Chair: Jenni Kauppila, UN Association of Finland/Citizens’ Global Platform (jenni.kauppila[at]ykliitto.fi)
Room: 313 (Thursday & Friday)
This working group explores the dynamics of citizen participation in a global world, which is increasingly characterized by complexity of the problems and interconnectdness of the different crisis. Therefore it is relevant to ask the question, how can people first of all identify the (international or even national) decision-making processes that affect their lives? How can they then effectively influence these processes? Papers dealing with citizen participation at local, national and international level, preferably looking also at the connections between the different levels of governance, are invited to the working group.
PRESENTATIONS
THURSDAY 14.00-17.00
(1) Structuring of public participation in global institutions through the major groups (14.00-14.40)
Sébastien Duyck, Northern Institute of Environmental and Minority Law, Arctic Centre, University of Lapland (sebastien.duyck[at]ulapland.fi)
The adoption twenty years ago of Agenda 21 and its recognition of the importance of nine major groups have undeniably played a key role in strengthening the participation of in decision-making. Since 1992, several intergovernmental institutions have framed the participation of stakeholders on the basis of the representation of the interests of these nine groups.
However, the impact of the major group approach promoted by Agenda 21 in categorizing stakeholders has not been studied in depth. This paper considers the structuring of civil society engagement consequent to the adoption of this approach in intergovernmental institutions. This analysis relies on a comparative approach, studying intergovernmental processes with different models for stakeholders representation in order to identify the costs and benefits of the major group approach for the legitimacy of public participation. The paper argues that this framing has both advantages and drawbacks in relation to the legitimacy of the participation of civil society representatives. On the one hand, the major group approach contributes to the legitimacy of public participation in ensuring a balanced participation of various groups as well as through requirements related to the transparency of each group. Drawbacks of the major group approach in terms of legitimacy include the exclusion of groups not specifically recognized in Agenda 21, and the imposition upon stakeholders of a categorization that might diverge from the participants self-identification.
As the Rio+20 conference aims at building on the outcomes of the previous UN conferences on sustainable development, this paper will provide a timely analysis of both positive and negative impacts of the implementation of a major group approach to public participation in intergovernmental governance.
(2) Global Citizens Online: The Democratisation and Effectiveness of Human Rights Campaigning (14.40-15.20)
Pieta Seppänen, School of European Studies, Cardiff University, UK (pietase[at]gmail.com)
The internet has enhanced the interconnectedness of people around the world and enables them to be increasingly aware of the same political, economic and environmental problems. Although the internet has been praised for its potentially democratising effect, it remains questionable whether it has revolutionised people’s chances of acting upon perceived global injustices. This paper explores this issue from the perspective of human rights. It examines to what extent individuals can directly participate in global human rights work through online campaigning and whether this benefits the promotion of human rights. The research is conducted by content analysis and case study to scrutinise the democratisation level of the online practices of selected internet-based and internet-enhanced organisations on the web and in social media. This method is used to identify opportunities that organisations can provide for people to engage in representative, monitorial and deliberative democracy via the internet. The paper concludes that a greater level of online democracy is optional for the organisations, but beneficial from the perspective of citizen participation. It can provide individuals a platform for making a positive direct contribution to the identification of problems and the realisation of human rights, given that the campaigns are also professionally designed.
15.20-15.40 Coffee break
(3) Platforms for Citizen Participation or Digitized Local Bureaucracy? A Comparison between Rio de Janeiro and Istanbul’s City Websites (15.40-16.10)
Itir Akdogan, PhD Candidate, University of Helsinki (itir.akgodan[at]helsinki.fi) and Leonardo Custódio, PhD Candidate, University of Tampere(leonardo.custodio[at]uta.fi)
This paper discusses the uses of Internet for city governance in developing societies. While enthusiasts foresee that Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) empower citizens in formal politics with e-participation opportunities, critics recognize several challenges and limitations of online participation. In international debates, the priorities of the global information society policy agenda emphasize citizens access to Internet and their interaction with representatives. However, does increased access and interactive platforms online necessarily lead to citizen participation? From a critical perspective, the authors present a comparative analysis between the official websites of local authorities in Istanbul (Turkey) and Rio de Janeiro (Brazil). These sister mega-cities have resembling sociopolitical structures: both present high rates of social inequality with unaccountable and clientelist political institutions that have integrated ICT in their administration. Internet may then appear as a potential instrument to confront these challenges. Based on Carpentier’s access-interaction-participation model (2011), the authors critically discuss how governmental practices in Istanbul and Rio de Janeiro remain overly restricted to political elites despite the introduction of e-participation tools.
(4) Chinese Public Diplomacy in Nigeria – Responding to Citizens? (16.10-16.50)
Annina Kärkkäinen, Department of Political Science and Contemporary History, University of Turku (amkark[at]utu.fi)
This paper addresses the question – or at least attempts to provide some initial impressions on – how citizens in Nigeria have striven to influence official representatives of China present in the country. I will focus on how Nigerians have attempted to influence Chinese representatives, such as embassy staff, in relation to grievances related to socioeconomic issues caused by (or perceived as caused by) Chinese actors in the country, including Chinese companies. I will also try to discern any reactions from these Chinese actors: how, or if, grievances have been addressed. The expectation is that if there are any responses or reactions, these will take the form of public diplomacy efforts where discursive and/or material instruments may be used. On a more general level, this paper deals with the possibilities of any civil society groups to exert influence on China’s policies in the country concerned; whether Chinese state representatives ever take into consideration foreign citizens’ attempts at influencing its policies and if they do, when and why?
