Civil Society Mobilization Research Articles

Mitigating South Africa’s HIV Epidemic: The Interplay of Social Entrepreneurship and the Innovation System

With the struggle against apartheid achieved, South Africa faced the new struggle of overcoming the HIV/AIDS pandemic. This paper examines the response of government, the innovation system and civil society in rising to the challenge. The response included a fatal denialism concerning the etiology of AIDS, a fatalism that constitutes political market failure. This political market failure was counteracted through the emergence of social entrepreneurship in the form of the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) that mobilized civil society and like-minded health practitioners and researchers within the innovation system. Dependency Theory coupled with a Quadruple Helix model of the innovation system offer possible explanations of this complex human tragedy and the way that government was compelled to embark on a massive program of providing anti-retroviral therapy that has now significantly improved life expectancy. The paper provides socio-economic context, appraisal of the innovation system, and a sketch of how the Quadruple Helix took form. Of special importance is the independence of South Africa’s ‘Republic of Science.’ Independent courts were critical in allowing TAC to obtain remedy against government, Big Pharma, and AIDS dissident scientists. It is argued that its Republic of Science met its obligation of objectivity by shifting emphasis to the cause of AIDS research in the face of official denialism. In effect, the system of innovation and social entrepreneurs are shown to have acted in concert in constituting a Quadruple Helix.

Oligarchic rule and best practice migration management: the political economy origins of labour migration regime of the Philippines

ABSTRACTThe Philippine labour migration regime has been praised as one of the best examples of government-led migration management in the developing world, with some of the most extensive policies and bureaucratic organisations to manage and protect its citizens working abroad. However, not much knowledge has been accumulated that explains its origins or why it emerged in the Philippines and not in other large-scale migrant-sending countries. Contrary to current explanations that emphasise the economic benefits of labour migration and civil society mobilisation, this paper highlights the migration regime's compatibility with the political economy interests of the country's ruling elites. Bringing together the country's two important political and economic features, oligarchic rule and labour export, this paper suggests that the unique genesis of the Philippines’ migration regime casts doubts on the replicability of the Philippine model in other labour-sending countries as currently pursued by the international development community.

Scrutiny, Norms, and Selective Disclosure: A Global Study of Greenwashing

Under increased pressure to report environmental impacts, some firms selectively disclose relatively benign impacts, creating an impression of transparency while masking their true performance. We theorize circumstances under which firms are less likely to engage in such selective disclosure, focusing on organizational and institutional factors that intensify scrutiny and expectations of transparency and that foster civil society mobilization. We test our hypotheses using a novel panel data set of 4,750 public companies across many industries that are headquartered in 45 countries during 2004–2007. Results show that firms that are more environmentally damaging, particularly those in countries where they are more exposed to scrutiny and global norms, are less likely to engage in selective disclosure. We discuss contributions to research on institutional theory, strategic management, and information disclosure.

Contesting neoliberal governance. The case of Romanian Roma

Abstract The article delineates the shifting forms of minority governance that took shape after 1989 in solving Roma related affairs and its ambiguous effects on the ground. I argue that, after 1989, the new social and public policies adopted a more neoliberal trend in solving Romani affairs through processes of decentralization, public-private partnerships and mobilization of civil society (Roma) organizations as key tools for empowering and social inclusion of Romani communities, abandoning old governmental programs focused on discipline, control and policing. However, as we will see in the Romanian case, these processes and policies had ambiguous effects and often have gone together with a diminishing of democratic accountability and control of Roma related affairs by state/public institutions and with the devolution of responsibilities to non-governmental and human rights organizations, Roma representatives from public institutions and communities themselves (see also van Baar 2011a).

