Social Grassroots Research Articles

Study on the Path of College Youth Volunteer Service Participation in Rural Grassroots Social Governance under the Background of Comprehensive Rural Revitalization

Study on the Path of College Youth Volunteer Service Participation in Rural Grassroots Social Governance under the Background of Comprehensive Rural Revitalization

Thoughts on the Participation of Grassroots People’s Courts in Grassroots Social Governance

Grassroots social governance, as the foundation and cornerstone of national governance, is concerned with the most direct, realistic, and urgent problems that the people want to resolve. However, there are some problems in the grassroots People’s Court’s participation in grassroots social governance, such as insufficient team capacity, imperfect working mechanisms, inadequate judicial confirmation, and poor role of the court. To solve those issues, solutions are proposed in the paper.

Discussion on the Modernization of Grass Roots Social Governance Guided by Party Building in the New Era

Discussion on the Modernization of Grass Roots Social Governance Guided by Party Building in the New Era

The System Construction of Rural Grass Roots Social Governance

Under the correct leadership of the country, China's rural society has continuously made remarkable achievements in the long process of development, especially in recent years, the theoretical guidance of socialism with Chinese characteristics has further improved the construction of public service level infrastructure in rural society, guiding the rural social and industrial institutions to undergo qualitative changes and benefiting the people. From this point of view, the article analyzes the construction of the grass-roots social governance system in rural China, with a view to laying the foundation for further development of related work.

“制度–生活”视阈下党建引领基层社会治理研究

“制度–生活”视阈下党建引领基层社会治理研究

Institutional Voids and Business Model Innovation: How Grassroots Social Businesses Advance Deprived Communities in Emerging Economies

ABSTRACTDespite the growing interest in social businesses, knowledge about and theorization of how these businesses change social and institutional conditions in emerging economies is scarce. This research investigates how an innovative social business model acts on institutional voids and creates social value for deprived communities. Building on insights from the literature and a longitudinal case study of a local, grassroots social business venture operating in Brazilian slums and shantytowns (favelas), we uncover and theorize eight mechanisms by which an innovative social business model brings about institutional change and creates social value. These mechanisms are: orchestrating local business networks, developing local business networks, upgrading and building cognitive capacity, legitimizing, assigning multiple roles, empowering, building a positive territorial identity (territorial de-stigmatization), and boundary spanning. Our findings have important implications for social entrepreneurs and organizations supporting social business ventures in transforming economies.

Sacred Sites Protection and Indigenous Women’s Activism: Empowering Grassroots Social Movements to Influence Public Policy. A Look into the “Women of Standing Rock” and “Idle No More” Indigenous Movements

Religion and public policy are interconnected across a variety of issues. One aspect where this linkage has been understudied is religion and Indigenous sacred sites protection. This article aims to address this gap by analyzing how Indigenous women’s activism advances this cause. The focus is on how Indigenous Peoples, specifically women, use grassroots activism to provoke change on public policy in the context of the protection of Indigenous sacred sites. Two case studies are used to illustrate this concept: the American “Women of Standing Rock” and the Canadian “Idle No More” grassroots social movements. My analysis draws from interpretative methods. Interpretative research revolves around the concept of individuals as active producers of meaning. The women-led grassroots social movements at issue highlight a fundamental lack of awareness of the historical and current struggles of Indigenous Peoples, both in the US and Canada. Modern technologies and social media provide democratic means for grassroots social movements to be heard and empowered. The growing movement by Indigenous women to assert their rights, and their quest for self-determination in land use and sacred sites protection create a positive discourse that advances Indigenous women’s position in crossing the obstacles onto “institutional places of privilege,” hence influencing public policy.

Religion and Grassroots Social Conservatism in Canada

AbstractWith a decisive Liberal party electoral victory in 2015, observers are now wondering if religious conservatism's role in the Canadian political landscape is waning. Using data from the Canadian Election Study (CES) from the years 2004 to 2015, we find that respondents’ attitudes toward same-sex marriage and women working outside the home have moved left on the spectrum among both the general population and more religious voters. However, this does not go hand in hand with a decline in the effect strength of religiosity on the Conservative vote, which remains significant across the five federal elections examined in this study. Conservative religious voters now make up a smaller share of the adult population, but their issue positions on sexual morals and gender roles, along with the wider conservative value orientation these issues represent, remain important in their vote choice.

