Youth aspirations and employment in provincial Indonesia: a view from the lower middle classes

ABSTRACT

Demographically and geographically, lower middle class youth occupy an ambiguous position in Indonesian society, embodying elements of both privilege and marginality. Drawing on interviews and 16 months of ethnographic fieldwork conducted between 2008 and 2013, this article considers how an emerging provincial middle class seeks to make good on the promises of an expanding higher education system and proliferation of globalised youth cultures. I examine the capacity and limits of higher education in facilitating young people’s aspirations for youth lifestyles, jobs and the future in a regional labour market with high levels of youth underemployment and informality. Young people’s aspirations for employment and middle class standards of living are mitigated by their responsibilities towards their families and difficulties to establish the social connections needed to access jobs and opportunities. Faced with limited upward mobility, class as an aspirational category rather than everyday reality underpins young people’s claims about the good life.     

‘Youthful futures? Aspirations,education and employment in Asia’

ABSTRACT

In this editorial article we frame how young people in Asia are reworking rapidly changing socio-economic, cultural conditions and constraining political structures to create possible successful futures and achieve their aspirations. We critically engage with interdisciplinary debates that conceptualise youth futures and provide an overview of current literature on this topic. Using the intense dynamism of the contemporary Asian region as a lens, we examine the complexities of education and employment landscapes young people are attempting to navigate or avoid; and highlight the implications this has for understanding the nexus between education and employment. Finally, this special issue highlights work by Asian and Asia-based scholars and is part of an intellectual project to make Asian young people more visible within Geography, Anthropology and related disciplines. The collection serves as a showcase of inter-disciplinary scholarship focusing on the complexities of young Asian lives in relation to education and employment.     

‘Sane’ and ‘insane’ imperialism: British idealism,new liberalism and liberal imperialism

It is contended that British Idealists, New Liberals and Liberal Imperialists were all in favour of imperialism, especially when it took the form of white settler communities. The concession of relative autonomy was an acknowledgement of the potential of white settler communities to go the way of America by severing their relationship with the Empire completely. Where significant differences emerge in their thinking is in relation to non-white territories in the Empire where native peoples comprised the majority, and the British Government and its agents administered in trust ‘lower’ peoples on the scale of civilisation with the ostensible goal of guiding them towards self-determination in the Empire. The differences in degree of commitment to these ideals were largely expressed in terms of the pejorative categories of ‘sane’ and ‘insane’ imperialism, which were flexible and manipulated for political gain, rather than analytic precision. Liberal Imperialists and New Liberals were opposed to each other in terms of the degree to which they supported imperialism, whereas British Idealists aligned themselves on both sides of the divide.     

New material referable to Wakaleo (Marsupialia: Thylacoleonidae) from the Riversleigh World Heritage Area,northwestern Queensland: revising species boundaries and distributions in Oligo/Miocene marsupial lions

Gillespie, A.K., Archer, M., Hand, S.J. & Black, K.H., 2014. New material referable to Wakaleo (Marsupialia: Thylacoleonidae) from the Riversleigh World Heritage Area, northwestern Queensland: revising species boundaries and distributions in Oligo/Miocene marsupial lions. Alcheringa 38, 513–527. ISSN 0311–5518.

New material of Wakaleo oldfieldi and W. vanderleueri from the Miocene freshwater limestones of the Riversleigh World Heritage Area, northwestern Queensland, is described. This material includes the first known upper dentition of W. oldfieldi and dentaries of both species bearing the previously undescribed and morphologically distinct M₃. Previously, the two species were distinguished only by size differences in P3 and the size of P₃ relative to M1. Wakaleo oldfieldi exhibits a more plesiomorphic M₃ that retains a well-developed talonid basin in contrast to W. vanderleueri, which has lost this structure. The phyletic succession and geological occurrences of Wakaleo species make this genus an important taxon in biochronological analyses of Australian Cenozoic assemblages. At Riversleigh, W. oldfieldi is found in deposits allocated to Faunal Zone B and Faunal Zone C, which are regarded as early and middle Miocene in age, respectively. The presence of this species in the Kutjamarpu Local Fauna of central Australia suggests that fauna may be of a similar age. Broader faunal correlations have suggested Faunal Zone C correlates with the middle Miocene Bullock Creek Local Fauna, which contains the more derived W. vanderleueri. Based on stage-of-evolution arguments, W. oldfieldi should occur in older deposits than those yielding W. vanderleueri. The presence of both species of Wakaleo in Faunal Zone C assemblages at Riversleigh suggests that current presumptions about the contemporaneity of the many Faunal Zone C Sites should be examined more rigorously.

