Waving the Flag

The term"Made in China"is undergoing the ultimate 21st century makeover-with a subversive twist.This rapidly changing landscape is a unique phenomenon that goes beyond the mere Summer/Winter collections;it waves the flag for the changes vibrating within China's societyat-large today.The Olympic flag,even.     

Reviews

Culture in Africa: An Appeal for Pluralism edited by Raoul Granqvist. Seminar Proceedings No.29. The Scandinavian Institute of African Studies, Uppsala. 1993. 204 pp. illustrated.

Social Change And Economic Reform in Africa edited by Peter Gibbon. Nordiska Afrikainstitutet, Uppsala. 1993. 379 pp. including references and notes on contributors.

The Idea of Africa by V.Y.Mudimbe. Indiana University Press, Bloomington & Indianapolis, and James Currey, London. 1994. xvii plus 234 pp. including illustrations, bibliography and index.

Can National Dialogue Break the Power of Terror in Burundi? Report on the Impact of the International Conference National Dialogue Held in Bujumbura, May 15–18, on Burundian Efforts to Restore Domestic Process in the Country by Zdenek Cervenka and Colin Legum. Current African Issues 17. Nordiska Afrikainstitutet, Uppsala, Sweden. 1994. 29 pp.

Ethnicity in Focus: The South African Case by Simon Bekker. Indicator SA Issue Focus, Centre for Social and Development Studies, University of Natal. 1993. iii plus 117pp. including notes, bibliography and index.

Liquor and Labour in Southern Africa edited by Jonathan Crush and Charles Ambler. Athens and Pietermaritzburg: Ohio University Press and University of Natal Press. 1992. 412 pp. including figures, tables and index.

Chelewa, Chelewa, The Dilemma of Teenage Girls edited by Zubeida Tumbo‐Masabo and Rita Liljestrom. Nordiska Afrikainstitutet. 1994. 218 pp.

Towards More Appropriate Technologies? Experiences from the Water and Sanitation Sector by Mariken Vaa. Report No. 94, Nordiska Afrikainstitutet, Uppsala. 1993. 91 pp. including references.

From the Mountains to the Plains. The Integration of the Lafofa Nuba into Sudanese Society by L.O. Manger. Scandinavian Institute of African Studies, Uppsala. 1994. 175 pp.

The New Local Level Politics in East Africa. Studies on Uganda, Tanzania and Kenya edited by Peter Gibbon. Nordiska Afrikainstitutet, Uppsala. 1994. Research Report No. 95. 118 pp. including figures, notes and references. Paperback. US$9.95.

Tanzania: The Limits to Development from Above by Kjell J. Havnevik. The Scandinavian Institute of African Studies, Uppsala, Sweden. 1993. 343 pp. including tables, bibliography and appendices.

A Blighted Harvest: The World Bank and African Agriculture in the 1980s by Peter Gibbon, Kjell J. Havnevik and Kenneth Hermele. James Currey, London and Africa World Press, Trenton, New Jersey. 1993.     

Tech Drivers in the Greater Bay Area

正Artificial intelligence development in south China shifts gears Following the latest detection of locally transmitted cases of the new Delta variant of the coronavirus in Guangdong Province, Guangzhou, the provincial capital with over 18 million people, has reported more than 130 confirmed infections since May 21. The city's worst-hit Liwan District has imposed strict lockdowns on certain streets. Several other areas are not letting people in or out of certain zones and residents are not allowed to leave their buildings. A number of 24/7 checkpoints have been set up to monitor movement in and out of these areas.     

Reviews

Seweryn Bialer, The Soviet Paradox: External Expansion, Internal Decline. London: I. B. Tauris, November, 1986, xx + 396 pp. £16.50.

Frank Füredi, The Soviet Union Demystified: A Materialist Analysis. London: Junius Publications, 1986, 271 pp. £12.50 h/b, £5.95 p/b.

R. Furtak, The Political Systems of the Socialist States: an Introduction to Marxist‐Leninist Regimes, Wheatsheaf Books Ltd., Brighton, 1986, xi + 308 pp. £32–50.

Peter Jones and Sian Kevill (Compilers) China and the Soviet Union 1949–84, Keesing's International Studies; Longman, London: 1986, 202 pp. £20.00.

Roy Medvedev, China and the Superpowers, Basil Blackwell, Oxford; 1986, 234 pp. £17.50.

Gail Schlachter (ed.) Sino‐Soviet Conflict: A Historical Bibliography, ABC‐Clio Distribution Services, Clio Press, Oxford; 1985, xii + 190 pp. £30.50.

Károly Attila Soós, Terv, Kampany, Penz. Szabalyozas es Konjunkturaciklusok Magyarorszagon es Jugoszlaviaban, Közgazdasagi es Jogi Könyvkiado‐Kossuth Könyvkiado, Budapest, 1986, 533 pp. 142 Ft.

William V. Wallace and Roger A. Clarke, Comecon, Trade and the West, Frances Pinter (Publishers), London, 1986, xi + 176 pp. £18.50.

Alec Nove, Socialism, economics and development, Allen & Unwin, London, 1986, 243 pp. £25.00 US $29.95.

Klaus Fritsche, Blockfreiheit aus sowjetischer Sicht, Deutsches Übersee‐Institut, Munich, Cologne, London, Weltforum Verlag, 1986, 299 pp.

Winrich Kühne, Sowjetische Afrikapolitik in der ‘Ara Gorbatschow’. Eine Analyse ihrer grundlegenden Probleme Mitte der 80er Jahre, ausgehend von den Entwicklungen in Mozambique, Angola und Äthiopien. Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik, Ebenhausen, 1986, 146 pp.     

Coalition formation on major policy dimensions: The Council of the European Union 1998 to 2004

Using data of contested decisions in the Council of the European Union, combined with data on the position of member states on the left-right and support for European integration dimensions, this paper provides an overview of winning coalitions formed in the council in the 1998 to 2004 time span. It shows distance between the combined policy positions of winning coalitions to individual EU states within these coalitions and demonstrates that most winning coalitions in the Council have a large combined voting weight, minimal winning coalitions are rare, and ideological connectedness plays a much smaller role than expected.     

Book note

Paul Moorcraft, African Nemesis: War and Revolution in Southern Africa, 1945–2010. London: Brassey's. 1990 (Paperback 1994); 519 pages.     

Automated communication and basic rights

Nowadays communication does not necessarily originate from humans, but also from “machines” such as “social bots” or “things” in the Internet of Things. From a basic rights perspective, this phenomenon raises the question if such communication benefits from the same level of protection as communication created by human beings. With regard to the basic rights of the Grundgesetz, the Federal Constitutional Court for years has been excluding some forms of communication from the scope of protection as not needing or deserving protection. The ratio of these decisions must not be applied to cases of automated communication without noticing possible differences. Automated communication can mostly be linked to the human beings or legal entities applying it. Therefore, its prohibition or regulation is a matter of proportionality of infringements with fundamental rights.