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This article examines Haitian migration to Santiago, Chile, with a particular focus on the primary transit routes taken by this group and the challenges they face upon arrival. Many Haitians subsequently re-emigrate with new migration plans aimed at reaching the Global North. The study adopts a qualitative methodology, including fieldwork conducted from 2015 to 2023 in communes within Greater Santiago. It incorporates in-depth interviews with Haitian residents in these areas, alongside an analysis of national and international digital media and other documentary sources. The findings reveal two main migration routes: an aerial route leading to Santiago, Chile, and Quito, Ecuador, and an overland route from Quito to the northern Peru-Chile border, culminating in Santiago. Initially, many Haitians viewed life in Chile as a "salvation" from socioeconomic challenges. However, this perception often deteriorates over time due to widespread discrimination, which redirects their migration journey. Anti-Haitian policies, marked by both institutional and everyday racism, leave this group grappling with precarious, low-wage jobs and substandard housing in stigmatized areas. In these environments, evangelical churches have emerged as critical spaces, providing both symbolic meaning and opportunities for building and strengthening migration networks. An important finding is that, from the outset, many Haitians perceive Chile as a transit country, using it as a stepping stone for overland migration to the northern border of Mexico and the United States. Despite their aspirations for better job opportunities, they increasingly face similar challenges, such as precarious living conditions, difficulties in regularizing immigration status, and systemic racism, mirroring those in the Global South. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The exploratory study sought to present a review of scholarly literature and synthesise academic insights encompassing the span of 2010 to 2020, to shed light on the contemporary state of knowledge pertaining the intersection of destination branding and social media. The convergence between destination branding and social media has emerged as a pivotal component within the tourism industry, garnering heightened attention from practitioners and researchers. The methodology implemented was quantitative, using a Systematic Quantitative Literature Review to investigate how researchers study destination branding and social media within tourism literature. Data collection, drawing from a diverse array of scholarly articles sourced from prominent literature databases such as Emerald, Web of Science, Scopus, and Web of Science, was used. Data analysis included descriptive statistics, followed by a Cluster analysis to describe current research. Two types of articles emerged, clearly indicating the disparities between Global North and Global South in terms of the social media and branding dimensions studied, as well as the methodologies employed. Findings show polarisation of the research attention with majority focus on destination case studies from the Global North perspective. This study highlights important existing research gaps and presents a roadmap for future research endeavors.

Irresponsible production and consumption are the root causes of the Earth Crisis, and the Global North is primarily at fault. As a matter of urgency, the Global North must accept responsibility for the injustices caused and make reparations. I have argued elsewhere that art, craft, and design education is uniquely placed to address Earth Crisis issues, because it powerfully combines both effective and affective modes of communication. Here, as a degrowth advocate, I will consider how degrowth thinking can inform art, craft, and design education in the Global North, giving special attention to the theme of (ir)responsible production and consumption.

Abstract Since the late twentieth century, the global fashion industry has been increasingly embracing the business model known as fast fashion. Characterised by rapid production cycles, fleeting trends, low-cost garments and large-scale production, fast fashion seems to meet consumer demand for affordable and trendy clothing. However, its environmental impact as a major polluter poses significant challenges to sustainability and circularity initiatives. This article presents the results of a systematic literature review, exploring the unsustainable consequences of fast fashion, focusing on both demand and supply side, from a geographical perspective. Using a Global North–Global South framework, it explores differences in socio-economic structures, consumption and production patterns, access to resources and environmental impacts. The analysis suggests that a fair and equitable transition towards a sustainable and circular fashion industry will require the links between business, society and nature to be reconsidered, to avoid perpetuating the inequalities associated with the global linear capitalist economy. The findings highlight the importance of both markets and institutions in sustainable growth. In the Global North, the most frequently discussed topics relate to investment and research and development with respect to new technologies or system innovations often with the support of well-structured political guidance. Conversely, in the Global sustainable initiatives tend to be scattered, country-specific and intricately tied to particular socio-economic and cultural contexts.

Sociology in today's world often seeks to internationalise research and globalise problem solving. However, the so-called ‘global sociology’ is far away from being actually global as it involves in the discussion only specific regions and communities. The voice of other regions, as a rule, is not heard in the established system of connections and positions, and the regions themselves act as passive objects of (re)positioning, which is determined by the needs of specific research carried out by the nominally ‘global’ sociological community. The goal of the current study is to position one of the excluded sociological communities – post-soviet sociology – in global sociology using the North-South analytical framework that is frequently applied in discussions of global academic inequalities. The findings suggest that post-soviet sociology is positioned closer to the Global South, though significant country-based differences are observed. Post-soviet sociology functions as fragmented and disconnected, and this is facilitated by its orientation towards the ‘northern’ standards of knowledge production, which is professed even to the detriment of originality and independence.

Since the late twentieth century, the global fashion industry has been increasingly embracing the business model known as fast fashion. Characterised by rapid production cycles, fleeting trends, low-cost garments and large-scale production, fast fashion seems to meet consumer demand for affordable and trendy clothing. However, its environmental impact as a major polluter poses significant challenges to sustainability and circularity initiatives. This article presents the results of a systematic literature review, exploring the unsustainable consequences of fast fashion, focusing on both demand and supply side, from a geographical perspective. Using a Global North–Global South framework, it explores differences in socio-economic structures, consumption and production patterns, access to resources and environmental impacts. The analysis suggests that a fair and equitable transition towards a sustainable and circular fashion industry will require the links between business, society and nature to be reconsidered, to avoid perpetuating the inequalities associated with the global linear capitalist economy. The findings highlight the importance of both markets and institutions in sustainable growth. In the Global North, the most frequently discussed topics relate to investment and research and development with respect to new technologies or system innovations often with the support of well-structured political guidance. Conversely, in the Global sustainable initiatives tend to be scattered, country-specific and intricately tied to particular socio-economic and cultural contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Bitácora Urbano/Territorial is the property of Bitacora Urbano/Territorial and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

