Food,state power,and rebellion: The case of maize

Why do rebellions occur and persist in some countries but not in others? Evidence shows that natural resources affect the fighting capacity of rebel groups; yet, by focusing on lucrative resources that are rare in most rebellion-afflicted countries, such as oil and diamonds, scholars neglected one necessary input for rebellion: staple crops. Focusing on maize, the world’s most prevalent staple, this study argues that, as one of the most important resources for rebel groups, maize can have a destabilizing effect on the state’s ability to thwart rebellion. These claims are corroborated statistically on a new time-varying, high-resolution global dataset of staple crop productivity, and then qualitatively through an analysis of archival records on the Mau Mau rebellion. In identifying an overlooked, global linkage between agricultural abundance, state capacity, and intrastate violence, this study explains strong geographical and temporal variations in rebellions at both the subnational and global levels.     

The paradox of the Ethiopian Developmental State: bureaucrats and politicians in the sugar industry

ABSTRACT

This paper challenges the commonplace characterisation of Ethiopia as a developmental state, by stressing that the Ethiopian model, which heavily relies on political control of the rent process at the expense of the bureaucratic knowledge/expertise, is not conducive for industrial policy implementation. We show that this approach worked fine at early stages of growth, however with the increasing complexity, knowledge- and capital-intensive nature of industrial policy-making and implementation, the crucial role to be played by a capable bureaucracy becomes more evident. This argument is based on the avoidable failures of sugar industrialisation visions, mainly due to the inimical view of the existing sugar bureaucracy in the old sugar factories. Drawing on long-term case study research on state-led sugar industrialisation, this article illustrates that if the Ethiopian state is to become truly ‘developmental’ the need of building a capable bureaucracy as an integral part of the model should be recognised and worked towards.     

Capacity building of sea level and climate monitoring in the Pacific region： Fiji case study

In order to enhance capacity building in the Pacific region, and to raise awareness on climate change and sea level issues, teaching and training modules were made available to the Pacific community through the ＂South pacific sea level and climate monitoring project＂ funded by AusAID. Numerous training workshops have been conducted through the project since its inception in 1991 and the project is now in its fourth and final phase. It was hoped that the goals of capacity building for the stakeholders on correct information of climate change and sea level have been understood and taken heed of. In addition, ＂The scientific educational resources and experience associated with the deployment of Argo＂ （SEREAD） project was also set up especially for ocean science in the Pacific island schools in 2001. However, it has been realized that the data from this project is more relevant to tertiary level rather than to secondary level students. Consequently, a survey was carried out to gauge the students＇ outlook towards the physical side of marine science. The survey revealed that more than 80% of both tertiary level and high school non-physical science students decided not to take the physical aspect of marine science sighting reasons that it is either a difficult subject, boring, too hard to understand or difficult to pass in the examination. Even amongst students taking physical science, only about 50% believe that the physical aspect of marine science is enjoyable. A minority of students at USP and high school take science as a subject and a small proportion from them take the physical science. From this scenario, it can be predicted that there will be a shortage of physical science graduates in the future. The confidence of the Pacific community in the work of scientists is built on faith. They appreciate the effect of science on their lives and support it but are unaware of the scientific methods involved. Therefore, for the sustainability of physical aspect of marine science in the future for the Pacific region, public awareness of climate change and sea level is vitally important and it should be widely promoted in the community as a matter of urgency.     

In space no one can see you waving your hands: making citizenship meaningful to Deaf worlds

This article suggests that there is an underlying social contract that defines relationships between deaf and hearing people and which ultimately influences state provisions as well as society's perception of Deaf people. It is outdated and does not have the consent of Deaf communities. It will be argued that any renegotiation of the social contract needs to take into consideration a number of ‘elements’ that would be the context for that negotiation. Deaf citizens are marginalised in society largely due to a citizenship that assumes an idealised individual as a speaking and hearing citizen, with a social policy constructed and made in the image of hearing culture, that is rooted in a philosophy of favouring by default the instruction of deaf children via oral means in overwhelming mainstream education. These state policies have resulted in an entrenched social exclusion of Deaf people. Citizenship is recognised as an inclusive and momentum concept and therefore this situation is not unchangeable. A renegotiation of the social contract may require a form of group rights which nevertheless recognises the transnational nature of Deaf communities. As part of that process it will be necessary for Deaf people to obtain control over how their communities are run and resources allocated. That would entail the withering away of hearing control in a social policy context within Deaf spheres of influence. The new social contract would aim not for a paternal citizenship, but an empowering and Deaf-led one.     

