Comments (1) on ‘cultural differences in the behavior of terrorists’

By examining the historically progressive role of cultural property in terrorism and political violence, this paper reveals the evolving significance of art to international security. Over the past two centuries, abuse of antiquities and fine art has evolved from the spoils-of-war into a medium for conducting terrorism that strives to erase the cultural heritage of “the other.” In contrast to wartime destruction and plunder which date back millennia, the growth of the art market over the past fifty years has created opportunities for novel abuses of cultural property. Since World War II, maturing international awareness has recognized the threat which armed conflict and looting pose to cultural property, but in parallel, art trafficking and the politics of cultural property have become tools for transnational organized crime and terrorist groups. The resulting unique intersection of issues in art, politics, and counterterrorism forms the basis for a new field—cultural security. After an assessment of topical security threats which suggest the need for such a field, the paper concludes by speculating on international-security risks precipitating from antiquities trafficking and collecting.     

A Reappraisal of the EU’s Expanding Readmission System

Readmission is not simply a means of removing undesirable foreigners through coercive methods. When viewed as a way of ensuring the temporary stay of foreign workers in the labour markets of European destination countries, readmission may also impact on the participatory rights of a growing number of native workers facing equally temporary (and precarious) labour conditions, in a context marked by employment deregulation and wage flexibility. These implications have clear democratic significance. A new analytical perspective applied to the expansion and development of the readmission system, is aimed at promoting a reflection on an unexplored research area bridging the gap between labour migration regulation and labour market deregulation.     

Decommissioning dams in India: a comparative assessment of Mullaperiyar and other cases

With the ruefully anticipated breakdown of the Mullaperiyar dam in Kerala as the central issue, this article debates the decommissioning of large dams in India. Drawing on other examples of dam breakdown and decommissioning cases from India and the USA, the author argues that dams that have failed to deliver on their promises or are in an unsafe condition should be selectively decommissioned.

Démantèlement de barrages en Inde : évaluation comparative de Mullaperiyar et d'autres cas

En prenant comme prétexte le démantèlement prévu, à regret, du barrage de Mullaperiyar dans le Kerala, cet article discute du démantèlement des grands barrages en Inde. En s'inspirant d'autres exemples de cas de pannes et de démantèlement de barrages en Inde et aux États-Unis, l'auteur soutient que les barrages qui n'ont pas tenu leurs promesses ou qui sont en état précaire devraient être démantelés sélectivement.

El desmantelamiento de represas en India: una evaluación comparativa de Mullaperiyar y de otros casos

Utilizando como pretexto la avería de la represa Mullaperiyar en Kerala, el presente artículo analiza el desmantelamiento de las grandes represas de India. Apoyándose en ejemplos de averías y desmantelamiento de represas localizadas en India y en Estados Unidos, el autor propone que aquellas represas que no hayan cumplido con las expectativas que se tenían de ellas o que se encuentren en condiciones que generen inseguridad sean desmanteladas de manera selectiva.

Desativando barragens na Índia: uma avaliação comparativa de Mullaperiyar e outros casos

Diante do rompimento, tristemente previsto, da barragem de Mullaperiyar em Kerala, este artigo debate a desativação de grandes barragens na Índia. Baseando-se em outros exemplos de rompimento e desativação de barragens da Índia e dos EUA, o autor argumenta que as barragens que têm falhado em implementar aquilo a que se propõe ou estão em condições inseguras, devem ser seletivamente desativadas.     

Toilet is not a dirty word: close to meeting the MDGs for sanitation?

Improving access to water and sanitation facilities has been a priority on the international development agenda. Halving the number of those who do not have access to sanitation facilities is an MDG target. This study assessed the toilet conditions in an urban slum in Ghana. Many felt that the sanitary conditions were deplorable; they were unsatisfied with having to walk over half a kilometre before using a toilet. Government efforts to improve hygiene and address sanitation problems need to take into account financial, religious, and other factors that promote the supply and maintenance of appropriate toilet facilities and services in urban communities.

