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Books > Reference & Interdisciplinary > Interdisciplinary studies > Area / regional studies > General
This volume identifies rent-seeking behavior as a primary cause of poor economic performance in many places, particulary Africa. The book presents a detailed empirical study of rent-seeking within the civil service, parastatal sector, and business community in Tanzania. It quantifies and evaluates the rent-seeking behavior of more than 300 parastatal companies and the resulting impact on society. The conclusions on reform strategies are applicable to counties within and outside Africa.
The essays in this volume explore the new power struggles created
in China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong through information technology. The
contributors analyze the interaction between the development of
information technologies and social logic on the one hand and
processes of unification and fragmentation on the other. They seek
to highlight the strategies of public and private actors aimed at
monopolizing the benefits created by the information
society-whether for monetary gain or bureaucratic consolidation-as
well as the new loci of power now emerging. The book is organized
around two main themes: one exploring societal change and power
relations, the second examining the restructuring of Greater
China's space. In so doing, the book seeks to shed light on both
the state formation process as well as international relations
theory.
Since the fall of President Suharto in May 1998, Indonesia, the third largest country in Asia, has been facing a political, economic and social crisis. Racial and religious clashes, culminating in riots, burning and chaos, have become a daily event throughout the country. There are signs that this multi-racial, multi-religious and multi-cultural country may disintegrate just as Yugoslavia and the Soviet Union. There are two major reasons why Indonesia is facing the crisis. First, Suharto failed to keep the balance of power between the armed forces and Islam, just as Sukarno had failed in his interplay of strength between Communism and the armed forces. When the balance was tilted, chaos and disasters followed. The second reason is that the Indonesian people, at least a section of them, have lost the spirit of tolerance -- symbolised in the Indonesian state crest, Bhenneka Tunggal Ika ('Unity in Diversity') -- which is so vital in a multi-religious and plural society. The mass killing of thousands of ethnic Chinese on 13 May 1998; the appearance of mysterious 'ninja' murders, the burning of churches and mosques, and the religious clashes between Christians and Muslims in Ambon have all indicated that this spirit of tolerance which was once so strongly imbedded in the Indonesian culture is fast evaporating. There seems to be no more rule of law in the country. The cry for 'jihad' among the Muslims in Jakarta, to take revenge on the Christians in Ambon, is making the more moderate religious leaders panicky. There is a tendency among the Indonesians to take the law into their own hands. Some extreme Muslims even hope to establish an Islamic State of Indonesia. Economically, Indonesia'scommerce and industries have been ruined, with foreign investors shunning the country. Millions of people are dying everyday from hunger. The economic situation is deteriorating everyday. The author of this book is the former Singapore Ambassador to Indonesia in 1970-74, and was a journalist who had taken an interest in Indonesia since 1955 when he went to Bandung to cover the Afro-Asian conference. When he was Ambassador, he had the opportunity to travel widely across the country and observe the psyche of its people at close quarters. He has made many friends, from President Suharto. the military leaders, governors, mayors, down to ordinary people from all walks of life, including journalists, musicians and artists. In this book, he gives insightful analyses and perspectives of the political collapse of Suharto and describes the danger facing the country. He also describes the diversity in the history, traditions, customs and cultures of the various ethnic groups, including Javanese mysticism, the happy-go-lucky Sundanese, the hot-tempered Madurese, the charming Balinese, the Minangkabaus who are matriarchal, the militant Bataks, the Malays who were once the founders of the Sri-Vijiya Buddhist empire, and then the Bugis, Makassarese, Torajans, Ambonese, Timorese and Irianese. The accounts are based on the author's personal impressions and reflections of his encounters with the different races. The author is of the opinion that it is necessary for the peoples of so many ethnicities, religions and cultures to remember their national motto -- Bhenneka Tunggal -- so that the country can survive the present crisis. After all, Indonesia has 336 ethnic groups speaking 250 dialects whichreflect a staggering racial, religious and cultural diversity. The aim of this book is to bring about a better understanding of the Indonesian peoples and to eradicate the misunderstanding and misconception about the country.
The book is the first attempt to offer a holistic and integrated exploration of the political-economic framework underpinning economic regionalism. In doing so it provides a much-needed contribution to the literature on international political economy, international relations and Asian political economy in relation to economic regionalism. The existing literature provides broad generalizations and limited discussion on economic integration (i.e. free trade agreements, FTA) with most analyses of regionalism generally contained to the field of economics with a focus on the welfare implications of FTAs, both for participating countries and the world as a whole. Readers of this book can view economic regionalism from a variety of perspectives with input from Chinese, Japanese and Korean research institutes, business and industry groups, and government officials. Drawing on the considerable country experience and expertise of the authors, the book attempts to unravel the paradox of the market-driven economic globalization process (regionalism) and address a serious gap in the current literature relating to the political-economic characteristics and strategies of China, Japan and Korea in relation to economic regionalism.
