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Rural movements have recently emerged to become some of the most important social forces in opposition to neoliberalism. From Brazil and Mexico to Zimbabwe and the Philippines, rural movements of diverse political character, but all sharing the same social basis of dispossessed peasants and unemployed workers, have used land occupations and other tactics to confront the neoliberal state. This volume brings together for the first time across three continents - Africa, Latin America and Asia - an intellectually consistent set of original investigations into this new generation of rural social movements. These country studies seek to identify their social composition, strategies, tactics, and ideologies; to assess their relations with other social actors, including political parties, urban social movements, and international aid agencies and other institutions; and to examine their most common tactic, the land occupation, its origins, pace and patterns, as well as the responses of governments and landowners. At a more fundamental level, this volume explores the ways in which two decades of neoliberal policy - including new land tenure arrangements intended to hasten the commodification of land, and new land uses linked to global markets -- have undermined the social reproduction of the rural labour force and created the conditions for popular resistance. The volume demonstrates the longer-term potential impact of these movements. In economic terms, they raise the possibility of tackling immiseration by means of the redistribution of land and the reorganisation of production on a more efficient and socially responsible basis. And in political terms, breaking the power of landowners and transnational capital with interests in land could ultimately open the way to an alternative pattern of capital accumulation and development.

This book explores the challenges that multilateralism faces today and questions the idea of a ‘crisis’ of multilateral cooperation and international organizations. It accounts for the pressures on and power shifts in multilateralism in recent years - such as the war in Syria, the Covid-19 pandemic, challenges for NATO, the erosion of multilateral norms, the transition from Trump to Biden, the rise of China, the post-Brexit European Union, and the mobilization of countries from the South. The authors illustrate the resilience of multilateralism and lessons learned from the WTO, UN Women, International Organizations’ Secretariats and global environmental governance. Written in part by members of the Research Group on Multilateral Action (GRAM), this volume argues that ‘crisis’ should not be considered a pathology but the ‘matrix’ of multilateralism, which is more resilient than commonly thought. This book will be of interest to students and scholars of International Relations, global governance, and international organizations.

This open access book explores the 'polycrisis' currently affecting nearly all nations by exploring key themes such as multilateralism and globalization from the perspective of think tanks from nearly every continent, searching for various solutions to the ills that currently plague the world and a way to create a future in which everyone benefits. As China's preeminent non-governmental think tank, the Center for China and Globalization (CCG) has invited 30 leading figures from the global think tank community to sift through the myriad layers of multilateralism and global governance and provide a contextual analysis of major themes both from a theoretical and practical perspective that focus on China in detail, but also examine the world as a whole. Think tanks are essential in analyzing current trends and providing potential solutions that aid governments, international organizations and business in finding solutions that are beneficial to all. As a key source of innovative ideas, they have become even more valuable today as the pace of change accelerates, geopolitical complexity increases and the world has to deal with global crises that no country can address on their own. A common, central theme through all of the 25 essays in this book is the need for a more universal, inclusive and multilateral approach to reforming global governance. It is our hope that the views of the experts from think tanks and other non-governmental organizations in this compilation will provide valuable insights to help heal the gaps in our fragmented world.

Human rights — and the international institutions that strive to protect them — are under increasing attack from powerful actors on the global stage, from recent political trends even within established democracies and from new technologies. Together, these threats have undermined what had been a fragile international consensus as recently as two decades ago about the importance of concerted international action to protect human rights and punish those who abuse them. China, Russia, and other nondemocratic regimes have become increasingly bold in acting as if agreed-upon international human rights standards no longer exist, or at least do not apply to them. More broadly, domestic political movements based on nationalism, religion, and populism are challenging human rights norms on nearly every continent. And new technologies — including autonomous weapons systems and relentless digital surveillance — have given national leaders new ways to control or even abuse their citizens with impunity. This book examines these new challenges to international and regional human rights in Africa, Europe, Latin America, and the Middle East. It is the result of a year of workshops with human rights activists and young leaders from around the world, with chapters written by a diverse group of leading scholars. Beyond describing the challenges to human rights, the book offers targeted, practical recommendations for national and multilateral policymakers, activists, and scholars for concrete actions to protect human rights as well as improve public understanding of why doing so is essential. Reclaiming Human Rights in a Changing World Order will interest scholars of international relations and human rights law, domestic and international activists involved in human rights — indeed, anyone wanting to understand the implications for the liberal international order of the new geopolitical competition, modern technology, and political and social movements.

