Asymmetry as context: The rollercoaster of South Africa–US relations post 1994

The United States pictured a bright future with a strategic country when the new South African government took power in 1994. They envisioned a strong partnership in political, economic and security realms. The bilateral relationship did not turn out to be as easy as many in America might have envisioned. Despite notable camaraderie during the Mandela–Clinton administrations, there was a considerable downward swing in US–South African relations during the Bush administration. This situation has since appeared to reverse itself during the current Obama and Zuma administrations. This paper, through the lens of ‘asymmetry theory’ as developed by Brantly Womack, seeks to shed light on how a rollercoaster relationship such as this can go through such fluctuations and not end in extreme tension.     

Informed powerlessness: child marriage interventions and Third World girlhood discourses

Child marriage has gained increased international prominence over the past decades. Organisations working with the issue have promoted empowering girls as the best strategy to address it. Informed by postcolonial feminist theory, this article will locate these discourses in broader ‘turn to the girl’ and ‘turn to agency’ in international development, analysing how Third World girlhood, agency, resistance and voice are conceptualised. Girls are constructed as threatened by their families and communities, with agency exercised through resistance and materialised by their voice. I argue that this ignores the complexity of decision-making processes and broader structural factors related to child marriage, so that interventions providing ‘empowerment-as-information’ for girls to be agents of change instead leave them in a state of informed powerlessness.     

Airbnb,technological change and disruption in Barbadian tourism: a theoretical framework

This paper focuses on how Airbnb, an internet platform which has created the possibility for mass participation in the tourism market, is resulting in class conflict between new entrants and the ‘traditional’ tourism industry. Specifically, it studies how traditional tourism interests in Barbados have responded to Airbnb by seeking to restrict participation in the industry and presents this as a microcosm of broader class transitions and conflicts associated with new technologies. The paper utilises a Marxist theoretical perspective buttressed by Joseph Schumpeter’s theory of ‘creative destruction’ – places emphasis on the process of destroying productive systems to understand how specific industries expand and survive – and Clayton Christensen’s notion of ‘disruptive innovation’ – a process by which a disruptive product transforms a market – for studying how transformations in technology are impacting the tourism industry in Barbados. Its aim is to provide an account of how the process of disruption is unfolding in Barbados by highlighting the reactions of the main hotel lobby group to Airbnb, while also applying the ideas of Marx, Schumpeter and Christensen as useful theoretical lenses through which to examine the unfolding of the process of disruption of settled class and historical control of a dominant economic sector by new technologies.     

Between emergency and routine – securitisation of military security in Iran and Indonesia

Abstract

The aim of this article is to explain the internal conditions of military security in a non-European context. It utilises securitisation as the theoretical perspective and investigates Iranian and Indonesian case studies to explore how the perception of internal threats and vulnerabilities determines the approaches to military security. It begins with a reiteration of securitisation theory assumptions, followed by clarifying the understanding of security in non-Western contexts. The case studies focus on the conditions which facilitate securitisation, including the nature of securitising actors, assumed concepts of security, and securitisation processes and their outcomes. The analysis indicates a necessity for several alterations in securitisation theory to realise its full potential. Civil–military relations in Asian states differ from those in the West, as both Iran and Indonesia show a high degree of military involvement in political affairs. Military security also becomes securitised as a result of internal political rivalries. The perception of threats is a tool in the struggle to extend the capabilities of security agencies or retain influences.     

The Organization of Purchasing at German Universities: An Empirical Investigation

The objective of this article is two-fold: first, it studies how German universities organize their purchasing activities, and, second, it identifies patterns in the structure of the purchasing function and analyzes factors that influence the design of purchasing. For this purpose, the article develops an analytical framework based on ideas of contingency and organization theory and presents the results of an empirical study which analyzed the purchasing organization of 65 German universities. The results of the study indicate that German universities use a medium level of centralization and specialization to organize their purchasing activities, and that the purchasing process is highly formalized in most universities. As to influential factors of the structure of purchasing, the study indicates that the number of employees, the number of employees with purchasing-responsibility, the purchasing volume, and the number of students enrolled at the university influence the structural variables.     

Make and Buy—An Alternative to Make or Buy? An Investigation of Four Theoretical Explanations in Danish Municipalities

The question of whether public organizations should provide services themselves or buy them from external suppliers has become increasingly relevant due to public-sector modernization. The literature has focused on it as a question of either make or buy. Contrarily, we focus on the reasons for public organizations to simultaneously produce and contract out similar services. The article investigates different theoretical explanations for concurrent make and buy. A survey of Danish municipalities shows that make and buy seems to be a steady choice. However, the results show little support for the theoretical explanations indicating the need for more public-oriented explanations.     

Should Business and Non-Business Accounting be Different? A Comparative Perspective Applied to the French Central Government Accounting Standards

The French General Law of Finances of 2001 introduced a set of accounting standards including an explicit conceptual framework reconciling accrual basis accounting with the specific aspects of accounting for central government activities. This article analyzes this French set of accounting standards from a dualistic perspective that compares both business and non-business accounting. Three different views of accounting for business enterprises are addressed: the wealth-basis (static), the cash-basis, and the accrual-basis (dynamic). A dynamic view of the accrual basis is adapted to the specificities of non-business entities, including governments. The accounting representation is used here to explore further the nature and role of public sector activities within the economic system and their economic and monetary significance.     

Intent to Exit: Why Do US Federal Employees Leave?

This study examines factors that may influence an employee to exit an organization. Factors that are considered to influence exit are derived primarily from Hirschman’s model of exit, voice, loyalty, and neglect. Other variables considered are public service motivation, job satisfaction, pay satisfaction, gender, race, supervisory status, and agency. The study evaluates the relationships between these variables using data obtained from the United States’ 2010 Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey. Overall, the data suggest that there is a slight tendency of public employees to be intrinsically motivated.     

Disaster Governance in the Philippines: Issues,Lessons Learned,and Future Directions in the Post-Yolanda Super Typhoon Aftermath

The article analyzes the importance of disaster governance as an emerging paradigm in the context of the post-Yolanda Super Typhoon devastation in the Philippines. The article offers various lessons which may be heeded in times of disaster in which various stakeholders of governance are involved with. Consequently, the article posits future challenges and directions hurled in the conduct of disaster governance in the Philippines in terms of policies and programs. Finally, the article enunciates that both the national government and local government must play an active role in disaster governance through policy-making and policy implementation changes in both theory and praxis.     

道路自信、理论自信、制度自信——学习党的十八大报告体会

党的十八大报告鲜明地提出了中国特色社会主义道路自信、理论自信和制度自信的新观点和新要求,开辟了马克思主义理论创新的新境界。"三个自信"是"三位一体"的关系,在中国特色社会主义建设中正确认识并坚定"三个自信",就会有政治上的自觉,就能做到理想信念坚定、政治立场坚定,在前进道路上就不会动摇,在思想上和行动上就会与党中央保持高度一致。