Community-based development, non-governmental organizations and social capital in post-apartheid South Africa

Community-based development strategies are gaining in credibility and acceptance in development circles internationally and notably in post-apartheid South Africa. In parallel, the concept of social capital and the role of supportive nongovernmental organizations are receiving attention as key catalytic elements in encouraging and assisting community-based initiatives. In this paper, a well-documented initiative, the Hertzog Agricultural Co-operative in Eastern Cape province, is re-examined after the passage of several years to assess the impact of social capital and the involvement of a particular non-governmental organization in ensuring the sustainability and economic survival of the project. While both elements have proved critical to the project's life-cycle, particularly in recent years, concerns over possible dependency and project sustainability exist.     

Public engagement in smart city development: Lessons from communities in Canada's Smart City Challenge

Quality of life is often touted as the main benefit of building smart cities. This, however, raises questions about the extent to which the public is engaged as part of the “smart” development process, particularly given the significant financial investments often required to meaningfully design smart city projects. To better understand approaches to public engagement in the context of smart city development, we draw upon three selected finalists of Infrastructure Canada's Smart City Challenge, which invited municipalities, regional governments, and Indigenous communities to enter a competition where the winning proposals would be awarded federal financial grants to complete their projects. Prizes of $5 million, $10 million, and $50 million were awarded. Specifically, we compare the public engagement experiences of the Mohawk Council of Akwesasne (Quebec), the City of Guelph, and the Region of Waterloo. We carried out semi-structured interviews and reviewed documents in each community to better understand how finalists in each category engaged residents in proposal development. The paper addresses how communities are approaching public engagement in smart city development and the implications of these approaches. We conclude that, despite earnest attempts to publicly engage and become citizen-centric, municipal governments continue to see civic participation as a top-down tool.     

Using online narratives to explore participant experiences in a residential environmental education program

Field-based, residential environmental education programs are immersive, science-rich learning experiences that aim to achieve educational, personal growth, and behavioral outcomes. Evaluations of such programs typically use pre- and post-surveys or interviews and, in some cases, participant observation. Understanding how participants respond to, and make meaning of, their experiences in the moment is an understudied facet that could improve program outcomes; thus, this study explored participant narratives of their experience through online journaling, or ‘blogging'. We piloted the blogging activity with students during their participation in a four-to-five-day program and conducted follow-up retrospective evaluation upon students' return to the classroom. Our findings demonstrate that connection to place, personal growth, and identity were critical aspects of the participant experience; these aspects may be conditioned by participants' previous nature experiences, as well as access to nature. We reflect on the utility of blogging in assessing intermediary and ultimate programmatic outcomes.     

Of Barriers to Entry for Medium and Large n Multiple Streams Applications: Methodological and Conceptual Considerations

Recent literature reviews on contributions applying the multiple streams framework (MSF) concluded that although the framework is prolific, there is a lack of contributions testing it in a larger sample size. By addressing which barriers to entry medium and large n MSF applications face and by suggesting ways to handle them, we aim at providing researchers with a benchmark contribution for developing MSF‐guided research designs based on a medium to a high number of cases. Building on an overview of the few existing medium and large n MSF studies, we address three challenges researchers must deal with: (1) choice of dependent variables and case selection; (2) operationalization and measurement of the framework's (predominantly figurative) key concepts; and (3) choice of a method that corresponds with the framework's research questions. In the latter regard, we focus on the pros and cons of employing regression analysis and qualitative comparative analysis. We conclude that although the barriers to entry are high for testing the MSF in a larger sample size, they are not insurmountable.     

Kaleidoscopism: The Circulation of a Mid-Century Metaphor and Motif

Abstract

This essay traces the mid-century revival of interest in a particular nineteenth-century optical technology – David Brewster’s kaleidoscope – following P. B. Shelley’s coining of the term ‘kalleidoscopism’ to describe the broad popular appeal and enthusiastic uptake of the device in the late 1810s. Through an examination of mid-nineteenth-century fiction, journalism, and scientific writing, this essay explores what it meant to be ‘kaleidoscopic’ in this period and demonstrates how the mechanical structure and physical manipulation of the device informed this meaning. Controlled by the hand of the user, its display offered regulated surprise: a visual environment that did not overwhelm but rather enthralled viewers through its creation of abstracted, symmetrical forms and harmonious colour palettes led by individual taste. Contemporary reference to the kaleidoscope’s display and operation reveals it was increasingly aligned with notions of a stable, controlled, and unified visual environment in which mobility was valued but digression was mechanically impossible; it signalled the mastery of sensory data and the creation of meaning from fractured forms. My discussion uncovers new contexts for its popularity c. 1840–1865 in Victorian fiction, journalism, physiological science, and the fine arts, and discusses two under-studied examples of the kaleidoscopic in the visual art of the Pre-Raphaelites. The essay concludes by exploring Brewster’s speculative application of the kaleidoscope as an early form of cinematic media, contending that this simple optical device provokes a reconsideration of the categorization of Victorian pre-cinematic technologies.     

Ni Putes ni Soumises: A Republican Feminism from the Quartiers Sensibles

This article examines the activist movement Ni Putes Ni Soumises (NPNS), whose féminisme d'urgence offers a powerful reformist voice which articulates contemporary feminism with traditional Republicanism. NPNS map the quartiers sensibles as male-dominated spaces which have deteriorated since the 1980s. They do so because they campaign against the abuse of women, mainly sexual violence. We examine their claims, and rely on the few statistics available. We then outline the key ideas which inform NPNS's strategies of resistance to sexual abuse: thus, a second section focuses on victim support. Thirdly, we discuss NPNS's interventions in schools. These preventative measures nurture core values of French citizenship while stressing the need for the sexes to learn to respect each other and live together in harmony (mixité). We also examine NPNS's contentious stance on the voile musulman and laïcité. We note that the radicalism of NPNS reveals paradoxical tensions (in particular with regard to laïcité ) which are at the core of French politics, and is open to accusations of instrumentalisation.