In post-cold War thinking, North Korea was expected to collapse and be absorbed into a single Korean state by the democratic regime in South Korea. Fifteen years later, this has not happened, and June 2000 saw a summit making the warmest inter-Korean relations yet. Over that time period, the two Korean states found instead new mechanisms and methods for interacting with each other on the level of de facto if not yet completely de jure sovereign states and have begun to overcome some of the shadows cast by the partition and violent war that befell the peninsula following World War II. This book examines the origins, dynamics, and impacts of these multi-level relations between North and South Korea, situating them variously as two incomplete nation-states, as a single national entity, and within a larger international environment. The Contributors demonstrate how inter-Korean relations have fostered new forms of conflict management and reconciliation on the peninsula.
This book examines contemporary attitudes towards ethnic minorities in Germany. These minorities include some of immigrant origin, such as Italians, Turks, and asylum seekers, and the principal non-immigrant minority, Jews. While the findings demonstrate that intense prejudice against minorities is not widespread among Germans, many of whom in fact can be considered immigrant- and minority-friendly, a crystallization of attitudes is also evident: that is, attitudes towards immigrants are strongly correlated with anti-Semitism and with other worldview dimensions, such as positioning in the left-right political spectrum. In this sense, the fundamental question of whether immigrants and other minorities should be regarded as fellow citizens or ethnic outsiders remains relevant in the German context.
This volume explores how television has been a significant conduit for the changing ideas about children and childhood in the United States. Each chapter connects relevant events, attitudes, or anxieties in American culture to an analysis of children or childhood in select American television programs. The essays in this collection explore historical intersections of the family with expectations of childhood, particularly innocence, economic and material conditions, and emerging political and social realities that, at times, present unique challenges to America's children and the collective expectation of what childhood should be.
This volume offers a critical examination of the early works of Vladimir Solov'ev, Russia's most famous and systematic philosopher. It presents a philosophical critique of his early writings up to 1881 from an immanent viewpoint and examines Solov'ev's intended contributions to philosophy against the background of German Idealism, including Schopenhauer, and the positivism of his day. Examining contemporary reactions to his writings by leading figures of his day, such as Chicherin and Kavelin, The Early Solov'ev and His Quest for Metaphysics reveals the small but vibrant philosophical community in Russia during the immediate decades before the Bolshevik Revolution. It provides a detailed discussion of Solov'ev's confrontation with his philosophical opponents and shows how his emphasis on developing a metaphysical ontology rather than epistemology exerted a virtual paradigmatic influence on Russian philosophy for years to come. This volume also sets Solov'ev's writings against a detailed intellectual biography of these early years, drawing on letters to friends and relatives including reminiscences, and challenges many of the received claims concerning his actions and positions, particularly his alleged youthful mystical visions. In addition, the book features two appendices: one that sketches the early Russian reception of French positivism against which Solov'ev reacted in the name of metaphysics and another that presents a fascinating look at the Solov'ev family background, which produced at once intellectual as well as dysfunctional members. Presenting a rare picture of the non-Marxist intellectual scene in 19th century Russia, The Early Solov'ev and His Quest for Metaphysics will be of interest to graduate students and researchers looking for a philosophically informed approach to this unique thinker and era.
In Japan, people often refer to August 15, 1945 as the end of "that war." But the duration of "that war" remains vague. At times, it refers to the fifteen years of war in the Asia-Pacific. At others, it refers to an imagination of the century long struggle between the East and the West that characterized much of the 19th century. This latter dramatization in particular reinforces longstanding Eurocentric and Orientalist discourses about historical development that presume the non-West lacks historical agency. Nearly 75 years since the nominal end of the war, Japan's "history problem" - a term invoking the nation's inability to come to terms with its imperial past - persists throughout Asia today. Going beyond well-worn cliches about the state's use and abuse of discourses of historical modernity, Koyama shows how the inability to confront the debris of empire is tethered to the deferral of agency to a hegemonic order centered on the United States. The present is thus a moment one stitched between the disavowal of responsibility on the one hand, and the necessity of becoming a proper subject of history on the other. Behind this seeming impasse lay questions about how to imagine the state as the subject of history in a postcolonial moment - after grand narratives, after patriotism, and after triumphalism.
