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Democratization in Post-Suharto Indonesia (Routledge Contemporary Southeast Asia Series)
By Marco Bünte, Andreas Ufen. 2008
In May 1998 the fall of Suharto marked the beginning of a difficult and multi-layered transition process. It was accompanied…
by intensified conflict in the political arena, a dramatic increase of ethnic and religious violence and the danger of national disintegration. Ten years after the collapse of the New Order, Indonesia has made significant progress, however the quality of democracy is still low. Theoretically innovative and empirically sound, this book is an in-depth analysis of the Indonesian reform process since 1998. Marco Bünte and Andreas Ufen bring together a selection of noted Indonesia experts to provide new insights into the restructuring of core state institutions, the empowerment of Parliament, the slow and difficult evolution of the rule of law, and the transfer of power to locally elected regional governments (decentralization). Based on the results of extensive fieldwork, Democratization in Post-Suharto Indonesia will be an important read for scholars engaged in research on Indonesia and the politics of Southeast Asia.The position of the Persian Gulf as the main highway between East and West has long given this region special…
significance both within the Middle East and in global affairs more generally. This book examines the history of international relations in the Gulf since the 1820s as great powers such as Britain and the US, and regional powers such as Iran and Iraq, vied for supremacy over this geopolitically vital region. It focuses on the struggle for control over the islands of the Gulf, in particular the three islands of Abu Musa, Greater Tunb and Lesser Tunb – an issue that remains highly contentious today. It describes how for 170 years Britain eroded Iranian influence in the Gulf, both directly by asserting colonial rule over Iranian islands and port districts, and also through claiming Iranian islands for their protégés on the Arab littoral. It shows how, after Britain's withdrawal, these islands became a pawn in the animosity and conflict that pitted, at one time, Arab radicals and nationalists against monarchical Iran, and, later, the conservative-moderate Arab camp against Islamic Iran. It goes on to explore the impact of the rise of American power in the Gulf since the start of the 1990s, its policy of containment of Iran and Iraq, and how this has provided encouragement to the ambitions of the Persian Gulf Arab littoral states, especially the UAE, towards the islands of the Gulf.This book dispels the widely-held view that paganism survived in Russia alongside Orthodox Christianity, demonstrating that 'double belief', dvoeverie, is…
in fact an academic myth. Scholars, citing the medieval origins of the term, have often portrayed Russian Christianity as uniquely muddied by paganism, with 'double-believing' Christians consciously or unconsciously preserving pagan traditions even into the twentieth century. This volume shows how the concept of dvoeverie arose with nineteenth-century scholars obsessed with the Russian 'folk' and was perpetuated as a propaganda tool in the Soviet period, colouring our perception of both popular faith in Russian and medieval Russian culture for over a century. It surveys the wide variety of uses of the term from the eleventh to the seventeenth century, and contrasts them to its use in modern historiography, concluding that our modern interpretation of dvoeverie would not have been recognized by medieval clerics, and that 'double-belief' is a modern academic construct. Furthermore, it offers a brief foray into medieval Orthodoxy via the mind of the believer, through the language and literature of the period.Contrary to the widely-held view that the East Asian "developmental state" is neutral in terms of the relationship between capital…
and labour – a benign co-operation between state officials and businessmen to organise economic development – this book argues that in fact the developmental state exists to promote the interests of capital over the interests of labour. Dae-oup Chang asserts that there has been a deliberate mystification concerning the reality of this process. This book presents a radical, Marxist critique of state development theory. It both explains the exploitative functions of the state, looking at the emergence of the particular form of capitalist state in the context of the formation and reproduction of capital relations in Korea; and also traces the origin and development of the process of mystification whereby the capitalist state has been characterised as the autonomous developmental state. In addition, the book provides a comprehensive analysis of labour relations in Korea both before and after the 1998 financial crisis, demonstrating continuing capital relations, state transition and class struggle.Contemporary China - An Introduction
By Michael Dillon. 2008
This book presents a concise introduction to contemporary China. It is intended as a first book for those coming new…
