Статті в журналах з теми "Local government, decentralisation, administrative reform, revolution"

After the Revolution of Dignity (2013–2014), the new Ukrainian government set out a number of reforms, one of which – and a successful one so far – was decentralisation, involving territorial amalgamation and re-allocation of public revenues and outlays in favour of the newly-established amalgamated territorial communities (ATCs). This study aims to analyse whether decentralisation is supported by the realisation of the budget transparency principle. We attempt to fill the gap still existing in the research of public sector transparency in Ukraine, concerning the basic administrative level, hereby being limited to big cities and regions. The authors carried out an assessment of budget transparency in newly-established ATCs in four Ukrainian regions by applying a simplified methodology (‘snapshot assessment’) involving 11 measures that could be easily located on the ATC websites. In order to understand the reasons for a particular level of transparency, a polling of ATC heads was undertaken. The findings of the study demonstrate that the overall budget transparency in the newly established ATCs is rather low and subject to significant interregional variation. We find that the local officials overstate the existing level of budget transparency in their communities and are not proactive in their efforts to raise it. The importance of this article lies in substantiating the need for making budget transparency a priority for local officials, as well as in detailing the activity of the state and the local community in this field

Post-independence state-building in Africa was hinged on decentralisation reforms aimed at increasing the participation and involvement of the previously disenfranchised black majority in governance and development processes. There was a realisation that the inherited governance and development challenges could only be addressed through decentralisation. The qualitative desktop analysis of the relevant literature that was undertaken in the recent research, however, indicates that decentralisation reforms implemented by most African countries since gaining independence failed to achieve the intended results. Building on this trend, this article is guided by Falleti’s sequential theory of decentralisation and argues that the administrative, fiscal, and political decentralisation reforms implemented in Zimbabwe, rather than empowering the local people, further entrenched the central government’s grip on and control of local governments – centralisation and recentralisation through decentralisation/devolution. Authors argue that the reforms created avenues through which the central government could micromanage, whip, and sometimes, undermine local governments thereby suffocating their capacity to provide basic services. The reforms allowed the central government to deepen its patronage networks. Keywords: Centralisation, Decentralisation, Devolution, Recentralisation, Zimbabwe

Ukraine has been facing unprecedented challenges since 2014. A Revolution of dignity makes Ukraine turn closer to the EU and NATO, while ongoing and expanded Russian aggression threatens the very existence of Ukrainian statehood. One of the key directions of making Ukraine resilient to threats and challenges is the decentralisation process. It aims at making the government and public administration in Ukraine more democratic, transparent and efficient, open to public concerns and the needs and expectations of local communities. The article proposes analytical approaches towards the decentralisation process taking into account the imperative of democratisation and security challenges that Ukraine has been dealing with. The authors consider both dimensions of the national regional policy and self-government reforms, proposing a balanced vision on their advantages and disadvantages, as well as pointing out key problems that should be attended by the government. The process of decentralisation means a lot for Ukraine to make its statehood stronger and more secure vis-a-vis threats the country is facing now.

The obligations assumed by the Ukrainian state by ratifying the association agreement between Ukraine and the European Union have become a reference point for transformations taking place in various spheres of public life, including local self-government. The article analyzes Ukraine's compliance with EU requirements regarding local self-government organisation, achievements in this field, and determining the prospects for reform. The analysis is grouped into four blocks: implementation of administrative and territorial reform; budget decentralisation; optimization of the organization of local public authorities (executive bodies formation of regional (oblast) and district (rayon) councils, the establishment of prefectures); land reform (transfer of land management to communities). The powers of local self-government bodies and state bodies were transformed in implementing municipal, territorial, fiscal and land reforms. However, further reforms are impossible without amendments to the Constitution of Ukraine (regarding the decentralisation of power), the adoption of new legislative acts (on the principles of the administrative-territorial structure of Ukraine, on prefectures), as well as amendments to some existing ones (on local self-government, etc.).

Colonial relations of political administration are being reproduced in the current era of participation and decentralisation. In natural resource management, participation and decentralisation are promoted on the basis that they can increase equity, yield greater efficiency, benefit the environment and contribute to rural development. Reaping these benefits is predicated on (1) the devolution of some real powers over natural resources to local populations, and (2) the existence of locally accountable authorities to whom those powers can be devolved. However, a limited set of highly circumscribed powers are being devolved to locally accountable authorities, and most local authorities to whom powers are being devolved are systematically structured to be upwardly accountable to the central state, rather than downwardly accountable to local populations. Many of the new laws being passed in the name of participation and decentralisation administer rather than enfranchise. The article examines the historical legal underpinnings of the powers and accountability of state-backed rural authorities (chiefs and rural councils), the authorities through which current natural resource management projects in Burkina Faso and in Mali represent local populations, and the decisions being devolved to local bodies in new natural resource management efforts. Without reform local interventions risk reproducing the inequities of their centralised political-administrative context. Rather than pitting the state against society by depicting the state as a negative force and society and non-state institutions as positive—as is done in many decentralisation and participatory efforts—this article suggests that representation through local government can be the basis of general and enduring participation by society in public affairs.

