This thesis investigates the relationship between the ecosystem of independent media organisations in Lebanon, and their relationship to the European Union, specifically the European Endowment for Democracy. The analysis follows a trajectory starting from Beirut all the way back to Brussels, the lens of focus widening as it reaches its conclusion. It does so through first focusing on the case study of Megaphone News and whether it can be considered a Non Profit Media Organisation as proposed by economist, Julia Cagé. Then it takes testimonies from seven respondents across a number of these organisations to consider whether their approach and strategies align with the theory of participative journalism. Finally it uses thematic clusters to broaden discussion to consider the European Endowment’s role in the development of Lebanon’s independent media.  It concludes that European involvement in this context is fundamentally limited and impact by interests other than democracy assistance. It shows that neither theories can accommodate the interdependence and collaboration between organisations. It shows that the work of these independent media organisations has influenced the development of the European Endowment in a relationship that can be characterised as symbiotic and contradictory to the founding principles of this European Union institution. Both theories do not fully accommodate for the difficulties of operation in a collapsing economy and an unrepresentative political elite. The fluidity and innovation of these organisations in difficult conditions generate insights about how the theories and the relationship with Europe may be improved to facilitate continuation of development. The European Endowment is crucial in facilitating the growth of independent media in Lebanon, but those organisations have also shifted perspective of the Endowment in return. The content of this facilitation reveals internal limitations to democracy assistance efforts.

Forms of physical interaction have been restricted during the covid-19 pandemic, which has forced civil society organizations (CSO:s), with the aim to create and maintain participation and engagement for their cause, to move activities aimed to create engagement to a digital space. This thesis aims to investigate which lessons these organizations bring with them from the period based on perceived possibilities and limitations with creating engagement in a digital space. Departing from affordance theory and theory of social capital, this paper tries to gain understanding for the relationship between the organizations’ social context and the technological attributes to further understand which implications it has for virtual engagement’s three communicative components: network ties, content, and interaction. With case study research design, five semi structured interviews with employees from five Swedish CSO:s, working with sustainable and global development, were conducted to get an inside perspective of the challenges and possibilities during the period. Results show that even though digital media entails many possibilities in regards to reach beyond geographical borders and effective resource management, the organizations have learned that some communicative aspects of physical gatherings cannot be replaced. The biggest limitation mentioned in regards to digital media is the aspect of informal relationship building interaction which is imperative to create and maintain engagement. Global and sustainable development means an inherent incentive to use inclusive and sustainable solutions, but it is also important to understand which aspects the digital format cannot replace or facilitate if we move towards a future where restrictions may become part of everyday life.

The covid-19 pandemic forged a more intensely digital world, complicating civil society actors’ menu of options for channeling and framing their advocacy goals. As both a product and study of pandemic-era politics, this dissertation is concerned with understanding how the internet and social media shape associational life in Kazakhstan. I draw on three forms of ethnographic data collected online between October 2020 and February 2022, including semi-structured interviews, visual analysis of social media posts, and digital participant observation. I demonstrate how Kazakhstani civil society actors devise strategies to pursue reform, how they debate theories of political change, and how they exercise agency in a political system that seeks to control the public sphere. I argue that civil society groups use social media platforms to leverage power differentials across levels of administration to advance rights claims and negotiate for reform. Activists and rights defenders flock to various social media platforms because of each site’s unique technological infrastructure. They leverage different logics of visibility and bridge physical and digital forms of contentious politics to demand accountability from an authoritarian government. In addition to providing a more complete understanding of civil society dynamics in Kazakhstan, this study suggests that, in repressive contexts, civil society actors who opt for within-system engagement have not necessarily been coopted and activists do not always take dissent underground. This dissertation is an example of digital political ethnography, which stands to grow not only as a standalone method, but also a bridge to big data analysis in political science. I demonstrate the importance of an ethnographic sensibility while approaching the internet as a site of inquiry to understand political subjectivity.

