International and Area Studies Commons^™

Behind Bo Xilai’S Halo, Xujun Eberlein

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

In the wake of Bo Xilai’s sudden downfall, shortly after what could be called an online carnival among China watchers—probably more in celebration of a rare, real-life political drama than anything else—international media is changing its tune and beginning to paint a more sympathetic image of Bo than previously reported, by focusing on Chinese people’s love of him. Reuters, for example, has a report titled “In China’s Chongqing, dismay over downfall of Bo Xilai” that quotes a working “stick man” (棒棒军, a porter-for-hire) who praises Bo as “a good man” that “made life a lot better here.” The Telegraph‘s Malcolm …

Book Review: Chiang Kai-Shek’S Interpersonal Relationships: Perspectives Across The Strait, Sherman Lai

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

This book brings together papers and panel discussions of a conference on Chiang Kai-shek held in Taipei in January 2011 with the joint participation of historians from both the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and Taiwan. It reflects new scholarship on Chiang Kai-shek in the Chinese-speaking world and showcases the approaches that historians in the PRC adopt in handling challenges that their Western colleagues do not encounter. While Chinese historians have enormous audiences, they do not share the academic freedom enjoyed by their colleagues in the West and Taiwan. Because their careers and livelihood are dependent on the Chinese Communist …

State-Induced Famine And Penal Starvation In North Korea, Rhoda E. Howard-Hassmann

Political Science Faculty Publications

This article discusses North Korea as a case of state-induced famine, or faminogenesis. A famine from 1994 to 2000 killed 3–5% of North Korea’s population, and mass hunger reappeared in 2010–2012, despite reforms meant to address the shortage of food. In addition, a prison population of about 200,000 people is systematically deprived of food; this might be considered penal starvation. There seems little recourse under international law to punish the perpetrators of state-induced famine and penal starvation. State-induced famine does, however, fit some of the criteria of genocide in the United Nations Convention against Genocide, and could also be considered …

Somali Bibliography By Keyword 2012--, Laura Juraska, Caroline Barnes, Carly Peruccio

Somalis in Maine Bibliography

A bibliography of resources organized by topical keyword and published after 2012.

Chapter 5, History, In Intimacy And Community In A Changing World: Sikaiana Life 1980-1993, William Donner

Sikaiana Ethnography

This chapter is a discussion of the legendary and the more recent recorded history of the Sikaiana people from the Solomon Islands.

A related website can be found at www.sikaianaarchives.com

Transboundary Management Of Transitional Waters – Code Of Conduct And Good Practice Examples, Henrik Nilsson, Ramūnas Povilanskas, Nardine Stybel

ARTWEI

Transitional waters have the ecological peculiarity of being both very fragile and resilient at the same time. The degradation of the transitional waters and the decline of their economic value arise from the excessive use of the resources, external input of pollutants mostly brought by large tributaries and from the mismanagement of the adjacent areas. The EU Water Framework Directive has accelerated the transboundary co-operation and development of spatially integrative management approaches in the south Baltic transitional waters. A high-level political committment in countries sharing a transitional water body, a professional agency, a stakeholders‘ forum and regular funding is the …

Berita Autumn 2012, Derek Heng

Berita

Table of Contents

Chair’s Address...2

Editor’s Foreword...3

Members’ Updates...4

John A. Lent Prize...5

Breaking from the Past? The 2012 Hougang By-­‐Elections ...7

Book Review: Student Activism in Malaysia...12

Reframing the Singaporean Political Discourse...16

Limits of the Developmental State...20

Japan As A Clean Energy Leader, Stefan N. Norbom

Gettysburg Economic Review

Over the past several decades, Japan’s energy strategy had positioned it as the world’s leader in clean and efficient electricity production and usage. This strategy, heavily dependent on nuclear energy, was essentially destroyed by one of history’s largest earthquakes, followed by a tsunami which overwhelmed five nuclear reactors on March 11, 2011. As of April 2012, all of Japan’s 54 nuclear reactors have been shut down and it is uncertain when and how many may be restarted. This paper examines Japan’s options for crafting a new way forward with an energy policy to power the world’s third largest economy while …

Republican China, Kate Merkel-Hess

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

Several years ago, I gave a talk on my research to a community group. My first slide included the words “Republican China” and as I waited to begin I heard a woman in the front row lean over and whisper to her neighbor, “I had no idea they have Republicans in China too!”

At this time of bruising primary battles, though, the China that the Republicans have seems more relevant—as China, imagined and real, has played a recurring role in the raucous Republican primaries. Here’s a rundown of some of the ways China has popped up on the campaign trail …

Hong Kong Identity And Democratic Values, Sebastian Veg

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

When Peking University Professor Kong Qingdong’s diatribe on Hongkongers and their lingering colonial infatuation swept over the Internet in late January, the widespread and growing uneasiness about mainland Chinese in Hong Kong suddenly had a face. Triggered by a viral video of a Hongkonger telling off a mainland family in the subway because their daughter was eating dry instant noodles, Kong’s interview sparked a wave of predictable but nonetheless justified outrage in Hong Kong. It took place against the background of the annual mainland shopping spree over Chinese New Year (in a previous episode, Dolce and Gabbana staff in Tsim …

2011-12 Year Of Peru Reading List, Dewi J. Wilson

Research Guides & Subject Bibliographies

Reading list for Kennesaw State's "Year of Peru" Celebration.

