“Even Our 2nd Class Cars are More Comfortable Than Motor Buses!”: An Analysis of Victorian Railway Posters Between the Wars

Railway posters from the 1920s and 1930s are now regarded as one of the high points of twentieth-century graphic art. While their iconographies have been the subject of considerable scholarly analysis, the contexts in which they operated and functioned have received much less attention. This paper, which focuses on posters produced by Victorian Railways for a range of purposes not necessarily travel related, redresses this. It is argued that railways posters, which operated in conjunction with other forms of railway propaganda, provided a convenient and attractive way for the state to operate on its population, at a distance. Hence, they were used as rhetorical devices to exhort Victorians to travel by rail, to eat more fruit and thereby assist the state’s primary producers. As competition from motorisation became more intense during the Depression, resulting in pronounced and unsustainable rail deficits, the need to diversify the sources of railway revenue, as the analysed posters reveal, became more exigent.     

Media effects on political confidence and trust in the People's Republic of China in the post-Tiananmen period

Based on a nationwide survey conducted in mainland China between September 1993 and June 1994, this study explores the impact of propaganda of the Communist government on people's attitudes toward specific political institutions and toward the government in general. Our study shows that the news media in China have negative effects on people's attitudes toward political institutions in general and make people distrust government. Several competing interpretations are offered to explain the negative correlation between media exposure and political trust. Despite serious efforts, we are unable to falsify the relationship between media exposure and people's attitudes toward government. These findings clearly demonstrate that the propaganda of the regime failed in nurturing supportive sentiment among people in Chinese society in the post-Tiananmen era.     

Education Reform in Japan: A Course for Lifelong Learning

Japan's current education system has its origins in postwar reform, overemphasizing individualism and underemphasizing on Japan's history, traditions, and culture, resulting in the continuing decline in scholastic, physical, and socializing ability to date. This essay reviews the IIPS proposal on educational reform, which was supervised by former Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone, with the addition of the author's personal views. The IIPS proposal set the ultimate goal of education in Japan to be raising healthy people who have self-confidence and pride as Japanese who can thrive in the era of globalization. Then, the proposal presents what a Japanese should learn and how he should serve at each life stage beginning with early childhood education through the compulsory education period, adolescence and young adulthood, maturity, and into the elderly period. Moreover, the organizational reform on administrating education policy is presented, with a focus on abandoning the current board of education system.     

Environmental concerns as China modernizes

For the past fifteen years of reform, China has opened its doors to broad economic changes and to the outside world. The decentralization of both agricultural and industrial reforms has increased its pollution problems. China is now at an important crossroads in terms of balancing economic growth and environmental protection in its economic decision-making. The leaders have attempted to curb environmental degradation during the reform years through national policy, laws and regulations, and propaganda. However, there is still much work to be done, specifically in the implementation of the regulations. The reforms have sought to improve the people’s standard of living, which requires both economic growth and a healthy environmenta in which to live.     

日本国有铁路民营化改革的绩效与经验

二战后,日本国有铁路公社在促进日本经济发展、改善国民生活水平、加速地区发展等方面发挥了重要作用。本文在分析日本国有铁路公社民营化改革的过程和绩效的基础上,总结了日本国铁改革中值得我国借鉴的几点经验,如以法律为基础、引入竞争机制、兼顾效率与公平等。     

