Neotraditional authority contested: the corporatization of tradition and the quest for democracy in the Topnaar Traditional Authority, Namibia

Africa ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 90 (2) ◽  
pp. 318-338
Author(s):  
Mario Krämer
Keyword(s):  
Common Good ◽  
The State ◽  
Democratic Participation ◽  
Local Power ◽  
Traditional Authority ◽  
Fair Share ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Long Run ◽  
Community Activists ◽  
Per Se

AbstractThis article examines two closely related themes: the triangle of tradition, capital and the state; and resistance to neotraditional leadership and local activism for democracy. I investigate an uprising in the Topnaar Traditional Authority in the Erongo region of Namibia by young community activists who aimed to promote democracy in their community in a context of manifold accusations of self-enrichment and corruption against the neotraditional leadership. The article demonstrates that the corporatization of tradition is a double-edged sword: neotraditional leaders expand their local power towards their subjects in the short term, but it often produces severe conflict that may result in the delegitimization of neotraditional authority in the long run. However, the Topnaar youth uprising and quest for democracy was less about challenging neotraditional authority per se and more about replacing the incumbents as well as obtaining a fair share of political power. It resulted from the perception that the neotraditional-cum-corporate ventures no longer served the cause of a common good; this, in turn, contradicted the general ideal of equality among the Topnaar. The corporatization of tradition thus generated local grievances and stimulated demands for democratic participation. Since the uprising gained at least some of its momentum from my research on neotraditional authority, I also reflect on my role.

scholarly journals Learning Robot Speech Models to Predict Speech Acts in HRI

2016 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 295-306
Author(s):  
Ankuj Arora ◽  
Humbert Fiorino ◽  
Damien Pellier ◽  
Sylvie Pesty
Keyword(s):  
Speech Acts ◽  
Short Term Memory ◽  
The State ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Long Run ◽  
Action Sequences ◽  
Long Short Term Memory ◽  
Max Sat ◽  
Speech Model

Abstract In order to be acceptable and able to “camouflage” into their physio-social context in the long run, robots need to be not just functional, but autonomously psycho-affective as well. This motivates a long term necessity of introducing behavioral autonomy in robots, so they can autonomously communicate with humans without the need of “wizard” intervention. This paper proposes a technique to learn robot speech models from human-robot dialog exchanges. It views the entire exchange in the Automated Planning (AP) paradigm, representing the dialog sequences (speech acts) in the form of action sequences that modify the state of the world upon execution, gradually propelling the state to a desired goal. We then exploit intra-action and inter-action dependencies, encoding them in the form of constraints. We attempt to satisfy these constraints using aweighted maximum satisfiability model known as MAX-SAT, and convert the solution into a speech model. This model could have many uses, such as planning of fresh dialogs. In this study, the learnt model is used to predict speech acts in the dialog sequences using the sequence labeling (predicting future acts based on previously seen ones) capabilities of the LSTM (Long Short Term Memory) class of recurrent neural networks. Encouraging empirical results demonstrate the utility of this learnt model and its long term potential to facilitate autonomous behavioral planning of robots, an aspect to be explored in future works.

scholarly journals Competitiveness as a Decisive Criterion for Sustainability

2020 ◽  
Vol 65 (Special edition 2020/2) ◽  
pp. 7-24
Author(s):  
György Matolcsy
Keyword(s):  
National Economy ◽  
The State ◽  
The Other ◽  
Global Competition ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Important Resource ◽  
Long Run ◽  
Digital Transition ◽  
The One ◽  
Proper Cooperation

Competitiveness and sustainability are inseparable concepts. Competitiveness cannot be interpreted in the short term, and thus it cannot exist without sustainability as well. At both the corporate and national economy level, only those who can maintain their outstanding performance, in the long run, are the winners in global competition. There are two roads to achieving these two goals simultaneously, and they can even be followed at the same time. On the one hand, moving away from quantitative factors towards quality, and on the other hand, looking for new resources and making old resources unlimited by using them in a sustainable, “green” manner. With the development of digitalisation, data is becoming a more important resource than ever before, while money and access to energy may become unlimited. No segment of the economy can ignore revolutionary changes, such as the green and digital transition, but proper cooperation between the state and the market is necessary to achieve and maintain competitiveness and sustainability.

scholarly journals Investor Types and Company Performance through Private Placements Basing on State-Owned and -Controlled Listed Companies

2019 ◽  
Vol 14 (11) ◽  
pp. 250
Author(s):  
Li Jiaojiao ◽  
Qu Zenglong
Keyword(s):  
Corporate Governance ◽  
Institutional Investors ◽  
Listed Company ◽  
Listed Companies ◽  
The State ◽  
Announcement Effect ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Private Placement ◽  
Long Run ◽  
Private Placements

