Wider Literature Research Articles

State legitimacy and government performance in the Horn of Africa

ABSTRACT This article examines state legitimacy and government performance in the Horn of Africa (HOA). Drawing on the literature of the state and specifically on the HOA, as well as on primary research, this article seeks to examine the nature of state legitimacy. The wider literature indicates that state legitimacy derives from two sources: domestic and external. In an ideal situation, a symmetry exists between the two. In reality, however, there is usually an inverted relation. The notion of inverted legitimacy describes a reality where only one source of legitimacy, either domestic or external, prevails at a time. The inverted nature of state legitimacy causes chronic state crisis. The article provides a theoretical and conceptual analysis of legitimacy followed by empirical illustration. To that end, it discusses a number of theoretical and conceptual strands of state legitimacy. It argues that the origin of the state and consecutive external interventions destabilise and distort state legitimacy in the HOA. The article concludes that inverted legitimacy leads the state to malfunction and crisis. It further argues that state legitimacy determines government performance, as the latter also determines the former.

Introduction: Technologies of Stateness

The Introduction provides an overview of the dossier and its main themes. It situates the contribution in a wider literature and points towards new research horizons on the relationship between state-making and international organization.

Towards Health Equity and Transformative Action on tribal health (THETA) study to describe, explain and act on tribal health inequities in India: A health systems research study protocol.

Background: In India, heterogenous tribal populations are grouped together under a common category, Scheduled Tribe, for affirmative action. Many tribal communities are closely associated with forests and difficult-to-reach areas and have worse-off health and nutrition indicators. However, poor population health outcomes cannot be explained by geography alone. Social determinants of health, especially various social disadvantages, compound the problem of access and utilisation of health services and undermine their health and nutritional status. The Towards Health Equity and Transformative Action on tribal health (THETA) study has three objectives: (1) describe and analyse extent and patterns of health inequalities, (2) generate theoretical explanations, and (3) pilot an intervention to validate the explanation. Methods: For objective 1, we will conduct household surveys in seven forest areas covering 2722 households in five states across India, along a gradient of socio-geographic disadvantage. For objective 2, we will purposefully select case studies illustrating processes through which socio-geographic disadvantages act at the individual, household/neighbourhood, village or population level, paying careful attention to the interactions across various known axes of inequity. We will use a realist evaluation approach with context-mechanism-outcome configurations generated from the wider literature on tribal health and results of objective 1. For objective 3, we will partner with willing stakeholders to design and pilot an equity-enhancing intervention, drawing on the theoretical explanation generated and evaluate it to further refine our final explanatory theory. Discussion: THETA project seeks to generate site-specific evidence to guide public health policy and programs to better contribute to equitable health in tribal populations. It fulfills the current gap in generating and testing explanatory social theories on the persistent and unfair accumulation of geographical and social disadvantage among tribal populations and finally examines if such approaches could help design equity-enhancing interventions to improve tribal health.

Counter-governance and ‘post-event prevent’: Regulating rumours, fake news and conspiracy theories in the aftermath of terror

Framed by ongoing debates about both the legitimacy and efficacy of the UK government's Prevent counter-terrorism strategy, this article examines how and why it is resisted and contested in both overt and more nuanced ways. The analysis focuses specifically upon how such contests are manifested in the aftermath of terror events illuminated by two distinct data sources. These are empirical data collected from interviews with policy developers and deliverers, together with material derived from systematic monitoring and assessment of social media following four terror attacks in the UK in 2017. It is suggested that such incidents are singularly important moments because they simultaneously evidence the need for Prevent-type interventions, but also such interventions' apparent failures to stop such violence.A key theme for the article concerns how, situated in the contemporary information environment, a key strand of Prevent work conducted in the wake of terrorist violence involves managing the potential impacts of rumours, conspiracy theories and other disinformation. The management of public perceptions and reputation thus emerge as vital undertakings. Insights from the data are used to develop a more conceptually oriented argument concerning the logics and rationalities of ‘counter-governance’, positioning it in a wider literature on de-centred governance and regulation.