to the subject, providing the essential information that most people need to know, without going into excessive detail. Its coverage includes the economy, society, politics and international relations; China's history, especially the twentieth century; and Taiwan and Hong Kong as well as the People's Republic of China. The book provides an up-to-date and clear guide to the often bewildering changes which have taken place in China in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. It draws on the enormous body of empirical and theoretical research that is being carried out by economists, political scientists and sociologists on contemporary China, but is itself written in non-technical and accessible language. It does not assume any previous knowledge of China and explanations of Chinese terms are provided throughout the book. It includes a map, a chronology, a glossary of Chinese terms, biographical notes on key figures, and a guide to further reading.Conservation of Plastics
By Yvonne Shashoua. 2008
Plastic objects are included more than ever in museums and galleries collections these days, but these items can start to…
deteriorate when they a just a few years old. In this book Yvonne Shashoua provides the essential knowledge needed to keep plastic pieces in the best possible condition so that they can continue to be enjoyed for many years. The historical development of plastics, as well as the technology, their physical and chemical properties, identification, degradation and conservation are all clearly and concisely covered within this single volume, making it an invaluable reference for the increasing number of conservators and curators that are encountering plastics in their day to day work.Federalism and Local Politics in Russia (BASEES/Routledge Series on Russian and East European Studies)
By Cameron Ross, Adrian Campbell. 2008
This book examines federalism and regional and local politics in Russia. Many commentators have alluded to the unique nature of…
Russia's dual transition and its difficult task of simultaneously reforming its economy and polity. But there is in fact a third transition under way in Russia that is of no less importance, the need to reconfigure central-local relations and to create a stable and viable form of federalism. Federal states are much more difficult to set up than unitary ones, and forging a new federal system at the same time as privatising the economy and trying to radically overhaul the political system has clearly made Russia's transition triply difficult. The book discusses how Vladimir Putin has re-asserted the power of the centre in Russia, and tightened the federal government's control of the regions. It shows how, contrary to his rhetoric about developing Russia as a free and democratic state, authoritarianism has been extended - through his reorganisation of the Federation Council, his usurpation of powers to dismiss regional assemblies and chief executives, and his creation of seven unelected super-governors. The book explores a wide range of issues related to these developments, including a comparative study of Russian federalism and local politics, ethnic federalism, the merging of federal units, regional governors, electoral and party reforms, and regional and local politics. It also includes case studies of local and regional politics in specific regions.Humanitarian Aid in Post-Soviet Countries: An Anthropological Perspective (Central Asian Studies)
By Laetitia Atlani-Duault. 2008
An anthropologist among aid workers. Her objective: to study that exotic tribe, humanitarian and development workers, along with their state…
and non-state partners, as they "export democracy" to post-soviet countries of Central Asia and the Caucasus. Her method: to join the tribe for ten years. From New York to Alma-Ata, by way of Geneva and Baku, Laëtitia Atlani-Duault provides both an understanding of the individuals working in the field and a critical analysis of the sweeping political implications of NGO activities. A focus on supposedly "de-politicized" policy areas (notably the prevention of HIV/AIDS epidemic) provides wider insights into the objectives and practices of international aid workers in countries beset by rising poverty, drug trafficking, prostitution, and decaying education and health services. The author also provides a rich canvas of human stories, from the "workshops" in which diametrically opposed political approaches often clash to the occasional small triumphs in which effective public health interventions are worked out. This timely book will be of great interest not only to scholars of post-soviet countries, but also to those interested in humanitarian and development aid worldwide. It will also be relevant for the study of the anthropology of development, as well as medical and political anthropology.India's Princely States: People, Princes and Colonialism (Routledge Studies in the Modern History of Asia)
By Waltraud Ernst, Biswamoy Pati. 2008
This is an invaluable work looking into new areas relating to India's princely states. Based on an abundance of rarely…
