Norwegian legal framework for RE have strengthened its legitimacy from a Kantian perspective. I will argue that the current framework aligns with the practical implications of Kant’s theory, concluding that the Norwegian case exemplifies a legitimate politicisation of RE in a pluralistic society within the limits of a liberal democracy.

What Does the Mufti Say? Internal and Public Debates about Islam in Russia

ABSTRACT This special issue engages with debates among Muslim believers in contemporary society in Russia. It attends to the complicated question of representation by the muftiates, competition between the different institutions and how the muftis like to position themselves towards the state and its policies. Regarding matters of faith, the special issue examines the concept of “traditional Islam”, presented by the state as the appropriate form of Muslim belief and practice. Interpretations of Islam that diverge from this template run the risk of being criminalized. Finally, it also takes a closser look at online communication about Islam, patterns to be observed and how these again shape the image of Islam in Russia. To some degree, those internal discussions are complemented by debates of a more public character, which form part of a process of negotiating the role of Islam in relation to Orthodox Christianity and other religious systems.

Ethical guidelines for journalistic use of GenAI. The main trends in the international debate and progress in self-regulation in Spain

The emergence of generative AI (GenAI) has led to a far-reaching transformation of the entire journalistic working process, from the business model to the production, distribution and consumption of content. Beyond the expectations of greater productivity and efficiency it has generated, its use also poses important individual, professional and democratic ethical risks. These include attacks on privacy, a decline in journalistic quality and an increase in misinformation. To deal with this situation, academics and the journalistic sector have been publishing different professional guidelines and codes in an attempt to guide the ethical use of this technology. Based on the systematic review of three sets of academic guidelines and 18 important professional publications, and including data from more than 60 countries, this study establishes a double objective: to identify the main trends determining the international ethical debate; and to examine the degree of correspondence between these trends and the first self-regulation initiatives launched by the Spanish media. The results show the construction of a professional consensus on clear ethical standards: principally transparency, human supervision, verification, and respect for classic journalistic values (truth, loyalty to the public, and checking information). Taking a similar conceptual basis, the Spanish media’s commitment to more operational ethical self-regulation codes –with express recommendations, for example, covering the traceability of sources, the differentiation of synthetic content, and limitations on the use of GenAI– is also clear.

Biobanking as a contentious issue in global health governance diversification and contestation of policy frames in international biobanking debates.

Biobanking as a contentious issue in global health governance diversification and contestation of policy frames in international biobanking debates.

Language as Intangible Cultural Heritage

Abstract In this article, we explore the role that languages can play in addressing climate change. Beginning with a discussion on the ‘demotion’ of language in the 2003 UNESCO Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage, we evidence the power of the oral tradition in the transmission of ecological knowledge. Following a brief exploration of the co-relation between linguistic and ecological diversity, we argue for greater recognition of the role language plays in passing on ecological knowledge, as well as its value as intangible cultural heritage in and of itself. We give some examples from the island of Ireland to evidence how crucial traditional knowledge is embedded within the Irish language about land, landscape and the environment. The final section asks whether in addressing climate change, we should focus on minority languages where speakers maintain close connections to nature. Understanding the traditional knowledge about climate, land and the environment has implications for policy changes generally and for wider international debates on climate change such as those by the United Nations’ Conference of the Parties.

Navigating complexities in forest visitation modelling: Intersecting environmental, social, and public health factors during the COVID-19 pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic significantly affected human-environment systems, including human leisure behaviour and travel destinations choices. Multiple research studies reported remarkable anomalies in visitation volumes in outdoor recreation and tourism destinations, such as forests. Yet, the large majority of studies focused on the sole effect of the pandemic on visitation numbers, disregarding the dynamic nature of outdoor recreation and tourism, affected also by other determinants. Therefore, the aim of our study was to understand the influence of various environmental, social and public health factors on visits to forests during the COVID-19 pandemic. The results are based upon empirical data collected during long-term visitor monitoring in three forest destinations in Poland. Hourly visitor counts were registered via pyroelectric sensors (Eco-Counter) located along recreational trails between 2020 and 2022. Additionally, national public health and meteorological variables, along with selected indices of Google Mobility Reports were integrated into the final database. Boosted Regression Trees were applied to model forest visitation. The results show significant influence of multiple factors on the magnitude of forest visitation. There are large regional differences in the weight of specific determinants.Both seasonal tourism and the seasons had a significant impact on the frequency of public visits to forest areas. As the number of restrictions related to COVID-19 increased, the number of people visiting the forests decreased. Factors such as free time, day length, temperature, stringency index (this index records the strictness of government policies against COVID-19), number of COVID-19 new cases and people mobility in different places influenced forest visitation.The outcomes of this study substantially contribute to the ongoing international debate concerning effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on outdoor tourism and recreation. It highlights the necessity of integrating social and environmental determinants, next to the indices describing the COVID-19 pandemic, to better understand the complex nature of forest use to be able to take evidence-based decisions related to public health preparedness planning and forest management in future. Management implications•Information on the mobility of society in forest areas from long-term monitoring can support forest management and adapt it to the needs of society.•An increase in the number of people using forest areas can increase society's expectations for the development of forest areas, including the combination of different forest functions.•In addition to the indices describing the COVID-19 pandemic, social and environmental factors must also be included to better understand the complex nature of forest use in order to make evidence-based decisions related to public health preparedness planning and forest management in future crisis situations.

