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Research Collection School of Social Sciences

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Full-Text Articles in International and Area Studies

Improving The Effectiveness Of Sanctions: A Checklist For The Eu, Anthonius W. De Vries, Clara Portela, Borja Guijarro-Usobiaga Nov 2014

Improving The Effectiveness Of Sanctions: A Checklist For The Eu, Anthonius W. De Vries, Clara Portela, Borja Guijarro-Usobiaga

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

The increasingly frequent imposition of sanctions by the EU over the past decade has notbeen accompanied by a thorough pre-assessment and contingency planning stage, which hasled to the formulation of suboptimal sanctions regimes. This paper argues for establishing apre-assessment and contingency planning of sanctions, departing from the ‘ad hoc-ism’ ofcurrent decision-making on sanctions. To this end, it proposes the development of a‘checklist’ composed of key questions that need to be tackled to optimise the design ofsanctions. These questions include the identification of resources linked to the objectionablepolicies; the leverage of the EU; the costs to the EU; the legality of …


Citizen Ai: Warrior, Jester And Middleman, William A. Callahan Nov 2014

Citizen Ai: Warrior, Jester And Middleman, William A. Callahan

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Ai Weiwei is famous for crossing boundaries, especially the boundary between art and politics. To appreciate the often contradictory nature ofAis work, this essay employs multiple narratives: " Ai the Heroic Warrior" who cńticizes the Chinese government; " Ai the Court Jester " who plays with the Chinese state and Western media; and "Ai the Middleman " who acts as a broker between China and the West, between young and old people, and between civil society and the state in the PRC. The essay concludes that afourth narrative can bńng together these three stones in a multicoded understanding ofAis work: …


Difference And The Establishment: An Asian Canadian Senior Pastor's Evangelical Spatiality At Tenth Avenue Alliance Church In Vancouver, Bc, Justin K. H. Tse Nov 2014

Difference And The Establishment: An Asian Canadian Senior Pastor's Evangelical Spatiality At Tenth Avenue Alliance Church In Vancouver, Bc, Justin K. H. Tse

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

This paper explores how the evangelical spatiality of an Asian Canadian senior pastor at a historically Anglo-Saxon congregation has transformed it from an ethnically homogeneous, aging church to a heterogeneously-constituted gathering in an evangelical Protestant tradition. This piece challenges the conventional wisdom of the church growth movement and the new religious economics in the sociology of religion, both of which advise religious groups to construct homogeneity and consensus in efforts for numerical growth over against secularizing forces. The paper argues instead that Pastor Ken Shigematsu’s evangelical spatiality from the mid-1990s to the present must be understood as a theological embrace …


Can American Christians Care About Hong Kong’S Umbrella Movement?, Justin Kh Tse Nov 2014

Can American Christians Care About Hong Kong’S Umbrella Movement?, Justin Kh Tse

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

It’s a delicate task to write about how American Christians, especially evangelicals, can care about Hong Kong’s Umbrella Movement.


Has The Cold War Returned To East Asia?, James T. H. Tang Oct 2014

Has The Cold War Returned To East Asia?, James T. H. Tang

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

The rise of a non-democratic China as the world ‘s second largest economy, still officially subscribing to Communism or ‘Socialism with Chinese characteristics’ as its ideology1, has raised the spectre of the return of the Cold War to Asia with the United States and China on opposing sides, with China backed by Russia, its former Cold War ally. But to what extent are there historical parallels between the Cold War and the current East Asian international relations system?


Results From The Perception And Attitudes Towards Ageing And Seniors Survey (2013/2014), Mathew Mathews, Paulin Tay Straughan Oct 2014

Results From The Perception And Attitudes Towards Ageing And Seniors Survey (2013/2014), Mathew Mathews, Paulin Tay Straughan

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

While discussions on ageing previously centred on dependency ratios and healthcare infrastructure, there has been a growing attention to the other aspects of growing old, such as its social and emotional dimensions. There has also been a move in recent years to rethink the construct of ageing an frame it in a more positive way.In this paper we document some of the results derived from the Perception and Attitudes towards Ageing and Seniors (PATAS) survey completed in early 2014. These results delve into respondents’ beliefs about achieving successful ageing — what it constitutes how it can be achieved and respondents’ …


The Domino Logic Of The Darkest Moment: The Fall Of Singapore, The Atlantic Echo Chamber, And 'Chinese Penetration' In Us Cold War Policy Toward Southeast Asia, Wen-Qing Ngoei Sep 2014

