scholarly journals Barking Up the Right Tree? NGOs and Corporate Power for Deforestation-Free Supply Chains

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (11) ◽  
pp. 3869 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anne-Kathrin Weber ◽  
Lena Partzsch
Keyword(s):  
Supply Chains ◽  
Multinational Corporations ◽  
Participant Observation ◽  
Research Participant ◽  
Transformative Change ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Resource Governance ◽  
Natural Resource Governance ◽  
Non Governmental Organizations ◽  
The Right

: Supply chain sustainability has become a key issue for multinational corporations (MNCs). Hundreds of MNCs in agri-commodity sectors have recently committed to eliminate deforestation from their supply chains. In this article, we examine the power of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) participating in two initiatives that support the implementation of such commitments: the Accountability Framework initiative (AFi) and Transparency for Sustainable Economies (Trase). Drawing on document and literature research, participant observation as well as semi-structured interviews, we find that these NGOs exercise power with MNCs, in particular in terms of raising awareness and changing corporate self-perceptions. At the same time, though, there is a bias towards representing the positions and interests of materially strong actors in global supply chains. In doing so, NGOs risk reinforcing MNCs’ power over more marginalized actors. In this light, we argue that initiatives such as AFi and Trase can only be a first step towards a new economic system that respects ecological limits and delivers social justice. In order to shape transformative change, NGOs need to more actively push discussions about equitable distribution, emancipation and justice in natural resource governance.

scholarly journals Conservation narratives and conflicts over protected areas in post-socialist Romania

2020 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 84-104
Author(s):  
Marie Louise Aastrup
Keyword(s):  
Political Ecology ◽  
Protected Areas ◽  
National Park ◽  
Local Community ◽  
Participant Observation ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Governmental Organizations ◽  
Non Governmental Organizations ◽  
Local Decision ◽  
Post Communism

Environmental protection is never a controversy-free endeavor. Conflicts arise over land ownership, use, and access. Political ecologists have paid extensive attention to protected areas, especially in relation to power, rights, and marginalized peoples. This article draws on political ecology to examine a new proposed national park in the context of post-communism and neoliberalization in Romania. Using mixed-methods (semi-structured interviews, questionnaires, and participant observation), this research investigates conservation narratives as articulated by different actors (environmental non-governmental organizations, local decision-makers, and local community members) with various levels of involvement in the proposed national park. Three chief narratives can be observed pertaining to tourism, restrictions, and deforestation. These narratives are embedded in the history and socio-economic context of the area, but also reveal the agendas of different actors regarding landscape values. Assessing these narratives, this research reveals how actors position themselves and the points of contention among the different actors in the brewing conflict that the national park represents.Keywords: Political ecology, conservation, conflict, power

Architects and rural post-disaster housing: lessons from South India

2015 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 206-224 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gertrud Tauber
Keyword(s):  
South India ◽  
Social Dynamics ◽  
Participant Observation ◽  
Indian Ocean Tsunami ◽  
Primary Data ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Right ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Post Disaster

Purpose – This research aims to examine three housing projects implemented by local non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and planned by local architects after the Indian Ocean tsunami of 2004 in rural South India. The key to the acceptance of post-disaster houses lies in meeting the peoples’ wishes and needs, and in integrating local know-how into the course of the project process (a premise intensively discussed in theory). After the tsunami of 2004, many (NGOs) appointed architects, assuming that these professionals would be qualified to facilitate the implementation of people-oriented houses (and villages). However, the architects’ roles vary significantly, which had, as will be shown here, a considerable impact on the degree of success of the project. Design/methodology/approach – Primary data for this study were gathered through household questionnaires (110); informal interaction; participant-observation (work assignment: 2.5 years; field survey: 4 months); semi-structured interviews (NGO representatives, architects and engineers). Secondary literature was studied on post-disaster housing, building cultures and cultures of knowledge. Findings – This study reveals that, in the course of rural post-disaster reconstruction, there is a crying need to appoint the “right” personnel having, first of all, the capacity to comply with the social dynamics at project level, and, second, being able to address those aspects critical for the realization of people-oriented housing. Architects can be a valuable resource for both the NGO and the villagers. However, this paper shows that key to this is, among other considerations, a thorough understanding of the rural (building) culture, its abilities and requirements, the strategic interplay of various roles and abilities during the course of an intricate building process and the design of appropriate roles for adequately-skilled architects. Originality/value – To this date, the debate on the role of architects in the context of post-disaster housing has neglected to examine empirically the implications of appointing these professionals in rural post-disaster contexts. This paper addresses this imbalance and complements the existing corpus of work by examining the impact of different roles of architects on the degree of success of the project at village level.

