The publication presents the result of extensive research analysing how we can make smart cities more sustainable and inclusive. The central problem was to explore the readiness to adopt inclusive ...smart services that can sustainably foster, primarily, the inclusion of people with disabilities and the elderly. The secondary audience included the general population, facilitating a comprehensive examination of the varying needs among these demographics. The methodology involved an online questionnaire, formulated based on the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology 2 model, and administered to a diverse sample of 302 participants from developing countries, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Montenegro, ensuring a broad representation of gender, age, educational backgrounds, and disability statuses. Key findings indicate a positive inclination towards smart city services across all demographics, particularly among the elderly and people with disabilities. Factors such as ease of use, and opportunities for social engagement are key drivers in the adoption of smart technologies. Research shows that all groups are interested in using smart city services if these would provide extensive environmental information, thereby improving their quality of life. The research contributes to the field by providing actionable insights for policymakers and urban developers to create more accessible and sustainable city environments.
A new theory of ethnic cleansing based on the most terrible cases (colonial genocides, Armenia, the Nazi Holocaust, Cambodia, Yugoslavia, Rwanda) and cases of lesser violence (early modern Europe, ...contemporary India, and Indonesia). Murderous cleansing is modern, 'the dark side of democracy'. It results where the demos (democracy) is confused with the ethnos (the ethnic group). Danger arises where two rival ethno-national movements each claims 'its own' state over the same territory. Conflict escalates where either the weaker side fights because of aid from outside, or the stronger side believes it can deploy sudden, overwhelming force. Escalation is not simply the work of 'evil elites' or 'primitive peoples'. It results from complex interactions between leaders, militants, and 'core constituencies' of ethno-nationalism. Understanding this complex process helps us devise policies to avoid ethnic cleansing in the future.
The Geography of Ethnic Violenceis the first among numerous distinguished books on ethnic violence to clarify the vital role of territory in explaining such conflict. Monica Toft introduces and tests ...a theory of ethnic violence, one that provides a compelling general explanation of not only most ethnic violence, civil wars, and terrorism but many interstate wars as well. This understanding can foster new policy initiatives with real potential to make ethnic violence either less likely or less destructive. It can also guide policymakers to solutions that endure.
The book offers a distinctively powerful synthesis of comparative politics and international relations theories, as well as a striking blend of statistical and historical case study methodologies. By skillfully combining a statistical analysis of a large number of ethnic conflicts with a focused comparison of historical cases of ethnic violence and nonviolence--including four major conflicts in the former Soviet Union--it achieves a rare balance of general applicability and deep insight.
Toft concludes that only by understanding how legitimacy and power interact can we hope to learn why some ethnic conflicts turn violent while others do not. Concentrated groups defending a self-defined homeland often fight to the death, while dispersed or urbanized groups almost never risk violence to redress their grievances. Clearly written and rigorously documented, this book represents a major contribution to an ongoing debate that spans a range of disciplines including international relations, comparative politics, sociology, and history.
Legal Control of Marginal Groups Stuart, Forrest; Armenta, Amada; Osborne, Melissa
Annual review of law and social science,
11/2015, Letnik:
11, Številka:
1
Journal Article
Recenzirano
The legal control of marginal groups is a central topic in social scientific and legal scholarship. Examining the most influential research produced over the past two decades, as well as a broad ...collection of foundational and exemplary texts, this review addresses two overarching questions: First, what does it mean to study the legal control of marginal groups in the twenty-first century? Second, what are the recent developments, lingering concerns, and future directions of this work? We identify and examine the two most prevalent discussions found in contemporary research. The first centers on the practices of legal control, and the second focuses attention on the effects of these practices on their potential targets. Throughout the article, we draw specific attention to the need for future studies to more systematically account for the agency of, and ground-level dynamics impacting, both the controllers and the controlled.
In an approximation with the folk communicational approaches, this article proposes to discuss the demands of the Brazilian social movement for the democratization of communication, which seeks, with ...the government, the guarantee of democratic spaces for marginalized groups and the implementation of public policies for the area. The methodology is based on bibliographical research, survey and document analysis of the movement for democratization. It is concluded that the initiative is an alternative that emerges from civil society and contributes to the circulation of counter-hegemonic ideas to the dominant media system.
