BRICS: strategies of persuasion

This dissertation explores the strategic communications of the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) intergovernmental platform. BRICS is a recent addition to the growing array of international organisations. Though BRICS consists of significant emerging and re-emerging states, it remains poorly perceived and obscure. Previous analyses that have examined BRICS as an aggregation of its member states or distinguished it simply as a slogan designed by Goldman Sachs have failed to discern it for the rhetorical, strategic entity that it is. This dissertation focuses on BRICS’ essence and intent, its strategic communications. It analyses BRICS’ narrative and scenario, examining its rhetorical appeals, its strategies and tactics of persuasion. The study employs a critical rhetorical analysis to explore publically available primary documentation emanating from high-level BRICS meetings. Three analytical chapters assess this corpus, conceptually distinguished as programmatic (Memoranda of Understanding, agreements and treaties), organic (summit Declarations) and opportunistic (Statements) documents. This analysis expediently takes from disciplines and schools of thought to qualitatively and inductively assess strategic style and agency. It applies theoretical and conceptual tools to examine claims that emerge from the texts. BRICS’ documents present organisational strategy and articulate its appeals. These are rhetorically explored to discern BRICS, per se. BRICS’ rhetoric motions towards its aims. Its strategic means, ways and ends are closely assessed. The dissertation finds that BRICS is an informal intergovernmental regime towards engendering reform inside of the normative international order. Its claims indirectly shape global governance according to its interests. BRICS is a process-driven advocacy mechanism that brings states together as nodes in a state-centric intergovernmental style. It rhetorically steers towards its aspired outcomes without taking considerable action. It does so to avoid responsibility. It rhetorically performs the principles and norms of the legitimate international order under the United Nations, in order to substantiate its form of multilateralism; to actualise reform while maintaining structure. By employing its principles and norms, BRICS embodies and therefore territorialises the multilateral order. BRICS’ strategic communications develop an alternative narrative towards steering international cooperation and exchange. Its articulation of the international order confronts dictated hegemonic conceptions, asserting that no unilateral interpretation holds an absolute truth. Sovereign states are not circumscribed by other states but only by legitimate international law and order. In doing so BRICS pursues international recognition for its member states, disrupts what it perceives to be hegemonic inertia and redefines global governance. BRICS illustrates a significant modality to assess the contemporary international order and the recent developments in global power. Its indirect form, a procedural and fluid platform for extra-Western sovereign states to pursue influence and execute wills, proposes the evolution of international power in the 21st century. BRICS actively employs a hybrid (both-and) strategy to lead toward a reformed global order based on a greater balance of powers (multipolarity). The development of BRICS and BRICS Plus presents compelling cases for further, critical studies

Beneficiary country ownership and the politics of partnership in trilateral development cooperation: a case study of Zambia

Global discourses on trilateral development cooperation (TDC) have overlooked the experiences of beneficiary countries and focused on the concerns of development cooperation providers. This is a significant gap given that TDC is increasingly being promoted as a modality that supports country ownership, equality between Northern and Southern partners, and efforts to achieve the 2030 agenda for Sustainable Development. In response, this study draws on the case of Zambia to examine how the politics of partnership affect a beneficiary country’s experience with exercising ownership and leadership of TDC projects. It employs an institutional ethnography based on key stakeholder interviews and archival analysis, to capture the beneficiary perspective of country ownership and partnerships. It also engages with postcolonial perspectives on development cooperation to gain insight into how power and agency operate in the production and dissemination of development knowledge. The study finds that Zambian approaches to country ownership in TDC differ from definitions in global policy frameworks and reflect institutionalised responses to the experiences of colonial governance and donor dominance. This demonstrates the significance of a more nuanced understanding of beneficiary agency and the historical context of partnerships. The study also demonstrates that TDC is intertwined with the geopolitical and commercial interests of partner countries, although the dominant policy narratives prefer to concentrate on the technical aspects of project management. It also illustrates the diverse ways in which Zambian stakeholders navigate these challenges and concludes that a beneficiary country can achieve real and observable development outcomes from TDC, despite the politics of partnership. However, it argues that Zambia’s ability to ensure the sustainability of development outcomes are constrained by internal dynamics, rather than the underlying ambitions or power inequalities with its development cooperation providers. The findings contribute fresh insight into debates on the changing geographies of global development and emerging literature on the politics of knowledge production in South-South/trilateral cooperation research

