Imperialism and incorporation—the case of Chinese Silk

Abstract

In the last decade, studies of the silk industry and trade have been at the center of the continuing debate over China's development in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Although silk, like the other case studies, has limitations for unveiling the overall picture of China's “underdevelopment,” the silk industry, as Lillian Li and other writers point out, provides a particularly valuable vantage point for exploring the debate because: (1) silk was China's most important export, accounting for one-third of total export value in the mid—nineteenth century and one-fifth in the early twentieth century; (2) China's silk industry was centered in the two regions around Canton and Shanghai that were the most important centers of imperialist penetration; (3) silk exports provide a case for comparison with Japan, since Japan and China were the two leading exporters of raw silk in the world market in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The most critical point, I sense, is the fact that Japan's silk industry was the major, indeed the only, competitor for China's silk industry. And Japan also happened to be the most important imperialist power that Chinese scholars have pointed to in explaining the failure of China's silk industry. Therefore I would stress their relations as well as comparisons of their performance.     

Soviet musicology and the ‘nationalities question’: the case of latvia

Nation branding, as a phenomenon, is attracting increasing scholarly attention. However, much of the existing literature has been written by those involved in the public relations industry themselves. There have been some studies which have been written from a critical viewpoint; however, the tensions of branding a nation have often been neglected. This paper aims to explore the inherent tensions between nation branding and nation building. To what extent is nation branding a tool or a practice? What images of the nation do branders seek to promote, and who is this image for? Is nation branding merely a more palatable version of nationalism? In particular this paper focuses on the debates surrounding the launch of Brand Estonia in 2001/2. Brand Estonia, with the slogan Welcome to Estonia: Positively Transforming, was launched to coincide with Estonia staging the Eurovision Song Contest in 2002. It is a unique and interesting case study given the level of controversy that the initiative generated amongst the Estonian public. Estonia was the first Former Soviet Republic to launch a nation branding project and, perhaps more controversially, it was managed by a British-based company, Interbrand. However, little scholarly attention has been paid to public-level discourses concerning Brand Estonia. The empirical findings discussed in this article highlight some of the more salient narratives on national identity that Brand Estonia engendered and therefore aims to fill this gap.     

Religion,the churches,and the German ‘revolution’ of November 1989

The state election of 2006 in Rheinland-Pfalz resulted in a (bare) majority of seats for the SPD, which allows the party to govern alone for the first time in the history of the state. The CDU, on the other hand, received slightly less than one-third of the vote, an all-time low in its former stronghold. This result was by and large determined by factors at the state level. Yet it had a considerable impact at the federal level: it signalled the end of a string of devastating losses for the SPD, enhanced the standing of minister president Kurt Beck (now the SPD's chairman), and brought to an end the last coalition between the SPD and the FDP. These repercussions notwithstanding, there is no evidence of a durable voter realignment benefiting the SPD, since the party's victory was apparently due to short- and mid-term factors. Therefore, the outcome of the next election (scheduled for 2011) is by no means a foregone conclusion.     

Central banking and the crisis of social democracy ‐ a comparative analysis of British and German views

With the demise of the post‐war ‘Keynesian accommodation’, social democratic parties are having to come to terms with the increasingly key role of central banks in the political management of markets. This article examines the differing views of the SPD and the British Labour Party to government‐central bank relations in terms of their differing national contexts. The second part interprets the results of a postal survey of MPs and MEPs from both parties relating to recent developments in national and supranational central banking and identifies significant contrasts between the two and important contradictions in perceptions of policy processes, notably within the SPD group. Such contradictions relate above all to the popularisation of the Bundesbank model of autonomy and the feasibility of (social) democratic politics.     

Some archaeological gleanings from Gandhara on the north‐west frontier of India

Central Asia Central Asian Review. Vol. XIII, No. I, 1965. London, Central Asian Research Centre, 66a King's Road, London, S.W.3. Pp. 97. Maps. 10s.

