Red-Hot Sino-Russian Border Trade

IN the late 1990s, the Sino-Russian border in northeastern China which had been so silent for many years got busy in a hurry. In the border city of Suifenhe, with a population of only 40,000, and in Dongning County, with its population of 220,000, trains and vehicles drive by on the rails and the road day and night. The annual volume of goods crossing the border amounts to more than 6.5 million tons and the annual number of passengers passing through exceeds 2 million persons. Suifenhe and Dongning now rank first     

Fisheries Trade and Social Development in the Philippine‐Malaysia Maritime Border Zone

Weakly regulated natural‐resource trading activities in the remote borderlands of developing countries are commonly viewed both as a means of improving economic development and as a way of smuggling valuable natural resources. Based on data from the Philippine‐Malaysia maritime border that focus on the trade in high‐value live reef fish, this article points to the need to situate such cross‐border activities more closely within the context of local perspectives and priorities. A locally‐grounded perspective is necessary in order to understand the context of social‐development challenges that mediate both macroeconomic and environmental policy outcomes.     

欧盟“碳边境”调整机制对中欧贸易的影响及其对策

在中欧贸易关系中,欧盟拟实施的“碳边境”调整机制将对中国碳密集型产业出口产生影响,致使能源密集型产品出口量急剧下滑、产品价格上升、企业成本增加、出口竞争力下降等.为弱化甚至避免碳关税政策对我国经济带来的负面影响,可加大对技术创新的投入,大力开展中国境内碳排放交易体系建设,加强与欧盟在气候变化方面的合作,通过“联合气候行动”应对“单边碳排放定价”等.     

中沙经贸合作现状及前景分析

中沙两国经贸合作虽起步较晚,但互补性较强,发展空间广阔。沙特已成为中国在西亚非洲地区最大的贸易伙伴,中国则是沙特第二大进口国和第四大出口市场。沙特作为中国实施"走出去"发展战略的理想市场之一,也是中方企业开拓海湾市场的主要窗口。当前中沙两国经贸合作的特点是:经贸合作全面、快速发展;贸易互补性强;进出口发展不平衡;相互投资起步较晚。随着两国友好关系的加强和两国国内经济的持续发展,双方的经贸关系也将进入全面发展的新阶段。     

Relationship Between Government Size and Trade Openness: Evidence from Pakistan

In this paper the effect of trade openness on government’s role in the economy is investigated in Pakistan using data for the period 1947–2009. The results demonstrate that there is a significant positive association between trade openness and government size. The explanation appears that as openness increases the size of government will inflate. This association is robust to the inclusion of a wide range of control variables and model specifications. The results support the compensation hypothesis and imply that government consumption plays a risk-reducing role in Pakistan. The empirical findings also highlight the role of other variables in determining the government size. Government size increases with income, democracy, foreign debt and investment, while it decreases with the increase in inflation and urbanization.     

The Relationship Between Corporate Volunteering and Employee Civic Engagement Outside the Workplace in Russia

This paper discusses the relationship between corporate volunteering and civic engagement outside the workplace in Russia, proceeding from a mixed-method approach. The quantitative findings are based on a comparison between employees in 37 Russian companies who participated in corporate volunteering (N = 399) and those who did not (N = 402). Using binary logistic regression analysis, we demonstrate that employee participation in corporate volunteering is positively related to four forms of civic engagement outside the workplace: informal volunteering, formal volunteering, formal monetary donation, and informal monetary donation. In addition, we draw on information obtained from interviews with 10 corporate volunteers, as well as with all 37 company corporate volunteering managers, to develop a general explanation for why corporate volunteering might lead to civic engagement. We identify three primary explanations. First, trust in companies can be converted into increased trust in social institutions. Second, corporate volunteering can expose employees to other realities, thereby leading them to rethink their priorities. Third, corporate volunteering socializes employees to volunteering, thus making them more likely to incorporate volunteering into their personal repertoires of activities. Corporate volunteering appears to be an effective mechanism for stimulating civic engagement and volunteering infrastructure in post-communist countries.     

