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Research Collection School of Social Sciences

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Full-Text Articles in International and Area Studies

Radical Politics In Hong Kong: Can Business Make A Difference?, James T. H. Tang Jul 2009

Radical Politics In Hong Kong: Can Business Make A Difference?, James T. H. Tang

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

As Hong Kong in 2009 retained its title as the world’s freest economy for the fifteenth consecutive year, radicalism seemed to have gained wider support in local politics at a time of economic turbulence—even though a timetable for universal suffrage has been set.


Salespeople's Renqing Orientation, Self-Esteem, And Selling Behaviors: An Empirical Study In Taiwan, Ming-Hong Tsai, Shu-Cheng Steve Chi, Hsia-Hua Hu Jun 2009

Salespeople's Renqing Orientation, Self-Esteem, And Selling Behaviors: An Empirical Study In Taiwan, Ming-Hong Tsai, Shu-Cheng Steve Chi, Hsia-Hua Hu

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

The purpose of this study was to investigate how salespeople's renqing orientation and self-esteem jointly affect their selling behavior. Data were obtained from a survey of salespeople from 17 pharmaceutical and consumer-goods companies in Taiwan (n = 216).Salespeople's renqing orientation (i.e., their propensity to adhere to the accepted norm of reciprocity) compensates the negative effect of self-esteem on their selling behaviors, such as adaptive selling and hard work. Our study results underscore the critical role of the character trait of renqing orientation in a culture emphasizing a norm of reciprocity. Therefore, it would be useful to consider a strategy of …


Do We Have A Winner? What The China-India Paradox May Reveal About Regime Type And Human Security, Devin K. Joshi Jun 2009

Do We Have A Winner? What The China-India Paradox May Reveal About Regime Type And Human Security, Devin K. Joshi

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

As the concept of human security spreads in the pose-Cold War period it is often presumed chat non-democracies have worse human security than democracies. But the national human security (NHS) siruation in weak or failed democracies can be even worse than in some non-democracies. So how exactly do the NHS records of stares with different regime types like non-democratic China and democratic India compare? To address this question the paper assesses and compares NH S in terms of "freedom from want" (anti-poverty security) and "freedom from fear" (anti-violence securiry). Ir develops a theory of how different regime types might impact …


The Role Of Abortion In Explaining Ethnic Fertility Differentials In Vietnam, Bussarawan Teerawichitchainan, Sajeda Amin May 2009

The Role Of Abortion In Explaining Ethnic Fertility Differentials In Vietnam, Bussarawan Teerawichitchainan, Sajeda Amin

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Until recently, Vietnam had the highest abortion rate in Asia. Abortion–mostly provided by the government—is believed to have contributed significantly to the country’s remarkable fertility decline over the last three decades. Despite the overall fertility decline, fertility rates vary across Vietnam’s 54 ethnic groups. The majority Vietnamese and ethnic Chinese, who together account for 85% of Vietnam’s total population, have total fertility rates below the replacement level. Meanwhile, other ethnic minority groups such as Dao and Hmong, who are disproportionately poor and live in remote, isolated areas, have the total fertility of 3.6 and 7.1 respectively. Analyzing the 1999 Census …


(In-)Coherence In Eu Foreign Policy: Exploring Sources And Remedies, Clara Portela, Kolja Raube Apr 2009

(In-)Coherence In Eu Foreign Policy: Exploring Sources And Remedies, Clara Portela, Kolja Raube

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

How does the EU deal with incoherence and coherence? In this paper we try to answer this research question in order to draw conclusions on the specific nature of the EU as a foreign policy actor. We define coherence and incoherence in EU foreign policy as our dependent variable in a first step. Coherence is understood as a principle guiding foreign policies in the EU as well as other international actors. Effectiveness is crucially linked to the principle of coherence, not only in the EU. However, the way in which the principle of coherence is implemented differs in ideal type …


