Integrating the past: regional integration and historical reckoning in Central and Eastern Europe

This article considers how regional integration in Europe has informed processes of collective remembrance and transitional justice in Central and Eastern Europe. By taking the cases of Romania, Poland and the Czech Republic, two claims are made. First, although European institutions have not initiated top-down projects of historical reckoning, activists who have an interest in promoting engagement with the recent past have been able to draw the political, financial and/or judicial weight of European institutions behind particular reckoning initiatives, on an ad hoc basis. Second, the nature of the projects that have been realized with the assistance of European resources has varied across the region, according to the extent of prior efforts to promote collective remembrance and transitional justice at the national level. Where there have previously been constraints on historical reckoning, activists have drawn “Europe” behind efforts to promote national-level confrontations with particularly national experiences of communist rule. By contrast, where there has previously been extensive state sponsorship of collective remembrance projects and/or processes of transitional justice, European resources have been used in support of efforts to raise awareness of the repressions of communist rule, and transitions from that system of rule, among a wider, international audience.     

China in Africa: A relationship of (Un)equals in the developing world

The unveiling of the new Southern African Customs Union (SACU) Agreement in 2002 inaugurated new democratic institutional structures for SACU. The revised SACU Agreement provides for accession by new members. Although not new, the idea of expanding SACU has gained currency in recent years. It has been suggested that enlarging SACU could overcome the ‘spaghetti bowl’ problem of overlapping regional membership of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) countries. In spite of its allure, however, enlarging SACU membership is likely to run into difficulties as negotiations about the common revenue pool and the common external tariff become bogged down by attempts to accommodate the needs and interests of countries at different levels of development. It would also spark debate about how the revenue-sharing formula should be restructured and extended to new members. Moreover, whether SACU can act as a driver of regional integration will depend on the extent to which South Africa, the regional power, can translate its hegemonic position into a leadership role.     

From scarcity to security: Water as a potential factor for conflict and cooperation in Southern Africa

The authors argue that South Africa's role as an economic gateway for various African countries primarily depends on geography, that is, on naturally given and man-made structures in geographical space. Hence, they first examine South Africa's location and physio-geographical conditions in Southern Africa in order to show important factors that affect the scope of the South African gateway. Second, they shed light on regional transport infrastructure, revealing how South Africa interlinks its neighbouring countries globally. Thirdly, regional economic interaction is analysed with regard to structural features of South Africa's economy that make it prone to being a gateway. The authors recognise that the impact of all these factors is influenced by strategic decisions taken by politicians and businesspeople. The outlook of the paper therefore addresses policies of the South African government that are often problematic for the country's gateway role. Potential challengers and their competitive advantages are presented, too.     

中国参与东北亚地区经济合作问题探析

目前,区域经济一体化的影响逐渐显现出来,加强东北亚区域经济合作,促进地区经济更好、更快发展已成为相关各国的一项基本共识.本文分析了东北亚地区各国经济发展的现状和制约区域经济合作发展的因素,并对中国应在东北亚地区经济合作中扮演什么样的角色提出了一些建议.     

论宏观审慎监管的基本原则

国际金融危机后,宏观审慎监管的完善和实施越来越受到重视。宏观审慎监管法律的制定和实施需要遵行一定的基本原则,这些具有普遍性指导意义的基本原则反映了宏观审慎监管的本质和特征,与宏观审慎监管的目标是密不可分的。根据后危机时代国际和国内实践,宏观审慎监管的基本原则可以归纳为逆周期监管原则、协调监管原则和全局监管原则。     

桂林国际旅游胜地与区域性文化旅游中心城市的定位

《桂林国际旅游胜地建设发展规划纲要》是桂林市贯彻党的十八大精神,建设"美丽桂林"的基本路径与行动指南。本文追溯历史、求证现实,论述"国际旅游胜地"与区域性文化旅游中心城市的地位与定位之间规律性必然联系,以"双子星"区域文化发展模式提升桂林的城市地位,复兴以桂林学术文化为核心价值的桂学,使桂林成为名副其实的中国旅游文化的领航者与区域性文化中心以及国际交流的平台。     

行政区经济消解与行政管理体制改革

现存行政管理体制促成了行政区经济,阻碍了区域经济一体化。要解决这一问题,必须进行行政管理体制的改革,发挥政府、市场与社会等作用,形成三方的协同共进。行政管理体制主要是指基于政府内部行政权力划分的政府机构设置以及运行。表面上,行政管理体制改革应该主要立足于政府内部而展开,但政府并非真空存在,其与市场、社会有着重要关联。消解行政区经济,必须借助于行政管理体制改革,必须立足政府、社会与市场之视域来考察。当代中国语境下,政府需要在这一过程中发挥主导作用。     

跨行政区域煤炭资源整合策略研究

煤炭资源的“跨行政区域”整合,遵循了煤炭支柱型产业省区间的自然资源禀赋差异、行业发展失衡和煤炭经济区域主体利益诉求一致的客观规律。立足煤炭资源合理开发和优化利用的市场化建设需求,需打破跨越煤炭经济行政主体的体制干预壁垒,在煤炭资源储存联片省区间构建综合开发虚拟管理联盟,高效集成煤炭资源经济主体优势,推动煤炭资源的市场化配置和煤炭经济的可持续性发展。     

Correspondence

The paper argues for the possibility of reworking the concept of ideology in such a way as to depend neither on a problematic of truth and error, nor on a division of the world into two parts one of which is more real than the other, nor on an expressive relation of subjects to meaning. The political force of the concept can be retained if ideology is thought as a provisional state of discourse (a function of its appropriation and use) rather than as a content or an inherent structure. Any discursive system produces a particular configuration of subject-positions which are the conditions of entry of individuals into discourse; but these acquire political significance only through the (historically variable) codification of discourse in terms of a play of relations of power, and the positions available can be refused or undermined. Some implications of this argument for models of the social and for discourse theory are discussed     

Commentary: The Politics of Distrust

Abstract

Scholars have recently begun to study civil society on the regional level more systematically. When regionalization of civil society is studied, it is often understood within processes of regional governance in which state actors craft regional institutions and policy frameworks to solve common problems. Yet, most studies dealing with civil society in regional governance have a state-centric approach, focusing on the marginalization of civil society organizations (CSOs) in such processes, treating them as rather passive actors. This is especially true for research on southern Africa. Contrary to previous studies, this article shows under what circumstances CSOs are granted space in regional policy-making related to the Southern African Development Community (SADC). It is concluded that, in light of CSOs' material and economic weakness, one of the key factors determining their advocacy success on the regional level is production of knowledge and strategic use of communication tools. Even though many challenges remain, for example, the power structures inherent in the SADC, the case of civil society advocacy around the SADC is a sign of a new form of participatory regional governance in the making, which is more democratic than present modes of regional governance in Africa.