Search

There is broad recognition, across the political spectrum and in both 'northern' and 'southern' countries, that justice reform, and more generally the promotion of the 'rule of law', are central to development policy, particularly in conflict-affected, fragile and violent contexts. More recently an increased focus on global security and the interaction between security and development as put a renewed emphasis on such efforts. However, while legal, regulatory and 'justice' institutions are now seen as key part of the 'solution' to problems of conflict, fragility and development, this recognition is not matched by a correspondingly clear sense of what should be done, how it should be done, by whom, in what order, or how 'success' may be determined. There often tends to be a clear misunderstanding of both the nature of the problem and (thus) of the solution. In this paper, the author seek to provide some insight into these questions and sketch out a practical conception of effective justice reform in situations of conflict and fragility that may provide the basis for effective programming.

In recent years, issues of aid effectiveness have come centre stage, motivated amongst other factors by the increased emphasis on impact evidenced in particular by the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Improved aid alignment and harmonization (A&H) is seen as vital for enhanced aid effectiveness, as reflected most prominently in the 2005 Paris Declaration. In this context, this Joint Evaluation Paper (JEP) addresses key aspects of donor coordination and harmonization in Bangladesh. The subject of the JEP is the Joint Strategic Framework (JSF) of the four largest aid donors in Bangladesh the World Bank (WB), Asian Development Bank (ADB), Department for International Development (DFID), and Japan. At the time it was started around 2005, the JSF was considered a major step forward in aid A&H, and as such merits serious joint evaluation.

In August 2010, before a meeting of academics and representatives of civil society organizations, Mexican President Felipe Calderon declared that the legalization of illicit drugs could contribute to reducing the power held by organized crime. He quickly added, however, that this was not an option that would be considered by his own administration.His statements unleashed a series of comments from politicians, the media and many sectors of Mexican society that had until then remained silent. Among noticeable politicians’ remarks was the statement by former President Vicente Fox, who declared that the only way to solve the serious security problems faced by Mexico was to legalize illicit drugs. As such, he joined his own predecessor, Ernesto Zedillo, who, as a member of the Latin American Commission on Drugs and Democracy, has pushed for drug policy reform in the region, particularly with regards to cannabis.As we shall see in this paper, the drugs debate in Mexico is not a new topic for the political agenda. This document presents a general overview and analysis of the cannabis debate in Mexico.

The article argues that it is hard to see that media development so far has contributed neither to economic development or to political liberation in African states. The media situation and the literacy problems is connected to social differences and tensions between elite vs. local populations and the urban culture vs. the village. Media transmits stereotypes of modernity and urban life that are conflicting with rural and traditional cultural identities. It is being argued that media changes in the future will make things even worse. African countries are confronted with globalized media trespassing into rural culture and establishing themselves in local consumption patterns, before local media structures have had the possibility to develop. This means a severe threat to local culture and to the possibility of developing civil society at the local level.

Collaborative forest management (CFM) is loosely defined as a working partnership between the key stakeholders in the management of a given forest—key stakeholders being local forest users and state forest departments, as well as parties such as local governments, civic groups and nongovernmental organisations, and the private sector. The paper reviews worldwide experience in CFM to date, considering the forms that it takes in different tenure situations. Overall, mechanisms of CFM are diversifying, reflecting a greater recognition of the need for partnerships in forest management. Due to entrenched power structures within both government institutions and communities, it is not easy to promote social justice and sustainable livelihoods through CFM. Nevertheless, examples exist of local people gaining a strong, legally backed voice in forest management. Whether or not CFM is financially viable depends very much on local circumstances—an important issue is the inclusion of all costs and values. CFM can clearly lead to better forest management, although examples of silvicultural innovations specifically designed to meet CFM needs are limited. Worldwide, the institutionalisation of CFM is proceeding at a different pace and to differing degrees. Whilst some of the most rapid recent CFM developments have taken place in the North, where government forest institutions are well funded and accountable, and civil society well organised, the most significant gains made to date probably lie in countries of the South and East, wherever local people have begun to enjoy real partnerships in forest management, based on recognised rights of use and access.

