Political Opportunity Research Articles

Plaza las Pioneras: an urban feminist space and the politics of the commons

ABSTRACT There are very few feminist urban public spaces in the world and even fewer urban feminist commons. This paper focuses on the initiative and functioning of the Plaza las Pioneras in Montevideo, Uruguay. The Plaza is an innovative feminist public space and urban commons experience that opened in 2020 as an effort by the city’s Urban Development and Gender Equity divisions to contribute to a more feminist city. The authors describe the specific context and history of both the urban space and its actors that led to political opportunities but also agency and sociopolitical dynamics on the part of different actors. Its inception and foundation are considered feminist by its stakeholders both in terms of process and finality. The article details and analyses how the Plaza las Pioneras provides fertile ground for feminist claims and initiatives while enabling women to appropriate the space and emerge as actors and beneficiaries of innovation, creation, and collective self-management of urban commons. Since its inauguration, the Plaza has become a community territory as a space, a resource, and meeting grounds. It is used by the feminist collectives that make up its Assembly as a way to promote solidarity, care, and commoning not only among its members but also with other civil society groups and social movements while working with the municipality to promote feminist urban initiatives.

Coalitions across divides: The interactional maintenance paradigm

AbstractOver the years, scholars have investigated how alliances begin and end, paying particular attention to factors that facilitate the emergence of movement and campaign coalitions. However, the issue of maintaining co‐resistance among distinct activist groups that lasts over time is still understudied. This contribution aims to fill this gap. Through an in‐depth empirical study of the long‐lasting cooperation of Israeli‐Palestinian activist organizations in the Palestinian region of the South Hebron Hills, this article singles out various factors that allowed this alliance to survive intense repression and change in political opportunities. Methodologically, a Protest Event Analysis was carried out after 2 months of preliminary fieldwork in Palestine (2019). It was followed by another 3 months of fieldwork in spring 2022 spent living with the community of Susiya and joining their everyday life and activism. Twenty‐three interviews with activists from both communities were conducted.

Fundamental Problems of Water Resources Management in the Helmand River Basin, Afghanistan

The closed hydrology and the geopolitical nature of the Helmand River basin in terms of leadership, management, and use of water resources have created serious threats to its integrity, environmental health, and human security in this river basin. The Helmand River basin, where about 8 million people live, includes about 49 percent of the soil and 11 percent of the water flow of this country. Agricultural sectors and related industries are the main drivers of the economy in this basin and due to the increasing need for food in the country and the region, the population shift towards cities, industrialization, and most importantly climate change and water shortage, competition between major water consumers in this basin is increasing. Despite the increasing number of studies on the water management of the Helmand River basin, no practical research carried out to strengthen and summarize the common conclusions and findings related to the fundamental problems facing the water resources management of this river basin. Therefore, in this article, to fill the aforementioned gap, all related documents, studies, and topics have been comprehensively reviewed and analyzed. To achieve this goal, the qualitative-analytical research method was used to analyze and find the key issues raised, and as a result, the basic problems facing the water resources management of this basin were investigated as much as possible. In the following, the necessary suggestions are also presented so that by implementing it, this country would be able to solve the existing problems by using its hydro political capacities and opportunities and it would also be placed at the center of the water interactions in the river basin, to provide a sustainable and all-round development of the country.

Virtual gown and town: The Athabasca University crisis and the conflict of institutional logics

AbstractThe objective of this paper is to contribute to our understanding of ‘crisis’ in higher education through the analysis of a unique series of events involving a decisive change in the relationship between a university and the state. A descriptive case study approach is used to investigate the crisis in governance at Athabasca University, an open university located in Alberta, Canada. Factors leading to the crisis included the university leadership's decision to move forward with plans to become a near‐virtual organization, concerns by local town that a loss of university employees in the region would be an economic catastrophe, and political opportunism on the part of the elected provincial leaders who decided to address the problems raised by the town and shift the mandate of the university. Drawing on institutional theory and the concept of institutional logics, the paper analyses the episodic nature of the crisis and explores both the nature of the conflict and its resolution.