used archival material, the book sheds new light on diversities related to the princely states such as health policies and practices, gender issues, the states’ military contribution or the mechanisms for controlling or integrating the states. Contributions are from international, reputable scholars, and they present historiographic, analytical and methodological approaches, placing attention to concepts, theories and sources. Inter-disciplinary in nature, this book will appeal to scholars and researchers of South Asia, studies of transnational histories, cultural and racial studies, international politics and economic history and the social history of health and medicine.Gender, Islam and Democracy in Indonesia (ASAA Women in Asia Series #6)
By Kathryn Robinson. 2008
This book explores the relationship between gender, religion and political action in Indonesia, examining the patterns of gender orders that…
have prevailed in recent history, and demonstrating the different forms of social power this has afforded to women. It sets out the part played by women in the nationalist movement, and the role of the women’s movement in the structuring of the independent Indonesian state, the politics of the immediate post-independence period and the transition to the authoritarian New Order. It analyses in detail the gender relations of the New Order regime, focused around the unitary family form supposed by the family system expounded in the New Order ideology and the contradictory implications of the opening up of the economy to foreign capital and ideas, for gender relations. It examines the forms of political activism that were possible for the women’s movement under the New Order, and the role it played in the fall of Suharto and the transition to democracy. The relationship between Islam and women in Indonesia is also addressed, with particular focus on the way in which Islam became a critical focus for political dissent in the late New Order period. Overall, this book provides a thorough investigation of the relationship between gender, religion and democracy in Indonesia, and is a vital resource for students of gender studies and Indonesian affairs.Peopling the Russian Periphery: Borderland Colonization in Eurasian History (BASEES/Routledge Series on Russian and East European Studies)
By Willard Sunderland, Nicholas Breyfogle, Abby Schrader. 2008
Though usually forgotten in general surveys of European colonization, the Russians were among the greatest colonizers of the Old World,…
eventually settling across most of the immense expanse of Northern Europe and Asia, from the Baltic and the Pacific, and from the Arctic Ocean to Central Asia. This book makes a unique contribution to our understanding of the Eurasian past by examining the policies, practices, cultural representations, and daily-life experiences of Slavic settlement in non-Russian regions of Eurasia from the time of Ivan the Terrible to the nuclear era. The movement of tens of millions of Slavic settlers was a central component of Russian empire-building, and of the everyday life of numerous social and ethnic groups and remains a crucial regional security issue today, yet it remains relatively understudied. Peopling the Russian Periphery redresses this omission through a detailed exploration of the varied meanings and dynamics of Slavic settlement from the sixteenth century to the 1960s. Providing an account of the different approaches of settlement and expansion that were adopted in different periods of history, it includes detailed case studies of particular episodes of migration. Written by upcoming and established experts in Russian history, with exceptional geographical and chronological breadth, this book provides a thorough examination of the history of Slavic settlement and migration from the Muscovite to the Soviet era. It will be of great interest to students and scholars of Russian history, comparative history of colonization, migration, interethnic contact, environmental history and European Imperialism.Writing Okinawa: Narrative acts of identity and resistance (Routledge Studies in Asia's Transformations)
By Davinder L. Bhowmik. 2008
Writing Okinawa is the first comprehensive study in English of Okinawan fiction, from it’s emergence in the early twentieth-century through…
its most recent permutations. It provides readings of major authors and texts set against a carefully researched presentation of the region’s political and social history; at the same time, it thoughtfully engages with current critical perspective with perspectives on subaltern identity, colonialism, and post-colonialism, and the nature of "regional," "minority," and "minor" literatures. Is Okinawan fiction, replete with geographically specific themes such as language loss, identity, and war, a regional literature, distinct among Japanese letters for flourishes of local color that offer a reprieve for the urban-weary, or a minority literature that serves as a site for creative resistance and cultural renewal? This question drives the book’s argument, making it interpretative rather than merely descriptive. Not only does the book provide a critical introduction to the major works of Okinawan literature, it also argues that Okinawa’s writers consciously exploit, to good effect the overlap that exists between regional and minority literature. In so doing, they produce a rich body of work, a great deal of which challenges the notion of a unified nation that seamlessly rises from a single language and culture.China Turns to Multilateralism: Foreign Policy and Regional Security (Routledge Contemporary China Series #Vol. 24)