IDS South Africa Events: Report from the Series of Events held by IDS and Partners in Johannesburg Preceding the 5th BRICS Summit in March 2013

This paper reports on a series of conferences, meetings and events held by the Institute of Development Studies (IDS) and its international partners in the build up to the 5th BRICS Summit in March 2013. These include the Future Agricultures Consortium conference, the FIM Forum-convened civil society meeting, a discussion of International Development policy, Civil society dialogues, Advisory Council meetings and Business interviews. For each event it provides an introduction, agenda and summary, as well as concluding with a section of lessons learned.DFI

Cultural and rural tourism: potential synergies for a new economic development pattern. The Italian case.

Thanks to its important naturalistic, historical, cultural and artistic heritage, Italy is one of the Countries with the greatest touristic vocation in the world. As consequence, tourism is the most important productive sector in Italian economy, with an impact just below 12% on GDP. During the long period of economic crisis that affected the major world economies, between 2008 and 2014, some parts of the Italian tourism, including seaside for example, declined. This decline, at an aggregate level, has been however balanced by the development of cultural tourism. This also thanks to the increase of external demand: the number of foreign visits went from 140 million in 2000 to more than 190 million in 2016, without any decline also over the hardest period of the above mentioned economic crisis. About 37% of external demand is attributed to expenditures for holidays in art heritage cities and they represent the most dynamic part of Italian tourism. Although with more modest absolute values, agritourism and food and wine tourism are dynamic parts of Italian tourism too and, sometimes, they are linked with cultural tourism. The aim of this paper is to demonstrate that the development of cultural tourism, agritourism and food and wine tourism can be a single goal of economic policy aimed at creating new growth strategies in order to overcome the effects of the economic crisis. Organizing as a single economic system the different parts of Italian tourism can be the most coherent action in order to cope with the different development needs and potentialities of Italy whose economic system is traditionally linked to the territorial values

Exploration of ideological discourses of globalisation in South African Grade 12 Economics textbooks.

Doctoral Degree, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban.Globalisation appears to offer many benefits to countries and is a phenomenon that is often punted by economists and politicians as beneficial and necessary. For protagonists of globalisation, mankind has significantly gained from the practices of globalisation. Sceptics of globalisation however see it as exacerbating the gap between rich and poor and according to critics (Vally & Spreen, 2014), nowhere is this more evident than in South Africa, with its abysmal levels of inequality. The expectations of prosperity for most South Africans remain a pipe dream as poverty, unemployment and inequality abound. With a Gini coefficient of 0.63 (Oxfam, 2018; UNDP, 2013), the country shows the highest inequality levels in the world. South Africa’s exposure to the international economic world, after more than two decades of post-apartheid trade liberalisation, has not made any significant difference to the lives of the poor and destitute. If anything, South African society has become even more unequal, amidst sustained levels of unemployment (Fioramonti, 2017; Oxfam, 2018). Given the contentious nature of the benefits of globalisation, this study thus set out to examine what notions of globalisation might be prevalent in South African grade twelve Economics textbooks. Moreover, the representations of knowledge were explored to signal whether these textbooks are used as instruments to serve global markets by presenting the discourses of globalisation as natural and inevitable. This qualitative study was grounded in Fairclough’s three-dimensional Critical Discourse Analysis framework (Chouliaraki & Fairclough, 1992; Fairclough, 1989; 1992; 2003; 2011). Tools used to analyse visual images were also employed as images can reinforce the presentation of knowledge with a particular ideological slant (Kress and van Leeuwen, 1996; 2001; Kress, 2010; Machin & Mayr, 2012). The analysis of the linguistic and visual data used the conceptual lens provided by Appadurai (1990; 1996) particularly with reference to the vocabulary he appropriated to describe the various discourses of globalisation. These discourses were financescapes (trade, capital), ethnoscapes (people, society), ideoscapes (policies and practices of governments and institutions), mediascapes (culture and media) and technoscapes (technology) (Appadurai, 1990; 1996). vi The critical analysis of the data evidenced unbalanced and biased portrayals of global trade as inevitable and desirable. The textbooks appeared to persuade the readers towards the acceptance of globalisation by ‘selling’ the concept of globalisation. The textbooks appeared to implicitly and overtly assist in the construction of worldviews favouring the outward-looking economic policies of globalisation, free trade and export promotion. Thus this subtly-embedded representation of globalisation is ideological as it serves to give hegemony to the universal and seemingly unquestionable factuality of globalisation. The evidence showed that the discourses constituted, disseminated and reproduced a particular view of globalisation. Hence the neoclassical economic canon continues to reign supreme in the official South African grade twelve Economics textbooks. The textbooks constructed and validated worldviews which can disregard the cogency of alternative views. From the analysis of textual data, the worldview of the ‘normalcy’ of global capitalism was seen in its domination of the social, political, cultural, technological and economic spheres of human existence. Given this portrayal in the textbooks, it is unlikely therefore that alternative economic policies will gain currency. Of significance too, was the revelation that the structural procedure of textbook selection, ideologically centres the state in the monopolistic role of mediator and prescriber. This study is a major contribution to the existing body of knowledge in textbook research both locally and internationally as it theorises the notion of knowledge representation. It uniquely provides an extension to the knowledge of high school economics education, as the study reveals that the grade twelve Economics textbooks are captured by a globalised neoliberal and capitalistic agenda