This book calls for a new iconography of region that unseats New England’s status as cultural center of the United States and originary metaphor for national identity. No single territorial or political axis can adequately describe the complex regional relationships that comprise the nation, Anne Goldman argues. Goldman's arguments question critical sectionalism as extensively as they do regional divisions, by blurring generic distinctions, by reading across literary periods, and by juxtaposing writers who explore the same set of social issues during the same historical moment, but who are conventionally located in separate literary traditions: sentimental literature, the African American novel, literary modernism, early Mexican fiction.
This book examines the rise of China's global profile in the international higher education community, as indicated by its rise of human capital, visibility in academic publications, world university ranking, expanding international cultural influence, and becoming a study-abroad destination of international students. It identifies the diplomatic role of higher education in China's politico-economic development over a century, and how the role has been shaped by China's self-identity as a great power in the world. Higher Education and China's Global Rise provides an understanding of linkage between higher education and China's international influence, and a scholarly discussion of what Chinese higher education tells about China's international relations, especially the aims, means, and nature of China's rise as a global power. It will help to broaden perspectives surrounding debate about China's rise that is currently dominated by Western international relations theory and comparative higher education discourses.
Collins CAPE Revision Guides focus on the content and skills students need to master for success in CAPE examinations. They cover all aspects of the syllabus and provide excellent help with exam preparation. Collins CAPE Revision Guide - CARIBBEAN STUDIES is an essential title for all students sitting the CAPE CARIBBEAN STUDIES exam. With clear and accessible information, practice questions, and exam tips, it is a key resource to help students prepare for the exam. The revision guide includes a comprehensive section on Research Principles and Research Practice to support students with their school-based assessment. It also includes chapters on every section of the syllabus, both Module 1 and Module 2, cross-referencing topics that students may need to relate and refer to in essay questions. Advice is given on how to approach exam questions and construct well-structured essays, and multiple choice questions are included at the end of every section for practice purposes.
Winner of the 2007 Ruth Benedict Award! A unique collection of writings by both academic and activist scholars on women's same-sex sexualities and female masculinities in a globalizing Asia. Through richly detailed studies, contributors explore the emergence of contemporary lesbian and butch/femme relationships and communities throughout Asia and their location within the context of nationalist struggles, religious fundamentalism, state gender regimes, and global queer movements.
1. This book is a comprehensive guide to understanding the impact of robotization in employment and economic development. 2. It provides an easy reference to concepts like artificial intelligence' and 'robots'. 3. This book will be of interest to departments of digital humanities, science and technology studies, economics and labour studies across UK and USA.
In the Later Han period the region covering the modern provinces of Gansu, southern Ningxia, eastern Qinghai, northern Sichuan, and western Shaanxi, was a porous frontier zone between the Chinese regimes and their Central Asian neighbours, not fully incorporated into the Chinese realm until the first century BCE. Not surprisingly the region had a large concentration of men of martial background, from which a regional culture characterized by warrior spirit and skills prevailed. This military elite was generally honoured by the imperial centre, but during the Later Han period the ascendancy of eastern-based scholar-officials and the consequent increased emphasis on civil values and de-militarization fundamentally transformed the attitude of the imperial state towards the northwestern frontiersmen, leaving them struggling to achieve high political and social status. From the ensuing tensions and resentment followed the capture of the imperial capital by a northwestern military force, the deposing of the emperor and the installation of a new one, which triggered the disintegration of the empire. Based on extensive original research, and combining cultural, military and political history, this book examines fully the forging of military regional identity in the northwest borderlands and the consequences of this for the early Chinese empires.
The movement of people from small towns and villages of India to places outside the country raises a number of questions- about the networks that enable their mobility, the aspirations that motivate them, what they give back to their home regions, and how their provincial home worlds engage with and absorb the consequent transnational flows of money, ideas, influence and care. This book analyzes the social consequences of the transmission of migrant resources to provincial places in India. Bringing together case studies from four regions, it demonstrates that these flows are very diverse, are inflected by regional histories of mobility and development, and may reinforce local power structures or instigate social change in unexpected ways. The chapters collected in this volume examine conflicts over migrant-funded education or rural development projects, how migrants from Dalit, Muslim and other marginalized groups use their new wealth to promote social progress or equality in their home regions, and why migrants invest in property in provincial India or return regularly to their ancestral homes to revitalize ritual traditions. These studies also demonstrate that diaspora philanthropy is routed largely through social networks based on caste, community or kinship ties, thereby extending them spatially, and illustrate how migrant efforts to 'develop' their home regions may become entangled in local politics or influence state policies. This collection of eight original ethnographic field studies develops new theoretical insights into the diverse outcomes of international migration and the influences of regional diasporas within India. These collected studies illustrate the various ways in which migrants remain socially, economical and politically influential in their home regions. The book develops a fresh perspective on the connections between transnational migration and processes of development, revealing how provincial India has become deeply globalized. It will be of interest to academics and students in the fields of anthropology, geography, transnational and diaspora studies, and South Asian studies.