Pathways to Transform Institutional (and Everyday) Racism in New Zealand

Racism has become a normalised part of New Zealand society despite the governments’ endorsement of human rights treaties and the founding document Te Tiriti o Waitangi. The outcomes of racism manifest as significant and enduring disparities in economic and social well-being outcomes between Māori and non-Māori. New Zealand has a range of strategies that attempt to deal with inequities between population groups and is developing a national human rights plan but currently lacks a coherent national strategy to transform racism. In this paper we offer four pathways to this goal as a contribution to a possible national strategy i) addressing historical racism, ii) improving racial climate, iii) pursuing equity through the application of systems change within public institutions, and iv) mobilising civil society through collective impact.

Power in Global Trade Governance: Is the EU a Unitary Actor, a Tool for Dominance, or a Site of Contestation? GATS and the TTIP Negotiations

The European Union (EU) plays multiple roles within global trade governance as a unitary actor with particular interests to promote, a tool for dominance by powerful interests, and a site of contestation facilitating civil society mobilization. Identifying these roles is key to analyzing the role of the EU particularly in times of crisis in global trade governance where new forms of politics are most likely to emerge. This is investigated through considering two cases of politically sensitive trade negotiation in which the EU played, and continues to play, an active role: the GATS 2000 negotiations and the EU-US TTIP.

Beyond instrumentalisation: NGO monitoring coalitions in Croatia, Montenegro, and Serbia

This article investigates a particular form of civil society mobilisation in the EU accession process. Despite widely varying models of civil society inclusion across the Western Balkans, monitoring coalitions focused on rule of law issues have emerged in a majority of countries. Comparing the cases of Croatia, Montenegro, and Serbia, the article suggests that this phenomenon cannot be explained by external EU incentives alone, but is significantly shaped by the dynamics of transnational diffusion. The findings offer a fuller picture of the forces shaping civil society mobilisation in accession countries and hold important lessons for the EU's involvement in strengthening non-governmental organisations on the ground.

The prospects of egalitarian capitalism in the global South: Turkish social neoliberalism in comparative perspective

This paper studies the transformation of economic and social policy in Turkey during the 2000s. The policy mix that has emerged can be usefully conceptualized as social neoliberalism, combining relatively orthodox neoliberal economic policies and retrenchment of the protective welfare state (e.g. labour market institutions) with a significant expansion, both in terms of public spending and population coverage, of the productive welfare state (e.g. public health care). Therefore, social neoliberalism as a development model is distinct both from social democracy and orthodox neoliberalism. Its rise in Turkey during the 2000s is arguably best understood with reference to the interests of the AKP's support coalition, the salience of inequalities in access to public services, and the disconnect of social policy-making from civil society mobilization. Turkey's experience with social neoliberalism provides an important reference point for theorizing the ‘social turn’ that since the 2000s has occurred in many late-developing countries with now maturing welfare states, including Brazil, South Africa, Mexico and Chile.

Chinese Anti-Cancer Association as a non-governmental organization undertakes systematic cancer prevention work in China.

Cancer has become the first leading cause of death in the world, particularly in low- and middle-income countries. Facing the increasing trend of cancer incidence and mortality, China issued and implemented "three-early (early prevention, early diagnosis and early treatment)" national cancer prevention plan. As the main body and dependence of social governance, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) take over the role of government in the field of cancer prevention and treatment. American Cancer Society (ACS) made a research on cancer NGOs and civil society in cancer control and found that cancer NGOs in developing countries mobilize civil society to work together and advocate governments in their countries to develop policies to address the growing cancer burden. Union for International Cancer Control (UICC), Cancer Council Australia (CCA), and Malaysian cancer NGOs are the representatives of cancer NGOs in promoting cancer control. Selecting Chinese Anti-Cancer Association (CACA) as an example in China, this article is to investigate how NGOs undertake systematic cancer prevention work in China. By conducting real case study, we found that, as a NGO, CACA plays a significant role in intensifying the leading role of government in cancer control, optimizing cancer outcomes, decreasing cancer incidence and mortality rates and improving public health.

Activities of the Commissioners of the Council on Russian Orthodox Church and the Council on Religious Faiths under the Council of People’s Commissars of the USSR on the Tatar Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic during the Great Patriotic War and...