Anna K. Gillespie [a.gillespie@unsw.edu.au], Michael Archer [m.archer@unsw.edu.au], Suzanne J. Hand [s.hand@unsw.edu.au] and Karen H. Black [k.black@unsw.edu.au] School of Biological Earth and Environmental Science, UNSW 2052, Sydney, Australia. Received 3.1.2014, revised 21.2.2014, accepted 21.3.2014.     

Cranial shape variation and phylogenetic relationships of extinct and extant Old World leaf-nosed bats

Wilson, L.A.B., Hand, S.J., López-Aguirre, C., Archer, M., Black, K.H., Beck, R.M.D., Armstrong, K.N. & Wroe, S., July 2016. Cranial shape variation and phylogenetic relationships of extinct and extant Old World leaf-nosed bats. Alcheringa 40, 509–524. ISSN 0311-5518

The leaf-nosed bats in Hipposideridae and Rhinonycteridae currently have an Old World tropical to subtropical distribution, with a fossil record extending back to the middle Eocene of Europe. The Riversleigh World Heritage fossil site in northwestern Queensland constitutes a particularly rich archive of faunal diversity for Old World leaf-nosed bats, having yielded more than 20 species. We used 2D geometric morphometrics to quantify cranial shape in hipposiderids and rhinonycterids, with the aim of referring unallocated fossil species, particularly from Riversleigh, to each family within a phylogenetic framework, and using a quantitative approach to reconstruct cranial shape for key clades in these Old World radiations. Our sample comprised 21 extant hipposiderids and rhinonycterids, 1 megadermatid and 1 rhinolophid, in which 31 landmarks were placed in lateral and ventral views, and five measurements were taken in dorsal view. The phylogeny used as the framework for this study was based on an analysis of 64 discrete morphological characters from the dentition, cranium and postcranium scored for 42 extant and fossil hipposiderids and rhinonycterids and five outgroup taxa (rhinolophids and megadermatids). The phylogenetic analysis was conducted using maximum parsimony, with relationships among selected extant taxa constrained to match the results of recent comprehensive molecular studies. Our phylogenetic results suggest that the Riversleigh leaf-nosed bats probably do not represent an endemic Australian radiation, with fossil species spread throughout the tree and several with sister-group relationships with non-Australian taxa. Discriminant analyses (DA) conducted separately on each dataset resulted in cross-validated classification success ranging from 61.9% for ventral landmarks to 71.4% for lateral landmarks. Classification of the original grouped cases resulted in success of 81% for each dataset. Of the eight fossil taxa included as unknowns in the DA, six were found to be assigned to the same group as recovered by the phylogenetic analysis. From our results, we assign the Riversleigh Miocene species Archerops annectens, Brachipposideros watsoni, Brevipalatus mcculloughi, Rhinonicteris tedfordi and Xenorhinos halli to Rhinonycteridae, and Riversleigha williamsi and Hipposideros bernardsigei to Hipposideridae. Our results support Pseudorhinolophus bouziguensis, from the early Miocene of Bouzigues in southern France, as belonging to Hipposideridae, and probably Hipposideros. The reconstructed ancestor of hipposiderids was distinguished from that of the rhinonycterids by having a shorter rostrum, and less of a distinction between the rostrum and braincase.

Laura A.B. Wilson [laura.wilson@unsw.edu.au], Suzanne J. Hand [s.hand@unsw.edu.au], Camilo López-Aguirre [c.lopez-aguirre@unsw.edu.au], Michael Archer [m.archer@unsw.edu.au] and Karen H. Black [k.black@unsw.edu.au], PANGEA Research Centre, School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of New South Wales, NSW 2052; Robin M.D. Beck [r.m.d.beck@salford.ac.uk], School of Environmental & Life Sciences, University of Salford, Salford M5 4WT, UK; Kyle N. Armstrong* [kyle.armstrong@adelaide.edu.au], Department of Genetics and Evolution, School of Biological Sciences, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA 5005, Australia. *Also affiliated with South Australian Museum, North Terrace, Adelaide, SA 5000, Australia; Stephen Wroe [swroe@une.edu.au], School of Environmental and Rural Science, University of New England, Armidale NSW 2351, Australia.     

