The study of policy discourse comprises actor-centered and content-oriented approaches. We attempt to close the gap between the two kinds of approaches by introducing a new methodology for the analysis of political discourse called Discourse Network Analysis. It is based on social network...

The evaluative framework of Sen's capability approach provides the most robust alternative to utilitarian economics and its income and growth oriented vision of development. However, despite its affirmation of human flourishing as development objective, it does not provide an alternative to...

Recent experiences of social movements in South America and the expansion of non-institutional forms of collective action have given rise to new conceptual frameworks such as participatory democracy, which aim to capture the impact of new forms of participation and collective action on democracy...

Since the 1990s, Latin America has witnessed indigenous mobilization which contest the public policies implemented by their governments. They contend that public policy is not about following a linear development model of material accumulation, but about buen vivir or Good Living, about...

Public opinion has a substantial impact on political actions. However, public opinion might be driven by temporary emotions. If these emotions cool off over time, public opinion might change as well. This paper analyses how emotions drive public opinion over time for the case of an environmental...

This paper examines the economic origins of the Islamic revival that took place in Egypt in the 1970-80s, and in Muslim societies more generally. We provide the first systematic evidence of a decline in social mobility among educated youth in Egypt. Developing a behavioral model of religion, we...

This article discusses the current characteristics of trade unionism in Italy. First, however, attention is paid to the initial imprinting of the model, which stemmed from the circumstances in which the trade unions were reconstituted at the end of WWII, and whose far-reaching consequences are...

In this paper we develop and test an encompassing theoretical framework for the explanation of the geographical and temporal spread of extreme right violence. This framework combines internal precipitating factors related to ethnic competition, social disintegration, and political opportunity...

The challenges of sustainable development (and climate change and peak oil in particular) demand system-wide transformations in socio-technical systems of provision. An academic literature around co-evolutionary innovation for sustainability has recently emerged to attempt to understand the...

In fragile states, social protection programmes are often a kaleidoscope of projects financed and implemented by a variety of donors, government agencies and NGOs. Such an environment does not foster a strong sense of ownership by beneficiaries, which weakens the likelihood of sustainability in...