Alec Thornton
Biographic Data
| ID | 3697087 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Alec Thornton |
| GIVEN NAMES | Alec |
| FAMILY NAME | Thornton |
| SIGNATURE | THORNTON A |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Canberra |
| ORCID | 0000-0001-6562-535X |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 14 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 26 |
| WORKS AS AUTHOR | 13 |
| WORKS AS EDITOR | 1 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2009 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 3 |
Beyond Migration
Rural households confronted with environmental change employ a range of adaptation strategies to sustain their livelihoods, of which migration is only one possible response. Using the Sustainable Livelihoods Framework and a qualitative approach with semi-structured interviews on Poço Fundo, Minas Gerais, Brazil, this study identifies key adaptation strategies such as crop diversification, cooperative resource-sharing through institutional partner…
Urban gardening in public space
Citizen-led initiatives, like urban gardening, are increasingly transforming urban public spaces. Such practices of DIY urbanism have prompted varied policy responses from local governments across the world. Public urban gardening is a form of citizen initiative that involves the small-scale appropriation of publicly accessible open space for gardening with or without the approval of the landowner, usually the local authority. Growing plants on p…
Towards effective stakeholder collaboration in building urban resilience in Phnom Penh
Private actors and food safety governance in the Accra City Region
Community participation in contemporary urban planning in Cambodia
Urban resilience building in modern development
Although the process of building urban resilience is increasingly and globally promoted, we consider this concept, and the approaches to achieve it, as particularly challenging for cities in developing countries. We argue that current market-oriented processes of urban upgrading reflect a revival of modernization concepts that, as a consequence, is deepening inequality and limiting adaptive capacities of people to cope with livelihood disruptions…
The Geography of Development Studies
Whereas the Millennium Development Goals sought reductions, the Sustainable Development Goals have set forth bold new objectives of leaving no one behind. This Commentary explores the continued geographic prioritization and exclusions within development studies research and some of the causes. The status quo is entrenching exclusion. A transformation of research, and the research community, is required to ensure that no one is left behind. Provid…
Charity Rankings
Individuals want to know which organisations to donate to, and a variety of organisations have developed ranking systems to guide them. This paper explores charity ranking, with a particular focus on the increasing role of impact and ‘cost‐effectiveness’. Ranking systems are composed of a selection of metrics, which may miss important components and, as a result, create a set of unintended outcomes. We argue that an emphasis on cost‐effectiveness…
A socio-cultural analysis of smallholder borrowing and debt in southern Ethiopia
Disaster Relief in the Asia Pacific
Introduction 1. Coping with Disaster: Agency and resilience in the Asia-Pacific context, Edwin Jurriens, Minako Sakai, Alec Thornton and Jian Zhang Part I: Civil society 2. Responding to Disasters in the Asia-Pacific Region: State and civil society relationships, David W. Lovell 3. Key Factors for Capacity-Building of Disaster Relief Operations: Indonesian examples, Minako Sakai and Amelia Fauzia 4. Fostering Civil Society Organizations for Disas…
Hard times in A pia? Urban landlessness and the church in S amoa
This paper presents findings from a study about the relationships between social change and settlement change in S amoa, where a form of landlessness is emerging in low income areas of the main town, Apia. It examines changing reciprocal kinship arrangements with respect to customary rural village plantation land and changes in both individual and household relationships with the church. Although these relationships are typically closely bound in…
Givers and governance
Civil society organisations, including those that are faith-based, are increasingly viewed as key stakeholders that can influence government policies, advocate on behalf of poor people and contribute to service delivery and development. This paper discusses interactions between religious groups and the state and how they influence society in the ethnically diverse Asia-Pacific region. Through case studies of Indonesia, Fiji, and Samoa, the paper …
Alienation and obligation
This paper will explore social change in contemporary Samoan society with respect to the traditional expectations of the church and kinship conflicting with the modern needs of an urbanising population. In the Samoan way of life – the fa'aSamoa – religion, matai (chiefly system) and reciprocal ‘gift‐giving’ kinship arrangements among the aiga (extended family) are fundamental and closely related elements. However, pressures from continued integra…
Garden of Eden? The impact of resettlement on squatters' 'agri-hoods' in Fiji
Since the mid 1990s, squatter settlements in Fiji have been expanding at a phenomenal rate, largely due to the non-renewal of agricultural land leases and inadequate urban governance. In response to squatter growth, the government of Fiji has implemented a squatter-resettlement scheme. This scheme threatens the livelihoods of squatters engaged in urban agriculture, or ‘farming squatters’. In this article, interviews with key informants and squatt…
Alienation and obligation
This paper will explore social change in contemporary Samoan society with respect to the traditional expectations of the church and kinship conflicting with the modern needs of an urbanising population. In the Samoan way of life – the fa'aSamoa – religion, matai (chiefly system) and reciprocal ‘gift‐giving’ kinship arrangements among the aiga (extended family) are fundamental and closely related elements. However, pressures from continued integra…
A socio-cultural analysis of smallholder borrowing and debt in southern Ethiopia
The Geography of Development Studies
Whereas the Millennium Development Goals sought reductions, the Sustainable Development Goals have set forth bold new objectives of leaving no one behind. This Commentary explores the continued geographic prioritization and exclusions within development studies research and some of the causes. The status quo is entrenching exclusion. A transformation of research, and the research community, is required to ensure that no one is left behind. Provid…
Community participation in contemporary urban planning in Cambodia
Urban resilience building in modern development