The article explores the decentralization reform in Ukraine under the presidency of Petro Poroshenko in 2014−2019, evaluating its main results and challenges in the context of territorial consolidation and democratization. The article seeks to explain what made the policy makers choose the priority of increasing the institutional and financial capacity of local government to provide public services in the context of improving Ukraine’s cohesion and resilience to external threats in relation to its territorial unity and sovereignty. The article argues that the logic of decentralization in 2014−2019 has brought Ukraine closer to the EU by implementing the principles of subsidiarity and promoting local democracy in the framework of multilevel governance in a unitary decentralized state. At the same time, the article highlights a number of challenges that decentralization faced in 2014−2019, including the level of institutional coordination within a multi-level governance setting, as well as the limited effectiveness of the incentives to increase local development in Ukraine. In the first stage of the reform in 2014−2019, decentralization led to shifting the balance of power and resources between central and subnational actors and institutions, but did not institutionalize the involvement of the latter into the process of policy making at the central level. According to the logic of the Sequential Theory of Decentralization, the start of the reform from administrative and fiscal decentralization, as well as the postponing of political decentralization, can set the vector of reducing the degree of autonomy of actors and institutions at the sub-state levels on the further stages, especially in the case of limiting the financial capacity of self-government to provide public services. If the reform is successful at its the next stages, it will generate a useful example of a decentralized democracy outside the EU, being more resilient to external and internal challenges due to its strengthened local self-government. Ukraine’s decentralization reform can become an example for post-Soviet countries and some EU member states that seek to strengthen their territorial integrity. Key words: decentralization, territorial consolidation, multi-level governance, Ukraine

A new legislative framework for devolution has been introduced into England marking a potentially significant step towards addressing the unfinished business of Labour’s devolution settlement. What promised to be a bespoke and bottom-up commitment to devolution for English local government has manifested into a top-down, prescriptive and inconsistent process of agreeing the decentralisation of functions and finances to groups of principal local authorities. The paper reports on the progress of the new wave of devolution in England to date, through a review of agreed devolution deals and assesses the extent to which the current ‘devolution revolution’ represents the beginning of a shift away from a centralised system built from the bottom up, or looks set to result in another typically top-down reform to local government. The paper presents the initial findings of early research, which will be used to develop key research questions for a further long-term research project.

The paper analyses urban governance and decentralisation in France. It explains the “quiet revolution” that wants to set the legal base of French local government back to the drawing board with special focus on the reform of local government in urban areas. The context of the too many too small communes – at the heart of the reform programme – is described since it is a typically French evil (part 2). In the absence of any successful top-down policy of amalgamating communes, new communes are deemed to be the effective solution along with a new mapping of intercommunal joint bodies (part 3). Finally, the paper describes what the metropolis “à la française” consists of (part 4) with a special focus on Lyon – the perfect model for the whole country – and Paris and Aix-Marseille as the worst pupils in transition. France stands out as an important case where new powers bestowed upon metropolitan governments have curbed the jurisdictions of regional governments. The ambiguity over the powers and functions of local governments triggers obdurate turf wars between the two levels of government, which clearly indicates that the governance of any modern society needs to be simplified. If left unaddressed, competition – not coordination or cooperation – between regionalization and metropolitanisation, regionalization and local governments, governability and multilevel governance is likely to become the norm. The author concludes that France desperately needs an in-depth reform of its institutional architecture, which is regularly postponed. What is required is a simplification of governmental machinery: more efficiency in local policies, a clearer allocation of responsibilities, reduced expenses, and governance closer to citizens.