The United Nations (2016) and International Olympic Committee (2015) have offered analyses highlighting sport's contributions to societal well-being. More particularly, and for their part, scholars have suggested that sport for development (SFD) initiatives can encourage the development of social capital (Kidd and Donnelly, 2007; Nicholson and Hoye, 2008; Lyras and Welty Peachy, 2011; Coalter, 2013). This dissertation investigated those researchers' claims by exploring the relationship between two SFD organization sports programs and social capital formation among their youth participants in Kigali, Rwanda. I conducted semi-structured interviews with the leaders of both SFD entities to obtain their perceptions concerning whether and how the efforts I examined were linked to social capital creation. I utilized the World Bank's Social Capital Initiative Networks View of social capital for my analysis (Woolcock and Narayan, 2000). This study's participants, coaches and curriculum designers, argued that sport for development initiatives fostered such relationships in a variety of ways, including easing ethnic divisions among those participating and challenging social norms, especially as related to gender. Those interviewed for this inquiry also suggested that SFD programs encouraged the formation of simultaneous amalgams of bonding and bridging social capital among participating youth; novel and potentially powerful evidence of the efficacy of sport programming. / Doctor of Philosophy / The United Nations (2016) and International Olympic Committee (2015) have each highlighted the significant contributions sport has made, and can make, to societal well-being. Previous research has suggested that sport for development (SFD) initiatives encourage these results be encouraging the development of social capital (Kidd and Donnelly, 2007; Nicholson and Hoye, 2008; Lyras and Welty Peachy, 2011; Coalter, 2013). This inquiry explored the relationship between SFD and three forms of social capital as perceived by interviewees drawn from the leaders of two such nongovernmental programs in Kigali, Rwanda. The study utilized the Networks View of social capital developed by the World Bank's Social Capital Initiative to examine whether sport for development initiatives fostered social capital (Woolcock and Narayan, 2000). According to this study's participants, such efforts did indeed promote social capital in a variety of ways, including easing ethnic divides and challenging social norms related to gender. Additionally, interviewees also suggested that SFD programs encouraged the formation of simultaneous bundles of bonding and bridging social capital among participating youth; novel and potentially powerful evidence of the efficacy of sport programming.

This thesis argues that a peace-oriented struggle has emerged in Peshawar from within the non–state space and is demonstrated at the empirical level by various associations in that space. The struggle to embrace peace and reject different forms of violence, by this associational life in Peshawar is what we call an ‘emergent civil society’. The thesis argues against those who claim that civil society cannot exist or flourish in a non-western environment. Civil Society in Peshawar is emergent, as the empirical evidence suggests, but within an overarching tendency to root this in a local cultural identity. The latter is, however, imbued with values, belief systems, and gender roles, which limit the search for peace. Two examples are the dominance of a hyper masculinity and religious orthodoxies, which undermine forms of associationalism which might promote peace. To find an indigenous cultural identity, the ‘emergent civil society’ navigates, not without tensions, across three different worldviews that includes cultural (Pakhtunwali), religious (Islam) and, to a certain extent, liberal (human rights) perspectives. The tensions between different perspectives become more frictional when the ‘emergent civil society’ advocates women’s rights and religious pluralism, which is resisted by the antithetical forces of masculinity and religious orthodoxies. Amidst these contestations, the ‘emergent civil society’, while resisting these antithetical forces, pressurizes the state also to provide favourable conditions to continue its peace-oriented struggle. This thesis, however, suggests that the ‘emergent civil society’ also needs an in-ward looking tendency to self reflect on certain challenges that seem to impact the potential for growth and development of an associational life, which can fully embrace the social conditions for peace.

In the contemporary era, civil society has become an essential component for addressing the political liberalization and democratization of Middle Eastern regimes. This study concentrates on civil society in Lebanon, a small democratic nation in the Levant. Lebanon's government is a consociational system characterized by dysfunctional power-sharing among sectarian parties. Comprehending the factors in Lebanon that influence civil society's ability to function and serve its purpose is essential. This understanding can assist in gaining insights into how civil society activists in the Middle East may mobilize to contribute to purposeful political and social evolutions. This exploratory study seeks to gain a better understanding of how Lebanese civil society functions and the factors that contribute to its capacity (or incapacity) to resolve societal challenges in the context of the Lebanese state's frailty. This study seeks to analyze the impact of multiple contemporary stressors on the fragile state infrastructure, namely the over a decade-long hosting of Syrian refugees and the country's recent political and economic collapse. It also aims to examine how these particular challenges have affected the function of civil society, as well as the intricate dynamics between various organizations at the national and international levels. The gathered evidence supports the conclusion that civil society organizations (CSOs) in Lebanon struggle to navigate a landscape characterized by multiple crises and a faltering public sector. As local CSOs devote a significant portion of their attention to humanitarian aid and external funding, their interactions with international NGOs and Syrian refugee populations contends with complex challenges. Ultimately, this reality has revealed the diminished capacity of CSOs to contribute to meaningful and lasting change in the country.

This thesis investigates how the level of democratic values differs between active members of different civil society organizations. Civil society has been considered a fundamental aspect of democracy and research have highlighted that some organizational characteristics are associated with democratization and sustainable democracy. However, variations in democratic values at the individual level, disparities between members of different civil society organizations, and the connection to democracy have to some extent been overlooked. This study investigates the nuanced relationship between organizational membership and democratic values across eight African countries using data from the World Value SurveyWave 7. This thesis focuses on exploring the disparities in democratic values among members of quotidian civil society organizations (QCSOs) which have been found to significantly contribute to democratization, compared to members of human rights civil society organizations (HRCSOs) where such significance is not observed. The research employs linear regression analysis to uncover subtle yet statistically significant differences. The findings indicate a marginal but noteworthy distinction in democratic values between active members of QCSOs and HRCSOs. This study highlights the importance of recognizing individual level differences in understanding the diverse landscape of civil society and its relation to democracy.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.