The Challenges of Environmental Protection and Sustainable Development from Rio to Rio+20 and Beyond is an innovative and original book which addresses in an analytical and critical way the issues raised by Rio+20. Its content offers a wealth of information from world leading experts in the fields of international law, international environmental law and international health law. The book provides a unique insight in issues which are at the core of the contemporary management of social, environmental and economic questions and thus represents a very important contribution to our further understanding of the concept of sustainable development. It is aimed at a global audience and at anybody interested in the future of our Planet and the fate of future generations. Contributors are: Pia Acconci, Estelle Brosset, Francesco Buonomenna, Lucien Chabason, Carina Costa de Oliveira, Angela Di Stasi, Jérôme Dubois, Malgosia Fitzmaurice, Leonardus Gerber, Elizabeth Hodson de Jaramillo, Sophie Lavallée, Antonio Leandro, Sandrine Maljean-Dubois, Panos Merkouris, Claudia Napoli, Stefania Negri, Anna Oriolo, Rossana Palladino, Teresa Russo, Ingrid Schuler, Francesco Sindico, José Manuel Sobrino Heredia, Hélène Tigroudja, Valentina Vadi, Anna Vigorito

The American welfare state has long been a source of political contention and academic debate. This Oxford Handbook pulls together much of our current knowledge about the origins, development, functions, and challenges of American social policy. After the Introduction, the first substantive part of the handbook offers an historical overview of U.S. social policy from the colonial era to the present. This is followed by a set of chapters on different theoretical perspectives available for understanding and explaining the development of U.S. social policy. The three following parts of the volume focus on concrete social programs for the elderly, the poor and near-poor, the disabled, and workers and families. Policy areas covered include health care, pensions, food assistance, housing, unemployment benefits, disability benefits, workers' compensation, family support, and programs for soldiers and veterans. The final part of the book focuses on some of the consequences of the U.S. welfare state for poverty, inequality, and citizenship. Many of the chapters comprising this handbook emphasize the disjointed patterns of policy making inherent to U.S. policymaking and the public-private mix of social provision in which the government helps certain groups of citizens directly (e.g., social insurance) or indirectly (e.g., tax expenditures, regulations). The contributing authors are experts from political science, sociology, history, economics, and other social sciences.

The Oxford Handbook of Transnational Feminist Movements explores the historical, political, economic and social contexts in which transnational feminist movements have emerged and spread, and the contributions they have made to global knowledge, power and social change over the past half century. The publication of the handbook in 2015 marks the fortieth anniversary of the United Nations International Women's Year, the thirtieth anniversary of the Third World Conference on Women held in Nairobi, the twentieth anniversary of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, and the fifteenth anniversaries of the Millennium Development Goals and of UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on 'women, peace and security'. The editors and contributors critically interrogate transnational feminist movements from a broad spectrum of locations in the global South and North: feminist organizations and networks at all levels (local, national, regional, global and 'glocal'); wider civil society organizations and networks; governmental and multilateral agencies; and academic and research institutions, among others. The handbook reflects candidly on what we have learned about transnational feminist movements. What are the different spaces from which transnational feminisms have operated and in what ways? How have they contributed to our understanding of the myriad formal and informal ways in which gendered power relations define and inform everyday life? To what extent have they destabilized or transformed the global hegemonic systems that constitute patriarchy? From a position of fifty years of knowledge production, activism, working with institutions, and critical reflection, the handbook recognizes that transnational feminist movements form a key epistemic community that can inspire and provide leadership in shaping political spaces and institutions at all levels, and transforming international political economy, development and peace processes. The handbook is organized into ten sections, each beginning with an introduction by the editors. The sections explore the main themes that have emerged from transnational feminist movements: knowledge, theory and praxis; organizing for change; body politics, health and well-being; human rights and human security; economic and social justice; citizenship and statebuilding; militarism and religious fundamentalisms; peace movements, UNSCR 1325 and postconflict rebuilding; feminist political ecology; and digital-age transformations and future trajectories.

Dr Noeleen Heyzer is the Institute of Policy Studies' 10th S R Nathan Fellow for the Study of Singapore. This book is an edited collection of her three IPS-Nathan Lectures, delivered in November and December 2021, and includes highlights of her question-and-answer segments with our audience.Dr Heyzer examines how Singapore can continue to contribute to multilateral governance amid 21st century global challenges. Highly dependent on multilateral governance, Singapore has to engage the region and contribute to the multilateral global order. Dr Heyzer highlights the need for Singapore to build a mindset of 'solidarity as self-interest', contribute to a normative future that is equitable, inclusive and sustainable, and rethink our current multilateral governance framework. What does a renewed multilateralism look like? Can Singapore become an epicentre for this new multilateralism? And critically, how can we secure our common future and shape what we become as a nation?The IPS-Nathan Lecture series was launched in 2014 as part of the S R Nathan Fellowship for the Study of Singapore, named after Singapore's sixth and longest-serving president. It seeks to advance public understanding and discussion of issues of critical national interest for Singapore.

In Mediterranean Paradiplomacies: The Dynamics of Diplomatic Reterritorialization, Manuel Duran presents a new view on the phenomenon of paradiplomacy by analyzing the diplomatic activities of a number of Mediterranean substate entities as a site of political territorialization. The international agency of these substate entities is giving way to new patterns of territorialization, as well as alternative forms of diplomacy. Duran examines the diplomatic activities of two Spanish, two French and two Italian regions. The book poses the question of why and how these regions operate diplomatically in a given territorial milieu and convincingly elucidates the particular patterns of reterritorialization that result from these diplomatic activities.