Book reviewPolarization and transformation in Zimbabwe: Social movements, strategy dilemmas and changeBy McCandless, Erin (2009)

Durban, University of KwaZulu-Natal Press, 254 pp.ISBN 978 1 86914 218Reviewed by Lesley ConnollyProgramme offi cer in the Peacebuilding Unit at ACCORDAfrican Journal on Conflict Resolution, Volume 13, Number 1, 201

Chapter 6: State-Building and Democracy

https://nsuworks.nova.edu/hcas_dcrs_facbooks/1038/thumbnail.jp

Just transitions and resilience in contexts of conflict and fragility: the need for a transformative approach

Countries affected by conflict and fragility are disproportionately affected by climate crises that are not of their making. Calls for Just Transitions (JTs) to post-carbon societies are accelerating, with scholarly attention to these contexts. This article critically reviews literature on JTs and environmental peacebuilding for insights and evidence to build a foundation for more informed analysis and action. We argue that durable transition pathways in such contexts require a transformative, political economy lens. Such a lens goes beyond a focus on adaptation, seeking solutions that address the root causes across crises, supporting accountability and financial responsibility for climate crisis consequences, and framing action around measures that build transformative resilience at multiple scales

Forging Resilient Social Contracts: A Pathway to Preventing Violent Conflict and Sustaining Peace

‘Forging Resilient Social Contracts: Preventing Violent Conflict and Sustaining Peace’ is an 11-country research and policy dialogue project that aims to revitalise the social contract amidst conflict and fragility and to advance policy and practice for preventing violent conflict and for achieving and sustaining peace. The comparative findings provide evidence and insight into what drives social contracts that are inclusive and resilient, and how they manifest and adapt in different contexts, transcending what are often unsustainable, ephemeral elite bargains into more inclusive ones, with durable arrangements for achieving and sustaining peace. The project involves international scholars, policy advisers and authors from the countries examined: Afghanistan, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Colombia, Cyprus, Nepal, Somalia, South Sudan, South Africa, Tunisia, Yemen and Zimbabwe. The project activities reported on here took place from 2016-mid 2018 and include case research in these countries, a series of policy and scholarly dialogues1 and this summary. Future project work could include policy papers on critical themes emerging from the research, knowledge products featuring the case studies, and a social contract assessment tool. The project gratefully acknowledges the financial support of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Oslo Governance Centre (OGC), the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES) in Berlin and New York, the Julian J. Studley Fund of the Graduate Program of International Affairs at The New School in New York, in this work. This Summary Findings Report introduces the project context, the project’s research framing, and findings from nine of the 11 case studies.2 Numerous validation workshops and policy dialogues in the case study countries and elsewhere inform the findings. Policy recommendations for national and international policymakers are shared. These findings and recommendations provide a basis for deepened future research and related policy and project activity.https://nsuworks.nova.edu/hcas_dcrs_facbooks/1048/thumbnail.jp

CXCR7 influences leukocyte entry into the CNS parenchyma by controlling abluminal CXCL12 abundance during autoimmunity

During CNS autoimmunity, brain endothelial cell CXCR7 internalizes CXCL12 from the perivascular space, thereby permitting leukocyte migration into the CNS parenchyma

Enhanced sphingosine-1-phosphate receptor 2 expression underlies female CNS autoimmunity susceptibility

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an inflammatory disease of the CNS that is characterized by BBB dysfunction and has a much higher incidence in females. Compared with other strains of mice, EAE in the SJL mouse strain models multiple features of MS, including an enhanced sensitivity of female mice to disease; however, the molecular mechanisms that underlie the sex- and strain-dependent differences in disease susceptibility have not been described. We identified sphingosine-1-phosphate receptor 2 (S1PR2) as a sex- and strain-specific, disease-modifying molecule that regulates BBB permeability by destabilizing adherens junctions. S1PR2 expression was increased in disease-susceptible regions of the CNS of both female SJL EAE mice and female patients with MS compared with their male counterparts. Pharmacological blockade or lack of S1PR2 signaling decreased EAE disease severity as the result of enhanced endothelial barrier function. Enhanced S1PR2 signaling in an in vitro BBB model altered adherens junction formation via activation of Rho/ROCK, CDC42, and caveolin endocytosis-dependent pathways, resulting in loss of apicobasal polarity and relocation of abluminal CXCL12 to vessel lumina. Furthermore, S1PR2-dependent BBB disruption and CXCL12 relocation were observed in vivo. These results identify a link between S1PR2 signaling and BBB polarity and implicate S1PR2 in sex-specific patterns of disease during CNS autoimmunity

DNA Polymerase Epsilon Deficiency Causes IMAGe Syndrome with Variable Immunodeficiency.

During genome replication, polymerase epsilon (Pol ε) acts as the major leading-strand DNA polymerase. Here we report the identification of biallelic mutations in POLE, encoding the Pol ε catalytic subunit POLE1, in 15 individuals from 12 families. Phenotypically, these individuals had clinical features closely resembling IMAGe syndrome (intrauterine growth restriction [IUGR], metaphyseal dysplasia, adrenal hypoplasia congenita, and genitourinary anomalies in males), a disorder previously associated with gain-of-function mutations in CDKN1C. POLE1-deficient individuals also exhibited distinctive facial features and variable immune dysfunction with evidence of lymphocyte deficiency. All subjects shared the same intronic variant (c.1686+32C>G) as part of a common haplotype, in combination with different loss-of-function variants in trans. The intronic variant alters splicing, and together the biallelic mutations lead to cellular deficiency of Pol ε and delayed S-phase progression. In summary, we establish POLE as a second gene in which mutations cause IMAGe syndrome. These findings add to a growing list of disorders due to mutations in DNA replication genes that manifest growth restriction alongside adrenal dysfunction and/or immunodeficiency, consolidating these as replisome phenotypes and highlighting a need for future studies to understand the tissue-specific development roles of the encoded proteins

Beyond Liberal and Local Peacebuilding- Three Critical Framings to Approach the Complexity of Conflict and Fragility in Africa

The search for more relevant and effective approaches to building and sustaining peace, preventing violent conflict and reducing fragility is on, with growing cognisance of the failures and limitations of liberal peacebuilding and the ‘local turn’. This paper explores critiques of these and lessons arising in the context of the ever-increasing complexity of the conflict-fragility-violence landscape. Three conceptual and practical framings are examined: endogenous hybridity; transformation; and resilient social contracts. These framings have emerged in the last decade in the peacebuilding field and wider interdisciplinary scholarship and policy arenas. The paper argues that these three framings reflect both realities and aspirations on the ground in Africa, and are giving rise to practical and relevant pathways that hold promise for achieving and sustaining peace

Conflicts and Natural Disasters

Scholarly, policy, and practitioner efforts to understand the nexus between conflicts and natural disasters and to seek integrated ways to address them abound. As both conflicts and natural disasters have been increasing in intensity and frequency worldwide, awareness has grown about the devastating and unsustainable human and financial costs. Increasing inequalities between and within countries exacerbate these consequences for those who can least afford them. This entry examines the various manifestations of the relationship between conflict and disaster, and the ways in which they intersect and interact.https://nsuworks.nova.edu/hcas_dcrs_facbooks/1047/thumbnail.jp