The significance of the present study is caused by the necessity to do a research on the experience of the relations between power structures and religious organizations in the context of civil society mobilization in the face of external threat. The study aims at the research of the activities of the Commissioners of the Council on Russian Orthodox Church and the Council on Religious faiths to the Council of People’s Commissars of the USSR on the Tatar Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (TASSR) during the Great Patriotic War and early post-war years. Civilizational approach is the basic approach to the present research, which allowed examining the study subject along with political and socio-cultural aspects. The research resulted in definitions of the status of the abovementioned Councils’ commissioners in the power structures system of the state, their official and practical functions, and legal basis of their activities. Based on the commissioners’ quarterly plans and reports examination, techniques and methods of the commissioners’ work under relative normalization of relations between the state and confessions in 1943-1948 were revealed. The research materials can be used in the development of training aids, practical activities of the structures implementing state’s policy in the spiritual sphere.

Realising Rights in Timor-Leste

Timor-Leste is a nascent democratic country with a rights-rich Constitution. After more than a decade it is unclear whether vulnerable sections of Timorese society can access the courts to ensure the realisation and protection of their constitutional rights. This paper examines the design and practice of Timor-Leste’s Constitution and its new legal system in light of the Epp-Wilson debate regarding the necessary conditions for access to justiciable constitutional rights. It draws on Timor-Leste’s experience to argue that while Wilson’s focus on institutional design is compelling, it does not dispel the need for a strong civil society along the lines argued by Epp. The realisation of constitutional rights requires the mobilisation of civil society and a receptive Timorese judiciary.

The possible contribution of civil society in the moral edification of South African society: The example of the ‘United Democratic Front’ and the ‘Treatment Action Campaign’ (1983–2014)

In spite of much candid protest and overt criticism against the service delivery record and corruption of the South African government, the governing party, the African National Congress (ANC), once again secured a persuasive victory in the 2014 national elections. This situation begs the question whether the ballot box is really the only efficient instrument for disgruntled voters to influence government policy and behaviour. This article examines the possibilities that the mobilisation of civil society offers in this regard. The central theoretical argument is that civil society can be an important instrument through which the citizenry can exercise their critical function with regard to the government in an effort to address poor service delivery and corruption and to influence government policy. Christian organisations can play a crucial role in this process. Two examples of past efficient action by civil society serve to illustrate this argument. With the assistance of churches and Christian organisations,these organisations profoundly influenced government policy and are consequently presented as models for action today. The first example is the ‘United Democratic Front’ (UDF) that forced the pre-1994 South African apartheid government to a negotiated settlement despite the strict security laws that the state utilised to keep the UDF in check. The second example is the ‘Treatment Action Campaign’ (TAC) that forced the post-1994 Thabo Mbeki government to adopt a policy of free provision of antiretroviral drugs to HIV-positive patients. These two influential civil organisations offer models of how civil society can act as critical watchdog. In future, these models can be used to mobilise civil society, including churches and Christian organisations, to act correctively in defining and enacting government policy, despite the ANC’s strong position in government and the large majority that the governing party can secure at the voting polls.

Who brought down the dictator? A critical reassessment of so-called ‘People power’ revolutions in the Philippines and Indonesia

This article presents a counterpoint to the popular portrayals of political transitions in the Philippines and Indonesia as ‘people power’ driven by civil society mobilisation. Inherent in this kind of analysis is the popular assumption that transitions from sultanistic regimes are likely to be driven almost completely by forces outside of the regime, as they do not allow for independent actors or institutions that could peacefully arrange for transition ‘from within’. This article suggests that, despite the appearance of a ‘people power’ revolution, the key driver behind the fall of the Marcos and Suharto regimes was forces internal to the regimes. Sultanistic regimes could collapse not only as a result of society-led displacement; sultanistic rulers could also be brought down by an alliance of moderate opposition elites and regime soft-liners, which opens up the way for a much less revolutionary path out of sultanism. More importantly, this article suggests that these elites emerged as a result of their growing marginalisation in the patronage system. Their challenge to the sultan was motivated less by strong democratic conviction than by desire to gain greater access to state patronage.

