Going 'Back' and Staying 'Out': Articulating the postcolonial Hong Kong subjects in the development of China

In examining the Hong Kongers' participation in the social development of China, I suggest that China-development provides an important local site for the study of Chinese postcoloniality. Not only does it disclose the multiple and contradicting effects of colonial power, it also embodies the conflicting visions of modern China between the official Grand Narrative of modern Chinese nationhood and the local narratives of modern Chineseness. It became a site that created discursive possibilities for individual Hong Kongers to negotiate their ambivalent identification with and resistance to China. In this paper, I show how Hong Kongers were constructed as 'free subjects' under the British colonial discourse of liberalism which in turn shaped the Hong Kong discourse of China-development. Circulating in China-development was the image of China as the oppressive and corrupt 'inside' and Hong Kong as a free 'outside' space of accountability and equality of opportunities. Vacillating between East and West, Hong Kongers came to represent themselves as modern Chinese towards which they worked to develop their mainland compatriots.     

Simulated impact of an industrial electrical rate reduction on the pittsburgh region

The City of Pittsburgh and Allegheny County have electrical rates which are approximately 20-23 percent above the national average and are among the highest in the U.S. The following report examines the potential impact on the Pittsburgh Region of an industrial electrical rate reduction of 15 percent in Allegheny County. Simulations show that the reduction will slow the rate of decline in manufacturing employment and cause modest increases in employment growth in other sectors of the local economy. However, the rate reduction will have almost no impact on real disposable income per capita in the Region and will also have no recession dampening effect on the Region when the nation experiences a 10 percent, two-year decline in the demand for all durable goods. All simulations are run using the 1994 Pittsburgh REMI Model.     

Estimating Sectoral and Geographical Industrial Pollution Inventories in India: Implications for Using Effluent Charge Versus Regulation

Developing countries are increasingly concerned about the growing pollution levels in cities. Because of the lack of reliable information on the nature and magnitude of emissions/discharges from various industrial sources it is difficult for regulators to formulate cost-effective strategies for industrial pollution control. This article uses the Industrial Pollution Projection System database to estimate the industrial pollution load and the associated abatement cost, which can be used to design cost-effective strategies for pollution control. The article also illustrates the cost-effectiveness of market based instruments such as effluent charge vis-à-vis regulation.     

Democratic theorizing in Taiwan: A reconstruction

This study reconstructs Taiwan people's existing discursive structures on democracy by replicating Dryzek and Berejikian's Q methodological study of American democratic discourses. It finds that under the existing specific historical circumstances, Taiwan people's democratic attitudes manifest a complex, pluralistic and interrelated discursivity, in which at least five democratic discourses can be identified, namely democratic pragmatism, democratic communitarianism, democratic liberalism, democratic elitism and democratic populism. Yet, among these five discourses, there are a number of commonly held views. In particular, they all accept democratic pluralism, reject communism and violence, believe in the fallibility of state leaders and the necessity to limit government power, and are optimistic about the future democratic development in Taiwan. This broad consensus reflects the specific historical experience of Taiwan people's democratic pursuit on the one hand and provides a broad common ground for dialogue and interaction among the five discourses on the other. These findings should significantly enrich our understanding of the democratic theorizing in Taiwan and serve as a basis for future comparison with the American as well as other countries’ experiences.     

Agenda-Setting in Greenpeace and Amnesty: The Limits of Centralisation in International NGOs

While international nongovernmental organisations (INGOs) have been heavily studied for their role in transnational advocacy, most research has ignored their internal organisation and the relationships between international and grassroots offices. Intuition suggests that INGOs should face structural imperatives to balance maintaining global brands while simultaneously mobilising disparate publics in local contexts. However, this intuition has not yet been systematically studied. We address this with a paired comparison of Amnesty International and Greenpeace. Using case studies and an original dataset of website attributes, we show that campaigns promoted by international offices and their national counterparts reflect a balance between local diversity and global unity, revealing organisational structures that combine centralised agenda-setting with decentralised agenda implementation. Our research identifies a “measurement gap” with implications for understanding INGO accountability and effectiveness, and indicates that a more complete research programme on INGOs must include attention to internal organisation and structural diversity.