By Guoguang Wu, Helen Lansdowne. 2008
China’s recent rapid economic growth has drawn global attention to its foreign policy, which increasingly has had an impact on…
world politics. In contrast with China’s long-standing preference for bilateralism or unilateralism in foreign policy, recent decades have seen changes in the PRC’s attitude and in its declaratory and operational policies, with a trend toward the accepting and advocating of multilateralism in international affairs. Whilst China’s involvement has been primarily in the economic arena, for example, participation in the World Trade Organization and ASEAN Plus Three, it has more recently expanded into international security institutions, such as the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. This book records, analyzes, and attempts to conceptualize, this phenomenal development in Chinese foreign policy and its impact on international relations, with the emphasis on China’s active participation in multilaterally-oriented regional security regimes. Written by an impressive team of international scholars, this book is the first collective effort in the field of China studies and international relations to look at China’s recent turn to multilateralism in foreign affairs. It will appeal to students and scholars of Chinese politics and foreign policy, security studies and international relations.Labor, Democratization and Development in India and Pakistan (Routledge Contemporary South Asia Series)
By Christopher Candland. 2008
In this first comparative study of organized labor in India and Pakistan, the author analyses the impact and role of…
organized labor in democratization and development. The study provides a unique comparative history of Indian and Pakistani labor politics. It begins in the early twentieth century, when permanent unions first formed in the South Asian Subcontinent. Additionally, it offers an analysis of changes in conditions of work andterms of service in India and Pakistan and of organized labor’s response. The conclusions shed new light on the influence of organized labor in national politics, economic policy, economic welfare and at the workplace. It is demonstrated that the protection of workers has desirable outcomes not only for those workers covered but also for democratic practice and for economic development.Party Politics and Democratization in Indonesia: Golkar in the Post-Suharto Era provides the first in-depth analysis of contemporary Indonesian party…
politics and the first systematic explanation why Golkar is still the strongest party in Indonesia. Applying a multi-dimensional conceptual framework of party institutionalization theory, the book examines Golkar’s organizational infrastructure, its decisional autonomy and programmatic platform as well as the party’s relations to the mass media. Strengths and weaknesses in the individual dimensions of institutionalization are then contrasted with the corresponding levels of institutionalization reached by Indonesia’s other major parties. Tomsa argues that Golkar remains Indonesia’s strongest party because it is better institutionalized than its electoral competitors. However, while highlighting the former regime party’s strengths in key aspects of party institutionalization, he also shows that Golkar also has some considerable institutional weaknesses which in 2004 prevented the party from achieving an even better result in the general election As an empirical study on Golkar, and Indonesia's other major political parties, this book will be of huge interest to students and scholars of Southeast Asian politics, political parties and elections and democratization.The Tibetan Government-in-Exile: Politics at Large (Routledge Advances in South Asian Studies)
By Stephanie Römer. 2008
This book provides a detailed account of the structure and political strategies of the Tibetan government-in exile, the Central Tibetan…