Protected areas and freshwater biodiversity: a novel systematic review distils eight lessons for effective conservation

AbstractProtected areas are a global cornerstone of biodiversity conservation and restoration. Yet freshwater biodiversity is continuing to decline rapidly. To date there has been no formal review of the effectiveness of protected areas for conserving or restoring biodiversity in rivers, lakes, and wetlands. We present the first assessment using a systematic review of the published scientific evidence of the effectiveness of freshwater protected areas. Systematic searches returned 2,586 separate publications, of which 44 provided quantitative evidence comprising 75 case studies. Of these, 38 reported positive, 25 neutral, and 12 negative outcomes for freshwater biodiversity conservation. Analysis revealed variable relationships between conservation effectiveness and factors such as taxa assessed, protected area size and characteristics, International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) protected area category, and ecoregion. Lack of effectiveness was attributed to many anthropogenic factors, including fishing (often with a lack of law enforcement), water management (abstraction, dams, and flow regulation), habitat degradation, and invasive non‐native species. Drawing on the review and wider literature we distil eight lessons to enhance the effectiveness of protected areas for freshwater biodiversity conservation. We urge policymakers, protected area managers, and those who fund them to invest in well‐designed research and monitoring programs and publication of evidence of protected area effectiveness.

Referendums as a political party gamble: A critical analysis of the Kurdish referendum for independence

This article brings the case of the Kurdish referendum for independence into the wider literature on independence referendums. It examines the decision to hold an independence referendum and explores the pre-referendum conditions and the post-referendum consequences. The article argues that the referendum in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq was held due to internal political competition and party politics rather than the ripeness of the timing for independence. Theoretically, this article adds a new dimension to the scholarship on independence referendums, as it demonstrates that the purposes of independence referendums can go beyond the question put to the population – such as consolidating popular support by connecting to the population’s nationalist desires, despite independence not being a realistic prospect. Finally, it brings further support for previous findings of the importance of international support for independence referendums.

From slave revolts to social death

In this article, I situate Orlando Patterson’s magnum opus, Slavery and Social Death alongside his earlier writings on slavery and slave revolts in Jamaica. To appreciate fully Patterson’s contributions to sociology, comparative historical sociology, and the wider literature on slavery, readers must engage with the full corpus of his scholarly production. By reading his body of work all together, as part of a much larger whole, social death may take on new angles, depths, and dimensions. Patterson’s previous work on slavery and slave revolts in Jamaica, I suggest, invites novel ways to read his formulations of social death while opening other archives through which to study the (after)lives of slavery.

Learning in and from projects: the learning modes and a learning capability model

The notion of ‘project delivery’ is well embedded in and across the management and organizational sciences literature – generating a narrative that reflects and recognizes the instrumental nature of projects and programmes in strategy execution. Project management, as a distinct and well-established body of research enquiry, has increasingly sought to focus our attention on the impacts of complexity, risk and uncertainty in projects; the corollary being a desideratum to strengthen our theoretical understanding of how insight and learning from projects may influence improvements to organizational efficiency. The wider literature suggests that organizational learning remains a challenging proposition, particularly in the context of organizations operating in environments of high complexity. In this paper, we enhance the conversation on organizational learning through a series of case studies, generating evidence of thirteen ‘learning modes’. The paper proposes that mature organizations tend to exhibit a greater number of learning modes and that there is a tendency to capture and socialize knowledge with a greater emphasis on the context of the learning situation rather than the learning artefact in isolation. The empirical evidence gathered in this paper forms the basis of a capability model, characterized by the thirteen modes of learning. The model intimates that learning occurs, and is more effective, when knowledge and information are enacted in practice through the learning modes which form a nucleus of the organizational learning capability. The research concludes with a 'call to action' that emphasizes the strategic importance of learning practices and routines in project oriented-organizations.

In the light of what we cannot see: Exploring the interconnections between gender and electricity access

In this paper we quantify gendered decision-making patterns regarding electricity access, light and appliances in selected rural contexts in Mahadevsthan (Nepal), Homa Bay (Kenya) and Chhattisgarh (India). In the literature, decision-making in electricity has primarily been studied through case studies and qualitative methods. By quantifying some of the gendered patterns in this field, we first seek to document and compare the situation in selected contexts and then to refine the understanding of the nexus between gender and electricity access. The research design was informed by the team's previous qualitative work, and we present results from a household survey conducted in 2016 and 2017. We anchor the analysis in a micro-political approach to energy, and we draw on empowerment and domestication frameworks for analyzing tenets of energy justice. The findings show that women generally had less power than men to make decisions about electricity and appliances and that women's lack of rights in electricity was mirrored in their subordinated position in the socio-material contexts. Comparing groups of women, women in Mahadevsthan, including those who were living without a man in the household, were most likely to have electricity access and acquire appliances of their choosing. Widows in Homa Bay were the least likely to have electricity access. By drawing on the wider literature, we discuss the results in terms of how women's agency and access to electricity and appliances of their choosing in the Global South may be improved.