Russia's Policy in Central Asia 1857–1868. By N. A. Khalfin. A condensed version of the original Russian by Hubert Evans. London, Central Asian Research Centre, 1964. Pp.107. Maps. Bibliog. 18s.

Communist China and Tibet. The First Dozen Years. By George Ginsburgs and Michael Mathos. Martinus Nijhoff, The Hague, 1964. Pp. 218. Bibliog. Index. Dutch guilders, 23.25.

South Asia The Road to Freedom. By Sir Percival Griffiths. London, Ampersand, 1965. Pp. 207. Bibliog. 6s.

Modern India. By Sir Percival Griffiths. London, Ernest Benn, 1965. Pp. xiii + 300. Maps. Bibliog. Index. 37s. 6d.

Federalism in India. A Study of Union‐State Relations. By Asok Chanda. London, Allen and Unwin, 1965. Pp. 347. Bibliog. Index. 42s.

The Concept of the Secular State and India. By Ved Prakash Luthcra. London, Oxford University Press, 1964. Pp. ix + 187. Bibliog. Index. 22s.

India and the Commonwealth, 1885–1929. By S. R. Mehrotra. London, Allen and Unwin, 1965. Pp. 287. Bibliog. Index. 40s.

Indian Foreign Policy and the Border Dispute with China. By W. F. van Eekelen. The Hague, Martinus Nijhoff, 1964. Pp. ix + 220. Maps. Bibliog. Index. Dutch guilders 22.50.

Sind. A General Introduction. By H. T. Lambrick. (History of Sind Series—Vol. I.) Hyderabad (Sind): Sindhi Adabi Board, 1964. Pp. xv + 274. Maps. Illus. Glossary. Bibliog. Indexes.

Pakistan. Birth and Growth of a Muslim Nation. By Richard V. Weekes. London, D. Van Nostrand Co. Ltd., 1965. Pp. ix + 278. Maps. Illus. Bibliog. Index. 45s.

South‐West Asia Empire by Treaty. Britain and the Middle East in the Twentieth Century. By M. A. Fitzsimons. London, Ernest Benn Ltd., 1965. (Notre Dame University Press, Indiana, 1964.) Pp. xiv + 235. Maps. Index. 50s.

Arab Unity in Terms of Law. By M. F. Anabtawi. The Hague, Martinus Nijhof, 1963. Pp. 263. Bibliog. Guilders 18.

Arabian Oil Ventures. By H. St.J. Philby. The Middle East Institute, Washington, D.C., 1964. Pp. xiii +134. Endpaper maps. Illus. $4.75.

The Covenant and the Sword. Arab‐Israeli Relations, 1948–56. By Earl Berger. London, Routledge and Kegan Paul; Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1965. Pp. ix + 245. Maps. Bibliog. Index. 35s.

Cross Roads to Israel. By Christopher Sykes. London, Collins, 1965. Pp. 479. Maps. Illus. Bibliog. Index. 42s.

Mandate Memories 1918–1948. By Norman and Helen Bentwich. London, Hogarth Press, 1965. Pp. 231. Index. 30s.

Ben Gurion. A Political Biography. By Maurice Edelman. London, Hodder and Stoughton, 1964. Pp. 214. Illus. Bibliog. Index. 30s.

Arab Border‐Villages in Israel. By Abner Cohen. Manchester University Press, 1965. Pp. xiv +194. Map. Bibliog. Index. 30s.

Education in Israel. By Joseph S. Bentwich. London, Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1965. Pp. 204. Illus. Bibliog. Index. 24s.

South East Asia. Illusion and Reality in Politics and Economics. By Lennox A. Mills. Minnesota University Press; London, Oxford University Press, 1964. Pp. 365. Map. Index. 45s.

China and the Peace of Asia. Edited by Alastair Buchan. London, Chatto and Windus for the Institute for Strategic Studies, 1965. Pp. 253. Bibliog. 30s.

The Indo‐China War, 1945–54. A Study in Guerilla Warfare. By Edgar O'Bal‐lance. London, Faber, 1964. Pp. 285. Maps. Illus. Bibliog. Index. 35s.

