Political Mobilization Strategies in Taiwan's Sunflower Student Movement on March 18, 2014

Taiwan's Sunflower Student Movement on March 18, 2014 has been characterized as a social movement with its sophisticated integration of social and mobile media into mobilizing Taiwanese society through participant recruitment and resource mobilization domestically and globally. Ample research has contributed the roles of these emerging media platforms as one of the main reasons for its success. This study was based on resource mobilization theory (RMT) to examine the roles of new communication technologies on mobilizing resources. This chapter focuses on the resource mobilization strategies by activists and organizations of the 318 Sunflower Student Movement. A large-scale text mining study was developed to examine how cross-national English media have described this social movement in Taiwan. Results and implications were discussed.

Domestic Resource Mobilization and Human Capital Development in Sub- Saharan Africa

This study investigates the nexus between domestic resource mobilization using aggregated and disaggregated taxes, and human capital accumulation as measured by the index of human capital and total factor productivity. The study explores panel Autoregressive Distributed Lag. We further explore the linear and nonlinear effects of taxes on human capital accumulation. The results from the scatterplots show that taxes at aggregate and disaggregated levels positively correlated with the two measures of human capital. On the linear analysis, the impact of aggregated and disaggregated taxes is largely negative under the index of human capital but largely positive under the second measure in the short-run. However, the long-run results indicate that aggregate and disaggregated taxes significantly amplify human capital accumulation. On nonlinearity, there is no presence of human capital laffer curve (HCLC) in the short-run under the two measures of human capital. However, there is presence of HCLC in the long-run. The net effects results show that some taxes (such as indirect taxes, taxes on goods and services) are distortionary in improving the level of human capital development while some taxes (such as total tax, direct tax, taxes on income, profit, and gains) can distort human capital development in the SSA region.

Being Tolerant and Nationalist Sufi: A Social Movement Study of JATMAN (Jam’iyyah Ahl al-Thariqot al-Mu’tabarah an-Nahdliyyah) and Habib Luthfi

<p class="06IsiAbstrak">Sufism has long been associated with tolerance because of its theological nature that focuses on inner peace. However, this view tends to overlook that Sufi movements are often involved in politics and nationalist discourse. This study explains the social movement logic of a tarekat movement in Indonesia in promoting tolerance and nationalism. JATMAN <em>(Jam’iyyah Ahl al-Thariqot al-Mu’tabarah an-Nahdliyyah)</em> is well-known as a Sufi group currently led by Habib Luthfi. This movement calls to <em>Bela Negara</em> (defending Indonesia) by the jargon <em>‘NKRI Harga Mati’</em> (the doctrine of love for the homeland) and <em>Handarbeni</em> (being proud to locality). This research employs multiple analysis methods to examine the factors that underpin the emergence of this movement. I analyzed Habib Luthfi bin Yahya’s lectures (Rais 'Amm JATMAN) from 2020-2021, scattered on several online media such as YouTube and Instagram. Besides, I conducted interviews with several kiai in <em>Idarah 'Aliyah</em> (the central administrator of JATMAN) and I analyzed dozens of events organized by JATMAN in online media. Drawing on social movement theory, I argue that various motivations are overshadowed by the emergence of JATMAN within nationalism. This movement may not only be driven by piety and theological doctrine (Sufism) but also by social movement logics such as political opportunity structure, resource mobilization, and cultural framing.</p>

The Case of China

This article describes, from a sociopolitical, socioeconomic, and sociocultural perspective, the governance practices of the COVID-19 epidemic control response in China. We describe that, in line with the “whole of government approach,” strong resource mobilization and control of government departments, companies, and citizen communities has worked efficiently to rapidly contain the epidemic. Community participation at the grassroots level has played a decisive part. We assume that the deeply rooted collectivistic Chinese culture has made residents trust the government’s decisions and comply with the prevention and control strategies. We pose some intriguing questions for more analytical comparative research. They concern the normative interpretation of the influences of sociopolitical, economic, and cultural forces, as well as the balance between “collectivism” and “individualism” in societies.