Whose Justice is it Anyway? Mitigating the Tensions Between Food Security and Food Sovereignty

This paper explores the tensions between two disparate approaches to addressing hunger worldwide: Food security and food sovereignty. Food security generally focuses on ensuring that people have economic and physical access to safe and nutritious food, while food sovereignty (or food justice) movements prioritize the right of people and communities to determine their agricultural policies and food cultures. As food sovereignty movements grew out of critiques of food security initiatives, they are often framed as conflicting approaches within the wider literature. This paper explores this tension, arguing that food security is based on a particular model of justice, distributive justice, which limits the sovereignty and autonomy of communities as food producers and consumers. In contrast, food sovereignty movements view food security as a necessary part of food sovereignty, but ultimately insufficient for creating food sustainable communities and limiting wider harms. Rather than viewing food security and food sovereignty as in conflict, we argue that food sovereignty’s justice framework both encompasses and entails justice claims that guide food security projects.

Medicos, poultice wallahs and comrades in service: masculinity and military medicine in Britain during the First World War

ABSTRACT The subject of British military medicine during the First World War has long been a fruitful one for historians of gender. From the bodily inspection of recruits and conscripts through the expanding roles of women as medical care providers to the physical and emotional aftermath of conflict experienced by men suffering from war-related wounds and illness, the medical history of the war has shed important light on how the war shaped British masculinities and femininities as cultural, subjective and embodied identities. Much of this literature has, however, focused on the gendered identities of female nurses and sick and wounded servicemen. Increasingly, however, more complex understandings of the ways in which medical caregiving in wartime shaped the gender identities of male caregivers are starting to emerge. This article explores some of these emerging understandings of the masculinity of male medical caregivers, and their relationship to the wider literature around the complex and sometimes contradictory relationship between warfare and medicine. It examines the ways in which the masculine identity of male medical caregivers from the ranks of the Royal Army Medical Corps, namely stretcher bearers and medical orderlies, was perceived and represented both by the men themselves and those they cared for. In doing so it argues that total war played a crucial role in shaping social and cultural perceptions of caregiving as a gendered practice. It also identifies particular tensions between continuity and change in social understandings of medical care as a gendered practice which would continue to shape twentieth-century British society in the war’s aftermath.

On fragile democracy: Contemporary and historical perspectives—Introduction

The concept of fragility provides an alternative means of approaching the history of democracy, which has often been seen as the ineluctable consequence of Europe’s social and political modernisation. This is especially so in Scandinavia, as well as in Finland, where the emergence of a particular Nordic model of democracy from the early decades of the twentieth century onwards has often been explained with reference to embedded traditions of local self-government and long-term trends towards social egalitarianism. In contrast, this article emphasises the tensions present within the practices and understandings of democracy in the principal states of Scandinavia during the twentieth century. In doing so, it provides an introduction to the articles that compose this Special Issue, as well as contributing to the wider literature on the fragility of present-day structures of democracy.

Developing Endogenous Innovations: Corporate Entrepreneurship and Effectuation

Abstract We empirically explore the process of corporate entrepreneurship (CE) through the conceptual lens of effectuation, a theory describing how entrepreneurs innovate. In particular, we investigate how endogenous innovations emerge and evolve into new products or services. The study thus provides an alternative perspective to most CE research that assumes a causation or rational-analytic approach to innovation. We implement a qualitative, multi-case study research design with corporate innovation projects as the level of analysis. Data are from interviews as well as secondary sources and were analyzed using within and cross case analysis. Findings reveal organic stages through which ideas are shaped into viable products. Findings show important effectuation principles at work including stakeholder commitments, affordable loss thinking, and a focus on control instead of prediction. Interestingly, findings illustrate how effectuation may differ in the corporate as compared to the new venture context. Implications for the wider literature are discussed along with limitations of the research design.

