Democracy, A Tale of Sustainability

“Democracy, a tale of Sustainability”, is a trans-disciplinary critical project, it deals with the question of how and why the civilizations of modernity construct social realities that fundamentally and institutionally are socio-politically unequal, unsustainable and that ecologically these societies reproduce unequal exchange of human, social and environmental resources and information. Moreover, it tries to position an alternative pathway for radical and democratic transformation through “the project of autonomy” influenced from the struggle for the commons as a protest against the commodification and monetarization of the whole of our existence. This project is both theoretical and practical; a qualitative and quantitative analysis from Skouries of Halkidiki, Greece. It aims to expand the knowledge about the struggle of social movements, as well as exposing the endless possibilities humanity have to re-imagine an autonomous present and a sustainable future

(De)-coloniality/Contemporaneity: An Ideographic Journey towards Nomothetics

The perspective of contemporaneity is a highly dilemmatic ideological space which needs to be analyzed and re-thought within the indigenous premises of thought. If we delve into the roots of ‘now’ ness we find that that we are defined by a past which is mostly girdled by the colonial shadows which continues to invade every segments of human civilization. The biggest dispute of contemporaneity which interrupts the current format of discourse is that the modernity we interpret is the simulated version of coloniality or a form of modernity which still continues to be defined by colonial aesthetics. The ideographical illustrations of the colonizers needs to be succinctly interpreted so that the process of decolonization could be initiated as a logical, constructive nomothetic method de-linked from every form of physical and metaphysical colonial establishments

The Plausibility of E-Governance as a Public Service Delivery Mechanism in India

Public administration is the backbone of the governance system of any nation. The rapid advancements in information and communication technologies and their incorporation in public administration have given rise to the practice of e-governance all over the world. E-governance is regarded as a crucial aspect of citizen-centric governance and has gradually evolved in India. In the due course of time it has acquired one of the centre stages in the programme of administrative reforms. It has come a long way in the country. Considering the need for having a national level plan for promoting e-governance and increasing public accessibility of all government services, the Government of India approved National e-Governance Plan in May 2006. Keeping in view the advantages accruing from use of information and communication technologies in governance process, the central and state governments have embarked upon numerous e-governance initiatives. The thrust on e-governance has increased with successive governments. Recognizing e-governance as one of the thrust areas, the Government of India launched its flagship programme Digital India in July 2015. State governments have their official websites and some of their projects have become popular among the masses in terms of service delivery. There is no doubt that wherever e-governance projects have been conceived, designed and implemented with due regard to the needs of the people there positive outcomes have been visible. However, it has to be acknowledged that most of the projects are facing multiple challenges which are reducing their success rate. A serious consideration must be given to all the issues which are hampering their efficiency. At the same time measures must be taken up to maintain the human face of these initiatives

Migration of Persian literati from Delhi to Awadh

Awadh always had been a cultural centre of India from times immemorial. The world famous Sanskrit epic Ramayana has been written here. The decline of Mughal Empire in the first half of 18th century lead to the disintegration of the center of political power and small provincial chieftains claimed independence, leading to the rise of independent princely states. As the centre of power shifted, scholars, poets, historians and men of letters who were bereft of the royal patronage started emigrating from the Delhi court to other parts of the country most notably to Awadh. It was during this milieu that Awadh resurfaced as one of the major centers of Persian language and culture. This paper seeks to provide a short introduction of notables who migrated to Awadh after the fall of Delhi and give a general overview of the life and contribution of these literary figures towards the development of the Persian literature

From Political Transitions to Good Governance in Africa: Resolving the Socio-Economic Roots of Insecurity in the 21st Century

Over the past two decades, African countries have experienced major political transitions that seemed to have checkmated the excesses of governments with authoritarian tendencies leading to aggravated security and development challenges. What has been the impact of democratic governance on socio-economic development and security in Africa, past and present? To what extent has the opening up of the political space impacted on the peoples’ living standards in Africa during the same period? Understanding the impact of democratic administrations on the provisions of social and economic needs of the citizens will provide real insights into the roots of insecurity in Africa’s quest for national stability and protection of their citizens. The perspective of this paper is that one of the causes of escalating trends of insecurity and obstacles to the achievement of human security as well as guarantee of national stability is heavily, if not fundamentally, bad governance. We identify and interrogate substantive issues involved in governance styles which create the current socio-economic challenges, and serves as the source of human insecurity, in Africa. The paper identified good governance approach in tackling the raging menace of insecurity in the continent. Finally, the paper concluded that one important missing link in the current democratization as well as guarantee of security in Africa is the challenge of flawed democracy

A modern Socrates discourse in a local e-government setting

This paper aims to outline the role of e-governance within the setting of a local government in a modern democratic state. It is agreed that a local governmental organization needs to be fit for the purpose of serving its citizens. Fits can be tested both through universally acknowledged principles, and drivers that suit modern on-demand organizations. This has been demonstrated in this paper