The present study investigates the problems of development and implementation of municipal policy in Ukraine. It was found that the essence of municipal policy of Ukraine, given the ongoing decentralisation reform, is that it is a relatively stable, organised, purposeful activity of public authorities and local governments, which aims to build a capable local government, adequate to the needs and interests of territorial communities. The study describes the elemental composition of municipal policy. The authors of this study established that its elemental composition includes: the concept of system-structural and organisational-functional organisation and activities of local authorities at different levels of administrative-territorial organisation; a coordinated system of regulations that govern the organisation and activity of local bodies of state executive power and local self-government, establish the scope and limits of their competence, determine the features of interaction and the procedure for resolving disputes between them; regulatory basis of resource provision of local self-government; legislative definition of a body or official in the structure of state executive bodies, which represents the interests of the state in the corresponding territory, has the right to exercise control powers, and constitutes a link between the territorial community, local governments and the system of state executive bodies; formally defined decision-making algorithm on issues relating to local self-government; system of monitoring the national municipal policy. The authors also identified the main blocks of issues under study, which require further use of a comprehensive scientific approach to their legislative solution

The present study investigates the problems of development and implementation of municipal policy in Ukraine. It was found that the essence of municipal policy of Ukraine, given the ongoing decentralisation reform, is that it is a relatively stable, organised, purposeful activity of public authorities and local governments, which aims to build a capable local government, adequate to the needs and interests of territorial communities. The study describes the elemental composition of municipal policy. The authors of this study established that its elemental composition includes: the concept of system-structural and organisational-functional organisation and activities of local authorities at different levels of administrative-territorial organisation; a coordinated system of regulations that govern the organisation and activity of local bodies of state executive power and local self-government, establish the scope and limits of their competence, determine the features of interaction and the procedure for resolving disputes between them; regulatory basis of resource provision of local self-government; legislative definition of a body or official in the structure of state executive bodies, which represents the interests of the state in the corresponding territory, has the right to exercise control powers, and constitutes a link between the territorial community, local governments and the system of state executive bodies; formally defined decision-making algorithm on issues relating to local self-government; system of monitoring the national municipal policy. The authors also identified the main blocks of issues under study, which require further use of a comprehensive scientific approach to their legislative solution

The post-war reconstruction of Ukraine should include not only the reconstruction of infrastructure destroyed and damaged during hostilities, material objects of the industrial and social spheres, and all other aspects of the return of the population to a full life in peaceful conditions but also the improvement of social relations, particularly, relations between authorities and self-government and the population. In this context, the continuation of the decentralisation reform should lead to the completion of the formation of conditions under which residents of all settlements, which are part of territorial communities, could influence the resolution of issues of their life activities. The article aims to highlight the institutional limitations for the inclusive development of rural communities related to the representation and implementation of their interests in territorial communities and to justify proposals for overcoming them. Research methods were used: logical-historical (when highlighting the controversy of the process of establishing the institute of starosty (local leader), dialectical and abstract-logical (when analysing the institutional limitations for realising the interests of rural communities as part of territorial communities and substantiating the direction of their overcoming), monographic (when analysing the composition starosty districts). The author reveals the manifestations of the centralisation of local self-government functions at the level of territorial communities, which resulted in narrowing the rights of residents of rural settlements, especially small and remote ones, to representation and participation in solving their problems. The paper establishes the presence of starosty districts with many villages and, accordingly, limited conditions for developing rural communities. The manuscript describes the Polish experience of organising inclusive local self-government at the lower level of the administrative-territorial system and substantiates the expediency of its fuller use in Ukraine: the central place here should belong to the endowment of starosty districts, disaggregated to the level of settlement (in particular, rural) communities, with certain powers to solve their livelihoods problems and the right to use local resources. The study results can be used to improve local self-government reform in the post-war period.

This article assesses the 40-year-old program of building a third level of governance in Nigeria to improve the democratic and developmental aspirations of Africa’s largest democracy, one of only two federally governed countries on the continent. The assessment relies on secondary and primary sources. The article finds that even though the reform was sustained over the years in terms of structural, financial and human resources capacity infusion and a raft of changes to democratize the institution, the program was only successful in the first four years while the military was in power. The article proposes measures to make this institution adapt to civilian governance through enhancing accountability arrangements at all the three levels of governance and an asymmetric approach to financing infrastructures in the cities and rural areas. These would enable the local government institutions to actually function as grassroots structures for building and sustaining democracy and development from below complementing the export-led strategy of the present government. Points for practitioners The current Nigerian government is pursuing an export-led strategy comprising three main elements that several industrializing countries have used successfully. Only the first two elements – macro-economic stability, economic freedom for farmers and small-scale entrepreneurs – are in place. These need to be complemented by boosting rural infrastructures which a robust political and administrative system, underpinned by strong grassroots local government system as articulated in this article, makes possible.

