Interview with Professor Chaitanya Mishra

Professor Chaitanya Mishra teaches Sociology to MPhil/PhD students at Tribhuvan University (TU), Nepal. His research focuses on macrosociology, politics, social change, and social stratification. He is an author/co-author, and co-editor of 10 books and about 250 articles. He believes that all sciences should contribute to public education, and frequently contributes to public debates through the media. He started his career in 1978 as a researcher at the Institute of Nepal and Asian Studies, TU. In 1981, he was appointed the founder Chair of the Central Department of Sociology/Anthropology, TU. He has written on the development of sociological knowledge in Nepal, its disciplinary growth, empirical and theoretical orientations, as well as strategies that could be adopted to meet contemporary disciplinary challenges. His contributions have led to theoretical debates on the issues of development or underdevelopment of Nepali society as well as the nature and causes of economic and political divisions and alternative trajectory of change. Professor Mishra served as a member of Nepal’s National Planning Commission (1994-95), founding president of Nepal Sociological Association (2017-18), Fulbright Visiting Professor and Hubert Humphrey Professor of Sociology at Macalester College (2015-16), and founding Executive Chair of the Policy Research Institute (2018-19) of the Government of Nepal.

Decentralised development policy: A comparative study on local development interventions through municipalities in Sweden

This article investigates how the international wave of decentralisation of development policy, promoted through ideals of place-based policy, becomes practice through development interventions made by municipalities in Sweden. Based on an extensive empirical study across Swedish municipalities, the article contributes with knowledge about how the decentralisation of development policies is formed through a combination of shared and relatively heterodox conditions for development interventions across the different categories of municipalities: cities, towns and rural settlements. The results describe the varying scope of local development interventions and how decentralisation involves differentiating the involvement of municipalities into vertical and horizontal relations within the planning sector. The article’s findings about the variations in local development interventions across the different categories of municipalities contribute to the debate within geography on the varying capacities of different geographical formations to mobilise for bottom-up development, leading to the weaker regions remaining weak. The results of this article also illustrate the importance of reflecting upon how particular national planning systems shape the implications of the general international trend towards the decentralisation of local development policy.

The Challenges of Coal Phaseout: Coal Plant Development and Foreign Finance in Indonesia and Vietnam

Global coal use must be phased out if we are to minimize temperature increases associated with climate change. Most new coal plants are being built in the Asia Pacific and rely on overseas finance, with Indonesia and Vietnam the leading recipients. However, the politics of coal plant finance are changing, with many proposals cancelled in recent years. This article explores the factors that led to coal plant cancellations in Vietnam and Indonesia. Based on new data of coal plant finance and elite interviews, we find fuel switching, public opposition, and national planning were the dominant reasons for cancellations in Vietnam, while Indonesia’s reasons were more diverse. Vietnam also had a larger number of cancellations than Indonesia, the latter of which has a more entrenched domestic coal mining sector. These findings suggest that Vietnam is farther along the coal phaseout agenda than Indonesia. We further provide provisional explanations for these patterns.

Planning Institutions and Urban Spatial Patterns: Evidence from a Cross-National Analysis

This paper examines how national planning frameworks differ from each other and how those differences relate to patterns of urban development using an international cross section of metropolitan regions. We construct a composite index to measure institutional planning frameworks through objective criteria—restrictive versus permissive; binding versus nonbinding; nationally versus locally oriented—that enables comparison between (not within) countries. We also estimate a series of models to evaluate the relationship between institutional frameworks and patterns. The evidence suggests that a more centralized and coordinated planning framework produces more compact development, whereas a more decentralized and uncoordinated planning framework results in less compact development.

Which High-Speed Rail? LARG Approach between Plan and Design

Of the approximately 100,000 km of High-Speed Rail (HSR) lines in the world today, half are in operation and half are planned or under construction. The implementation of HSRs are planned in various countries with different characteristics to pursue different objectives. Today, the results are known, and therefore, the differences between the planned and achieved objectives can be verified. Italy is one of the countries that first built an HSR, and now, at the national planning level, Italy has decided to implement an HSR in Southern Italy. The problem is therefore not “whether” to realize an HSR but “which” type of HSR to realize. Italy is an important case study at the international level because it is possible to extend the HSR network in three different ways: upgrading existing lines by increasing the speed to 200 km/h, building a new line with speeds of 300 km/h with heavy freight trains, and building a new line with speeds of 300 km/h without heavy freight trains. The problem is how to find the best alternative in order to pursue sustainable development while considering national planning. To solve this problem, at the intermediate level between planning and design, the theoretical Lean, Agile, Resilient, Green (LARG) paradigm is proposed and applied. This approach can be extended to all countries that are launching massive and expensive programs to construct HSR lines or to upgrade existing lines.

Examining national planning principles for animals in Australian disaster response

Australia’s summer bushfires of 2019–20 were a reminder that animals are increasingly exposed to risks from changing climate conditions. In Australia, differing organisational approaches to managing owned animals in disasters can lead to different welfare and safety outcomes for animals and the people responsible for them. The need for consistency was reinforced by recent Australian royal commission findings. In 2014, the Australia-New Zealand Emergency Management Committee endorsed the National Planning Principles for Animals in Disasters, a tool supporting best practice in emergency planning and policy for animal welfare. This study examines current planning for animals in disasters in relation to the principles and describes their implementation in the Australian context. A national survey of organisation representatives with a stake in animal management in disasters (n=137) and addressing the national principles implementation was conducted from July to October 2020. Findings show moderate awareness of the principles by respondents and low to moderate implementation of these in planning processes and arrangements for animal welfare. Implementation of specific principles is described from the perspectives of stakeholders. Greater awareness of the national principles and attention to specific principles promotes consistency in animal welfare planning arrangements.

Family Law Trends in Ukraine

The paper provides the results of the analysis of the current state of legal regulation of family relations in Ukraine, and summarises the main problems of the legislation that establishes general principles of regulation of family relations. Particular attention is devoted to the research into the basic principles of family law, and how they are reflected in the Constitution of Ukraine and the Family Code of Ukraine. To assess the compliance of the Family Code of Ukraine with current societal developments, a careful comparison of its provisions with the principles developed by the Commission on European Family Law (cefl) is needed. The family legislation of Ukraine requires detailed monitoring, factoring in the provisions of a questionnaire developed by the Commission. There is a need to introduce a system of national planning, development and adoption by the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine of the concept of national legal policy.

Comprehensive review of the security and defence sector of Ukraine as a constituent part of security and defence management

In developing its national security system, Ukraine is transitioning from the non-functioning post-Soviet military organization of the state to a modern security and defence sector-operating under the European and Euro-Atlantic security principles. This transformation is facilitated by the implementation of a planning system in defence and security spheres based on the experience of NATO countries, and in particular the use of defence reviews, which have been conducted, and the comprehensive review of the security and defence sector. This article argues that the organization and methodological support of the reviews and realization of their results demand the implementation of more effective approaches in the achievement of the main purpose of the security and defence reform – the development of an effective system of national defence. The authors offer the basics of such approaches within the context of the national planning system of Ukraine.