Introduction, Justin O'Connor, Lily Kong Jan 2009

Introduction, Justin O'Connor, Lily Kong

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

The cultural and creative industries have become increasingly prominent in many policy agendas in recent years. Not only have governments identified the growing consumer potential for cultural/creative industry products in the home market, they have also seen the creative industry agenda as central to the growth of external markets. This agenda stresses creativity, innovation, small business growth, and access to global markets—all central to a wider agenda of moving from cheap manufacture towards high value-added products and services. The increasing importance of cultural and creative industries in national and city policy agendas is evident in Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, South …


The Politics Of Imlek, Chang Yau Hoon Jan 2009

The Politics Of Imlek, Chang Yau Hoon

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Imlek is a time for colourful parades featuring dances of the lion and other puppets, and performances of Chinese folk rituals on the streets and in Chinese temples. Imlek is also celebrated at Sunday mass in a Catholic church with performances of Chinese songs and dances. The church is decorated in lucky colour red from its carpet to its candles, including the priests’ robes. Decorations and ornaments in the lucky colour red, representing Chineseness, together with Chinese cultural performances like the dragon and lion dances have become products of mass consumption in post-Suharto Indonesia. Major shopping malls decorate their interior …


Ethnic Fertility Differentials In Vietnam And Their Proximate Determinants, Sajeda Amin, Bussarawan Teerawichitchainan Jan 2009

Ethnic Fertility Differentials In Vietnam And Their Proximate Determinants, Sajeda Amin, Bussarawan Teerawichitchainan

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Southeast Asia‘s rapid economic growth and demographic change have brought divergent fertility behaviors, particularly those of socially excluded groups, into sharper focus. In Vietnam, while the majority Vietnamese and ethnic Chinese, who together account for 85 percent of the country‘s population and benefit the most from the country‘s economic progress, have achieved replacement fertility, certain ethnic minority groups still have total fertility rates exceeding 4. This paper explores proximate determinants of fertility across ethnic groups using a new classification system for ethnicity in Vietnam based on poverty indicators, location, and degree of assimilation of ethnic groups. We decompose components of …


Making Sustainable Creative/Cultural Space In Shanghai And Singapore, Lily Kong Jan 2009

Making Sustainable Creative/Cultural Space In Shanghai And Singapore, Lily Kong

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Shanghai and Singapore are two economically vibrant Asian cities that have recently adopted creative/cultural economy strategies. In this article I examine new spatial expressions of cultural and economic interests in the two cities: state-vaunted cultural edifices and organically evolved cultural spaces. I discuss the simultaneous precariousness and sustainability of these spaces, focusing on Shanghai's Grand Theatre and Moganshan Lu and on Singapore's Esplanade-Theatres by the Bay and Wessex Estate. Their cultural sustainability is understood as their ability to support the development of indigenous content and local idioms in artistic work. Their social sustainability is examined in terms of the social …


Chinese New Year In West Kalimantan: Ritual Theatre And Political Circus, Margaret Chan Jan 2009

Chinese New Year In West Kalimantan: Ritual Theatre And Political Circus, Margaret Chan

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Since 2002, when Chinese New Year became a national holiday in Indonesia, spirit medium parades on the fifteen day of the New Year (called Cap Go Meh) have been growing in size in certain West Kalimantan towns, especially Singkawang. This parade in particular has become a major tourist draw-card. Referring to local history, Chinese popular religion and Hakka culture, this article applies a performance analysis methodology to dissect this contemporary phenomenon from religious, historical and inter-ethnic perspectives. It shows how the parades have become enmeshed in current inter-ethnic politics in West Kalimantan, as well as revealing the way that adaptations …


Update Mental Pictures Of Rural China, Forrest Zhang, John A. Donaldson Jan 2009

Update Mental Pictures Of Rural China, Forrest Zhang, John A. Donaldson

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Women in straw hats stoop over water-logged plots, working together to plant rice seedlings. A weather-worn man trudges behind an ox ploughing his family's field. Farmers throw newly harvested grain in the air so the wind can carry off the chaff. Tour buses navigate past grain carefully laid out on the black-topped road to dry. Though picturesque, these images of rural China perpetuate stereotypes of a conservative culture resistant to change - and affect public policy.