Administration (CTA), in northern India. Since its founding in 1959, it has been led by the 14th Dalai Lama who struggles to regain the Tibetan homeland. Based on a theoretical approach on exile organizations – and extensive empirical studies in Asia – this book discusses CTA’s political strategies to gain national loyalty, and international support, in order to secure its own organizational survival and the ultimate goal: the return to Tibet. The book is organized around the two fundamental questions: firstly, how the CTA fosters its claims to be the sole representative of all Tibetans over the last decades in exile; and, secondly, which policies have been carried out in order to regain the homeland. The book is divided into four substantial chapters: the historical background, providing a review of pre-1959 political Tibet a theoretical section which covers the critical position of exile organizations an examination of the exile Tibetan community and government from the early years an analysis of crucial CTA policies. Innovative and unique, this book combines a political science approach with Tibetan studies to analyse exile-Tibetan politics in particular, and exile governments in general.China’s rise as a major trading power has prompted debate about the nature of that country’s involvement in the liberal…
international economic order. China’s Foreign Trade Policy sheds light on this complex question by examining the changing domestic forces shaping China’s foreign trade relations. Specifically, this book explores the evolving trade policymaking process in China by looking at: China’s WTO accession negotiation China’s bilateral trade disputes The development of China’s antidumping regime China’s emerging trade disputes in the WTO. In addition, Ka Zeng examines how lobbying patterns in China are becoming more open and pluralistic, with bureaucratic agencies, sectoral interests, regional interests, and even transnational actors increasingly able to influence the process and outcome of China’s trade negotiations. Using case studies of China’s trade disputes with its major trading partners, as well as China’s participation in the dispute settlement process of the World Trade Organization, to present an in-depth analysis of China’s trade relations, this book will appeal to students and scholars of international political economy, Chinese politics and foreign policy, and more generally Asian studies.China-Europe Relations: Perceptions, Policies and Prospects
By David Shambaugh, Eberhard Sandschneider, Zhou Hong. 2008
The fast-developing relationship between China and Europe has become one of the most important in international affairs. China-Europe Relations takes an…
innovative and insightful look at this phenomenon, examining: the state of Chinese studies in Europe and European studies in China the decision-making behind the EU’s China policy, and what the Chinese perceptions and assessments are of Europe that shape China’s Europe policy the recent rapid growth of bilateral commercial and technological relations the global context of the bilateral Sino-European relationship, in particular the interaction of China, the EU, and the United States prospects for the future evolution of these relationships. The most systematic and comprehensive study on the subject to date, written by a stellar team of international contributors from China, Europe and the US, China-Europe Relations will appeal to students, academics and policy makers alike who are interested in international relations, comparative foreign policy and Chinese and European politics.Multicultural Horizons: Diversity and the Limits of the Civil Nation (International Library of Sociology)
By Anne-Marie Fortier. 2008
The intensity of feeling that multiculturalism invariably ignites is considered in this timely analysis of how the ‘New Britain’ of…
the twenty-first century is variously re-imagined as multicultural. Introducing the concept of ‘multicultural intimacies’, Anne-Marie Fortier offers a new form of critical engagement with the cultural politics of multiculturalism, one that attends to ideals of mixing, loving thy neighbour and feelings for the nation. In the first study of its kind, Fortier considers the anxieties, desires, and issues that form representations of ‘multicultural Britain’ available in the British public domain. She investigates: the significance of gender, sex, generations and kinship, as well as race and ethnicity, in debates about cultural difference the consolidation of religion as a marker of absolute difference ‘moral racism’, the criteria for good citizenship and the limits of civility. This book presents a unique analysis of multiculturalism that draws on insights from critical race studies, feminist and queer studies, postcolonialism and psychoanalysis.Outsourcing is an increasingly popular strategy deployed by a variety of institutions, including banks, multinational companies and small and medium-sized…
enterprises (SMEs). The book assesses the problems and solutions for those attempting to outsource through an analysis of human resource management, insourcing, lifecycles of the project, insurance requirements, operational management and recruitment within the context of the financial services industry, automotive and IT industries of Japan, North and South Korea, South Africa, Mexico, Eastern Europe, China and India. Including detailed comparative case studies, this book: considers how outsourcing can best be made to work explores the human side of outsourcing offers practical advice for improving organizational relationships and performance looks at important practices such as insourcing provides much needed analysis of the risk and insurance issues involved in outsourcing.