Theories of change for human rights and for development

Few human rights agencies work with an explicit theory of change. It is much more common for agencies to have an implicit, partially formed theory of change. Eyben et al. (2008, 202–3) place an ‘archetypes framework’ in this category – change is implicitly thought to come about through some takenfor-granted conventional wisdom (enlightened elites, new laws, people in the streets, a good example, a shock to the system, etc.). The objective of this chapter is to explore what might be gained by bringing these implicit, partially formed theories of change to light within human rights practice

Development of high-speed directly-modulated DFB and DBR lasers with surface gratings

The conventional distributed feedback and distributed Bragg reflector edge-emitting lasers employ buried gratings, which require two or more epitaxial growth steps. By using lateral corrugations of the ridge-waveguide as surface gratings the epitaxial overgrowth is avoided, reducing the fabrication complexity, increasing the yield and reducing the fabrication cost. The surface gratings are applicable to different materials, including Al-containing ones and can be easily integrated in complex device structures and photonic circuits. Single-contact and multiple contact edge-emitting lasers with laterally-corrugated ridge waveguide gratings have been developed both on GaAs and InP substrates with the aim to exploit the photon-photon resonance in order to extend their direct modulation bandwidth. The paper reports on the characteristics of such surface-grating-based lasers emitting both at 1.3 and 1.55 μm and presents the photon-photon resonance extended small-signal modulation bandwidth (> 20 GHz) achieved with a 1.6 mm long single-contact device under direct modulation. Similarly structured devices, with shorter cavity lengths are expected to exceed 40 GHz smallsignal modulation bandwidth under direct modulatio

Evaluating the stability of disulfide bridges in proteins: a torsional potential energy surface for diethyl disulfide

Disulfide bonds formed by the oxidation of cysteine residues in proteins are the major form of intra- and inter-molecular covalent linkages in the polypeptide chain. To better understand the conformational energetics of this linkage, we have used the MP2(full)/6-31G(d) method to generate a full potential energy surface (PES) for the torsion of the model compound diethyl disulfide (DEDS) around its three critical dihedral angles (&chi;2, &chi;3, &chi;2&prime;). The use of ten degree increments for each of the parameters resulted in a continuous, fine-grained surface. This allowed us to accurately predict the relative stabilities of disulfide bonds in high resolution structures from the Protein Data Bank. The MP2(full) surface showed significant qualitative differences from the PES calculated using the Amber force field. In particular, a different ordering was seen for the relative energies of the local minima. Thus, Amber energies are not reliable for comparison of the relative stabilities of disulfide bonds. Surprisingly, the surface did not show a minimum associated with &chi;2 &minus; 60&deg;, &chi;390, &chi;2&prime; &minus; 60&deg;. This is due to steric interference between H&alpha; atoms. Despite this, significant populations of disulfides were found to adopt this conformation. In most cases this conformation is associated with an unusual secondary structure motif, the cross-strand disulfide. The relative instability of cross-strand disulfides is of great interest, as they have the potential to act as functional switches in redox processes.<br /

On the relationship between small and large signal modulation capabilities in highly nonlinear quantum dot lasers

The small signal modulation response of semiconductor lasers is commonly used to predict large signal modulation capabilities. Recent experiments suggest that this prediction may fail in some quantum dot (QD) lasers. We present a model supported by experiments, which shows that when the small signal modulation response is limited by gain compression and the gain is large, the laser can be modulated at very high bit rates. This effect is inherent to dynamics governing all semiconductor lasers but the conditions needed for high bit rate modulation in the presence of narrow small signal bandwidths are only obtainable in QD lasers

Calls to a home birth helpline: empowerment in childbirth

In the UK a woman has the right to decide to give birth at home, irrespective of whether she is expecting her first or a subsequent child and of any perceived ‘risk’ factors. However, the rate of home births in the UK is very low (around 2%), varies widely across the country and many women do not know how to arrange midwifery cover. The Home Birth helpline is a UK-based voluntary organisation offering support and information for women planning a home birth. In order to gain direct access to the issues that are of concern to women when planning a home birth, 80 calls to the helpline were recorded. The aims of this paper are to document the problems that callers to this helpline report having when trying to arrange home births and to explore the strategies the call-taker uses in helping women to exercise their right to birth at home. The paper concludes that women are not easily able to exercise their right to choose the place of birth and suggests a number of recommendations for action

A future without forgiveness: beyond reconciliation in transitional justice

This article questions the promotion of reconciliation in transitional justice contexts. The article puts forward a critique of reconciliation in practice and questions mainstream definitions of reconciliation. The principle that these forms of reconciliation are desirable is also questioned. It is argued that examples of genuine reconciliation are difficult to find, that the promotion of reconciliation is frequently emphasised at the expense of substantive societal change, that emphasis on reconciliation (narrowly defined) risks taking agency away from those affected by conflict and that emphasis on reconciliation may obscure injustice and may promote acceptance of the status quo. The article suggests that reconciliation is not a necessary condition of, and should be de-emphasised in, transitional justice and, if it is promoted at all, that a different, less prescriptive notion of reconciliation is necessary

Transitional Justice and Theories of Change : towards evaluation as understanding

This article has two goals. First, to make explicit the theories of change currently operative within transitional justice and, second, to critically engage with both these theories, and dominant theories in international development. As such, it seeks to replace a focus on results, attribution, and linearity with a privileging of process, contribution and complexity. Developing theories of change for transitional justice is challenging, as it is characterised by diverse interventions, complex and contested contexts, and the need to balance principles and pragmatism. Normative, linear and mechanism-based claims remain dominant, while the evidence base for transitional justice is still weak. This article looks at insights from adjacent fields, some of the challenges facing the development of theories of change within transitional justice, and evidence from impact studies and evaluations. In a final section we propose an alternative, drawing on complexity theory and actor-oriented approaches, which suggest an important set of terms – systems, interaction, contingency, context, encounter, emergence, incrementalism – to inform what we term evaluation as understanding

Empty spaces and the value of symbols: Estonia's 'war of monuments' from another angle

Taking as its point of departure the recent heightened discussion surrounding publicly sited monuments in Estonia, this article investigates the issue from the perspective of the country's eastern border city of Narva, focusing especially upon the restoration in 2000 of a 'Swedish Lion' monument to mark the 300th anniversary of Sweden's victory over Russia at the first Battle of Narva. This commemoration is characterised here as a successful local negotiation of a potentially divisive past, as are subsequent commemorations of the Russian conquest of Narva in 1704. A recent proposal to erect a statue of Peter the Great in the city, however, briefly threatened to open a new front in Estonia's ongoing 'war of monuments'. Through a discussion of these episodes, the article seeks to link the Narva case to broader conceptual issues of identity politics, nationalism and post-communist transition