Japan's Environmental Cooperation with China During the Last Two Decades

Up until now, Japan's environmental cooperation with China has principally been in response to requests by the Chinese government, with Japan making major contributions in the areas of environmental policy, human resource development, and environmental management systems, and the construction of physical infrastructure. Unlike some other Western donors, Japan is heavily engaged in resolving various environmental problems throughout the whole of China, and these contributions will continue to play a powerful role in improving China's environment for many years to come. Moreover, Japan has also made a major contribution to the raising of environmental awareness among the general public throughout China, and has been instrumental in empowering Chinese environmental citizen's groups. Specifically, Japan has been providing the Chinese government with yen loans and technical cooperation, and has supplied it with many new concepts and mechanisms in the areas of environmental policy, management systems and physical infrastructure, as well. Japan has also provided a foundation for the development of China's environmental industry by means of technology transfer and human resources development. By supplying grant aid to different parts of China, Japan has played a pioneering role in the field of environmental protection in China, enabling the expansion of training and educational facilities and programs to which the Chinese government failed, due to putting a premium on a high economic growth, to allocate sufficient budget despite its awareness of the gravity of the problems that it faces. NGO environmental cooperation programs that use Japanese government grassroots and NGO grant aid and assistance of the Japan Fund for Global Environment have been highly significant factors in the resolution at the regional level of the serious environmental problems that have arisen throughout China. The role that these have played in intensifying exchanges and friendly relations at the grassroots level between Japan and the Chinese people has been highly commendable. In particular, environmental cooperation programs with China through the ten-year-old Sino-Japan Friendship Centre for Environmental Protection (SJC) have not been confined solely to solving China's environmental problems, and have accordingly helped to build a foundation for environmental cooperation with China's various neighbors and thus helped to enhance China's standing internationally.     

Rehehusen's verbs

Abstract

Reform of the state bureaucracy has been a serious challenge in Lithuania. In the face of a dearth of leaders with the requisite administrative expertise as well as capacity for developing ideologically coherent programs, Lithuania's political parties have had great difficulty in properly managing and directing the ministries of the government. At the same time, the Soviet era legacy of command administration with an emphasis on formalism (versus practical execution of policy) has undermined bottom-up efforts to reform the state bureaucracy. While the European Union continues to impose reforms on Lithuania's civil service, the changes are largely cosmetic, as administrators cleave to old habits.     

近20年来东南亚华商在中国大陆的投资

1978年中国实行改革开放政策以来,国民经济取得了较快的发展,年平均增长率超过两位数。1980年代以来,东南亚华商的经济实力有了较大的加强,中国与东南亚国家的关系也得到了改善,东南亚华商开始向中国进行投资,尤其是在广东和福建侨乡地区。东南亚华商的投资,极大地促进了侨乡社会经济的发展。东南亚华商在中国引进外资的过程中,起到了先锋和桥梁的作用,在以侨引台、以侨引外等方面起了重要的作用。     

CHINA’S ‘POLITICAL RE-EDUCATION’ CAMPS OF XINJIANG’S UYGHUR MUSLIMS

Recently, reports have emerged that China operates “political re-education” camps of Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang. China justified them as a sort of vocational training program to assist Uyghurs in participating in the Chinese economy. In actuality, they are brutal incarceration camps; these forms of ‘education’ can qualify as torture that perhaps 1.5 million adults have been subjected to, and have led to detaining children of people incarcerated in state-run boarding schools. It is necessary to interrogate the underlying factors that have enabled the Chinese government to open and operate these camps under the guise of education. This paper first examines the impact of the current geopolitical interests of China's Belt & Road Initiative and the historical backgrounds of Xinjiang and the Re-Education through Labour program. It then explains the methods of ‘education’ taking place within the camps and interrogates China's justifications for building them. This education issue is more about inhibiting Uyghur power than China's claim that the camps are meant to empower Uyghurs to participate in the Chinese labour force.     

“舌尖上的教育”是如何成为国策的——对日本政府在“食育”形成中角色的综论

日本是目前世界上食育体系最为完善的国家,研究这一体系,特别是关注其中的政府角色,对在中国推广该机制,具有重要意义。文章以日本为研究国别,在描述食育基本内容的基础上,论述了不同历史阶段食育的特征与消长,尤其是政府对推进食育计划的积极作用,最后重点关注了发挥管理保障功能的日本政府有关食育计划的组织架构。     

The blood feud in Waziristan

Water puppetry has become an iconic representation of Vietnam, and Hanoi's Th?ng Long Water Puppet Theatre is flourishing as part of the international tourist package. This article documents the radical modification in this theatre's performance themes in 2013 – from traditional to explicitly ethnicised – and subsequent reversion the following year. In exploring the possible role of state propaganda in these changes, and the government's mechanisms of influence over water puppetry, the politics of representation within Vietnam's art and performance sector are exposed.     