The sociological dimensions of multicultural education

AbstractThe United States began as a place of bondage, a European‐privileged, segregated state where profit and exploitation ruled the day. American schools developed within this racially discriminate society. Euro‐American officials excluded African descendants and other people of color from political, economic, and educational opportunities. One theory to emerge for including non‐European descendants into America's segregated schools was multicultural education, which theorists established to provide African Americans and others with equal access to mainstream educational services. The popular terms to arise from multicultural education are diversity and inclusion although educators often use the condescending term “minorities” to describe communities of color. Critics of multicultural education believe it is unnecessary because it would create disunity and negate America's core values. Critics also believe multicultural educators do not address the impact of racism on educational development. Unlike multicultural educators, critical race theorists analyze the impact of racism as multicultural theorists tend to view racism as a social anomaly motivated by individual choice. This paper is an exploration of the sociological complexities of multicultural education and its effectiveness as a response to America's unjust society, the possibility of non‐white ethnic groups working together to create an atmosphere of educational equality under the theoretical guidance of multicultural education, and the extent of how students of color may include themselves in standard American school curriculums.

Justice in Contention: The Dynamics of Legal Mobilisation in Caimanes’ Environmental Struggle

This paper examines legal mobilisation in socio-environmental movements through the Caimanes case, a Chilean community opposing the Los Pelambres mining project. It integrates structural and agency perspectives, highlighting the community's adaptation to political and legal opportunities and focusing on distributive environmental justice. The study identifies two protest cycles: the first seeking compensation, leading to community divisions, and the second addressing mining externalities, fostering unity and solidarity. It discusses judicial mobilisation's limitations, including challenges in aligning community and legal advisors’ aims and constraints within the Chilean judicial system. The analysis, based on fieldwork and secondary sources, contributes to understanding legal strategies in environmental justice movements, emphasising strategic decision-making's importance.

Network dynamics of civil society: a longitudinal study in Malaysia amidst changing political opportunity structures

Abstract This article explores the role of macro-level factors, specifically political opportunity structures (POS), in shaping interorganizational network tie formation and persistence. Grounded in the POS literature and the multitheoretical multilevel (MTML) framework—specifically using the theories of resource dependency and collective action—we examine how changes in POS are associated with network structures in Malaysian civil society. Data were collected in two phases, reflecting different political contexts. Although the network never evolved into a decentralized or centralized structure, the most central organizations remained consistent and seemed to have been active in bringing others closer to reconfigure toward a more cohesive structure as the POS became more closed. This research contributes to communication network theory by demonstrating how incorporating exogenous environmental factors like POS can advance theory. It offers new insights into operationalizing POS within network analysis and challenges conventional interpretations of centralization in interorganizational relationships.

Africa and the prospects of rotational democracy

AbstractSharing of social, economic, and political opportunities is crucial for the stability of many African states. Democracy has been identified as an inclusive framework that allows individuals to freely contest for these opportunities. However, in Africa, democracy appears not to work as compared to Western democratic societies. Some African political philosophers blame the problem on liberal democratic type practiced in the continent, which is modeled after the hegemonic socio‐political discourse in Europe and North America. Thus, it is argued that workable democratic model for Africa must be embedded in the continent's cultural and historical nuances. Consequently, initial effort by the Ghanaian philosopher Kwasi Wiredu appealed to the nonpartisan Consensus Democracy of traditional Akan society. But it is doubtful that the consensual model, which was successful in the mono‐ethnic traditional Akan society, will produce the same effect in a multi‐ethnic society as the modern African states. At present, ethnicity inter alia remains a major obstruction to democratization of the continent. Africa needs a democratic model that takes its rigid multi‐ethnic character into account instead of uncritically imposing global democratic knowledge to African situations or totally disregarding local knowledge of democracy. Therefore, I investigate how ethnicity inter alia can be accommodated in democratic practice. An experimental model called “Rotational Democracy” is introduced based on the traditional African social practice of One Cup, which embodies the phenomena of power rotation and rationing of the traditional society. The article demonstrates how indigenous knowledge can be the starting point for democratic practice in Africa.

