'We don't want equality, we want to be given our rights': Muslim women negotiating global development concepts in Senegal

'Der Artikel analysiert, wie Frauenorganisationen im Senegal sich globale Entwicklungskonzepte aneignen und deren Bedeutung unter Bezug auf lokale Diskurse und Praktiken aushandeln. Er basiert auf einer Fallstudie zu einer NRO-Kampagne zur Reform des nationalen Familienrechts, die auf Frauenrechte und Geschlechtergleichheit fokussiert. Das spannungsgeladene Verhältnis zwischen westlich dominierten Entwicklungsdiskursen und der offiziellen Frauenförderpolitik des säkularen Staates einerseits und den Normen der lokalen muslimischen Gesellschaft andererseits spiegelt die komplexe Dynamik von Glokalisierungsprozessen. Indem die Autorin die Handlungsstrategien von Frauenorganisationen auf lokaler Ebene und den Aspekt der Handlungsmacht hervorhebt, stellt sie das verbreitete Stereotyp der 'verletzlichen' unterdrückten Frau in der muslimischen Gesellschaft in Frage.' (Autorenreferat)'The article shows how global development concepts are appropriated by women's organisations in Senegal and how their meaning is negotiated with respect to local discourses and practices. It is based on a case study of an NGO campaign for a reform of the national family law, focussing on the concepts of women's rights and gender equality. The tense relationship between Western dominated development discourses and the official politics of women's advancement, as represented by the secular state on the one side, and the norms of local Muslim society on the other, reflect the complex dynamics of glocalisation. Focussing on the strategies of women's organisations on the local level, the aspect of agency is highlighted, questioning thereby the widespread stereotype of the 'vulnerability' of women within Muslim society.' (author's abstract)

Food Policy Councils as Loci for Practising Food Democracy? Insights from the Case of Oldenburg, Germany

In the highly concentrated and consolidated 21st century food systems, a broad range of stakeholders are rarely involved in food-related decision-making processes. One innovative institutional response is the establishment of food policy councils (FPCs). These institutions are often initiated by civil society actors and seek to transform prevailing agro-industrial food systems. They aim to raise awareness for alternative practises of food consumption and production, and they try to shape food policies at different governance levels. FPCs have been acclaimed for their democratic potential in the past. This study uses the five key dimensions of food democracy identified by Hassanein (2008) to assess the ways in which FPCs might represent loci for practising food democracy. This is achieved by taking one of the first FPCs in Germany as an example. During a two-year study period (2016-2018), the emergence of the FPC Oldenburg was studied through participant observations, semi-structured interviews, and document analysis. Data analysis reveals examples of, as well as challenges related to, all five dimensions of food democracy. In addition, the in-depth analysis of the case also illustrates the importance of taking additional aspects into account, i.e., openness and transparency. Looking at an additional dimension of food democracy, which covers the "How?" of the deliberative process, might allow for a more nuanced analysis of the democratic potential of food initiatives in the future

Vital Conjunctures Revisited: Gender in Times of Uncertainty

How do people anticipate the future and plan their lives when little is certain? How can we take account of the significance of demographic ‘vital events’ (such as marriage, childbirth or migration) when the horizon of a possible future within which these events acquire meaning becomes pluralized, fluid or contested? How do changing life-course patterns relate to social transformations on larger spatial and temporal scales? Which social and economic institutions construct and normalize life-stages and, vice versa, how do life-course patterns affect and transform institutions? Finally, how do these processes relate to the construction and practice of gender orders? These were the central questions debated during the workshop on ‘Vital Conjunctures — Gender in Times of Uncertainty’1, where the papers by Jennifer Johnson-Hanks and Erdmute Alber compiled in this SPP 1448 Working Paper were presented, the first as keynote and the second as critical comment

Gender, migration and development: an analysis of the current discussion on female migrants as development agents

Bisher ist der Genderaspekt für die Migrationsforschung und -politik nicht von Bedeutung. Lediglich wenn es um die Feminisierung von Migration oder Frauen als Zielgruppe von Entwicklungszusammenarbeit geht, gibt es Ansätze in diesem Bereich. In dem vorliegenden Beitrag werden die aktuellen Gender-, Migrations- und Entwicklungsdiskurse analysiert, wobei ein besonderer Schwerpunkt auf den Heimatüberweisungen liegt. Die Autorinnen machen dabei auf die Bedeutung der Genderaspekte zur Strukturierung von Migrations- und Entwicklungsprozessen aufmerksam. Es wird deutlich, dass in der nationalen und internationalen Forschung stereotype Bilder von Frauen vorherrschen und reproduziert werden. Frauen sind demnach die besseren Arbeitskräfte und die verantwortlicheren Menschen, die ihre Familie und Gemeinde unterstützen. Diese Sichtweise führt zu einer Instrumentalisierung von Migrantinnen. (ICD