Toilettes n'est pas un mot tabou : à deux doigts d'atteindre les OMD en matière d'assainissement ?

L'amélioration de l'accès à l'eau et aux installations sanitaires a été une priorité de l'ordre du jour international en matière de développement. La réduction de moitié du nombre de personnes qui n'ont pas accès à des installations d'assainissement est un OMD. Cette étude a évalué les conditions sur le plan des toilettes dans un bidonville urbain du Ghana. De nombreuses personnes estimaient que les conditions d'assainissement y étaient déplorables; elles n'étaient pas satisfaites de devoir parcourir plus d'un demi-kilomètre pour pouvoir utiliser des toilettes. Les efforts fournis par les pouvoirs publics pour améliorer l'hygiène et résoudre les problèmes d'assainissement doivent tenir compte des facteurs financiers, religieux et autres qui favorisent la fourniture et l'entretien d'installations et de services de toilettes dans les communautés urbaines.

Excusado no es una mala palabra: ¿se está próximo a cumplir con los odm en el área de saneamiento?

La ampliación del acceso al agua potable y al saneamiento ha sido una prioridad del desarrollo internacional. Una de las metas de los odm es reducir a la mitad el número de personas que actualmente carecen de acceso al saneamiento. El presente artículo valora las condiciones en que se encuentran los excusados en un barrio pobre de Ghana. Muchos de quienes residen allí consideran que las condiciones de saneamiento son deplorables, manifestando su desacuerdo con tener que caminar más de medio kilómetro para hacer uso del excusado. Los esfuerzos realizados por el gobierno para mejorar la higiene y enfrentar los problemas de saneamiento, deberán tomar en cuenta tanto los factores financieros como los religiosos u otros que promuevan la oferta y el mantenimiento de excusados, así como la posibilidad de otros servicios de saneamiento en las comunidades urbanas.

Banheiro não é uma palavrão: estamos prestes a cumprir os ODMs para saneamento?

Melhorar o acesso a redes de abastecimento de água e saneamento tem sido uma prioridade na agenda de desenvolvimento internacional. Reduzir pela metade o número de pessoas que não têm acesso a redes de saneamento faz parte dos Objetivos de Desenvolvimento do Milênio (ODMs). Este estudo avaliou as condições de banheiros em uma favela na zona urbana de Gana. Muitos sentiam que as condições de saneamento eram deploráveis e estavam insatisfeitos em ter de caminhar mais de meio quilômetro para usar um banheiro. Esforços do governo para melhorar a higiene e abordar os problemas de saneamento precisam levar em conta fatores financeiros, religiosos, além de outros, que promovam o fornecimento e manutenção de instalações de banheiros e serviços adequados nas comunidades urbanas.     

Feeding finance: a critical account of the shifting relationships between finance,food and farming

Abstract

Whether in the form of commodity index funds, farmland investment funds or commodities trading by agri-food companies, there is evidence of an increasingly close relationship between finance, food and agriculture. While these developments have received some critical attention of late, existing accounts of the ‘financialization of food’ are limited to the extent that they view finance as an external force with emphasis placed on the unnaturalness of its relationship with agriculture and its distortive effects on agricultural markets. Recognizing that finance and agriculture have a long history, this paper offers a more nuanced account of the place of financialization in the agricultural sector. Specifically, it examines how agriculture's emergence as an investment opportunity has reconfigured the terrain of agricultural interests and logics while creating new knowledge demands and agricultural visibilities. These dynamics are explored through a case study of the role of finance and processes of financialization in the recent demise of the Canadian Wheat Board as a state marketing agency. Through this discussion, the paper offers valuable insights into not only the reworking of agriculture as a particular type of financial space, but also the nature and limits of financialization itself as a way of engaging with the world beyond urban financial centres.     

