Global Governance,neoliberalism and national responses: The case of Bangladesh’s ready‐made garment (RMG) sector

This article on the ready‐made garment (RMG) sector of Bangladesh shows how over‐reliance on foreign capital for development financing and deregulated investment—a hallmark of neoliberal economic arrangements—undermines the incorporation of SDGs’ and INGOs’ equity principles, contributing to biased policy responses yielding unequal outcomes. The article cautions that while countries prioritize economic growth over social and environmental nourishment and continue to adopt neoliberal economic policies to promote economic growth, inequity is unavoidable, if not inevitable. Thus, the way forward may be to shift the focus of ‘development’ from the economy to society, to building ‘good societies’ where institutions and strategies, including those that contribute to economic growth, are organized such that these complement not compromise the evolution of such societies.     

农业社会学:经典命题及其延续

作为一门新兴学科,农业社会学近年来在中国呈现出良好的发展势头。一门学科的发展,需要通过不断的知识积累和经验研究进行一砖一瓦的建设,其中理论建设尤其重要。同其他社会科学一样,经典文本在农业社会学的理论建设中具有核心位置。 本专题选取了三个(对)农业社会学中的经典命题:农业的生产时间与劳动时间、农业技术变迁中的占取主义与替代主义,以及技术采用中的“农业跑步机理论冶。按照时代背景、原典阐释、学术延续以及启发意义的思路撰写,尝试为农业社会学的入门者提供一种理论梳理的路径。     

对冲与制衡:日本“印太战略”的地缘政治逻辑与制约因素

日本“印太战略”是依据日本在当前国际格局中的地位和地缘政治现实制定的,目的是对冲和制衡中国在印太地区影响的扩展,以维护当前有利于日本的国际秩序,进而实现维护日本的国家利益。日本“印太战略”在政治和安全领域主要依托“四国安全对话机制”,以构建地区同盟架构的方式,逐步实现日本的地缘战略。这既是当前东亚地缘政治的现实,也是日本作为海洋型国家的战略选择。但是,由于合作国家的战略偏好和地缘利益的差异以及中国周边外交的成功实施,特别是国际格局演变的趋势,从不同的层面制约日本“印太战略”的实施。日本“印太战略”是一项综合性战略,是对中国“一带一路”倡议的针对性措施,对中国地区利益的影响较为广泛,中国应从战略上予以重视。     

论新媒体冲击下纸媒的生存与发展——以报纸为例

互联网的发展、智能手机的普及使传统的传媒环境和格局发生了翻天覆地的变化。新媒体的崛起与壮大给以纸媒为代表的传统媒体带来了前所未有的冲击，但不可否认的是，纸媒自身依然有不可替代的优势。本文主要以报纸为例，从纸媒传播内容的深度和可信度、纸媒对于受众文化素质的要求以及纸媒的表现形式、和受众的互动等方面的特点入手，分析在新媒体的冲击下纸媒所面临的生存现状，并且在此基础上指出将来纸媒应该如何利用新媒体的技术来促进自身的发展，更好地实现新媒体与传统媒体的融合。     

Promoting sustainable development through civil society: A case study of the EU’s NSA/LA thematic programme in Kyrgyzstan

The article focuses on the contribution of the European Union (EU) in promoting sustainable development through the involvement of civil society in partner countries. More specifically, it analyses the main features and outcomes of the projects implemented by civil society organizations (CSOs) in Kyrgyzstan under the EU thematic programme Non‐State Actors and Local Authorities in Development (NSA/LA). Despite its importance—this is the only EU programme providing direct support to non‐state actors and local authorities engaged in poverty reduction—to date, there has been very little research on the functioning of this instrument on the ground. This article seeks to fill this gap in the literature by examining the EU’s contribution to sustainable development through a case study on Kyrgyzstan. The study is based on primary data: 10 semi‐structured interviews conducted with the EU‐funded organizations implementing the NSA/LA programme. The NSA/LA projects were analysed by considering two major fields of engagement of non‐state actors in the development process: as service providers and as advocates (Banks & Hulme, 2012). Overall, the organizations awarded EU support were not only focused on fulfilling short‐term needs but also sought to introduce new ways of dealing with poverty and inequality, positioning themselves between the “Big‐D” and the “little‐d” approaches to development (Bebbington, Hickey, & Mitlin, 2008). Nonetheless, the EU‐funded projects were too limited and fragmented to be able to sustain long‐term structural change. Therefore, the EU should place new emphasis on creating synergies between new and old structures at the grassroots level and establishing mechanisms and bodies that could merge and co‐ordinate their efforts. In addition, the calls for proposals could highlight the need to share the lessons learnt by “obliging” the beneficiaries to act as multipliers and to pass on their positive experience to neighbouring communities. Finally, the EU could stimulate the funded organizations to experiment with innovative mechanisms of involvement in the policy‐making process, by making this aspect a mandatory requirement of the projects implemented with its support.     