From Right Place - Wrong Person, to Right Place - Right Person: Dignified Care for Older People

2012 ◽  
Vol 17 (2_suppl) ◽  
pp. 30-36 ◽  
Author(s):  
Win Tadd ◽  
Alex Hillman ◽  
Michael Calnan ◽  
Sian Calnan ◽  
Simon Read ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Older People ◽  
Participant Observation ◽  
Organizational Factors ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Frontline Staff ◽  
Close Proximity ◽  
Opposite Sex ◽  
Care Health ◽  
The Right ◽  
Care For Older People

Objectives To examine: older people's and their relatives' views of dignified care; health care practitioners' behaviours and practices in relation to dignified care; the occupational, organizational and cultural factors that impact on care; and develop evidence-based recommendations for dignified care. Methods An ethnography of four acute trusts in England and Wales involving semi-structured interviews with recently discharged older people (n = 40), their relatives (n = 25), frontline staff (n = 79) and Trust managers (n = 32), complemented by 617 hours of non-participant observation in 16 wards in NHS trusts. Results ‘Right Place - Wrong Person’ refers to the staffs' belief that acute wards are not the ‘right place’ for older people. Wards were poorly-designed, confusing and inaccessible for older people; older people were bored through lack of communal spaces and activities and they expressed concern about the close proximity of patients of the opposite sex; staff were demoralised and ill-equipped with skills and knowledge to care for older people, and organizational priorities caused patients to be frequently moved within the system. In none of the wards studied was care either totally dignified or totally undignified. Variations occurred from ward to ward, in the same ward when different staff were on-duty and at different times of the day. Conclusions The failure to provide dignified care is often a result of systemic and organizational factors rather than a failure of individual staff and it is these that must be addressed if dignified care is to be ensured.

scholarly journals Reactions to institutional violence: patient strategies for facing infringements of the right to health in Brazil

2013 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 11-25
Author(s):  
Sonia Fleury ◽  
Valéria Bicudo ◽  
Gabriela Rangel
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Health Care Services ◽  
Participant Observation ◽  
Structural Factors ◽  
Public Health Services ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Institutional Violence ◽  
Care Services ◽  
Individual Solution ◽  
The Right

In this article we identify evidences of inequalities, prejudices and discrimination in the access and utilization of public health services belonging to the Brazilian Unified Health Care System, considering them to be institutional violence and a negation of rights, in order to look at the reactions of the subjects victimized by this process. This research study utilized different methodologies, articulating participant observation, semi-structured interviews, focus groups and dramatization. The results highlight the trajectory in seeking health care as the main expression of inequalities, strengthened by structural factors such as the precarious condition of health care services, which potentiate power asymmetries, and the presence of discrimination derived from stigmas and prejudices. Most patients' reactions to the situation of institutional violence seek an individual solution to the problem, often reaffirming the conditions that generate rights violations. Few patients' reactions question the systemic conditions that determine the continued discrimination.

Kairotic and chronological knowing: diabetes logbooks in-and-out of the hospital

2018 ◽  
Vol 52 (1) ◽  
pp. 148-162 ◽  
Author(s):  
Enrico Maria Piras
Keyword(s):  
Chronic Condition ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Participant Observation ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Making Sense ◽  
Socially Constructed ◽  
The Right ◽  
Forms Of Knowledge

Purpose The paper reflects on the role of knowledge artefacts in the patient-provider relationship across the organisational boundaries of the clinical setting. Drawing on the analysis of the diabetes logbook, the purpose of this paper is to illustrate the role of knowledge artefacts in a fragmented system of knowledge through the study of two distinct practices: “logbook compiling” and “consultation in the surgery”. Design/methodology/approach The theoretical framework of analysis is rooted in the tradition of practice-based studies which envisions knowledge as the emerging, precarious and socially constructed product of being involved in a practice. The paper follows a designed qualitative research, conducting semi-structured interviews, participant observation and artefact analysis. Findings The knowledge artefacts support different and partially irreducible forms of knowledge. Knowing-in-practice is accomplished by means of different activities which contribute to the reshaping of the knowledge artefact itself. The analysis of the “knowledge artefact-in-use” reveals that different actors (doctors and patients) adopt two different perspectives when investigating the chronic condition. Clinicians are interested in a chronological representation of patient data while patients and families are interested in making sense of specific situations, adopting a kairotic perspective (Kairos: the right moment) that emphasises the instant in which something significant for someone happens. Originality/value The analysis of the knowledge artefacts-in-use has a twofold outcome. On one hand, it illustrates the mutual shaping of knowing, artefacts and practices. On the other hand, it shows how knowledge artefact can become pivotal resources in a fragmented system of knowledge.

scholarly journals Brick-and-Platform: Listing Labor in the Digital Vintage Economy

