Transatlantic Economic Relations in a Changing Global Political Economy: Achieving Togetherness but Missing the Bus?

This article focuses on the changing context for transatlantic relations within the global political economy. The first part of the article identifies key areas of structural change in the GPE and in particular the potentially revolutionary shifts caused by global instability and the emergence of new economic powers. The argument then explores changing patterns of economic relations between the EU and the US, within a general framework of continuity created by the coexistence of competition and convergence. These contextual factors are then related to patterns of Atlanticism and transatlanticism, to questions of values and identities in the GPE and to the possibility of an EU–US 'grand strategy' for the changing GPE. The conclusion argues that although there is perhaps more secure ground for a sustainable EU–US 'compact' than previously, the EU and the US may have 'missed the bus' in terms of jointly shaping the future of the global economy.     

‘Don’t become a lost specimen!’: polygyny and motivational interconnectivity in Kyrgyzstan

ABSTRACT

Why would a woman agree to wed a legally married man when the state would neither recognize her marriage nor grant her alimony, child support or inheritance rights? Although the Communist Party curtailed the rate of openly acknowledged polygynous marriages among the Kyrgyz, its work was undone by glasnost and perestroika, which ushered in a permissive environment. This article highlights constructions of gender as a driver of polygyny in Kyrgyzstan from the perspective of women who voluntarily become second wives. The Kyrgyz case suggests that the cultural value of marriage and motherhood – traditions that grant women communal identities, power and prestige – might lead a woman to consent to second-wife status. I employ the concept of motivational interconnectivity, defined as two or more related reasons women make important personal decisions that have societal repercussions, to explain a woman’s decision to become a second wife.     

Donating and Volunteering as Social Capital in Bogotá

While the term social capital has been in existence since 1835, it only became popular at the end of the twentieth century, with the emergence of the associational revolution and the appearance of the third sector. Since then, non‐governmental organisations (NGOs), volunteering, philanthropic financing and solidarity organisations have all shaped a common discourse. From a social capital perspective, and on the basis of a social survey, this article investigates the determinants of solidarity and participation in NGOs in Bogotá, Colombia. We conclude that the expression of social capital in Bogotá is made manifest through donations and volunteering, factors which should be considered in fundraising activities.     

Institutional exclusion as a destabilizing factor: the mass unrest of 1 July 2008 in Mongolia

The paper discusses the 1 July 2008 mass protest in Mongolia. This event has no precedent in Mongolian history and represents a challenge for the social sciences as neither scholars nor political leaders predicted or even admitted its eventuality. Several forms of exclusion – economic, social and institutional – are considered as its potential source. It is argued that the theory of institutional exclusion allows making better sense of the situation. Institutional exclusion means the alienation of ordinary people from government and their inability to rely on the law and official procedures when being engaged in everyday activities. Two sources of primary data inform the analysis: a series of structured interviews with the protesters (N?=?20) and a collection of visual records made during the unrest (N?=?244). The data were processed using methods of both qualitative and quantitative content analysis.     

Australia and Scotland: the Evolution of a Long‐Distance Relationship1

Scotland's impact across the world undoubtedly stretched to the Antipodes particularly, but not only, in the colonial era. Under the “canopy of Empire”, Australia and Scotland were linked by migration, trade, capital movements and by cultural ties. But these were all two‐way ties. They did not simply colour the “Australian civilisation”. Rather there was a vital and shifting reciprocation between Scotland and Australia. The relationship between them has mainly been determined by their different economic trajectories. Today financial and skilled human capital move each way between the two countries with heightened velocity and efficiency. These flows, along with continuing cultural connections, enmesh two fully developed modern economies.     

The Nicaraguan Literacy Crusade Revisited: The Teaching of Literacy as a Nation–Building Project

This article draws on the ideas of Anderson (1991) in discussing the role played by the National Literacy Crusade of 1980 in imagining the Nicaraguan nation. As the article demonstrates, the National Literacy Crusade had the potential to create a sense of communion with a mass of anonymous others that is, according to Anderson, the hallmark of modern nations. At the same time, it was also a project that sought to foster a particular national identity centred around the anti–imperialist and socialist nationalism of the Sandinista National Liberation Front.     

“All that appears possible now is to mitigate as much as possible the trials of their closing years”1: Alfred Deakin's Attitudes to Aboriginal Affairs

This article examines Alfred Deakin's attitudes towards, and impacts upon, Aboriginal people during the period 1880–1910, drawing on newspaper articles and parliamentary debates as principal source materials. The discussion begins by charting the long, influential and often positive relationships Deakin had with several Aboriginal communities during a period as a Victorian MLA between 1881 and 1884. It then proceeds to document Deakin's extraordinary descent into paternalism and racially‐based fatalism which pervaded his later association with Aboriginal affairs whilst Victoria's Chief Secretary (1886–1890), Victorian MLA for Essendon and delegate to Federal conventions (1890–1900), as the Federation debates took shape. And finally, the article outlines the attitudes Deakin expressed towards Aboriginal people in his various post‐Federation political roles, including Attorney‐General, Prime Minister and Minister for External Affairs. In doing so, the discussion draws out the connections between Deakin's advocacy of a white Australia and his attitudes towards Aboriginal Australia, and demonstrates the extent to which the creation of a new nation both informed and responded to socio‐racial ideologies that mandated the exclusion of non‐white identities from the nation‐to‐come.