气候变化对东南亚经济的影响

气候变化成为国际社会关注的重点,各权威机构及学者纷纷研究气候变化及其对经济的影响。本文以斯特恩评论的框架,结合有关研究资料分析东南亚的气候变化,包括气温、降雨量、极端气候事件和海平面的变化及趋势,评介这些气候变化对东南亚经济,包括对水资源、农业、林业、沿海及海洋资源和人类健康等5个方面的影响及发展趋势。     

1929年第一次南洋华侨教育会议研究:以文化认同与适应为视角

民国时期南洋华侨的文化认同与适应问题是一个重要的学术问题.本文对1929年6月由国立暨南大学组织召集的第一次南洋华侨教育会议,以文化认同与适应为视角进行初步研究,旨在探讨教育对华侨的文化、社会认同与适应的建构、贡献及意义.     

东亚共同体的主导与中日韩的自身定位

伴随东亚一体化的进展,东亚各国对于东亚一体化主导权的争夺非常激烈。近年来,在东亚地区的经济增长之下,东亚共同体构想开始提上日程。对于东亚共同体的建设,东亚各国都各有其构想及自我定位。本文分析了中国在东亚一体化中的自我定位及面,临的现实挑战,梳理了由史至今日本整合东亚的历史及其失败影响,分析了韩国在东亚一体化中的自我定位及现实局限。在缺乏强有力的推动力量下,东亚一体化的未来仍应该以东盟为核心,以＂10＋3＂机制为推动力量,以开放性原则推进东亚共同体的建设。     

国族塑造与族群认同——二战后东南亚民族国家建构中的华族身份认同变化

东南亚华族的身份认同问题是二战后东南亚民族国家建构中的一个焦点问题.在东南亚现代民族国家的民族整合过程中,华族的身份由"华侨"、"海外华人"转变为"华人",这不仅仅是称谓的改变,其中包含了对他们政治身份、文化身份的重新定位.本文描述了华人身份转变过程中所遇到的重重困难,并从民族国家建构的理念来分析其中的原因;结合冷战后中国与东南亚国家关系的变化,探讨全球化进程中东南亚华族身份认同的新变化.     

Developing small production and marketing enterprises: mushroom contract farming in Bangladesh

This article presents a case study of an activity implemented under the FAO component of the Local Partnerships for Urban Poverty Alleviation Project, funded by UNDP in Bangladesh. In Mymensingh city the project is linking poor urban dwellers with a niche market for oyster mushroom. This small enterprise activity appears to be sustainable, in that it develops agricultural production to cater for the specific demand of an existing small marketing enterprise. As long as the trader finds a market for his mushroom, he has an incentive to collaborate with the project beneficiaries who supply the produce. This model is thus an example of mutual benefit between extremely small landholders and a trader through the catalytic effect of a development project.     

Why a managerialist pursuit will not necessarily lead to achievement of MDGs

With case studies on Millennium Development Goal (MDG)-oriented reform projects in Vietnam, this article focuses upon a persistent dilemma in attempting to turn worthy goals into implementable programmes and sustainable results. How to achieve these goals is uncertain, but modern performance management, as expressed in Logical Frameworks, demands certainty. The article suggests how an open management style can allow for pragmatic adaptation to circumstances; or, more radically, how Log Frames could be redesigned to focus upon interpretation of contextual challenges. But such a dynamic requires a high degree of delegation and an acceptance that accountability must also be an interactive learning process.     

Gender in Climate Change and Disaster Risk Reduction,Manila, October 2008

The Congress on Gender in Climate Change and Disaster Risk Reduction (held in Manila 19–22 October 2008) was the Third Global Congress of Women in Politics and Governance. Its purpose was to provide a forum for decision makers to formulate gender-responsive programmes related to climate change and disaster-risk reduction. More than 200 people participated, including parliamentarians, representatives of environmental and women's organisations, and donor agencies. Proceedings focused on the fact that climate change magnifies existing inequalities, and in particular gender inequality. The Congress issued the Manila Declaration for Global Action on Gender, Climate Change, and Disaster Risk Reduction.     

Oxfam Australia's experience of ‘bottom–up’ accountability

Oxfam's experience suggests that ‘bottom–up’ accountability can be an important mechanism whereby men and women living in poverty can hold others to account. The first section of this article illustrates this with two examples of Oxfam experience in Vietnam and Sri Lanka. The second section draws out some of the lessons from these examples and attempts to situate them within the broader debate about approaches to accountability. In the third section some suggestions are put forward about what would need to change if active citizenship and ‘speaking truth to power’ were to become the renewed focus of accountability.     

Reflections on innovation,assessment, and social change: a SPARC case study

This article challenges the terms on which donor agencies evaluate development success, drawing on a particular case to make its point. It describes the resettlement of 60,000 people squatting along the railway tracks in Mumbai, a process planned and carried out by a federation of the railway dwellers themselves, with support from the NGO SPARC (the Society for the Promotion of Area Resource Centres). The article argues that this effort, which met donor criteria for a successful project, was the tip of an iceberg. Without an appreciation of the years of learning and innovation that preceded it, and the underpinning of principles and relationships built up over many years, this achievement cannot be adequately assessed or understood – and certainly not replicated. Yet in the world of formal assessment and evaluation, there tends to be a lack of interest in the deeper learning about social change that makes such success stories possible.     

Complexities in natural-resource management: irrigation infrastructure in Bihar

All over Gaya District in Bihar, irrespective of a person's caste or economic status, irrigation is the overriding topic of concern on public platforms and in private conversations. In the absence of adequate government action, different kinds of community endeavour are emerging to answer the need, some supported by radical political movements, others by organisations of a religious persuasion, and still others primarily by prominent local citizens.