缅甸华文教育产生的背景与发展态势

缅甸华文教育曾经有过蓬勃发展的黄金时期。上个世纪60年代中,缅甸政府将华文学校收归国有,从此华文教育转向非正规教育,即中文补习班。但华人对华文教育需求的热情从未减弱。70年代后以孔教和佛经教育方式出现,大小规模不同的华文教育,又逐渐多起来,而且其他族裔的人也参与学习华文,这和近年在世界各地掀起的华文学习热潮息息相关。由于受1979年中国实行改革开放以来,经济、文化和科学技术获得空前发展及全球经济一体化趋势的影响,华文在世界上的作用和地位受到重视。近年来,缅甸政府鼓励开办电脑班,因此华文学校开始放弃佛教的色彩,纷纷向电脑进军。此外,原先亲台湾的学校也放弃政治分歧,坚持“一个中国”的原则,致力于弘扬中华文化,把华文教育办得有声有色。     

Noel Pearson's Role in the Northern Territory Intervention: Radical Centrist or Polarising Partisan?

Noel Pearson is one of Australia's most prominent and influential Aboriginal intellectuals. This article examines a major idea in his writing: the “quest for a radical centre”. Through the concept of the radical centre, Pearson articulates both his desire to transcend existing policy paradigms and an ethics of partisanship which emphasizes the importance of listening to and negotiating with one's political adversaries. Pearson's development of this concept is explored in light of the role Pearson has played as leading advocate for Indigenous welfare reform, and especially his pivotal contribution to the public debate over the introduction of the Northern Territory Emergency Response Intervention by the Howard government in 2007.     

单边与多边之间:特朗普政府退约的国际制度逻辑

特朗普政府的退约行为引发了国际社会对于国际制度体系运转的广泛关注。退约本质上是为了协调国际制度的刚性承诺与国家的灵活性需求之间的紧张关系。长期以来,国际制度理论对退约的研究相对忽视和不足,尽管“制度困境论”“制度互动论”“制度收缩论”和“制度现实主义论”等学说提供了部分解释,但仍需要明确退约在现有国际制度研究谱系中的位置。究其原因,制度主义在研究设计中用“背叛”研究把退约排除在研究议程之外,而制度扩散长期掩盖了制度退出的影响。本质上,制度主义聚焦制度的形成和维持,是一种关注稳定大于变动的理论。为此,文章从制度要素出发,提出退约具有国际制度自身的逻辑和特征,即从制度成员身份、条约义务偏好和后果不确定性程度这三个方面对退约进行动态把握。特朗普政府的退约行为是历史延续性和当前的特殊性相结合的产物,不会给当前的国际制度体系和国际合作进程产生决定性影响。对于美国退约后的国际制度行为,中国应高度重视,从政治、法律和经济等多维度加以全面审视,而非简单地从道德层面进行谴责。同时,中国在必要时需要重新审视退约作为外交战略的可选工具,以切实维护自身的国家利益。     

Abdürreşid İbrahim's journey to China: Muslim communities in the late Qing as seen by a Russian-Tatar intellectual

An eminent Russian-Tatar alim (a scholar, or an intellectual) and Pan-Islamist known for his role as a collaborator in Japan's Islamic campaigns in the first half of the 20th century, Abdürre?id ?brahim went on a grand tour of Eurasia from 1907 to 1909. This article focuses on his journey to China in the late Qing by drawing mainly on his travel book Âlem-i ?slâm, in which he describes China's politics, society, economy and culture, as well as the Muslims dwelling there, anticipating that Chinese Muslims would join in an alliance with Japan to form an anti-imperialist corridor. In general, ?brahim succeeded in enjoying Muslims' favour in Beijing, lamenting the place of Islam in China while also being scathingly critical of its practice. He was invited to Japan again in the 1930s and played an important role in drawing foreign Muslims' attention to Japan.     

