Agroindustry and contract farmers in upland West Java

This study examines the experience of contract farmers in the hilly southern region of West Java, using illustrations from two types of upland contracting schemes. The nucleus in one case (smallholder dairy farming) is a co‐operative, and in the second (smallholder hybrid coconuts) a large nationalised plantation corporation. In both cases contract farming communities deviate markedly from the neo‐populist vision of homogeneous, modernising family farms; differentiation is quite marked, and wage labour common. In both cases the institutional framework surrounding contract farmers is in serious need of democratisation; the problem is not one of formal structures in need of revision but of actual function and substance of relationships, which reflect the nature and exercise of power in rural society.     

正确估计国民的收入差距承受力

伴随着二十余年改革开放所取得的巨大经济成就以及分配方式多元化结构的出现 ,我国国民收入的差距也在进一步拉大。收入分配制度的改革是一场革命 ,它在给我国的社会主义建设带来极大经济效益的同时 ,也打破社会群体的心理均衡。在由传统的计划经济体制向社会主义市场经济体制转轨的过程中 ,也就是说 ,在对社会生产与分配进行调整期间 ,拉大收入差距是必然的 ,也是必要的 ,不如此不能够顺利实现和完成体制转轨与生产和分配方式调整的任务 ,也就不能够调动劳动者的生产积极性、刺激经济的进一步繁荣发展。但是也要看到 ,如果不能准确把握国民…     

News media,threats and insecurities: an ethnographic approach

This article presents research from a three-year study of shifting understandings of threat and security in Britain following the 2003 Iraq War. We develop the case for a more integrated and nuanced approach to studying the relationship between policymakers, media practitioners and media publics given the increasing importance of these relationships to international relations (IR) matters of concern. Our analysis demonstrates the ‘push’ and ‘pull’ factors that explain why certain individuals and groups arrive at certain understandings or perceptions of threats. Responding to recent calls in IR for the use of diverse and interdisciplinary methods, our methodology enables us to demonstrate how disparities emerge between official and public understandings of threats. These understandings result from people's engagement with political and media discourses, and the experience of this engagement can be characterized by connectivity, (un)certainty and contradiction.     

Do Elections Always Motivate Incumbents? Learning vs. Re-Election Concerns

This paper studies a principal-agent model of the relationship between office-holder and an electorate, where everyone is initially uninformed about the office-holder’s ability. If office-holder effort and ability interact in the determination of performance in office, then an office-holder has an incentive to learn, i.e., raise effort so that performance becomes a more accurate signal of her ability. Elections reduce the learning effect, and the reduction in this effect may more than offset the positive “re-election concerns” effect of elections on effort, implying higher effort with appointment. When this occurs, appointment of officials may welfare-dominate elections.     

The introduction of an appeals court in Dutch tax litigation

As of January 1, 2005, a court of appeal has been introduced in Dutch tax litigation. Before that date, the substantive merits of a tax dispute could only be heard in one instance. In this paper we investigate which consequences the introduction of the appeals court may have for the way tax payers and the tax administration solve their disputes. We focus on the following questions. Are more or less tax payers willing to go to court to solve the dispute? Is it more or less difficult for parties to agree upon a settlement? Which appeal rate can we expect? What is the role of society's confidence in the courts in the answers to the questions above?     

解读法国早期机能主义心理学

法国早期的心理学受德国的影响相对较小，主要是从本国的心理病理学或变态心理学入手，以机能心理学为取向，从而成为广义的欧洲机能主义心理学的一部分。当时的三位主要机能心理学家里博、沙可和比纳，都以研究心理疾病和病态行为而闻名。法国早期机能主义心理学既取得了一定的理论成就，也存在一些思想属限，同时也在世界心理学史上产生了重要影响。     

日本中小企业全球化经营的新趋势及其对我国的启示

中小企业在日本经济发展过程中一直扮演重要的角色。进入20世纪90年代以后,随着经济全球化和信息全球化趋势的日益加强,日本中小企业对外直接投资模式出现了新的发展变化,其在投资规模、投资地区结构、投资方式以及信息技术利用等方面都呈现出新的特征。研究日本中小企业全球化经营新特点和发展趋势,对我国中小企业如何开展对外投资具有重要的启示。     

Unusual suicides with band saws: Two case reports and a literature review

Suicides or suicide attempts with power saws (band, circular or chain saws) are rather rare events and only a few case reports exist in the forensic literature. The use of a band saw, in particular, has been extremely rare in cases of suicide.We report two cases of suicide that occurred in the same suburban area, three years apart. In each case, the victim was a carpenter and had a history of psychiatric disorder and/or of prior suicide attempts.We summarize the findings of the death scene investigations, the pertinent autopsy findings, and also summarize the world literature pertaining to suicide committed with power saws.     

The importance of teaching dispute resolution in a twenty-first-century law school

Civil justice reviews over the past 20 years have encouraged the use of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) and particularly mediation. Mediation is arguably now becoming more mainstream in terms of dispute resolution process choice. In some instances law changes have been introduced requiring parties in dispute to consider using mediation; similarly, lawyers have an ethical responsibility to provide advice to their clients about the range of dispute resolution processes available. What is lacking however is a corresponding appreciation of the changing attitudes to the teaching of dispute resolution in the majority of UK law schools, where the promotion of adversarialism within the curriculum appears to remain the focus as the primary and only method of dispute resolution. The article argues that this is unreflective of current attitudes and thinking towards dispute resolution in most common law countries, where litigation is no longer necessarily the primary dispute resolution process of choice. Whilst there was token appreciation of the importance of mediation advocacy and its inclusion recommended within the Bar Practice Training Course (BPTC), the recent Legal Education and Training Review was silent on any suggestions about the inclusion of dispute resolution based curriculum content at any stage of legal education in England and Wales. The article will explore the historical development of lawyers’ attitudes to dispute resolution within the civil justice arena and academics’ teaching of curriculum associated with it in UK law schools. The article will pose questions on why recent legal history suggests that law schools should now perhaps take a more socio-legal approach to their curriculum content and embrace the teaching of dispute resolution as a defined subject area for the twenty-first-century law school.