Pub Date : 2021-02-04DOI: 10.1163/15691497-12341577
Jonathan Gross
This article examines graffiti in Naples between 2016 and 2018, arguing for its political importance. My thesis is that erasing graffiti from garbage trucks does not remove the social problems that caused it. Though sometimes seen as an eye-sore by tourists, graffiti offers vital information about the struggles and passions within the city itself. Under Silvio Berlusconi, rubbish became gold, as Camorra member Nunzio Perella stated when arrested in 1992. Three films, Biùtiful cauntri (2007), Gomorrah (2008), and Napoli Jungle (Bagnoli Jungle) (2015) document how toxic waste dumping affected three generations of Italians and continues to be a pervasive problem.
{"title":"Reading Graffiti in Naples and Reading Naples in Film","authors":"Jonathan Gross","doi":"10.1163/15691497-12341577","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/15691497-12341577","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000This article examines graffiti in Naples between 2016 and 2018, arguing for its political importance. My thesis is that erasing graffiti from garbage trucks does not remove the social problems that caused it. Though sometimes seen as an eye-sore by tourists, graffiti offers vital information about the struggles and passions within the city itself. Under Silvio Berlusconi, rubbish became gold, as Camorra member Nunzio Perella stated when arrested in 1992. Three films, Biùtiful cauntri (2007), Gomorrah (2008), and Napoli Jungle (Bagnoli Jungle) (2015) document how toxic waste dumping affected three generations of Italians and continues to be a pervasive problem.","PeriodicalId":43666,"journal":{"name":"Perspectives on Global Development and Technology","volume":"46 1","pages":"698-717"},"PeriodicalIF":0.3,"publicationDate":"2021-02-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"87803826","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2021-02-04DOI: 10.1163/15691497-12341571
S. P. Mbulayi, A. Makuyana, S. Kang’ethe
The outbreak of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic altered the social, economic, and public health landscape across the world, and unleashed a plethora of negative psychosocial impacts on society. This qualitative study used an online based case study design to explore the psychosocial impacts of COVID-19 among a few selected citizens of Zimbabwe. The study was conceptualized around an orienting question stated as: What are the psychosocial impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic in Zimbabwe? Participants for the study were purposively selected, and data was collected through in-depth interviews, which were hosted online. The study returned findings that the COVID-19 pandemic in Zimbabwe was concomitant with a range of psychosocial impacts including inter alia, exposure of people to mental health problems such as severe distress, phobias, anxiety, development of psychosomatic symptoms, as well as increase in social ills such as poverty, and domestic and sexual violence perpetrated against women and children.
{"title":"Psychosocial Impacts of the Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) Pandemic in Zimbabwe: Citizens’ Perspective","authors":"S. P. Mbulayi, A. Makuyana, S. Kang’ethe","doi":"10.1163/15691497-12341571","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/15691497-12341571","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000The outbreak of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic altered the social, economic, and public health landscape across the world, and unleashed a plethora of negative psychosocial impacts on society. This qualitative study used an online based case study design to explore the psychosocial impacts of COVID-19 among a few selected citizens of Zimbabwe. The study was conceptualized around an orienting question stated as: What are the psychosocial impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic in Zimbabwe? Participants for the study were purposively selected, and data was collected through in-depth interviews, which were hosted online. The study returned findings that the COVID-19 pandemic in Zimbabwe was concomitant with a range of psychosocial impacts including inter alia, exposure of people to mental health problems such as severe distress, phobias, anxiety, development of psychosomatic symptoms, as well as increase in social ills such as poverty, and domestic and sexual violence perpetrated against women and children.","PeriodicalId":43666,"journal":{"name":"Perspectives on Global Development and Technology","volume":"16 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.3,"publicationDate":"2021-02-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"87706403","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2020-11-17DOI: 10.1163/15691497-12341565
Alexis Nyamugira Biringanine
This article investigates the impact of the change in the legal status of a microfinance institution on its social and financial performance. It uses a case study with a strong emphasis on both quantitative and qualitative approaches to understand the stakeholders’ perceived value of transformation. The results from the study reveal that transformation significantly improves the profitability and the efficiency of Sidian Bank, and in addition, improves the quality of its portfolio. However, we found that transformation has altered significantly the social objectives of Sidian Bank by decreasing its breadth and depth of social outreach. Insights from the qualitative approach reveal that the average loan size widely used to proxy mission drift is a biased indicator since clients grow over time and always favor bigger loans. The stakeholders’ perceived value of transformation differs in terms of risks, breadth, and financial results.