Demonizing the enemy: the influence of Russian state-sponsored media on American audiences

ABSTRACT

There is growing anxiety about the influence of international propaganda on public opinion. Under what conditions can countries shift foreign public opinion against an adversary? Does making people aware that news is coming from a foreign source mitigate its influence? I examine these questions in the context of Russian propaganda in the United States. I subject subgroups of Americans to an article from Russia Today (RT), a Russian international television network, criticizing the Ukrainian government. I vary whether audiences are aware of the message source, and/or the intentions, of the Russian-funded network. I show that exposure to information about Ukrainian human rights violations lowers Americans’ evaluations of Ukraine irrespective of source awareness – indicating that making people more aware of foreign propaganda does not attenuate its influence. The findings have important implications for understanding the micro-level effects of international propaganda and the effectiveness of counter-propaganda strategies.     

Globalization,international coalitions,and domestic reform

This article considers the impact of China's insertion into the global political economy on the nature of political power in China. It argues that for most of the period of the transition from socialism, state leaders attempted to protect domestic interests where possible from the perceived detrimental impacts of globalization. However, China's entry into the World Trade Organization (WTO) marked a key shift in this strategy. Through the creation of an international coalition for reform, key state leaders used WTO entry as a tool to enforce change on reluctant domestic constituents, rather than the earlier strategy of protecting them from competition and change. While domestic reform efforts have been responsible for many of the changes to the Chinese regime, external actors and interests have also played an important role in altering the fundamentals of politics in the People's Republic of China, and in particular, changing the raison d'être of Communist Party rule.     

Czechoslovakia and its Position within the Solidarity Network of Chilean Communism: A Reflection on the Coup and Resistance against Pinochet from a Country with Worn-out Revolutionary Ideals

The article will analyse the development of the Chilean cause in the politics of Eastern Europe countries since 1973, focusing on the Czechoslovak case. On the one hand, it will prove that during the communist government Czechoslovakia played an important role in the international campaign for the resistance against the dictatorship at a worldwide level. On the other hand, it posits that the propaganda aimed at Czechoslovakia, which sought to kindle society's belief in the revolutionary ideals strongly affected after the Soviet invasion in 1968, turned out to be much less effective.     

Singapore's National Day Rally speech: A site of ideological negotiation

This article analyses the inaugural National Day Rally speeches of three Singapore prime ministers. It locates these speeches in the continuous ideological work that the People's Action Party (PAP) government has to do in order to maintain consensus and forge new alliances among classes and social forces that are being transformed by globalisation. Increasingly, these speeches have had to deal with the contradictions between nation-building and the tensions between the liberal and reactionary tendencies of the global city. It is argued that such a situation has made it futile for the government to attempt a straightforward ideological mobilisation of the people into a relatively homogeneous national community. The PAP government's ideological struggle to forge consensus has been balanced by a strategy of divide-and-rule. Ironically, the rally speeches have been as much about dividing as they have been about uniting.     

International capital,Singapore's state companies,and security

Since the Asian economic crisis in 1997-98, the Singapore government has embraced neoliberal globalization to a degree not matched elsewhere in East or Southeast Asia. Yet the consolidation and expansion of Singapore's state companies are also integral to this strategy. These companies are increasingly the objects of critical attention from elements of international capital that are seeking to make inroads into various sectors of the Singapore economy. This includes pressures to reform governance systems from which state companies derive competitive advantages. This article examines the nature and political strength of these challenges, the responses to them by the Singapore government, and the implications of this for the future of the authoritarian regime. The article also analyzes the changing geopolitical context within which such disputes are being played out. Security concerns by the U.S. government in particular, it is argued, are mediating conflict over state companies and presenting new opportunities for the authoritarian regime to consolidate.