'Proactive fast-tracking' diffusion of supermarkets in developing countries: implications for market institutions and trade

Supermarkets have spread extremely rapidly in developing countriesafter the ‘take-off’ in the early to mid-1990s.Former analyses of supermarket diffusion have not adequatelyexplained the sudden burst and then exponential diffusion ofsupermarkets in the late 1990s and early 2000s. We argue thatrather than taking demand and market institutional and organizationalconditions as ‘exogenous’, as former analyses havetended to do, modern food retailers instead have treated localconditions as substantially ‘endogenous’. To enabletheir rapid growth, supermarkets undertake ‘proactivefast-tracking strategies’ to alter the ‘enablingconditions’ of entry and growth. Beside the retail investmentsthat have been extensively treated in recent literature, theseproactive strategies focus on improving the ‘enablingconditions’ via (i) procurement system modernization and(ii) local supply chain development. One important strategyretailers have used to facilitate (i) and (ii) is to form symbioticrelationships with modern wholesale, logistics and processingfirms. An example we address is ‘follow sourcing’,where a transnational retailer encourages transnational logisticsand wholesale firms with whom the retailer is working in homemarkets, to locate to the developing country. This is a spurto globalization of services in support of retail. Follow-sourcinghas been treated for example in the automobile manufacturessector (follow-sourcing from spare parts manufacturers)—butnot in the food sector. A second important strategy is thatof multi-network-sourcing, in which supermarkets source fromnational, regional and global networks. We analyze that strategyhere, adding to the literature which to date has touched onthis theme only scantly, and for the first time identify typicalpaths, present preliminary evidence (from Central America andIndonesia) concerning this multi-sourcing-network strategy anddiscuss trade implications. One of these is the move to primacyof South–South trade in supermarket sourcing—a newdimension of globalization. By introducing this link of retailertransformation and trade into the literature, we hope to spura new line of research that is timely in light of the trade,development and globalization debates in developing countries.     

Japanese Saris: Dress,Globalisation and Multiple Migrants

In this article, which is based on research in Leicester and Nairobi undertaken for the Cultural Olympiad exhibition Suits and Saris (New Walk Museum and Art Gallery, Leicester, 2012), we examine the phenomenon of Japanese saris — fashion-forward synthetic saris manufactured in Japan — and Leicester sari shop owners’ role in their design and popularity in the 1970s and early 1980s. We use this previously untold story to explore transnational identities as manifested through cultures of dress. We investigate the transnational space in which these saris were produced and used, and we focus in particular on the multiple migrant experiences of East African Asians, many of whom emigrated to Britain during the late 1960s and 1970s. We argue that the truly global phenomenon of Japanese saris would not have been possible without the transnational and multiple migrant nature of the South Asian diaspora.     

Waiting for the Day: Globalisation and Apocalypticism in Central New Ireland,Papua New Guinea

Through an exploration of some of the negotiations occurring in the cultural sphere of religion, I problematise the term globalisation, challenge some of the assumptions that have been made about it, and argue that, in a particular sense, it has become a two‐way process. Taking the case of the experience of the 1997–98 drought on the Lelet Plateau in central New Ireland, I examine the manner in which the concepts and beliefs of premillennialist Pentecostal Christianity engage with the local. What is new is that these discourses about the end of the world have brought the global horizon into prominence in a way that the previous more orthodox Christianity did not, so that local events take on signficances they did not have in the past. This is not a simple matter of the new powerful framework irresistibly overwhelming local knowledge, but involves careful scrutiny of both, and negotiation between them. The result is not that the local is swamped, but that the globe becomes an horizon which frames local experiences in particular ways.     

Globalisation,Neoliberalism and the Transformation of the Australian State

A review of the literature is used to construct a model of economic 'globalisation' and its implications for the state. Three theses are derived from this exercise: the 'economic globalisation thesis', the 'loss of state sovereignty thesis' and the 'neoliberal convergence thesis'. These theses are assessed empirically, the latter two against Australian evidence. The paper argues that while the Australian state has lost considerable sovereignty, this effect is more pronounced at the macroeconomic level than at the microeconomic level. And though it can be argued that Australia broadly conforms to the pattern of 'neoliberal policy convergence', the paper argues that 'externalist' explanatory accounts of the type offered by the globalisation thesis overlook important domestic pressures for neoliberal policies.     

