Political clientelism and low quality of democracy are recurrent problems in Latin American societies. The purpose of this paper is to understand the complex processes of subjectivation introduced ...and fostered by various practices of political clientelism. To explore this complexity, a systemic framework encompassing three dimensions of analysis—structural, institutional, and subjective—is adopted. To explore the impact that the subjectivation processes have on the formation of citizenship, we applied the framework examining 18 in‐depth interviews with beneficiaries of the Social Inclusion Plan in San Luis, Argentina. Our results suggest that practices and discourses of political clientelism foster citizens' dependence on the state and government. By focusing on the beneficiaries' perceptions, our findings facilitate a better understanding of the real impact of state policies and help to identify ways to empower low‐income people to exercise their rights and to develop a democratic, less dependent, and mature citizenship.
The recent outbreak of COVID-19 has been devastating for international tourism, adversely affecting destinations, organizations, and local communities. In particular, the crisis highlights the need ...for local communities reliant on rural tourism to enhance their resilience to the risks simultaneously generated by the pandemic and accelerating impacts of climate change. This is important as the effects of these hazards are intertwined and cannot be treated in isolation. We explore community responses and resilience through case study Quebrada Verde, Peru, a small rural community in the Andes Mountains. Specifically, we report on a qualitative examination involving in-depth semi-structured interviews and focus groups with key informants from the community, supplemented by relevant documentary analysis.
Drawing on community resilience and social networks perspectives, we find that the community's preparedness to both threats is unbalanced. On one hand, the community eco-tourism system has developed sufficient tools to adapt to the temporary effects of COVID-19 derived from the community's self-organization skills and topophilia. Specifically, the community possesses a cohesive social structure, it has a solid cultural identity rooted in its customs and traditions, and maintains a social humour that enables it to see the positive aspects of adversity. On the other hand, the analysis of the measures towards strengthening the resilience to climate change delivers mixed results. In particular, the relationship that the community has built with other local organizations to successfully prevent and react to climate change is weak. Therefore, stronger efforts towards bridging this gap must be implemented in order to sustain the wider social network of such organizations, of which the community is a part. This would enable further development and implementation of appropriate risk management strategies to counteract climate change, enhancing the community's resilience of its eco-tourism system to this emergent threat. Importantly, this finding might be relevant to other local communities seeking to improve their resilience to COVID-19 and climate change.
The purpose of this paper is to report on the use of the soft systems methodology (SSM) to enhance the role of the higher education institution (HEI) stakeholder's action networks in achieving the ...sustainable development goals (SDGs). We review the literature on sustainable development in HEIs, in particular the role of stakeholder networks for the implementation of SDGs in HEI. We outline some of the features of SSM as an approach to help make sense of this complexity. CATWOE analysis, a conceptual SSM tool, is applied to a stakeholder's network hosted by a Brazilian university with the purpose of achieving the SDGs as part of the community projects (HEI external engagement). Findings of the systemic application suggest that the use of some elements of SSM helps clarify and make sense of the role of the stakeholders and assists in formalising action networks to achieve SDGs.
•Outline the developments of Strategic Options Development and Analysis.•Surveying Strategic Options Development and Analysis applications around the world.•Evaluating the scope of Strategic Options ...Development and Analysis applications.
Strategic Options Development and Analysis (SODA) is a well-established problem structuring method (PSM) used to tackle problematic situations for at least 30 years within the discipline of Operational Research (OR) and other fields. The aim of this study is to assess the ways academics have been implementing SODA methodology in different fields of knowledge and practice. We started by exploring the SODA history followed by the evaluation of published articles associated with the practical applications of SODA from 1989 (publication date of Rational Analysis for a Problematic World) to 2018. We searched relevant databases and studied 200 SODA-related articles, we examined the scope of each application, whether as a sole SODA application or as a combination with other methodologies. We also investigated which elements of the methodology have been used. Our findings suggest that SODA through its associated technique of cognitive mapping has been used in conjunction with other methods. SODA is a participative methodology designed to provide dialogue, reflection, learning, consensus and commitment, but the sample of articles surveyed indicate that its use has been limited to helping modelling the problematic situation and providing a common understanding to participants. Other core activities, such as group negotiation support, have not been fully used. Our findings suggest that SODA is a methodology suitable to different contexts and its practice has grown steadily over time but that to exploit the full use of its activities, its creators need to produce a set of constitutive rules to guide the applications.
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The COVID-19 pandemic offers an historic precedent to review and challenge the values of social, economic, environmental, and cultural belief systems. The concept of the “New Normal” and the ...experience of the global pandemic provide points of transition in thinking about our relationship to our planet and to each other. These include the fragility of contemporary economics, dependency on industrialized urban infrastructures, and reliance on top-down governance, vulnerability to climate disasters, dislocation from the natural world, societal inequalities, and the loss of cultural memory. The paper considers the potential role of systems thinking in attempting to manage societies’ responses to the pandemic. To provide the methodological context in which some systems thinking can be applied to alleviate the pandemic, we conduct a focused literature review of systemic frameworks, and using examples from Brazil and England, the paper questions the validity of existing disaster management systems and proposes an integrated critical systems approach. Reflecting on these experiences, questions of systems criticality are further developed and considered in relation to critical recovery from disasters and as integral critical systems (ICS) to interrogate the intention of systems. Finally, the paper reflects upon the value of systems and the values embedded in systems that may or may not promote equitable well-being in recovery from disasters such as COVID-19.
•Illustrates use of theory of change to evaluating educational development projects.•Uses of systems theory to engage stakeholders to improve evaluation processes.•Guides interpretation/reflection on ...effectiveness of technology supported learning.•Discusses evaluation of technology supported learning using viable system model principles.•Explores quality landscape/quality enhancement processes in United Kingdom higher education.
The paper uses a higher education case study to illustrate a participative theory of change approach to evaluating technology supported learning. The approach is informed by the Viable Systems Model (VSM) and utilisation-focussed evaluation and, falls within the tradition of facilitated modelling approaches to operational research. We argue that this approach worked well in engaging primary evaluation users in a process of collaborative action research to improving an educational development initiative and that the approach helped generate information relevant to answering its primary users’ questions, to inform their specific decisions and actions relevant to their quality enhancement responsibilities.
Through a case study, concerning the evaluation of an educational development initiative in a large UK university, we illustrate how the VSM and utilisation-focussed evaluation could be used to: (a) conceptualise the connection between strategies and their components at different levels of organisation; (b) to clarify the role and interests of stakeholders in these strategies; and (c) to scope evaluation to be relevant to informing the decisions and actions of these stakeholders. The paper contributes to illustrate how VSM principles can underpin a theory of change approach to engaging primary stakeholders in planning an intervention and its evaluation in the context of educational development work, in order to improve evaluation to be more relevant to their needs. The paper should be of interest to researchers exploring the use of systems theory in evaluation, in particular in the context of educational development work in higher education.
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