Who’s streets, our streets: the evolution of street asphalt art and the transformation of liminal spaces for social change

ABSTRACT The betwixt and in-between spaces in urban environments help define the zeitgeist. In transforming liminal spaces into memorials, public art provides an opportunity to assert the voice of the people and helps to catalyze social change. In recent years, the informal and formal claiming of urban liminal spaces has been central to the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement. This article explores the use of informal placemaking and how claiming liminal space can lead to transformative social reactions for sustained social change in subtle and direct ways. By situating asphalt art within the cultural activism literature where “art, activism, performance, and politics meet, mingle and interact” (Verson, 2007, p. 172), one of the roles of asphalt art can be understood. Existing scholarship in this area “has focused on the role of creative practices such as culture jamming, subversion, public art, performance, and rebel clowning” (Buser et al., 2013, p. 606). This article considers the relationship between asphalt art’s creative praxis in the processes of urban placemaking and how meaning is constructed in urban space that presents opportunities for new political, social, and cultural dialogues to resonate the causes some liminal spaces represent that bring activities and existing narratives that develop new civic narratives.

Social Movements in Hybrid Regimes: The Rise of PTM in Pakistan

Scholars have ignored regime type as a crucial element affecting social movement mobilization due to political opportunity structures. Even little is known about hybrid regimes and disputes. Understanding social movement's hidden or unintentional repercussions is another gap. This study uses the Pashtun Tahafuz (protection) Movement (PTM) of Pakistan to address this academic gap by studying social movements under hybrid regimes like Pakistan. The research finds that dual (emanating from both the military and political organs of the state) and haphazard repression by a hybrid regime, characterized by military dominance and limited political opportunity structure, can temporarily slow social movement mobilization but not stop it. In the long term, the movement becomes stronger and mobilizes against the state. As a result of its mobilization and advancement, a social movement under such a regime may also affect other social movements.

Ecofeminism as a Movement: Choosing between Economics and Nature Protection

This research aims to discuss the direction of the ecofeminist movement in Indonesia after the New Order. The world ecofeminist movement is often criticized because it is considered to obscure the essential spirit of feminism in its efforts to protect nature. However, in Indonesia, it is widely praised for its success in protecting wildlife from potential damage. This research uses ecofeminism theory and resource mobilization theory to examine the side of women's struggle to preserve nature. In order to identify research gaps and uncharted region for further investigation, this study employed a Systematic Literature Review (SLR). There are three stages involved in SLR: planning, conducting, and reporting. The results of this research are that there is strengthening within the organization of the ecofeminist movement when natural disasters and other potential natural damage occur, thus giving rise to collective awareness about the importance of women participating in protecting nature. This research concludes that the ecofeminist movement opens up new political opportunities for women to be empowered and prosperous and protect wildlife.

Individual legal action as minority activism: Romani Germans in 1950s West Germany

AbstractObjectivesSocial movement theory argues that activist movements emerge when the political opportunity structure is favorable. This article contributes to the literature on social movements and minority activism by showing that individual‐level activism happens even without a favorable opportunity structure.MethodsThe legal journal Rechtsprechung zum Wiedergutmachungsrecht (Case Law on Reparations Legislation), published from 1949 to 1981, reported on West German courts’ decisions about reparations claims appeals. All issues were examined for decisions on reparations claims appeals that Romani Germans submitted regarding West Germany's 1953 federal reparations law, despite the unfavorable political opportunity structure. The number of these appeals is reported, and select cases are discussed.ResultsEvery time a Romani claimant appealed a denied reparations claim, they were, according to feminist definitions of everyday activism, committing an act of activism. Such appeals appear repeatedly in the Rechtsprechung zum Wiedergutmachungsrecht, demonstrating that if scholars look for activism at an individual level, not a group level, evidence shows that members of marginalized minority groups engage in activism regardless of the political opportunity structure.ConclusionsThese findings show that, if individual‐level activism is included in scholarly analyses, it becomes apparent that minority activism occurs even when the political opportunity structure is unfavorable.

Becoming a young radical right activist: Biographical pathways of the members of radical right organisations in Poland and Germany

With the increasing popularity of the radical right, much research has tried to explain the motives of voters. Less attention has been paid to the motives of people to become radical right activists – specifically young people, a group with a high tendency to join right-wing parties. Within the context of the internationalisation of the radical right, this article draws on 28 narrative interviews conducted between 2019 and 2021 with young radical right activists in Poland and Germany, two countries with considerably different political and discursive opportunity structures. We propose to recognise a new motive for becoming involved in political activism: career-oriented individual self-realisation in Germany, as opposed to fulfilling a duty to the nation in Poland. While we identify two different types of radical activism within the different contexts – the (nationalist) anti-establishment populist career type in Germany and the (nationalist) anti-political intellectualism/elitism type in Poland – they both point to the normalisation of the radical right in the two countries.