Globalisation and the dilemmas of income taxation in Australia

Over the past two decades there has been a worldwide fall in statutory corporate tax (CT) rates. Focusing on Australia, this article establishes three empirical facts which challenge much of the existing literature. First, CT competition was the crucial driving force behind CT cuts. Second, policy makers had to abandon tax‐related investment incentives in order to pay for lower CT rates. This broadening of the CT base is costly, because it potentially disadvantages domestic firms and may, over the longer term, erode the CT base. Third, CT cuts have put pressure on the personal income tax base, as low corporate rates provide tax avoidance opportunities for high‐income earners.     

Visa Stories: Human Rights, Structural Violence and Ethical Globalisation

This essay frames a number of individual contributions on the subject of visa stories. The author considers the issues raised by these contributors in terms of human rights, structural violence and ethical globalisation. The contributions to this Forum sharply delineate the contrasting capacity of archaeologists from different countries to participate in international scholarly discussions. If we are to tackle the challenges of a more ethical globalisation, we need to integrate a human rights framework into our practices and policies, with a consequent emphasis on shared responsibilities.

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Resumen Este ensayo enmarca las diversas aportaciones individuales entorno a las historias sobre visados. La autora tiene en cuenta las cuestiones planteadas por estos autores en relación con los derechos humanos, la violencia estructural y la globalización ética. Las aportaciones a este Forum delinean con gran agudeza la capacidad contrastada de los arqueólogos de diversos países de participar en discusiones eruditas a escala internacional. Si debemos abordar los desafíos de una globalización más ética, es necesario que integremos un marco de derechos humanos en nuestras prácticas y nuestras políticas, con el consiguiente énfasis en las responsabilidades compartidas.

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Résumé Cet essai est pour synthétiser les contributions individuelles concernant les histoires d’obtention de visas. L’auteur considère les questions soulevées par ces histoires, en termes de droits humains, de violence structurée (injustices dans les procédures administratives), et de la globalisation de l’éthique. Les contributions à ce forum font ressortir clairement le contraste entre les capacités qui existent, selon le pays d’origine des archéologues, de participer à des rencontres académiques internationales. Si nous voulons relever le défit de développer une éthique plus globale, nous devons intégrer la conception des droits humains dans notre pratique et nos politiques, avec comme conséquence, une emphase sur le partage des responsabilités.

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Claire Smith is President of the World Archaeological Congress, and Associate Professor at Flinders University, Australia. Her recent books include ‘Indigenous Archaeologies: Decolonising Archaeological Theory and Method (co-edited with H.M. Wobst, Routledge, 2005) and ‘Digging it up Down Under. A Practical Guide to Doing Archaeology in Australia’ (co-authored by H. Burke, Springer, 2007).     

Rural development perspectives in enlarging Europe: The implications of CAP reforms and agricultural transition in accession countries

The purpose of this paper is to put into an appropriate theoretical frame the rural development issues in enlarging Europe and to analyse the rural development perspectives in the European Union (EU) accession countries. Based on comparisons of developments in the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and features of the rural areas in incumbent EU member states with the status of the rural sectors in accession countries, implications for the future of CAP are discussed. It is argued that despite coming from different development doctrines, the dominant rural sector—agriculture—in both eastern and western Europe is similarly characterized by dual structure. Thus, emphasis on rural development structural policies currently being promoted by the reforming CAP can be fruitful in both new and incumbent member states.     

Green Point, Globalisation and the Remains of the Prestwich Street Dead

This paper asks how the remains of the Prestwich Street dead may become a shaping force behind efforts to remember slavery and apartheid in a post-apartheid national context. Between 2003 and 2005, thousands of human remains were disinterred from the site of a multi-million Rand development project in Green Point, Cape Town. The bones of the dead the subject of fierce socio-historical and political contestations. This paper briefly explores how colonial and apartheid forces of erasure resulted in the destruction of forms of self-identity, memory and community; and posits three propositions for the self-reconstruction project the remains of the Prestwich Street dead may invoke in the postcolony.

