China's Emergence and Impact on Technology in East Asia: The Case of Machinebuilding

Two Taiwan-based economists estimate the technology content of exports by the machinebuilding industry of the East Asia region during 2004-2008, using comparative analysis to clarify changes in the relative competitiveness of four East Asian nations (China, Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan) accompanying the formation of a regional trading bloc and production networks. In particular, they examine the technology content of these countries' machinebuilding sub-industries' exports within the Southeast Asian market (documenting the rise of the machinebuilding industry in China) as well as the penetration of Japanese, South Korean, and Taiwanese sub-industries into China's market. The results point to areas of emerging competition among China, South Korea, Japan, and Taiwan for East Asian markets, which can only be expected to intensify in the future. Journal of Economic Literature, Classification Numbers: F14, F15, F36, O14, P23. 7 tables, 36 references.     

Emerging Chinese Role in Shaping St. Petersburg's Urban Landscape: Interscalar Investment Strategies in the Development of a Residential Megaproject

The paper, by an American geographer, discusses the origin and development of a Chinese-financed residential megaproject (Baltic Pearl) located southwest of St. Petersburg's historical district. Viewing Baltic Pearl as reportedly the largest investment project undertaken outside China by a government-sponsored Chinese consortium, the author places it in the context of state-level Sino-Russian relations and Russian unease over the influx of Chinese migrants and culture. Reflecting the author's extensive field work in St. Petersburg and Shanghai, the focus of the paper is on the way the consortium was forced to adopt interscalar (i.e., both state and municipal/urban) strategies responsive to local conditions, providing a potentially useful precedent and model for Chinese and other investors seeking to penetrate Russia's urban markets.     

The Transportation Sector of India's Economy: Dry Ports as Catalysts for Regional Development

Two East Asian specialists review the development of dry ports in India as part of a broader national program to eliminate transportation bottlenecks, improve transport efficiency, and spur the economic development of interior regions by lowering road and rail freight tariffs, and thus decreasing the costs of imports (and making exports more competitive). A key focus is on comparing the relative efficiency of public- versus private-sector operation of dry ports, and on examining the effects on dry port efficiency of current Indian Government policy. The authors test two hypotheses relating to the efficiency of port operations using information derived from their field study/interviews at 28 dry ports in Northwest India (reflecting three different types of ownership/operation combinations) as well as quantitative data measuring port efficiency.     

Going It Alone: Belarus as the Non-European European State

In the second paper of a symposium devoted to the contemporary status of Belarus, a noted American specialist on the electoral geography of the states of the former Soviet Union challenges assertions in the preceding article (Ioffe and Yarashevich, 2011) that only Russia and Ukraine are valid comparators against which to gauge the success of the Lukashenka model. Expanding the scope of comparison to include the three other countries neighboring Belarus (Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland), he demonstrates that a broader range of policy changes can be considered by its leadership in efforts to limit damage from the economic crisis in Belarus and position the country for renewed growth within a global economic frame-work. Examination of a wide range of social and economic indicators and government policies reveals, however, that in many ways an unreformed Belarus is poorly positioned for competition in an increasingly interconnected world, in which the elements for successful development are quite different from those providing economic stability in the past. A closing section of the paper revisits the debate on whether most Belarusian citizens actually aspire to a more "European" way of life or instead prefer the "Eastern" alignment and reliance on a Russian benefactor whose own economic future looks increasingly uncertain.     

Is Archaeology Developmental?

Archéologie et développement semblent deux notions fort éloignées l'une de l'autre. La première évoque une recherche fondamentale, pure alors que la deuxième parle de santé, économie, éducation, agriculture, pêche, équipement, transports, communications, etc. . . Et pourtant elles se rejoignent dans le bien-être aussi bien matériel que culturel qu'elles sont supposées apporter aux peuples auxquels elles s'adressent. En effet, si elles introduisent, importent des connaissances, des savoirs des techniques et des machines permettant de mieux maîtriser le monde, nourrir et élever les peuples, ces connaissances interfèrent avec la façon dont ceux-ci vivent et ceci depuis longtemps, la façon dont ceux-ci pensent leurs vies et le monde: philosophies, religions, histoires et coutumes dont on pense se débarrasser en les considérant fausses ou irrationnelles. Ainsi apprend-on que laTerre est ronde et tourne autour du soleil, que nous sommes faits de particules, et qu'il faut s'incliner devant les lois de l'évolution. La Science nous a appris et nous apprend toujours la Vérité sur le monde qui nous entoure bien qu'elle ait donné les moyens intellectuels et matériels aux plus grands massacres que l'Histoire ait connus et bien qu'il ne se passe pas de mois sans catastrophes climatiques, industrielles, politiques ou culturelles ou sans sinistres prévisions, comme le nivellement du mondialisme! Ainsi un des problèmes centraux du développement, illustré ici par une réflexion historico-archéologique, réside dans le dialogue (ou son absence) entre ces deux domaines de connaissance: le scientifique, le moderne et l'autochtone, l'ethnique, le non-moderne. Si l'on veut que ce développement concerne la majorité de chaque peuple impliqué, il est de la plus haute importance de s'interroger sur les modalités des échanges et choix de savoirs, leur équilibre et les raisons profondes des désaccords planétaires à ce sujet. Sous cette condition, le Développement deviendra vraiment démocratique.Archaeology and development seem widely separated notions. The former evokes fundamental pure research whereas the latter talks about health, economics, education, agriculture, fishery, equipment, transports, communications, and so on. Nevertheless both focus on the well-being as well material as cultural which they are supposed to bring to people. In fact if they input and import knowledge, technologies and machineries allowing a better mastering of the world, together with feeding and educating people, both development and archaeology interfere with the ways in which people live and many of the things they believe: philosophies, religions, histories, and customs that become defined as false or irrational. Thus we are taught that the Earth is round and revolves around the sun, that we are made of particles, and that we have to bow in front of the laws of evolution. Science taught us Truth and still does, a truth that provided the intellectual and material means for the worst massacres of history. Thus one of the central problems of development, herein illustrated by a historico-archaeological reflection, lies in dialogue (or its absence) between these two knowledge domains: the scientific, modern and the autochtonous, ethnic, nonmodern. If development projects are to benefit all, it is of the utmost importance to wonder about the exchanges and choices of knowledge, their balance, and the deep meanings of globalization. Under such conditions, development will become really democratic.     

