What’s New Jan-April 2022

April 2022 – ARC affiliated researcher Suchi Pande and director Jonathan Fox authored new blog Fighting Corruption Through Social Audits in India: How Far Can Voice Get Without Teeth? published by Global Anti-Corruption Blog, April 28, 2022

March 2022 – New blog from ARC director Jonathan Fox, What counts as ‘accountability’ – and who decides? published by Oxfam’s From Poverty to Power March 17, 2022.

January 2022 – ARC director Jonathan Fox’s new Accountability Keywords working paper unpacks diverse understandings of accountability ideas, using the ‘keywords’ approach. This tradition takes everyday big ideas whose meanings are often taken for granted and makes their subtexts explicit. The proposition here is that ambiguous or contested language can either constrain or enable possible strategies for promoting accountability. After all, different potential coalition partners may use the same term with different meanings—or may use different terms to communicate the same idea. Indeed, the concept’s fundamental ambiguity is a major reason why it can be difficult to communicate ideas about accountability across disciplines, cultures, and languages. The goal here is to inform efforts to find common ground between diverse potential constituencies for accountable governance.

January 2022 – New working paper El control social en Colombia: Un balance sobre las veedurías ciudadanas from ARC researcher in Colombia Mariana Cepeda Villarreal launched in January 2022.

January 2022 – ARC affiliated researcher Suchi Pande authored new blog “Towards Effective and Inclusive Grievance Redress Mechanisms in Education” published by UNESCO ETICO January 21, 2022.

January 2022 – ARC senior researcher Judy Gearhart and Evan Matthew Papp of @empathymedialab launched the third Labor Link Podcast in December featuring Kalpona Akter (@kalponaakter), a former child worker who founded the Bangladesh Center for Worker Solidarity (@bcws1). Hear Kalpona’s story and what keeps her fighting for apparel workers’ rights. Listen to the full podcast and tell us what you think!