{"title":"Understanding the Scope of the Institutional Transformation within the Microfinance Sector: Evidence from Sidian Bank in Kenya","authors":"Alexis Nyamugira Biringanine","doi":"10.1163/15691497-12341565","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/15691497-12341565","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000This article investigates the impact of the change in the legal status of a microfinance institution on its social and financial performance. It uses a case study with a strong emphasis on both quantitative and qualitative approaches to understand the stakeholders’ perceived value of transformation. The results from the study reveal that transformation significantly improves the profitability and the efficiency of Sidian Bank, and in addition, improves the quality of its portfolio. However, we found that transformation has altered significantly the social objectives of Sidian Bank by decreasing its breadth and depth of social outreach. Insights from the qualitative approach reveal that the average loan size widely used to proxy mission drift is a biased indicator since clients grow over time and always favor bigger loans. The stakeholders’ perceived value of transformation differs in terms of risks, breadth, and financial results.","PeriodicalId":43666,"journal":{"name":"Perspectives on Global Development and Technology","volume":"6 1","pages":"449-478"},"PeriodicalIF":0.3,"publicationDate":"2020-11-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"86047229","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2020-11-17DOI: 10.1163/15691497-12341566
S. Makapela, P. Tanga
This article examines access to the right to basic education enshrined in the South African Constitution. Underpinned by the human rights-based approach, the study employed survey questionnaires and in-depth interviews as methods of data collection. The results of the study revealed that the majority of the survey respondents contend that the post-apartheid state has fulfilled the right to basic education only to a small extent notwithstanding the existence of pre-schools, primary, and secondary schools located within a reasonable walking distance from the communities. Preference for the three classes was not equally distributed in the population, X2 (2, N= 500) = 99.68, p < 0.05. On the contrary, the majority of government participants interviewed rated the post-apartheid state fulfillment of the right to basic education in the Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality as fair. Overall, all the government participants had a moderate view regarding the fulfillment of the right.
本文探讨了《南非宪法》规定的获得基础教育的权利。该研究以基于人权的方法为基础,采用调查问卷和深度访谈作为数据收集方法。研究结果显示,大多数调查受访者认为,后种族隔离国家只在很小程度上实现了基础教育的权利,尽管在距离社区合理的步行距离内存在幼儿园、小学和中学。三个类别的偏好在总体中分布不均匀,X2 (2, N= 500) = 99.68, p < 0.05。相反,接受采访的大多数政府参与者认为,在布法罗市大都会市,后种族隔离时代国家对基础教育权的实现是公平的。总体而言,所有政府参与者对权利的实现持温和态度。
{"title":"Accessing the Right to Basic Education in South Africa: Four Years after the Ratification of the Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights","authors":"S. Makapela, P. Tanga","doi":"10.1163/15691497-12341566","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/15691497-12341566","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000This article examines access to the right to basic education enshrined in the South African Constitution. Underpinned by the human rights-based approach, the study employed survey questionnaires and in-depth interviews as methods of data collection. The results of the study revealed that the majority of the survey respondents contend that the post-apartheid state has fulfilled the right to basic education only to a small extent notwithstanding the existence of pre-schools, primary, and secondary schools located within a reasonable walking distance from the communities. Preference for the three classes was not equally distributed in the population, X2 (2, N= 500) = 99.68, p < 0.05. On the contrary, the majority of government participants interviewed rated the post-apartheid state fulfillment of the right to basic education in the Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality as fair. Overall, all the government participants had a moderate view regarding the fulfillment of the right.","PeriodicalId":43666,"journal":{"name":"Perspectives on Global Development and Technology","volume":"52 1","pages":"479-502"},"PeriodicalIF":0.3,"publicationDate":"2020-11-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"85765070","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2020-11-17DOI: 10.1163/15691497-12341567
J. S. Mah
The North Korean government declared a pursuit of the Military-First Policy and the Ideology of Focusing on Science and Technology in the late 1990s. It thus made science and technology central to its goal of the Establishment of Strong and Prosperous State. North Korea came to perceive science and technology as engines for promoting both nuclear armament and economic development. The switch of policy attention to science and technology has facilitated the development of some selected technology-intensive industries. In 2017, North Korea declared that it had completed development of nuclear weapons and intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs). Although North Korea’s development of hi-tech arms including nuclear bombs and ICBMs appears inconsistent with its low level of economic development, it can be understood in light of the North Korean government’s emphasis on science and technology and prioritization of the allocation of resources to defense.