The article examines the organisation of local governments in the system of social protection of children in the process of decentralisation of power and the formation of united territorial communities. The biggest challenge for the authorities, after agreeing with communities and approving long-term plans, is to create a safe environment for children, who have risks and might need social assistance. As the analysis of scientific and theoretical-practical material shows, the state is now actively cooperating in this direction with international organisations and non-governmental organisations that develop projects such as «Together. Social services for families in the community» (Semikina, 2020). So, directions of the reform of social services are accessibility, overcoming difficult life circumstances, guardianship and care of children. The term «community» can be defined as an area, community of interested of people and local government and administrative-territorial unit. In the Law of Ukraine «On Social Services», the description of relevance of social services in the community and the purpose of the centre of social services as central and local authorities are specified. To conclude, the interdepartmental activities of state and public organisations related to children’s protection systems, the establishment of an interdepartmental commission aimed at identifying the children affected by violence and circumstances that may threaten their lives and health have been revealed. Thus, local governments can be considered to be part of the system of social protection of children. the establishment and development of interaction and partnership between local governments, the executive social institutions and public organizations that strengthens protection of children can be considered to be the necessary conditions for the effectiveness of the aforementioned activities.

Revisiting Robert Brentano's 1960 article in Traditio on “The Bishops’ Books of Città di Castello,” this contribution challenges a reigning narrative of the “documentary revolution” in medieval Italy as primarily the achievement of the thirteenth-century communal governments of the north. While these urban ruling regimes did produce prodigious numbers of documents and new documentary forms, they were not the earliest innovators. By broadening the scope of analysis to include all the early administrative codices surviving in Città di Castello — those of the city's communal government, cathedral chapter, and bishopric — the author demonstrates that the initial leap from administrative reliance on single sheet parchments to registers occurred earliest in the cathedral chapter (by 1192), then in the bishop's court (1207), and finally more than a decade later in the commune (1221). At least in this one small Umbrian town, ecclesiastical institutions were the earliest innovators. The evidence of Città di Castello also indicates that political instability and its related economic effects drove innovation, not the reform initiatives of Innocent III and the Fourth Lateran Council. Local ecclesiastical leaders, not popes, were the innovators.

The conclusion of transformation processes in child social welfare system of Ukraine is presented in the article. Another process of reforming the institution care system is underway. The Decentralisation Reform and other systemic reforms of public authorities sparked a discussion about the formation of another public administration mechanisms in Ukraine. There have been changes in legislation. State agencies at regional level have been liquidated. The powers of this bodies were transferred to local self-government. So thas it made it possible to delegate powers to provide administrative serveces in amalgamated hromadas. There are institutional changes under the deinstitualisation reform. The incumbent legislation involves establishment of the Office of Children’s Services for the purpose of ensuring children’s social protection, accomodation rights and interests in the municipalities on the territory of which the reside. Currently these powers are at the National Social Services of Ukraine. The Committee of Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine submitted a bill establishing the State Children’s Service instead of previous one. The new concept of social services for families with children in hromadas has to be worked out further and be used. Social orphanhood prevention requires an integrated approach in the system of public administration. The basic challenges in children social welfare system nowadays are: lack of clear mechanisms of implementation of existing legislation, lack of qualified specialists, uncompleted reforms processes. The monitoring of the results of reforms in society is not carried at the moment. Statistical data have not been updated for several years. The Offices of Children’s Services of hromadas are presented by only one social employee. Prevention of social orphanhood is not the priority framework for amalgamated hromadas currently. There is also no single concept in the issues of social policy.

Decentralisation has become a crucial policy of public sector reforms in many countries. In Vietnam, decentralisation started as a part of the national innovation programme (Doi moi) since 1991 in order to grant powers to local government. Studies on decentralisation in Vietnam has significantly increased over the last years. However, there is still a lack of consensus on nature, characteristics, implications and outcomes of decentralisation. Through an integrated approach, this paper presents a concept of decentralisation, and its dimensions and degrees within the particular context of Vietnam. This study also provides a primary comparison between decentralisation and some related terms, such as division of powers, allocation of functions. Next, the paper presents an overview of the process of decentralisation in Vietnam during the past years. After that, this research proposes some key solutions in order to ensure decentralisation in the context of Vietnam in the future. Keywords: Decentralisation, public administrative reform, local government, Vietnam.