Conflict in Laos. The Politics of Neutralization. By Arthur J. Dommen. London, Pall Mall Press, 1964. Pp. xiv + 338. Maps. Tables. Bibliog. Index. 40s.

The Communist Party of Indonesia, 1951–1963. By Donald Hindley. University of California Press and Cambridge University Press, 1964. Pp. 380. Maps. Bibliog. Index. $8.50. 68s.

Village in Vietnam. By Gerald Cannon Hickey. Yale University Press, 1964. Pp. xxvii + 325. Illus. Bibliog. Index. 72s.

Far East Mao and the Chinese Revolution. By Jerome Ch'ên. London, Oxford University Press, 1965. Pp. 419. Maps. Appendices. Bibliog. Index. 42s.

Communist China: The Early Years 1949–55. By A. Doak Barnett. London, Pall Mall Press, 1964. Pp. xiv + 336. Index. 42s.

The Birth of Communist China. By C. P. Fitzgerald. London, Penguin Books Ltd., 1965. Pp. 288. Maps. Index. 5s.

Soviet Scientist in China. By Mikhail A. Klochko. Trans. by Andrew Mac‐Andrew. London, Hollis and Carter, 1964. Pp. 192. 25s.

Workers of China. By K. E. Priestley. London, Ampersand, 1965. Pp. 107. 3s. 6d.

Communist China's Crusade. By Guy Wint. London, Pall Mall Press, 1965. Pp. 136. Maps. Bibliog. Index. 21s.

Li Hung‐Chang and the Huai Army. A Study in Nineteenth‐Century Regionalism. By Stanley Spector. Seattle, University of Washington Press, 1964. Pp. 359. Bibliog. Index. $9.50.

Bitter Strength. By Gunther Barth. Harvard University Press; London, Oxford University Press, 1964. Pp. 305. Bibliog. Index. 48s.

Suye Mura. A Japanese Village. By John F. Embree. Chicago and London, University of Chicago Press, 1965. Pp. xxxi + 354. Maps. Illus. Bibliog. Index. Paperbound, 21s.

Government and People in Hong Kong 1841–1962. A Constitutional History. By G. B. Endacott. Hong Kong University Press; London, Oxford University Press, 1965. Pp. 263. Map. Illus. Bibliog. Index. 45s.

Biography Ataturk. The Rebirth of a Nation. By Lord Kinross. London, Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1964. Pp. 542. Illus. Bibliog. Index. 63s.

Allenby. By Brian Gardner. London, Cassell, 1965. Pp. 314. Maps. Illus. Index. 30s.

The Forgotten Men. By Iain Adamson. London, G. Bell and Sons, 1965. Pp. 193. Map. 21 s.

The Gurkhas. By Harold James, M.C., and Denis Shiel‐Small, M.C. London, Macdonald, 1965. Pp.291. Maps. Illus. Bibliog. Index. 35s.

Six Minutes to Sunset. By Arthur Swinson. London, Peter Davies, 1964. Pp. vii + 215. Maps. Illus. Bibliog. Index. 30s.

Road to Nineveh. The Adventures and Excavations of Sir Austen Henry Layard. By Nora Kubie. London, Cassell, 1965. Pp. 303. Maps. Illus. Bibliog. Index. 36s.

Commissioner Lin and the Opium War. By Hsin‐Pao Chang. Harvard University Press; London, Oxford University Press, 1965. Pp. 319. Maps. Bibliog. Index. 56s.

Culture and Civilization The Eastern Key. Kitab al‐Ifadah wa'l I'tibar of Abd al‐Latif al‐Baghdadi. Translation by K. Hafuth Zand and John A. and Ivy E. Videan. London, Allen and Unwin, 1964. Pp. 293. 63s.

Islamic Architecture and its Decoration A.D. 800–1500. By Derek Hill and Oleg Grabar. A Photographic Survey with an Introductory Text. London, Faber, 1964. £6 6s.

The Golden Peaches of Samarkand. By Edward H. Schafer. The University of California Press: Berkeley and Los Angeles, 1963. Pp. 399. Illus. Bibliog. Notes. Index. 72s.

