The internationalization of the Chinese state

In the last decade, responding in part to an important increase in the number of Chinese state-owned enterprises operating overseas, the study of China’s international relations has gained academic prominence. Research often emphasizes the ways in which domestic characteristics of the Chinese state shape the nature of its transnational engagement. However, the transformations experienced by the state in processes of internationalization remain largely under-researched. This article problematizes the internationalization of the Chinese state, analyzing it as a process of gradual re-territorialization, which induces power redistributions and cultural transformations. Using a variety of examples for illustrative purposes, and drawing upon multidisciplinary work on the state, the article argues that the Chinese state is undergoing a process of decentred internationalization that is the effect of an entrepreneurial statehood rationale. Contrary to essentialist and orientalizing meta-narratives, the analysis of shifting cultures and power redistributions within the internationalized state opens up new avenues for academic enquiry on the micro-politics of everyday affairs in international relations.     

The Seasonal Mobility of Prehistoric Gazelle Herds in the Azraq Basin,Jordan: Modelling Alternative Strategies Using Stable Isotopes

The hunting of Gazella subgutturosa was a dominant practice for Epipalaeolithic and early Neolithic hunter–gatherers in the east Jordan steppe. The seasonal mobility of this taxon in the Levant is poorly understood, especially for early prehistory when herd movements would have influenced hunter-gatherer use of the steppes. This paper proposes four patterns of seasonal herd mobility for G. subgutturosa centred on Jordan’s Azraq Basin. The four patterns are modelled using oxygen, carbon and strontium stable isotopes. Seasonal environmental signatures of each are understood through carbon and strontium isotopic variation in sixty modern plant specimens collected from twelve selected locations in north Jordan, published data on oxygen isotopes in local precipitation, and the adaptive behaviour of G. subgutturosa. The integrated isotopic datasets provide clear discriminatory markers for each proposed mobility pattern. Results will be applied in future to isotopic data from archaeological gazelle teeth from the Azraq Basin.     

A game of risk: Boat migration and the business of bordering Europe (Respond to this article at http://www.therai.org.uk/at/debate)

Largely in response to irregular migration flows, a Euro‐African border is under construction at the southern edges of Europe. The latest phase in this ‘borderwork’ is a system known as Eurosur, underpinned by a vision of a streamlined surveillance cover of Europe's southern maritime border and the African ‘pre‐frontier’ beyond it. Eurosur and other policing initiatives pull in a range of sectors – from border guards to aid workers – that make the statistically small figure of the irregular border crosser their joint target. To highlight the economic and productive aspects of controlling migratory flows, I call this varied group of interests an ‘illegality industry’. Casting an eye on the Spanish section of the external EU border, this article investigates how the illegality industry conceptualizes migrants as a source of risk to be managed, visualized and controlled. The end result, it is argued, is a ‘double securitization’ of migrant flows, rendering these as both a security threat and a growing source of profits.     

The limits to China's non-interference foreign policy: pro-state interventionism and the rescaling of economic governance

China's foreign policy has been long committed to a principle of non-interference in the internal affairs of sovereign countries. While one could easily point out past and present-day inconsistencies in its implementation, this article argues that defenders and critics of the principle both rely on a limited interpretation of ‘interference’ or ‘intervention’ based on an ideology of Westphalian sovereignty. Particularly problematic is the conceptual distinction between the ‘political’ or ‘diplomatic’, on the one hand, and the ‘economic’, on the other. As Polanyi's concept of embeddedness reminds us, markets, society and politics occur simultaneously, and can only act as discrete realms in epistemological abstractions. It is thus argued that non-interference is a semi-formal institution that governs China's diplomatic engagements and affects its economic activities. While the totality of China's interactions with the world has diverse and sometimes contradictory impacts on global governance, non-interference itself has apparent consequences for the rescaling of regional economic governance. Specifically, this article contends that Chinese non-interference results in the empowerment of political elites at national levels, and thus in the (re-)emergence of the nation state as a gatekeeper and facilitator of the advancement of capitalist enterprises. As a result, through non-intervention, China's foreign policy undermines supranational regulatory approaches and fosters state-based regional architectures.     

Boerhaave's Furnace. Exploring Early Modern Chemistry through Working Models

This article discusses the (re)construction and use of an Early modern instrument, better known as Herman Boerhaave's (1668–1738) little furnace. We investigate the origins, history and materiality of this furnace, and examine the dynamic relationship between historical study and reconstructing and handling an object. We argue that combining textual analysis with performative methods allows us to gain a better understanding of both the role of lost material culture in historical chemical practice, pedagogy, and knowledge production, and provide a deeper understanding of the embodied experiences and knowledge of historical actors. Having made and used two versions of Boerhaave's furnace, we provide insight in what present-day working models can tell us about historical materials and practices approximately three centuries ago.     

The Most Discreet Favourite: Baltasar de Zúñiga and Early Modern Spanish Statecraft

The historiographical term “the favourite” has proved to be very successful in explaining this figure in many monarchical regimes in Early Modern Europe. However, there is much discussion about the limits of the favourite’s power and the extent to which he shared power with other relevant individuals. Micro-political research on power dynamics in Habsburg Spain leads us to the figure of Baltasar de Zúñiga (1561–1622), the Count-Duke of Olivares’s uncle and eminence grise. The more or less civilised struggle between Olivares and Zúñiga for royal favour provides a relevant case study of power management and its impact on public opinion at the time.     

Effect of SMA Braces in a Steel Frame Building

Pull-back and shaking table test results on a simple model of a three-storey structure that includes shape memory alloys (SMA) copper-based dampers are presented and discussed. The model corresponds to a rigid-framed steel structure and the dampers to austenite CuAlBe wires inserted as bracing at each story. The inclusion of the dissipators in the structure increases the percentage of critical damping from 0.59% for the bare case to 5.95% for the braced system. At the same time, the structural stiffness increases making the first fundamental frequency change from 2.5–3.7 Hz (0.4–0.27s). The net effect of these two factors is a 30–60% reduction of peak relative displacements compared to the ones obtained without dissipation devices when the structure is subjected to earthquake records. Depending on records frequency contents, a reduction of the peak accelerations to near 58% also can be obtained. Additionally, a crude nonlinear analytical model has been studied that can predict the earthquake responses reasonably well.