This volume explores the panic that is a central affective register of our current international order. Fears of Somali pirates, "Gypsy" kidnappers, African warlords, Ebola, "Mexican meth," pimps, coyotes, gangs, climate refugees and more, structure the dark side of a metropolitan unconscious. These are terrors over things that (might) cross borders, threatening the sanctity of territoriality and capital. Inspired by scholarship challenging panics around human and sex trafficking, the contributors to this volume develop the umbrella category of the global moral panic. Embracing the challenge of grasping a phenomenon not previously regarded as cohering, they consider panics provoked by travel, passage, transgression; panics over bodies that move. Like panics over trafficking, the episodes narrated here ride and feed a field of common sense regarding crime, rights, and state power. Their logics of victims and villains nourish notions of the centrality of punishment, drawing from and feeding taxonomies of gender, race, and nation, solidifying the order craved by capital. They spotlight the coloniality of power, the ongoing salience of empire, the savior logics of rescue, and the profound sexism organizing hierarchies of bodies and places. Panic, this volume diagnoses, is a crucial, undertheorized facet of contemporary local-global relations.
Social Exclusion in European Welfare States focuses on the complex relationship between economic welfare, labour market performance and social inclusion/exclusion. The contributors in the volume examine in detail the alleged trade-off between the social and economic capabilities of a society and their impact on the well-being of the citizens. Furthermore, they identify welfare regimes whose policies are more balanced in terms of prioritizing economic as well as social goals and, hence, are more successful in promoting social inclusion along with faster growth. The book attempts to promote a better understanding of the differences in policy regimes and the performances of different regime types in view of their own goals and objectives. Contributors from a broad range of disciplines - economics, sociology and political science - explore the scope for European policy coordination and the form that this should take. The book focuses on a problem that is widely considered to be one of the most intractable and damaging in contemporary European society. It will be invaluable to policymakers in a broad range of fields including employment, social policy, education and social work as well as to economists, sociologists and political scientists engaged in research and teaching in these fields.
This is a comprehensive new operational military history of the Ottoman army during the First World War. Drawing from archives, official military histories, personal war narratives and sizable Turkish secondary literature, it tells the incredible story of the Ottoman army's struggle from the mountains of the Caucasus to the deserts of Arabia and the bloody shores of Gallipoli. The Ottoman army, by opening new fronts, diverted and kept sizeable units of British, Russian and French forces away from the main theatres and even sent reinforcements to Austro-Hungary and Bulgaria. Against all odds the Ottoman army ultimately achieved some striking successes, not only on the battlefield, but in their total mobilization of the empire's meagre human and economic resources. However, even by the terrible standards of the First World War, these achievements came at a terrible price in casualties and, ultimately, loss of territory. Thus, instead of improving the integrity and security of the empire, the war effectively dismantled it and created situations and problems hitherto undreamed of by a besieged Ottoman leadership. In a unique account, Uyar revises our understanding of the war in the Middle East.
Fictional depictions of Native American concepts of justice, crime, and the investigation of crime are explored in this original work. "Shaman or Sherlock" explores depictions created by Native American authors themselves, as well as those created by outsiders with mainstream agendas. The most successful of these writers fuse authentic Native American culture with standard genre conventions, thus providing an appealing, empathetic view of little-understood or underappreciated groups, as well as insight into issues of cross-cultural communication. Dealing with such significant concepts as acculturation, regional diversity, and assimilation, this unique study evaluates over 200 detective stories. Though the crime novel began in Europe as a manifestation of Enlightenment rationality and scientific methodology, the Native American detective story moves into the realm of the spiritual and intuitive, often incorporating depictions of non-material phenomena. "Shaman or Sherlock?" explores how geographical and tribal differences, degrees of assimilation, and the evolution of age-old cultural patterns shape the Native American detective story.
