In recent decades, civil society organizations (CSOs) have ostensibly attained increased access to the United Nations (UN) and other intergovernmental organizations (IGOs) and, in turn, increased ...opportunities for collaboration with IGOs. However, in most cases, CSO access to IGOs remains limited and highly regimented. Little scholarship has been undertaken to examine barriers to effective CSO–IGO collaborations. Virtually, no empirical research has examined the degree or nature of the interaction between the UN and international civil society via the dynamic of the flagship programme designed to facilitate such collaborations—the consultative status framework. This exploratory study partially addresses the latter gap in the scholarship by undertaking a qualitative macro-scale examination of CSOs within the UN Economic and Social Council’s (ECOSOC) consultative status programme, the primary vehicle in the UN–civil society dynamic. Specifically, the study sought to identify barriers to UN–civil society collaboration within the consultative status programme as perceived by participating CSOs. Findings of a survey sent to a random sample of 10% of CSOs holding UN–ECOSOC consultative status revealed that barriers to participation in the programme varied with some obstacles far more common than others. The degree of barriers reported by CSOs also strongly reflected the level of accreditation they held within the programme. Additionally, survey respondents offered insight as to how impediments in the collaboration could potentially be addressed.
By analysing the changing strategies adopted by anti-corruption CSOs in Russia, this article sheds light on the role of political values in the anti-corruption field. We argue that the rise of a ...conservative discourse in Russia that places greater emphasis on values has created both limitations and opportunities for CSOs. With this 'conservative turn', the question of 'foreign influence' has gained prominence in political debates. As an effect of this discourse, the label 'foreign' has been applied to certain CSOs, limiting their ability to claim neutrality on the basis of expert knowledge. In the context of the fight against corruption, however, references to the 'foreign' are present both in the government's rhetoric and in societal narratives. By responding to a conservative anti-corruption discourse 'from below', certain CSOs have adopted a new strategy of reaching out to an ideologically diverse audience to maintain their non-political positioning.
Civil society remains a contested concept, but one that is widely embedded in global development processes. Transnationalism within civil society scholarship is often described dichotomously, either ...through hierarchical dependency relations or as a more amorphous networked global civil society. These two contrasting spatial imaginaries produce very particular ideas about how transnational relations contribute to civil society. Drawing on empirical material from research with civil society organizations in Barbados and Grenada, in this article I contend that civil society groups use forms of transnational social capital in their work. This does not, however, resonate with the horizontal relations associated with grassroots globalization or vertical chains of dependence. These social relations are imbued with power and agency and are entangled in situated historical, geographical and personal contexts. I conclude that the diverse transnational social relations that are part of civil society activity offer hope and possibilities for continued civil society action in these unexpected spatial arrangements.
Scholars have called to study how social cohesion is discursively negotiated and produced in communication behavior. However, empirical evidence remains scarce. In this study, we investigate to what ...extent and how civil society organizations (CSOs), part of the backbone of social integration in modern democracies, make references to social cohesion in their public self-portrayals. We develop a standardized measure for content analyzing the manifestation of social cohesion along three theoretical dimensions: social relations, connectedness, and orientation towards the common good. We apply our innovative content measure to the external communication of an original sample of nearly 800 CSOs in Germany, using their websites. Subsequently, we use data from an accompanying organizational survey of these institutions to investigate whether and how certain organizational features help explain variance in social cohesion rhetoric. Findings suggest that CSOs’ external communications employ themes from all key dimensions of social cohesion, revealing a fair amount of variation on all three subdimensions and a summary index of the overall strength social cohesion rhetoric. These different emphases are contingent upon various organizational characteristics, namely the spheres in which CSOs are primarily active, their locations, and their target groups. Whereas culturally and media-oriented organizations as well as sports clubs are largely reluctant to make references to social cohesion, politically active CSOs and those addressing socially disadvantaged communities tend to push more in this direction. The latter tend to operate in more professionalized structures, indicating that referencing social cohesion legitimizes these groups’ political and social purposes in the public sphere.
•Legislation on public participation is necessary for its success.•However, there should be an active demand by the public to participate.•Because of bureaucratic interests, the legislative promise ...may be compromised.•Environmental donors can leverage the balance of power in favor of the public.
