Post-mao new poetry and “Occidentalism”

In their attempts to come to grips with the accelerated process of reform and globalization, Chinese intellectuals, poets, and critics have employed a discursive pracetied which could be called Occidentalism, the reverse of Said's well-known Orientalism. The purpose of this essay is to examine the manifestation of this change through the discursive practices employed by post-Mao new poets of the mid-1980s in relation to their projection of Western modern and postmodern thinking. In particular, I wish to focus on the Chinese poetic transformation of certain aspects of existentialism, Structuralist linguistics and the post-structural critique of language as implemented by these poets.     

A new faith and a new name? Crusades,conversion, and baptismal names in medieval Baltics

The baptism of the natives in Estonia and Latvia in the thirteenth century did not result in compulsory name change. The native population accepted the “Christian” names by the mid-sixteenth century as a result of general cultural adaption of elements of the “German” culture of socially higher classes, but this process does not directly reflect the process of acceptance of the Christian religion. The few examples of receiving a new name in the crusading period indicate the re-arrangement of political relations, which were related to creating patronage ties and god-parenthood relations.     

Local aid workers in the digital humanitarian project: between “second class citizens” and “entrepreneurial survivors”

This paper examines the experiences of Filipino workers recruited for technology and communications work by international aid agencies involved in the Typhoon Haiyan response. Filipino workers, many of whom were personally coping with the social and economic impact of this disaster, were hired on short-term contracts to test and implement various digital humanitarian innovations such as feedback and hazard mapping technological platforms. These workers were doubly marginalized: first, as tech workers whose work was viewed by aid officers on the ground as less substantial than that of food or shelter programs; and second, as local voices often drowned out by national and international colleagues. Moving beyond the usual figure of the cosmopolitan and adventure-seeking Western humanitarian acting on distant suffering, this paper draws attention to local aid workers’ aspirations for personal and professional mobility as they seize novel opportunities opened up by the digital humanitarian agenda. It outlines how the digital humanitarian project’s ambition to facilitate the inclusion of disaster-affected communities is fundamentally undermined by labor arrangements that doubly marginalize local aid workers.     

Old Tools and New Movements in Latin America: Political Science as Gatekeeper or Intellectual Illuminator?

This article argues that social democratic and orthodox Marxist conceptualizations of politics are unable to "engage in solidarity" with many new forms of Latin American popular politics. Such movements challenge the politics of representation, the market economy, and the state form by reinventing territorialized experiments in self-government, which politicize place, subjectivities, and social relations. Developing a critique of these frameworks of political analysis, this article argues that conceptual categories combining the insights of autonomist or open Marxism and poststructuralism and the critical reflections and theorizations by Latin America's newest social movements enable a deeper engagement with such movements. This critique challenges academics committed to progressive social change to reexamine long-held notions about the nature and agents of social transformation and the epistemological categories that orient our research. It argues that if we fail to do this, then we risk becoming gatekeepers of the status quo.     

Alexei Navalny and challenges in reconciling “nationalism” and “liberalism”

This article examines the challenges and complexities in the efforts by political activist Alexei Navalny to reconcile “nationalist” and “liberal” modes of thinking in the current Russian environment. After deciphering three major axes of Navalny's narratives on the national question, the author then discusses the social and political context within which the national-democratic (Natsdem) movement was forged. Natsdems, who are simultaneously pro-European and democratic but also xenophobic, and who target an audience among the urban middle classes, reflect a fundamental shift in Russian society. The last part of the article discusses the paradoxes of Navalny's trajectory, in which a failed theoretical articulation between “nationalism,” “democracy,” and “liberalism” nonetheless has translated into a political success.     

Consolidating the new regulatory state in Germany? The new energy regime of 2005

It is the purpose of this article to describe and analyse recent developments of the new regulatory state in Germany. Due to substantial changes in the regime governing energy regulation in 2005, it is suggested that we witness a trend towards consolidation. By consolidation, the article refers primarily to cross-sectoral institutional and instrumental homogeneity, possibly caused by the transfer of regime elements from sector to sector. It is argued that both traditions of state-societal co-operation as well as sector structures (i.e., incumbent suppliers) are key factors to explain regime emergence and change also in the energy sector.     

Russian-Speakers in Ukraine and Kazakhstan: “Nationality,” “Population,” or Neither?

A political scientist examines the level of attachment to the “Russian-speaker” label among Russians and Russian-speakers who live outside of Russia within the former Soviet Union. Also examined is the proposition that this label is the main alternative to assimilation and that those who accept it think differently from those who do not about issues such as the independence of their state of residence. Survey and focus-group data collected in 1998 and 1999 in Ukraine and Kazakhstan are examined to analyze whether “Russian-speaker” is a more important identity marker than citizenship and ethnic group.     

Building new selves: identity, “Passing,” and intertextuality in Zoë Wicomb’s Playing in the Light

This article examines Zoë Wicomb’s wide-ranging use of intertextuality in the novel Playing in the Light to explore the links between identity construction and postcolonial authorship. Focusing on the characters as intertextual agents, I argue that the three coloured women on whom the novel focuses – Helen, Marion, and Brenda – use texts in distinctive ways that illuminate their struggles to position themselves in South Africa’s complex and changing racial landscape. Racial “passing” is one form of a larger pattern in the novel of the use of citation and imitation to achieve specific ends. By embedding the citations of Helen and Marion within the citation-rich narrative of Brenda, Wicomb lays bare the mechanisms of identity construction within a work that stages and highlights its own intertextual practices.     