The Domino Logic Of The Darkest Moment: The Fall Of Singapore, The Atlantic Echo Chamber, And 'Chinese Penetration' In Us Cold War Policy Toward Southeast Asia, Wen-Qing Ngoei

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

This essay argues that Anglo-American memories of Japan's victory in Singapore in 1942, which British Prime Minister Winston Churchill labeled Britain's "darkest moment" in World War II, soon would underpin the domino logic within US Cold War strategy. For both American and British policymakers, Japan's war machine had fused together in interconnected insecurity the bastions of Euro-American colonial power. In Southeast Asia, it had imposed the condition that one state's vulnerabilities impinged upon the stability of its neighbor. This vision of Southeast Asia's interconnected insecurity was central to the domino logic within US Cold War policy. US policymakers' preoccupation with …


Palm Oil-Based Biofuels And Sustainability In Southeast Asia: A Review Of Indonesia, Malaysia, And Thailand, Ishani Mukherjee, Benjamin K. Sovacool Sep 2014

Palm Oil-Based Biofuels And Sustainability In Southeast Asia: A Review Of Indonesia, Malaysia, And Thailand, Ishani Mukherjee, Benjamin K. Sovacool

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

By extensively reviewing the current state of knowledge, this paper explores the sustainability implications of palm oil biodiesel in Southeast Asia, with a focus on Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand. Both ecological and environmental vitality as well as socio-economic equity are emphasized in the authors' exploration of sustainability in the three country cases. The article observes that the main environmental sustainability considerations of palm oil biodiesel include its capacity to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, its carbon debt and its repercussions on forestry, biodiversity, and soil and water quality. Issues surrounding socio-economic sustainability encompass how palm oil biodiesel affects food security in …


The Worship Of Semar: A Claim To "Jus Primordialis", Margaret Chan Aug 2014

The Worship Of Semar: A Claim To "Jus Primordialis", Margaret Chan

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

An ethnography of Paguyuban Cahya Buwana (PCB, The Community of the Light of the Universe) at Gunong Srandil, Central Java, a group dedicated to the worship of Semar. The study reveals how a community of Chinese in Central Java has moved beyond limiting ethnic notions such as Peranakan (Chinese born in Indonesia and adopting Indonesian language) and Totok (“newly-arrived” and retaining the Chinese language) to become entirely Javanese through entry into Kejawen (“Javanism”). This entry has been effected through their worship of Semar who has been described as the “father” of the Javanese.


Appealing To The Masses Understanding Ethnic Politics And Elections In Indonesia (Doctoral Dissertation), Colm A. Fox Aug 2014

Appealing To The Masses Understanding Ethnic Politics And Elections In Indonesia (Doctoral Dissertation), Colm A. Fox

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

The mobilization of ethnic groups during elections is seen by many as one of the greatest threats to democracy in ethnically diverse societies. Two important questions are: Why does ethnicity become politicized in some elections, but not in others? and Why do particular ethnic categories become politicized, while others do not? Two arguments in the literature offer explanations. The first argument posits that groups are mobilized along ethnic lines when voters have strong emotional allegiances to their ethnic group; in effect, the ethnic politicization of elections is viewed as a reflection of societal ethnic cleavages. A second argument focuses on …


How To Boost Spain’S Business Presence In Singapore: Opportunities In The Wake Of The Free Trade Agreement With The Eu, Maria Garcia, Clara Portela Aug 2014

How To Boost Spain’S Business Presence In Singapore: Opportunities In The Wake Of The Free Trade Agreement With The Eu, Maria Garcia, Clara Portela

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

The recently signed Free Trade Agreement between the EU and Singapore opens up new business opportunities for Spanish companies on the island, which is already Spain’s top trading partner in South-East Asia. One highlight of the accord is the elimination of restrictions on the percentage of foreign investment in financial services and sectors such telecommunications, engineering and shipping. At the same time, the possibility of being able to bid on more government contracts can help companies involved in environmental protection and construction firms. The food industry will benefit from the novel creation of a registry of geographical indications.