Politics of SouthｰSouth Cooperation：The Venezuelan Project in the Framework of the Bolivarian Diplomacy

Tohoku University博士（法学）博士学位論文 (Thesis(doctor))thesi

Finland’s Election: Ideology, Power, and Critique behind the Loss of Sanna Marin in The Guardian

Finland’s prime minister election result is out, impacting a huge shock in European politics. This study examines The Guardian's coverage of the Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin's loss in the recent election, utilizing Ruth Wodak's approach to Critical Discourse Analysis. The study aims to uncover underlying ideologies, power relations, and potential critiques in The Guardian's coverage. The article analyzes The Guardian's April 4th, 2023, publication titled "Why did Sanna Marin lose Finland's election?" and discusses the reasons behind Marin's defeat. The article frames Marin's loss as a "shock," suggesting potential flaws in the electoral system or an unfair outcome. The article discusses various factors that led to Marin's defeat, such as her approach to the economy, foreign policy, and immigration, highlighting their potential impact on voter behavior. Additionally, the article suggests that Marin's loss may indicate a shift towards more conservative values in Finnish society, highlighting a rise in anti-immigration sentiment and a focus on economic issues. The study also considers power relations in the coverage, highlighting the opposition's successful framing of Marin as an out-of-touch elite, which may have played a significant role in swaying voters. However, the study notes that this approach only examined a single source. Further research involving multiple media sources and a mixed investigative lens is necessary to understand discursive issues comprehensively. Keywords: Finland’s Election, Sanna Marin, Discourse Historical Approach, The Guardian

State of Civil Society 2013: Creating an Enabling Environment

Welcome to the second edition of the State of Civil Society report produced by CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation. This report is not ours alone. The 2013 State of Civil Society report draws from nearly 50 contributions made by people active in civil society all over the world -- from our members, friends, partners, supporters and others in the CIVICUS alliance. They contributed 31 new pieces of analysis and thinking on the state of civil society. Our analysis also benefits from 16 responses to a questionnaire from national civil society platforms that are members of either our Affinity Group of National Associations (AGNA), or the International Forum of National NGO Platforms (IFP). Together, their contributions, published at http://socs.civicus.org, form the full report. Our summary report is a synthesis of this impressive array of perspectives. We believe that together their contributions offer a body of critical, cutting edge thinking about the changing state of contemporary civil society. We thank them for their efforts and continuing support. It is also important to acknowledge in this report the work of coalitions such as the Open Forum for CSO Development Effectiveness and BetterAid, and the subsequent CSO Partnership for Development Effectiveness, in bringing together many CSOs working in the development sphere in recent years to advance the debate on civil society's contributions to development effectiveness, including on the issue of the enabling conditions for civil society that are a necessary part of increasing CSO effectiveness. This report is also intended as a contribution to those wider efforts, in which we at CIVICUS are happy to be active partners