Subsistence continuity,change, and environmental adaptation at the site of Nugljanska,Istria, Croatia

This paper investigates changes in subsistence strategies at the upland cave site of Nugljanska (Croatia) at the end of the last ice age, during a time of rapid sea level rise and changing environment. We analysed the faunal assemblage from archaeological levels spanning the Pleistocene–Holocene transition (15,000–8000 years BP) and evaluated changes in relative abundance of species, measured species diversity, and compared the representation of terrestrial mammal and marine resources. We found a significant shift in the most abundant prey species exploited (from red deer, Cervus, to wild boar, Sus). There was some correlation between dietary diversification and periods of increased moisture availability and the spread of deciduous forest in the area. Our results suggest that there was a continuing reliance on terrestrial resources throughout time and that changes in dietary patterns were likely due to local environmental change and potentially, changing seasonal mobility strategies, at the Pleistocene–Holocene transition.     

Polarized light microscopy casts new light on plants used to make tapa

Information about plant materials of construction in artefacts advances knowledge about human history, agriculture, trade, migration and adaptation to new environments. Typically, materials identification in artefacts made from plants is problematic, since processing, age, dirt and surface treatments can mask identifying features, while ethical considerations relating to sampling limit the use of some analytical techniques. The study tests the usefulness of polarized light microscopy for identifying the New Zealand and Pacific plant species used to make tapa, indicating birefringent and morphological characteristics that can be used to differentiate fibres at the level Moraceae (Pacific; from genera Artocarpus, Broussonetia and Ficus) and Malvaceae (New Zealand; from genera Hoheria and Plangianthus).     

Fearing Food: The Influence of Risk Perceptions on Public Preferences for Uniform and Centralized Risk Regulation

Public opinion features prominently in policy research because it sets bounds on the definition of policy problems and acceptable policy solutions. We contend that public opinion is also important for setting bounds on the level of government at which policy hazards are regulated by shaping preferences for uniformity of regulation and, relatedly, preferences for centralization. We offer a theoretical argument for why risk creates pressures for uniform standards and examine the extent to which preferences for uniformity and centralization are the product of fairly stable individual-level predispositions (e.g. partisanship and ideology) versus more fluid attitudes like perceptions of risk, which vary in response to crises, new information, and issue framing. We test our argument using survey data in the policy domain of food safety and find that individuals who anticipate greater risk from food-borne illness prefer more uniform food safety regulation, which translates into preferences for federal-level policymaking. Our results imply that contextual circumstances and strategic communications that influence risk perceptions can create not only generalized public demand for more regulatory policy but specific demand for uniform, centralized regulation.     

Boundary spanning regimes and public policy change: the convergence of welfare and immigration policies

The concept of boundary spanning regimes has emerged to describe activity across policy subsystems that seek to manage ‘wicked’ public policy problems. This paper examines two existing public policy theories, namely those of exogenous shocks and the Advocacy Coalition Framework theories and assesses their capacity to explain why boundary spanning regimes emerge. It argues that broad structural conditions play an important role in shaping boundary spanning activity in the case studies discussed in this paper, indicating limitations in these theories which tend to overlook such conditions. The paper tests the explanations for policy change through original qualitative analysis of incremental convergence across the welfare and immigration policy fields in Australia from 1947 to 1996.     

King Pedro IV of Aragon, royal propaganda and the tradition of royal speechwriting

In the medieval Crown of Aragon it was customary for the corts to begin with a proposicio or opening speech made by the king. These Aragonese royal speeches were not merely confined to a brief summary of the political situation or a series of points to be considered but were elaborately constructed political sermons, in which affairs of state were portrayed in terms of Christian morality and nationalist pride, with the aid of exempla drawn from the Bible and other religious and classical works. An example is the speech made by Pedro IV ‘the Ceremonious’ of Aragon against the rebellion of the Judge of Arborea in Sardinia. A copy of this speech survives written in the king's own hand which raises the interesting question of whether the kings of Aragon were themselves responsible for the ideas expressed in these speeches and for composing them or whether their efforts were confined to reading out propaganda which was primarily the creation of royal officials.