The Sixties were a heady time for Africans. All over the continent colonial flags were being lowered and Africans looked forward to freedom and a glittering future. But for most of the continent the last forty years have been a shattering experience. Since independence Africans have been terribly betrayed by the Europeans, the superpowers, and tragically, by their own leaders. Can a new generation of leaders turn the tide? Will they learn from their predecessors' mistakes and fuel a new African renaissance? Or is Africa doomed to further decades of turmoil? In this witty and informative book, Alec Russell answers these questions by telling the stories of his encounters with Africa's Big Men. Each one represents a theme which has shaped the continent: Mobutu Sese Seko of Zaire, the "King of Kleptocracy" whose staggering corruption crippled Zaire; Jonas Savimbi, the life-long guerrilla and symbol of the Cold War's destructive legacy on the continent; the quixotic Hastings Banda, the ultimate product of colonialism; and, of course, Nelson Mandela, symbol of reconciliation and hope for an entire continent. By any measure, this has been a terrible century for Africa. However Russell detects signs of hope in the fledgling human rights troupe he encounters deep in the steamy heart of the Congolese jungle and in the group of journalists keeping Moi's tottering regime in Kenya on its toes. Big Men, Little People is a vividly written portrait of a continent, which avoids the usual stereotypes and dire prophecies and entertains from start to finish.
This timely book explores the unique challenges facing the left in Latin America today. The contributors offer clear and comprehensive assessments of the difficult conditions and conflicting forces that have brought to power the current leftist regimes in Latin American and the Caribbean and are shaping their development. Avoiding the widely accepted but simplistic dichotomy of "good" and "bad" left or democratic and antidemocratic left, the book first sets the theoretical and historical context for understanding the rise of the left in the region. It then provides case studies of the radical left in power in Venezuela, Bolivia, and Ecuador and its influence in Nicaragua, El Salvador, and Cuba. Thematic chapters consider social and labor movements and debates over problems arising from the democratic transition to socialism. The book points to concrete circumstances in which theoretical issues related to reform and change have played out in nations where the left is in power. These include prioritization of social over economic objectives, the role of the state in the democratic road to socialism, and ecological as opposed to developmentalist strategies. Finally, the book examines the opposition to radical governments in power coming not only from the right but also from movements to their left. With its balanced and thorough assessment, this study will provide readers with a deep and nuanced understanding of the complexity of the political, economic, and sociocultural reality of contemporary Latin America and the Caribbean. Contributions by: Marc Becker, Roger Burbach, George Ciccariello-Maher, Hector M. Cruz-Feliciano, Steve Ellner, Federico Fuentes, Marcel Nelson, Hector Perla Jr., Camila Pineiro Harnecker, Thomas Purcell, Diana Raby, William I. Robinson, and Kevin Young
Focusing on the fundamental reasons underlying the lasting crisis of the Yemeni Civil War, this book frames contemporary Yemen and assesses prospects beyond the conflict, identifying the factors which will determine its future internal and international characteristics. Building on Helen Lackner's profound experience in Yemen, this volume discusses Yemen's history and state formation, the main political institutions emerging since the Republic of Yemen was established and their role in the war, including the significance of current fragmentation. The volume goes on to discuss climate change, including the water scarcity issue, in the context of resource constraints to economic development and the role of migration. Rural and urban life, as well as the impact of international development and humanitarian aid, are also covered, together with Yemen's international relations - its interaction with its neighbours as well as Western states. Looking forward, it suggests the type of policies able to give Yemenis the conditions needed for a reasonable standard of living. Thanks to analysis of determining events, the book will appeal to politicians, diplomats, humanitarian organizations, security analysts, researchers on the Middle East and those generally interested in Yemen. It will also be an essential text for students of international relations, political economy, failing states, development studies and contemporary Middle Eastern history.
Tracing presidential administrations since Lyndon B. Johnson, this book argues that the Trump administration's policy toward Israeli settlements in the West Bank and Jerusalem is not an aberration but the culmination of over 50 years of American foreign policy. Under the Johnson administration, the United States rhetorically supported the applicability of international law regarding Israeli settlements. However, throughout the 1970s, administrations did little to reverse the construction and expansion of settlements. Moreover, presidents sent mixed signals regarding Israel's withdrawal from the occupied territories. The Israeli settlement movement received support when Reagan argued that settlements were not illegal. Since then, American presidents have opposed settlement activity to various degrees, but not based on their illegality. Rather, presidents have described them as unwise, unhelpful, or obstacles to peace. Even when presidents have had opportunities to confront Israeli settlements directly, domestic pressure and America's special relationship with Israel have prevented serious action beyond rhetoric and condemnation. This volume will be of interest to scholars and students of the history and politics of American foreign policy, American relations with Israel, and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
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