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1 – 10 of 84UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has warned that the security situation could deteriorate further if the parties do not de-escalate. The latest wave of violence is being…
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DOI: 10.1108/OXAN-DB222474
ISSN: 2633-304X
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Topical
Currently, more than 300,000 children under the age of eighteen are fighting as soldiers with government armed forces and armed opposition groups in more than thirty countries…
Abstract
Currently, more than 300,000 children under the age of eighteen are fighting as soldiers with government armed forces and armed opposition groups in more than thirty countries worldwide. In more than eighty-five countries, hundreds of thousands more under-eighteens have been recruited into government armed forces, paramilitaries, civil militia and a wide variety of non-state armed groups. Millions of children worldwide receive military training and indoctrination in youth movements and schools. While most child soldiers are aged between fifteen and eighteen, the youngest age reported is seven (UN Chronicle, Winter 2000).
Over recent months, conflict between ethnic militias has escalated, leading the UN’s humanitarian chief in August to talk of “early warning signs of genocide”. The sectarian…
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DOI: 10.1108/OXAN-DB224512
ISSN: 2633-304X
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Arthur Sserwanga, Rebecca Isabella Kiconco, Malin Nystrand and Rachel Mindra
– The purpose of this study was to explore the role social entrepreneurship has played in post conflict recovery in Gulu district in northern Uganda.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study was to explore the role social entrepreneurship has played in post conflict recovery in Gulu district in northern Uganda.
Design/methodology/approach
An exploratory and qualitative research design was used to examine the role of social entrepreneurship in post conflict recovery in the Gulu community located in Uganda. A sample of five social entrepreneurs and 15 beneficiaries were interviewed.
Findings
The findings revealed that there is an association between active social entrepreneurship and post conflict recovery. Social entrepreneurship was found to create opportunity recognition, networking and innovation at both an individual and societal level.
Research limitations/implications
The generalization of the findings was limited by sample and method. A cross-sectional design that was used does not allow for a long-term impact study and limited empirical published research done.
Originality/value
This in-depth richness provides a clearer appreciation of the role social entrepreneurs’ play in post conflict recovery.
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The phenomenon of “women in combat” is not such a novel one; it however has shattered the dominant perception of women as peaceful and nonviolent people. Indeed, it resulted in…
Abstract
The phenomenon of “women in combat” is not such a novel one; it however has shattered the dominant perception of women as peaceful and nonviolent people. Indeed, it resulted in critical questions being raised as to why women are involved in patterns of extreme violent behavior, such as suicide bombers. In the wake of insurgent activities by an Islamist group in Nigeria (Boko Haram (BH)) in recent times, the feminization of terror that has come to characterise the activities of this group has generated much concern. Although there may not be easy answers as to why women are involved in terrorism in Nigeria, the threat that such a scenario poses to security is real, deserving a credible and scientific explanation. To investigate this phenomenon, data was gathered by the survey method, which conforms more to a qualitative research design. The data sources were determined through purposeful sampling technique and instruments such as interviews, focused group discussions (FGDs), and non-participant personal observation. Applying the feminist theory of international relations (IR) as the tool for analysis, the author seeks to unravel the hidden propositions about gender. Among the findings was evidence that the shift by BH to include women in its operations was in response to increased pressure on its male operatives. Since deception is key to the tactics employed by BH, the eradication of terror in Nigeria could be brought about by the identification and prevention of possible deceptive moves by the insurgents.
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Images had long conveyed politics through forms as varied as private paintings and public coins. If images are storytelling vectors (Fusari, 2017), visual artefacts were intended…
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Images had long conveyed politics through forms as varied as private paintings and public coins. If images are storytelling vectors (Fusari, 2017), visual artefacts were intended to re/shape human perception of current events and, consequently, their states of ‘being in the world’ (Heidegger, 2001); this is the reason why the visual quality of communication might be hard to disjoin from that of ‘performativity’ (Cartier-Bresson, 2018).
The polysemic (Barthes, 1977), if not fully open (Eco, 1989), quality of visual semiotics complicates identification of any framework of reference and adds to the need for practical and sensible research in digital communication (Fusari, in press).
Since the first US Presidential debate televised in 1968, a new interest surged towards the understanding and production of visual communication of politics. Increasingly so, images (both still and moving ones) have affected, if not thoroughly shaped, understanding of all recent political affairs, particularly so from the 1992's Gulf War onward (Baudrillard, 1995; Kellner, 1992).
The 2012 Invisible Children (IC)'s campaign is here assessed as the milestone marking the potential for global impact acquired by socio-political visual-centred storytelling.
The intertwining of the digital with the visual has yet to be precisely arranged for socio-political storytelling; also, storytelling as a format and approach has increasingly gained relevance, adding new concerns to issues of veracity.
In response, this chapter advances the notion of ‘storyline’ in conjunction with that of ‘storytelling’: the resulting taxonomy aims to review specific notions of truth- and trust-fulness from a visual-centred perspective.
The chapter thus explores the requirements for communicating and understanding visual storytelling on digital media; by doing so, it addresses the extent to which ‘visual storytelling’ might be a notion fit for the job of disseminating today's digital cultures.
Eventually, the chapter will question how to design visually centred communication formats and, in turn, engage these as storytelling of socio-political issues for digital platforms.
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The research aimed to study the effects of participatory gender analysis.
Abstract
Purpose
The research aimed to study the effects of participatory gender analysis.
Design/methodology/approach
This occurred within a community-based education project that was implemented in Ugandan Acholiland after the return from the displacement camps at the end of the civil war. The chapter describes the approach and analyses the impact.
Findings
Such analysis was shown to be very effective but this does not mean the community has been completely transformed.
Practical and social implications
Nevertheless, it shows the importance of participatory gender analysis for sociocultural transformation at community level.
Originality/value
This chapter makes a contribution to the literature on the use of participatory gender analysis in the global south.
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The purpose of this paper is to portray four scenarios for the future of Sudan in the year 2012. On the basis of these scenarios it aims to draw a number of conclusions on the…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to portray four scenarios for the future of Sudan in the year 2012. On the basis of these scenarios it aims to draw a number of conclusions on the future of Sudan and the way ahead.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper uses the Shell methodology for scenario building and is based on five scenario workshops held in Sudan, one in The Netherlands, interviews and literature research. The four scenarios not only intend to provide an overview of what is likely to happen, but also aim to be plausible, challenging and creative.
Findings
The paper finds that the future of Sudan is likely to remain violent and that the most optimistic scenario is also the least likely. It concludes that, although outside mediation and assistance in the organization of elections are needed, the critical difference between a successful and an unsuccessful outcome will to a large extent be determined by whether the South has a stable, cooperative and confident leadership.
Practical implications
The paper provides a number of policy recommendations for the international community to prevent the worst from happening and to be prepared for what may come.
Originality/value
The paper aims to fill the gap in future foresight with regard to Sudan and for this purpose utilized the knowledge among the Sudanese themselves.
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