Poor people in developing countries are often affected by droughts, floods, illness, crop failure, job loss, and economic downturns. Much of their energy goes into coping with these shocks and into ...day-to-day survival. While insurance and credit markets, combined with widespread social security, provide an important cushion against poverty in rich countries, the need for immediate survival may lock the poor into persistent poverty in developing countries. The poor in developing countries do have informal mechanisms to cope with risk and misfortune. These are based on income diversification, risk avoidance, self-insurance by saving together with family, and community-based mutual assistance. Nevertheless, the scope of these mechanisms remains limited. Repeated individual-specific shocks such as illness or pests, or covariate risks associated with drought, flood, or recession, undermine the ability of individuals and their families to cope with risk. We now know much more about vulnerability to risk and how poor people cope. Even more importantly, we have learned much about the large long-term consequences of these risks, which condemns many to persistent poverty and excludes them from economic growth. But there is much that can be done. The micro-level studies that underpin this book offer new insights on how effective public action could be more effective in protecting the vulnerable against persistent poverty. Policy should focus on providing a comprehensive menu of ex-ante and post-crisis protection mechanisms, including new forms of insurance, savings, safety nets, and the means to strengthen the poor's asset base. Local communities have a big role to play: public funds should not be used to replace indigenous community-based support networks; rather they should be used to build on the strengths of these networks to ensure broader and more effective protection. With numerous thematic chapters and case studies of both best practice and of failure, from a mix of low-income and middle-income countries across the developing world, this book evaluates alternatives in widening insurance and protection provision, and makes an important contribution to the topical field of insurance and risk. Available in OSO: http://www.oxfordscholarship.com/oso/public/content/economicsfinance/0199276838/toc.html Contributors to this volume - Stefan Dercon Jonathan Morduch Abhijit Banerjee Marcel Fafchamps Jyotsna Jalan and Martin Ravallion Stefan Dercon and John Hoddinott Paul Collier Gisele Kamanou and Jonathan Morduch Ethan Ligon Joachim De Weerdt Markus Goldstein, Alain de Janvry and Elisabeth Sadoulet Jean-Philippe Platteau Pedro Albarran and Orazio P. Attanasio Stefan Dercon and Pramila Krishnan Jonathan Conning and Michael Kevane Christopher B. Barrett, Stein Holden and Daniel C. Clay Loic Sadoulet Jerry Skees, Panos Varangis, Donald Larson and Paul Siegel
The Tonle Sap Lake of Cambodia is one of the most productive ecosystems in the world, supporting millions of small‐scale fisher livelihoods. Women's contributions in these fisheries are often ...overlooked due to socio‐cultural expectations of roles and responsibilities. This is a crucial omission since climate and anthropogenic influences increasingly threaten lake inhabitants. Addressing these challenges requires the full participation of both men and women who use the lake, thus it is necessary to first understand the social dynamics of these communities. We investigated whether there were differences between men's and women's perceptions of (i) fishing and non‐fishing practices; (ii) power, access and control over fishing resources; and (iii) perceptions towards conservation and conservation areas in Pursat, Cambodia. We interviewed fishers and key informants, and found differences in perceptions of fishing and non‐fishing practices between fishermen and fisherwomen. Men more openly acknowledged unequal power dynamics, access to and control over fishing resources when compared with women. We found contrasting ideas of community fisheries and conservation between men and women, and health and safety challenges they faced in conservation areas. Findings suggest that community perspectives and unequal power relations established specific roles for women that limited their active participation in fisheries management.
This essay addresses the issue of a possible connection between Trito-Isaiah and Ezra-Nehemiah, in the sense of the former promoting or opposing the agenda of Ezra, Nehemiah, and the gôlāh group ...associated with them. The first stage is to determine the dating of the relevant texts. According to the biblical dating, the activity of Ezra and Nehemiah falls within the quarter-century 458–432 BC. Some of the more significant textual components of Trito-Isaiah—the communal lament of Isa 63:7-64:11, the anti-Edomite polemic in Isa 63:1-6, and especially the core section 60-62—are manifestly earlier. The most prominent themes in Isaiah 56-66—Zion and the Servants of the Lord—are absent from Ezra-Nehemiah. In Ezra 9:4 and 10:3, the hărēdim are dominant, while those of Isaiah 66:2,5 are a despised and rejected group, probably identical to the Servants of the Lord of Isa 65:8-16 and 66:14-16.
In developing countries, participatory conservation initiatives have been criticized for many reasons, mainly for excluding marginalized groups which have led to unequal benefits. Using concepts from ...the literature on participation, conservation, and political ecology, this research explored the participation of marginal groups, i.e., poor, women, lower caste, and landless, in management institutions in Nepal’s Annapurna Conservation Area. Field work for this research was conducted through the use of interviews and participant observation during August–October 2010. Results show that although marginal groups were involved in local management institutions, their representation was minimal and had not led to meaningful participation or empowerment to influence the decisions being made in conservation and development programs. Our study findings indicate that the involvement of marginal groups in local initiatives is complex and influenced by several factors. The study concludes that the Annapurna Conservation Area Project needs to re-orient its conservation projects by adopting a more inclusive form of participation and move beyond the quota system.
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