Gender Bias in China,South Korea and India 1920–1990: Effects of War,Famine and Fertility Decline

How has the history of the twentieth century affected the extent of female disadvantage in child survival in China, South Korea and India, and how has this in turn shaped spousal availability and marriage payments? These three countries have similar kinship systems which generate discrimination against girls, and they show the highest levels of excess female child mortality in the world. This article explores how the extent of excess female child mortality was influenced by historical events in these countries in the period 1920–90, and discusses some of the substantial social ramifications of resulting changes in sex ratios. The authors hypothesize that these changes encouraged the retention of brideprice in China while dowry became the norm in India, and illustrate how these demographic changes have influenced the extent and manifestations of violence against women.     

Rebels without a cause: North Korea, Iran and the NPT

Unchecked nuclear weapons development in North Korea and the incipient nuclear weapons programme in Iran currently pose seminal challenges to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). The disposition of these cases may determine the future of the NPT and will shape non-proliferation and disarmament efforts for the next decade or more. This article assesses these two challenges, focusing on the actions concerned European states might take to leverage and guide the inevitably central US role. The article concludes that, by smoothing the sharper edges of US nuclear and strategic policies, European states can promote political conditions more favourable to non-proliferation solutions in both critical cases and help reduce reliance on nuclear weapons threats in global security relations more broadly.     

Private Provision after Public Neglect: Bending Irrigation Markets in North Bihar

Research in North-East Bihar shows public sector irrigation management to be embodied within the prevailing cultural structures of the region, involving the intrusion of local exchange behaviour into the practices of public allocation of water. With irrigation officials in strong rent-seeking positions over farmers, and without resort to a moral sense of community through which farmers might exert voice over official providers, opting out into private provision via tube-well borings and pumpsets has become the exit solution. However, the propensity to make even relatively small investments in bamboo borings is dependent upon access to pumpsets. While élite families own the pumpsets in a village, some farmers may have borings on just some of their land, and others may have no borings of their own at all. Farmers therefore have to enter into multi-layered transactions in order to secure access to timely water. Secure access to other inputs is also necessary. This study encapsulates the themes of: state versus common property resources management; the ‘incentives’ induced by costs of loyalty and the availability of exits to adopt private solutions; and the social embeddedness of behaviour when operating in interlocked, community level markets.     

Experimental territoriality: Assembling the Kaesong Industrial Complex in North Korea

This paper examines the interactions of sovereignty and political economy that shape North Korea's Kaesong Industrial Complex (KIC)—an economic zone jointly operated by North and South Korea. Drawing on contemporary literatures concerning sovereignty, territoriality, and sites of political economic experimentation in East Asia, we argue that the KIC represents an experimental form of territoriality: one that is particularly volatile due to its unique geopolitical location where interaction among the various actors that compose it periodically shuts down or threatens to suspend the project. This volatility cannot be reduced to the structure of the North Korean regime alone, however. Rather, it must be situated within the continuation of a framework of enmity on the Korean peninsula as well as the ethical and political conundrums raised by the largely capitalist nature of the KIC as a form of inter-Korean economic cooperation.     

Watching North Korea from the sky: Remote sensing and documenting human rights in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea

For organisations committed to documenting human rights abuses in North Korea, gathering data is an ongoing challenge. Faced with the lack of access to the country, as well as the problems inherent in verifying testimonies from North Korean escapees, some organisations have turned to hybrid methodologies, including pairing remote sensing (RS) technologies with testimonial data to better understand the people, places and institutions associated with human rights violations. In the case of North Korea, to date, remote sensing has been used primarily to monitor nuclear weapons and missile development sites. This work has at times sparked controversy, given the scope for analytical error and the high stakes associated with flawed analysis. Against this backdrop, this article discusses the application of remote sensing to augment human rights abuse investigations and calls for greater attention to the potential of remote sensing data to both assist in eliciting information in research interviews, and to generate data that may be used to support the pursuit of accountability for alleged violations of international law. Specifically, it considers the work of an ongoing project developed in South Korea using satellite imagery and Geographic Information Systems technology together with witness testimonies to document sites of state-led killings and burials in North Korea. The paper cites advantages to be had from developing hybrid methods of data-gathering in this context and describes some of the key methodological considerations involved, as well as the possible applications of the data in seeking justice and remedy in the future.     

Policies and Ideologies of the Kim Jong-un Regime in North Korea: Theoretical Implications

Soon after the death of Kim Jong-il on 17 December 2011, his youngest and previously least-known son, Kim Jong-un, was declared the next leader of North Korea. At least for now, it seems clear that the Kim Jong-un regime is determined to uphold the established policies and ideologies of its predecessor. The present study attempts to explain why that is the case using path-dependence theory. Obviously, the old policies and ideologies are intimately bound up with the political processes of the present regime. North Korea’s unique monolithic system, comprising the Juche ideology and the military-first policy, which was constructed during the Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il regimes, has exerted a comprehensive influence on the country’s political and socioeconomic development processes for decades, and it is clear that the existing policy and the institutional framework based on it wield a powerful influence on the current political processes. This greatly restricts the autonomy and the range of choices of the new incumbent, suggesting that path dependence is relevant in the case of the North Korean regime.     

晚清华北的集市和集市圈

本文利用华北数十州县的方志,特别是利用形成于光绪早期的《青县村图》、《深州村图》中的丰富资料,对晚清时期华北的集市和集市圈做了较详尽的研究。本文认为,华北各州县集市数量参差不一,甚至差距很大,集市数与州县人口数、村庄数及土地面积的关系,亦无有规则的比率。集市圈即集市与赶集村庄的空间构成,所包含的村庄多至近百村,少则二三村,甚至一村。本文以自己的研究成果对美国学者施坚雅关于中国乡村市场和社会结构的理论、公式提出了质疑。     

The Dynamics of Real Markets: Cattle in Southern Zimbabwe following Land Reform

Since 2000 there have been major changes in the agrarian economy in Zimbabwe. Extensive land redistribution and severe macro‐economic instability have resulted in significant shifts in agricultural production and the functioning of markets, opening opportunities for some and closing options for others. This article focuses on cattle in Masvingo Province, identifying current patterns and dynamics and future challenges. Key to the analysis is an understanding of the social and political embeddedness of real markets and the relationship between the state and an increasingly informal, sometimes illegal, economy. The article traces the transformation of a formalized beef production and marketing system, organized around a relatively narrow group of players, to a more fragmented, diverse and complex system with a different — and potentially wider — scope and reach. It highlights a series of phases, from the technocratic order of the colonial era, and its replication in the period following Independence, to a new situation following land reform. Although there have recently been attempts to reinstate a particular order through price controls and other measures, this has had little impact. The result is a radically reshaped production and market system, which suggests very new political and social relationships for the livestock sector.