Spatial and temporal dynamics of linkage strategies in Arab-Israeli water negotiations

Water issues are inherently multi-faceted and therefore water policy often involves linkages to other issues. By providing opportunities for bargaining, use of policy linkages in transboundary water negotiations can increase the possibilities of reaching agreements; however, they also involve potential political costs. While there is ample theoretical literature on the potential benefits and risks of linkages in transboundary water negotiations, there is little empirical work exploring if, how, and why linkages are implemented in practice, especially in areas of conflict, in which they have perhaps the largest potential impact. This study evaluates the rationales behind decisions to adopt or refrain from linkage strategies by examining their actual use in Arab-Israeli water negotiations. The study finds that the likelihood, scale, and scope of linkages change over time, and they depend on factors such as the political climate, the level of trust between the parties, the degree of power asymmetry between parties, and political affiliation. Other variables such as size of negotiating parties were weakly correlated with likelihood of linkages. Knowing the opportunities and limits afforded by such linkages is crucial for negotiators and policymakers who are often drawn to linkage strategies without considering their inherent risks.     

意义的赋予:时势转移与"五四"话语的演变

时至今日,“五四”一词早已内化为一种思想符号,其“内化”实由伴随现代中国时势转移而不断演变的“五四”话语所造成。这种历史现象意味着两层含义：其一,“五四”话语随时势转移而变换其意义,而意义的深度与广度则取决于“五四”话语对时势的阐释状态;其二,对“五四”历史价值的释义过程,实际上是“五四”不断被赋予意义、不断被追认价值、不断被叠加内涵的过程。那么,这一历史现象是如何生成的呢？也就是说,“五四”内涵的意义扩张,是通过何种方式实现的呢？考究这个问题,实际上就是考索“五四”话语在各个不同时期的演变过程。     

Providing counter-narratives: the positive role of hostels in the Israeli-Palestinian context

Abstract

Previous research suggests that tourism has a role to play in challenging the destructive dominant narratives of the Israeli-Palestinian context – discourses that traditionally have, and still do, revolve around sectarianism, Othering and violence. Our case study focuses on a hostel in the Palestinian city of Ramallah that boldly attempts to challenge the way tourists view the Israeli-Palestinian context and Palestine as a tourism destination. We examine how the hostel attempts to achieve this and the ways in which being a hostel (as opposed to a hotel) helps its guests with this reframing through in-depth qualitative interviews conducted on-site with members of the hostel management and staff, and through participant observation conducted by the researchers in Ramallah. Findings shed light on the hostel’s ability to enable Israelis and Palestinians to cooperate within tourism, and how Palestine has much more to offer tourists than conflict-related tourism, thus challenging the master narratives of the region which have suggested quite the contrary. A key finding is the hostel's on-going attempt to remove ignorance about the situation in the region and promote fact-based learning. The results also suggest that the very characteristics of a hostel assist in achieving this mission through the intimate interactions that are inherent in a hostel setting. Hostels can, therefore, be part of a wider approach to ensuring tourism is used to promote alternative, positive narratives of contested space, as opposed to promoting division and externalising the conflict, as is so often the case.

摘要

之前的研究表明, 旅游业在挑战以色列-巴勒斯坦背景下的破坏性主导叙事方面可以发挥作用——这些话语传统上想来围绕宗派主义、异己和暴力展开, 现在依然如此。我们的案例研究集中在巴勒斯坦城市拉马拉的一家青年旅社, 它大胆地尝试挑战游客看待巴以关系和巴勒斯坦作为旅游目的地的方式。我们通过在现场深入访谈青年旅社管理人员与员工,以及通过由拉马拉研究人员的参与观察, 研究了该旅社试图实现这一目标的方式, 以及在这一新框架下该旅社是如何帮助客人的。调查结果有助于了解该青年旅社有能力使以色列和巴勒斯坦人在旅游业内进行合作, 以及巴勒斯坦向游客提供的服务如何远远超过与冲突有关的旅游, 从而挑战了该地区的主流叙述, 而这些叙述的观点恰恰与实际相反。一个关键的发现是, 青年旅社正在努力消除对该地区情况的无知, 并促进基于事实的学习。研究结果亦显示, 青年旅舍的特色有助于透过旅舍环境所固有的亲密互动来达成这一使命。因此, 青年旅舍可以成为一种更广泛的方法的一部分, 以确保旅游业被用来促进对有争议的空间的替代的、积极的叙述, 而不是像通常情况那样促进分裂和将冲突外部化。     

Rural drinking water governance politics in China: Governmentality schemes and negotiations from below

This paper examines the politics of rural water governance in China through a governmentality lens and village water intervention case. The China Rural Drinking Water Safety Project (RDWSP) was an attempt to control water, while also serving as a tool of power to impel the rural population towards national development goals. The authors analyzed official documents and conducted interviews in a village in Shandong Province to investigate the RDWSP's rationale and practices, as well as how water access and management were negotiated by rural water users. The paper argues that (1) confronted with a decline in local governance capacity and in an effort to rectify the mistakes of the supply-driven, technocratic paradigm, the RDWSP attempted to integrate social, environmental and economic concerns but did not achieve that goal; (2) the decline in local governance capacity and people's pragmatic everyday strategies contributed to an individualized approach to solving water problems, reflected in people's disengagement from the government project and local participation, an effect that may sustain people's marginalization and exclusion from good-quality water access and management. Using the Chinese water project as an example, the paper contributes to the debate on state-induced water control versus civil society “counter-conduct” formed by daily interactions. Furthermore, it enriches the study of politics in general by presenting the state as a site of contested institutionalization and ongoing negotiations, confronted by everyday narratives and encounters with marginalized citizens that go far beyond and are far more complex than overt resistance or covert weapons of the weak.     