Workplace Dignity In A Total Institution: Examining The Experiences Of Foxconn’S Migrant Workforce, Kristen Lucas, Dongjing Kang, Zhou Li

Department of Communication Studies: Faculty Publications

In 2010, a cluster of suicides at the electronics manufacturing giant Foxconn Technology Group sparked worldwide outcry about working conditions at its factories in China. Within a few short months, 14 young migrant workers jumped to their deaths from buildings on the Foxconn campus, an all-encompassing compound where they had worked, eaten, and slept. Even though the language of workplace dignity was invoked in official responses from Foxconn and its business partner Apple, neither of these parties directly examined workers’ dignity in their ensuing audits. Based on our analysis of media accounts of life at Foxconn, we argue that its …

Oil Spill Preparedness In The Baltic Sea Countries, Jonas Pålsson

Baltic Master II

The Baltic Sea is one of the world’s busiest waterways. An estimated 9 % of the world’s trade and 11 % of the world’s oil transportation passes through Baltic waters. It is estimated that this will increase by 64 % between 2003 and 2020. For example, the oil transportation has increased by 133 % between 1997 and 2008 and is now over 250 million tonnes per year. Plenty of shallows and narrow passages make parts of the Baltic Sea difficult to navigate. There are around 130 accidents each year, with 10 of these leading to pollution, mostly of oil. The …

Nature Or Nurture? Case Study Perspectives On Developing A Team Of Passionate Instruction Librarians At The Li Ka Shing Library, Singapore Management University, Rajendra Munoo

Research Collection Library

Developing and sustaining a team of passionate instruction librarians willing to conduct training and go the extra mile is hard to do, especially with limited resource. Successful instructional programmes depend on teamwork and collaboration especially in academic libraries. In this paper the author who is Head of Instructional Services at the Li Ka Shing Library, Singapore Management University, will share how this has been done with a team of thirteen, each with different levels of skills and competencies. The first part of the paper will cover some of the new ways information literacy programmes are being delivered at the library. …

Excerpt: Heaven Cracks, Earth Shakes, James Palmer

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

When the Tangshan Earthquake hit northern China on July 28, 1976, the country was in the midst of a tumultuous year that would grow even more chaotic with Mao’s death less than two months later. In retrospect, the massive earthquake has been viewed as a sign of trouble to come and a signal that major changes were on the horizon. In his new book, Heaven Cracks, Earth Shakes: The Tangshan Earthquake and the Death of Mao’s China, James Palmer delves into the history of 1976, tracing the developments of that pivotal year for all in China, from the leaders residing …

How Chongqing People View Bo Xilai, Xujun Eberlein

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

One April day in my birth city of Chongqing, I encountered a rare quarrel in People’s Park. The park is one of several places in downtown Chongqing that offer low-cost “baba cha” (open-space tea), where retirees and others with time on their hands lounge under leafy banyan trees with their teacups and bird cages for a good part of the day. Two fiftyish men sat at a plastic table drinking tea and chatting about Bo Xilai, their city’s ousted leader. One of the men said that Bo’s promotion of “people’s livelihood” had been a fake show, because during his four-year …

Whither The "Year Of China"?, Denise Ho, Jared Flanery

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

To conclude my Chinese history lecture course at the University of Kentucky, I introduce my undergraduates to the concept of “soft power” and suggest that Confucius Institutes are emblematic of China’s cultural diplomacy, which aims to project a peaceful image abroad. Confucius Institutes are centers for teaching Chinese language and culture overseas; they are organized by an office known as Hanban in the Ministry of Education, though their funding comes directly from the Chinese government’s treasury. There are now over 350 Confucius Institutes in the world, and two of these are in the state of Kentucky.

Literacy And Development Within China’S Minorities, Alexandra Grey

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

Outside of China, people are agape at the prospect of learning to write Chinese: “So hard! Too hard.” Back in Australia, I know first generation migrants who speak Chinese at home but have never learnt to write; they gape along with everyone else. But for all the jaw-dropping, these people can read and write the national language of their home (for the Aussie-Chinese, that’s English). What about the people inside China for whom ‘Chinese’ is a foreign language? They are a significant minority, and, on the Chinese scale, a minority still means millions of people. ‘Chinese’ is usually loosely used …

Predatory Identity Can Explain Nest Predation Patterns, Jennifer L. Reidy, Frank Thompson

United States Geological Survey, Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center: Publications

Knowledge of dominant predators is necessary to identify predation patterns and mitigate losses to nest predation, especially for endangered songbirds. We monitored songbird nests with time lapse infrared video cameras at Fort Hood Military Reservation, Texas, from 1997 to 2002 and 2005, and in Austin, Texas, during 2005, 2006, 2008, and 2009. Predation was the most common source of nest failure. We identified 13 species of predators during 126 predation events. Snakes were the most frequent nest predator group (n = 48), followed by birds (n = 25), fire ants (n = 22), cowbirds (n = 15), …

The Future Of Singapore's Civil Society, Gillian Koh, Debbie Soon

Social Space

Civil society activists are now in open disagreement with citizens and sometimes, other civil society groups. Gillian Koh and Debbie Soon explore how that horizontal relationship might develop.