Persistence and change in Soviet and Russian relations with Afghanistan

This paper examines persistence and change in the Soviet Union's and then Russia's relations with Afghanistan with respect to development and security. First, a detailed analysis of the promise and reality of Soviet development assistance reveals conceptual shortcomings in their attempt to induce economic development in Afghanistan. The Soviet Union's heritage is then revealed in order to understand Russia's current perception of post-Taliban Afghanistan as well as Russia's emerging interests and commitment to Afghanistan's economic development. This paper argues that Russia will most likely replicate standard industrialization development approaches in contributing to Afghanistan's development. Therefore, Russia will probably run into problems similar to those that led to the failure of the Soviet modernization project, which consisted of large-scale development projects that were inappropriate to the country's institutions and the lives of most Afghans. It is questionable whether such reiteration will induce economic development now, in the complex setting of a fragmented and fragile state with a multitude of external players looking out for their own interests.     

In Pursuit of an Alternative Model? The Modernisation Trap in China’s Official Development Discourse

This article contributes to the debates on China’s socio-political transformations by tracing the link between China’s modernization and nationalism, and analysing their mutual interplay. Many recent studies discuss post-Mao China’s development as a unique model challenging earlier development approaches. Instead, the argument pursued here points to the dependence of China’s dominant development thinking on the paradigm of modernization and its symbolic celebration in official discourse and public rituals. By tracing the impact of the modernization paradigm in the influential annual publication China Modernization Report and in the 2009 National Day mass parade, the article shows how and what kind of Chinese nation is produced. I argue that China’s ostensibly unique development model is constrained by the modernization thinking underlying it. Analysis of the discourses on modernity and ‘scientific development’ and the symbolism associated with them reveals a series of dichotomies and oppositions underpinning China’s nation-building. China’s pursuit of modernization relies on the suppression of other possible development paths within China and subsumes Chinese development experiences under those of the generalised West, thereby restricting development alternatives to those allowed within a hierarchical view of the world.     

Building bridges? South African foreign policy and trilateral development cooperation

As questions concerning international development climb the international agenda, so countries find themselves drawn into a burgeoning number of negotiations on issues ranging from the future shape and direction of the post-2015 development agenda to ‘aid effectiveness’ and international development cooperation. Moving from the position of a ‘beneficiary’ state in the traditional donor–recipient aid hierarchy, South Africa is looking to define its own niche within the wider development diplomacy context as a development partner. This paper provides an assessment of South Africa's evolving approach towards international development cooperation, with a particular focus on trilateral development cooperation, and what this means for Pretoria's foreign policy in bridging the divide between developed and developing country positions within the international development regime.     

Capitalist and Maoist economic development

Abstract

While capitalist and Maoist processes of economic development have several elements in common, the differences between the two approaches are never theless many and profound. It is certainly not evident that one approach or the other is always superior, in regard either to means or to ends. What is evident, however, is that most studies by American economists of Chinese economic development are based on the assumption of capitalist superiority, and so China has been dealt with as though it were simply an underdeveloped United States — an economy that “should” develop along capitalist lines and that “should” forget all that damn foolishness about Marxism, Mao's thought, Great Leaps, and Cultural Revolutions and just get on with the job of investing the savings efficiently. This almost complete and unthinking acceptance by American economists of the view that there is no development like capitalist development has resulted in studies of China that lack insight and are generally unsatisfactory. Later on, I shall briefly examine some of these weaknesses and then suggest the types of economic studies that might be undertaken if China's development efforts are to be given serious intellectual consideration. The main portion of this paper, however, is a comparison of capitalist and Maoist development processes.     

Understanding Brazil's new drive for Africa

Following a period of some distancing through the 1980s and 1990s, Brazil has made a concerted effort to engage with Africa. Today, under the leadership of President Lula, Africa is clearly a priority, especially as Brazil emerges as a global economic power and leader of the developing South. Yet, relatively little is written of Brazil's engagement with Africa and the rationale behind the political and economic drive toward the continent. What is clear is that Brazil's engagement with Africa, viewed in the historical context, maintains its underlying foreign policy principles of economic development on the one hand and the preservation of autonomy in an asymmetric world on the other. Brazil's engagement with Africa has taken on a three-pronged approach of political diplomacy, commercial engagement and development co-operation. This is indicative of a new era of Brazilian foreign policy and Brazil's process of internationalisation in general. This is a complex and inter-related process that Brazil seems to have managed well through a high degree of diplomatic sophistication and open cooperation between the political, commercial and various development entities. Africa displays one of the best contextual examples of Brazil's delicate balancing act between commercial and strategic interests and external development assistance. The way Brazil manages this and builds on its positive image in Africa is indicative of its role and approach as a new and emerging power on the international stage.     