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 205630512093329
Author(s):  
Tamara Kneese ◽  
Michael Palm
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Supply Chains ◽  
Participant Observation ◽  
Central Component ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Local Economies ◽  
Brick And Mortar ◽  
Identity Based ◽  
Flea Markets ◽  
Us Cities

Vintage goods are valued for their nostalgic association with pre-digital modes of production, but their contemporary trafficking is increasingly organized by processes of platformization. The central component of what we call “listing labor in the digital vintage economy” is the online display of collectible merchandise, but listing labor also entails promoting sellers’ brands on social media and using sales platforms and other logistical media to manage inventory, process transactions, and handle shipments. Listing labor is performed by branded merchants and their employees alongside independent entrepreneurs. The digital vintage economy connects brick-and-mortar shops and resale supply chains organized around flea markets, thrift shops and charity bins, estate sales, and consigners, to online clearinghouses like eBay and Craigslist, and to social media and payment apps. In this article, we argue that listing labor in the digital vintage economy further develops the concept of “platform labor.” We focus on vintage clothes and vinyl records, dominated by women and men, respectively, to help us analyze divisions of listing labor organized by gender, race, age, and class. We draw upon 20 semi-structured interviews with shop owners and employees and on participant observation in independently owned clothing boutiques and record stores in several US cities. The digital vintage economy provides another angle for understanding how identity-based distinctions affect the opportunities associated with platform labor, and our account of listing labor highlights the need for studies of platformization that analyze its effects on specific local economies as well as on job markets and commercial sectors.

scholarly journals Community Environmental Monitoring: the management of commons in Cassurubá Extractive Reserve

2021 ◽  
Vol 24 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marcelo Lopes ◽  
Pedro Henrique Dias Marques ◽  
Priscilla Correa de Moura Estevão
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Monitoring ◽  
Conceptual Framework ◽  
Social Participation ◽  
Participant Observation ◽  
Research Participant ◽  
Institutional Context ◽  
Legal Order ◽  
International Legal Order ◽  
Extractive Reserves ◽  
The Right

Abstract The aim of the current study is to address the right of Traditional Peoples and Communities (TPC) to participate in the environmental protection of their traditional territories in Extractive Reserves (RESEX), based on the analysis of the concrete Community Environmental Monitoring (CEM) case in Cassurubá RESEX. The conceptual framework of the topic was based on studies and theories focused on approaching the management commons. Next, the legal, positive and conceptual aspects of the national and international legal order, which outlines the scope of social participation in environment-related matters, were analyzed. Finally, the history, main features and institutional context CEM is inserted in were also analyzed. Action-research, participant observation and conversation meetings were the methodological instruments adopted in the current study. Indeed, CEM is a good instrument for the management of commons, mainly because it guarantees the rights of TPCs.

scholarly journals Cooperation System of Gaduh Sapi in Fiqh Mu’āmalah in Tanjung Kulon Kajen Village Pekalongan

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 11
Author(s):  
Hendri Hermawan Adinugraha ◽  
Elsa Vani Mawaddah ◽  
Ali Muhtarom
Keyword(s):  
Participant Observation ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
The People ◽  
Observation Methods ◽  
Study Results ◽  
Deductive Method ◽  
Capital Owner ◽  
The Right ◽  
Cooperation System ◽  
The Village