Economic Integration and Intra-industry Trade Between the European Community and the Western Balkan Countries

The aim of this paper is to examine the relation between trade liberalisation, economic integration and the intensity of intra-industry trade among three countries of different development levels in a Free trade Area context. The theoretical analysis indicates that the benefits of creating a Free Trade Area between the Western Balkan countries and the European Community (EC), following the predictions of the Association and Stabilisation Agreements will be unevenly spread between member-states of the EC and the Western Balkan countries. The second part of this paper examines the actual level of intra-industry trade between the Western Balkan countries and the EC. The level and the trend of intra-industry trade between the two Eastern Balkan countries, Romania and Bulgaria, member-states of the EC since 2007 and which reflect the provisions of Europe Agreements are also investigated.      

The Prison and the Border: An Ethnography of Shifting Border Security Logics

This study examines the ways in which border controls have taken on aspects of crime control. To understand this transformation, I draw on the methods of historical anthropologists who blend ethnographic and historical tools of analysis. The historical research shows that the shift occurred in 1990s, when New Democrats adopted crime politics of the New Right and supported bipartisan policies that restructured detention, deportation, and criminal prosecution. The ethnography documents the ways in which border controls have taken on aspects of internal security and domestic policing, shifts seldom captured in contemporary border security debates.     

The International Migration System Between Turkey and Russia: Project‐Tied Migrant Workers in Moscow

The last 50 years of emigration history in Turkey indicate that the migratory flows of Turkish citizens have consecutively become a part of various migratory systems. In this essay, our main aims are twofold. First, we attempt to document the dynamics and mechanism of project‐tied migration from Turkey to the Russian Federation, focusing in particular on the case of project‐tied workers migrating from Turkey to Moscow. Second, this effort intends to elaborate on the research on migratory systems between Turkey and the former communist countries of Eastern Europe and Central and Northern Asian countries, mainly referring to macro‐, micro‐ and meso‐level factors affecting the relevant migration systems. In this paper, in which we tackle the various migration systems with which Turkey is involved, we conclude by arguing that parallel to the new migration patterns that have been experienced throughout the post‐Soviet geographies, the internalization process of Turkish constructors within the changing dynamics of Turkish foreign policy has widened the direction of the migration flows from Turkey by introducing new migrant worker profiles to different regions. In this sense, short‐term labour migrants, shuttle traders and in particular project‐tied migrant workers show not only the important role that migrants may play in the shift towards a market‐based economy in the Russian Federation, but also how they have become crucial actors of the migration system between Turkey and Russia.     

The Border Town

Pas de deux by Cuicui and TianbaGroup dance with strong local flavor。Pretty and innocent CuicuGirls frOm West HunanThe Border Town     

Repossessing Border Space: Security Practice in North American Border Art

Abstract

This paper discusses how the visual arts engage in representing border crossing experiences and, more specifically, how art interrupts border security practices and their rituals. After introducing the history of North American border art and different approaches to issues of border crossing, the paper will concentrate on specific works. It argues that the selected works of art perform interventions that confront the public with the borderlands as a place of violence and death. At the same time, artists are shown to employ different artistic strategies of symbolically re-possessing the borderlands for undocumented migrants who – when crossing it – experienced it as an existential obstacle.     

Religion and Spirituality at the Border

Abstract

A survey of 88 Mexican-American social work students reflects the growing religious diversity among U.S. Latinos/as. Forty-three percent of the students were non-Catholics, compared to 30–35% non-Catholics in the U.S. Latino/a population. Non-Catholic students in the sample were more likely to attend church frequently, and Catholic students were more likely to have consulted a Curandero/a (traditional healer). There were no differences between Catholics and non-Catholics in frequency of private religious practices such as meditation or prayer. Social work practitioners and educators should recognize religious diversity among Mexican-Americans, seek knowledge about traditional Mexican healing practices, and support Mexican-American clients' self-determination in choosing spiritual resources.     

Corruption,Policing and Migration: Exploring the Interaction Between Migrant Workers and Police in Russia,Ukraine and the UK

The rights of migrant workers and their experiences in host countries have been high on the political agendas of Europe and beyond. This article uses data from 138 semi‐structured interviews conducted with migrant workers in the UK, Russia and Ukraine to study their relationships with the police in host countries. We aim to contribute to the literature on policing and migration by analysing three different host countries, and the experience of temporary migrant workers regarding policing within each country. We suggest that the interplay between the experiences of policing in home and host countries can provide important insights into the practicalities of policing, but should not be considered apart from the context of the ethnic origin of migrant workers.