Assessing Narratives in the Translation of Chinese Political Discourse: A Perspective from the Narrative Paradigm

In the global era, translating Chinese political discourse is key to enhancing international understanding and diplomacy. This research employs the narrative paradigm to assess the translation of Chinese political discourse, with the goal of enhancing the effective narrative comprehension of such translations for international communication. It applies Fisher’s narrative paradigm and Baker’s assessing narratives to investigate the application and impact of the principles of narrative coherence and fidelity in the translation of Chinese political discourse for international audiences. Employing a qualitative research approach, it conducts an analysis based on translations from volumes III and IV of Xi Jinping: The Governance of China, as primary case studies. The research finds that translations of Chinese political discourse face specific challenges and opportunities in maintaining narrative coherence and fidelity. The principle of narrative coherence emphasizes the importance of creating coherent, accessible narrative structures in translation, while the principle of fidelity demands fidelity to the source’s cultural information and political connotations, reflecting distinctive Chinese characteristics. Highlighting the significance of adopting the narrative paradigm in the international communication of Chinese political discourse, this research provides theoretical and practical insights for assessing narrative comprehension of Chinese political discourse translation. Moreover, the results offer a new perspective on narrative assessment for comprehension in cross-cultural and international communication, pointing directions for future research.

Radical Turn: The Case of Front Persaudaraan Islam (Neo-FPI) in Indonesia

In the last decade, a religious conservatism group of Front Pembela Islam (FPI) was notoriously controversial due to series of anti-government protests, harsh approaches as well as opposing state constitution which led to this group disbandment in 2020. After being disbanded, this group quietly formed Front Persaudaraan Islam (Neo-FPI) during COVID-19 and operated secretly through religious activities. The momentum of Neo FPI appeared publicly comes in 2022 when they took to the street for complaining the Minister of Religious Affairs’ comment of call for prayer, widely known as adzan. This study aimed at exploring how Neo-FPI responds and transforms after being dissolved constitutionally by the government and to what extent this rebirth is accepted by the Muslim community. The emergence of Neo-FPI can be interpreted by Sydney Tarrow (1998) as a puzzle of political opportunity. The social movement increased when it gained the support of resources and successfully mobilized the resource. The result of the study shows that the Neo-FPI might try to attempt on humanistic approach and moderation within the religious movement. However, substantially this group will not be different from the old version like an apple that falls not far from the tree.

ASIA-PACIFIC FREE TRADE AGREEMENT, REGIONAL ECONOMIC INTEGRATION AND MONGOLIA

Mongolia is believed to have great potential for simultaneous integration in many fields. Our natural resources and geographical location, such as having only two neighbours, being in the middle of two large markets, and having no direct border with a third neighbour and landlocked situation, can be considered an opportunity. Mongolia's economy needs an easily accessible market to process and sell its natural resources, which are considered crucial in the near future. Interest in purchasing Mongolia's raw material wealth is not limited to the US and the EU. The most interesting sales market is that in the coming years, economic development growth will be higher than that of the USA and the EU. For us, Japan, South Korea, and ASEAN countries, which are close by road and can be reached just around our "nose fence", and especially is a region that includes China. Another aspect is that Mongolia is geographically located in the centre of Northeast Asia, i.e. in the heart of it, which not only separates Russia's raw material and energy markets from China's production (China is now Russia's largest trade partner and (which is changing) is also geographically positioned as a bridge between China's industrialised northeastern provinces and the relatively less developed northwestern provinces. Of course, at the moment, Mongolia lacks the necessary funds to modernise and expand transportation and energy infrastructure. However, in the end, it leads to the conclusion that only regional integration will create significant real economic and political opportunities in the future of Mongolia.

