1,720,958 research outputs found
Dynamics of human security and regional social and economic development: A case study of the Lake Chad basin
Full text linkPhilosophiae Doctor - PhDTransboundary river basins (TRBs), and its array of biodiversity, have created a web of
complex security, socio-economic and political interdependencies among populations,
communities and multiplicity of actors across the world. However, the continuous degradation
of these vital resources, resulting from natural and anthropogenic factors, has serious
implications for global development, peace and security. Indeed, it further threatens regional
resource base, induce livelihoods impairment, scarcities and conflicts over the utilisation and
control of strategic resources, particularly in the Global South. The study explored the causeeffect
analysis of the desiccation of Lake Chad basin and the dreadful Boko Haram crisis within
the prisms of human security and regional development. It reflects on the interconnections
among environmental change, human development, livelihoods, conflicts and the outcomes of
interventions - military and humanitarian in reconstructing human security and regional
development narratives in the Lake Chad Basin.
The research was contextualised within two theoretical frameworks: eco-violence, and the
capability approach. This was conceived to provide an improved understanding of both the
micro (individual or group interactions) and macro (large scale - national and multinational
actors) development processes, the enablers and constraints of human security in the region.
Their implications for regional development, security, sustainability and stabilisation process
are also elucidated. Mixed-method research and a case study design was adopted to specifically
study the Lake Chad impact area, covering 542,829 km2, across the four riparian countries -
Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Nigeria. Although, the conventional or active basin of the lake -
an estimated 984,455 km2 area was generally referenced. Purposive sampling was used to select
participants for semi-structured interviews, focused group discussions (FGD) and document
review. A total of 34 key informants, six (6) FGDs and 33 institutional documents (18
intervention and policy documents and 15 official bulletins) were utilised. These enable the
substantiation of primary data with secondary data – qualitative and quantitative (derived from
documents review). A thematic analysis of the causality of resource scarcities, livelihoods, and
conflict relationships in the region was undertaken. This includes an assessment of the regional
development process and the efficacies of security and humanitarian interventions in the Lake Chad Basin.The study revealed that the desiccation of Lake Chad and the destructive Boko Haram crisis
(since 2009) impede development in the region. The lake’s shrinkage (estimated above 90percent from 1963 till date), caused by environmental change and unsustainable human
practices or exploitation of the basin’s resources, have transboundary effects. These and the
humanitarian catastrophes caused by Boko Haram menace have heightened human insecurity,
and threaten communities’ fragility and transborder cooperation in the region. While regional
development processes and intervention have marginal impacts on the population and their
resilience capacities. Indeed, the complexity of the challenges overlaps with inconsistencies in
the region’s development processes and the interventions regime – security and humanitarian
management. Thus, addressing the consequences, while neglecting the root causes of human
security threats in the Lake Chad Basin, further heightens the population’s deprivations amidst
challenges of resource curse, geopolitics and its alteration of regional political economy. The
above underscores the dialectics between human security and regional development.
From these submissions, improved water resources and environmental management; inclusive
development - to address the root causes of insecurity; monitoring and harnessing of national
and regional development priorities; and integrated regional security-development strategy,
against the military-led humanitarian approach, are recommended as critical solutions. These
enhance a rethinking of human security and regional development matrix in the Lake Chad and
other TRBs in the Global South. Therefore, the study highlighted the imperative of mediating
exhaustive discourse on TRBs as Special Economic Zones (SEZ); constructive interactions
between development processes and actors (stakeholders); the use of groundwater as a
palliative; and the intrinsic mobility, multiactivity and multi-functionality of livelihoods in the
Lake Chad Basin. These can be pondered in (future research and policy) discourses to enhance
regional resilience, human security and sustainable development in the Lake Chad Basin
Socio-Economic Inequity and Decision-Making under Uncertainty: West African Migrants’ Journey across the Mediterranean to Europe
Full text linkUnderstanding the nexus between poverty, inequality and decision-making under uncertainty in migrants’ journeys across the Mediterranean Sea to Europe remains a significant challenge, raising intense scholarly debate. Several suggestions have been offered on how to reduce migrants’ journeys across the Mediterranean Sea to Europe in several guises, including the formulation and implementation of proper social, political and economic policies in Africa. Despite all odds and challenges, migrants from Africa cross state boundaries and stay in transit state(s) for limited periods, en route the Mediterranean Sea to Europe. Underpinned by different migration theories and conceptual frameworks, our study applied a qualitative methodology to examine why migrants decide, under uncertainty, to cross the Mediterranean Sea from their countries of origin to the ultimate destinations in Europe. While focusing on the life experiences of purposively selected migrants from West Africa, the research seeks to address the underlying factors of irregular migration. The result of this empirical study clearly illustrates that limited access to opportunities, poverty and unemployment amidst precarious development challenges and the youth population bulge, exacerbate Africa’s migration crisis. The study finally brings into focus empirical observations and provides suggestions for stakeholders’ engagement in addressing African migration challenges
Dynamics of human security and regional social and economic development: A case study of the Lake Chad basin
