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57712. Civil Society and Official Development Assistance: International Politics, Domestic Structures and the Emergence of International Development NGOs in Japan
- Author:
- Kim Reimann
- Publication Date:
- 03-2000
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- International Studies Association
- Abstract:
- With comparative cases in North America and Europe as a reference point, this paper examines the recent emergence of international development NGOs (IDNGOs) in Japan and the role of state policies in supporting the growth of international civil society. In contrast to other advanced industrial nations where state-IDNGO cooperation in foreign aid programs developed extensively in the 1960s and 1970s, IDNGOs and NGOs were excluded from Japanese ODA policies until the late 1980s. The paper looks at changes in Japanese state policies vis-à-vis IDNGOs in 1989 and the early 1990s and shows how such changes in turn helped stimulate the creation of new citizen-organized international groups in Japan. To explain this shift in state policy, the paper turns to sociological institutional theories and argues that international norms promoted by international organizations and international actors have played an important role in expanding opportunities for IDNGOs in Japan.
- Political Geography:
- Japan, Europe, and North America
57713. Report of The Carter Center's Fourth Observation of Chinese Village Elections 4 Jan 2000
- Publication Date:
- 03-2000
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The Carter Center
- Abstract:
- At the invitation of the Ministry of Civil Affairs (MCA), People's Republic of China, The Carter Center sent a delegation to observe villager committee (VC) elections in Hebei Province from January 4 to 13, 2000. The delegation was led by Ambassador Gordon L. Streeb, Associate Executive Director of the Center, and made up of nine Center staff members, election experts and China scholars from various universities in the United States and Denmark. This was the fourth time since 1997 that the Center has observed village elections in China and the first time that an international organization has been invited to observe a primary VC election.
- Topic:
- Civil Society, Democratization, and International Organization
- Political Geography:
- United States, China, and Denmark
57714. Observing the 1999 Public Consultation Process in East Timor
- Publication Date:
- 06-2000
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The Carter Center
- Abstract:
- The May 1998 departure of Indonesian President Suharto, following a 32-year dictatorship, raised hopes of independence for East Timor, where some 200,000 people had died since Indonesia's 1975 invasion of the Portuguese colony. In January 1999, Suharto's successor, Bucharuddin Jusuf (B.J.) Habibie, in an effort to appease the East Timorese and international community, suggested that a vote would be held on autonomy with or in- dependence from Indonesia. Details of this referendum were set forward in the May 5 Agreement, signed by Indonesia, Portugal, and the United Nations.
- Topic:
- Civil Society, Democratization, International Organization, and United Nations
- Political Geography:
- Indonesia, Portugal, and Timor
57715. Aftermath: Women and Women's Organizations In Postconflict Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Author:
- Ross Bankson
- Publication Date:
- 12-2000
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- United States Agency for International Development
- Abstract:
- <p> From 1992 through 1995, Bosnia and Herzegovina was embroiled in a brutal war. The origins were rooted in a complex web of power politics, economics, and territorial ambitions in which ethnonationalist propaganda was used to divide and conquer. The result was countrywide devastation. <br /><br /> Two interrelated atrocities became hallmarks of the war: “ethnic cleansing†and the systematic rape of women. Ethnic cleansing was a process whereby towns were “purified†of the other ethnic groups through forced eviction and execution. Rape was used as a means of facilitating this process by instilling fear into the community and forcing out its population. The demographic, social, psychological, and physical chaos caused by these combined strategies is the most horrifying and enduring legacy of the war. </p><blockquote><p> </p> </blockquote><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p>
- Topic:
- Ethnic Conflict, Gender Issues, Human Welfare, and War
- Political Geography:
- Bosnia and Balkans
57716. Reducing Urban and Industrial Pollution in Chile
- Author:
- Joseph M. Lieberson, Mark G. Hodges, and Gene M. Owens
- Publication Date:
- 12-2000
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- United States Agency for International Development
- Abstract:
- In Chile's capital of Santiago, the summer sun rises over a hazy, smog-filled sky. The sky darkens as the day progresses and often turns a light brown. In winter, air quality is even worse, and visibility drops sharply. A ring of mountains and thermal inversions trap pollution in a choking cloud over the city. But the mountains and air currents are not the whole problem. Twenty years ago the air was relatively clean. That was before economic growth accelerated sharply. A rapid increase in industrial production and a major increase in truck, bus, and automobile traffic are all pumping pollutants into the air. The result is a high level of respiratory problems, sickness, and premature death.