The Crisis in Burkina Faso and the Coup Belt

Due to the military coups of recent years, the Sahel region has received some considerable attention in international media and political debates. However, we still know little about the ongoing disputes in the region. This article provides an overview of the current crisis in Burkina Faso, the Sahel state where the number of fatalities and internally displaced persons is by far the highest. The conflict is placed in the context of the country’s recent political history and in the debate surrounding the “coup belt”.

Palácio do Congresso Nacional – valor cultural de alterações em edifícios modernos

Setting itself apart from contemporary views on material culture conservation, the international debate on the preservation of modern architecture maintained, in the 1990s and 2000s, that such an architecture should be primarily conserved as a means of upholding the ideals of the Modern Movement. This perspective defined itself as a preservation of the authenticity of concepts. The 2000s gave rise to an alternative approach that moves toward cultural heritage tenets and deems matter and history as heritage attributes potentially as relevant as the authors’ ideas. This study contributes to the growing acceptance of this alternative approach, challenging the perception of modern buildings as pure ideas or unchanging images. It does so by exploring the cultural value resulting from intentional changes accumulated over time on the main building of the National Congress in Brasília, Brazil (designed by Oscar Niemeyer, 1957-1960). It used bibliographic and extensive documentary research as a basis for redrawing 100 renovation woks that have been carried out on the building. The analysis of the material shows diverse intentions, strategies, and outcomes from interventions from 1960 to 2020. This study sought to associate them with their authorship, institutional contexts, and different moments in the history of the building. The most significant alterations indicate that deviations from original intention and form in modern buildings fail to always configure distortions to be corrected. They can give rise to new images that replace established ones, updating collective imagery and bearing relevant cultural value. Addition acts can also offer a mode of intervention that enriches those buildings.

Digital restitution of expropriated heritage: technological modes of experience

For more than a century now, Western museological institutions have been exhibiting expropriated heritage across their museum spaces, curating displays which conveyed prescriptive epistemic paradigms, informed by a rigidly imposed notion of primitive aesthetic. As the restitution of physical heritage is at the center of the international political debate, both museums and artists have started to employ digital technologies to engage with the looted heritage, envisioning new paths for access and experience, through projects which aspire to question traditional narratives. Interestingly, digital technologies offer the opportunity to mobilize a very rigid state of affairs, overcoming diplomatic stances and shifting the debate towards questions of identity, values and aesthetics. This paper intercepts the digital repatriation phenomenon, analyzing two case studies which relate to the Benin Bronzes: the international cooperative institutional programme Digital Benin and the AI generated work Igùn (2020) by artist Minne Atairu. These two projects, in their own media specific ways, create new modes of experience to interact with the Benin Kingdom heritage, operating at the intersection between research, display, creativity and meaning making. As the digital restitution debate becomes more and more pressing in the current scenario, the research offers an analysis of how digital technologies can be used to foster new paths to engage with expropriated heritage, overcoming rigid definitions of knowledge.