Theology and the building of civilizing democracy in South Africa

This paper discusses the contribution of theology to the building of a civilizing democracy, i.e. a democratic society where a life of justice to all is advanced. A society is only “civilized” where justice to especially the most vulnerable is advanced. Justice rests in dignity and co-exists with equality and equity, as well as with freedom. Theology makes a threefold contribution towards a society of justice. Theology reveals the deeper meaning-giving framework, and forces of social cohesion and moral living without which a liberal democracy cannot flourish. Theology offers richer descriptions of notions like justice, which advance the implementation and fulfilment of these features. Theology makes a contribution towards the mobilization of an activist civil society and citizenship in search of a civilizing society of justice.

Civil Society Leadership in the Struggle for Aids Treatment in South Africa and Uganda

This thesis is an attempt to theorise and operationalise empirically the notion of ‘civil society leadership’ in Sub-Saharan Africa. ‘AIDS leadership,’ which is associated with the intergovernmental institutions charged with coordinating the global response to HIV/AIDS, is both undertheorised and highly context-specific. In this study I therefore opt for an inclusive framework that draws on a range of approaches, including the literature on ‘leadership’, institutions, social movements and the ‘network’ perspective on civil society mobilisation.This framework is employed in rich and detailed empirical descriptions (‘thick description’) of civil society mobilisation around AIDS, including contentious AIDS activism, in the key case studies of South Africa and Uganda. South Africa and Uganda are widely considered key examples of poor and good leadership (from national political leaders) respectively, while the Treatment Action Cam- paign (TAC) and The AIDS Support Organisation (TASO) are both seen as highly effective civil society movements. These descriptions emphasise ‘transnational net- works of influence’ in which civil society leaders participated (and at times actively constructed) in order to mobilise both symbolic and material resources aimed at exerting influence at the transnational, national and local levels. They endeav- oured to influence both AIDS policy and the course of the epidemic directly. I conclude that these networks played a key role in the effectiveness of both TAC and TASO.These qualitative case studies are complemented by econometric analyses. At the continental level, I attempt to measure the impact of civil society mobilisation on the performance of national governments through a cross-country regression analysis applied to 42 Sub-Saharan African states. This analysis fails to show a strong relationship between the presence of AIDS NGOs and HAART and PMTCT coverage (controlling for a range of factors) — potentially supporting my hypothesis that civil society mobilisation is only effective in certain circumstances. At the local level, a second set of regression models using household survey data investigates whether TAC’s mobilisation in Cape Town impacted appreciably on HIV prevention efforts. They show a significant relationship between contact with TAC and not endorsing false conspiracy beliefs about AIDS as well as condom use, indicating that TAC’s impact is not restricted to the national policy level.

Incentive, Shock, or Neither?

What are the prospects for European Union accession in Bosnia, a country with a legacy of ethnic conflict and malfunctioning democracy? How might the accession of Croatia to the European Union affect this process? This paper analyses the current state of Bosnian politics through the lens of EU accession and considers the political and economic impact of Croatian accession. A lack of incentive for Bosnian politicians to implement the governmental changes needed for Europeanization—the process of adopting European rules—has created a stagnant and intransigent political climate, one made more difficult by the Bosnian bureaucracy. Ethnic divisions hard-wired into the Bosnian political system by Article IV of the Dayton Agreement make the political costs of Europeanization and institutional reform much higher than those associated with the continuation of ethnicity based parliamentary politics. However, Croatian accession (and the associated process of leaving the Central European Free Trade Agreement) will cause changes to the Bosnian economy, which heretofore has relied heavily on free trade with Croatia through CEFTA. A significant shock to the Bosnian economy caused by Croatian accession could trigger a political response, making Europeanization a viable alternative to the status quo. In order for the economic impact to be translated into politics, there must be an engaged populace willing to push for reform and translate their desire for Europeanization into a political force. Ultimately, I argue that the lack of effective inter-ethnic civil society and political mobilization in Bosnia will prevent significant political movement towards Europeanization, despite any economic discomforts caused by Croatia’s EU accession.