The ontological revolution: On the phenomenology of the internet

Cogitation described as calculation, the living being described as a machine, cognitive functions considered as algorithmic sequences and the ‘mechanization’ of the subjective were the theoretical elements that late heideggerian anti–humanism, especially in France was able to utilize1, even more so, after the second cybernetics or post-cybernetics movement of the late ‘60s introduced the concepts of the autopoietic and the allopoietic automata2. Recently, neurologists pose claims on the traditional epistemological field of philosophy, proceeding from this ontological decision, the equation of human cognition to cybernetic systems. The emergence of the world-wide-web in the 1990s and the global expansion of the internet during the first decades of the 21st century indicate the fallacies of the cybernetics programme to mechanize the mind. We stand witnesses to a semantic colonization of the cybernetic system, a social imaginary creation and expansion within the digital ensemblistic – identitarian organization that cannot be described by mechanical or cybernetic terms. Paradoxically, cyberspace, as a new being, a form of alterity, seems to both exacerbate and capsize the polarization between the operational and the symbolic. The creation of the internet might be more than an epistemological revolution, to use the terminology of Thomas Kuhn. It might be an ontological revolution. I will try to demonstrate that the emergence of the Internet refutes any such claims, since its context and utility can only be described by means of a social epistemology based on the understanding of social significances as continuous creations of an anonymous social imaginary proposed by Cornelius Castoriadis (1922-1997). I will try to explore some social-semantic aspects of the cyberspace as a nexus of social representations of the individual identity that forms a new sphere of being, where the subjective and the objective merge in a virtual subjective objectivity with unique epistemological attributes and possibilities

Cultural Values of Customary Handicraft: Cloth weaving in the Case of Macca Oromo Ethnic group in Western Ethiopia

This paper provides the role of weaving activity in socio-cultural life of Oromo society in general and Macca Oromo in particular. Data were collected through. Qualitative data collection tools like interview, focus group discussion and observation. Interviews were conducted to establish the cultural, social, tourism, ecological and aesthetic value. Apart from interviews, scheduled observations were administered so as to collect in-depth information and data. Lastly focused group discussion was also cried out with selective key informant. The paper addresses contribution of weaving activity in Oromo cultural life. The local inhabitant prefer products of indigenous weavers, they like and respect it. It viewed as holy and used in ritual celebration. Similarly the skill reveals creative ability, identity, culture and history of weavers and users. Furthermore it plays great role in perseveration of cultural heritage, employment creation, tourist attraction and environmental protection

E-Government in India: The need to study current e-government uptake

Since the emergence of Public choice theory, New Public Management and Re-inventing government in 1990s, governments around the world are attempting to improve the system of public service delivery. The Information age and its rapid stride in the 2000s facilitated the re-invention of governments and prepare them to serve the needs of a diverse society. The information age has redefined the fundamentals and transformed the institutions and mechanisms of service delivery forever. The vision is the articulation of a desire to transform the way government function and it relates to its constituents. This concern gave rise to the concept of E-Government. It was being felt that E-government can be more productive version of government in general, if it is well implemented and managed. With rapid strides being made in the field of ICT, government all over the world are using digital technologies to re-invent their internal operations and in serving the needs of the diverse society and thereby becoming electronic governments. The idea lies in the successful remodelling of traditional form of ‘citizenship’ into ‘e-citizenship’, which redefines the relationship between government and citizens. The world is moving towards Next generation e-government where the citizen is becoming a unique customer. The ICT revolution on the global level affected the developing economy of India and it was being realised that Indian Government machinery cannot isolate itself from the IT revolution and its effect on the public administration systems and the process of delivery of Information and, services. Therefore a large number of initiatives were undertaken by various Governmental levels to usher in this era of e-Government. Sustained efforts have been made at multiple levels to improve the delivery of public services and simplify the process of accessing them. The significance of E-government is being widely recognized as technological advancements facilitate the administrative systems by enabling Administrative Development and Effective service delivery. This paper tends to highlight the initiatives taken by the Governments in India at various levels to modernise their processes and functions for delivery of information and services to the citizens, using the Information and Communication technology [ICT]. It also highlights E-Government uptake in different parts of the world, highlighting its need in India, as in developing countries like India, there is no comprehensive data on actual e-government uptake on a global scale

The role of policy space in technology evolution: Evidence from India and what Ghana can learn

It is incontrovertible that development is and has always been a function of public policy. The necessity for states to have enough space, to figure out in organic manner, which policy options work best for them, cannot be overemphasized. Using national policy tools effectively and freely to navigate a development path engenders sustainable and progressive development. It is without doubt that the sharp divide between developed and developing countries is partly, if not completely, attributable to the space developed countries had to navigate their path to development. Developing countries today are confronted with enormous challenges in their bid to use domestic policy tools—especially in trade and industrial development—effectively in the midst of a strong international and domestic environment of mass liberalization. These developments have constrained the policy space of most developing countries in their use of policy tools to direct their developments. This paper argues that for developing countries to amass adequate capabilities in science, technology and innovations (STI), they require adequate policy space through the use of policy tools such as subsidies, tax and non-tax measures to accentuate their progress. As a matter of fact, developing countries can see meaningful progress in capacity accumulation in technology for development, if they have the unrestrained opportunity to choose the best mix of policy options to drive the sectors of their economies that constitute the nucleus of growth. In this regard, ‘business as usual’ outward policies do not work at least in the interim. The paper dwells on the experiences of India in the software and pharmaceutical industries to argue for the need for policy space in technology evolution