民族区域自治法配套法规建设再探讨

<民族区域自治法>要发挥有效的保障作用,必须有一系列配套工程给以强有力的支撑.党中央和国务院非常重视民族区域自治法配套法规建设.民族区域自治法配套法规建设取得了一定成就,但还存在一些问题.国务院及其部委以及自治区和辖有民族自治地方的省、直辖市进一步完善民族区域自治法配套法规建设,是当前我国社会主义民族法制建设的紧迫任务和重要内容.     

围绕勾画结构框架 扎实推进新经济组织党建

构筑新经济组织党建的结构框架体系,必须关注新经济组织党建的价值意义、困境问题和路径设计等基础性问题.开展新经济组织党建有利于引导和促进非公有制经济健康发展、壮大党的力量和影响力、激发人力资源优势、营造和谐发展环境.但新经济组织党建并不尽完美,还面临着一系列的困境问题.我们必须从分析解决这些困境问题入手,科学设计和选择新经济组织党建的发展路径.     

组织下乡:现代国家中的妇女组织建构——以华北黄县的史料分析与实证调查为例

本文从现代国家建构的角度,对农村妇女组织渗透乡村社会的过程进行了剖析,认为妇女组织是伴随着"政权下乡"和"政党下乡"的过程而萌生的,其成长的路径、特点和形式均体现出浓厚的国家建构色彩,是国家意志作用于乡村妇女的体现。也正因如此,妇女组织在下乡过程中承担的任务亦是动员、组织和吸纳妇女,以适应国家的政治需要为主。     

突发公共事件中政府形象塑造的三维向度分析

突发公共事件是对政府执行力的严峻考验,也是政府形象塑造的重要契机。面对突发公共事件,政府的作为不同,在公众心中的形象也就会有天壤之别。因此,在突发公共事件中,政府形象面临风险与机遇并存的分水岭。如何在突发状态中化危机为契机,重塑政府的良好形象,就成为了学术界关注和研究的一个重要课题。文章结合近几年来我国所发生的重大突发公共事件,对突发公共事件中政府形象塑造的三维向度以及路径选择进行了详细地阐述。     

Land and grievances in post-conflict Sri Lanka: exploring the role of corruption complaints

There is a growing academic literature on both land and corruption in relation to post-conflict peace building. This paper aims to understand what role corruption complaints play in the nexus between land and grievances in post-conflict societies. Drawing on field material collected in Sri Lanka, the paper interrogates the role of corruption complaints in relation to a number of highly politicised and ethnicised post-conflict land issues, ranging from the return of idps and alleged new resettlement schemes to land grabbing for military, ‘development’ and/or commercial purposes. The comparatively high visibility of land use, and the fact that land-related corruption is likely to affect a specific set of people who lay claim to the land, makes it a particularly important area to address in research on corruption and post-conflict peace building.     

State disintegration and power politics in post-Suharto Indonesia

This article illustrates how discourses on ‘state fragility’ have been instrumentalised by the Indonesian military in order to consolidate its political and economic power after the fall of Suharto. In the wake of Indonesia’s transition to democracy violent conflicts escalated in East Timor, Aceh, Papua, the Moluccas and Sulawesi. Most notably East Timor’s successful secession spawned fears over the potential ‘balkanisation’ of Indonesia. In this context the Indonesian military, which had been shunned for its involvement in Suharto’s New Order, managed to re-establish itself as the ‘guardian of the nation’. Based on fieldwork in Indonesia, the article describes how post-9/11 discourses over a potential break-up of Indonesia were used by the Indonesian military to reconsolidate its power in the post-Suharto era. The research findings illustrate that, against the looming threat of state disintegration, attempts to revoke the military’s prerogatives have either failed or have been aborted during the planning stages.