This volume, a collection of essays by a group of mostly European-based, young scholars, should open the public sphere in Muslim societies to the same level of attention civil society enjoyed in the two-volume Civil Society in the Middle East, edited by A. R. Norton almost a decade ago.

Part 1 Part I: Theoretical Context Chapter 2 Market Liberalization and Democratization: The Case for Comparative Contextual Analysis Chapter 3 Market Economics and Political Change: A Historical and Theoretical Examination Part 4 Part II: Regional Context Chapter 5 Market-Oriented Reforms and National Development in Latin America Chapter 6 Socialist Marketization and East Asian Industrial Structure: Locating Civilized Society in China Part 7 Part III: Judicial System, Civil Society, and Political Culture Chapter 8 Mexico: Economic Liberalism in an Authoritarian Polity Chapter 9 Economic and Legal Reform in China: Whither Civil Society and Democratization? Chapter 10 Civil Society and Democratization in Mexico Chapter 11 From Market to Democracy in China: Gaps in the Civil Society Model Part 12 Part IV. Extending the Analysis Chapter 13 Constructive Engagement and Economic Sanctions: The Debate Over Intervention for Democracy Chapter 14 Market Liberalization and Democratic Politics: Perspectives from the Russian Experience

Strengthening the rule of law is widely regarded among traditional donors, multilateral institutions, and a growing number of middle income and fragile states as a necessary precondition for sustainable peace, poverty alleviation, and development. Crime and violence deter investment and lower employment, undermine social institutions, and divert resources through direct and indirect costs, all of which hinder development. It is likely to disproportionately affect poor and marginalized populations by limiting access to basic services. The formal criminal justice system is seen in many environments as failing to deliver justice. Most states experiencing fragility do not have the capacity to effectively prevent crime, enforce laws, or peacefully resolve disputes across the whole of their territories. There is another powerful deterrent for communities to seek redress through state criminal justice institutions: they are frequently a primary instrument for the government and elites to maintain power and control through the perpetration of injustice. The informal system, however, is alone insufficient to handle the pressing justice requirements of fragile states, not least for preventing and responding to inter-communal conflict, to serious organized and cross-border crime, and to public corruption and other 'white collar' crime.

As synthetic biology develops into a promising science and engineering field, we need to have clear ideas and priorities regarding its safety, security, ethical and public dialogue implications. Based on an extensive literature search, interviews with scientists, social scientists, a 4 week long public e-forum, and consultation with several stakeholders from science, industry and civil society organisations, we compiled a list of priority topics regarding societal issues of synthetic biology for the years ahead. The points presented here are intended to encourage all stakeholders to engage in the prioritisation of these issues and to participate in a continuous dialogue, with the ultimate goal of providing a basis for a multi-stakeholder governance in synthetic biology. Here we show possible ways to solve the challenges to synthetic biology in the field of safety, security, ethics and the science–public interface.

By the end of the 1990s, the IFIs were facing sustained criticism from both left and right. The public criticism of the IMF’s handling of the East Asian financial crisis also brought about a rethink of that institutions policies with the Fund’s director in 1998 calling for ‘higher and more cost-effective spending on primary health care and education; [and] adequate social protection for the poor, unemployed and other vulnerable groups’ [emphasis added] (Deacon, 2000, p. 10). After the financial crash, the IMF was concerned to ensure the stability of reform (Harrison, 2004a).