Environmental governance in the context of climate change and land use is examined with the aim of specifying the conditions under which the incorporation of effective public participation in the governance process can be achieved. This is done through an examination of the preferences of the actors involved, an analysis of the land use issues in climate change governance in Thailand, the extant institutional arrangements for public participation, the difficulties of implementing effective public participation, and possible ways of mitigating these challenges. As climate change governance is a highly problematic arena, successful incorporation of public participation in this sector could point to the potential of extending these conditions into other sectors of environmental governance.
This article analyses how the strategies of European Union (EU) based Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) have evolved in the context of the rise of populism with a specific focus on the role of ...emotions. I propose an in-depth qualitative analysis of human rights and humanitarian EU level CSOs involved in the protection of refugees and asylum seekers. Emotions inspiring CSOs values, such as compassion have been seriously challenged after the populist turn. This article also shows how CSOs' emotion-based strategies (including blaming and shaming, vilification, boosting and compassion selection) have evolved in the context of the rise of populism. Data is retrieved from semi-structured interviews, position papers, press releases and speeches from key well-established EU-level CSOs including Amnesty International (AI), the International Rescue Committee (IRC), Human Rights Watch (HRW) and Doctors Without Borders (Médecins Sans Frontières-MSF).
In September 2015, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were endorsed by the United Nations General Assembly as the cardinal agenda for guiding future global development. In financing the SDGs, ...there has been an increasing call on stakeholder diversification by leveraging on other non-state actors and private finance including philanthropic institutions in influencing, delivering and advancing the SDGs. Drawing on insights from the Ghanaian philanthropic sector, I show that philanthropic institutions play complementary roles in service delivery, support civil society organisations to engage in active action and advocacy, and enhance paradigm shifts in development thinking around the SDGs. I argue for the need in embracing complexity thinking that recognises that the attainment of the SDGs is dependent on the creation of an enabling environment and effective multi-stakeholder consultation.
Child sexual abuse (CSA) is a global public health problem. Assessing public attitudes toward child sex offenders is important since public opinions have affected judicial decision-making regarding ...sex offender management policies and laws. Study objectives were to assess university students' perceptions of offenders before and after a Sex Crimes Against Children course, and examine the potential anti-stigmatizing effect of interacting directly with people who had committed sex crimes. Compared with a previous study where only indirect contact was available, students who had direct contact with offenders reported more positive affective responses, had more positive attitudes toward sex offender treatment and rehabilitation, along with lower support for post-sentencing policies. Findings support the humanizing impact of interacting with members of the stigmatized group. Better informed public opinion is essential to support evidence-based crime prevention policies and ultimately prevent CSA.
Combined sewer overflows (CSOs) are known contributors of human fecal pollution in urban waterways. Exposure to these waterways occurs during recreational activities, including swimming, wading, and ...fishing. This study used quantitative microbial risk assessment (QMRA) to estimate the risk of acute gastrointestinal illness (AGI) due to recreation during CSO-impacted (< 24 h after a CSO) and non-impacted (> 24 h after a CSO) conditions. Water samples (n = 69) were collected from two creeks and one river in Philadelphia from June–August 2017–2019. HF183 concentrations were measured to estimate concentrations of five reference pathogens: Cryptosporidium, Giardia, norovirus, E. coli O157:H7, and Salmonella. Observational data on the types and frequency of recreational exposures were also collected. Results found that recreating < 24 h after a CSO increased AGI risk by 39–75%, compared to recreating > 24 h after a CSO. However, estimated health risks were still high for some exposure scenarios that occurred > 24 h after a CSO. Crudes estimates determined that recreational activities along known CSO-impacted sites may account for 1–8% of all cases of salmonellosis, cryptosporidiosis, and giardiasis in the city of Philadelphia. Findings support risk reduction strategies that aim to reduce the frequency of CSOs in urban settings and may help target risk mitigation strategies.
•Human fecal contamination was measured along urban waterways used for recreation.•Recreation (e.g., swimming) was observed downstream of combined sewer overflows.•Microbial risk assessment models estimated the risk of illness due to recreation.•Risk was 38–75% higher when recreation occurred < 24 h after a sewer overflow.
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