No full textPhilosophiae Doctor - PhDTransboundary river basins (TRBs), and its array of biodiversity, have created a web of complex security, socio-economic and political interdependencies among populations, communities and multiplicity of actors across the world. However, the continuous degradation of these vital resources, resulting from natural and anthropogenic factors, has serious implications for global development, peace and security. Indeed, it further threatens regional resource base, induce livelihoods impairment, scarcities and conflicts over the utilisation and control of strategic resources, particularly in the Global South. The study explored the cause effect analysis of the desiccation of Lake Chad basin and the dreadful Boko Haram crisis within the prisms of human security and regional development. It reflects on the interconnections among environmental change, human development, livelihoods, conflicts and the outcomes of interventions - military and humanitarian in reconstructing human security and regional development narratives in the Lake Chad Basin. The research was contextualised within two theoretical frameworks: eco violence, and the capability approach. This was conceived to provide an improved understanding of both the micro (individual or group interactions) and macro (large scale - national and multinational actors) development processes, the enablers and constraints of human security in the region. Their implications for regional development, security, sustainability and stabilisation process are also elucidated. Mixed-method research and a case study design was adopted to specifically study the Lake Chad impact area, covering 542,829 km2, across the four riparian countries - Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Nigeria. Although, the conventional or active basin of the lake - an estimated 984,455 km2 area was generally referenced. Purposive sampling was used to select participants for semi-structured interviews, focused group discussions (FGD) and document review
Peacebuilding and justice in conflict: the imperative for transformative justice in the post-war reconstruction of Chad
No full textMagister Legum - LLMThe fault lines in the implementation of transitional justice mechanisms have posed enormous challenges to peacebuilding, reconciliation, and reconstruction in many postconflict societies, particularly in the Global South. This illustrates the complex nature of Chad's conflicts (since 1965), its deep-seated political instability, and armed intervention, worsened by the lack of justice for victims of repression and social injustice. Regrettably, the flawed processes of peace building and justice in conflict, amidst democratic faux pas have undermined nation building and post-war reconstruction in Chad, with far-reaching regional implications. Dissecting the needs and justice of the average Chadian population from those of the key actors has been problematic in the country's peacebuilding processes. The research advances the imperative for transformative justice as a model for conflict resolution, sustainable peace, good governance, and social justice in the post-war reconstruction of Chad. A qualitative method involving a desk review of secondary data, including theories of peacebuilding and transitional justice is undertaken. Its delimitation was the post-Hissene Habre era (1982-1990) till the present. Although, references were made to the events from the post-independent Chad and the Habre years, as background. Therefore, the study argues that peacebuilding or post-war reconstruction in Chad should be predicated on the long-term transformation processes involving socio-economic, political, and legal justice priorities toward sustainable development. This further highlights the significance of transformative justice in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and multidisciplinary approach to strategic peacebuilding in fragile states
Statelessness, Development, and Protection of ‘Disadvantaged Groups’: Bridging the Post-2030 Sustainable Development Gaps
Full text linkStatelessness constricts development opportunities, human capital and potentials of affected communities and persons over successive generations. The marginalisation of stateless persons, deprivation of their basic rights, legal recognition and access to essential services further induce their vulnerability and the risk of intergenerational statelessness. However, the nexus between statelessness and development remains poorly investigated amid the lack of coherent measures to address it. Hence, the need to understand the increased deprivations by statelessness and its conditions of vulnerability, suspicion, and exclusion, and the mismatch in the implementation of multilateral development programmes and national policies against statelessness. The paper maintains that neglect of stateless persons and communities by development actors and processes often lags them in global, regional, or national development. Although not explicitly encapsulated to address statelessness, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) unlock significant opportunities, with relevance and applicability of several goals in this regard. Therefore, incorporating statelessness into the post-2030 development agenda is critical for addressing its challenges, and improving human security and conditions of stateless persons
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Full text linkWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts
Full text linkWe conducted a full-scale evaluative citation analysis study of scholars in the XML research field to explore just how different from each other author rankings resulting from different citation counting methods actually are, and to demonstrate the capability of emerging data and tools on the Web in supporting more realistic citation counting methods. Our results contest some common arguments for the continued
use of first-author citation counts in the evaluation of scholars, such as high correlations between author rankings by first-author citation counts and other citation
counting methods, and high costs of using more realistic citation counting methods that are not well-supported by the ISI databases. It is argued that increasingly available digital full text research papers make it possible for citation analysis studies to go beyond what the ISI databases have directly supported and to employ more
sophisticated methods
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