{"title":"North Korea’s Science and Technology Policy and the Development of Technology-Intensive Industries","authors":"J. S. Mah","doi":"10.1163/15691497-12341567","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/15691497-12341567","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000The North Korean government declared a pursuit of the Military-First Policy and the Ideology of Focusing on Science and Technology in the late 1990s. It thus made science and technology central to its goal of the Establishment of Strong and Prosperous State. North Korea came to perceive science and technology as engines for promoting both nuclear armament and economic development. The switch of policy attention to science and technology has facilitated the development of some selected technology-intensive industries. In 2017, North Korea declared that it had completed development of nuclear weapons and intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs). Although North Korea’s development of hi-tech arms including nuclear bombs and ICBMs appears inconsistent with its low level of economic development, it can be understood in light of the North Korean government’s emphasis on science and technology and prioritization of the allocation of resources to defense.","PeriodicalId":43666,"journal":{"name":"Perspectives on Global Development and Technology","volume":"18 1","pages":"503-524"},"PeriodicalIF":0.3,"publicationDate":"2020-11-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"77144161","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2020-11-17DOI: 10.1163/15691497-12341564
M. K. Özekin
Is dependency theory dead as an explanation of underdevelopment today? Today, a broad consensus answers this question in the affirmative. In contrast to this commonly-held contention, this study counter-argues that despite the need of refinement to account for the recent changes that have taken place in global economy, a certain strand of dependency analyses still maintains validity, and offers inspirations for those wanting to address limits and prospects of capitalist development. The study first critically surveys the barrage of criticisms levied against the dependency school, since any revisiting of this archaic line of thought might be quite easily subjected to an outright dismissal beforehand. Then, the study reveals that the conceptualization of dependency as elaborated by historical-structural dependency analyses still maintains validity, and when wisely applied to the new conditions, offers a basilar IPE framework to address the limits, prospects, and divergent patterns of development in today’s Global South.
{"title":"On the Contemporary Relevance of Dependency Perspective: a Critical Appraisal","authors":"M. K. Özekin","doi":"10.1163/15691497-12341564","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/15691497-12341564","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000Is dependency theory dead as an explanation of underdevelopment today? Today, a broad consensus answers this question in the affirmative. In contrast to this commonly-held contention, this study counter-argues that despite the need of refinement to account for the recent changes that have taken place in global economy, a certain strand of dependency analyses still maintains validity, and offers inspirations for those wanting to address limits and prospects of capitalist development. The study first critically surveys the barrage of criticisms levied against the dependency school, since any revisiting of this archaic line of thought might be quite easily subjected to an outright dismissal beforehand. Then, the study reveals that the conceptualization of dependency as elaborated by historical-structural dependency analyses still maintains validity, and when wisely applied to the new conditions, offers a basilar IPE framework to address the limits, prospects, and divergent patterns of development in today’s Global South.","PeriodicalId":43666,"journal":{"name":"Perspectives on Global Development and Technology","volume":"23 1","pages":"418-448"},"PeriodicalIF":0.3,"publicationDate":"2020-11-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"91124406","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2020-11-17DOI: 10.1163/15691497-12341568
Samuel Mugedya, S. Kang’ethe, T. Nomngcoyiya
Literature studies have shown that older persons face an array of challenges, among them parenting a delinquent grandchild. This study adopted both a qualitative approach and paradigm, supported by an explorative and a descriptive case study design. The study sampled eleven participants, and data were collected using in-depth interviews and focus group discussions with grandparents, a community committee member, and probation officers. Measures employed by grandparent households in tandem with the Department of Social Development were unearthed. These included, but were not limited to, corporal punishment, seeking assistance from relatives, seeking assistance from social workers, and creating attachment. This article recommends that the government prioritize the grandparents’ vulnerability to the dangers of parenting difficult children, either by freeing them from such a harmful environment, or putting measures in place to manage children in conflict with the law, with special attention to grandparent-headed households.