A rare consensus points to the question of normativity, with an inclination towards the Eurocentric Frankfurt School of Critical Theory, which seems to have been central to Critical Terrorism Studies (CTS). Given the universality of knowledge exerting pressure on scholars to conform with traditional theoretical perspectives, terrorism studies pose inequality from Eurocentricity emerging in "the battle for hearts and minds" research. Some of these studies fall to the allure of connivance with the progressively "authoritarian demands of Western, liberal state and media practice". Consequently, terrorism research risks being dominated by ethical and logical blindness within established research formations. In Africa, for example, some CTS scholars are subdued to cynically use their Africanity to authenticate the neo-colonial and neo-liberal agenda in terrorism research. This article explores the reimaging of subjugated knowledge through decolonisation of methods in CTS. Rooting for cognitive justice and adequate space for alternative knowledge to imperial science, the article contests the battle for Africa's hearts and minds as a failed process that needs transformation. Consequently, this work is a contribution to epistemological debate between the global North and South, and the subsequent theoretical contestations in CTS. We argue for hybridity by re-constructing alternative frameworks of knowledge production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Global environmental and social change are pushing wildfire activity and impact beyond known trajectories. Here, we conducted a targeted review to distill five wildfire challenges that we argue form opportunities for their governance (research aim 1). We exemplified our arguments by drawing from the case of Cyprus (research aim 2), a small island country in the south-east European Mediterranean Basin at risk of extreme wildfire impact. Findings indicate that burning for social and ecological resource benefits, innovative management paradigms and anticipatory governance systems offer actionable solutions to the wildfire paradox and the limits of suppression. Local adaptive institutions and a reconceptualisation of wildfire as a risk and process beyond technocratic interpretations are necessary to account for broader social conditions shaping wildfire regimes and community impact. Governance systems that accommodate collective action have proven suitable to address multiple wildfire complexities linked with different socio-economic systems and values. A systematic literature review, policy review, and qualitative data collection on wildfire management in Cyprus track back to the initial framing. Our case study offers insights for tackling wildfires with actionable steps through overarching governance systems, and illustrates the potential for change in thinking of and acting on wildfire in flammable landscapes globally. Global change is pushing fire activity and impact beyond known trajectories. We reviewed the literature to bring forward five themes of attention for governance systems. The initial framing was then applied to the case of Cyprus, to exemplify the potential and urgency for change in wildfire thinking and action globally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The global automotive industry is undergoing a significant transformation to combat the climate crisis and embrace a greener future. The popularity of electric vehicles (EVs) worldwide is quickly surpassing that of Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) vehicles, driven by stringent emissions laws and government incentives. However, EV production emits pollutants and relies on electricity often generated by fossil fuels, raising environmental concerns. Additionally, labor issues and geopolitical tensions arise from resource extraction practices.To ensure a sustainable transition, critical improvements in the procurement supply chain, manufacturing processes (especially battery technology), and labor practices are necessary. Accompanying climate control initiatives outlined in the Paris Agreement are essential for the proliferation of EVs globally.

Abstract We show how the dire state of the Earth's rivers entangles intimately with ‘thingifying’ processes at the heart of colonial modernity. Known in many precolonial and Indigenous contexts as person‐like kin, we describe how rivers the world over have been re‐done primarily as thing—amoral, controllable, a potential commodity like anything else. We develop and work with a provisory concept of kin as those constituents of environments that reciprocally nurture, and contribute to the substance of, one another's life and wellbeing. We show how kinship with rivers figures centrally in primarily Indigenous‐led struggles in various regions of the globe for the recognition and enforcement of river personhood and rights. This is partly because people are motivated to fight passionately for their kin. With some careful caveats, we argue that associating river kinship exclusively with Indigenous worlds undermines its potential for global impact. Thus, as an apposite case study, the latter part of the paper focuses on some of the social–ecological trends which we suggest are opening up the possibility for the re‐establishment of ‘riverkinship’ in the United Kingdom. We reflect on the potential for riverkinship to help cultivate political constellations fitting to the challenges of the Anthropocene. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.

