Susi Versus the rest: the political economy of the fisheries industry in Indonesia during Jokowi’s first term

ABSTRACT

Indonesian Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Minister, Susi Pudjiastuti, has become a political superstar on the back of the media attention gained with her tough stance in fighting illegal fishing since 2014. But, beyond the headlines, little is known of the political struggles unleashed by her approach, on how her policies have affected the political economy of the industry, and on whether her reforms are sustainable. Drawing on over 30 in-depth interviews, this article fills the gap. The picture that emerges is complex and fluid: the minister has made progress in limiting the reach of the foreign-led fisheries mafia, but achieved limited success in convincing Indonesians to invest in the industry or in building a constituency to support her drive. Through the lens of the political economy of the fisheries, this article also offers a window into how politics is contested in increasingly ‘populist’ Indonesia.     

The European airline industry: law and economics of low cost carriers

This article offers an analysis of the European airline industry in order to understand the new dynamics of the competitive field. The liberalization process did not lead the entrance of competitors similar to incumbents, but a new organizational model has been developed, the one of low cost carriers. The incumbents’ reaction to the liberalization process coupled with the entrance of low cost companies into the sector are hence considered. Two theories are analysed: the contestable markets theory, to understand the theoretical vision that has influenced the liberalization process, and the core theory, a modern approach to the concept of destructive competition that, according to some authors, is a recurring problem in the sector. While numerous barriers to entry still exist, the paper examines how the organizational model of low cost companies has helped new entrants to overtake these obstacles. By the same token, the application of the core theory does not seem to justify strategic alliances taking place in these years. The competitive framework is definitely clearer if we analyse sector changes in a different way, from the point of view of low cost companies considered as new market actors.     

Membership ballots and the value of intra-party democracy

On the face of it, membership ballots present a clear case in which intra-party democracy comes into collision with core principles of representative democracy: they weaken the autonomy of representatives, and undermine the authority of the voters. In this article, I investigate whether this is correct, and whether membership ballots are, therefore, democratically illegitimate, using the controversial 2013 Mitgliederentscheid in the German Social Democratic party as a critical case. I argue that there is nothing democratically suspect about membership ballots and mount a defence of intra-party democracy as intrinsically valuable, appealing to a principle of equal respect for persons as autonomous agents. It turns out that endorsing this principle has two possible implications: that the content of the ballot must be open to deliberation, and that these deliberations should be rendered open to non-members. I discuss these implications and offer some institutional design guidelines.     

Religiöse Diskurstraditionen

Die jüngere Forschung zum sozialen Handeln von Muslimen in westeuropäischen Einwanderungsländern hebt häufig die reflexive Individualisierung von Lebensformen und religiösen Gesinnungen vor allem junger Muslime hervor. Der folgende Beitrag hinterfragt die diesem Ansatz zugrunde liegende Annahme eines Wertekanons ziviler europäischer Gesellschaften und Öffentlichkeiten, in die sich in Europa sozialisierte junge Muslime vermeintlich einfügen und muslimische Identitäten ?europäisch“ rekonstruieren. Dieser Transformationsprozess wird in diesen Theorien sowohl im Hinblick auf die familiale Lebenswelt wie im Hinblick auf die öffentliche Sphäre, in denen Muslime agieren, unterschätzt. Im Rückgriff auf Ansätze der historisch-vergleichenden Soziologie und der Religionsanthropologie erarbeitet der Aufsatz zunächst einen Begriff von ?Tradition“, der die Konstituierung, Verwaltung und Transformation von religiösen Diskursen, Praxen und Subjekten diachronisch und transgenerationell erklärt und der Gleichzeitigkeit von sozialer Einbettung und diskursiver Autonomie von Tradition Rechnung trägt. Wir zeigen, dass die sozialen Praktiken von Muslimen in Europa eine Transformation erfahren, die ihre besondere Grundlage im muslimischen Reformdiskurs im kolonialen und postkolonialen Kontext mehrerer Zentren der islamischen Welt hat. Der Fall junger Kopftuch tragender Musliminnen in Deutschland und Frankreich, die der zweiten und dritten Migrantengeneration angehören, zeigt schließlich weder eine selbst-reflexive Identitätssuche noch das ?coming out“ der Heldinnen einer nicht-westlichen Modernität, sondern ein praxisorientiertes und wissensgestütztes Räsonieren der jungen Frauen über die Wiedereinbettung des Traditionsdiskurses in die sozialen Felder (Familie, Studium, Arbeit und islamische Vereine), in denen sie operieren. Ihr Streben, das von der Traditionsdynamik der Kohärenzsuche geleitet wird, konfiguriert eine ?Alltagspolitik“, in der die Frauen ihre islamisch inspirierten Lebensprojekte gleichzeitig von moralisch erstarrten familiären ?Lebenswelten“ und von normativ erstarrten politischen Öffentlichkeiten abkoppeln und kultivieren.     