Horses in Japan. By Vivienne Kenrick. London, J. A. Allen and Co., 1964. Pp. 196. Illus. 25s.

Religion and Philosophy A History of Medieval Islam. By J. J. Saunders. London, Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1965. Pp. 219. Maps. Index. 32s.

The Spirit of Islam. By Syed Ameer Ali. London, Methuen, 1965. (University Paperbacks.) Pp. ix + 515. Bibliog. Index. 21s.

Ghazali's Book of Counsel for Kings (Nasihat al‐Mulūk). Translated by F. R. C. Bagley. Oxford University Press, 1964. Pp. lxxiv +197. 63s.

Studies in Christian Caucasian History. By Cyril Toumanoff. Georgetown University Press, 1963. Pp.601. Maps. Bibliog. Index.     

‘The highest flights of circumlocutory art’: Britain,Latvia and Recognizing the Soviet Annexation of 1940

The British Government never recognized the Soviet annexation of the Baltic States in June 1940, but almost did so early in 1942 and was ready to do so again in 1944, when it took at face value Stalin's revision of the Soviet constitution. The result was ‘trouble’ from the Baltic ambassadors in London, particularly the Latvian ambassador. The British Government changed its stance in autumn 1945 when the revisions to the Soviet constitution proved to be sham. Thereafter British policy amounted to procrastination, as the developing Cold War prevented a final post-war settlement.     

Fighting on behalf of the state—the issue of pro-government militia autonomy in the Donbas war

This study investigates the degree of autonomy the Ukrainian volunteer battalions had from the regular forces during the war in Donbas. The findings indicate that the degree of autonomy was high and that in particular, three initial conditions were decisive for this outcome: (1) the relative level of militia military strength in the initial states of conflict; (2) the degree of agenda overlap; (3) the degree of bottom-up organization. The empirical evidence further suggests that the three factors produced the identified outcome through the mechanisms of “institutional lock-in,” “performance interdependence,” and “entitlement.” Consequently, the Ukrainian state and regular forces ended up accepting a higher degree of autonomy, in terms of command and control, on the part of the volunteer battalions than they otherwise probably would have preferred. This outcome contributed significantly to saving the sovereignty of the Ukrainian state in 2014–2015, but may also have created conditions for challenges to the same state further down the road.     

The biopolitics of China’s “war on terror” and the exclusion of the Uyghurs

This article provides an overview of People’s Republic of China (PRC) counter-terrorism policies targeting Uyghurs since 2001 when the state first asserted that it faced a terrorist threat from this population. In reviewing these policies and their impact, it suggests that the state has gradually isolated and excluded Uyghurs from PRC society. Drawing on the writings of Michael Foucault, it articulates this gradual exclusion of Uyghurs as an expression of biopolitics where the Uyghur people as a whole have come to symbolize an almost biological threat to society that must be quarantined through surveillance, punishment, and detention. Rather than suggesting that these impacts of China’s “war on terror” coincide with the intent of state policy, the article argues that they are inevitable outcomes of labeling a given ethnic population as a terrorist threat in the age of the Global War on Terror.     

An overview of the EU–SA Strategic Partnership 10 years on: Diverging world views,persisting interests

ABSTRACT

The European Union–South Africa (EU–SA) Strategic Partnership has entered its 10th year. It is a product of its time and particular regional and international circumstances. These having changed somewhat over the course of the last decade, it is not surprising that the dynamics of the relationship, expressed through the strategic partnership's parameters, have undergone commensurate changes. Based on the recognition that the partnership is between a multilateral institution and a state, the difference in their respective strategic positions is inevitable. The challenge, therefore, is for the EU–SA Strategic Partnership to maintain a flexibility that allows for continued contestation, development and relevance. This paper reviews the historical context of the partnership and the challenging dynamics that have evolved over the lifespan of the partnership, providing the basis for the thematic discussion which follows in this issue. The analysis in this article demonstrates that, in spite of acknowledged challenges, the functionality of the strategic partnership based on persisting interests remains intact.     