BackgroundHealth care for women with Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting (FGM/C) in the Global North is often described as sub-optimal and focused on maternity care. Specialist FGM/C services have emerged with little empirical evidence informing service provision. The objective of this scoping review is to identify the key features of FGM/C specialist care.MethodsThe review was conducted in accordance with JBI methodology. Participants: organisations that provide specialist FGM/C care. Concept: components of specialist services. Context: high-income OECD countries. Eligibility criteria included primary research studies of any design from 2012 to 2022, providing a comprehensive description of specialist services. Seven bibliographic databases were searched (MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, Web of Science, SCOPUS, Cochrane Library and MIC). The components of “specialist” (as opposed to “generalist”) services were defined and then applied to an analysis of FGM/C specialist care. FGM/C specialist provision was categorised into primary (essential) and secondary features. Data were extracted and analysed descriptively through charting in tables and narrative summary.ResultsTwenty-five papers described 20 unique specialist services across eleven high income countries. Primary features used to identify FGM/C specialist care were:—(i) Named as a Specialist service/clinic: 11/20 (55%); (ii) Identified expert lead: 13/20, (65%), either Midwives, Gynaecologists, Urologist, or Plastic Surgeons; (iii) Offering Specialist Interventions: surgical (i.e., reconstruction and/or deinfibulation) and/or psychological (i.e., trauma and/or sexual counselling); and (iv) Providing multidisciplinary care: 14/20 (70%). Eleven services (in Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, France, Belgium, and USA) provided reconstruction surgery, often integrated with psychosexual support. No services in UK, Norway, and Australia offered this. Six services (30%) provided trauma therapy only; 25% sexual and trauma therapy; 15% sexual therapy only; 30% did not provide counselling. Secondary features of specialist care were subdivided into (a) context of care and (b) the content of care. The context related to concepts such as provision of interpreters, cost of care, community engagement and whether theoretical underpinnings were described. Content referred to the model of care, whether safeguarding assessments were undertaken, and health education/information is provided.ConclusionOverall, the features and composition of FGM/C specialist services varied considerably between, and sometimes within, countries. Global guidelines advocate that specialist care should include access to deinfibulation, mental health support, sexual counselling, and education and information. The review found that these were rarely all available. In some high-income countries women cannot access reconstruction surgery and notably, few services for non-pregnant women mentioned safeguarding. Furthermore, services for pregnant women rarely integrated trauma therapy or psychosexual support. The review highlights a need for counselling (both trauma and psychosexual) and culturally-appropriate sensitive safeguarding assessments to be embedded into care provision for non-pregnant as well as pregnant women. Further research is needed to extract the features of specialist services into a comprehensive framework which can be used to examine, compare, and evaluate FGM/C clinical specialist care to determine which clinical features deliver the best outcomes. Currently a geographical lottery appears to exist, not only within the UK, but also across the Global North.

Copyright of Estudios Demográficos y Urbanos is the property of El Colegio de Mexico AC and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Estudios Demográficos y Urbanos is the property of El Colegio de Mexico AC and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Sociology in today's world often seeks to internationalise research and globalise problem solving. However, the so-called 'global sociology' is quite some way from being actually global, as it only involves specific regions and communities in the discussion. The voice of other regions, as a rule, is not heard in the established system of connections and positions, and the regions themselves act as passive objects of (re)positioning, which is determined by the needs of specific research carried out by the nominally 'global' community of sociologists. The goal of the current study is to position one of the excluded communities -- post-Soviet sociology -- in global sociology using the North-South analytical framework that is frequently applied in discussions of global academic inequalities. The findings suggest that post-Soviet sociology is positioned closer to the Global South, although significant country-based differences are observed. Post-Soviet sociology is functionally fragmented and disconnected, and this is facilitated by its orientation towards the 'northern' standards of knowledge production, which are professed even to the detriment of originality and independence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Zeszyty Wiejskie is the property of Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Lodzkiego and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The state-of-the-art quantum technologies leverage the unique principles of quantum mechanics, which include quantization, uncertainty principle, interference, entanglement and decoherence, to produce useful devices and scientific advancements not possible with classical technologies. As a result, quantum technologies, in particular, offer specific advantages that make communications networks secure and unbreakable and devices with unprecedented levels of accuracy, responsiveness, reliability, scalability and efficiency than classical emerging technologies. These capabilities can contribute significantly to addressing energy, agriculture, climate change, national security, healthcare, education and economic growth challenges. Unfortunately, these developments in these areas have not been evenly distributed between the Global North and the Global South, inadvertently creating a societal and economic gap. Closing this gap is critical to creating a more inclusive and sustainable future for all, thus delivering key sustainable goals. Therefore, to close this gap, this article proposes a quantum diplomacy framework as a means to deliver science diplomacy. Moreover, we discuss how emerging quantum technologies could profoundly impact all 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. We consider this work a timely and vital intervention to prevent the gap from increasing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study compared two survey datasets from higher education students in Germany and Ghana regarding access to digital devices; perceived value of digital media, tools, and services used for learning; gap analysis of the actual and desired use of digital teaching and learning formats; and types of media usage profiles among students. The findings underscored commonalities between the two groups, revealing that students in both contexts are equipped with mobile devices, and are highly utilized for their learning. Similarly, both student groups exhibit a preference for utilizing external media, tools and services not owned nor administered by their respective universities. However, a stark contrast emerged in terms of the provision of, and expressed demand for digital teaching and learning formats, attributable to significant disparities in the underlying internet infrastructure and service provision between the two countries. The high intensity in the use of videos, social networks and messaging applications means majority of the students in both contexts were classified as entertainment users of media by means of a latent class analysis. While students in Germany showed differentiation between non-traditional and traditional students in terms of their media usage patterns, there was little differentiation among Ghanaian students. The study concludes by offering suggestions for enhancing support for non-traditional learning and improving digital education in Ghana and similar contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We show how the dire state of the Earth's rivers entangles intimately with 'thingifying' processes at the heart of colonial modernity. Known in many precolonial and Indigenous contexts as person‐like kin, we describe how rivers the world over have been re‐done primarily as thing—amoral, controllable, a potential commodity like anything else.We develop and work with a provisory concept of kin as those constituents of environments that reciprocally nurture, and contribute to the substance of, one another's life and wellbeing.We show how kinship with rivers figures centrally in primarily Indigenous‐led struggles in various regions of the globe for the recognition and enforcement of river personhood and rights. This is partly because people are motivated to fight passionately for their kin.With some careful caveats, we argue that associating river kinship exclusively with Indigenous worlds undermines its potential for global impact. Thus, as an apposite case study, the latter part of the paper focuses on some of the social–ecological trends which we suggest are opening up the possibility for the re‐establishment of 'riverkinship' in the United Kingdom.We reflect on the potential for riverkinship to help cultivate political constellations fitting to the challenges of the Anthropocene. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many modern Christian scholars are united behind the opinion that the center of Christianity has immensely shifted from the global north (Europe and North America) to the global south (Africa, Asia and Latin America). Such dynamics have led to the decline of Christianity in the global north and the western world whilst a proportionate increase in Christianity has been a trend of the global south in the last decade. This article asks the question: is it time for the global south to re-evangelize the global north? As the western world becomes increasingly secular, it has become consequently evident that Christianity is currently post-Christian. Moreover, due to the global north’s economic superiority, it has become a major immigrant destination for the global south citizens. This has led to an influx of high number of immigrants into the global north. This article points out the contributions of the global south in western Christianity by using African immigrants as a case point.

