The transformative power of civil society in South Africa: an activist’s perspective on innovative forms of organizing and rights-based practices

ABSTRACT

This essay analyses recent campaigns to fulfil human rights to quality basic education and access to mental health care services, led by SECTION27, a social justice organization in South Africa. It investigates how these campaigns were able to impact on inequality in education and health care and the ways in which they mobilized and empowered communities to demand social justice and drive pro-poor transformation. In particular, it looks at the way SECTION27 used human rights law and the Courts to advance social justice. It records many positive outcomes. But concludes by asking whether, if inequality is enabled by elite power can it only be disabled by people’s power? How can civil society overcome fault-lines in its sustainability, representativity and power structure? It argues that civil society must do more to tackle the systems and not just scratch at the symptoms of a more and more unequal world.     

Minority sub-state institutional completeness

The institutional completeness model holds that minority groups best ensure their vitality through their own institutions. In this case study of Acadians in Greater Moncton, we explore the difference between institutions belonging to minority groups (e.g. churches, cultural associations) and those belonging to the state (e.g. schools, hospitals). Our focus on local sub-state institutions – institutions established and funded by the state but managed by citizens at the local level (e.g. school boards, health authorities, municipal councils) – shows that sub-state institutions have become more important than civil institutions in ensuring minority vitality. It also shows that while all sub-state institutions can contribute to minority vitality, some state functions and the sub-state institutions that wield these functions can contribute more than others. The model should be revised to give as much importance to sub-state institutions as civil institutions in its attempt to describe, explain, and predict conflicts between minority and majority groups.     

政治哲学视角下的生态学马克思主义

工业文明的高速发展一方面极大地促进了社会生产力的发展,另一方面重构了人的消费需求和能力,因而在改造自然的实践活动中,人们不可避免地造成了对生态环境的过度开发。生态学马克思主义运用正义理论挖掘资本主义制度与生态危机的深层关系,重新诠释了人与自然双重价值维度,并试图构建一种新型的社会正义形态,这对于当今的社会发展实践具有启示意义。     

和谐司法的价值功能

和谐司法并不是没有犯罪和纷争,也不是弃法律不顾,而是以法律为后盾,以司法公正为核心,兼顾和均衡社会各种利益冲突,使之能够得到妥善解决,社会正义得到有效维护和实现,社会充满活力,人人心情舒畅,和睦相处。     

社会语言学视角下的机构性话语研究——以行政机关工作人员与来访者会话的不对称为例

机构性话语,指的是会话行为的内容涉及到了会话参与者的机构身份。其具有不对称性特点,包括知识图示不对称、权势不对称、心理期待的不对称等,其原因是多方面的,只有采取针对性的策略,才能切实提高现实生活中交流的有效性。     

如何理解转型国家的制度变迁——对相关研究的一个总体评价

本文系统梳理了有关转型国家制度变迁的代表性文献,并在此基础上从整体上提出一个对相关研究的批判,指出已有研究所存在的种种问题,都可以归结为对经济转型和传统社会主义体制兴衰之间内在关联性的忽视.而重新思考传统社会主义体制的形成和衰落,并将其与对经济转型的研究加以整合,从而从更长的历史时段来研究转型国家的制度变迁,才能够将对经济转型的动因、绩效和走向的分析引向深入.     

加拿大与美国都市圈内政府治理差异分析

本文探讨地方公共机构尤其是地方行政机构如何改变其结构和手段，以应对新的地区化和都市化的挑战。通过分析35个美国和加拿大的城市群，评估政府机构在多大程度上采用了怎样的方法去规划、实施和监督都市化政策，并重点研究都市圈机构和都市圈的财税政策。     

论辛亥革命时期中国刑事审判制度的革新--以姚荣泽案为例

姚荣泽案是指1912年民国政府在上海审理前清山阳知县姚荣泽惨杀辛亥革命志士的刑事案件.在孙中山的支持和伍廷芳的努力下,该案的审理贯彻了司法独立、公开审判、程序公正、无罪推定等法律原则,遵循了英国式刑事审判程序,实行了中国历史上第一场控辩式审判,对中国刑事审判制度进行了前所未有的改革,在中国法制现代化的历程中具有特殊意义,是辛亥革命的重要成果.     

Transition Programming for Sustainable Livelihoods Beyond Institutional Care in Zimbabwe: Service Providers’ Perspectives

This article explores the perspectives and programme needs of transition service providers (institutions and the government) in preparing and supporting adolescent girls leaving institutional care in Harare, Zimbabwe. Key informant interviews and focus group discussions were conducted with institutional staff from Institution A (government‐owned) and Institution B (privately owned) and social services officers from the Department of Child Welfare and Probation Services. Service providers define successful transition programming as the provision of comprehensive services and support to facilitate the achievement of sustainable livelihoods beyond care and recommend the development of well‐resourced transition models for adolescent girls leaving institutional care.     

营销渠道中的合同治理、公平与角色外利他行为

本文以交易成本理论等为理论基础，应用AMOS 24.0软件对660份问卷数据进行结构方程建模分析，探讨了营销渠道中的合同治理（合同详尽性、合同监督）、渠道公平（分配公平、程序公平）与依赖对经销商角色外利他行为的影响。研究表明：第一，合同的详尽性、经销商的合同监督对其感知的分配公平、程序公平均有显著的正向影响；第二，经销商感知的分配公平、程序公平对其角色外利他行为均有显著的正向影响；第三，经销商依赖会增强分配公平对角色外利他行为的正向影响，减弱程序公平对角色外利他行为的正向影响。第四，合同详尽性和合同监督通过分配公平、程序公平促进经销商的角色外利他行为。