ECONOMICS AND DEVELOPMENT Diane Frost. From the Pit to the Market: Politics and the Diamond Economy of Sierra Leone. Woodbridge, Suffolk, U.K.: James Currey, 2012. xxi + 226 pp. Photographs. Glossary. Bibliography. Index. $34.95. Paper.This is an earnest and well-meaning book about an important subject. Unfortunately, it suffers from a surfeit of pseudo-economics, industrialstrength omissions, and multiple errors of fact. In the latter category: we learn that Blood Diamonds (sic) is a Steven Spielberg film (xvii) (Blood Diamond was directed by Ed Zwick); that the De Beers advertising slogan "A diamond is forever" was taken from a 1956 Ian Fleming novel (5) (the slogan was created by an American ad firm, N. W. Ayer, in 1948-Fleming took it from De Beers); that diamonds are cut in India and then polished in New York, Hong Kong, and Tokyo (5-6) (diamonds are polished where they are cut); that in 1969 Sierra Leone's President, Siaka Stevens, "buckled under pressure" and finally nationalized the diamond industry "so that the government could more tightly control illicit mining" (11) (in fact, Stevens eagerly nationalized the industry so he and his cronies could get their hands on the loot, making themselves rich and impoverishing the country even further). We learn that the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) was supported in its early days by something called the "Liberian Special Forces" (they were supported by the Liberian warlord Charles Taylor and his rebel NPLF); and that the Kimberley Process to certify rough diamonds was created in 2000 by two industry bodies at the Antwerp World Diamond Congress (16, 78) (it was the product of intensive negotiations over a threeyear period by more than forty governments, industry, and civil society and came on stream in 2003). And all this is in the first twenty-one pages of the book.On the pseudo-economics side, the author is determined to show through the diamond saga that Sierra Leone has been the victim of colonialism, neocolonial corporatism, peripheral capitalism, and neoliberal and promarket economics, which are all, in the author's view, bad. They may well be, but the discussion yo-yos up and down and all around these subjects without clarity, consistency, or depth, and we are left with conclusions like "creating dependency actually does more harm than good" (21)-as though anybody ever argued the opposite.The author describes the evolution of the diamond industry in Sierra Leone well, but misses several key facts that might have strengthened her argument about the dark marriage between colonialism and big business. …

Religion and politics is a burgeoning subfield. Liberalism–communitarian literature now includes attention to religious communities. Theorists of civil society recognize that religious organizations implement a considerable range of policies. Since pluralism entails the presence of multiple voices in public conversation, theorists debate how a liberal society should treat religious voices. Theorists within religious traditions debate the bearing of faith on political action and the extent to which churches should cooperate with state institutions.

Publisher Summary This chapter outlines the state of preparations for the launching of a Global Forum on Sustainable Energy (GFSE). The role of energy has often been overlooked in sustainable development strategies. In fact, energy is at the heart of the sustainable development challenge, since the services that societies need (such as light, heat, mobility and commercial and industrial activity) are all dependent upon adequate supplies of energy. Achieving a more sustainable energy path contributes significantly to the realization of the social, economic, and environmental aspects of sustainable development. The forum is intended to bring together major players on the energy scene to build partnerships and consider the actions required by them to modify energy services delivery systems so that the world's energy-related needs can be met in a way that is supportive of sustainable development over the long term. The GFSE creates an integrated multi-stake-holder process that can influence existing institutions and processes and would be complementary to them. It includes the views of those currently excluded from the energy systems and also taps the resources from civil society.

The tangible effects of an emerging print culture in the seventeenth century on the availability of news can and have been dated to the 1620s. That decade witnessed the circulation of corantos, news-sheets deriving from the Continent and relating the progress of the European wars; it also saw the transition towards domestically printed newsbooks. Such happenings have been seen as liberating and potentially democratizing in their provision of news for a wider audience. David Norbrook has argued that, in the 1620s There was a significant expansion in the political public sphere … an emergent civil society whose means of communication — reports of parliamentary debates, newsletters, satires, and so on — circulated horizontally, cutting across the vertical power structures emanating from the court.1 In their political and religious bias, however, these same literary productions in print have been viewed as examples of the suscep-tibility of news to contentious issues such as ‘censorship’ and ‘propaganda’. Terms such as these require more thoughtful definition in their application to the early modern period. Both are anachronistic invocations, linguistic projections back from later times.