社会史:新的史学范式与新的通史观念--评赵世瑜著《狂欢与日常--明清以来的庙会与民间社会》

赵世瑜教授是当代中国社会史研究的积极倡导者和实践者之一,所著《狂欢与日常——明清以来的庙会与民间社会》一书,探讨了当代中国社会史研究力图形成的新的历史解释思路、新的通史意识及其发展态势与存在的问题。     

构建中国特色、中国风格和中国气派的中国口述史学--关于口述史料与口述史学的若干问题

口述史料主要指经过口传或为后人记录成为史料的民间传说、社会歌谣、历史人物讲话、录音录像以及访问调查的原始资料,对这些资料的发掘和整理被称作口述史学.在西方,现代意义上的口述史学建立于20世纪30～40年代前后,与这些国家相比我国至今仍充其量只有一些口述史的实践,其发展受到多方面的限制.建议成立有关组织,召开研讨会,构建相关规范,制定相关规划,形成和发展中国特色、中国风格和中国气派的口述史学.     

论中国社会主义市场经济发展的六个阶段

社会主义市场经济在中国相继经历了萌芽、受挫、恢复探索、理论形成、体制建立、完善成熟等六个发展阶段。中国共产党在1956年完成三大改造之后就开始了这一探索过程,毛泽东等第一代领导集体对社会主义市场经济的探索是中国社会主义市场经济的萌芽阶段,所取得的成果是邓小平经济理论的源头和起点;从“计划经济为主,市场调节为辅”到尝试“计划与市场内在统一”的社会主义有计划商品经济体制,再到建立适应社会主义有计划商品经济发展的、计划经济和市场调节相结合直到社会主义市场经济的经济体制和运行机制,中国共产党对社会主义市场经济的认识日益深化,我国经济体制改革在理论和实践上取得重大突破和进展。中国社会主义市场经济的发展过程,说明了市场经济是人类文明的重要成果,是经济发展不可逾越的客观规律。     

南非白人政权的“分别发展”图谋和“黑人家园”的设立

20世纪60年代“班图斯坦”（黑人家园）的设立,是南非现代史上的一个重大事件。白人政权不遗余力地积极推行这一“创举”,在南非国内和国际上都引起了强烈的反响。“黑人家园”的设立可谓“意味深长”,它是种族主义的极端体现,在政治上“让步”的背后,是精心设计的经济上“分别发展”计划的实施。     

Jumping Fish: Engendering Contestation and Development on the Waterways of the Aramia River in Papua New Guinea

ABSTRACT Set in the Aramia River basin, this article explores the intimate and interactive relationship between communities in Western Province, Papua New Guinea, and the water that dominates the environment in which they live. Located amongst tidal rivers, creeks and lagoons, Gogodala villages sit high on ‘islands’ of land. In this environment, water is the site of seasonal change and the space of movement. The Aramia River is synonymous with an ancestral figure called Sawiya who travelled in her canoe, naming, creating and populating the water and land of the area. As the ‘mother of all fish’, Sawiya controls the movement and abundance of fish and other aquatic resources. Water is embodied in Sawiya, whose capacities to both nourish and punish are the basis of seasonal variations in fish, and in the colour and clarity of water in the local lagoons and rivers. Set against the backdrop of the Ok Tedi Mine and recent logging operations on the Aramia, the article explores some of the ways in which water and its resources are defined and experienced in this rural community and the impact this may have on the exploitation and development of natural resources in PNG.