The Power of the Wave: Activism Rainbow Region-Style

The Power of the Wave: Activism Rainbow Region-Style

Generating political priority for global surgical care

Abstract Background Despite the high burden of surgical conditions, the provision of surgical services historically has been a low global health priority. Drawing on social science scholarship concerning how issues come to attract attention, we examined factors that have shaped political priority for global surgical care. Methods We drew on a published public policy framework that consists of four categories: (1) actor power, (2) issue framing, (3) the contexts within which actors operate, and (4) characteristics of the issue itself. We triangulated between several sources of data, including 30 semi-structured interviews with members of global surgical networks and Ministries of Health in low-income countries, published scholarly literature, and reports from organisations involved in surgery provision and advocacy. Findings Although surgical care has the potential to gain political priority, several factors hinder the acquisition of attention and resources. First, with respect to actor power, there is no policy community cohesion, unifying political entrepreneur, or mobilisation of civil society to champion the cause. The surgery community is fragmented and primarily composed of a small number of surgeons and anaesthesiologists concerned with the state of surgical care in low-income countries who have yet to collectively define their objectives and propose specific courses of action. Second, concerning framing, difficulties exist surrounding problem definition and positioning of surgical care, both internally among the surgical community and externally with political stakeholders. For example, an absence of consensus exists concerning what constitutes so-called essential surgery, and even whether that term should be used. Third, with respect to context, the community has made insufficient efforts to capitalise on political opportunities such as the Millennium Development Goals. Finally, concerning characteristics of the issue, there are few data to capture the burden of surgical diseases, which are needed to convince political leaders that surgery provision is a crucial, unmet need. Interpretation To advance global priority for surgery, proponents will need to surmount three challenges: (1) a weak governance structure that impedes achievement of collective goals; (2) disagreement on solutions; and (3) the absence of an effective public positioning of the issue. These findings have broad implications for understanding why some global health issues come to attract priority, while others remain neglected. Funding None.

The Return of Ideology and the Future of Chinese Internet Policy

After China's new leader Xi Jinping took office in November 2012, an ideological tendency with a Maoist imprint has become more visible in policy-making. This tendency is not a simple revival of Maoist practices, but a re-appropriation suited to new political goals. In the near future, internet governance in China is likely to combine Mao-style mass campaigns with the mobilization of law and civil society to proactively mold online expression and behavior.

Lung Disease in a Global Context. A Call for Public Health Action

As described in a recently released report of the Forum of International Respiratory Societies, four of the leading causes of death in the world are chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, acute respiratory tract infections, lung cancer, and tuberculosis. A fifth, asthma, causes enormous global morbidity. Not enough progress has been made in introducing new therapies and reducing disease burden for these illnesses in the last few decades, despite generous investments and some notable progress in biomedical research. Four external and modifiable drivers are responsible for a substantial percentage of the disease burden represented by the major lung diseases: tobacco, outdoor air pollution, household air pollution, and occupational exposures to lung toxins. Especially in low- and middle-income countries, but in highly developed economies as well, pressures for economic development and lax regulation are contributing to the continued proliferation of these drivers. Public health approaches to the most common lung diseases could have enormous effects on reducing morbidity and mortality. There must be increased advocacy from and mobilization of civil society to bring attention to the drivers of lung diseases in the world. The World Health Organization should negotiate accords similar to the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control to address air pollution and occupational exposures. Large increases in funding by government agencies and nongovernmental organizations around the world are needed to identify technologies that will reduce health risks while allowing populations to enjoy the benefits of economic development. This paradigm, focused more on public health than on individual medical treatment, has the best chance of substantial reduction in the burden of lung disease around the world in the next several years.