Right place,right time: Increasing the effectiveness of agricultural development support in sub-Saharan Africa

This paper suggests that smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) are well placed to seize the opportunities from expanding global and regional demand for agricultural products but that this will require a shift from extensive to more intensive production systems. The ability of SSA's smallholder farmers to increase on-farm investments in productivity is, however, constrained by their capacity to manage the risk-return trade-offs in moving towards intensified agriculture. While stakeholders are increasing their investments to assist smallholders in SSA to participate in integrated supply chains, the returns in terms of technical and financial results from these investments are generally lower than in other developing regions. This paper suggests that this is, at least in part, a consequence of problems associated with the role of spatial and temporal coordination in program delivery. Hence, much more focus needs to be devoted to delivering goods and services for smallholders at the right place and the right time, and this should be better monitored and evaluated in the context of development programs.     

Somaliland: An African Struggle for Nationhood and International Recognition

This paper investigates the benefits of Chinese companies to the Ugandan economy using data gathered during fieldwork in Kampala. Potential contributions to the Ugandan economy are analysed through a number of economic and managerial factors, and their determinants. This paper shows that potential benefits vary on the basis of sector, investment size and ECCO registration. The potential harm caused by one sector in particular is indicated. The paper presents recommendations regarding how potential benefits can be maximised and harm reduced. Given the increased presence of Chinese enterprises in Africa, these findings are relevant to African policymakers and academics.     

Tibetan translocalities: navigating urban opportunities and new ways of belonging in Tibetan pastoral communities in China

ABSTRACT

Urban development in Tibetan areas of China lags behind that of other non-coastal, rural areas and occurs at a significantly smaller scale due to remote and mountainous terrain and a lower population density. However, just as in the rest of China, urban development in Tibetan regions is characterized by an unevenness that constitutes and produces new translocal ties, as people belong to multiple localities at the same time. But Tibetan patterns of translocal ties are unique. For college-educated Tibetans, structural factors such as educational institutions and ethnic discrimination and affective factors such as attachment to home places powerfully shape the landscape of urban opportunities along ethnic lines. Instead of educational and employment structures enabling Tibetans to pursue economic opportunities in urban centers across the country, socio-ethnic inequalities and thick relational ties eventually bring many Tibetan graduates back to the urban centers administratively connected to their rural home places in Tibetan areas.     

Beyond the merchant and the clergyman: assessing moral claims about development cooperation

This article proposes to move beyond the categories of altruism and self-interest in the analyses of the motives for development cooperation. This opposition ignores the inherently moral nature of development policy. The article illustrates the shortcomings of such a perspective by tracing the metaphor of the merchant and the clergyman as archetypical figures shaping Dutch development policy. Through these images the suggestion of an opposition between moral and amoral motives in the history of development has gained a strong foothold within the interplay of scholars, policy makers and public opinion. We go on to assess claims about economy, security, solidarity, prestige and guilt, and ecology, which have been brought forward to legitimise Dutch foreign aid. This analysis calls for research on the dynamics of the transnational exchanges of ideas, interests and expectations, especially during episodes when the moral validity of policy has been explicitly contested.     

Fostering the post-development debate: the Latin American concept of tecnologia social

This essay revisits the historical development of a concept – tecnologia social – as one avenue for discussing alternatives to post-development, arguing that the Western-based historical path of technology development is one of the main sources of growing human impoverishment, social inequalities and economic dependency. The concept of tecnologia social points towards political processes that create opportunities to redefine the arrangements among social groups, artefacts and methods used in everyday life, particularly for production and consumption. Because the post-development debate has been criticised for formulating a sound and strong critique to mainstream development but failing to propose concrete empirical alternatives, we seek to foster the debate through the Latin American concept of tecnologia social.     

Policy visions of big data: views from the Global South

Abstract

Government intentions stand at the heart of debates about how big data can and should be used in the Global South. This paper provides new insights by examining the political and economic visions promoted by emerging power governments in Brazil, India and China (the BICs). Doing so is crucial as these countries not only comprise some of the world’s largest populations, but have also demonstrated their initiative in national and international promotion of big data politics. Drawing on a content analysis of strategic and legal documents discussing the use of big data, we identify potential areas for big data cooperation among the BICs by determining the compatibility of national policy visions. Three visions are apparent: data as a force for political liberation or repression, for improving public services and for facilitating development. Successful BIC cooperation is likely related to the latter two, but less probable for the liberation/repression vision. We conclude by identifying the implications of BIC engagement with big data for the Global South more broadly.     

发挥桂林统战文化资源优势 促进文化繁荣发展

党的十八大报告旗帜鲜明地提出了建设社会主义文化强国的发展战略。统一战线在社会主义文化建设中有着独特优势和作用。桂林应该充分发挥统战文化资源优势,为推动社会主义文化大发展大繁荣作出应有贡献。     

科学发展观与马克思主义社会发展理论

马克思主义社会发展理论主要由两个层面的内容构成,即马克思恩格斯从唯物史观和社会学层面阐述的社会发展理论。从唯物史观层面论述的社会发展理论,可以用＂一个前提、三大规律、一个思想＂加以概括。从社会学层面阐述的社会发展理论,主要包括马克思恩格斯对工业化、科学技术发展和保持人与自然界和谐等内容的论述。中国共产党人在社会主义建设实践尤其是改革开放实践中主要从四个方面继承和发展了马克思主义社会发展理论,形成了以科学发展观为代表的关于马克思主义社会发展理论的中国化成果。     

我国大陆有组织犯罪的现状、发展趋势及其对策

有组织犯罪是指3人或3人以上,为了获取非法经济利益而形成一定的组织,以组织体的形式实施特定或不特定犯罪的犯罪现象。在我国大陆法律语境下,有组织犯罪可以划分为普通犯罪集团犯罪、黑社会性质组织犯罪以及黑社会组织犯罪。     

陕西西部大开发税收政策执行评价及调整方向

在上一轮西部大开发政策的支持下,陕西经济社会发展取得了巨大成就。新一轮西部大开发的税收优惠政策虽已明确,但对于陕西来说,这些政策还应着重在支持陕西发展优势,支持陕西经济发展薄弱环节的税收优惠政策上,以及在宏观层面支持陕西经济社会发展的税收政策等方面予以完善。