Knowledge generation,political action and African development: A polycentric approach

ABSTRACT

Knowledge generated to meet societal needs is the bedrock of development. Africa's development crisis is marked by the persistent gap between the application of intellectual rigours and political action. Despite abundant development potential (human and natural resources, and scientific knowledge), coupled with reform declarations and commitments by African leaders over the past four decades, development remains illusory. This article examines the relationship between key development players (African public officials and African scholars), and how generated knowledge is applied to respond to the needs of African citizens. Using the Institutional Analysis and Development (IAD) framework (otherwise known as new institutionalism) this article examines weaknesses in the interaction of knowledge, political action and development, while at a local level African citizens, through shared strategies and problem-solving interdependency, are effectively transforming indigenous knowledge inherited from their parents to confront daily challenges. The article suggests ways of bridging the gap between development players by proposing an African Development Institutional Mechanism (ADIM) aimed at enabling key development players to operate in synergy.     

Towards a Model for International Collaboration and Partnerships in Teacher Education in Africa: Education for Sustainable Development in South Africa

ABSTRACT

Education for sustainable development allows all to acquire the skills, attitudes, knowledge and values essential for a sustainable future. This article argues that there is an urgent need to include sustainable development aspects in teaching and learning at all levels of education. Implementing Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) poses a new challenge for teachers and teacher educators. The role of international collaboration, partnerships and networking is increasingly becoming important in creating sustainable solutions towards green economies and programmes. The post-2015 global agenda for sustainable development should recognise the need for regional and international collaborations in forging lasting strategies for a sustainable future where education for all is relevant, reliable and accessible.

This article proposes a model for collaboration based on analyses conducted on a project on education for sustainable development programme involving key success factors for collaboration and focussing on the local and global stakeholders and their role in enhancing ESD among teachers. For this purpose, the four partner countries: South Africa, India, Mexico and India were examined to understand how ESD is implemented; how experiences are shared; and best practices incorporated into the programme. Local and global experts (ESD-Expert-net members) who developed an international core curriculum for teachers were involved. From the pilot, four country programmes, a conceptual model of seven levels of collaboration and partnerships for education for sustainable development to enhance teacher development among local and international partners was developed. This model is proposed to serve as a framework for education for sustainable development implementation in multinational collaborations and is discussed in relation to the post-2015 sustainable development perspective.     

Diversity of Southeast Asian Capitalisms: Evolving State-Business Relations in Malaysia

ABSTRACT

Empirical gaps exist in the literature about diverse forms of capitalism. The first is thematic, involving the incomplete institutional and political account of how the state can, through a series of policies, shape the development of domestic enterprises. The second gap is regional in nature: this literature does not deal with the historical development of firms that have played a central role in industrialising Southeast Asia. One reason for this is that since most existing theories are based on Western contexts, they are theoretically ill-equipped to deal with the concepts of power and state-business nexuses when the political system is not democratic in nature. But state-business ties, where politicians in power distribute government-generated rents on a selective basis, have resulted in diverse business systems such as highly diversified conglomerates, state-owned companies and small- and medium-scale enterprises. This article deals with these theoretical and empirical gaps. To better understand the nature and implications of evolving state-business ties in Southeast Asia, this topic is examined through the lens of regulation theory. To appreciate the complexity and implications of state-business configurations on the political system and forms of enterprise development, a case study of Malaysia is provided.     

Selected Recent Books on Soviet Energy

This compilation comprises a special bibliography of recent books on Soviet energy prepared and annotated by the editor of Soviet Geography. An initial section contains five books with sections on nuclear power of particular interest in connection with the Chernobyl' accident. A second section of four entries is devoted to general issues of energy policy, consumption and demand, conservation, and impacts of energy development on Soviet foreign policy and world markets. The final section includes ten books addressing problems of fossil fuel development in the USSR, and efforts to overcome organizational and logistical obstacles to West Siberian oil and gas development in particular. Journal of Economic Literature, Classification Numbers: 027, 124, 723.     

African Renaissance: The need for gender-inclusive developmental states

ABSTRACT

This article was developed from a paper presented at a seminar at the Africa Institute of South Africa in Pretoria in 2006 while the author was an Archie Mafeje Fellow. It argues the urgent need for the construction and consolidation of gender-inclusive democratic developmental states as central to grounding the concept of an African Renaissance, for an effective transformation of the human condition, and for ensuring that this renaissance does not become romanticised and meaningless. While the notion of developmental states has gained currency in recent years, very little, if at all, has been said about gender in relation to these debates – despite the United Nations warning that ‘without engendering development, development itself is endangered.’ In other words, formulating and implementing development policies with gender lenses are crucial for development.     