Unpacking East-West Differences In The Extent Of Self-Enhancement From The Perspective Of Face Versus Dignity Cultures, Hae In Lee, Angela K. Y. Leung, Young-Hoon Kim Jul 2014

Unpacking East-West Differences In The Extent Of Self-Enhancement From The Perspective Of Face Versus Dignity Cultures, Hae In Lee, Angela K. Y. Leung, Young-Hoon Kim

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

The question of whether or not the need for self-enhancement is culturally universal has been a controversial issue in cultural psychology. Though there have been numerous studies arguing that East Asians also have the need for self-enhancement, the controversy remained. We contend that the field is ready to see a cohesive theory that integrates and explains when and why East Asians do and do not manifest their need for self-enhancement. In this paper, we provide the theoretical logics of and rationales behind face and dignity cultures as the new theoretical proxies that integrate and explain East Asians' self-enhancing behaviors, supplementing …


Competing Logics Of Commemoration: Cosmopolitanism And Nationalism In East Asia's History Problem, Hiro Saito, Yoko Wang Jun 2014

Competing Logics Of Commemoration: Cosmopolitanism And Nationalism In East Asia's History Problem, Hiro Saito, Yoko Wang

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Recent studies in collective memory point to the emergence of cosmopolitan commemoration that takes humanity, rather than nationality, as a primary frame of reference. But these studies have yet to specify how cosmopolitan commemoration emerges and articulates with existing nationalist commemoration. To solve this problem, we examine the “history problem” between Japan and South Korea by focusing on how relevant political and civic actors negotiated cosmopolitanism and nationalism in commemorating Japan’s past colonial rule and wartime atrocities. In light of our historical analysis, we argue that a synthesis of theories of institutional logics and social movements is useful in illuminating …


The New Capitalism: Asia And The Future Of Business, Government, And Society, Ann Florini, Bindu Sharma May 2014

The New Capitalism: Asia And The Future Of Business, Government, And Society, Ann Florini, Bindu Sharma

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

To have a conversation, the appropriate language is needed. The language is just starting to emerge in both Asia and the West for one of the most important conversations the world is now having—the discussion about the future of business and capitalism. Thailand’s King Bhumibol refers to the sufficiency economy. Harvard’s Michael Porter speaks of shared value. Ellen MacArthur’s eponymous foundation supports the transition to the circular economy. John Elkington proposes breakthrough capitalism. Bhutan’s call to measure progress by gross national happiness (GNH), rather than the narrow metric of gross domestic product (GDP), is now attracting attention around the globe. …


South Africa And Abusive Regimes At The Un Human Rights Council, Eduard Jordaan Apr 2014

South Africa And Abusive Regimes At The Un Human Rights Council, Eduard Jordaan

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

There is some dispute over the extent to which South Africa has become a defender of regimes that abuse human rights. This article sheds further light on this question by focusing on South Africa's positions during the UN Human Rights Council's engagement with human rights problems in six countries: Democratic Republic of Congo, Israel, North Korea, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, and Sudan. In five of the six chosen cases. South Africa's attitude ranged from reluctant to obstructive of efforts to defend human rights. In only one case-Israel-was South Africa willing to bring to bear the full weight of the council's power. …


Review: The Color Of Success: Asian Americans And The Origins Of The Model Minority Myth By Ellen Wu, Justin Kh Tse Mar 2014

Review: The Color Of Success: Asian Americans And The Origins Of The Model Minority Myth By Ellen Wu, Justin Kh Tse

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Weaving rich institutional histories of groups that have purported to speak for all Asian Americans, like the Japanese American Citizens League and the Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association, Ellen Wu’s The Color of Success meticulously describes how their claims to represent their ethnic communities were vigorously contested by Japanese and Chinese Americans themselves from the 1930s to the 1960s. Wu sets these representational challenges against the larger backdrop of the rise of an American liberal political framework and its assimilationist agenda for racial minorities in the United States in the 1930s, which was produced by the geopolitical challenges of totalitarian fascism …


The Strength Of Sibling Ties: Sibling Influence On Status Attainment In A Chinese Family, Qian Forrest Zhang Feb 2014

The Strength Of Sibling Ties: Sibling Influence On Status Attainment In A Chinese Family, Qian Forrest Zhang

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

What allowed eight siblings from a politically disadvantaged rural family to overcome institutional barriers and achieve upward mobility during Maoist China? What then restricted their children’s chances of upward mobility during the Reform era, when both family background and institutional environment were more favourable? In studying this anomalous case, whose experiences contradicted the well-documented effects of state policies and yet cannot be explained by parental influence, this study examines how adult siblings influenced each other’s status attainment processes, an issue largely neglected in the literature. Through comparing the micro-level mobility processes of the two generations in this family, I propose …


The Public Roles Of The Private Sector In Asia: The Emerging Research Agenda, Ann Florini Jan 2014

The Public Roles Of The Private Sector In Asia: The Emerging Research Agenda, Ann Florini