The state-of-the-art quantum technologies leverage the unique principles of quantum mechanics, which include quantization, uncertainty principle, interference, entanglement and decoherence, to produce useful devices and scientific advancements not possible with classical technologies. As a result, quantum technologies, in particular, offer specific advantages that make communications networks secure and unbreakable and devices with unprecedented levels of accuracy, responsiveness, reliability, scalability and efficiency than classical emerging technologies. These capabilities can contribute significantly to addressing energy, agriculture, climate change, national security, healthcare, education and economic growth challenges. Unfortunately, these developments in these areas have not been evenly distributed between the Global North and the Global South, inadvertently creating a societal and economic gap. Closing this gap is critical to creating a more inclusive and sustainable future for all, thus delivering key sustainable goals. Therefore, to close this gap, this article proposes a quantum diplomacy framework as a means to deliver science diplomacy. Moreover, we discuss how emerging quantum technologies could profoundly impact all 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. We consider this work a timely and vital intervention to prevent the gap from increasing.

The Data Poverty Index (DPI) highlights the prevalence of information poverty in low-income countries and the resulting global information inequality, with high-income countries enjoying greater access to information. This study examines academic responses to this issue by analyzing 48 publications on information poverty from 2000 to 2022. The analysis reveals a notable lack of attention to information poverty in the Global South, where it is a growing concern, with most publications originating from and focusing on the Global North. This suggests a politics of knowledge, as evidenced by the dominance of Global North authors and sources in the literature. While the publications cover topics such as information literacy and the digital divide, a few address broader issues such as social justice, rural areas, information rights, access to information, social exclusion, information management, information processing, socioeconomic factors, poverty, and health services, which are all interconnected with information poverty. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent calls to shift from an "international" to a "global" development paradigm have sought to challenge global North–South binaries. This has provoked lively debate, with criticisms focusing on two issues: the empirical question of North–South convergence since 1990, and the political-theoretical basis of the proposed paradigm. In response, this paper draws on innovations in postcolonial and comparative urban studies to propose three "tactics" for thinking globally about development: thinking from the South to understand the North; comparing across difference; and exploring transnational flows, circuits and relationships. These tactics demonstrate how it is possible to disrupt geographical binaries while also addressing the two major criticisms of the global development approach. First, they demonstrate that establishing convergence is not a prerequisite to thinking about development across the global North–South distinction. Second, they are informed by critical theoretical approaches that animate a deep commitment to transforming the structural causes of inequalities globally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since its introduction, the concept of “nature-based solutions” has gained much attention, drawing public funds and private investments. Nature-based solutions conceptualise the use of nature in planning as a cost-efficient and sustainable means to address societal, economic, and ecological challenges. However, this “triple win” premise tends to conceal potentially resulting injustices, such as displacement through green gentrification. While these injustices have attracted the attention of environmental justice scholars, as exemplified by the “just green enough” approach, links to the “nature-based solutions” concept are mostly implicit. Further, the concept of environmental privilege, questioning who benefits from created natural amenities, has rarely been taken up. This article, therefore, argues that environmental justice should be linked closely to nature-based solutions. Supported by a theoretical perspective, the article aims at exploring who benefits from, and who loses out on, urban nature-based solutions processes. It builds on a qualitative literature review of the scholarly landscape on environmental justice and urban greening while linking to nature-based solutions, adding perspectives of environmental privilege. In this, it attempts to offer three important contributions to the current academic discussion. First, the article provides an overview of the debate on urban greening, (in)justice, and environmental privilege. Second, it relates the concept of nature-based solutions to the debate on environmental justice, opening nature-based solutions up for critique and conceptual refinements. Third, it outlines a way forward for reframing nature-based solutions through the lens of environmental justice and privilege. Thus, this article provides a starting point for further discussions on the implementation of just nature-based solutions in cities.

Mònica Pons-Hernández reviews Criminalization of Activism: Historical, Present, and Future Perspectives by Valeria Vegh Weis (Editor)

Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education is increasingly viewed as a vehicle for global dominance and a panacea to economic downturns, environmental challenges, and food security. However, divergences in STEM education agendas at regional and national levels imply disparities in policy formulation and implementation in the Global North and Global South. This study sought to explore what informs the drivers of STEM education in the two geo-economic blocks with a view to understanding contextual factors that inform practice. A focus on STEM education in the Global North and Global South becomes necessary, given the widespread calls for collaborative work, for example, shared interests in addressing sustainable development goals, and research on the COVID-19 pandemic. A theoretical approach, based on a review of relevant literature, was adopted. Ideology critique informed the analysis and was used to make sense of the salient themes. In the Global North, STEM education is historically driven by ambitions of political dominance, the need to curb economic slumps and address critical skills shortages, and growing desire for extra-terrestrial colonization. Within this context we argue that a neoliberal agenda drives the STEM education enterprise. In the Global South, massification with equity dominates policy formulation and implementation as countries battle to redress past colonial imbalances. The Global South countries generally sign up to regional and global STEM education agendas but financial constraints compounded by an unabated brain drain result in stagnation at policy adoption at vocational level. Convenient partnerships are increasingly fashionable as countries in the Global North seek to exploit the geographical advantage of those in the Global South in order to fully utilise the extra-terrestrial space, resources for biomedical science and indigenous natural resources, among others. Collaboration endeavors between the Global North and Global South need to be mutually beneficial. The Global North needs to redistribute the aspects of power it holds in relation to STEM to move towards more equitable policies and practices across these geopolitical realms. We recommend greater vocationalisation of STEM education hinged on STEM integration with the humanities in the Global South and balanced, mutually beneficial STEM collaboration endeavors with the Global North countries.