Structural Injustice,Slow Violence? The Political Ecology of a “Best Practice” Hydropower Dam in Lao PDR

ABSTRACT

Large areas of the rural Lao landscape are being rapidly transformed by infrastructure development projects. Arguably, it is hydraulic development that is contributing most significantly to rural socio-ecological change, due to the profound socio-political ruptures dams precipitate. The nationally iconic Theun-Hinboun Hydropower Project, commissioned in 1998 and expanded in 2012, provides an illustrative case of hydropower’s complex social-ecological outcomes. Proponents have argued that the project represents a best-case example of planned, sustainable development, through successful mitigation of negative impacts and benefit-sharing with affected communities, and implemented in accordance with international good practice. This article questions the narratives of sustainability. It is argued that while the project could be considered successful in achieving certain economic objectives defined by the government and investors, evidence of social and environmental sustainability is questionable, raising questions about other dam projects in the country with weaker standards and oversight. Given the extent of negative impacts and associated social trauma in the Nam Hinboun basin, the article considers whether and to what extent such hydraulic development processes under authoritarian rule may be framed as expressions of structural injustice and slow violence.     

Developing China’s Hainan into an International Tourism Destination: How Far Can This Go?

The Chinese central government has identified tourism as an important means of stimulating domestic consumption and transforming China’s economic development pattern from investment and export-driven to consumption-led. According to the government’s new plan released in 2009, development of Hainan as an International Tourism Destination has been upgraded to a national strategy. By critically discussing the western theories on the policy-making process, this paper intends to adopt the case study of Hainan to specifically analyze its state-initiated plan for regional tourism development. Hainan is the only province in China to clearly be identified by the government for the development of its tourism into a mainstay industry. It is intended to become a test zone for China’s tourism reform and innovation and take a lead in development of tourism and associated industries. The government believes that the tourism sector is a key means of boosting regional economic development and reducing regional disparities between Hainan and the prosperous eastern provinces. Nevertheless, Hainan still faces serious obstacles to its goal of becoming a top Asia Pacific holiday destination. A lack of skilled personnel, backward transport network and poor service standards in tourism and hospitality are persistent and pressing issues. The plan for developing Hainan into an international tourism destination is unlikely to become a reality in the near future.     

China’s Multidimensional Environmental Issues a Fundamental Challenge for China’s Future Development – a Critical Assessment

China’s environmental degeneration carries fundamental political, economic and social implications for its future development and its international reputation. The complexity of the challenge is underlined by the variety of environmental issues China is confronted with. Among them we can identify water shortage, desertification, industrial and urban air pollution, acid rain, and extreme weather patterns. China is already a major polluter and its growth focus as well as the rapid urbanization process we can observe will further increase the pressure on the environment. China’s ability or inability of formulating an environmental friendly development strategy is of critical importance for its future development.     

How to build a better future? Kyrgyzstani development workers and the ‘knowledge transfer’ strategy

The development industry has moved from concepts of aid and technical assistance to the idea that closing ‘gaps’ in people's knowledge is the most effective way of alleviating poverty and injustice. My data show the means through which this ‘knowledge transfer’ is actually supposed to happen. I examine the micro-politics of development: the role and agency of development workers, who are so frequently employed to conduct ‘training’ on a wide range of topics affecting citizens' well-being, such as conflict prevention or sustainable agricultural practices. This paper draws on ethnographic research between 2010 and 2012 with Kyrgyzstani NGO workers to analyse the ‘side-effects’ of development, such as the creation of a new social class and softening age hierarchies. I examine the widespread conviction among trainers that education can solve most social ills, and their concepts of how knowledge, sometimes in the guise of ideologiya, shapes people. I argue that this faith in knowledge reflects both the life course of NGO workers themselves and what they can offer from within the ‘knowledge transfer’ paradigm. An understanding of the friction between different expectations of knowledge content, teaching relationships and aims in creating well-being is not only essential to a critical reflection on these development efforts but also illuminates wider political and social processes and relationships, such as expectations of the state and international community.     

Examining the Shift to Services: Malaysia and China Compared

ABSTRACT

When do countries that pursue industrialisation through the development of their manufacturing sector shift to services? Does the shift take place because manufacturing development has matured with the development of indigenous technology? What is the role of policy in this shift? Understanding this shift is crucial due to the changing nature and role of services in development and its association with deindustrialisation. This article seeks to compare Malaysia and China’s shift from manufacturing to services and the challenges and prospects of such a shift. The main findings indicate that Malaysia’s shift occurred earlier than China’s and was prompted by the failure of its manufacturing sector to deepen as it has not produced any world-class domestic technology firms. China’s more recent shift is associated with on-going upgrading in its manufacturing sector while some global domestic technology firms have also emerged. Both countries used similar policies to drive this shift in response to domestic and external changes. The services sectors of both countries are still dominated by domestic market orientated, labour-intensive services. Developing competitive knowledge-intensive services in both countries will need a reform of their state-owned enterprises and the production of more talents that are needed for these types of services.     