The politics and economics of “retraditionalization” in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan

This paper analyzes attitudes of women enrolled in secular and religious universities in the capital cities of Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan toward family life and the role of Islam in the private and public sphere. Survey data indicate that women from both types of universities in both countries sympathize with retraditionalization, or “a return to traditional values, family life, and religion, which entails, in part, women being moved out of the work force.” Thus far, there is no statistical evidence of this phenomenon in the literature. Sympathy for retraditionalization is unfolding in the context of ongoing economic uncertainty that has plagued Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan since the Soviet Union's collapse, and its manifestations produce political responses. I argue that Kyrgyz and Tajik elites push a particular gender norm implying female secularization to counter expressions of retraditionalization among young women. In conclusion, I highlight counterintuitive findings of the survey regarding Islam's role in Central Asian society and discuss collective versus individual acts of resistance to female secularization policies in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan.     

“Apartheid in a parka”? Roots and longevity of the Canada–South Africa comparison

Comparisons between Aboriginal policy in Canada and apartheid in South Africa appear frequently in public discourse, often with claims of actual links between the two systems. This paper interrogates these supposed links, using an analysis of land policy and the pass system in each country to demonstrate the improbability of the claims of direct influences. The paper then goes on to analyze the intellectual history of these comparisons, asking why they have been, and continue to be, made by many different actors in the face of a lack of historical evidence. The paper argues that the claims have served the needs of many different groups in different ways and thus maintained a hold despite their lack of historical foundation. However, good policy must be founded on clear analysis of history, and this paper argues that it is important to de-link South Africa and Canada, and understand oppression in each context on its own terms.     

“Who Was Park Chung-hee?” The Memorial Landscape and National Identity Politics in South Korea

President Park Chung-hee played a predominant role in shaping South Korean history, yet he remains a controversial figure. This paper explores the way this controversy has manifested itself in the memorial landscape and its significance within the context of national identity politics. It is argued that the debate between conservatives and progressives over the memory of Park has complicated the discourse beyond the prevalent focus on ethnic nationalism. The increasing place allocated for Park in the memorial landscape since 2008 is a tangible manifestation of a memory boom that appeared a decade earlier. Thus, the creation of an encouraging atmosphere in this regard can explain the correlation between the establishment of consecutive conservative governments and said trend. The way the memorial landscape has changed has offered an opportunity to think about a form of national identity which is more intricate. However, with the socio-political camps entrenched in their respective positions, the high-profile controversy has reflected the competing agendas and the degree to which the two sides differ on the fundamental components of national identity. The controversy over the memory of Park has thus both reinforced the divide between the political camps and demonstrated the extent to which it is deep.     

Social Darwinism as History and Reality: “Competition” and “The Weak” in Early Twentieth-Century Korea

ABSTRACT

By the time of Korea’s forced integration into the Japanese Empire in 1910, Social Darwinism was established as the main reference frame for the modernizing intellectual elite. The weak had only themselves to blame for their misfortune, and Korea, if it wished to succeed in collective survival in the modern world’s Darwinist jungles, had to strengthen itself. This mode of thinking was inherited by the right-wing nationalists in the 1920s–1930s; their programs of “national reconstruction” (minjok kaejo) aimed at remaking weak Korea into a “fitter” nation, thus preparing for the eventual independence from the Japanese. At the same time, in the 1920s and 1930s some nationalists appropriated the slogan of solidarity and protection of the weak, nationally and internationally, in the course of their competition against the Left. After liberation from Japanese colonialism in 1945, “competition” mostly referred to inter-state competition in South Korean right-wing discourse. However, the neo-liberal age after the 1997 Asian financial crisis witnessed a new discursive shift, competition-driven society being now the core of the mainstream agenda.     

Toward China's “Hub and Spokes” in Southeast Asia? – Diplomacy during the Hu Jintao and First Xi Jinping Administrations

This article reviews China's diplomacy toward Southeast Asia and ASEAN chronologically from the 1990s to 2015, focusing on the changes that occurred during the second half of the Hu Jintao Administration and the further policy adjustments made during the first Xi Jinping Administration. While there are still many uncertainties regarding the policies, and many aspects are still in progress, this study provides an outline of the current period of change in China's relations with Southeast Asia and China's more active engagement in relations with ASEAN from the late 1990s through the early 21st century.     

“There are No Votes in Africa”?: Australia,Africa and the UN Security Council

This article examines how Australia's successful campaign for a non-permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) (2008-12) and its subsequent term on the Council (2013-14) both encouraged and impacted on the country's engagement with Africa. Drawing on extensive interviews with senior Australian politicians and government officials with intimate knowledge of the country's campaign for the UNSC and its time on the Council, as well as with senior African diplomats, the article contributes new knowledge on how Canberra campaigned to secure African UN votes and how it engaged with the Council's Africa-dominated agenda. The article concludes by evaluating the legacy of this period of high engagement for both ongoing Australia-Africa relations and Australia's new campaign for a UNSC seat during the 2029-30 term.     

Peaceful and Sustainable Development? Middle-Management Entrepreneurship and Transnational Competence in China

With deeper integration into the global economy and expanded penetration by multinational firms and other nonChinese actors following accession to the WTO, skills in bureaucratic entrepreneurship are not likely to be sufficient by themselves to bring about China’s sustainable development. In today’s interdependent and highly competitive trade, economic-cooperation, and resource-limited environment, sustainable development requires that subnational managers also possess transnational competence in collaborating with, negotiating with, and transforming foreign counterparts. However, survey research among Chinese executives based in Shanghai revealed that only a small proportion of the reporting current and future managers recognized the growing importance for China of an interculturally competent workforce. Without increased attention to enhancing the transnational competence of government and state-enterprise managers, peaceful and ecologically sound development will be difficult to sustain given the demands of multinational production chains, global resource constraints, and the challenges involved in managing transnational relations in the interest of China’s long-term economic progress.