More Than A Cultural Celebration: The Politics Of Chinese New Year In Post-Suharto Indonesia, Chang Yau Hoon Jan 2009

More Than A Cultural Celebration: The Politics Of Chinese New Year In Post-Suharto Indonesia, Chang Yau Hoon

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

In the aftermath of the May 1998 riots that forced President Suharto to step down, ethnic Chinese received unprecedented freedom to assert their long suppressed cultural and religious identity. Following the transition from assimilation to multiculturalism, for the first time in over three decades Chinese culture became more visible and ethnic Chinese could finally enjoy the freedom to celebrate Chinese New Year (Imlek) publicly. This article focuses on the politics of the re-emergent Chinese New Year celebration in the Indonesian public sphere. It demonstrates the significance of Imlek as an ethnic symbol to Chinese-Indonesians. Borrowing Hobsbawm’s concept of “invented tradition”, …


Chinese Visions Of World Order: Post-Hegemonic Or A New Hegemony?, William A. Callahan Dec 2008

Chinese Visions Of World Order: Post-Hegemonic Or A New Hegemony?, William A. Callahan

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Lately, there has been increasing interest among international relations (IR) scholars in Chinese thought, both as an alternative to Eurocentric IR, and because the PRC as an emerging power will soon have the institutional power to promote its view of the world. Rather than look for suitable Chinese parallels to "international," "security," or other mainstream concepts, this article will examine the concept of "Tianxia All-under-Heaven" to understand Chinese visions of world order. Tianxia is interesting both because it was key to the governance and self-understanding of over two millennia of Chinese empire, and also because discussion of Tianxia is becoming …


Unintended Consequences Of Repression: Alliance Formation In South Korea's Democracy Movement (1970-1979), Paul Y. Chang Dec 2008

Unintended Consequences Of Repression: Alliance Formation In South Korea's Democracy Movement (1970-1979), Paul Y. Chang

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Research regarding the impact of repression on social movements has yielded conflicting findings; some argue that repression decreases the total quantity of protest events while others argue that it motivates protest. To move beyond this impasse, various scholars have suggested exploring how repression influences the quality of social movements. This study assesses the impact repression had on the information of alliances between different social groups participating in South Korea's democracy movement. Results from negative binomial regression analyses show that repression facilitated the formation of alliances between movement actors at a time when the overall number of protest events decreased. This …


Bystanders' Reactions Towards Co-Punishment Events In The Taiwanese Military: Examining The Moderating Effects Of Organizational Norms, Shu-Cheng S. Chi, Hsin-Hsin Lo, Tsai Ming-Hong, Brian P. Niehoff Dec 2008

Bystanders' Reactions Towards Co-Punishment Events In The Taiwanese Military: Examining The Moderating Effects Of Organizational Norms, Shu-Cheng S. Chi, Hsin-Hsin Lo, Tsai Ming-Hong, Brian P. Niehoff

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

The present study examined bystanders' justice perceptions about co-punishment events. In a sample of 169 logistic officers in the Taiwanese military, responsibility attributions (i.e. liability attributed to co-punished persons) had a negative relationship with perceived harshness, and a positive relationship with perceived procedural justice. In addition, the effects of responsibility attributions on procedural justice were weaker if the person perceived stronger rather than weaker organizational norms of co-punishment.


Beware Of Radical Change: China’S Agrarian Revolution, John A. Donaldson, Forrest Q. Zhang Nov 2008

Beware Of Radical Change: China’S Agrarian Revolution, John A. Donaldson, Forrest Q. Zhang

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

No abstract provided.


