Modernization theory and the Cold War

In this article the structural, political and intellectual context in which a specific discourse of development emerged is examined. In the context of the Cold War, the prolonged effort of American intellectuals in advising and attempting to redirect the process of development in India and its consequences for a particular version of modernization theory is analyzed. A general sociology of knowledge approach is deployed to examine the complex configuration of events that contributed to a specific discoursed that owes its intellectual lineage to the Comtean vision of social science.     

Notes on contributors

In the Kosovo crisis, Germany for the first time since 1955 joined NATO military combat operations in a major way. While this has often been interpreted as a fundamental major departure ('normalisation') in Germany's post‐war foreign policy, this article argues that Germany's willingness to contemplate joining a NATO war even without a mandate by the UN Security Council represents an evolution, rather than a fundamental change in Germany's foreign policy orientation. This evolution can be explained best as a logical and consistent response of Germany's foreign policy identity which reconciled, through modification, its traditional post war foreign policy identity as a ‘civilian power’ to a radically different security environment.     

The Effect of Incentive Reforms Upon Productivity: Evidence from the Vietnamese Rice Industry

In this study we use region-level panel data on rice production in Vietnam to investigate total factor productivity (TFP) growth in the period since reunification in 1975. Two significant reforms were introduced during this period, one in 1981 allowing farmers to keep part of their produce, and another in 1987 providing improved land tenure. We measure TFP growth using two modified forms of the standard Malmquist data envelopment analysis (DEA) method, which we have named the Three-year-window (TYW) and the Full Cumulative (FC) methods. We have developed these methods to deal with degrees of freedom limitations. Our empirical results indicate strong average TFP growth of between 3.3 and 3.5 per cent per annum, with the fastest growth observed in the period following the first reform. Our results support the assertion that incentive related issues have played a large role in the decline and subsequent resurgence of Vietnamese agriculture.     

Fair trade slippages and Vietnam gaps: the ideological fantasies of fair trade coffee

Fair trade coffee sales have boomed since the late 1980s, making it one of the most recognised forms of ‘ethical consumerism’ in the world. Around the same time exports of lower quality coffee beans from Vietnam also boomed, launching Vietnam from an insignificant coffee exporter to the world’s second largest with historically unprecedented speed. These disparate projects have had significant impacts on thousands of farmers – with Vietnam’s new class of coffee producers representing three and a half times the number of coffee families certified by fair trade. Northern actors, however, have given far more public and positive attention to fair trade. This article will argue that this difference does not stem from a strictly objective appraisal of the relative merits and shortcomings of each project, but from the compatibility of fair trade with ‘free trade’ and its emotionally charged ideological fantasies. This includes unconscious beliefs and desires around individualism, voluntarism, democracy and the affirmation of the exaggerated power of Northern consumers – as opposed to the Southern agency and complicated collective action implied by Vietnamese coffee statecraft.     

A Comparative Taphonomic Analysis of 24 Trophy Skulls from Modern Forensic Cases,

Cranial remains retained from fallen enemies are commonly referred to as “trophy skulls,” and many such crania were acquired as souvenirs by U.S. servicemembers during WWII and the Vietnam conflict. These remains increasingly have become the subject of forensic anthropological analysis as their possessors, typically veterans or their relatives, try to discard or repatriate them. The present research uses a qualitative analytical approach to review 24 cases of reported trophy skulls (14 previously unpublished cases and 10 from the literature) to determine which perimortem and postmortem characteristics are most useful for generating a taphonomic profile. Overall, the taphonomic signature of trophy remains includes traits relating to acquisition and preparation, ornamental display, and subsequent curation. Contextual evidence and the biological profile also are considered when determining the possible origin of human cranial remains as a trophy skull. Thorough taphonomic analysis will aid in identifying these types of remains as trophy skulls.     

台湾都市文学与海派文学

本文以林燿德和施蛰存开启的台湾都市文学与海派文学的对话为契机,探讨海峡两岸都市文学的隔海传承与变异。30年代上海新感觉派将都市文化的殖民地摩登属性推向顶峰;40年代的海派作家还原出一个琐碎的市民都市空间;台湾新世代作家则塑造了一个集民间、私我和异彩文化等诸多因子交汇的都市场域,包容了更大的阐释空间。这些都市书写都以“感觉”为媒介,借鉴蒙太奇手段刻意颠覆故事情节的连贯性和人物性格的完整性,对欲望书写异乎寻常的关注,在小说的审美形态、叙述角度、结构方式、语言风格等方面,表现出特有的创新度和开放度。     

阮氏政权时期华侨华人对越南社会经济发展的贡献

本文主要从农业、商业、矿业、建筑业、养蚕和剿丝业等几个方面分析阮氏政权时期华侨华人对越南经济发展的贡献.中国移民移居越南,是更大范围的传统农业文明内部的人口流动、资源开发和技术传承.他们没有而且也不可能打破或超越传统的生产方式,创造出工业文明所创造的物质财富和精神文化成就.     

The Trump Effect,Children, and the Value of Human Rights Education

Since launching his presidential campaign, Donald Trump's rhetoric has often been divisive as well as demeaning of selected groups. This article examines the impact of Trump's rhetoric on children and their communities and explores the role that human rights education can play in responding to Trump and forging broader support for human rights. The article reviews the research on human rights education and considers how human rights education can be embedded in broader efforts to educate children. Using children's literature as a case study, the article argues for the importance of mainstreaming human rights education and meeting children where they are, in order to foster greater recognition of and respect for the rights of all individuals.     

Deconstructing the multi-layered nature of citizen participation in Vietnam: conceptual connotations,discourses of international development,and the country’s institutional context

ABSTRACT

Citizen participation is challenging to define in terms of meaning and application. This article begins with setting out the multi-dimensional nature of citizen participation in development. Through conceptual and contextual explorations, this article deconstructs the layers in the following ways: First, citizen participation is embedded with several conceptual connotations, therefore it is manifested to varying degrees and in different scopes of opportunity for citizens to affect policy decisions. Varieties of participation become more diverse when it comes to the power dynamics of different stakeholders, ranging from the government to citizens. Furthermore, its substantive presentation is intimately linked with the variables of citizen empowerment and government responsiveness. The second layer concerns the participatory development approaches of external development agencies. This article articulates how development discourses have integrated and developed the concept of participation, exploring the trajectory and critical concerns raised. The final layer concerns context, particularly Vietnam’s legal and policy frameworks, which explores consistencies and discrepancies between institutional settings and the presentation of citizen participation.     

中国广西东兴与越南广宁芒街投资合作探讨

中国广西东兴市和越南广宁省芒街市山水相连,区位优势明显,两地有友好合作传统。两地分别列入两国的重点经济建设区,这为两地之间开展全面合作创造了良好的前提条件。本文在分析东兴市和芒街市的基本情况和投资环境基础上,提出双方投资合作的领域,作为抛砖引玉,希望能为两地之间的合作作出贡献。