Exploring Colonial Interactions with Indigenous Knowledge Traditions: A Case Study of Calcutta Sanskrit College

The Calcutta Sanskrit College occupies a central position in the history of Indian education, representing a nuanced synthesis of tradition and modernity. This study examines its profound significance within the socio-cultural and educational context of colonial India. Established in 1824, the institution was founded with the principal aim of revitalizing and safeguarding the Sanskrit language and its extensive literary corpus, thereby contributing to the preservation of indigenous intellectual traditions. Central to its functioning were the learned Pandits, distinguished scholars of Sanskrit who were instrumental in maintaining the continuity of ancient knowledge systems. The paper further explores the internal debates within the College concerning the incorporation of English alongside Sanskrit, a linguistic contention emblematic of the broader dialectic between tradition and modernity. These debates provide critical insights into the complex dynamics of colonial interventions, cultural identity, and the transformation of educational paradigms. The narrative of the Calcutta Sanskrit College thus reflects the broader trajectory of educational reform in colonial India, where languages, ideologies, and traditions intersected to shape the intellectual landscape of the nation. The institution emerges as a symbol of India’s enduring commitment to the preservation and adaptation of knowledge amidst a period of profound change.

The role of oligopolies and economic groups in accelerating inflation in recent Argentina

This article seeks to contribute to the analysis of non-monetary aspects of inflation, focusing on the price escalation in 2021–2022, when the pace of inflation accelerated in the Argentine economy. The article examines the impact of market concentration and corporate conglomeration strategy on the variation in relative prices or, according to the Latin-American structuralist view, on the “downward stickiness” of prices following the international shock that resulted in a significant increase in corporate profit margins. Against the backdrop of the “high inflation” phase that the Argentine economy is facing due to both the international price shock in the aftermath of the pandemic and to the war in Ukraine, the contribution of this research is to show that oligopolistic branches operating in the manufacturing sector have opened the way to the acceleration in prices. The most significant increases can be observed in highly concentrated branches in which local economic groups or foreign conglomerates are clearly predominant. This, among other possible factors, has allowed those branches to increase their profit margins as their prices rose in excess of the prices of imported inputs and the rest of wholesale prices, and of their wage costs. This evidence not only connects with the international debate about the characteristics of inflationary processes in core countries but it is also a contribution, albeit a preliminary one, that addresses the stickiness of the Argentine economy when it comes to decelerating the rise in prices after an “initial impetus”.

The Rise of National Security in the 1930s: An Australian Case Study

This article traces the evolution of ‘national security’ from a rarely used phrase to a central concept within Australian political life. Where existing genealogies have located the origins of ‘national security’ in the United States, this article reveals that the principal genesis of ‘national security’ was in the international disarmament debates of the early 1930s. Taking Australia as a case study, we show how the concept was utilized to express national identity, debate key issues, and expand federal power in a critical period of nation-building. Surveying uses of the concept across the decade, we found that issues became ‘national security’ problems when they threatened the nation in more than one way. Such dynamics manifested in two of the central security issues of the decade. In the national insurance debate, the capacious language of security gave expression to deep-seated anxieties that emerged from the Depression, while the National Security Act of 1939 that legislated emergency war powers tapped a broader sense of insecurity to centralize federal powers. By the end of the decade, ‘national security’ in Australia was closely associated with military strength, preoccupations around White identity, and entrenching political authority – an early precursor to its uses and abuses today.

Effects of water soaking pretreatment and season on the germination parameters of Terminalia ivorensis A. Chev. seeds in Kisangani, Democratic Republic of Congo

Since environmental concerns related to climate change and biodiversity erosion emerged, forest plantations have returned to the heart of international debates. Today's challenge is finding species and planting techniques that increase carbon sequestration and meet the many needs for goods and services from trees. This study aimed to determine the effects of soaking seeds in water, substrate and season on the germination parameters of Terminalia ivorensis A. Chev. seeds in the eco-climatic conditions of Kisangani. The effects of pretreatment, substrate and season were tested to do this. Two treatments (soaking seeds and no soaking) and three substrates (household waste, forest compost and pig droppings) were tested in the dry and rainy seasons. At the end of this experiment, it turns out that the rate of emergence or germination capacity, the germination energy and the germination speed do not vary according to pretreatment and substrate. Only the season significantly influences the emergence rate and the seeds' germination energy. The germination capacity and energy are better in the rainy than the dry season. These results are only a first contribution to understanding factors favouring the use of T. ivorensis in plantations in Kisangani. However, they highlight the need to test longer soaking times and the substrate's effects on seedlings' early growth.

The Strange Case of Mr. Manoilescu in Italy

This contribution focuses on the reception in Italy, with respect to the international debate, of Mihail Manoilescu's work, particularly his The Theory of Protection and International Trade. Despite some appreciation, his work was sharply criticized by both mainstream-trained economists and those closer to the regime. The episode offers an interesting example of the biases present in the debate on economic issues in the fascist era.