Prison’S Spoilt Identities: Racially Structured Realities Within And Beyond, Nafis Hanif Nov 2008

Prison’S Spoilt Identities: Racially Structured Realities Within And Beyond, Nafis Hanif

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

This article begins by seeking an explanation for the solidarity between Malay inmates and guards in perpetrating abusive and discriminatory treatment towards Malay transvestites. In the course of explaining an empirical phenomenon in the Singapore prison, this article has examined Singapore's history and ethnic demography, the ethnic Malay minority's lack of socio-economic development and modernisation vis-a-vis the ethnic Chinese majority, geo-politics, the ideology and strategic choices of the state's political elite and their implications for inter-ethnic interactions between Malays and Chinese. As this article will argue, prison culture, rather than being divorced from larger society, is in effect able to …


The Changes And Non-Changes Of China's Rural Land, Qian Forrest Zhang, John A. Donaldson Oct 2008

The Changes And Non-Changes Of China's Rural Land, Qian Forrest Zhang, John A. Donaldson

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

No abstract provided.


Very Low Fertility In Pacific Asian Countries: Causes And Policy Responses, Paulin Tay Straughan Sep 2008

Very Low Fertility In Pacific Asian Countries: Causes And Policy Responses, Paulin Tay Straughan

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Only 40 years ago, population experts were still worried about a population explosion that would threaten the future of humanity. Fortunately, while population growth is currently largely under control, sub-Saharan Africa and parts of South Asia still face massive increases with very serious potential consequences. Paradoxically, however, a new problem is emerging, with its key locus in Pacific Asia (the term used in this book to refer to Asian countries with a Pacific littoral). This problem is ultra-low fertility. Japan, Singapore, Taiwan, South Korea, and Hong Kong SAR are among the very lowest-fertility countries in the whole world, and even …


The Rise Of Agrarian Capitalism With Chinese Characteristics: Agricultural Modernization, Agribusiness And Collective Land Rights, Qian Forrest Zhang, John A. Donaldson Jul 2008

The Rise Of Agrarian Capitalism With Chinese Characteristics: Agricultural Modernization, Agribusiness And Collective Land Rights, Qian Forrest Zhang, John A. Donaldson

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

The article discusses the agricultural transformation taking place in the rural areas of China. Details about the Chinese laws regarding rural reform and the effect they have had on rural Chinese farmers and families are included. The authors examine the expansion of agrarian capitalism in China and describe the rise of agribusiness in rural Chinese areas. The practices of Chinese agribusinesses and the Chinese land rights laws are explored. The relationships between individual farmers and agribusinesses is also examined.


Image Worship In Chinese Popular Religion, Margaret Chan Jul 2008

Image Worship In Chinese Popular Religion, Margaret Chan

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

No abstract provided.


Women Warriors In Asia, Tobias Frederik Rettig, Vina Lanzona Jul 2008

Women Warriors In Asia, Tobias Frederik Rettig, Vina Lanzona

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

No abstract provided.


Grasping The Small: The Political Economy Of Growth, Poverty And The Role Of The State In Two Chinese Provinces, John A. Donaldson Jun 2008

Grasping The Small: The Political Economy Of Growth, Poverty And The Role Of The State In Two Chinese Provinces, John A. Donaldson

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

No abstract provided.


The Evolution Of Human Rights Thinking In North Korea, Robert Weatherley, Jiyoung Song Jun 2008

The Evolution Of Human Rights Thinking In North Korea, Robert Weatherley, Jiyoung Song

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

The official discourse of human rights in North Korea has shown signs of evolution in recent times, reflecting a variety of philosophical foundations and a need to respond to mounting criticism from the West. While Confucianism and Marxism have been key in influencing North Korean rights thinking, some of the more recent official pronouncements on rights have a distinctly nationalistic or ‘juche-oriented’ complexion. This shift in emphasis reflects the growing importance of juche to North Korea's state ideology in light of what is perceived as an increasingly hostile international environment that has confronted North Korea since the end of the …


On Changes In Rural China: The Rise Of Agrarian Capitalism And Dissolution Of The Peasantry In Contemporary China, Forrest Zhang, John A. Donaldson Mar 2008

On Changes In Rural China: The Rise Of Agrarian Capitalism And Dissolution Of The Peasantry In Contemporary China, Forrest Zhang, John A. Donaldson