South Africa’s Inclusion in BRICS: Challenges and Prospects for Development in Africa

Abstract

The forming of alliances on the international scene has reflected a provisional arrangement in the world economy. Amongst such alliances was the formation of BRICS by the five world economies—Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa into what is commonly known as BRICS. BRICS is considered a joint initiative, aimed at shifting conventional norms in international economic and political cooperation to create a new trans-continental platform for these actors. Each member country in BRICS has, in one way or another, reflected growth either through its economy foreign policy, and developmental pursuit. However, South Africa is portrayed by some researchers as lagging behind, when compared to the other member countries. Hence, this study sought to analyse the potential mediumand long-term implications of South Africa's inclusion in BRICS. The study also aimed to underscore the benefits and risks associated with South Africa's membership in the alliance in the area of development; specifically poverty reduction, foreign policy, trade, and global partnership. The researchers collected secondary data to analytically critique the inclusion of South Africa in the BRICS alliance, its benefits, and shortcomings for development in South Africa, and in Africa as a whole. We argue that as a global player under BRICS, South Africa has opened a new vista of opportunities, including transnational gateways to Brazil, Russia, India, and China, with the attendant inflow of infrastructural and developmental investments, enriching educational exchanges and technology transfers. The article concludes by stressing the need for South Africa and other African countries to formulate policies that will drive meaningful development in their respective countries. The authors recommend that African leaders should come up with innate policies that are Africa-centred, that would incite development internally.     

Corporate South Africa and biodiversity in a green economy

Abstract

Environmental protection and conservation efforts pose a major challenge the world over, more so for newly industrialising countries that need to strike the precise balance between environmental preservation and future economic development. An arduous challenge for business and the government is the reconciliation of economic growth, development and natural resources conservation. Biodiversity conservation is no longer the preserve of national organisations or state bodies. Companies as users of biodiversity and contributors to its degradation and loss should be a part of the solution as well. The general business world has since entered a new era in terms of its role in aiding and disabling the move towards sustainable development. This is partly attributed to an evolution in policy making from treating the corporation as a problem to perceiving it as a vehicle for economic development and, in this context, integral to the concept of an African renaissance. It is against this backdrop that the article takes stock of the manner with which the corporate sector is conserving and preserving biodiversity as well as methods and modes that are used to do this. It also highlights some of the theories that have been posited to do this which in turn can assist in mapping future engagement. This article aims to present a case for further including the private sector in conserving and preserving biodiversity as a sub stream of environmental issues facing the world today.     

A critical understanding of good governance and leadership concepts written in the context of the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) and the challenges to contextual discourse on Africa's development paradigms1

ABSTRACT

Good governance is a value-laden concept that is characteristically nebulous; it can mean different things to different people, depending on the context in which it is used. The same applies to leadership. Concepts, as Pauw (1999a, 465) puts it, are ‘tools of thinking’ and contexts are ‘the environments or frameworks in which they [concepts] operate’. Lucidity in the meanings of concepts is fundamentally important for shaping debate and enriching discourses. To maintain their power, concepts must be used in their proper contexts. This necessitates an understanding of the art of contextual discourse. Good governance is used in NEPAD as a principle and emphasised as a sine qua non for sustainable development in Africa. On the other hand, NEPAD premises Africa's re-birth or Renaissance on good governance and leadership, with a vision and commitment to repositioning the continent in global power balances. In this article good governance and leadership are considered as concepts. NEPAD is a textual context within which the two key concepts are used and should, consequently, be engaged. The article attempts a critical review of African scholarship engagement with good governance and leadership within the NEPAD context to determine the extent to which contextual discourse is practised. It further grapples with the immediate historical background to scholarship on Africa's development between the 1960s and early 1990s. The exercise reveals that much of the accumulated body of African scholarship and scholarship on Africa's development reviewed does not suffciently contextualise discourse on good governance and leadership within NEPAD, and its key assessment and monitoring device, the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM), and offers an alternative framework.     

Traditional institutions and the rural development challenges in Africa: Gender and agricultural transformation perspectives

Abstract

The tension between the conception of traditional leadership systems as mere cultural institutions and the lack of interest and/or ability to use them as practical development tools in Africa has prompted their critical reappraisal in this article. The article is based on the need for African countries to endeavour to achieve a dialectical mediation between traditional leadership institutions on the one hand and concrete rural development projects on the other, for the purpose of promoting sustainable development. It is argued that there is much that traditional institutions can do to influence activities in rural areas. Any lack of such involvement on the part of traditional leadership systems can only lead to little transformation in rural areas. The article discusses this position with reference to two rural activity systems related to gender-based issues and agricultural development. The article is structured in four parts. The first section is devoted to the introduction, the second and third sections examine the roles traditional leaders could play in the areas of gender and agricultural development, while the final section comprises the conclusion.