The African Union (AU), the Libya Crisis and the notion of ‘African solutions to African problems’

When the crisis in Libya began, it was hoped that the AU would be the one to deal with it under its cherished notion of ‘African solutions to African problems’. However, from the very beginning, the organisation took half-hearted measures in its reaction; its members did not speak with one voice on how to resolve the crisis; and Qaddafi ignored the organisation's call to end the crisis peacefully, eventually resulting in the organisation being over-ridden by the western powers through means of the UN Security Council (UN SC). The Libya crisis demonstrated that beyond rhetoric, the AU does not have the capacity to respond effectively to the crises facing Africa. The crisis rendered the notion of ‘African solutions to African problems’ moot and demonstrated that at the moment the AU lacks the requisite functional tools to actually operationalise the notion.     

The 1972 Memorandum to the United Nations and its repercussions: Émigré politics and Soviet Estonian dissent during the ‘era of stagnation’

The Estonian dissidents’ Memorandum to the United Nations, drafted as a call for national self-determination in 1972, set new standards for the émigré community’s campaigns. Although its political message was initially dismissed as utopian, the subsequently emerging cooperation between émigré and homeland activists via intricate courier networks significantly strengthened the authority of Estonian voices in the West. By the early 1980s, the political alliances across the Iron Curtain eventually bore fruit. The Memorandum’s core demands reappeared in political debates on Baltic issues on both sides of the Atlantic, foreshadowing the massive Western support for the Baltic cause during the Singing Revolutions.     

“I am concerned with the future of my children”: the project economy and shifting views of education in a Tibetan pastoral community

Tibetan pastoralists have been subject to large-scale state-led development policies over the past three decades. The provisioning of institutionalized state schooling, in particular, has all along been part and parcel of these development projects, including urbanization and resettlement initiatives. However, for a variety of reasons, the promotion of schooling in Tibetan pastoral areas has been a challenge since the first Maoist efforts in 1950s. By focusing on a case study of a Buddhist monk’s persistent effort to build a primary school in his home village in the eastern region of Tibet in 1990, and on how Tibetan villagers’ views of him and his school project have changed over time, this paper examines the nexus of relationships between schooling, and social and cultural changes in pastoral Tibet. I also aim to relate Tibetan pastoralists’ shifting values of schooling to the larger social and political context, particularly the ubiquitous Chinese xiangmu (project) economy and Tibetan pastoralists’ ever-increasing dependence on the state. This paper argues that although state schooling is highly contested, it has been one of the driving forces of social change in Tibetan pastoral areas today.     

Decoding the Evolutionary Path of Chinese Foreign Policy, 1949–2009: Assessments and Inferences

Chinese foreign policy has made a grand transition during the post-Mao reform era. Chinese foreign policy of the 21st century has become much more open and pragmatic in its relations with the outside world, more extensive in its reach and coverage, highly diversified in its functions and partners, more committed to international norms than before, and much more sophisticated in its dealing with the international community. Yet, the precise balance between the changes and continuities is still quite difficult to gauge. Furthermore, despite crucial visible changes, concerns and worries - even some fears - are discernible with regard to the rise of China. In the last 60 years, Beijing has sought hard to sustain consistencies (shizhong ruyi) in its foreign policy. Perhaps, that is the best clue the world has in inferring the future trajectory of Chinese foreign policy.     

What Drives the Selection of Political Information on Google? Tension Between Ideal Democracy and the Influence of Ranking

The emergence of the Internet has altered how individuals obtain information—this also applies to political information. Search engines have taken over the role of political information gatekeepers, thus becoming key players in democracy. However, surprisingly little is known about the role of search engines in the political information process, that is, whether they represent an opportunity or a threat to democracy. Through an online survey experiment, which mimicked a Google web interface, this study examines how Swiss citizens select political information on a political news event from a Google search results page. Although citizens consider textual cues from snippets, they are more likely to select sources of information from the top of a Google results page, regardless of the source. We discuss these findings from a democratic theory perspective.