Learning for the Future: Transnational Civil Society Actors as Contributors to Social Learning in Transnational Problem Domains

2005 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. David David Brown ◽  
Vanessa Timmer
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Social Learning ◽  
The Future ◽  
Transnational Civil Society

An Incomplete Journey Away from the Past: The Life and Ideas of Antonius Ameuney (1821–1881)

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 318-338
Author(s):  
Anthony Edwards
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
Civil Society ◽  
Religious Diversity ◽  
Personal Life ◽  
Linguistic Landscape ◽  
The Past ◽  
The Future ◽  
English Speaking

Abstract This article recovers a dissonant voice from the nineteenth-century nahḍa. Antonius Ameuney (1821–1881) was a fervent Protestant and staunch Anglophile. Unlike his Ottoman Syrian contemporaries, who argued for religious diversity and the formation of a civil society based on a shared Arab past, he believed that the only geopolitical Syria viable in the future was one grounded in Protestant virtues and English values. This article examines Ameuney’s complicated journey to become a Protestant Englishman and his inescapable characterization as a son of Syria. It charts his personal life and intellectual career and explores how he interpreted the religious, cultural, political, and linguistic landscape of his birthplace to British audiences. As an English-speaking Ottoman Syrian intellectual residing permanently in London, the case of Antonius Ameuney illustrates England to have been a constitutive site of the nahḍa and underscores the role played by the British public in shaping nahḍa discourses.

Making the future by using the future: A study on influencing privacy protection rules through anticipatory storylines

2018 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 984-1005 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matti Minkkinen
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Institutional Change ◽  
Privacy Protection ◽  
Public Consultation ◽  
The Public ◽  
Historical Processes ◽  
The Future ◽  
Market Liberalisation ◽  
Discourse Coalitions ◽  
Made In

This article investigates how futures of privacy protection are made in Europe. The public consultation phase of the European Union’s data protection reform is analysed as a case of making the future by using the future, that is, influencing institutional change through anticipatory storylines. A qualitative analysis of consultation responses is conducted, and two discourse coalitions are identified. The industry coalition promotes market liberalisation to allow the digital future to emerge. The civil society coalition, in turn, argues for rescuing privacy with strict rules. The article suggests that plausibility in relation to the discursive and extra-discursive environment is crucial for the success of storylines. The second storyline was relatively successful because it was more plausible in light of the trend of legalism and the predominant future-oriented narrative of privacy in danger. The ‘anticipatory institutionalism’ approach opens novel perspectives concerning actors’ future-oriented projects in relation to historical processes.

scholarly journals Carbon Ruins: Engaging with Post-Fossil Transitions through Participatory World-Building

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 87-99 ◽  
Author(s):  
Johannes Stripple ◽  
Alexandra Nikoleris ◽  
Roger Hildingsson
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Media Coverage ◽  
General Public ◽  
Ways Of Knowing ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Political Tradition ◽  
Civil Society Organisations ◽  
Physical Presence ◽  
The Future ◽  
Ways Of Being

While many pathways to post-fossil futures have been articulated, most fail to engage people in imagining themselves as being part of those futures and involved in the transition. Following recent calls for more immersive experiences, the 2019 initiative “Carbon Ruins—An Exhibition of the Fossil Era” (Carbon Ruins) is a performance set around a historical museum from the future, which uses recognisable, culturally powerful physical objects to bridge the gap between abstract scenarios and everyday experiences. Through its physical presence and extensive media coverage, Carbon Ruins struck a chord with scientists, activists, creative professionals, policy makers, civil society organisations, and the general public. Like other imaginary worlds, Carbon Ruins is not finished. It is an open-ended process of narrating, imagining, and representing (the transition to) a post-fossil future. In this article we reflect upon Carbon Ruins as a participatory form of world-building that allows for new ways of knowing, and new ways of being, in relation to post-fossil transitions. We discern three different kinds of authorship that were taken on by participants: as originators, dwellers, and explorers. While the originator makes the future world a recognisable place, the dweller can engage active hope in place of a passive sense of urgency, and the explorer can transform resignation into commitment, with a fresh determination to leave the fossil era behind. Situating Carbon Ruins within a critical political tradition, we find post-fossil world-building to be a form of critique that destabilises accustomed ways of thinking and opens up new fields of experience that allows things to be done differently.

scholarly journals The European Union as a Major Player in the Fight Against Climate Change: Challenges and Opportunities

2016 ◽  
Vol 03 (03) ◽  
pp. 89-109
Author(s):  
Carlos Fco. Molina del Pozo ◽  
Pablo Cristobal Molina del Pozo Martin
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
European Union ◽  
Civil Society ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Difficult Situation ◽  
Broad Perspective ◽  
Positive Elements ◽  
Major Player ◽  
The Future

Why is it important to reconsider the elements related to climate change? Is the European Union indeed a major player? What kind of role do civil society and the European citizens have in this difficult situation of constant changes? Could we consider the fight against climate change as a possible link to the future creation of a federal union in Europe? These questions and comments are just a few of the numerous questions that we will try to respond in this paper. We will provide a comprehensive overview of the current framework which is mainly based on the Treaties and the international agreements that have been adopted over time. With this paper we wish to alert our readers and raise their awareness on the issue, not by proving something that is already happening, as innumerable scientists suggest, i.e. global climate change, but by focusing on the role the European Union could play as a leader that is able to achieve the clear objectives and major goals of sustainable development. We will also present an overview concerning the context of civil society in which we will present various opinions showing the approach of the EESC on the issue. Furthermore, we will address some key areas outlining the underlying concepts and highlighting the importance of citizen participation in this vast and important topic in order to ensure that, thanks to the cooperation of all stakeholders, a global climate agreement can become more feasible. The purpose of this paper is to provide positive elements and possible solutions to the major issue of climate change by reaching conclusions for the future situation with a broad perspective.

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