ТЕНДЕНЦИИ И ПЕРСПЕКТИВЫ РАЗВИТИЯ ОТРАСЛИ РАСТЕНИЕВОДСТВА В ПЕРМСКОМ КРАЕ

The scientific article contains a theoretical review of scientific literature on the problems of development of the crop production industry. Attention is drawn to the state of the market for crop products, the competitiveness of agricultural sectors and the presence of consumer purchasing preferences in relation to organic products. The dynamics of reduction in sown areas have been revealed, and natural and climatic factors affecting the range, yield and production efficiency have been noted. A methodology for a comprehensive analysis of the conditions for conducting economic activity in the agricultural sector of the economy is presented. The activities of agricultural producers aimed at providing priority provision of their own feed to the livestock industry by reducing the marketable portion of crop production were noted. Solutions for efficient feed production are presented through the selection of promising varieties of feed crops, planning the yield and nutritional value of feed. The strategic directions for the development of the crop production industry have been determined. The priority of development of the crop production industry is confirmed by the presence of deposits and producers of mineral fertilizers. Weaknesses include natural, climatic and soil conditions that limit the list, yield and efficiency of crop production. There are quite a lot of threats to reduce crop production, but the main ones are of a social nature: the continuing outflow of young people from rural areas; Due to labor shortages, there is an increase in abandoned agricultural land. Political, managerial, production and economic opportunities for the development of the crop production industry have been identified in terms of ensuring a targeted approach to personnel training, the development of social and production infrastructure that makes it possible to promote the rural lifestyle among the younger generation and ensure the investment attractiveness of the industry. Thus, great potential for priority development of the crop production industry has been identified.

Age, Political Participation, and Political Context in Africa.

Political participation differs across the age range, but little is known about these patterns outside of developed countries. Political context is a particularly important consideration for all political behavior in Africa, where only a few countries are fully democratic. Drawing from political opportunity structures theory, we investigate how political freedom conditions the age-based pattern of electoral and nonelectoral political engagement, as well as protesting. This study merges the fifth, sixth, and seventh rounds of the Afrobarometer data sets, spanning 36 African countries, with country-level data on political freedom from Freedom House. Using multilevel regression models, we examine how political freedom shapes the relationship between age and 3 forms of political participation. Africans aged from 18 to 60 years and living in nonfree countries are most engaged in electoral and nonelectoral political activities, though participation begins to drop markedly past age 60. For protest participation, young Africans living in partially and non-free countries are the most engaged in protests; yet limited political freedom again means a sharp age-based decline. The impact of political context on the age-participation association is nuanced in ways not anticipated by mainstream research on the developed West. Repressive regimes, while spurring engagement at younger ages, appear to disproportionately deter older Africans from political engagement, especially its riskiest forms. We conclude by calling for more country-comparative gerontological research with careful attention to contextual heterogeneity, particularly in the understudied Global South.

Climate change and the politicization of ESG in the US

ESG, or environmental, social, and governance, is seen by some as an instrument to tackle climate change, and by others as a tool to allow investors to assess climate change risks and opportunities. It has been widely politicized in the US, where Republican critics have characterized it as an attempt by the liberal financial elite to impose a leftist decarbonizing mission on the US economy through an investment risk back door. The current paper explores the way in which ESG has become a, perhaps unlikely, object of politicization by the political right. In doing so, it analyses the meaning of politicization in an ESG context and the various forms it has taken, both discursive and substantive. The paper also seeks to explain why it is that ESG politicization has occurred at particular junctures and draws on political opportunity theory from social movement studies to account for this. It further examines various reactions to the politicization of ESG that have sought to depoliticize it.

Colonial Redress and the Unintended Consequences of Global Opportunities

Abstract Research shows that the rise of political and discursive opportunities enabled by the diffusion of progressive global norms has empowered many aggrieved local actors. Drawing on colonial victims’ transnational redress movements, I add to this literature in two ways. First, rejecting the common association between global opportunities and local movement facilitation and success, I make a counterintuitive argument that the early availability of opportunities can inadvertently hamper a movement’s efficacy in achieving its goals in the long run. Second, contrary to the implicit assumption that large-scale, high-profile transnational movements should fare better than smaller, little-known ones, I demonstrate that the latter can sometimes achieve their goals more easily than the former. In making these arguments, I show that an increasing focus in the norm literature on backlash in target states against norm promotion risks neglecting the flip side of the same coin: Global normative support inadvertently undermining the efficacy of local causes it otherwise helps publicize. Empirically, I look at three Korean colonial victim groups and their divergent paths to transnational redress.