Research and Analysis of Environmental Sustainability Based on Disposal of Waste Materials in Power Engineering Projects of Power Supply Enterprises

In recent years, in order to meet the needs of social and economic development, to build a strong power grid, power supply enterprises have invested a large amount of funds for power grid construction and upgrading. Under such circumstances, it is of great significance to deal with the disposal of waste materials, as well as to control investment costs, increase investment returns, and ensure the disposal of waste materials and environmental sustainability of power engineering projects. This thesis systematically analyses the situation of waste materials in the social grassroots, and studies its current situation and existing problems. Finally, from the professional point of view, the sustainable development of power supply enterprises in the future, and how environmental factors are sustainable.

Another Worldview Is Possible: Grassroots Social Movements and the ‘Great Work’

Observers such as Thomas Berry and David Korten have proposed that the contemporary 'Great Work' is to tell new stories, embodied in practical new politics and economics, to navigate the deep cultural and institutional transformations necessary for human communities to survive and

Research on Innovative Practice of Grassroots Social Governance

In the context of China's economy stepping into the “New Normal”, the problems concerning awareness, system and methods can be found in today's grassroots social governance, no matter in the subjects to govern or the objects to be governed. In a bid to address these problems, all primary-level organizations are on the way to actively explore the concept for the social administration at the basic level, which has won initial success. The paper analyzes the pattern of “Wuzhen Steward” in the manner of field investigation and has commands of its work content, form and function, thus providing ideas for maximizing the current grassroots social governance level from the aspects of communication channels, incentives mechanism and management philosophy.Key words: Grassroots Government; Social Governance; Wuzhen Steward

Making death, compassion and partnership ‘part of life’ in school communities

Death can be considered a social taboo, a common source of fear and public avoidance. School communities are not immune to this, as the topic of death is constantly avoided. It is vital to understand how we can socially and culturally cultivate a positive regard for death, dying and bereavement in our school communities. Community members need to discuss these difficult issues and use strategies to enhance compassion, connectedness and support. In this literature review we reason that death is specifically not ‘part of life’ in school communities. Due to the dearth of school community-based literature on this issue and the progressive literature residing in palliative care, we aim to coalesce palliative care and school-based research, evaluate it and highlight compassion and partnership as a way forward for school communities. Essentially, our societal attitudes about death and dying have been profoundly altered and our community ownership of these normal life events has largely disappeared. This is demonstrated for example, by palliative care moving from the social grass roots ‘modern hospice movement’ formed in the 1960s and being reintegrated into the mainstream health care system by the end of the 1990s, resulting in an overall medicalised morphing of death, dying and bereavement issues. Therefore, we recommend that further research be conducted in how to develop compassionate schools to inform us how death may be continually made ‘part of life’ in school communities, for the benefit of students, teachers and families alike.

James Midgley and Mitsuhiko Hosaka (eds.) (2011), Grassroots Social Security in Asia. Abingdon: Routledge. £75, pp. 157, hbk.

James Midgley and Mitsuhiko Hosaka (eds.) (2011), Grassroots Social Security in Asia. Abingdon: Routledge. £75, pp. 157, hbk.

Health Care Crisis and Grassroots Social Initiative in Post-Soviet Russia


 This article analyzes the development of civil society in Russia in response to the fledging post-Soviet health care crisis. In recent years, Russian civil society has become significantly stronger and more actively engaged in public debates on social as well as political issues. This trend suggests that the process of social capital accumulation in Russia is well underway, thus instilling some hope for Russia's future. To illustrate this recent trend, I will analyze the development of two grassroots movements in St. Petersburg, which help families of children diagnosed with cancer to overcome the everyday psychological, legal and financial difficulties associated with treatment, and to lobby the government to go forward with health care reform. This paper is based on the author's personal experience as a participant in one of the grassroots initiatives, published materials in Russian journals and newspapers, and a series of interviews with volunteers. With this article, I hope to shed new light on developments in the Russian health care sector, and deepen our understanding of contemporary Russian civil society.
 https://doi.org/10.22215/rera.v6i1.205

Religion, Legal Pluralism and Order in a Multiethnic Society: A Legal-Anthropological Study in Contemporary China

Religion, as a kind of social control, plays a role in the construction of social order. It contributes to shaping or influencing the formation of local legal culture, to the generation of various norms, and to the production of social controllers, and it affects dispute settlement. Religious social control in the social grass-roots of China has developed an intricate form as a result of the interaction between plural religions and multi-ethnicity, which in turn speeds up the formation of legal pluralism. This article, based on the analysis of specific cases and ethnographic materials, examines the dynamic relationship between religion, the state law and other social controls within the perspective of legal pluralism. The paper also discusses whether religion will destroy or hinder the process of building legal unity in the multiethnic society of China.

