Commercialising smallholder agricultural production in Lao People’s Democratic Republic

Many smallholder farmers in Lao People’s Democratic Republic are transitioning from subsistence to commercial production. This article employs the Agriculture Innovation System (AIS) framework to report on empirical findings from six case studies of Lao smallholder production. It identifies the actors, organisations, and institutions involved in systemic commercialisation of subsistence farming and articulates patterns of interactions that contribute to the relative success of the transition. Of the factors identified in the case studies, the most important enablers of commercial production and adoption of innovative technologies were technical and financial assistance, access to markets, and the formation of farmer associations/organisations.     

Political Marketing Management of Parliament Under the Presidential Government System: A Lesson Learned from the Indonesia House of Representative Post–New Order Soeharto

Modern political marketing management of parties, government, and parliament have gradually taken place within and across democratic countries ruled under either the parliamentary government or presidential government systems. Little attention, however, has been directed to the extent to which modern political marketing management of parliament has taken place within countries run under the presidential system of government, especially Indonesia. As led by hypothetical-inductive approach, this work has been specifically directed to explore (1) the dynamic exchanges and interactions; (2) the nature and structure of political market arenas; (3) types of political products; and (4) models of political marketing management of the Indonesian parliament/the Indonesian House of Representatives. This work explores the extent to which institutional marketing management strategies have been advanced by the Indonesian Parliament/the Indonesian House of Representatives since Post–New Order Soeharto up to the Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY) government era (2004 to 2014).     

基于信任视角的新农村建设问题研究

信任作为一种强大的社会资本,对新农村建设具有重要意义。当前中国农村社会的信任状况不容乐观,在人际信任层面主要表现为村民之间的熟人信任受到威胁以及村民对＂外人＂的普遍信任尚未建立,在制度信任层面主要表现为农民对制度信任模式缺乏认同和农民对制度公正性的怀疑与不放心。为此,该文从政府、组织、制度等方面提出了相应措施。     

Public Sector ‘Modernisation’: Examining the Impact of a Change Agenda on Local Government Employees in England

Can public sector reform change service performance for the better? This is a hotly contested debate that carries significant theoretical and practical importance. In England, as in many countries, modernisation was at the heart of local government reform and represented an interpretation of New Public Management into a policy framework. This paper examines the role of the modernisation change agenda in England and what this has subsequently meant for ‘service improvement’. Drawing on both document analyses and qualitative interviews with local government employees, we find that while modernisation sought to establish continuous improvement, unintended consequences of modernisation have led to Staff Reductions, Skill Deficiencies, and Loss of a Competent Middle Core in local government, as well as performance outcomes creating an environment for Commissioning, Service Reduction, and Self‐Policing. Implications for the lasting roles and behaviours of public managers affected by this national change agenda are discussed, and conclusions for theory and practice are drawn.     

Origins of Cultural Conservatism in English Literary Criticism:Terry Eagleton and Perry Anderson

Terry Eagleton's critical works have been under multiple influences from various critics and theorists both at home and abroad, which have been recognized and discussed in details in some relevant studies. However, another source of influence, the historical studies by Perry Anderson, has never been identified, much less examined up to the present day. The paper attempts to argue that, Perry Anderson's insightful critical accounts of the English Revolution and the particularities of English capitalism shaped to some extent Eagleton's fundamental view of the history of English literary criticism, and provided him with an important socio-historical framework for reference to examine the inner connection between critical practice and real politics. Actually, Eagleton's illuminating analyses of the cultural conservatism hidden in modern English literary criticism was greatly indebted to Anderson's convincing explanation for the political conservatism explicit in modern English society. The paper also suggests that their works could be used for explaining an often-neglected phenomenon in the 18th and 19th English classical novels: unlike their counterparts of the same periods in major Euro-continental countries, they tend to avoid severely criticizing let alone completely negating the aristocratic thoughts and ruling at home.     

Moving to commercial production: a case of intensive chili farming in Indonesia

This article analyses factors determining farmers’ intentions to move from subsistence to advanced farming. Data were compiled from a survey of 222 randomly selected farmers in three districts of central Java, Indonesia. Intensive chili farming is considered commercial, and three technologies are considered advanced. The results show many significant factors determined farmers moving toward commercial farming and adopting advanced technologies. Better access to credit and market facilities encourages farmers to grow chili. The study suggests policy recommendations for strengthening chili farming and related high-value vegetables in Indonesia.     

Physical growth and ethnic inequality in New Zealand prisons, 1840–1975

The British colonization of New Zealand after 1840 was marked by an unusual concern compared to other settler colonies to incorporate the indigenous Māori population into the new society. But despite a continuing political rhetoric of protection and sovereignty, Māori have historically had lower living standards and, since the 1920s, higher rates of incarceration than European-descended New Zealanders (Pākehā). In this article, the authors examine differences between Māori and Pākehā over 130 years using prison records. Aggregate data from the Ministry of Justice shows long-term change and differences in incarceration rates. Using a data set of all extant registers of men entering New Zealand prisons, the authors show change over time in convictions and in height. The adult statures of Māori and Pākehā were similar for men born before 1900, but marked differences emerged among cohorts born during the twentieth century. By the Second World War, the gap in adult stature widened to around 3 cm, before narrowing for men born after the Second World War. Periods of divergence in stature are paralleled by divergence in fertility and indicators of family size, suggesting the possibility that increasing fertility stressed the economic situation of Māori families. The prison evidence suggests that inequalities in ‘net nutrition’ between Māori and Pākehā are long-standing but not unchanging – indeed, they increased for cohorts born in the early twentieth century. A subset of the data describing adolescents confirms that, among those born after 1945, the ethnic differential was already visible by the age of 16.     

The 2014 Local Elections in Greece: Looking for Patterns in a Changing Political System

In May 2014, municipal and regional elections were held in Greece, concurrently with European elections. This was the first electoral test after the 2012 twin earthquake elections, which marked the beginning of a radical restructuring of the Greek political system. The fragmentation and inconsistency of voting behaviour across different polls in 2014 indicate that Greek politics remains in a transitional phase whose final outcome is still contested. Other characteristics of the elections, including the high proportion of independent candidates, the radical renewal of political personnel and the emergence of Berlusconism in two major municipalities, underline the continuing lack of legitimacy of the political system.     

Co-producing a post-trafficking agenda: collaborating on transforming citizenship in Nepal

This article discusses how a new agenda on post-trafficking is gaining momentum through academic and activist anti-trafficking collaborations focused on co-producing knowledge with women who have returned from trafficking situations. Co-production of this nature is important as the issues raised by post-trafficking scenarios are largely ignored in anti-trafficking strategies, and the stigmatisation and poverty which women in these circumstances encounter means they rarely have a voice in policy-making. Drawing on research in Nepal, we present four types of co-produced data around transforming citizenship post-trafficking, and reflect on the strategies for generating and using them for advocacy purposes.     

A cooperative Peru: Is centralisation of cooperatives better for local development?

Research shows that some agricultural cooperatives implement development projects in their local communities. What remains to be explained is why certain cooperatives pursue local development while others do not. Through a comparison of coffee cooperatives in two regions of Peru, this study examines the implications of a regional cooperative for local development. The creation of a regional cooperative leads to a concentration of resources and a decrease in the need and ability of local cooperatives to pursue independent development projects. At the same time, it allows for more equal access to those resources and to the benefits of cooperative-led development projects.