Enforcing and disrupting circular movement in an EU Borderscape: housingscaping in Serbia

ABSTRACT

This article examines Western Balkans/EU bordering and debordering practices through a borderscape method in the context of the geopolitical positionality and (de)institutionalization of migrant housing in Serbia. From this perspective, a new ‘border variation’ can be seen emerging after the securitarian turn, transforming the external borderscape of the EU into a space of circular movement. The article sheds light on discourses, practices and places that constitute these spaces of circular movement within the EU external borderscape. In particular, the Western Balkans borderscape is investigated with reference to Serbian migrant housingscapes emerging at the intersection of state-run camps and migrant collective self-organized squatted housing. The focus on migrant housingscapes points to the interconnectedness of camps and squats in the process of facilitating circular movement by the state, the production of mobile commons as a debordering practice, and the production of visual representations of the external border as stabilized ‘scape’ for the EU.     

Terrorists and organized crime entrepreneurs in the “triple frontier” among Argentina,Brazil, and Paraguay

This paper will analyze first the characteristics of the Tri-Border Area, and second how terrorists may intertwine with criminals in order to support their operations, even though it is not always clear when one activity starts and when the other one ends.     

Is Sexism for White People? Gender Stereotypes,Race, and the 2016 Presidential Election

Political Behavior - On November 8, 2016 Donald Trump, a man with no office-holding experience, won the Electoral College, defeating the first woman to receive the presidential nomination from a...     

How can the poor benefit from private investment in agricultural research? A case study from Bolivia

This article evaluates potential mechanisms for facilitating increased private-sector engagement in agricultural research for development and technology transfer (ARDTT), with particular emphasis on Bolivia. It reviews the mixed results of efforts, in developed and developing countries alike, to decentralise ARDTT and to encourage private-sector investment. Potential mechanisms for Bolivia are considered within three broad categories: taxation schemes; co-funding arrangements; and output-based approaches. The constraints to participation in ARDTT by the private sector that arise from concerns over high transaction costs, intellectual property rights, and the legal and regulatory environment are also assessed. The article concludes that compliance, or a hybrid of compliance and a competitive co-funding scheme, is most suited to Bolivia's needs. A flexible approach to intellectual property rights systems is required, although it remains a challenge to identify appropriate taxation regimes.     

The Suzhou industrial park experiment: the case of China–Singapore governmental collaboration

This paper examines the Suzhou Industrial Park project, a collaborative venture between the China and Singapore governments between 1992 and 2002. The collaboration represented a convergence of the two governments' development strategies. The aim was to jointly benefit from foreign direct investment (FDI) by attracting industrial transnational corporations to locate operations within the Park. To achieve this, the China government invested strong political support for the project, while the Singapore government invested capital and administrative expertise. This paper finds that between 1992 and 1997, the collaboration was relatively successful, as the Suzhou Industrial Park experienced some of the highest levels of foreign direct investment in China. However, between 1997 and 1999, the project faced several problems including the effects of the Asian Financial Crisis outside China and competition from other industrial estates within China. This ultimately led the Singapore government to announce its disengagement from the project in June 1999. This paper concludes with some observations about inter-governmental collaboration as a new form of development strategy.     

The Portuguese adaptation of the Gudjonsson Suggestibility Scale (GSS1) in a sample of inmates

This paper comprises two studies which address the validity of the Portuguese adaptation of the Gudjonsson Suggestibility Scale, GSS1. In study 1, the means and standard deviations for the suggestibility results of a sample of Portuguese inmates (N = 40, M_age = 37.5 years, SD = 8.1) were compared to those of a sample of Icelandic inmates (Gudjonsson, 1997; Gudjonsson & Sigurdsson, 1996). Portuguese inmates' results were in line with the original results. In study 2, the means and standard deviations for the suggestibility results of the sample of Portuguese inmates were compared to those of a general Portuguese population sample (N = 57, M_age = 36.1 years, SD = 12.7). The forensic sample obtained significantly higher scores in suggestibility measures than the general population sample. ANOVA confirmed that the increased suggestibility in the inmates sample was due to the limited memory capacity of this latter group. Given that the results of both studies 1 and 2 are in keeping with the author's original results (Gudjonsson, 1997), this may be regarded as a confirmation of the validity of the Portuguese GSS1.     

THE CONCEPT OF PERSON AS AN EMERGENT PHENOMENON

The definition of person hasn＇t still been satisfactorily agreed upon in scientific studies or in those of a philosophical nature. In the field of law, the concept is even weaker. However, it appears that person is an elementary concept as well as one of great practical influences. In the field of Jurisprudence, one is able to reflect upon some of the repercussions that a renewed definition could lead to. Questions related to studies on embryos.     

Do Conditional Cash Transfers Affect Electoral Behavior? Evidence from a Randomized Experiment in Mexico

This article reexamines the argument that targeted programs increase pro‐incumbent voting by persuading beneficiaries to cast ballots against their first partisan choice. The evidence comes from the randomized component of Progresa, the pioneering Mexican conditional cash transfer (CCT) program. Experimental data show that early enrollment in the program led to substantive increases in voter turnout and in the incumbent’s vote share in the 2000 presidential election. The experiment also reveals that opposition parties’ vote shares were unaffected by the program. Thus, the electoral bonus generated by CCTs may be best explained by a mobilizing rather than persuasive mechanism. These findings are difficult to reconcile with the notion that the electoral effects of CCTs are a result of prospective concerns triggered by threats of program discontinuation or endogenous program enrollment. Instead, the evidence in this article suggests that CCTs’ mobilizing effects are compatible with programmatic politics.