<p dir="ltr"><span>This study aims to describe the “gaduh sapi” collaboration in terms of practice and review of mu’āmalah fiqh in Tanjung Kulon Village, Kajen Country, Pekalongan District. This research is using descriptive qualitative research. The sources used in this study are data from interviews, observations, documentation, and literature data. The subjects of this study were cattle managers and owners of capital. Data collection techniques used non-participant observation methods, structured interviews, and documentation. The data analysis used is qualitative by using the deductive method. The study results show that the practice of “gaduh sapi” in Tanjung Kulon Village follows the habits of the village community both in terms of how to manage, provide capital, and share profits. The model of rowdy practice is carried out with two events, namely fattening and breeding. The “gaduh sapi” collaboration carried out by the community as a means of helping. The practice of “gaduh sapi” cooperation carried out by the community is in accordance with the rules of fiqh mu’āmalah, namely using a muḍārabah contract. Because the capital owner gives the business manager the freedom to manage his business, develop it without limiting the type, time, and place. The capital used in this rowdy cooperation practice is goods, namely cows. This follows one of the conditions for muḍārabah capital: it can be in the form of money or goods that are valued (cows are included). So that at the end of time the distribution of results can be distinguished from profits. Where cattle capital remains the right of the owner of the capital, then the fattening and breeding results are shared. The provisions of the benefits carried out by the people of Tanjung Kulon Village are by the rules of al-ghunmu bi al- ghurmi (risks are balanced with benefits). This study also confirms that there are no contracts containing gharar in the “gaduh sapi” practice.</span></p><p><em>Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mendeskripsikan “gaduh sapi” dari segi praktik dan tinjauan fiqh mu’āmalah di Desa Tanjung Kulon, Kecamatan Kajen, Kabupaten Pekalongan. Penelitian ini termasuk penelitian kualitatif yang bersifat deskriptif. Sumber yang digunakan dalam penelitian ini yaitu data hasil wawancara</em><em>, observasi, dokumentasi,</em><em> dan data literatur. Subjek penelitian ini adalah pengelola sapi dan pemilik modal. Teknik pengumpulan data menggunakan metode observasi non-partisipan, wawancara terstruktur</em><em>, dan dokumentasi. </em><em>Analisis data yang digunakan adalah kualitatif dengan menggunakan metode deduktif.</em><em> </em><em>Hasil penelitian menunjukan bahwa</em><em> </em><em>p</em><em>ra</em><em>ktik “gaduh sapi” di Desa Tanjung Kulon mengikuti  kebiasaan  masyarakat  desa baik  dari  segi  cara  pengelolaan,  penyediaan modal, dan pembagian keuntungan. Model praktik gaduh yang dilakukan dengan dua acara yaitu penggemukan dan pengembangbiakan. Kerjasama “gaduh sapi” yang dilakukan oleh masyarakat sebagai sarana tolong menolong. Praktik kerjasama “gaduh sapi” yang dilakukan masyarakat sudah sesuai dengan aturan fiqh mu’āmalah, yaitu menggunakan akad mu</em><em>ḍ</em><em>ārabah. Pengelola usaha diberi kebebasan oleh pemilik  modal  untuk  mengelola  usahanya,  mengembangkan  tanpa  memberi batasan  jenis,  waktu  serta  tempat. Modal yang digunakan dalam praktik kerjasama gaduh ini adalah barang yaitu sapi. Hal ini sudah sesuai dengan </em><em>salah satu syarat modal mu</em><em>ḍ</em><em>ārabah </em><em>yaitu</em><em> dapat berbentuk uang atau barang yang dinilai</em><em> (sapi termasuk di dalamnya)</em><em>. Pada waktu akhir pembagian hasil dapat dibedakan dari keuntungan. Dimana modal sapi tetap menjadi hak pemilik modal, selanjutnya hasil penggemukan dan pengembangbiakan yang dibagihasilkan. Ketentuan keuntungan yang dilakukan masyarakat Desa Tanjung Kulon telah sesuai dengan kaidah al-ghunmu bi al-ghurmi. </em><em>Hasil</em><em> penelitian ini juga menegaskan bahwa </em><em>tidak ditemukan</em><em> </em><em>akad yang mengandung gharār</em><em> dalam </em><em>praktik</em><em> </em><em>“gaduh sapi”</em><em> disana.</em><em></em></p><p><em><br /></em></p>

scholarly journals Private governance responsibilisation in global supply chains: the case of Rana Plaza

2020 ◽  
Vol 33 (7) ◽  
pp. 1569-1594
Author(s):  
Javed Siddiqui ◽  
Kenneth McPhail ◽  
Sharmin Shabnam Rahman
Keyword(s):  
Private Sector ◽  
Supply Chains ◽  
Multinational Corporations ◽  
Empirical Work ◽  
Private Governance ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Strong State ◽  
Assurance Process

PurposeThe paper explores the emergence of private sector responsibilisation for tackling governance issues in a global supply chain. The infamous case of the Rana Plaza collapse in Bangladesh is used to investigate the ways a frameshift, triggered by a manmade disaster, can potentially influence the effectiveness of the certification process in a research site characterised by the presence of a strong state-business nexus.Design/methodology/approachThe empirical work for this paper is based 24 semi-structured interviews with owners, managers, operators, independent inspectors in the ready-made garments (RMG) industry in Bangladesh between 2014 and 2018. We also analyse a range of archival materials. For the purpose of data analysis, we adopted an exploratory flexible pattern matching design with nested template analysis (Sinkovics et al., 2019).FindingsOur analysis suggests that the magnitude of the Rana Plaza collapse triggered several frameshifts in multinational corporations approach towards labour governance in Bangladesh. Subsequently, a responsibility framework for the private sector was created, resulting in significant improvements in working conditions in the sector. However, the sustainability of the labour governance mechanisms was significantly affected by the state's ability to play the role of catalyst in the process, mainly due to the presence of a significant state-business nexus.Originality/valueWe find that broadening the scope of sustainability accounting and assurance process can allow social auditors to play a more meaningful role in triggering collective actions to address labour governance issues in supply chains. However, in a context defined by the presence of a state-business nexus, the sustainability of such a process largely depends on the willingness of the state to play the role of a catalyst.

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