Uganda’s Government of the National Resistance Movement (NRM) assumed power in 1986, in an environment of political turmoil, and initiated a policy of decentralisation as a way of restoring state credibility and deepening democracy. Decentralisation was accordingly legislated under the Local Government Act of 1997, as a framework act directing the decentralisation process. The aim of the Act was to enable implementation of decentralisation provisions provided for under Chapter 11 of the 1995 National Constitution. The decentralisation policy in Uganda aimed at improving local democracy, effectiveness, efficiency and sustainability in the delivery of essential services country-wide. Improved service delivery was in turn expected to make significant positive impact on people’s quality of life. Unfortunately, the implementation of decentralisation appears to have concentrated more on administrative objectives as a means of promoting popular democracy and less on service delivery which would have led to economic transformation and better lives for the majority of Ugandans, and now new districts are being created without corresponding improvements in service delivery. Surprisingly, this is happening in the midst of external praise that decentralisation reform in Uganda is one of the most far-reaching local government reform programmes in the developing world. The paper explores the role of decentralisation in development and how it can be undermined by political factors. It highlights the development of decentralisation in Uganda, discusses its achievements, failure and challenges, and concludes that the decentralisation programme which was ambitious and politically driven has had mixed results in terms of enhancing service delivery and should be seriously reviewed and strengthened if it is to remain as a role model in Africa.

In recent years the topic of decentralisation has received great attention. The increased interest is not only because of its theoretical appeal, but it is related to the rising number of countries adopting a more decentralised system. The widespread economic liberalization along with political change towards openness and democracy is one of the driving forces. In transition economies, including the transition countries in Europe and Central Asia (ECA)2 such trend was largely driven by the limited administrative and financial capacity of the center, while in some other regions the policy shift may be prompted by the collapse and erosion of central control. However, decentralization is not about weakening central authority. The important goal is to make the local government more responsive to the needs of local population. Most discussions about decentralisation accordingly center on attempts to improve the delivery of services. The countries in ECA region started the transition process with wholesale restructuring of their political systems. The discontent with welfare state institutions and the challenges that globalization processes triggered have modified the professional discourses on state, governance and democracy. The need for decentralization and devolution of power from central to local authorities has become one of the priorities in changing the state in these countries. The devolution of power necessarily intervenes with service delivery responsibilities, public finances arrangements, rebuilding central state capacities and institutions. While reasons for decentralization in the region vary, decentralization reform has been one of prevailing common prescriptions for addressing a wide range of other issues, including economic inefficiencies, macroeconomic instability, governance deficiencies, and poor delivery of public services. Interrogating some of the basic definitions on decentralization, decentralized governance and good governance and their significance for the ECA region, this paper focuses on the recent decentralization efforts made by the transition countries in ECA, concentrated around the implementation of the current decentralization agenda. It further explains why there are different approaches on the decentralization processes in these countries. At the same time, it recognizes that the decentralization everywhere is considered as a necessary mechanism to address a number of critical issues, including delivery of services. The section on legal, institutional capacities and financial resources at local level, attempts to underline the problem of limited capabilities that exists in local governments in these countries. The paper also addresses the importance of accountability and community empowerment in enhancing and improving service delivery. It suggests establishment of institutions and mechanisms to promote accountability in order to control government’s abuses and increase governments’ responsibility. Recognizing the predominant role of the public sector in delivery of services in ECA countries, the paper also explores the potential of different forms of public-private partnership, as well as the role of the civil sector in providing service delivery. Finally, while some of the challenges these countries are facing with in improving their governance systems are addressed in the concluding remarks (e.g. the fight against corruption), they are not further elaborated in this paper.