The ECJ as a Constitutional and a Private Law Court: a Methodological Comparison

It is common ground that in the EU the role of adjudication has always been, and continues to be, more important than in the Member States as the degree of political consensus is much more limited at European level. Therefore, issues which could be decided politically in the Member States had to be solved legally in the European context. At the same time, the authority and legitimacy of European court decisions is more fragile than that of national ones - not only as the EU crucially depends on the collaboration of national administrations and courts for the effective implementation and enforcement of its legal system, but also because the legitimacy of the EU itself as a political entity is more fragile than that of European Nation States, most of which are firmly rooted in democratic traditions and enjoy a considerable degree of political stability. These weaknesses notwithstanding, legal integration in the EC has been a long success story reconstructed by Joseph Weiler and others. Judicial activism led to important progress of the integration process not only in the foundationary period, but also in the years of political stagnation after the 1967 crisis and after the relance of the integration process following the Single Market project 1985. This kind of activism primarily relates to the constitutional foundations of the EC: the structural constitution (i.e. the relationship of European and national law including the famous doctrines of direct effect, supremacy, state li-ability), the substantive constitution (mainly composed of the basic market freedoms, competition law, and the protection of human rights) and the institutional constitution (setting forth the competencies and the rules of interaction of the various European institutions). In these fields, the ECJ has successfully developed the treaties into a full and mostly coherent constitutional system. On the whole, these developments have met the acceptance of Member States and enjoy a sufficient degree of legitimacy. This is probably so because they are primarily related to the initial project of market integration through the abolition of national restrictions and the establishment of a system of undistorted competition - on which there was an initial consensus of all Member States and which has in most cases led to economic benefits for a majority of them. In the case of human rights protection, this only replicated a more or less com-mon standard reflecting common historical and cultural heritage and achievements. Yet, in other areas - specifically in areas covered by European secondary legislation, which the ECJ is bound to administer so to speak as an ordinary court - European adjudication has proven to be far less successful. This is particularly true for the field of European private law which is a relative new-comer to legal harmonisation policy. European private law is characterised by selective European acts limited in scope which aim in most cases at consumer protection and which have to co-exist with a more or less coherent and encom-passing body of national law (“islands and archipelagos in an ocean”). In this constellation, numerous problems exist: First, one finds problems of access and effectiveness of justice, as the most frequent preliminary reference procedure usually lasts more than 2 years and only provides interpretations of European law, without resolving the case - which frequently leads to a “ping-pong” game between European and national courts to the detriment of the parties which has lasted in some cases more than 10 years. Moreover, we are con-fronted with quality problems, as it becomes ever more apparent that the ECJ judges cannot deal convincingly, without a meaningful degree of specialisation, with all legal matters ranging from constitutional to company and tax law. More generally, the usual methodological style of the ECJ, a combination between legal formalism and effect utile-oriented interpretation, is not suited to private law, whose essential task is to balance opposed interests among the parties in a just way. This is particularly so as the overall effects of the combined application of European and national law - which alone determines the outcome of a case - is almost never considered by the ECJ which limits itself to the interpretation of European law only. But there are more structural problems related to the specific characteristics of the field. Due to the fragmentation of European sources, decisions on European acts in private law often concern their scope of applicability and do not lead, unlike in national law, to an ever more precise and coherent systematisation of the field. Specifically, the ECJ is not well suited to decide on dispositive law issues, which typically do not reflect public policy matters, but consists of a balancing of party interests. This requires significant knowledge of the social and economic context of specific types of transactions - knowledge which the ECJ frequently lacks. Taken together, these problems render the effectiveness and legitimacy of European adjudication in private law thin in many instances. A way out from this dilemma is not easy to design in general terms. How-ever, basic provisos may still be formulated: The ECJ should handle private law with caution and more often resort to judicial self restraint. It should be aware of the fact that it is not the suitable court to do the fine-tuning in private law systems and to deliver private law justice (mostly commutative and only exceptionally distributive justice). Correspondingly, it should limit itself to implementing basic European principles such as market freedoms and human rights, and to instigating and monitoring learning and rationalisation processes in national law (a "procedural" function). Moreover, it should systematically reflect the consequences of its decisions resulting from the combined application of European and national law. In short, one might say that it is by behaving like a constitutional court for private law that the ECJ might replicate its constitutional law success story there

Dynamiques migratoires, mobilité et développement au Mali. Étude réalisée pour le Ministère fédéral de la Coopération économique et du Développement (BMZ)

Sieveking N. Dynamiques migratoires, mobilité et développement au Mali. Étude réalisée pour le Ministère fédéral de la Coopération économique et du Développement (BMZ). COMCAD Arbeitspapiere - working papers. Vol 66. Bielefeld: COMCAD - Center on Migration, Citizenship and Development; 2009