From Pavement to Piazza: Grassroots Social Work to Counteract the Globalization of Marginality

AbstractThis paper—inspired by the experience of grassroots social work in Naples begun by M. Borrelli in the 1950s—emphasizes that “consciousness‐raising” and “community development” can be useful processes to stimulate responsible social participation on the part of the most marginal individuals and groups. To overcome a bureaucratic and pietistic model of the welfare state which serves in the long run to increase their dependence and socio‐cultural subordination, there is a need for alternative social policies, capable of improving people's empowerment and social citizenship. Giving more resources and decision‐making power to the most marginal could amount to changing an unfair and oppressive society from the roots up. This goal remains a moral imperative for both professional and voluntary social workers who believe in a fair, non‐violent and ecological model of development. Unfortunately, in Italy as elsewhere, neo‐liberal reforms of welfare states are tending in the opposite direction, partly as a result of out‐of‐date functionalist theories and by means of a worrying process of welfare marketization and globalization that actually increases the exclusion and marginality of the lower classes. This paper takes issue with current neo‐liberal trends by returning to a territory‐based and resident‐focused image of social work. This way, non‐profit agencies can play a more active and stimulating role in support of communitarian networks and help avoid the risk of the Third Sector's alternative spur being compromised by the otherwise “commodification” of welfare. Only in this way might one stop the transformation of non‐profit organizations into mere private providers for a buyer/controller state, more business‐minded than really concerned with freeing the poor and the marginal “underclass” from subordination and exclusion.

Environmental Justice: Mobilization of a Grassroots Social Movement

ABSTRACT Many minority communities in the United States have experienced the consequences of environmental racism. Until recently, mainstream environmental organizations have tended to ignore this phenomenon, while civil rights organizations have focused their attention primarily on political and economic rather than environmental discrimination. Based on case study material from Alabama and Mississippi, this paper examines efforts to forge an alliance between grassroots environmental and civil rights organizations.

Refuse to Stand Silently By: An Oral History of Grass Roots Social Activism in America, 1921-64.

Refuse to Stand Silently By: An Oral History of Grass Roots Social Activism in America, 1921-64.

Providing Grassroots Social Services to Women and Children in Rural Southern Africa: A Roundtable Discussion

The state of Lesotho, which became independent from Great Britain in 1966, is completely surrounded by South Africa, a geographic encapsulation that is reflected in its economic dependency. Nevertheless, Lesotho is not a South African homeland; it is an internationally recognized, independent country, and as such is eligible for international aid, like other countries in southern Africa such as Botswana and Swaziland. This eligibility, unfortunately, has not served to catalyze the country's economic development, and the government is becoming increasingly indebted to foreign donor agencies. Less than 15 percent of Lesotho's land is arable-all in the lowlands, which are overpopulated, not only with people1 but also with livestock. To produce wool and mohair for international markets, Lesotho's people, the Basotho, herd sheep and goats as well as cattle. Overgrazing, together with irregular rainfall, has contributed to increasing soil erosion. Lesotho has not been self-sufficient in agricultural production since the 1930s.

Health Care Crisis and Grassroots Social Initiative in Post-Soviet Russia

This article analyzes the development of civil society in Russia in response to the fledging post-Soviet health care crisis. In recent years, Russian civil society has become significantly stronger and more actively engaged in public debates on social as well as political issues. This trend suggests that the process of social capital accumulation in Russia is well underway, thus instilling some hope for Russia’s future. To illustrate this recent trend, I will analyze the development of two grassroots movements in St. Petersburg, which help families of children diagnosed with cancer to overcome the everyday psychological, legal and financial difficulties associated with treatment, and to lobby the government to go forward with health care reform. This paper is based on the author's personal experience as a participant in one of the grassroots initiatives, published materials in Russian journals and newspapers, and a series of interviews with volunteers. With this article, I hope to shed new light on developments in the Russian health care sector, and deepen our understanding of contemporary Russian civil society.