Although the process of building urban resilience is increasingly and globally promoted, we consider this concept, and the approaches to achieve it, as particularly challenging for cities in developing countries. We argue that current market-oriented processes of urban upgrading reflect a revival of modernization concepts that, as a consequence, is deepening inequality and limiting adaptive capacities of people to cope with livelihood disruptions…
Givers and governance
Civil society organisations, including those that are faith-based, are increasingly viewed as key stakeholders that can influence government policies, advocate on behalf of poor people and contribute to service delivery and development. This paper discusses interactions between religious groups and the state and how they influence society in the ethnically diverse Asia-Pacific region. Through case studies of Indonesia, Fiji, and Samoa, the paper …
Garden of Eden? The impact of resettlement on squatters' 'agri-hoods' in Fiji
Since the mid 1990s, squatter settlements in Fiji have been expanding at a phenomenal rate, largely due to the non-renewal of agricultural land leases and inadequate urban governance. In response to squatter growth, the government of Fiji has implemented a squatter-resettlement scheme. This scheme threatens the livelihoods of squatters engaged in urban agriculture, or ‘farming squatters’. In this article, interviews with key informants and squatt…
Garden of Eden? The impact of resettlement on squatters' 'agri-hoods' in Fiji
Since the mid 1990s, squatter settlements in Fiji have been expanding at a phenomenal rate, largely due to the non-renewal of agricultural land leases and inadequate urban governance. In response to squatter growth, the government of Fiji has implemented a squatter-resettlement scheme. This scheme threatens the livelihoods of squatters engaged in urban agriculture, or ‘farming squatters’. In this article, interviews with key informants and squatt…
Alienation and obligation
This paper will explore social change in contemporary Samoan society with respect to the traditional expectations of the church and kinship conflicting with the modern needs of an urbanising population. In the Samoan way of life – the fa'aSamoa – religion, matai (chiefly system) and reciprocal ‘gift‐giving’ kinship arrangements among the aiga (extended family) are fundamental and closely related elements. However, pressures from continued integra…
Givers and governance
Civil society organisations, including those that are faith-based, are increasingly viewed as key stakeholders that can influence government policies, advocate on behalf of poor people and contribute to service delivery and development. This paper discusses interactions between religious groups and the state and how they influence society in the ethnically diverse Asia-Pacific region. Through case studies of Indonesia, Fiji, and Samoa, the paper …
Hard times in A pia? Urban landlessness and the church in S amoa
This paper presents findings from a study about the relationships between social change and settlement change in S amoa, where a form of landlessness is emerging in low income areas of the main town, Apia. It examines changing reciprocal kinship arrangements with respect to customary rural village plantation land and changes in both individual and household relationships with the church. Although these relationships are typically closely bound in…
Disaster Relief in the Asia Pacific
Introduction 1. Coping with Disaster: Agency and resilience in the Asia-Pacific context, Edwin Jurriens, Minako Sakai, Alec Thornton and Jian Zhang Part I: Civil society 2. Responding to Disasters in the Asia-Pacific Region: State and civil society relationships, David W. Lovell 3. Key Factors for Capacity-Building of Disaster Relief Operations: Indonesian examples, Minako Sakai and Amelia Fauzia 4. Fostering Civil Society Organizations for Disas…
Charity Rankings
Individuals want to know which organisations to donate to, and a variety of organisations have developed ranking systems to guide them. This paper explores charity ranking, with a particular focus on the increasing role of impact and ‘cost‐effectiveness’. Ranking systems are composed of a selection of metrics, which may miss important components and, as a result, create a set of unintended outcomes. We argue that an emphasis on cost‐effectiveness…
A socio-cultural analysis of smallholder borrowing and debt in southern Ethiopia
The Geography of Development Studies
Whereas the Millennium Development Goals sought reductions, the Sustainable Development Goals have set forth bold new objectives of leaving no one behind. This Commentary explores the continued geographic prioritization and exclusions within development studies research and some of the causes. The status quo is entrenching exclusion. A transformation of research, and the research community, is required to ensure that no one is left behind. Provid…
Urban resilience building in modern development
Although the process of building urban resilience is increasingly and globally promoted, we consider this concept, and the approaches to achieve it, as particularly challenging for cities in developing countries. We argue that current market-oriented processes of urban upgrading reflect a revival of modernization concepts that, as a consequence, is deepening inequality and limiting adaptive capacities of people to cope with livelihood disruptions…
Community participation in contemporary urban planning in Cambodia
Private actors and food safety governance in the Accra City Region
Towards effective stakeholder collaboration in building urban resilience in Phnom Penh
Beyond Migration
Rural households confronted with environmental change employ a range of adaptation strategies to sustain their livelihoods, of which migration is only one possible response. Using the Sustainable Livelihoods Framework and a qualitative approach with semi-structured interviews on Poço Fundo, Minas Gerais, Brazil, this study identifies key adaptation strategies such as crop diversification, cooperative resource-sharing through institutional partner…
Urban gardening in public space
Citizen-led initiatives, like urban gardening, are increasingly transforming urban public spaces. Such practices of DIY urbanism have prompted varied policy responses from local governments across the world. Public urban gardening is a form of citizen initiative that involves the small-scale appropriation of publicly accessible open space for gardening with or without the approval of the landowner, usually the local authority. Growing plants on p…
Political science (9 works) · Business (8 works) · Geography (8 works) · Economics (7 works) · Agriculture (5 works) · Corporate governance (5 works) · Law (5 works) · Sociology (5 works) · Economic growth (4 works) · Engineering (4 works)