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

For decades, Mr. Hong and his family have toiled the ground of Dounan Village, an area of Yunnan Province that became well-known throughout China for the quality of its fresh vegetables. While Hong and his neighbors have, since the early 1980s, concentrated on the small plot of land that the state allocated to them, in recent years, Dounan village has begun producing vegetables in large enough scale to market to distant, wealthy coastal areas, bringing new-found prosperity to the area. After gaining experience producing vegetables both on the plot that the government allocated to his family, and on his neighbors’ …


Ethnic Differentials In Parental Health Seeking For Childhood Illness In Vietnam, Bussarawan Teerawichitchainan, James F. Phillips Jan 2008

Ethnic Differentials In Parental Health Seeking For Childhood Illness In Vietnam, Bussarawan Teerawichitchainan, James F. Phillips

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Vietnam's sustained investment in primary healthcare since the onset of socialism has lowered infant and childhood mortality rates and improved life expectancy, exceeding progress achieved in other poor countries with comparable levels of income per capita. The recent introduction of user fees for primary healthcare services has generated concern that economic policies may have adversely affected health-seeking behavior and health outcomes of the poor, particularly among impoverished families who are members of socially marginalized minority groups. This paper examines this debate by analyzing parental recall of illness and care-seeking for sick children under the age of 5 years recorded by …


Sanctions Against Belarus: Normative Unintended, Clara Portela Jan 2008

Sanctions Against Belarus: Normative Unintended, Clara Portela

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

The goals pursued by the EU vis-à-vis Belarus through its sanctions policies are unequivocally normative. The EU refers to the ‘violations of international electoral standards’ in the 2006 presidential elections and the ‘crackdown on civil society and democratic opposition’ as the primary reasons for the imposition of sanctions. The EU sanctions strategy against Belarus has followed an incrementalist logic, unfolding in parallel to the evolution of the Belarusian state towards authoritarianism.


A Trans-Tasman Business Elite?, Nicholas Harrigan, Shaun Goldfinch Dec 2007

A Trans-Tasman Business Elite?, Nicholas Harrigan, Shaun Goldfinch

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

This article examines the close relationship between the Australian and New Zealand business communities to ask whether the relationship is best characterized as simply a bi-lateral trading relationship, or whether there is evidence of the formation of a transnational business community. This article also seeks to explore the nature of Australia—New Zealand integration, and specifically the degree to which the relationship is interdependent or asymmetrical. Data are drawn from quantitative sources — including a dataset developed from the IBISWorld's Largest 2000 Enterprises in Australia and New Zealand, Who's Who in Australia, and Who's Who in Business in Australia — and …


Global Transformations And “Cosmopolitical” Social Science, Michael D. Kennedy, Camilo Leslie, Allison Nau, Atef Said, Hiro Saito Dec 2007

Global Transformations And “Cosmopolitical” Social Science, Michael D. Kennedy, Camilo Leslie, Allison Nau, Atef Said, Hiro Saito

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

In 2001 Siobán Harlow and Kennedy developed a graduate seminar through the International Institute around “Global Transformations.” While some had used the term before, its greatest advantage was its inclusivity: globalization, twenty-first century empires, international terrorism, the spread of infectious disease, migrations, climate change, and other themes all fit within that rubric. During a recent sociology seminar, we sought to discipline that discussion with the identification of three principal areas to guide “cosmopolitical” social science.


Aid Suspensions As Coercive Tools? The European Union’S Experience In The African-Caribbean-Pacific (Acp) Context, Clara Portela Aug 2007

Aid Suspensions As Coercive Tools? The European Union’S Experience In The African-Caribbean-Pacific (Acp) Context, Clara Portela

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Since the signing of the Cotonou Agreement in 2000, the European Union (EU) has suspended development aid towards a number of African Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries in response to breaches of Human Rights and democratic principles by activating the so-called Human Rights clause (article 96). The present article analyses the use by the EU of aid suspensions as political tools and their efficacy in achieving the desired policy goals, in an attempt to identify and explain the determinants leading to the success of these measures. The investigation finds that the use of development aid suspensions is frequently effective. Classical …