IntroductionThe popularity of social networking sites (SNSs) bears witness to thriving movement protests worldwide. The development of new hardware technologies such as mobile devices and digital cameras, in particular, has fast enhanced visual communications among users that help document and broadcast contemporary social movements. Using social media with these technologies thus presents new opportunities for grassroots social movement organisations (SMOs) and activist groups to become narrators of their activist lives, and to promote solidarity and recognition for advancing varied civic and political agendas. With the case of a student activist group that led and organised a 10-day occupation protest in Hong Kong, this article examines the idea of new media-savvy SMOs as political curators that employ SNS platforms to (co-)create digital narratives at large-scale movement protests. Invoking the concepts of curation and choreography, it highlights how these processes can work together to encourage contentious engagement and collaboration in contemporary social movements.The New Media-Savvy SMO as Political CuratorWhereas traditional social movement studies stressed the importance of pre-existing social networks and organisational structures for collective action, developments in new information and communication technologies (ICTs) challenge the common theories of how people are drawn into and participate in social movements. In recent years, a spate of research has particularly emphasised the ability of individuals and small groups to self-organise on the Internet (e.g. Rheingold). Lately, observing the use of SNSs such as Facebook and Twitter in contemporary social movements, work in this area has focused on how SNSs enable movement diffusion through personal networks and individuals’ online activities even without either the aid or the oversight of an organisation (e.g. Shirky).However, horizontal activism self-organised by atomised new media users seems insufficient as an explanation of how many recent protest movements achieved their high tides. While the flourishing literature shows writers have correctly centred their study on the changing dynamics in control over information and the growing importance of individual users’ contributions, it fails to account for the crucial role that SMOs continue to play. In fact, recent studies consistently observe the continuing importance of SMOs in mobilising and coordinating collective actions in online environments (Bimber, Flanagin, and Stohl, Collective). Whereas new ICTs have provided activist groups with the instrument to deal with their contentious activities with less cueing and leadership from conventional institutionalised structures, SMOs have created their own new media resources. Nowadays, a significant percentage of protest participants have received their information from online platforms that are run by or affiliated with these organisations. The critical questions remain about the kinds of communication methods they utilise to activate and integrate independent activists’ networks and participation, especially in emerging social media environments.Unfortunately, existing research tends to overlook the discursive potentials and cultural dimensions in online activism while emphasising the cost-effectiveness and organisational function of new ICTs. In particular, social movement and new media scholars merely attended to the ways in which digital media enable widescale, relatively un-coordinated contributions to repositories of resources for networks of activists and interest groups, as SNS applications stress the importance of user participation, openness, and network effects in the processes of content production and sharing. However, the mere existence or even “surplus” (Shirky 27) of “second-order communal goods” (Bimber, Flanagin, and Stohl, “Reconceptualizing” 372)—a collection of resources created collectively but without a bounded community, through video-posting, tagging, and circulation practices engaged in by individuals—does not accidentally result in critical publics that come to take part in political activism. Rather, social movements are, above all, the space for manifesting ideas, choices, and a collective will, in which people produce their own history through their cultural creations and social struggles (Touraine). As such, the alteration of meaning, the struggle to define the situation, and the discursive practices carried out within a social movement are all major aspects of social movements and change (Melucci).Indeed, SMOs and marginalised communities worldwide have increasingly learnt the ability to become narrators of their activist and community lives, and to express solidarity and recognition afforded through technology adoption. The recent proliferation of social media applications and mobile digital technologies has allowed activist groups to create and distribute their own stories regarding concrete actions, ongoing campaigns, and thematic issues of protest movements on more multimedia platforms. In order to advance political ideas and collective action frames, they may bring together a variety of online content in such a way that the collated materials offer a commentary on a subject area by articulating and negotiating new media artefacts, while also inviting responses. Therefore, not only are the new media channels for activist communication comparatively inexpensive, but they also provide for a richer array of content and the possibility of greater control by SMOs over its (re-)creation, maintenance, and distribution for potential digital narrating. To understand how digital narrating takes place in contemporary protest movements with SNSs, we now turn to two analytic concepts—curation and choreography.Social Media Content Curation and Choreography Curation, as a new media practice, involves finding, categorising, and organising relevant online content on specific issues. For instance, museums and libraries may have curators to select and feature digital items for collection and display, improving the types of information accessible to a public audience. In protest movements, SMOs and political actors may also curate peer-produced content on SNS platforms so as to filter and amplify useful information for mobilising collective action. In fact, this process by SMOs and political actors is particularly important, as it helps sort and draw timely attention to these information sources, especially at times when users are faced with a large amount of noise created by millions of producers (Bennett, Segerberg, and Walker). More importantly, not only does content curating entail the