Indian Gaming: Issues and Prospects

This article explains the evolution of Indian gaming from economic and social perspectives. Many of the political opportunities and threats to Indian gaming are examined, and current and future issues surrounding Indian gaming are further explored

Making the Case: Supporting Community Organizing in the Nation's Capital

Highlights community organizing in Washington, DC and discusses three reasons why local and national funders should support it: low income and marginalized residents suffer from severe social and economic disparities; it offers distinct political opportunities for progressive change locally and nationally; and has an impressive track record of community organizing victories. Paper is the first installment in a series about strengthening community organizing in DC. With bibliographical references

Political Opportunities for Farm Animals in Europe

Could this year be the tipping point for farm animals in Europe? It’s already brought more legislative progress for Europe’s farm animals than the last decade combined: In January, the agricultural ministers of the two largest European nations, France and Germany, jointly pledged to ban the killing of day-old chicks by the end of next year. The French minister also pledged to ban the castration of piglets without pain relief, as Germany is already set to do. If implemented, the measures could spare 90 million day-old chicks from gassing, and 30 million piglets from castration, across the two nations every year. In May, the European Commission announced plans to revisit and revise its animal welfare directives for chickens, calves, pigs, and animals in transport and slaughter, by the end of 2023. This follows two decades of the Commission pursuing few new protections for farm animals, and could affect the welfare of over two billion animals/year. In July, the German Federal Council approved an eight year phase-out of sow stalls and a 15 year phase-out of most farrowing crates, along with $300 million to subsidize the transition. The move will spare about 1.5 million sows/year from extreme confinement, and is already building pressure on other European countries to follow suit. This month, the Czech Parliament voted to ban cages for the country’s five million caged hens; the Polish Parliament passed an overhaul of the nation’s animal protection law, including a ban on most fur farming; and the UK’s House of Lords voted to require food imported under future trade deals to meet UK animal welfare laws. If agreed to by the Czech and Polish Senates, and the UK House of Commons, these moves could establish critical precedents for the rest of Europe. So what’s going on, and how can advocates take advantage of this window of opportunity to push political change in Europe

Political Opportunities for Farm Animals in Europe

Could this year be the tipping point for farm animals in Europe? It’s already brought more legislative progress for Europe’s farm animals than the last decade combined: In January, the agricultural ministers of the two largest European nations, France and Germany, jointly pledged to ban the killing of day-old chicks by the end of next year. The French minister also pledged to ban the castration of piglets without pain relief, as Germany is already set to do. If implemented, the measures could spare 90 million day-old chicks from gassing, and 30 million piglets from castration, across the two nations every year. In May, the European Commission announced plans to revisit and revise its animal welfare directives for chickens, calves, pigs, and animals in transport and slaughter, by the end of 2023. This follows two decades of the Commission pursuing few new protections for farm animals, and could affect the welfare of over two billion animals/year. In July, the German Federal Council approved an eight year phase-out of sow stalls and a 15 year phase-out of most farrowing crates, along with $300 million to subsidize the transition. The move will spare about 1.5 million sows/year from extreme confinement, and is already building pressure on other European countries to follow suit. This month, the Czech Parliament voted to ban cages for the country’s five million caged hens; the Polish Parliament passed an overhaul of the nation’s animal protection law, including a ban on most fur farming; and the UK’s House of Lords voted to require food imported under future trade deals to meet UK animal welfare laws. If agreed to by the Czech and Polish Senates, and the UK House of Commons, these moves could establish critical precedents for the rest of Europe. So what’s going on, and how can advocates take advantage of this window of opportunity to push political change in Europe

Popular Protest, Political Opportunities, and Change in Africa

This book offers a fresh analysis of third wave popular protests in Africa, shedding light on the complex dynamics between political change and continuity in contemporary Africa. The book argues that protests are simultaneously products and generators of change in that they are triggered by micro-and-macrosocial changes, but they also have the capacity to transform the nature of politics. By examining the triggers, actors, political opportunities, resources, and framing strategies, the contributors shed light onto tangible (e.g. policy implementation, liberal reforms, political alternation) and intangible (e.g. perceptions, imagination, awareness) forms of change elicited by protests. It reveals the relevant role of African protests as engines of democracy, accountability, and collective knowledge. Bringing popular protests in authoritarian and democratic settings into discussion, this book will be of interest to scholars of African politics, democracy, and protest movements.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Social movements, the European crisis, and EU political opportunities