Background: Health diplomacy is one of the emerging avenues for academics where foreign policy dynamics and global health meet. Its relevance has augmented especially after the COVID-19 pandemic that brought the world to a halt. International organization and national entities that are responsible for health governance as well as its socio-economic determinants have been increasingly involved in the negotiations for a collective action towards a better health infrastructure and preparedness. However, the approach to health diplomacy seems to vary with whether health is looked through diplomacy lens or vice versa. Thus, inculcating adequate and appropriate competencies of both fields to conduct negotiations for health while keeping national interests and international commitments intact is imperative. Methods: This study investigates 50 programmes/courses that have been currently offered around the globe to understand the competencies that have been identified as essential for a health diplomat. We examined four aspects: i) geographical distribution of programme/course (ii) the type of global health diplomacy programme being offered and their duration (iii) mode of teaching and (iv) cross-cutting themes that the programme offers. Results: We found that the courses/programmes have been mostly provided by the countries of the Global North who play a key part in international negotiations. Although there were diverse types of certifications identified, they can be classified into two groups - core health diplomacy and inclusive health diplomacy programmes. The health diplomacy training is preferred to be provided in-person due to the nature of the work. Conclusions: While competencies for health governance and international relation have been dominant among the current programmes, other cross-cutting themes such as economics, politics, law, public policy, crisis management, environment and public health have been considered essential. The article concludes with a proposal of a framework to streamline the sectors and the competencies that is required in health diplomats.

Background: The Mpox outbreak awakened countries worldwide to renew efforts in epidemiological surveillance and vaccination of susceptible populations. In terms of Mpox vaccination, various challenges exist in the global south, which impede adequate vaccine coverage, especially in Africa. This paper reviewed the situation of Mpox vaccination in the global south and potential ameliorative approaches. Methods: A review of online literature from PubMed and Google Scholar concerning Mpox vaccination in countries belonging to the ‘global south’ category was done between August and September, 2022. The major focus areas included inequity in global vaccine distribution, challenges impeding vaccine coverage in the global south, and potential strategies for bridging the gap in vaccine equity. The papers that met the inclusion criteria were collated and narratively discussed. Results: Our analysis revealed that, while the high-income countries secured large supplies of the Mpox vaccines, the low- and middle-income countries were unable to independently access substantial quantities of the vaccine and had to rely on vaccine donations from high-income countries, as was the case during the COVID-19 pandemic. The challenges in the global south particularly revolved around inadequate vaccine production capacity due to lack of qualified personnel and specialized infrastructure for full vaccine development and manufacturing, limited cold chain equipment for vaccine distribution, and consistent vaccine hesitancy. Conclusion: To tackle the trend of vaccine inequity in the global south, African governments and international stakeholders must invest properly in adequate production and dissemination of Mpox vaccines in low- and middle-income countries.

Background: Health diplomacy is one of the emerging avenues for academics where foreign policy dynamics and global health meet. Its relevance has augmented especially after the COVID-19 pandemic that brought the world to a halt. International organization and national entities that are responsible for health governance as well as its socio-economic determinants have been increasingly involved in the negotiations for a collective action towards a better health infrastructure and preparedness. However, the approach to health diplomacy seems to vary with whether health is looked through diplomacy lens or vice versa. Thus, inculcating adequate and appropriate competencies of both fields to conduct negotiations for health while keeping national interests and international commitments intact is imperative. Methods: This study investigates 50 programmes/courses that have been currently offered around the globe to understand the competencies that have been identified as essential for a health diplomat. We examined four aspects: i) geographical distribution of programme/course (ii) the type of global health diplomacy programme being offered and their duration (iii) mode of teaching and (iv) cross-cutting themes that the programme offers. Results: We found that the courses/programmes have been mostly provided by the countries of the Global North who play a key part in international negotiations. Although there were diverse types of certifications identified, they can be classified into two groups - core health diplomacy and inclusive health diplomacy programmes. The health diplomacy training is preferred to be provided in-person due to the nature of the work. Conclusions: While competencies for health governance and international relation have been dominant among the current programmes, other cross-cutting themes such as economics, politics, law, public policy, crisis management, environment and public health have been considered essential. The article concludes with a proposal of a framework to streamline the sectors and the competencies that is required in health diplomats.

“Female genital mutilation/cutting” (FGM/C) refers to procedures that involve altering the external female genitalia with the aim of reinforcing gendered body norms. The literature has consistently shown that, like various forms of discrimination, the practice is rooted in systems of gender inequality. As a result, FGM/C has increasingly come to be understood in terms of social norms that are by no means fixed. And yet, in the Global North, interventions remain primarily medical in nature, with clitoral reconstruction having emerged as a common means of dealing with related sexual issues. And although treatments can vary greatly depending on the hospitals and physicians involved, sexuality tends to be considered from a gynecological perspective, even when multidisciplinary care is offered. By contrast, gender norms and other socio-cultural factors receive little attention. In addition to highlighting three critical shortcomings in current responses to FGM/C, this literature review also describes how social work can play a key role in overcoming the associated barriers by (1) adopting a holistic approach to sex education, one capable of addressing those aspects of sexuality that lie beyond the scope of a medical consultation; (2) supporting family-based discussions on matters of sexuality; and (3) promoting gender equality, especially among younger generations.