Various Chinese state and non-state actors have become relevant actors in Nigeria, as in most countries in the Sub-Saharan Africa, in the 2000’s. Their activities are having multiple implications on development in Nigeria, with their presence affecting citizens in different positions in society differently. The official representatives of China face the challenging task of trying to coordinate and control these various actors, to the best of their ability, as well as trying to present a coherent image of ‘China’ to various publics in African countries. As the activities of Chinese actors sometimes become politicized in the countries concerned, China’s official representatives must make choices regarding their own participation in the public discussion that is taking place. If, when and how China’s official representatives do choose to participate – or so my argument goes – depends on the issues involved, the characteristics of the group(s) voicing the grievances, and the manner in which these grievances are framed. In practice, China’s representatives will perhaps perceive some groups as ‘requiring’ a response, and other groups’ grievances as unnecessary to respond to.
My PhD thesis focuses on grievances that have been voiced by domestic groups regarding (perceived) implications of Chinese actors’ activities in some, to-be-selected countries in the Sub-Saharan Africa. The focus is on specifically ‘African’ voices and responses from Chinese (state) actors. I will base my research primarily on Chinese and African sources.
16.50-17.00 Wrap-up of Day 1
Jenni Kauppila, Coordinator, Citizens’ Global Platform, UN Association of Finland
FRIDAY 12.00-14.30
(1) The Land Governance and Social Security of Rural Women in Africa (12.00-12.40)
Maaria Das, University of Helsinki (maaria.das[at]helsinki.fi) and Jussi Ylhäisi, Unversity of Helsinki (ylhaisi[at]mappi.helsinki.fi)
This paper briefly traces changes in land ownership policy in Tanzanian and effects of global policies, investors and economy about local rural women in the land question in south. The work focus also practical issues as social security of women and their families perspective as livelihood, housing and security of women and how this is reflecting in their environment and participation. What are the new possibilities and advantages for enhancing women in issues of land access and security? Land ownership is a key issue for sustainable use of environment, rural development and role of women in Africa. Women owning the land are found to face a significantly lower risk of marital violence than landless women. Freedom from abuse (mental and physical) has its implications for a country’s overall development. How women can effectively influence these processes, how they identify these issues and how they can influence the policy making and participate in community development?
(2) Participation through Civil Society Organizations: legal limitations and their justification in Ethiopia (12.40-13.20)
Sisay A. Yeshanew, Institute for Human Rights of Åbo Akademi University(salemahu[at]abo.fi)
In recent years, there has been a wave of legislation restricting the operational spaces for civil society organizations in Africa (ACPPP, 2011). The recent Ethiopian Proclamation providing for the registration and regulation of charities and societies is one such legislation (Proclamation 621/2009). It classifies CSOs based, among others, on the purpose of their establishment, the citizenship of those who establish them and the source of their funding. It provides that only those CSOs established by Ethiopians and receive not more than 10 per cent of foreign funding may work on human rights, democracy, the rule of law and conflict resolution. It limits those NGOs that raise more funding from abroad and foreign NGOs to technical development intervention. The government justifies the provisions of the legislation which introduce restrictions by the need to ensure that CSOs have local constituency and that issues of human rights and governance are nationally owned, and to curb what it calls “the neo-liberal agenda of sidelining the state through funding NGOs and promoting rent-seeking”. In addition to assessing the practical limitations entailed by the legislation on citizen participation in human rights, governance and development processes, the proposed paper intends to conduct a critical appraisal of the justifications provided in support of the legislation.
13.20-13.40 Coffee Break
(3) Transnational Participation of Immigrants: Somali Diaspora Associations Acting In and in-Between Finland and Somalia (13.40-14.20)
Päivi Pirkkalainen, University of Jyväskylä (paivi.pirkkalainen[at]jyu.fi)
Participation of immigrants in a global word is often characterized by the multi-sited transnational engagements, namely simultaneous linkages with their countries of origin and countries of settlement. Both origin and settlement states provide context for the participation – offering opportunities but also limiting them to a varying degree. Moreover, participation has implications both on the integration of immigrants into the countries of settlement, and in the case immigrants coming from poorer countries, on development processes. This paper analyses the inter-linkages between participation in the country of settlement and the country of origin looking at the Somali migrants organising processes in Finland. First, the paper gives an overview of Somalis’ associational involvement in Finland, and second, it examines how the contexts in Finland and in Somalia affect the participation to civil society, ie. in the form of associations. As conclusions some remarks will be drawn on the implications of associational participation both on Somalis’ integration in Finland and on development processes of Somalia.
(4) Wrap-up of the Working Group 5 (14.20-14.30)
Jenni Kauppila, Coordinator, Citizens’ Global Platform, UN Association of Finland