Social movements in the wake of the financial crisis have shifted from the counter-summits and world social forums of the global justice movement to the camps of the anti-austerity mobilizations, and from a clear focus on building ‘another Europe’ to more domestically embedded issues. Among other reasons, this turn away from the EU can be linked to contracting political opportunities for social justice movements at the European level. This article addresses the closure of opportunities at the EU level for the work of social movement groups campaigning on specific EU policies. We reflect on the complexity of the EU’s political opportunity structure prior to the financial crisis, before examining changes to the EU’s architecture effected through responses to the crises and outlining arguments on how EU level opportunities around socio-economic issues in particular have shrunk as a result. We then show how the perception of other political opportunities at the EU level is affected by the austerity response by drawing on campaigns that sought to exploit new opportunities included in the Lisbon Treaty and designed to increase citizens’ input. Opportunities introduced by changes made in the Lisbon Treaty are perceived through the prism of contracted opportunities flowing from power shifts caused by the response to the financial crisis

Iranian Women\u27s Movement: Political Opportunities and New Forces

The Iranian women\u27s movement emerged and was sustained in an unprecedented way, although neither the movement\u27s procedure nor the nature of the Iranian protesters\u27 economic and social demands throughout the course of the previous ten years made its formation plausible. While unions have traditionally coordinated many Iranian protests, the present women\u27s movement is non-union, has a national reach, and has been going strong for several months despite fierce government resistance. This study reviews the history and achievements of the women\u27s protest movement in Iran since September 2022. In the past, women\u27s activities have been severely constrained and suppressed by Iran\u27s political-religious system, and feminist causes have never received the needed attention from intellectual institutions. Now, however, Iranian women have the chance to pursue their demands owing to the current confluence of women, artists, and students, along with generational changes and the advancement of new values. Additionally, the popularity of the civil resistance strategy in celebrities\u27 and women\u27s protests reduced violence typical in conflicts between protestors and state authorities. Further, the youth and students\u27 intense feelings and passion led to a movement that was frank and responsive in expressing its demands. Two additional factors which led to the movement were the scattering of the leadership core which had a detrimental effect on the political system, and the individual protest behaviors of women and celebrities which boosted the possibility of individual activity and initiatives. Finally, the possibility of broadcasting the most recent news and events footage through online efforts of young people, students, and celebrities have also created maximum pressure for change. The political potential of the Iranian Women’s Movement brought about by popula

THE RESISTANCE MOVEMENT OF INDONESIAN RAILWAYS WORKERS UNION (SPKA) AGAINST PT. KERETA API (PERSERO) IN POST REFORM

The momentum of freedom after the New Order regime was utilized by railway workers to establish the Indonesian Railway Workers Union (SPKA) on 13 September 1999. The existence of SPKA is a place in voicing the demand for civil servant status and welfare improvement as a result of the Decree of the Minister of Transportation No.18 on Dismissal of Employees as Civil Servants of the Railway Service Company (PJKA). The return of civil servant status becomes more difficult to be realized when the company returns to PT. Kereta Api (Persero) thus strengthening the SPKA to conduct resistance movement against the company post-Reformation. This study aims to explain how the SPKA movement takes advantage of political opportunities in order to urge the government and company to fulfill their demands. The object of research that becomes the author's focus is SPKA in launching the struggle movement demanding the return of civil servant status and the improvement of welfare.Using a documentary study and depth interview, this paper was built in descriptive-analytical way that helped the authors in explaining the political opportunities that were open after the Reformation. The author found four forms of political opportunity that exist and can be used by SPKA to conduct resistance movement that is reorganization of SPKA, openness of political access post Reformation, improvement of business climate in Indonesia, and management problem of the company. These four political opportunities correspond to the indicators of political opportunities in the social movement proposed by Tilly, Tarrow, and Schock.By utilizing the momentum of post-Reform freedom and political opportunities, the SPKA movement was able to pressure governments and corporations to meet their demands. This research is expected to be an academic contribution in the study of social movements and labor politics in the future

Popular Protest, Political Opportunities, and Change in Africa

This book offers a fresh analysis of third wave popular protests in Africa, shedding light on the complex dynamics between political change and continuity in contemporary Africa. The book argues that protests are simultaneously products and generators of change in that they are triggered by micro-and-macrosocial changes, but they also have the capacity to transform the nature of politics. By examining the triggers, actors, political opportunities, resources and framing strategies, the contributors shed light onto tangible (e.g. policy implementation, liberal reforms, political alternation) and intangible (e.g. perceptions, imagination, awareness) forms of change elicited by protests. It reveals the relevant role of African protests as engines of democracy, accountability and collective knowledge. Bringing popular protests in authoritarian and democratic settings into discussion, this book will be of interest to scholars of African politics, democracy and protest movements