Friday, July 23, 2021

ENGOs and land rationalisation in Malta

 The Maltese press reports that Environmental NGOs have lost a 14-year legal battle over the 2006 building zones extension, referred to by the Government of the time as 'rationalization' of land.

I published the following peer-reviewed article in 2012 about this matter, in the International Journal of Green Economics: 

Briguglio, Michael (2012). ‘ENGOs, EU accession and empowerment: the case of land rationalisation in Malta’, International Journal of Green Economics, 6: 3, 279-297

This paper analyses whether EU Accession has helped empower Maltese ENGOs, with specific reference to the land rationalisation issue between 2006 and 2010. This issue was characterised by the Maltese Government’s decision to extend development boundaries prior to the 2008 general elections. Malta’s environmental movement opposed this decision and lobbied at national and European levels. Even though the rationalisation issue became one of the most prominent environmental issues at the time, the environmental movement ultimately failed to change Government’s decision. This paper argues that, with respect to development of land, EU accession alone is not sufficient to empower ENGOs, as this process is mediated with other overdetermining factors.

Links:

OAR@UM: ENGOs, EU accession and empowerment : the case of land rationalisation in Malta

ENGOs, EU accession and empowerment: the case of land rationalisation in Malta | Request PDF (researchgate.net)

(99) ENGOs, EU accession and empowerment: the case of land rationalisation in Malta | Michael Briguglio - Academia.edu

ENGOs, EU accession and empowerment: the case of land rationalisation in Malta: International Journal of Green Economics: Vol 6, No 3 (inderscienceonline.com)

View article (google.com)


Thursday, July 22, 2021

Friday, July 09, 2021

Findings on LGBTIQ social movement presented at International Conference

Dr Maria Brown and Dr Michael Briguglio from the University of Malta presented findings of a study on the pro-LGBTIQ rights movement in Malta at the international workshop 'Liberal Democracy in Crisis? Dialectics of Politicization and Depoliticization'. 

The hybrid event, held 8-9th July 2021, was hosted by the Inter-University Centre Dubrovnik - Croatia. The event forms part of the work programme of Working Group 1: Practices of the COST Action RECAST 'Reappraising Intellectual Debates on Civic Rights and Democracy in Europe'. 

The workshop discussion will inform the forthcoming publication Democracy in Stormy Times: Democratic crisis revisited, edited by Claudia Wiesner, Ruzha Smilova and Meike Schmidt-Gleim, to which Michael Briguglio and Maria Brown will contribute with the co-authored chapter "Repoliticising movements: The case of pro-LGBTIQ rights in Malta". Link to event programme: ProgrammeRECAST-WG1-W3-Dubrovnik-July2021.pdf (uma.es)