Selling Out? A Cross-National Exploration of Nonprofit Retail Operations

Nonprofit revenue sources have significant consequences for how we understand the sector, its power, and sources of accountability. Earned income is an important element of the nonprofit revenue mix. And while commercialism among nonprofits has received some attention, there has been relatively little research seeking to understand the types of earned income that nonprofits are using and the non-commercial, mission-enhancing objectives that these activities potentially serve. This research note addresses that gap through an analysis of one type of earned income: retail operations. The note begins by situating retail within the wider literature on nonprofit revenue, and then introduces the concept of a nonprofit retail operation (NRO). It then introduces a typology of NRO formats, distinguished by the objectives that they serve. Next, it provides descriptive cross-national data on NROs using a dataset of 22 leading international non-governmental organizations in 12 countries. Finally, it discusses areas for future NRO research.

Exploring medical leader identity and its formation

Purpose“Becoming” a doctor involves the acquisition of medical knowledge, skills and professional identity. Medical professional identity formation (MPIF) is complex, multi-factorial and closely linked to societal expectations, personal and social identity. Increasingly, doctors are required to engage in leadership/management involving significant identity shift. This paper aims to explore medical professional identity (MPI) and MPIF in relation to doctors as leaders. Selected identity theories are used to enrich the understanding of challenges facing doctors in leadership situations and two concepts are introduced: medical leader identity (MLI) and medical leader identity formation (MLIF) and consideration given to how they can be nurtured within medical practice.Design/methodology/approachA rapid conceptual review of relevant literature was carried out to identify a set of relevant concepts and theories that could be used to develop a new conceptual framework for MLI and MLIF.FindingsMLIF is crucial for doctors to develop as medical leaders, and, like MPIF, the process begins before medical school with both identities influenced, shaped and challenged throughout doctors’ careers. Individuals require support in developing awareness that their identities are multiple, nested, interconnected and change over time.Originality/valueThis paper draws on concepts from wider literature on professional identity, in relation to how doctors might develop their MLI alongside their MPI. It offers a new perspective on MPI in the light of calls on doctors to “become and be healthcare leaders” and introduces the new concepts of MLI and MLIF.

Investigating the relationship between distinctive patterns of emotion regulation, trauma exposure and psychopathology among refugees resettled in Australia: a latent class analysis

ABSTRACT Background: Emotion regulation difficulties are common among individuals from refugee backgrounds. Little is known, however, about whether there are specific patterns relating to the types of emotion regulation strategies commonly employed by refugees, nor how this relates to psychopathology. Moreover, wider literature on emotion regulation has primarily focused on examining specific emotion regulation strategies in isolation, rather than patterns of emotion regulation across multiple strategies. Objective: The current study was the first to identify individual differences in patterns of habitual emotion regulation among refugees, and explore their unique associations with trauma exposure and PTSD symptoms. Method: Levels of trait reappraisal and suppression were measured among 93 refugees, using the Emotion Regulation Questionnaire and the White Bear Suppression Inventory. A latent class analysis was conducted to identify distinct classes of participants based on differing levels of habitual engagement in reappraisal and suppression. The association between class membership and key variables indexing refugee experiences (e.g. trauma exposure) and psychopathology (e.g. PTSD symptoms and emotion dysregulation) were also examined. Results: Latent class analysis revealed three distinct profiles of habitual emotion regulation: a high regulators class (55.7%; high trait reappraisal/high trait suppression), an adaptive regulators class (23.6%; high trait reappraisal/moderate trait suppression), and a maladaptive regulators class (20.6%; low trait reappraisal/high trait suppression). Each class evidenced unique relations with trauma exposure and psychopathology. Compared to adaptive regulators, maladaptive regulators had more PTSD symptoms, experienced greater emotion dysregulation, and were more likely to be female, while high regulators had experienced more types of traumatic events. Conclusions: This study identified distinct patterns of emotion regulation among refugees. Our findings demonstrate the importance of measuring multiple strategies to uncover patterns of emotion regulation and better understand the links between emotion regulation and psychopathology, which has important implications for the development of effective treatment with traumatized refugees.