{"title":"The Coping Mechanisms Employed by Grandparent-Headed Families in Addressing Juvenile Delinquency in Hill Crest, Alice Township, Eastern Cape Province","authors":"Samuel Mugedya, S. Kang’ethe, T. Nomngcoyiya","doi":"10.1163/15691497-12341568","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/15691497-12341568","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000Literature studies have shown that older persons face an array of challenges, among them parenting a delinquent grandchild. This study adopted both a qualitative approach and paradigm, supported by an explorative and a descriptive case study design. The study sampled eleven participants, and data were collected using in-depth interviews and focus group discussions with grandparents, a community committee member, and probation officers. Measures employed by grandparent households in tandem with the Department of Social Development were unearthed. These included, but were not limited to, corporal punishment, seeking assistance from relatives, seeking assistance from social workers, and creating attachment. This article recommends that the government prioritize the grandparents’ vulnerability to the dangers of parenting difficult children, either by freeing them from such a harmful environment, or putting measures in place to manage children in conflict with the law, with special attention to grandparent-headed households.","PeriodicalId":43666,"journal":{"name":"Perspectives on Global Development and Technology","volume":"16 1","pages":"525-540"},"PeriodicalIF":0.3,"publicationDate":"2020-11-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"88073934","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2020-09-08DOI: 10.1163/15691497-12341561
A. Sahoo, Anindita Shome
Diasporic communities have historically maintained—either actively or passively—their ethnonational identities, be it in the case of classical diasporas such as the Jews or Armenians or the case of more modern diasporas such as the Indians or other South Asians. However, the ethnonational identities of diasporic communities have strengthened significantly in recent times as a result of the global forces such as the Internet that created and recreated the existing and newer ways of transnationalism and ethnonationalism. The study of the Indian diaspora is inherent because of the fact that these global forces have drastically changed the ethnonational identity of Indians in the diaspora. There are a plethora of factors that played an important role in this process of transformation. This article tries to examine two of the most significant factors that strengthened the ethnonational identity, such as the dynamic changes in the Indian government policy towards diaspora and the role of the Internet that facilitates the youth to play a prominent role in this neo-diaspora.
{"title":"Diaspora and Transnationalism: the Changing Contours of Ethnonational Identity of Indian Diaspora","authors":"A. Sahoo, Anindita Shome","doi":"10.1163/15691497-12341561","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/15691497-12341561","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000Diasporic communities have historically maintained—either actively or passively—their ethnonational identities, be it in the case of classical diasporas such as the Jews or Armenians or the case of more modern diasporas such as the Indians or other South Asians. However, the ethnonational identities of diasporic communities have strengthened significantly in recent times as a result of the global forces such as the Internet that created and recreated the existing and newer ways of transnationalism and ethnonationalism. The study of the Indian diaspora is inherent because of the fact that these global forces have drastically changed the ethnonational identity of Indians in the diaspora. There are a plethora of factors that played an important role in this process of transformation. This article tries to examine two of the most significant factors that strengthened the ethnonational identity, such as the dynamic changes in the Indian government policy towards diaspora and the role of the Internet that facilitates the youth to play a prominent role in this neo-diaspora.","PeriodicalId":43666,"journal":{"name":"Perspectives on Global Development and Technology","volume":"52 1","pages":"383-402"},"PeriodicalIF":0.3,"publicationDate":"2020-09-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"75769231","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2020-09-08DOI: 10.1163/15691497-12341559
N. Gudalov
In this article I aim to critically clarify the spatial dimensions of the notion of resilience, particularly in economic policies important for development. The EU’s policies towards Africa, specifically the External Investment Plan (EIP) and the European Investment Bank’s Economic Resilience Initiative (ERI), provide an empirical illustration. Within International Relations, theorizations have sometimes lacked logical clarity, risked overemphasizing the local factors influencing resilience, and undertheorizing the external ones. Resilience is not wholly determined at a given local scale. There are also influences external to the scale, including other resilience’s scales. There may be tradeoffs between scales. Building upon local resources boosts resilience, but understanding the local as decontextualized does not. External help to local populations and bearing due responsibility support resilience, but external interventionism and/or one scale excessively depending on another do not. The EIP’s and the ERI’s problems illustrate those visions of the external and local that affect resilience rather negatively.
{"title":"Critiquing the Ambivalent Spatialities of Resilience: the European Union’s Economic Policies on Promoting Resilience in Africa","authors":"N. Gudalov","doi":"10.1163/15691497-12341559","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/15691497-12341559","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000In this article I aim to critically clarify the spatial dimensions of the notion of resilience, particularly in economic policies important for development. The EU’s policies towards Africa, specifically the External Investment Plan (EIP) and the European Investment Bank’s Economic Resilience Initiative (ERI), provide an empirical illustration. Within International Relations, theorizations have sometimes lacked logical clarity, risked overemphasizing the local factors influencing resilience, and undertheorizing the external ones. Resilience is not wholly determined at a given local scale. There are also influences external to the scale, including other resilience’s scales. There may be tradeoffs between scales. Building upon local resources boosts resilience, but understanding the local as decontextualized does not. External help to local populations and bearing due responsibility support resilience, but external interventionism and/or one scale excessively depending on another do not. The EIP’s and the ERI’s problems illustrate those visions of the external and local that affect resilience rather negatively.","PeriodicalId":43666,"journal":{"name":"Perspectives on Global Development and Technology","volume":"1 1","pages":"329-358"},"PeriodicalIF":0.3,"publicationDate":"2020-09-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"89633566","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}