Die globalen Debatten um das Millennium-Entwicklungsziel 1 (MDG 1) erreichen in vielen Ländern des globalen Südens in erster Linie die zuständigen Planungsämter der nationalen Verwaltung sowie gewisse, den Umgang mit globalen Organisationen gewohnte Vertreter der Zivilgesellschaft. Sie haben aber kaum Auswirkungen über die Hauptstädte hinaus.

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In response to growing concerns about detrimental impacts of foreign direct investment in land in developing countries (‘land grabbing’), multilateral organizations have come forward with two proposals to protect people's rights and make such investments more responsible. Referring to empirical evidence from Tanzania, Nepal, and Kyrgyzstan, the article challenges the two proposals from a legal pluralism perspective, by showing that they do not adequately consider the existence of plural legal orders over land and the dynamics of power and everyday practices inherent in property relations.

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In the relatively rare instances when the spatialities of temporary migrant work, workers’ journeys, and labour-market negotiations have been the subject of scholarly attention, there has been little work that integrates time into the analysis. Building on a case study of low-paid and insecure migrant manual workers in the context of rapid economic growth in India, we examine both material and subjective dimensions of these workers’ spatiotemporal experiences. (...).

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Das Ziel dieses Beitrags ist es zu zeigen, dass bei Bewegungen für neue Staaten in Indien regionalistische Aspekte eine ebenso wichtige Rolle spielen wie vorgestellte Identitäten und ethnische Konstrukte. Dabei wird die These aufgestellt, dass besonders die Konstruktion von imaginativen Geographien in Form von strategischen Raumbildern eine wesentliche Strategie zur Legitimierung und Mobilisierung darstellt. So formulieren die Akteure ihre Forderungen bewusst mit Referenzen zu raumbezogenen Daten wie Geschichte, Bevölkerungszahlen oder Migrationsbewegungen.

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This article narrates how bureaucrats in eastern Sri Lanka operated during and after the war. They managed to keep minimal state services running whilst being locked between the government and the insurgent Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). When the government defeated the LTTE in 2009, civil servants were freed from rebel coercion, but they also lost their counterweight against unappreciated policies from the capital and interference by local politicians. (...).

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This article sheds light on the impacts and dynamics of the latest decentralization phase in Ethiopia, which seeks to professionalize and democratize local government. Based on recent field research in Oromiya Region, we draw attention to the paradoxes inherent in the top-down decentralization of public administration within an authoritarian one-party state. This article emphasizes on the one hand the ways decentralization facilitates the expansion of service delivery into rural hinterlands and on the other hand the ways state authority remains limited.

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Based on a case study in rural Kyrgyzstan, this chapter explores the multiple constraints which shape agro-pastoral practices today and how local households respond to them. To do so, it distinguishes between different forms of uncertainty, that is, social and political, livelihoods, knowledge and ecological uncertainties. Results show that Kyrgyz agro-pastoralists must respond to much more than ecological uncertainties only, and that the extent of these uncertainties differs a lot between the rich and the poor. (...).

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The state, development donors and Taliban attempted to effect social change in Pakistan's Swat valley. To understand these dynamics, the article compares the explanatory power of deliberative and radical theorising. Both approaches fail to provide analytical, procedural or normative insights due to their eurocentric ontologies. The article advocates for a change of focus from ontologised explanation to an analysis of the actual 'how of politics'. This focus on 'politics as practice' provides differentiated insights into Swat, being a postcolonial arena.

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Loss of livestock to snow leopards is one of the primary concerns of subsistence herders’ communities and one of the primary threats to conservation of this endangered species throughout the alpine regions of the central Asia. Unless the relationship between snow leopards and humans is better understood and appropriate strategies are applied, coexistence may not be sustainable. To address this issue, WWF Nepal piloted a community-managed livestock insurance scheme in Kangchenjunga Conservation Area simultaneously with various types of mitigation measures.

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This paper reviews and discusses the distinctive characteristics of mountain agro-pastoralism in Central Asia. Opening with a discussion of past and present research directions on this topic, the paper proceeds to outline the background to farming and raising livestock in the mountains. We then summarize key findings which are relevant to understanding where, how and why people practice agro-pastoralism in the mountains of Kaza- khstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan.

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In this reply to Ronald Skeldon’s comment on their article, “Migration in Far West Nepal” (see below), the authors stress the need to overcome the categorical dichotomy between “international” and “internal” migration by thoroughly considering the conditions and characteristics different types of cross-border regimes encompass for migrants. Moreover, they call for a reconciliation of different – competing – theoretical perspectives on migration.

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This commentary's claim is that Dänzer's argument does not sufficiently take into account the complexities of the global production of goods, the current corporate responsibility practices and the problems of attributing responsibility to single actors. I argue in favour of a shared responsibility and briefly present a discursive approach for attributing MNE's share of responsibility in global supply chains, which requires obligatory transparency.

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This article bridges Sri Lankan studies and the academic debate on the relation between contemporary Islam and politics. It constitutes a case study of the Muslim community in Akkaraipattu on Sri Lanka’s war-ridden east coast. Over two decades of ethnically colored conflict have made Muslim identity of paramount importance, but the meanings attached to that identity vary substantively.

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Pasture use in rural Kyrgyzstan is related to various forms of uncertainty, and has become strongly governed by socioeconomic disparities among local pastoralists. In addition, pasture resources have become under increased pressure from mining companies digging for gold and other precoius metals.

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Scholarly debates about migration in Nepal have gradually shifted from an economic to a more holistic perspective, also incorporating social dimensions. However, little evidence has been generated about internal migration to urban destinations and the potential linkages between international and internal migration. This article draws on Bourdieu’s ‚Theory of Practice’ and sees migration as a social practice.

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Die Auswirkungen der Überschwemmungen in Pakistan vom August 2010 wurden durch anthropogene Einflüsse verstärkt. Dazu gehören das Unvermögen der staatli-chen Verwaltung, Nothilfe zu leisten sowie der oft kritische Betrieb und Unterhalt der Bewässerungsinfra-struktur in der Indusebene. Viele Pakistanis sehen die Ursachen in einer zentralistischen Organisation der staatlichen Verwaltung, welche die lokale Ebene kaum erreicht...

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