An expanding culture of control? The municipal administrative sanctions Act in Belgium

This article provides an in-depth study of the Act on Municipal Administrative Sanctions 1999 (MAS), which is the first major piece of legislation regulating antisocial behaviour in Belgium. MAS provides municipalities with an instrument to sanction antisocial behaviour and conduct perceived to disturb public order. The article uses Garland’s(2001) thesisonthecultureofcontroltoanalysewhetherMAShasledtoincreasedgovernmentcontrol and the exclusion of significant groups of the population. The research is based on a multiple case study in which the application of MAS was analysed over a 25-year period of security policies in Belgium (1985–2010). The Act’s implementation was studied in the two Belgian cities of Antwerp and Liège in order to consider the influence of the Flemish government and the Walloon government, respectively, in this policy area. The article uses insights from this comparison to revisit the culture of control thesis and its limitations in understanding the political competition that exists over the formulation of policies on antisocial behaviour. Effective Protection of Fundamental Rights in a pluralist worl

Globalization and Cities

Globalization is defined as a process of interaction or integration of national economic systems through the growth in international trade, investment and capital, and spread of modern technologies of industrial production and communication. It is a process whereby the world’s economies, societies, and cultures are becoming closely intertwined. Globalizing processes are breaking down barriers to cross-national flow of people, goods, services, ideas, and technology. It seeks to eliminate political and geographical distances between peoples through the technological revolution. Globalization is characterized by more interconnectedness, interdependence, and integration. A city is a large human settlement with a distinct social, economic, and political function. A city is the central location for capital, labor, and information

Participatory adaptation planning and costing. Applications in agricultural adaptation in Western Kenya

Adaptation to climate change is an important theme in the strategy and policy of institutions around the world. Billions of dollars are allocated every year, based on cost estimates of actions to cope with, or benefit from the impacts of climate change. Costing adaptation, however, is complex, involving multiple actors with differing values and a spectrum of possible adaptation strategies and pathways. Currently, expert driven, top-down approaches dominate adaptation costing in practice. These approaches are subject to misallocation, with global funds not always reaching vulnerable communities in most need. This paper introduces an analytical framework called Participatory Social Return on Investment (PSROI), which provides a structured framework for multi-stakeholder planning, selection and valuation of appropriate methods of adaptation. The broader economic, social and environmental impacts of these adaptation actions are explored and valued through a participatory process. PSROI is strength-based, building local capacity and generating stakeholder buy-in. The financial valuation generated provides an additional tool for examining and prioritizing adaptation actions based on their impact. Results from a pilot of the PSROI framework in a smallholder farming community in Western Kenya provide empirical evidence for the difference between expert driven desk-based and ground-based cost estimates that involve local communities. There was an approximate 70 % reduction in the valuation of an agroforestry intervention, selected by the local community, when compared between the desk-based valuation and that of the local community, using primary field data. This reduced expectation of the desk-based PSROI is justified by coherent explanations such as lack of knowledge about the intervention, misconception about the potential costs and benefits, and the risk-averse nature of the farmers. These and other important insights are fundamental for planning and decision-making, as well as appropriate targeting and delivery of funding for adaptation.Abrar S. Chaudhury, Ariella Helfgott, Thomas F. Thornton, Chase Sov

Dynamics of Spanish-Language Neighborhoods in Chicago and Atlanta: 1990–2000

Atlanta, Chicago, Language neighborhood, Spanish, Spatial assimilation,