Nations in the global South tend to embrace ideas, practices, and trends from the global North as the standard. This is in many instances at the expense of their suitability in the current situation and environment of the global South. For instance, issues revolving around the Fourth Industrial Revolution is a typical example. In recent times, the adjustments in the education and other sectors in the Global North to accommodate practices of the Fourth Industrial Revolution are beginning to flood the Global South where many basic and necessary infrastructures are lacking. Issues such as curricular review are being raised and considered, while conferences, workshops, seminars, amongst others are being organized to ensure that learning institutions are positioned to suit the demand of Fourth Industrial Revolution. For instance, coding is fast becoming a major subject to be considered even from primary schools, though not necessarily meeting the local demands.

Living in urban areas is the wish of many people. However, with population growth in those areas, quality of life has become a concerning element for achieving sustainable cities. Because quality of life is influenced by the built environment, the state of the latter is a fundamental issue for public policies. This research expands on previous research on the perceived pleasantness of built environments by presenting a large-scale case study of the urban layout pleasantness in the central area of Belo Horizonte, Brazil, a typical global south city, and correlating pleasantness scores with socioeconomic factors to understand whether people do in fact live where the urban layout is more pleasant and how pleasantness and socioeconomic factors relate and contribute to one's choice of living location. A comparison with the city of Coimbra, Portugal, representative of the global north, was also carried out. The findings showed that pleasantness tended to correlate negatively with urban density and positively with income. Possible explanations for these results and their generality are advanced. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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The article examines the strategies of the states of the Global South in the field of digital development in the context of technological rivalry between the United States of America and China. The main peculiarities of the U.S.-Chinese technological rivalry at the present stage are characterized. The U.S.-Chinese technological rivalry is considered as a factor influencing the development and implementation of national digital development strategies by the states of the Global South, which provide for the intensification of international cooperation in priority areas. The international political aspects of the implementation of digital development strategies of the most significant dynamically developing states of the Global South located in important international regions (Southeast Asia, South Asia, the Middle East and North Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America) are studied. Attention is paid primarily to such strategic areas of digital development of the considered states of the Global South, as digital data processing and storage systems, digital data transmission systems, new generation mobile communication technologies, space programs, digital commerce, integrated “smart city” technologies, technologies cybersecurity. The paper explores the strategic approaches of the considered countries of the Global South in relation to digital cooperation with the United States and China. The interaction of the considered states in the digital sphere with technologically advanced countries acting as alternative technological partners (Japan, leading European countries, the Republic of Korea, Israel, Russia) is analyzed. The study identifies and characterizes the most significant digital projects of foreign corporations implemented jointly with the countries under consideration. The features of international cooperation in the digital sphere between the key countries of the Global South within the international regions defined in the study, as well as at the transregional level are analyzed. Particular attention is paid to promising regional international technological projects in the digital sphere. As a result of the study, the main priority areas of foreign policy activities of the key states of the Global South are determined from the point of view of more effective implementation by these states of their digital development strategies. The specific features inherent in the strategies of digital development of the considered states of the Global South are revealed. The author comes to the conclusion that these states, in the context of the U.S.-Chinese technological rivalry, seek to diversify their international ties in the digital sphere, strengthen the technological potential of national digital companies, strengthen national “digital sovereignty,” use their competitive advantages to attract foreign investment in the digital segment of national economies, activate their transport and logistics potential through the introduction of technologies of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, expand digital cooperation with other countries in their international regions, as well as at the transregional level.

Social movement studies are an interdisciplinary, multifaceted, and broad field transversal to different social and human sciences, which has been growing and consolidating since the late 1970s. Since then, and concurrent with the intensification and pluralization of protests and protestors around the world, the recognition and establishment of social movement studies inside different areas has accompanied the recognition of social movements as legitimate social and political actors. This variety and diversification of perspectives and object of study has helped to include some 'hidden' forms of protest which are particularly relevant outside Europe and USA, and specially in authoritarian and semi-democratic countries. Despite this, the field of social movement studies – especially in sociology and political science – still shows difficulties in integrating and dialoguing with other approaches to the study of conflict and resistance. Moreover, dialogue with other epistemological sources and particularly with the Global South's knowledge about social movements is still hesitant. If we look at the other side of the coin, many studies on resistance, protest and social movements in the Global South reject what are sometimes considered hegemonic – or Eurocentric – social movement theories, which is also problematic. In front of this, and acknowledging the asymmetries in epistemic power relations, in our view, it is not a matter of opposing canter and periphery, or North and South, but of understanding, promoting and developing multiple activist and conceptual entanglements and collaborations. Against this background, thus, this special issue aims to contribute to the dialogue between conceptual perspectives, approaches and fields in the Global North and South around social movements and protest.

