DEVELOPMENT

Owing to a misunderstanding, the author’s name and affiliation were deleted during the preparation of the article for publication.

It is clear that we are in a transition to a different world. Why the order that did accompany us since the Second World War is changing? What is the new value system which is emerging? How democracy is changing?

The article looks into how corporate power has been building up and has consolidated itself in the last 20 years and then delves into analysing how the delivery of services, capacity building, advocacy and social mobilization can or cannot build the needed counter-power to meaningfully change the situation.

This discussion of Paul Raskin’s Journey to Earthland focuses on the tasks of an emerging ‘Global Citizen Movement’ to pave the way towards sustainability.

The aim of this article is to outline the relationship between Ecuador and China, highlighting its main threats to the development of the Ecuadorian Republic, and in particular how the implementation of the buen vivir economic paradigm which Ecuador is experimenting with may be affected if it does not change the terms of engagement with the Asian giant. The article is structured as follows: in the introduction, we present an overview of the historical framework of the Chinese relationship with Ecuador. There follows an analysis supported by data on the commercial situation between the two countries and its implications for the development of the Latin-American state. In our final remarks, we present the possible routes that Ecuador could follow to secure its path to development, while highlighting possible conditions under which Ecuador could cooperate with China while avoiding a state of dependency.

The political crisis in Venezuela has been aggravating for the past 5 years; the economic imbalance has increased the chances of social disintegration while government focuses on holding to power. The institutional deterioration provides forms of control consistent with the authoritarian model in detriment of the values and principles of a democracy that was once a model for stability in Latin America.

Nothing shapes the morals, values, and folkways in the Global South as much as religion. It is the primary mark of identity and adhered to in an extraordinarily passionate manner. Hence, religion matters deeply and permeates directly or indirectly almost every vestige of life not least on growth and socio-economic development of societies. This article explores how religious thinking affects the cognitive development of people, especially children, which may, in turn, impact upon the variables of a country’s economic growth and development. The working assumption is that a weakness in the former deleteriously affects the latter. This article concludes by arguing that the influence of religion is least in the most advanced countries.

Anti-rights actors around the world now increasingly threaten our international and regional human rights systems, working to erode and undermine rights related to gender and sexuality through misleading references to religion, culture, tradition and state sovereignty. The Observatory on the Universality of Rights represents one major effort across feminist and other social justice movements to build and share knowledge, and collaboratively advocate to reclaim and reaffirm human rights in the wake of rising coordination and engagement from ultra-conservatives.

This article proposes a new paradigm and management framework for programming in fragile states. Confronted by the root causes of fragility and the pressing needs of hundreds of millions of the world’s most vulnerable persons, it argues for focusing on both problems simultaneously. The article singles out four features that distinguish scaling strategies in fragile states and suggests that the most promising interventions for tackling fragility and building resilience only ‘kick-in’ at scale because of the higher degree of functioning social capital they require. The article cites a number of examples to support the view that scaling-up approaches provide a valuable organizing framework for integrating a focus on social capital into programming and overcoming the piecemeal, one-off and non-strategic character of aid programmes in fragile states.

This article looks at the practice of combining art and activism—‘artivism’—by feminist activist groups around the world. It argues that who tells the story matters fundamentally, that it is crucial that women, girls, and trans and intersex people represent their own experiences, and that the use of art for political advocacy can reach new audiences in new ways, opening up eyes, hearts and space for dialogue. The article argues that it is urgent that funders resource artivist work and recognize the value it has in effecting political change.

Somalia has been grappling with a three-decade-long peace-building and state-building process. During this period, there have been several attempts to restore peace and political stability in this Horn of Africa nation. The peace processes have, however, been based more on the perspective of external actors, with little participation by Somali political elites and warlords, if any, leaving the ordinary populace. The effect has been an elusive peace process. The notion of Western-style democracy has made the federalization process—also itself a foreign concept—further fragment the country. Since the early 2017 indirect ‘elections’, however, there seems to be a glimmer of hope, despite the shortcomings in the process. It is on the basis of this conflicting glimmer of hope and despair in search for peace, state reconstruction, and political stability that this paper aims to provide an overview of the Somali conflict and peace process, conceptualize the Somali peace process, examine Western democracy within the context of Somalia democratization process, as well as try to re-examine and reignite the Somali peace processes.

Fear drives so much of the systems we inhabit. At the Fearless Collective, we believe in a reclaiming of the imagination from Fear. We use the imagination to collectively create alternative narratives.

This article explores how ‘communicative abundance’ undermines democracy in the Philippines, where insulting and excluding fellow citizens are confused with actual political participation. Intentionally or not, the circulation of messages empowers the establishment rather than the people. However, glum the situation seems, there is still a hope for the demos to reclaim democracy back as their own.

Economism is the political doctrine that holds that the economy should be organized for the pursuit of economic objectives exclusively. Economism, which prevails today, undermines democracy by depriving it of one of its core functions: to arbitrate between incommensurable objectives when organizing the economy.

In a challenging context with increasing obstacles for civil society to contribute and build democracy and foster its values, the article explores how individuals and groups have also increased their responses. What can be done to strengthen this ongoing resistance and recognize the achievements of social movements and organized groups to reclaim democracy and put equality back in the centre of the struggles?