selection and preservation of online materials that may facilitate collective action, but it may also involve the (re-)presentation of selected content by telling stories not being told or by telling existing stories in a different way (Fotopoulou and Couldry). In contrast to professional collecting, it is a much more deliberate process, one which clearly articulates and puts forwards (opportunities for) new meanings or new understanding of a subject (Franks). For example, when new media content is re-posted or shared in its original form but in a new context, digital narrating occurs as it may result in a new or additional layer of meaning (Baym and Shah). Therefore, more than merely expending information resources available to activists, the power of curation can be understood primarily as discursive, as users may pick up particular versions of reality in interpreting social issues and protest movements (Bekkers, Moody, and Edwards).Moreover, nowadays, social media curating is not restricted to text but also includes image and video streaming, as the development of mobile devices and digital cameras has facilitated and enhanced instant communication and information retrieval almost regardless of location. The practice of content curating with SNSs may also involve the process of choreographing with various social media modules, such as posting a series of edited pictures under an overarching schema and organising user-generated photos into an album that suggests a particular theme. Rather than simply using a single visual item designed to tell a story, the idea of choreographing is thus concerned with how curated items are seen and experienced from the users’ perspectives as it “allows curators not just to expose elements of a story but to tell a structured tale with the traditional elements of beginning, middle and end” (Franks 288).In practice, the implementation of choreography can be envisioned to bring together the practice of content curating and that of enhancing and connecting contentious engagement at protest movements. For example, when SMOs make use of images and video to help frame an issue in a more advanced way by sharing a picture with a comment added on Facebook, they may at once, whether consciously or unconsciously, suggest possible endorsement to the selected content and/or the source—may it be that of an individual user or a formal organisation—while drawing attention to the image and circulating it beyond the original network for which it was posted (Bennett, Segerberg, and Walker). As such, by posting pictures with captions and sharing user-generated photos that do not belong to the SMO but are produced by other users, curating and choreographing with social media content can create a temporary space for practicing mutual recognition and extending the relationship between the SMO and the larger public. Combined, they may therefore “entail the creation of norms and boundaries in particular user communities and their platforms” (Bennett, Segerberg, and Walker 239).This article examines the ways in which a new media-savvy SMO employed SNS platforms to (co-)create digital narratives, with the case of the 2012 Anti-National Education Movement in Hong Kong. By highlighting how social media content curating and choreographing may work together to encourage engagement and collaboration at large-scale protests, we can better understand how emerging SNS-enabled affordances can be translated into concrete contentious activities, as well as the discursive aspects and cultural expressions of using new media platforms and digital technologies in contemporary protest movements.Digital Narrating for Grassroots Mobilisation Since 2010, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government has undertaken “national education” curriculum reform. However, the worry about mainland-Chinese style national education in schools brought people out to defend values that were held dear in Hong Kong. Scholarism, a new media-savvy SMO founded by about 20 secondary school students in May 2011, became the first pressure group formed against the “Moral and National Education” curriculum and became the leading activist group. On 30 August 2012, about 50 members and supporters of Scholarism started occupying the public area in front of the government’s headquarters, while three of its members went on a hunger strike. At the same time, Scholarism made active use of Facebook to undertake grassroots mobilisation, prompting both online activism and offline participation. On 7 September, over 120,000 people went to Occupy Headquarters. The next day, the Chief Executive, C. Y. Leung, succumbed to the pressure and declared that the curriculum would not be imposed in Hong Kong schools. In order to initiate a grassroots mobilisation, upon the beginning of Occupy Headquarters, Scholarism carried out the new media practice of telling the story of the student hunger strikers on Facebook to create a “moral shock” (Jasper 106) among the general public. On the first day of the occupation protest, 30 August, a poster on the hunger strike was released by Scholarism on its Facebook page. Instead of providing detailed information about the protest movement, this poster was characterised by the pictures of the three student hunger strikers. The headline message simply stated “We have started the hunger strike.” This poster was very popular among Facebook users; it accumulated more than 16,000 likes.By appealing to the hardships and sufferings of the three student hunger strikers, more photos were uploaded to narrate the course of the hunger strike and the occupation protest. In particular, pictures with captions added were posted on Facebook every couple of hours to report on the student hunger strikers’ latest situation. Although the mobilising power of these edited pictures did not come from their political ideology or rational argumentation, they sought to appeal to the “martyr-hood” of the student activists. Soon thereafter, as the social media updates of the student hunger strikers spread, feelings of shock and anger grew rapidly. Most of the comments that were posted under the updates and photos of the student hunger strikers on Scholarism’s Facebook page protested against the government’s brutality.In addition, as the movement grew, Scholarism extended the self-reporting activities on Facebook from members to non-members. For instance, it frequently (self-)reported on the amount of people joining the movement days and nights. This was especially so on 7 September, when Scholarism uploaded multiple photos and text messages to report on the physical movement of the 120,000 people. As