Citizen science (CS) is a diverse practice, with projects emphasizing scientific and/or democratization goals. While the integration of both goals is advocated for sustainability transitions, this implies contextualized methodological choices. This contribution presents an instrument to explore methodological choices in relation to project goals and context, linking these patterns to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). By way of a PRISMA scoping review, case studies implemented in the Global North (GN) or Global South (GS) were selected and categorized using the instrument to identify notable patterns. GN projects are generally published by GN authors and can predominantly be linked to productivity goals relating to SDGs on biodiversity (SDGs 14, 15). In contrast, GS projects are commonly associated with diverse co-author groups that focus on democratization and/or productivity, and prioritize SDGs on agriculture, health, sustainable communities, and climate change (SDGs 2, 3, 11, 13). The analyzed case studies could contribute directly to three SDG indicators and indirectly to 22. Methodological choices regarding project goals and themes translate into variations in participant selection and recruitment, contribution types, and project outcomes. Further, project design and outcomes can be linked to co-authorships, with larger teams typically associated with co-created projects which in turn focus on democratization or democratization and productivity goals, and produce a wide diversity of outcomes. Qualitative information extracted from the investigated papers was used to contextualize the relevance of combining productivity and democratization goals as well as the related challenges of harmonizing different interests and of resource limitations as well as other project constraints. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The need to deal with complexity is getting increasingly attention in research for development projects implemented through transboundary research partnerships between organisations from the Global North and the Global South. However, less is known about aspects beyond the systems under study that still affect complexity in the research project. We conducted an experience capitalization of five transboundary research partnerships undertaking research in 14 countries in the Global South. We found that the combination of multiple contexts, the cultural and disciplinary diversity of the transboundary research partnerships, and the set of rules and proceedings from the funding mechanism affect the levels of complexity. We further identified that a transdisciplinary approach and several related practices, like intercultural communication or integrative partnerships, are promising ways of dealing with complexity. Current structures in research for development need to improve in order to fully use the potential of transdisciplinarity for sustainability transformation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since its introduction, the concept of "nature-based solutions" has gained much attention, drawing public funds and private investments. Nature-based solutions conceptualise the use of nature in planning as a cost-efficient and sustainable means to address societal, economic, and ecological challenges. However, this "triple win" premise tends to conceal potentially resulting injustices, such as displacement through green gentrification. While these injustices have attracted the attention of environmental justice scholars, as exemplified by the "just green enough" approach, links to the "nature-based solutions" concept are mostly implicit. Further, the concept of environmental privilege, questioning who benefits from created natural amenities, has rarely been taken up. This article, therefore, argues that environmental justice should be linked closely to nature-based solutions. Supported by a theoretical perspective, the article aims at exploring who benefits from, and who loses out on, urban nature-based solutions processes. It builds on a qualitative literature review of the scholarly landscape on environmental justice and urban greening while linking to nature-based solutions, adding perspectives of environmental privilege. In this, it attempts to offer three important contributions to the current academic discussion. First, the article provides an overview of the debate on urban greening, (in)justice, and environmental privilege. Second, it relates the concept of nature-based solutions to the debate on environmental justice, opening nature-based solutions up for critique and conceptual refinements. Third, it outlines a way forward for reframing nature-based solutions through the lens of environmental justice and privilege. Thus, this article provides a starting point for further discussions on the implementation of just nature-based solutions in cities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In shaping the employment relationship internationally, the ILO initially reproduced the Western normative narrative of the standard employment relationship (SER). When the global South and women gained a stronger voice within the ILO, a contrasting egalitarian narrative emerged, challenging the SER hegemony and creating a layering of narratives. Combining historical institutionalism and structuration theory, the authors follow the development of these narratives and consider how the resultant legal and normative conflicts between them can be explained by focusing on the composition of ILO membership and the representation of women in International Labour Conferences over time. The authors draw a number of legal‐political conclusions from their findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Infrastructure in several economies in the Global South has rapidly undergone financialization, aided and abetted by governments opening-up their infrastructure assets to global institutional investors in search of stable, predictable revenue streams. This account of financialization could be the end of the story were it not for the fact that Christophers (2015) and others have shown that institutional investors are not simply in the game of ‘finding’ value or ‘harvesting it’ from obliging states, rather they actively construct it. What often catches the eye, however, are the more overt forms of financial engineering (Ashton et al., 2012), whereas what tends to go unnoticed are the ways in which infrastructure assets are routinely ‘worked’ to generate value over time. Here, we draw attention to a slower-paced financialization of infrastructure assets where, following Chiapello (2015, 2020), investors are engaged in a continual process of evaluation and revaluation of their assets to add value over and above prevailing benchmarks. Taking the example of Canada's Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan (OTPP) and its extensive investments in Chilean water infrastructure, this article considers how a global investment fund draws on financial practices developed in the advanced economies to add value to long term infrastructure assets in the Global South. Such practices, we argue, enact a routine form of financial subordination which does not match the familiar image of wholly subservient and dominated dependent economies. Rather, the power asymmetries involved equate less to a zero-sum game and more to a game where the benefits are unequally shared between asset managers in the Global North and states in the Global South, where effectively the latter cooperate in their own submission in ways that are not always acknowledged as such.

The article reflects the results of research in the North-South Group focused on the development of the polycentric, personalized and mobile Universe, while the ensemble of interconnected influential concepts (postmodernity and postcoloniality) had been analyzed. The current view on globalization as a political and economic cohesion of the modern world, contrasts the view on global restructuring as a consequence of the crisis of institutions of world bureaucracy, collectivist ideo-party totality, others unifying administrative and sociocultural mechanics. Attention is drawn to the trends of individuation and privatization, substitution of subordination by subsidiarity, which reflects the crisis of the national statehood format. The complex reality that arises in the bosom of modern culture, implements its own polycentricity, based not on the etatist symphony, but on a distributed set of diasporas, corporate or personal sovereignty. Postmodernity, denying the former world order, reproduces the semblance of a post-colonial situation, which allows us to turn to the experience of countries that have gained political sovereignty and mastered their new status in its various versions. Coloniality is understood as the result of hegemony, which goes beyond the prevailing interpretation of colonialism, but as a repressive emanation of the hegemonic world, offering subaltern other two modus of behavior: submission or subjugation assimilation, denying the legality of alternative self-realization or resistance. Pathos of post-modern, post-imperial and post-colonial positions declares the right of the individual and the communities to realize their original identity, dissimilation of former loyalties and sovereign search for alternatives. The universal quest is for political, sociocultural and semantic counter-hegemony, which also denies the current world to be an instrument of the modal-assimilation complex knowledge - power. The urgency of this problem was confirmed by the riots that broke out in the United States and other parts of the world in 2020.