Qualitative research with primary school-aged children: ethical and practical considerations of evaluating a safeguarding programme in schools

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore some of the ethical and practical challenges of working with primary school-aged children to conduct qualitative service evaluations regarding sensitive safeguarding topics.Design/methodology/approachThe paper centres on the author’s learnings from conducting school-based, task-assisted focus groups with 5–11 year olds. The reflections are drawn from notes made during fieldwork, debrief discussions with evaluation colleagues and wider team debates. This was a consultative participatory evaluation and the findings are situated within the wider literature around rights-based approaches to research.FindingsUsing multi-method and creative approaches can facilitate young children to assent and dissent from service evaluation in a school setting. However, the challenges of helping children understand confidentiality are highlighted, as is the challenge for researchers in recognising and respondingin situto disclosures. Using suitable and creative activities, this evaluation demonstrates that primary school children can contribute meaningful data to assist with service development. However, the approach to collecting these data from the youngest children needs careful consideration.Practical implicationsResearchers may need to adopt full participatory methods to better help children understand the confidentiality bounds of research and to form views on the subject matter. More discussion is needed in the wider safeguarding research literature to show how researchers have navigated the challenges of handling disclosures.Originality/valueThis paper contributes to the literature by providing examples of how to overcome issues of children’s participation, consent and protection in service evaluation focussed on a sensitive topic.

Teaching medical students child and adolescent psychiatry (CAP)

Purpose The prevalence of psychiatric disorders in children and young people is increasing, leading to recommendations that medical schools re-consider their curriculum content and teaching practices for child and adolescent psychiatry (CAP). The purpose of this paper is to seek guidance for undergraduate curriculum development from the wider literature on CAP curriculum content and teaching practices. Design/methodology/approach A comprehensive search of the literature was conducted, focussing on studies that examined undergraduate teaching of CAP. In an attempt to establish whether there is an agreed level of curriculum content and teaching practices, literature from all over the world was included. Findings Findings suggest that curriculum content and teaching practices are varied, therefore it was difficult to identify best practice upon which recommendations can be made. In addition, despite previous calls for curriculum improvements and expansion of learning objectives, recent studies suggest that there has been little change. Research limitations/implications A common theme emerging was the importance of making the CAP curriculum relevant to all future doctors rather than only those who plan to specialise in CAP. Further research to determine what CAP knowledge, skills and attitudes non-psychiatrists think that medical students need to be taught is warranted. Originality/value This paper reviewed the literature on undergraduate CAP teaching, highlighting common themes from the wider literature on medical curriculum development to inform how CAP curricula content can be developed to equip future doctors.

Pilot randomised controlled trial of counselling in a community mental health setting: Pitfalls and learnings

AbstractThe establishment of counselling and psychotherapy as “evidence‐based” interventions is contingent on the effective implementation of randomised controlled trials (RCTs) in real‐world clinical settings. This paper identifies some of the pitfalls that led to the termination of a practical RCT in a community mental health setting. It reflects upon the significance of the lessons learned by drawing on similar challenges that are documented in the wider literature. Issues surrounding staff turnover, counsellor engagement and procedural clarity are discussed, as is the conflict between the time required for research procedures and counsellors’ clinical time constraints. In our recommendations, we recognise the decisive role of collaboration and counsellor motivation in research partnerships, and the significance of clinical relevance, communication, training and research co‐production in achieving them. Time commitment is identified as the pivotal challenge in the formation and maintenance of collaborative research, but one that also must be overcome for the advancement of the counselling and psychotherapy field.

Rethinking Sportland: A New Research Agenda for the Sport for Development and Peace Sector

Sport for Development and Peace (SDP) has grown into a huge global field of sport-related activity and intervention and is a heavily researched subject in the social scientific study of sport. In this article, we advance the case for a new research agenda in SDP, in part to contribute more fully to sustainable development through substantial societal change. We argue that SDP research should engage with wider literatures and theories, notably on political economy and development; take full account of structural changes within the development sphere; and examine new areas of intervention within SDP per se. To develop our analysis, our discussion is organized into six main parts. We begin by introducing the concept of “Sportland” to reimagine SDP as a strongly institutionalized field of development activity with its own stakeholder networks. Second, we outline the key aspects of prior SDP/Sportland research on which we seek to build. Third, we examine key changes in the political economy and geopolitics of development, which serve to point Sportland scholars toward engaging with fresh literatures in these fields. Fourth, we explore the implications of these changes to retheorize development. Fifth, we detail new ways ahead for Sportland with regard to policy, practice, and research, with particular reference to the position of different organizational stakeholders within SDP. Finally, we consider specific areas of future intervention and inquiry within Sportland that require the attention of researchers. Our analysis is underpinned by many research studies and projects in Sportland which we have undertaken separately or collectively over at least the last decade.