a movement strategy, the display of images of protests and rallies on the Internet can help demonstrate the legitimacy, unity, numbers, and commitment of people supporting the movement goals (Carty and Onyett). Curating and choreographing with protest images on Facebook therefore facilitated the symbolic interactions and emotional exchanges among activists for maintaining movement solidarity and consolidating activist identity.To demonstrate the public support for its organisation and the movement, Scholarism extensively reported on its own, as well as other, protest activities and efforts on Facebook against the introduction of the “Moral and National Education” curriculum, creating unprecedented parallel public records of these events. In fact, throughout the entire movement protest, Scholarism took tight photo records of protest activities, systematically organised them into albums, and uploaded them onto Facebook every day between 30 August and 8 September.Content Co-Creation for Counter-Hegemonic ExpressionsFrom a (neo-)Gramscian perspective, counter-hegemony is often embedded and embodied in music, novels, drama, movies, and so on (Boggs). An example of counter-hegemony in the traditional media is a documentary that questions the government’s involvement in a war (Cohen). Therefore, popular culture in the media may help foster counter-hegemony on the terrain of civil society in preparation for political change (Pratt). For Chinese communities in East Asia, pop music, for example, had played a significant role in organising patriotic feelings in mass protest events, such as the Tiananmen demonstrations of 1989 and the many subsequent protests in Hong Kong, Taiwan, and elsewhere against the violence of the Beijing government (Chow 153). During the occupation protest, Facebook was turned into an open and flexible discursive space, in which cutting-edge counter-hegemonic narratives were produced, distributed, and expressed. Scholarism and many individual activists adopted the social media platform to (co-)create activists’ discourses and knowledge in order to challenge the dominant political and cultural codes (Melucci). An example is a poster created by Scholarism, posted on its Facebook page on 4 September. The title message of this poster is: “This is not the government headquarters. This is our CIVIC SQUARE. Come and occupy!” This message represents a discursive intervention that seeks to “illuminate the limits of normative discourses of knowledge and power” (Lane 138). It did so by replacing the original, official name and meaning of the government headquarters as well as its authority with the counter-hegemonic idea of “civic square,” a term developed and coined by Scholarism during the occupation protest to represent the public space in front of the headquarters.Moreover, the Facebook page of Scholarism was by no means the only source of content out of which counter-hegemonic knowledge and discourses were produced. Conversely, most of the new media artefacts observed on the Facebook page of Scholarism were originally created by and posted on, and therefore re-posted and shared from, the Facebook pages of other individual or group users. They are in forms of text, picture, video, and the like that sought to undermine the legitimacy of the Hong Kong government, ridicule the rationale of the “Moral and National Education” curriculum, and discredit figures in the opposition.An example is a cartoon made by an individual user and re-posted on the Facebook page of Scholarism on 2 September, the day before schools restarted in Hong Kong after the summer break. This cartoon features a schoolboy in his school uniform, who is going to school with a bunch of identical locks tied to his head. The title message is: “School begins, keep your brain safe.” This cartoon was created to ridicule the rationale of the introduction of the “Moral and National Education” by “making visible the underlying and hidden relations of power on which the smooth operation of government repression depends” (Lane 136).Another new media artefact re-posted on the Facebook page of Scholarism was originally created by a well-known Hong Kong cartoon painter of a major local newspaper. This cartoon sought to humanise the student activists and to condemn the brutality of the Hong Kong government. It paints an imagined situation in which a public conversation between the Secretary for Education, Hak-kim Eddie Ng, and the three students on the hunger strike takes place. In this cartoon, Ng is cast as the wholesaler of the “Moral and National Education” curriculum. Holding a bottle of liquid in his hand, he says to the students: “This is the tears of the chief executive from last night. Kids, should you all go home now?”Thus, counter-hegemonic expressions did not flow unidirectionally from Scholarism to the society at large. The special role of Scholarism was indeed to curate and choreograph new media artefacts by employing social media modules such as re-posting and sharing user-generated content. In so doing, it facilitated the mobilisation of the occupation protest and instant collaboration, as it connected scattered activities, turned them into a collective, and branded it with a common identity, conviction, and/or purpose.ConclusionThis article has briefly looked at the case of a new media-savvy SMO in Hong Kong as an example of how activist groups can become political curators at large-scale protest events. In particular, it highlights the concepts of curation and choreography in explaining how emerging SNS-enabled affordances can be translated into concrete contentious activities. This article argues that, rather than simply producing and disseminating content on SNS platforms, SMOs today have learnt to actively construct stories about protest movements with social media modules such as (re-)posting edited pictures and sharing user-generated photos in order to mobilise effective political interventions and sustain a vibrant participatory culture.ReferencesBaym, Geoffrey, and Chirag Shah. “Circulating Struggle: The On-Line Flow of Environmental Advocacy Clips from the Daily Show and the Colbert Report.” Information Communication & Society 14.7 (2011): 1017–38. Bekkers, Victor, Rebecca Moody, and Arthur Edwards. “Micro-Mobilization, Social Media and Coping Strategies: Some Dutch Experiences.” Policy and Internet 3.4 (2011): 1–29. Bennett, W. Lance, Alexandra Segerberg, and Shawn Walker. “Organization in the Crowd: Peer Production in Large-Scale Networked Protests.” Information, Communication & Society 17.2 (2014): 232–60. Bimber, Bruce, Andrew J. 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