A Holistic Framework towards Developing a Climate-Smart Agri-Food System in the Middle East and North Africa: A Regional Dialogue and Synthesis

Agriculture and agri-food systems of the highly vulnerable Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region needs a radical transformation under a changing climate. Based on a two-year effort, initially we developed a mega hypothesis on how to achieve climate-smart agri-food transformation in the region. In the study, we hypothesized that “Climate-Smart Lifts” implemented in the enabling environments can rapidly facilitate agri-food transformation in the region. In order to gather the stakeholders’ perception about this, we organized a collective conversation among ~400 stakeholders that represent various scales and sectors within the agriculture sector in MENA. These “listening cum learning consultations” were conducted through a survey followed by a series of webinars. The webinar discussions were strategically guided based on our hypothesis, the responses from the surveys and the regional needs. These discussions provided a forum to bring-out the stakeholders’ perspective on what new knowledge, partnerships, instruments and projects were needed in the MENA. The deliberation focused on the opportunities of public–private partnerships focusing in all the four major agroecosystems in MENA (irrigated, rainfed, rangelands, and deserts). In result, we developed an effective framework for strategic resource mobilization in the region, keeping in view the strong regional needs for climate actions and the requisite long-term commitments for the SDGs implementation.

Beyond Spatial Proximity: The Impact of Enhanced Spatial Connectedness from New Bridges on Entrepreneurship

Various strands of work have explored how spatial proximity helps (metaphorically) bridge barriers to resource mobilization and foster knowledge transfer. However, much of that work takes spatial connectedness as a given. We argue that spatial connectedness is a distinct construct that affects the extent to which spaces are not just proximate but are actually able to link people, ideas, resources, and knowledge together. We explore one such source of connectedness—physical (not metaphorical) bridges. We find that the opening of newly built bridges enhances startup founding in the local geographic community. Beyond their impact on startup founding, newly built bridges also influence the organizing process for such ventures. This includes a positive impact on the entry of prospective founders into entrepreneurship and an increase in the number of early-stage investors. The subsequently founded ventures are also more likely to engage in recombination and to cross industry boundaries. We explore scope conditions around industry and connective heterogeneity. We also test for robustness to various modeling approaches. The discussion highlights contributions of these findings to the study of entrepreneurship, as well as of organizations and the institutional fields in which they operate.

Resource and Stakeholder Mobilization by Community-Based Organizations for Community Economic Development in Kenya: A Survey of Community-Based Organizations in Siaya County

Most developing countries, including Kenya, have a big proportion of the population still living in rural areas that face an immense challenge especially on economic development and access to basic social infrastructure that include roads, health, water, and education. The government and local authorities are striving with the available limited resources against the competing priorities in order to meet the needs of the population and improve the quality of life and wellbeing. This study examined the role of community-based organizations (CBOs) on economic development in Siaya County, specifically their role on resource and stakeholder mobilization in Kenya. The study was anchored on Social Capital Theory but also analyzed both System and Conflict Theories. The study provides new and relevant information on the role of CBOs in development to the County governments as devolved systems of government responsible for development and planning thus justifying investment and policy formulation for closer collaboration. Descriptive study was undertaken and targeted and enumerated two respondents per group (total 50) in all the 25 CBOs in Siaya County that were duly registered and had coverage of at least one Sub-County. Using a Likert scale questionnaire, quantitative data was collected. Prior to that, a pilot study was done in the nearby Kakamega County to test the instrument. Descriptive, correlation and regression analysis was applied to the data using SPSS version 21. The findings indicate that; Resource Mobilization by CBOs enhances the organizations’ contribution to community economic development, stakeholders’ mobilization plays a critical role in community economic development, the CBOs in Siaya County have managed to increase their impact on economic development at the community level. The study suggests replication in other counties where NGO activity is evident in Kenya, focusing on community based organizations that do not rely on aid as their main income sources. Moreover, a comparative study involving the CBOs from the East African countries should also be considered in future studies. Keywords: Resource Mobilization, Stakeholder Engagement, community based organization and Siaya County.