Demonstration of a gastric bioptic specimen mix-up by laser capture microdissection (LCM) and DNA fingerprinting

We demonstrate here the successful use of laser capture microdissection (LCM) and DNA fingerprinting in the identification of a case of gastric bioptic specimen mix-up. A 70-year-old man, suffering from chronic atrophic gastritis, underwent to a gastric biopsy and received a diagnosis of gastric cancer. In the absence of any clinical evidence of gastric cancer, a specimen mix-up was suspected. LCM was used to retrieve gastric cells from the histologic slide, classified as gastric carcinoma, and suspected to be mislabelled. DNA was extracted from microdissected cells, and a total of 16 different genetic loci were analyzed, using an identity test. Comparison of the results with those obtained using DNA extracted from a control slide, and from patient's saliva, demonstrated a distinct DNA fingerprint pattern in all genetic markers examined, clearly indicating the occurrence of a specimen mix-up. The combined use of LCM and DNA fingerprinting represents the most accurate and sophisticated method available for the identification of specimen mix-up, especially when only the tissue on the suspected slide is available.     

Is Cyberbullying Worse than Traditional Bullying? Examining the Differential Roles of Medium, Publicity, and Anonymity for the Perceived Severity of Bullying

Cyberbullying, a modern form of bullying performed using electronic forms of contact (e.g., SMS, MMS, Facebook, YouTube), has been considered as being worse than traditional bullying in its consequences for the victim. This difference was mainly attributed to some specific aspect that are believed to distinguish cyberbullying from traditional bullying: an increased potential for a large audience, an increased potential for anonymous bullying, lower levels of direct feedback, decreased time and space limits, and lower levels of supervision. The present studies investigated the relative importance of medium (traditional vs. cyber), publicity (public vs. private), and bully’s anonymity (anonymous vs. not anonymous) for the perceived severity of hypothetical bullying scenarios among a sample of Swiss seventh- and eight-graders (study 1: 49 % female, mean age = 13.7; study 2: 49 % female, mean age = 14.2). Participants ranked a set of hypothetical bullying scenarios from the most severe one to the least severe one. The scenarios were experimentally manipulated based on the aspect of medium and publicity (study 1), and medium and anonymity (study 2). Results showed that public scenarios were perceived as worse than private ones, and that anonymous scenarios were perceived as worse than not anonymous ones. Cyber scenarios generally were perceived as worse than traditional ones, although effect sizes were found to be small. These results suggest that the role of medium is secondary to the role of publicity and anonymity when it comes to evaluating bullying severity. Therefore, cyberbullying is not a priori perceived as worse than traditional bullying. Implications of the results for cyberbullying prevention and intervention are discussed.     

Capitalism,Socialism and the Challenge of Degrowth: Introduction to the Symposium

This is an overview of a symposium on degrowth centred on Giorgos Kallis’ call for a socialism without growth, which insists on the need to be mindful of throughputs and the ecological consequences of any socialist project. Summarising and critically evaluating the various positions expressed by all the symposium participants, we find that Kallis’ ideas can be promising in drawing closer different Green Left perspectives, including ecosocialist, ecofeminist, and eco-Marxist. This complementarity is possible provided that degrowth proponents clearly align themselves politically on the side of the broad anti-capitalist Left and that the critiques expressed by the other symposium participants-especially with respect to Indigenous Peoples’ worldviews and practices and the dynamics that subtend the capitalist mode of production—become essential to degrowth platforms. We find already enough overlap among the diverse leftist positions represented in this Symposium for, at a minimum, continuing dialogue and, hopefully, politically beneficial mutual transformation and unification.     

European Parliament and representation of the Union's citizens: What can be expected from electoral law from a democratic standpoint?

In some Member States, doctrine and case law of national courts have highlighted that, under currently applicable European electoral law, elections to the EP are of a second-order, whereby European issues give way to purely domestic ones. In any event, this does not hinder the position of the EP as a genuine legislative chamber, which, above all, demands effects from electoral law that it cannot provide, since the intensity with which an election is experienced depends on circumstances external to the system itself. What electoral law can guarantee instead is the periodic holding of free elections. And that requires ensuring that the EP is appointed by the free expression of the opinion of all (and only) European citizens; that the weight of the vote is determined by rational criteria; that the electoral formula allows access to significant political currents; and that the “rule of law” is respected in the electoral process.