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Résumé  Cet article pose la question de savoir comment les restes des victimes de Prestwich Street constituent une force qui définit les efforts pour commémorer l’esclavage et l’apartheid dans un contexte national post-apartheid. Entre 2003 et 2005, des milliers de restes humains ont été exhumés sur ce site dans le cadre d’un projet de développement Rand se montant à plusieurs millions de dollars à Geen Point, Cape Town. Les os des morts fait l’objet d’apres socio-historique et politique de contestations. Cet article explore brièvement comment les forces coloniales et de l’apartheid oubliées ont résulté dans la destruction de formes d’identité propre, de mémoire et de communauté; et fait avancer trois propositions pour un projet de reconstruction destinés aux restes des victimes de Prestwich Street pour évoquer l’ère postcoloniale.

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Resumen  En este trabajo se cuestiona cómo los restos humanos encontrados en Prestwich Street pueden convertirse en el motor que ayude a recordar la esclavitud y el apartheid en un contexto nacional posterior a estos fenómenos. Entre 2003 y 2005, miles de restos humanos se exhumaron del terreno en un proyecto del edificio Rand en Green Point, Ciudad del Cabo. Los huesos de los muertos, objeto de duras socio-histórico y político controversias. En este trabajo se analiza brevemente la destrucción por parte de las fuerzas de exterminio coloniales y del apartheid de formas de identidad propia, recuerdos y comunidades enteras, y plantea tres propuestas para un proyecto de autorrecuperación a partir de los restos humanos de Prestwich Street en la era post colonial.

     

Transnational Capital, Urban Globalisation and Cross-Border Solidarity: the Case of the South African Municipal Workers

The article discusses the redefinition of strategies of international solidarity and action in South African organised labour, with particular regard to the South African Municipal Workers' Union (SAMWU). SAMWU has recently been challenged by the pervasive penetration of global capital and multinational corporations in schemes of "PublicÐPrivate partnership" in the delivery of municipal infrastructures. These developments carry potential dangers for trade union organisation and for public services in a context of extreme inequality. SAMWU has identified international action against global capitalism as a decisive terrain of struggle for workers' and citizens' rights. However, the union's difficulties in articulating an effective confrontation at this level reflects broader problems in internationalist approaches adopted by South African labour. These refer primarily to a problematic conceptualisation of new subjects of opposition and of alliances with emerging global social movements.     

海外印度移民及印度政府的侨务政策

作为人口大国之一 ,印度与中国一样 ,有着庞大的海外移民群体及其后裔。目前 ,海外印度人已超过二千万人 ,分布在 1 1 0个国家和地区。上世纪 90年代以来 ,随着海外印度人对所在国和印度影响的增强 ,海外印度人在印度及海外都引起了比以前更多的关注。印度政府采取了一系列措施 ,以吸引更多的海外印度人投身印度国内的经济建设 ,为印度的发展作贡献。本文概述海外印度移民的基本情况 ,分析海外印度人与印度的联系及对印度的影响以及印度政府对海外移民的政策 ,希望从中能得到某些启示 ,从而对中国的侨务政策提供某些参考和借鉴。     

Political Globalisation and the Politics of International Non-governmental Organisations: The Case of Village Democracy in China

Although there is a body of research regarding the development of village self-governance in China, there is only limited research regarding the activity of international non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in relation to this development. The paper fills this gap through an analysis of the activities and effects of the village self-governance programs of three American-based NGOs: the International Republican Institute (IRI), the Carter Center and the Ford Foundation. These NGOs have assisted in the implementation of a number of reforms to village self-governance in China. NGO involvement in village democracy in China exemplifies a process of 'political globalisation' that involves the intermingling of layers of power and interests at the national and international levels. The paper concludes that, through this process of political globalisation, rural political reforms in China are both promoted and exploited by national and international political actors.