The Embedded Market and Ideology Critique

Abstract

When the Global Financial Crisis hit, major political economists were able to boast that they had long warned that "crazy times" were coming. By contrast, leading sociologists seem to have been wrong footed. Totalizing narratives of a new "risk society", "second modernity" and the like appeared to have sacrificed the grounds for weighing up the costs and damages of contemporary capitalism. Made famous by Karl Polanyi, the concept of the embedded market suggests a differentiated diagnosis of our times that should allow sociology to re-enter the discussion as a critic of an ideological attempt to block public discussions about losses and dam ages of contemporary capitalism. The following paper will explore several readings of this concept and will evaluate their capacity to revive sociology's critical powers.     

International development institutions and national ­economic contexts: neo-liberalism encounters India’s indigenous political traditions

Drawing on the case of India, which since 1991 has been undergoing a far-reaching programme of market-oriented reform, this paper argues that the World Bank and other transnational development actors have been unable to adjust themselves ­sufficiently to indigenous ideological traditions that affect the sustainability of economic liberalization. While markets are becoming increasingly embedded at the level of institutions, they are not achieving what might be termed ‘ideological embeddedness’. The paper maps the ideological context facing market reformers in India by looking at the relationship between, on the one hand, the idea of swadeshi (an indigenous form of economic nationalism), and on the other, three competing forces in Indian politics. The paper concludes by arguing that it is the mutual antipathy among these political forces, rather than any fundamental incompatibility between swadeshi’s precepts and the embedded-market framework, that prevents organizations like the World Bank from adapting swadeshi as an indigenous basis for framing its approach to market embeddedness.     

Engineers versus managers: experts,market-making and state-building in Putin's Russia

Abstract

Market-making and state-building are mutually reinforcing processes. This paper documents the role played in these processes by two groups of experts in Russia's electricity sector: technical experts and managerially trained experts. I develop two arguments: (1) a shift in the relative power positions of these two groups was a constitutive element of the marketization and liberalization of the electricity sector. The victory of the managerial experts made assets legible and therefore ‘value-able’. (2) the paper demonstrates that the promotion of managerial experts at the expense of technical experts was a deeply political transformation, as it involved the replacement of a well-established, well-connected group of incumbent political actors. More specifically, I show how the promotion of managerial experts at the expense of technical experts helped the federal government of President Putin eliminate one of the main challengers to its ability to regulate economic activity from the centre – regional governors.     

Currency devaluations and consolidating democracy: the example of the South African rand

Abstract

In 2001 the South African rand depreciated suddenly and steeply against the dollar and euro. This triggered inflation as the prices of imported products gapped upward. To offset the imminent inflationary effects and attract foreign exchange, the Reserve Bank raised interest rates, resulting in slower domestic growth. The critical question was the cause of the currency depreciation. We argue here that the rand's decline was the result of a concatenation of internal and external factors, specifically the way the operations of the global financial markets magnified and exacerbated the effects of internal financial policy decisions. The article illustrates the heightening connectivity between domestic policy decisions aimed at regulating the national economy and the globalizing financial markets that operate on an altogether different logic. The Reserve Bank's attempt to regulate the local foreign exchange regime in concert with the corporate use of financial instruments to circumvent these exchange controls led to a relatively illiquid currency market that was easily susceptible to attack by speculative capital. The end result was a crippling devaluation that especially hurt the impoverished black South African majority in the process of getting on its feet economically, thereby adding a further constraint on the consolidation of post-apartheid democracy.     

Between arbitrage and speculation: an economy of belief and doubt

Abstract

The recent debate concerning the 'sociology of arbitrage' has firmly established arbitrage as a category of theoretical significance in the social studies of finance. In this article, I seek to complicate this debate by drawing attention to a particular kind of ambiguity inherent in the category of arbitrage, as it is put to use in financial markets. I present certain Japanese arbitrageurs' reflections on the difference between arbitrage and speculation and examine the interplay of belief and doubt underlying arbitrage operations. I argue that the resulting ambivalence towards the category of arbitrage is a marker of arbitrageurs' particular epistemological stance, identity and ethical commitment. Finally, I consider the implications of arbitrage's ambiguity for the dominant trope of speculation in the critical study of financial markets more broadly.