The Vienna negotiations on the final status for Kosovo

The Vienna negotiations on the final status for Kosovo were an impossible project. It was clear at the outset that both parties would not be able to find common ground on the status issue. However, the talks focused on the practical issues of governance in Kosovo, such as decentralization, community rights and cultural heritage. It was thought that these could be addressed, initially at least, in a status‐neutral way. While the parties did not manage to agree on all or most of these problems, the UN Special Envoy, Martti Ahtisaari, generated a comprehensive proposal offering compromise solutions that should have been acceptable to both sides. The recommendation of the Special Envoy in favour of supervised independence was deliberately separated from the comprehensive proposal. It was thought that the UN Security Council would at least endorse the proposal, even if it was ultimately unwilling to pronounce itself in favour of independence. The issue of status might then be settled outside the Council. However, when it appeared to some states on the Council that endorsement of the substantive Ahtisaari plan would in fact be tantamount to acceptance of independence, this avenue was closed.     

1902年中葡交涉述论

1902年中葡交涉过程中,葡方先后提出扩大澳门界址、在澳门及周围各岛范围内任建工程并协助缉私、修造广澳铁路等项要求,并以承认中外新定税则和协助清政府在澳门征税缉私作为交换条件.中方对葡方企图扩大统治区域等严重侵害中国领土主权的要求给以坚决抵制,使葡方的主要目标不能实现;但为了取得葡方承认新定税则和协助中方征税缉私的目的,在修造广澳铁路问题上对葡方做出一定让步.     

Place Identity of the Israeli Kibbutz

Place identity of the kibbutz in Israel is shaped by its collective identity which is reflected in the landscape. The individuality of a kibbutz member is expressed in a single landscape element: private gardens in front of the family residences. The kibbutz center is regarded as sacred space; concentrated in it are all the communal institutions including the most important and conspicuous structure, the dining hall. Behavior circuits strengthen the ties between man and the public center. Everyday interaction and identification with the kibbutz is reinforced by the symbolic importance inherent in the center and in peripheral symbols which act as the loci of the kibbutz ideals of socialism and zionism. The landscape of the kibbutz reflects elements of ideals such as conquering the land through hard labor, farming as a way of life and defense.     

Implications of gendered environmental knowledge in water allocation processes in central Australia

The existence of gendered knowledge has been identified as a significant feature of Indigenous Australian culture, and the importance of considering the implications of gendered environmental knowledge in collaborative cross-cultural natural resource management has been highlighted. There is a lack of case studies that demonstrate how Indigenous women's knowledge and laws can be provided for in resource management contexts. From collaborative research with Anmatyerr women in central Australia, we discuss the implications of gender bias in relation to gendered knowledge in natural and cultural resource management, with a specific focus on Anmatyerr women's involvement in providing inputs about the cultural values of water within water allocation planning processes. This research highlights Anmatyerr women's own perspectives of their roles in contemporary contexts and identifies the existence of cultural change and continuity in relation to rights and responsibilities around water.     

执政府与沪案交涉的失败

沪案交涉是由执政府担当的,但执政府为延长其政治生命,只知利用五卅运动中的"民气"以对内,并没有真正谋划沪案交涉,导致交涉主张不统一,交涉策略不明朗,交涉步骤不一致;同时,各外交官员在开展外交时也进行"内争",相互推诿卸责,导致沪案交涉延宕;江苏地方官员和各派军阀也以外交之名,与中央一起争夺上海地盘;此外,沪案发生时,上海无军政大员负责的现状也影响到了沪案交涉的开局.这些才是沪案交涉无功而终的主要原因.     

What role for culture in the age of sustainable development? UNESCO’s advocacy in the 2030 Agenda negotiations

ABSTRACT

The article presents the nuanced role of culture in the sustainable development agenda of the United Nations, highlighting the contribution of UNESCO. While UNESCO has been engaged in the intersections between culture and development since 1980s, when the World Decade for Cultural Development was proclaimed, it was only with the negotiation of post-2015 development framework that culture began to enter the mainstream development discourse. It is argued that this process, influenced by both external and internal factors, has led to the reconceptualisation of the culture-development nexus. While the role of culture in the human development paradigm was focused on poverty alleviation and other human needs, including identity, education, and health, the sustainability agenda significantly widens the possible roles for cultural factors. UNESCO’s three approaches are discussed: culture as a unique dimension of sustainable development, and culture as a driver and enabler of sustainability.