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

It is no longer possible to understand public policy without focusing intensively on the public roles of the business sector. The world is awash in experimental private governance, from corporate codes of conduct, to demands for disclosure of private sector environmental and social impacts, to ‘social enterprises’ that aim to save the world the profitable way. Such experiments are emerging within Asia, changing the terms of the social licence to operate as society becomes more adept at making demands for good corporate citizenship and as the natural resource crisis begins to hit home. And as Asian corporations go global, they …


The China Dream And The American Dream, William A. Callahan Jan 2014

The China Dream And The American Dream, William A. Callahan

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Since Xi Jinping invoked “The China Dream” as a key concept in November 2012, this phrase has come to dominate discussions of China’s future. This paper will examine the China dream phenomenon first by placing it in the context of debates that have been raging in Chinese civil society over the past few years. It will analyze the works of 20 prominent “China dreamers” in terms of debates over the proper relationship between (1) politics and economics, (2) equality and hierarchy, (3) civilization and civility, and (4) nationalism and statism. The other main context for the China dream concept is …


Recruiting The All-Female Rani Of Jhansi Regiment: Subhas Chandra Bose And Dr Lakshmi Swaminadhan, Tobias Frederik Rettig Dec 2013

Recruiting The All-Female Rani Of Jhansi Regiment: Subhas Chandra Bose And Dr Lakshmi Swaminadhan, Tobias Frederik Rettig

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

The recruitment of the all-female Rani of Jhansi Regiment of the Indian National Army in Japanese-controlled Singapore and Malaya, with a particular focus on the period between the first female guard of honour on 12 July 1943 through to the opening of the regiment's main camp in Singapore on 22 October 1943, has to date been insufficiently studied. Starting with the conception of the Regiment in an Axis submarine by the Indian nationalist leader Subhas CHANdra Bose (1897–1945), this paper examines the ideas and figures that inspired the regiment and the role of Bose and Dr Lakshmi Swaminadhan (1914–2012) in …


Between Evangelism And Multiculturalism: The Dynamics Of Christianity In Indonesia, Chang Yau Hoon Dec 2013

Between Evangelism And Multiculturalism: The Dynamics Of Christianity In Indonesia, Chang Yau Hoon

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Christianity has experienced rapid growth in Indonesia, particularly the Evangelical and Pentecostal/Charismatic movements, which find fertile ground among the urban middle class. This phenomenon has given rise to fears of Christianisation among the Muslim majority, who perceive the Christian growth as a moral threat. Tensions between Christians and Muslims have been part and parcel of religious developments in Indonesia. The author addresses the ways in which Protestant churches in Indonesia negotiate between evangelism (to fulfil the ‘Great Commission’) on the one hand, and multiculturalism (peaceful coexistence with difference) on the other. The article will examine how Christians in Indonesia navigate …


The Uneven Representation Of Women In Asian Parliaments: Explaining Variation Across The Region, Devin K. Joshi, Kara Kingma Nov 2013

The Uneven Representation Of Women In Asian Parliaments: Explaining Variation Across The Region, Devin K. Joshi, Kara Kingma

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Although home to the majority of the world's women, Asia is the continent with the smallest proportion of women in Parliament. Rarely studied from a comparative perspective, this article examines the uneven representation of women in the lower houses of contemporary Asian parliaments. While socio-economic modernization and industrialization are generally expected to increase the proportion of women in positions of political influence, we find that differences in electoral and party systems across Asia play a greater role than levels of female literacy, urbanization, or per capita income. In particular, Asian parliaments with strict quotas and a higher number of (three …


Introduction: Religion And Place: Landscape, Politics, And Piety, Elizabeth Olson, Peter Hopkins, Lily Kong Nov 2013

Introduction: Religion And Place: Landscape, Politics, And Piety, Elizabeth Olson, Peter Hopkins, Lily Kong

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

In 2010, a 14-year-old boy was brutally murdered in a suburb outside of Rio de Janeiro when a group of skinheads observed him at a party and suspected that he might be gay (McLoughlin 2011). This scale of horrific homophobia is not uncommon in Brazil, where rates of violence against gays, lesbians, and transgendered people are reported to be amongst the highest in the world. A study conducted with the support of Grupo Gay da Bahia offers the conservative estimate of 260 gays killed in the country in 2010, indicating that rates doubled in only 5 years. The statistic sits …


Multicultural Citizenship Education In Indonesia: The Case Of A Chinese Christian School, Chang Yau Hoon Oct 2013

Multicultural Citizenship Education In Indonesia: The Case Of A Chinese Christian School, Chang Yau Hoon