A qualitative study on participants’ perceptions of child development accounts in Korea

ABSTRACT

In 2007, Korea implemented Child Development Accounts (CDAs) for institutionalised children in child welfare systems. Since then, the target group and a matching cap of CDAs in Korea have evolved. The target group expanded to include poor children receiving welfare, whereas the matching cap increased from KRW 30,000 (US$26.53) to KRW 40,000 (US$35.38), which is matched at a 1:1 rate. Despite the expansion, there is little empirical evidence examining the extent to which CDAs have influenced the life of participants. Using a content analysis method with a sample (N = 22), this study examines how CDAs have changed children’s mindsets, saving habits, education, future planning and sponsorship. The findings suggest that CDAs have multiple positive influences on children. This study concludes with policy implications for the inclusive and progressive development of CDAs in Korea.     

The dual-continuum approach: An extension of the contingency theory of strategic conflict management

This article examines the limitations of using a single advocacy-accommodation continuum when depicting organizational stance and movement in conflict situations (Cancel et al., 1997). The authors argue that advocacy and accommodation can vary independently in response to a variety of contingent factors. To comprehensively capture the locations and motions that are possible in organization-public conflicts, a two-continuum approach is proposed. Separate assessment of the effects of contingency variables on advocacy and accommodation can be used to accurately locate organizational stance along advocacy and accommodation continua. Strategic alternatives that cannot be depicted using a single continuum (such as favorable alignment of organization advocacy/public accommodation or unilateral change on the part of one party) can be captured if separate continua are employed. By depicting initial stances and desired directions of movement for both the organization and public, the dual-continuum approach can also provide practical guidance to public relations professionals in selecting strategies for achieving preferred outcomes and evaluating their effectiveness.     

茂名海洋可持续开发法律问题研究

《广东茂名滨海新区总体规划》的通过，标志着寄托茂名未来梦想的滨海新区的建设蓝图已然绘就。茂名滨海新区建设过程中，海洋资源处于核心地位。海洋资源的可持续开发将是茂名打造未来世界级石化产业基地的保障。海洋资源的可持续开发利用离不开政策与法律的维系与支持。文章重点分析了茂名滨海新区海洋资源可持续开发过程存在的法律问题及其法律对策。     

Planning an integrated agriculture and health program and designing its evaluation: Experience from Western Kenya

Multi-sectoral programs that involve stakeholders in agriculture, nutrition and health care are essential for responding to nutrition problems such as vitamin A deficiency among pregnant and lactating women and their infants in many poor areas of lower income countries. Yet planning such multi-sectoral programs and designing appropriate evaluations, to respond to different disciplinary cultures of evidence, remain a challenge. We describe the context, program development process, and evaluation design of the Mama SASHA project (Sweetpotato Action for Security and Health in Africa) which promoted production and consumption of a bio-fortified, orange-fleshed sweetpotato (OFSP). In planning the program we drew upon information from needs assessments, stakeholder consultations, and a first round of the implementation evaluation of a pilot project. The multi-disciplinary team worked with partner organizations to develop a program theory of change and an impact pathway which identified aspects of the program that would be monitored and established evaluation methods. Responding to the growing demand for greater rigour in impact evaluations, we carried out quasi-experimental allocation by health facility catchment area, repeat village surveys for assessment of change in intervention and control areas, and longitudinal tracking of individual mother-child pairs. Mid-course corrections in program implementation were informed by program monitoring, regular feedback from implementers and partners’ meetings. To assess economic efficiency and provide evidence for scaling we collected data on resources used and project expenses. Managing the multi-sectoral program and the mixed methods evaluation involved bargaining and trade-offs that were deemed essential to respond to the array of stakeholders, program funders and disciplines involved.     

我国医院经济未来发展问题研究

医院建设和发展的实践充分证明，作为管理经济不可缺少的资本积累，已越来越被人们所重视，这也是未来我国医院发展迫切的一种经济活动方式。