Regional agency and constitution of new paths: a study of agency in early formation of new paths on the west coast of Norway

ABSTRACT

This article analyses regional agency in the early phases of new path constitution. We argue that the early stages of new path constitution can be explained by both structural factors and the strong presence of agency. With a specific focus on agency, this article contributes to the literature by providing a study of the role of agency at different stages of path constitution. The study shows that two types of agency operate together. Public policy agency is carried out through a common thrust for policy tools that can enhance the room to manoeuvre together. In addition, strong entrepreneurial agency functions as a locomotive for other firms which are important trigger points, and pushes the process forward. These two forms of agency need to be interrelated to constitute new paths.     

也说师■鼎铭的“困(韋東)伯太师武”

师■鼎铭"困伯太师武"一句的"困(韋東)"二字,原文写法非常奇怪。裘锡圭先生释为"東(韋東)",读为"范围",认为是遵循、效法之意。本文同意把后一字释为"(韋東)",但把前一字改释为"困"。"困(韋東)"也是遵循、效法的意思。     

1932年《铁道法》形成的历史路径及其实施阻力

1932年中国历史上第一部铁路基本法——《铁道法》正式颁布。《铁道法》的诞生,既迎合了近代国人对铁路国有化的产业发展路径,也符合了铁路法制由简至繁、由缺至全的演进路径。《铁道法》是国民政府推行铁路产业政策的根本性立法,但在实施过程中受到了阻力,在不断的外耗与内耗中效力有限。     

Theology and the Origins of Conflict

Abstract

War has its origins in the clash of socially-constructed identities, interests, and norms of behavior of states and armed nonstate actors. This essay examines the economic, political, and cultural factors that contributed to the construction of such identities, interests, and norms during the Shining Path insurgency and the Peruvian government’s response in the years from 1980 to 2000. Drawing on the three levels of liberation outlined by Peruvian theologian Gustavo Gutiérrez, the essay then describes how theology enriches without replacing socio-political and cultural explanations of the Peruvian conflict. The practices that formed both the Shining Path and the government’s response to it can be described as social sin, whereas the Catholic Church in Peru’s commitment to truth and the creation of community solidarity became practices that, by imitating the self-giving love of Christ, helped overcome violence and build peace.     

废甲编区:清初衡山县里甲赋役改革与基层区划的重塑

清初,迭遭兵燹的湖南地区经历了兴垦、均编粮里、清丈等重建赋役秩序的过程。其中,衡山县于康熙四十三年实施的"废甲编区"更是呈现出清初里甲赋役改革的丰富面相。因应偏沅巡抚赵申乔革除里排、滚单催征的举措,衡山县打破原有里甲规制的束缚,改革中坚持粮不过区、就地编区的原则,孕育了字区的地缘性色彩,重塑十七字四百三十七区的赋役区划体系。以康熙五十三年新一轮的清丈为契机,知县葛亮臣在业已建立的区划结构内清查荒籍,使字区成为地方重要的赋役征派和土地登记单位。在这一区域变迁的历史过程中,字区的行政区划功能逐渐得到强化和延续,以赋役征派为目的建立起来的基层赋役区划向实体化与政区化迈进,与之相应的行政话语也深刻地影响着民间契约文本的表达。     

从骆谷道到佛坪厅——秦岭深处的天与人

秦岭山高谷深阻碍南北交通,古人为穿越茫茫秦岭,开拓了多条道路。环太白山南麓的骆谷道即以南山捷径、险象环生而闻名。随着人类活动范围的扩大、林木采伐区域的推进,自明中后期,骆谷道已衍生出多条路径,依山就食者众多。清乾隆中后期,流民涌入南山老林,以刀耕火种、砍伐林木维生。清廷于此地设立佛坪厅,将厅城建在骆谷道中段之佛爷坪,以发挥安抚流民、剿灭匪患、控制要道、稳定边防的作用。但资源消耗型的生产、生活方式,对自然资源无尽索取,最终导致水土流失、灾害频发的生态危局,佛坪迅速衰落。加之匪患频仍,在生态、生存双重危机下,最终导致县治迁移。     

A Hierarchy of Geographies: A Skinnerian Model of Indochina’s Overseas Chinese Congrégations and Their Influence on French Colonialism

In Indochina, overseas Chinese were organized by dialect group into associations called congregations, which shared many of the functions of huiguan in China. The spread of overseas Chinese economic and social networks followed a Skinnerian model in which large urban con?régations wielded more political and economic authority than did smaller, rural con?régations. By examining the impacts of French colonialism upon overseas Chinese networks within Indochina and upon overseas connections with their Chinese native places, this paper proposes that the Skinnerian model of local-system hierarchy fits quite comfortably when applied to the world of French colonial Indochina and its overseas Chinese. Furthermore, it argues that French colonialism actually reinforced the Skinnerian hierarchy of politics and markets in ways that endured long after the collapse of Imperial China.     

Entrepreneurial industry structures and financial institutions as agents for path dependence in Southwest Norway: the role of the macroeconomic environment

ABSTRACT

Guided by an evolutionary perspective, we study how macroeconomic shifts as an exogenous factor contribute to the endogenous roles of financial institutions and the entrepreneurial industry structure as indicators for path extension or diversification in Southwest Norway. Path extension implies that new firm formation reproduces itself with limited variation. Path diversification implies a departure from existing paths, in that entrepreneurial activities expand into unrelated or related industries. Between 1992 and 1998, we observe a departure from path extension and an increase in entrepreneurial path diversification into unrelated industries, but this trend declines in the following years. The increase and decline are stronger for Southwest Norway than for the rest of the country. Throughout the whole period of observation (1992–2011), we observe a steady decline in path diversification into related industries. Thus, Southwest Norway, and the country as a whole, experiences an extension of an industry structure that increasingly reproduces itself, which implies stronger path dependence and decreasing diversification of related and unrelated entrepreneurial activity. Financial institutions mostly reinforce path extension, even in periods when abundant capital is available, but to some degree, they also induce related path diversification.     

Reconsidering path creation in economic geography: aspects of agency,temporality and methods

The emergence of new industrial development paths is an important topic in economic geography. However, current perspectives emphasizing the constraining forces of historical trajectories on innovation and change have shortcomings in accounting for how and where new industries arise. This article argues that more attention needs to be paid to agency, and that agency must be seen as inter-temporal in the sense that actors’ activities and strategies are framed by combinations of experiences and expectations. As such, the article combines insights from economic geography, transitions studies and the sociology of expectations (SoE) literature to expand extant theory on path creation. A brief analysis of the emerging Norwegian offshore wind power (OWP) sector serves to illustrate how experience (the past) and different types of expectations (the future) have tangible effects on agency, and in effect on path creation processes. These insights have methodological implications, essentially favouring qualitative approaches over quantitative ones to understand formative phases in industrial development.     

Russian Physicians in Harbin (1920-32)

This study analyzes medical practitioners’ adaptation to a dynamic cultural and political scene and examines the impact of medical refugees on a local community. In the early 1920s, there was an influential Russian medical community in Harbin that established medical societies and medical schools. The organization of medical societies was a part of the active formation of a professional community and represented a thoughtful measure for countering the control of Chinese officials. The high degree of cooperation between Russian and Chinese medical personnel in the medical-sanitary department of the Chinese Eastern Railway and in Harbin municipal medical facilities was a part of Harbin physicians’ activities.