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The Transnational Institute (TNI) is an international research and advocacy institute committed to building a just, democratic and sustainable world. For more than 40 years, TNI has served as a unique nexus between social movements, engaged scholars and policy makers.
The Transnational Institute (TNI) is an international research and advocacy institute committed to building a just, democratic and sustainable world.
Founded in 1974 as a network of ‘activist scholars’, TNI continues to be a unique nexus between social movements, engaged scholars and policy makers.
TNI has gained an international reputation for carrying out well researched and radical critiques and anticipating and producing informed work on key issues long before they become mainstream concerns, for example, our work on food and hunger, third world debt, transnational corporations, trade, and carbon trading.
As a non-sectarian institute, TNI has also consistently advocated alternatives that are both just and pragmatic, for example developing alternative approaches to international drugs policy and providing support for the practical detailed work of public water services reform.
TNI's Projects
TNI works on a wide range of interlinking issues. The constant interaction between fellows and projects gives TNI a unique, broad and informed perspective and enables a cross-disciplinary approach to complex global problems.
TNI's work currently includes:
- Leadership as a respected global voice on drugs policy, promoting a pragmatic approach to tackling illegal drugs based on harm reduction principles.
- Supporting a dynamic international network involved in building participatory, public sector water as the best way to achieve the goal of water for all
- Confronting the dogma of trade liberalisation, which like financial liberalisation has led to increased inequality, and helping to construct regional alternatives, such as the Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas, based on regional cooperation and solidarity
- Analysing and exposing the democratic dangers posed by the concentration of corporate power and proposing new legal frameworks of accountability for transnational corporations.
- Engaging with democratic innovations and experiments undertaken by social movements, progressive political parties and governments worldwide helping to empower communities to gain control over their lives and environment
- Drawing together and analysing the links between the different elements of the systemic crisis —financial, environmental and social.
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Resources
Displaying 6 - 10 of 53Toolkit for participatory action research
This project brings the international soft law instrument, the Voluntary Guidelines on Responsible Governance of the Tenure of Land, Fisheries, and Forests (Tenure Guidelines or TGs) to rural communities and, together with them, uses the Guidelines to strengthen their tenure of land, fisheries and forests. As well, it provides policy-relevant knowledge on how to promote legitimacy and accountability of public authorities involved in land grabs. The goal of the Toolkit is to help users to produce outputs which are politically relevant and useful.
Collaborative action research on the rush for land and water in Uganda, Mukono District
The land in fishing communities is especially susceptible to land grabbing. Findings reveal that lawlessness, ignorance of the law, unlawful evictions and increasing conflicts in fishing and farming communities, all lead to loss of access to land and fishing grounds. This report gives background and context of the research, clarifies the legal and policy framework governing the use of land in Uganda, while providing background on the Mukono district.
Securing community tenure rights to land in Betem, Akpet, Idoma and Akampa in Cross River State, Nigeria
The study focuses on impacts of PZ Wilmar’s acquisition of nearly 30,000 hectares of land. Wilmar is a multinational company involved in land grabbing cases related to oil palm plantations in Cross River State, Nigeria. The study shows the extent of Wilmar’s infringement on communal land rights, examining cases of eviction and destruction of livelihoods. Findings show that the four communities studied suffered from increasing food prices, deficits of local staple foods, evictions and displacement of poor farmers.
Bottom-up accountability initiatives to claim tenure rights in sub-saharan Africa : country report on South Africa
The research project uses the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of land, fisheries and forests (VGGT or Tenure Guidelines) as a tool to assess the impact of various governance frameworks on small scale fishing communities. It uses the Tenure Guidelines to empower communities to protect their rights in the context of promoting food sovereignty.
Using the tenure guidelines for action research : a primer
As part of a collaborative project to strengthen the capacity of grassroots communities in Mali, Nigeria, Uganda and South Africa, this practical guide focuses on accountability and accountability politics in the global rush to grab land, water and other natural resources. Through action research, threatened communities can determine causes, conditions, and consequences that will inform collective action and advocacy, in particular by using the CFS/FAO Guidelines on Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests (Tenure Guidelines or TGs).