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Social movements, justice campaigns and civil activism have gained recent scholarly attention among non-Western democracies since the end of the Cold War. Yet the meaning and practical implications of civil activism remain contested especially in contexts linked to militarised democracy and the criminalisation of civil activism. Importantly, the broader political terrain within which militarised democracy is situated is increasingly changing, bringing new challenges to its understanding. This chapter builds on liberal democratic theory and discusses militarised democracy in Nigeria to critique state-centric notion of criminology. It draws on two case examples, namely the proscription of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) in 2017 by the federal government against its organised protests for self-determination and the state repressive response to the nation-wide protest against police brutality of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) known as the #End SARS protest in 2020. Both provide on-the-ground evidence of the criminalisation of civil activism. In the alternative, this chapter reflects on how transforming democracy can redress state repression and offer a better understanding of civil activism, which can strengthen developing democracies, including addressing questions of political marginalisation, distributive justice, police brutality, inequality, repressive state response and unequal state structure accounting for organised protests.

Governments worldwide have adopted the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and are committed to attain them by 2030. Moreover, they recognize that they cannot mobilize the necessary resources and capabilities for this purpose alone. Hence, they have called for cooperation from all stakeholders including multinational enterprises (MNEs) to assume responsibility and strive to contribute to the SDGs. However, since co-partnering with the state for inclusive development is outside the traditional mandate of MNEs, this chapter explores the ways in which policy can nudge MNEs to contribute to the first pillar of sustainable development, namely SDG1—to end poverty in all its forms everywhere. A two-stage methodology is applied to address the research queries. First, a conceptual framework on impact of MNE interventions on SDG1 is developed. Second, the framework is validated through a meta-analysis of the abstracts of articles selected via a scoping review of the economics and management literature. This leads to an in-depth understanding of policy design features that can nudge MNEs to make positive contributions toward poverty alleviation. Four distinct pathways foreign direct investment (FDI), public–private partnerships (PPP), corporate social responsibility (CSR), and knowledge transfer are identified for nudging MNEs toward SDG1. Nevertheless, the potential impact may not be realized due to the inappropriate strategies of the MNE, the drawbacks of the policies of the host government, and/or systemic challenges of the host country context. This chapter further explores the positive and negative impact on these pathways as a step toward exploring how MNEs can contribute to all the SDGs.

This article reports the outcomes of a study on communication support, commissioned to develop a borough‐wide strategy in 2003 by the London Borough of Tower Hamlets.The research stems from a recognition of communication as a key to successful delivery of public services and enhancement of a multicultural community.The focus is on ‘communication’ (rather than ‘language’), since it captures issues beyond the exchange of information through words: interpersonal interactions and relationships, techniques and modes of organising information exchange. Language is a key component within the broad ambit of communication mechanism and skills. Hence interpretation and translation are perceived as models of communications support alongside advocacy, integrated team, multilingual professional team, family/friends and minors, supported language, symbols and signs, and Plain English.While engaging in the debate and highlighting some of the broader issues concerning communication support services, the focus is on the following main issues:• policy frameworks and guiding principles in communication support• methods and techniques for needs assessment, monitoring and evaluation of communication support• communication support provision in Tower Hamlets including quantifying need, actual state of provision and users' perceptions.Probably among the first of its kind, the strategy draws on existing knowledge and good practice to develop a common framework for public services in Tower Hamlets. It is believed that it will serve a pioneering role in co‐ordinated existing and developing coherent approaches to communication support.