- Topic:
- Economics, Environment, Human Welfare, and Science and Technology
- Political Geography:
- South America, Latin America, and Chile
57717. Aftermath: Women and Women's Organizations In Postgenocide Rwanda
- Author:
- Michael Hopps
- Publication Date:
- 12-2000
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- United States Agency for International Development
- Abstract:
- IN A 100-DAY PERIOD during 1994, more than 500,000 people in the central African nation of Rwanda were massacred. The killings were carried out not by a foreign power and not with weapons of mass destruction. Rather, 1 of every 15 Rwandans was murdered—by other Rwandans. The killers used bullets, machetes, and clubs.
- Topic:
- Civil Society, Education, Gender Issues, Genocide, Human Welfare, and Politics
- Political Geography:
- Africa
57718. Understanding Representation: Implications for Legislative Strengthening
- Publication Date:
- 11-2000
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- United States Agency for International Development
- Abstract:
- The Second International Conference on Legislative Strengthening took place in Wintergreen, Virginia from June 5-8, 2000. Some 165 people participated in the conference. USAID democracy officers, implementing partners, and host-country legislators and staff each accounted for about a quarter of those attending, with the remaining quarter consisting of representatives from other international donors, academics, and other interested parties. The participants hailed from some 30 nations, including many from Africa. Approximately 65 speakers, panelists, and moderators participated in the conference sessions. The conference agenda is included as an appendix of this report.
- Topic:
- Civil Society, Democratization, Government, and Politics
- Political Geography:
- Africa
57719. Creating a Global Economy
- Author:
- Joan E. Spero
- Publication Date:
- 04-2000
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Clarke Forum for Contemporary Issues
- Abstract:
- Headlines in recent weeks have been filled with news of earthquakes. From Turkey to Taiwan, tectonic plates have been shifting leaving toppled buildings, trapped victims, and homeless survivors in their wake. In the last decade of the twentieth century, other less visible but equally powerful seismic shifts have also taken place. The tectonic plates of the world's political, security and economic systems have shifted dramatically. The end of the Cold War, the creation of a global, capitalist economy, and the emergence of the United States as the world's only superpower—these and other seismic shifts have toppled the dangerous but stable bipolar international system that had endured for nearly fifty years. Power structures, relations among states, international institutions, and international norms have changed in fundamental ways.
- Topic:
- Economics, Government, and International Trade and Finance
- Political Geography:
- United States
57720. Voice and Silence in an Email Conversation Group Involving Rural and Urban Women in Australia
- Author:
- June Lennie
- Publication Date:
- 12-2000
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Ralph Bunche Institute for International Studies, City University of New York
- Abstract:
- Some feminists argue that when women are involved in designing and using technologies in ways that meet their particular needs, new communication technologies such as the Internet and email groups can facilitate empowerment and social change (Collins-Jarvis, 1993; Farwell, Wood, James and Banks, 1999; McCulley and Patterson, 1996). These effects are said to arise because the Internet can make gender, cultural and other differences less relevant, particularly when the identities of list members are unknown. Fredrick (1999) cites researchers who have claimed that computer mediated communication is 'non-hierarchical, more expressive, more democratic, and more inclusive' than traditional forms of communication (p.187). For instance, McCulley and Patterson (1996) found that for feminist students, cyberspace 'provides a place to exchange ideas from many points of view, across boundaries of gender, race and culture' (p.5). Email discussion groups thus potentially offer 'safe spaces' for women to communicate in ways that are consistent with feminist principles and goals. They have been found to facilitate the creation of supportive 'virtual communities' that enable diverse groups of women to give voice to their various issues and concerns, and to share information and network, without the limitations of location, travel costs and time associated with face to face communication (Rural Women and ICTs Team, 1999).
- Topic:
- Development, Gender Issues, Human Welfare, and Science and Technology
- Political Geography:
- Australia