The role of hyperlocal media is of increasing relevance as traditional local journalism experiences a decline due to centralisation and consolidation. The affordances of Internet and digital technologies also enable hyperlocal initiatives to enhance civic engagement in localities and serve as a place and resource for local deliberative processes. This study examines how the aims, perceptions and practices of hyperlocal media vary in three countries of the Global North—Sweden, Finland and Russia—and what implications this has for connectedness and civic engagement in local public spheres. The context of different media systems and local political regimes help to explore possibilities and limitations of hyperlocals as agents of place-oriented civic engagement. The data includes interviews with practitioners and analysis of selected hyperlocal media. Our results indicate that hyperlocal media practitioners in all three countries aim to provide local people and communities with a voice, and to enhance resident engagement in local life. We reveal three civic roles of hyperlocal media: (i) information provider, (ii) community builder, and (iii) civic mediator. Practices of civic engagement used by hyperlocal media range from relying on civic journalism to fostering civic debates and can be classified in two main categories: civic information and civic debate and interaction. The perceptions and practices of these hyperlocal media are, to some extent, similar because of comparable changes and challenges regarding the local media and public spheres. At the same time, the perceptions of civic roles vary, reflecting both the developments and differences in the countries’ media spheres and political regimes. This research raises a critical question about hyperlocal practitioners’ understanding of their own roles and aims, and in addition, how differences in media cultures and local regimes affect their performance as agents of local public spheres.

Abstract Background The objective of this paper is to outline and compare the regulation of paid healthcare professions and associated support workers in international context, bringing out the lessons to be learned as appropriate. Modern neo-liberal societies have sought to enhance healthcare through greater professional regulation, albeit in different ways and at variable pace. This general trend is illustrated with reference to medicine in the UK. However, although such reforms have helpfully cascaded to other health professions, government policy in high-income countries has not yet adequately regulated the interrelated group of non-professionalised health support workers who form the largest and least recognised part of the workforce. Nonetheless, in low- and middle-income (LMIC) countries—aside from the greater need for regulation of health professions—there is even more of an imperative to regulate the disparate, largely invisible support workforce. Methods With reference to existing studies of the medical and wider health professions in the UK and selected other higher income societies, the importance of health professional regulation to the public is underlined in the Global North. The larger gap in the regulation of support workers in modern neo-liberal countries is also emphasised on a similar basis, with an increasingly ageing population and advances in healthcare. It is argued from the very limited patchwork of secondary literature, though, that policy-makers may want to focus even more on enhancing regulation of both the professional and non-professional workforce in LMIC societies centred mainly in the Global South, drawing on lessons from the Global North. Results/conclusions Efforts to reform health professional regulatory approaches in more economically developed countries, while needing refinement, are likely to have had a positive effect. However, even in these societies there are still substantial shortfalls in the regulation of health support workers. There are even larger gaps in LMICs where there are fewer health professional staff and a greater dependence on support workers. With higher rates of morbidity and mortality, there is much more scope here for reforming health regulation in the public interest to extend standards and mitigate risk, following the pattern for healthcare professions in the Global North.

The article defines characteristics and relations between sociology from the Global South and the Global North, depicted in the literature. Despite the variety of research on the topic, studies of Northern and Southern sociology lack definite description of regional sociologies and their (unequal) relations as well as clear indicators used to assign countries to either region in terms of sociology that still uses classical geopolitical division. On the basis of research of knowledge production and academic relations between Southern and Northern sociology, the author defines main issues of discussion and specific characteristics of these regional sociologies and systematises them under one model. The model reflects four main areas of confrontation between sociology from the North and the South: origin and historical development; research orientation and capabilities; recognition and influence on the global scale; research cooperation and flow of knowledge. In addition, the article presents the alternative model for the recently emerged resistant Southern sociology. In the further research the model can be used to define understudied issues, (re)assign countries concerning sociology and investigate the actual characteristics of Southern and Northern sociology in comparison to the ones presented in the research.

This wide-ranging interview explores current topics of discussion in TELL, including digital literacies, mobile and emerging technologies, and the forms of digital learning in diverse contexts in the Global North and South. Lessons to emerge from the shift to emergency remote teaching during Covid-19 are mentioned, followed by a broader discussion of digital design frameworks that educators can use to support their learning designs. Alongside commentary on the limitations of contemporary academic publication processes, there is a focus on major research needs, and specifically on the value of educators carrying out design-based research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The concept of Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) has been developed in the Global North with little reference to what RRI or RRI-like practices mean in the context of the Global South. We discuss the contextual factors driving the emergence of responsible innovation practice and ways in which they can inform efforts to develop an inclusive and global conceptualization of RRI. Findings show that some activities in the Global South are comparable to those of the Global North, although important differences exist in motivations and structures. We go beyond prior framings to propose a reconfigured, inclusive theoretical framework that accounts for trans-regional differences by looking at three cases to illustrate international differences and to demonstrate an RRI continuum. Netherlands represents a more Global North concept of RRI; Malawi a Global South RRI concept and Brazil sits between these two extremes and assimilates RRI concepts from both ends of the continuum.