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

This study investigates how multicultural citizenship education is taught in a Chinese Christian school in Jakarta, where multiculturalism is not a natural experience. Schoolyard ethnographic research was deployed to explore the reality of a ‘double minority’ — Chinese Christians — and how the citizenship of this marginal group is constructed and contested in national, school, and familial discourses. The article argues that it is necessary for schools to actively implement multicultural citizenship education in order to create a new generation of young adults who are empowered, tolerant, active, participatory citizens of Indonesia. As schools are a microcosm of the nation-state, …


Hard Choices On Myanmar Still Lie Ahead For The Eu, Clara Portela Oct 2013

Hard Choices On Myanmar Still Lie Ahead For The Eu, Clara Portela

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

No abstract provided.


Balancing Spirituality And Secularism, Globalism And Nationalism: The Geographies Of Identity, Integration And Citizenship In Schools, Lily Kong Oct 2013

Balancing Spirituality And Secularism, Globalism And Nationalism: The Geographies Of Identity, Integration And Citizenship In Schools, Lily Kong

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Geographies of education have drawn more research attention in the last decade. The varied motivations for geographical attention to education have led to divergent approaches. First, a macro, political economy or "outward looking" approach has examined educational provision and what it tells us about wider social, economic and political processes. Second, a micro, social-cultural or "inward looking" approach has emphasised social difference within school spaces, and the links between home and educational spaces. This latter approach has also acknowledged the importance of the voices of children and young people in understanding educational experiences. In this paper, l take stock of …


The Spatial Modalities Of Evangelical Christian Growth In Sri Lanka: Evangelism, Social Ministry And The Structural Mosaic, Orlando Woods Oct 2013

The Spatial Modalities Of Evangelical Christian Growth In Sri Lanka: Evangelism, Social Ministry And The Structural Mosaic, Orlando Woods

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

This paper incorporates a melange of ideas into a new understanding of evangelical Christian growth. Existing explanations of growth are well rehearsed within the social sciences, and draw clear distinctions between the characteristics of evangelical organisations and the structural contexts in which they operate. A number of theoretical and empirical assumptions render such explanations applicable in some countries, but not others. Drawing on empirical data from Sri Lanka, I argue that closer examination of the recursive relationship between organisation (agency) and context (structure) will lead to recognition of the fact that growth is a spatially defined process, with evangelical organisations …


Evolving Chineseness, Ethnicity And Business: The Making Of The Ethnic Chinese As A ‘Market-Dominant Minority’ In Indonesia, Chang Yau Hoon Oct 2013

Evolving Chineseness, Ethnicity And Business: The Making Of The Ethnic Chinese As A ‘Market-Dominant Minority’ In Indonesia, Chang Yau Hoon

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

The ethnic Chinese in Indonesia play a very significant role in the nation’s economy. Their dominance in the Indonesian economy is often seen as disproportionate to their numbers, as reflected in the popular assertion that “the Chinese constitute only 3.5 percent of the population but control 70 percent of Indonesia’s economy”. In the New York Times bestseller, World on Fire: How Exporting Free Market Democracy Breeds Ethnic Hatred and Global Instability, Amy Chua (2004) identified Chinese Indonesians as one of the “ market-dominant minorities” in the world. Her book highlights the double bind of free market democracy: it privileges certain …


Many Asias But One Singapore: The Problematics Of Creative Industry, Kirpal Singh Oct 2013

Many Asias But One Singapore: The Problematics Of Creative Industry, Kirpal Singh

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

The author discusses issues concerning the creative industry in Singapore. He highlights a National Conversation event which features the critical role and position of the creative industry in Lion City aiming to be a global hub for the arts and culture. He also highlights the Singapore Day celebration as well as the country's relationship with the other Asian countries.


Asean: Integration, Internal Dynamics And External Relations, Clara Portela Sep 2013

Asean: Integration, Internal Dynamics And External Relations, Clara Portela

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Throughout its evolution, ASEAN has consistently maintained its attachment to the full respect of national sovereignty and the principle of non-interference in internal affairs, which translates into consensual decision-making, political rather than legally-binding agreements and the lack of sanctions for non-compliance. A major breakthrough in terms of institutionalisation came about with the signing of the ASEAN Charter of 2007, which has enhanced ASEAN’s standing as a rule-based organisation and approximated it somewhat to structures typical of the EU. Unfortunately, the persistence of consensual decision-making and non-confrontational habits has slowed down some of ASEAN’s integration projects and hindered the development of …