Theoretical and empirical analyses of listed companies owned and controlled by the state making private placement transactions during 2006 and 2013 were carried out to measure the short-term announcement effect of strategic and financial investors’ subscription for new shares in listed companies owned and controlled by the state on corporate governance and long-run performance of these listed companies. It was found that private placements had a positive influence on the performance of a state-owned and -controlled listed company as they brought new institutional investors to the company; strategic investors who subscribed for new shares in a state-owned and -controlled listed company have appeared to cause an announcement effect greater than financial investors; state-owned and -controlled listed companies that attracted strategic investors with private placements showed a higher level of corporate governance and better long-run performance in comparison to those launching private placements to financial investors only. This study reveals the differences between strategic and financial investors in their influences on short-term announcement effect, corporate governance, and long-run performance of a state-owned and -controlled listed company when they enter into private placement transactions with the company. These findings provide new perspectives on the economic consequences arising from the involvement of external institutional investors in private placements of state-owned and -controlled listed companies, which, to a certain extent, facilitate the decision-making process in private placement transactions and promote the mixed-ownership reform.

scholarly journals Strategies for Controlling the Spread of COVID-19

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eric Forgoston ◽  
Michael A.S. Thorne
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
United States Of America ◽  
Contact Structure ◽  
Compartmental Model ◽  
Social Contact ◽  
The United States ◽  
The State ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Long Run ◽  
Second Wave

AbstractWe consider a deterministic epidemiological compartmental model that includes age and social contact structure for the COVID-19 crisis and explore the consequences of different strategies for easing current lockdown measures that are in place in many countries. We apply the model to the specific circumstances in the state of New Jersey, in the United States of America. As expected, only a rigorous program of testing, tracing and isolation of cases will allow the state to ease its lockdown with a reduced number of deaths. We also find that a slightly earlier date of lockdown, while reducing the number of deaths in the short term, will only reduce the total number of deaths in the long run if the ensuing strategies in easing the lockdown are carried out with the aforementioned test, trace and isolation program. Otherwise, a slightly earlier lockdown will result in increased deaths as the expected second wave of infection sweeps through the state in the coming months.

Minimizing Missed Opportunities: Modeling Relationships between the State and Business in Russia

2009 ◽  
pp. 42-61
Author(s):  
A. Oleynik
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Empirical Evidence ◽  
Common Good ◽  
The State ◽  
Power Relationships ◽  
Individual Decision ◽  
Missed Opportunities ◽  
Power Domination ◽  
Individual Decision Making ◽  
Optimal Outcomes

Power involves a number of models of choice: maximizing, satisficing, coercion, and minimizing missed opportunities. The latter is explored in detail and linked to a particular type of power, domination by virtue of a constellation of interests. It is shown that domination by virtue of a constellation of interests calls for justification through references to a common good, i.e. a rent to be shared between Principal and Agent. Two sources of sub-optimal outcomes are compared: individual decision-making and interactions. Interactions organized in the form of power relationships lead to sub-optimal outcomes for at least one side, Agent. Some empirical evidence from Russia is provided for illustrative purposes.

The Sustainable Debts of Philip II

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mauricio Drelichman ◽  
Hans-Joachim Voth
Keyword(s):  
Sixteenth Century ◽  
Strong Evidence ◽  
Military Expenditure ◽  
Debt Service ◽  
Fiscal Sustainability ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Systematic Analysis ◽  
Philip Ii ◽  
Long Run

This chapter addresses the sustainability of debt. A systematic analysis based on the International Monetary Fund's (IMF) methodology to evaluate fiscal sustainability shows that Castile was able to service its debts in the long run. While liquidity was scarce during periods of intense warfare, years of relative peace brought large surpluses. The data collected from Castile's annual fiscal accounts produced new yearly series of revenue, military expenditure, short-term debt issues, and short-term debt service. The resulting database spans a full 31-year period—enough to employ modern quantitative techniques. This analysis provides strong evidence that Castile's fiscal position in the second half of the sixteenth century was on a solid footing. The chapter then assesses whether the events that led to major downturns in Castile's financial fortunes could have been anticipated.

The impact of Airbnb on a non-touristic city. A Case study of short-term rentals in Santa Cruz de Tenerife (Spain)

Erdkunde ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 74 (3) ◽  
pp. 191-204
Author(s):  
Marcus Hübscher ◽  
Juana Schulze ◽  
Felix zur Lage ◽  
Johannes Ringel
Keyword(s):  
Santa Cruz ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Rental Market ◽  
Rural Space ◽  
Use Of Data ◽  
Web Scraping ◽  
Per Capita ◽  
Per Se ◽  
The Impact

Short-term rentals such as Airbnb have become a persistent element of today’s urbanism around the globe. The impacts are manifold and differ depending on the context. In cities with a traditionally smaller accommodation market, the impacts might be particularly strong, as Airbnb contributes to ongoing touristification processes. Despite that, small and medium-sized cities have not been in the centre of research so far. This paper focuses on Santa Cruz de Tenerife as a medium-sized Spanish city. Although embedded in the touristic region of the Canary Islands, Santa Cruz is not a tourist city per se but still relies on touristification strategies. This paper aims to expand the knowledge of Airbnb’s spatial patterns in this type of city. The use of data collected from web scraping and geographic information systems (GIS) demonstrates that Airbnb has opened up new tourism markets outside of the centrally established tourist accommodations. It also shows that the price gap between Airbnb and the housing rental market is broadest in neighbourhoods that had not experienced tourism before Airbnb entered the market. In the centre the highest prices and the smallest units are identified, but two peripheral quarters stand out. Anaga Mountains, a natural and rural space, has the highest numbers of Airbnb listings per capita. Suroeste, a suburban quarter, shows the highest growth rates on the rental market, which implies a linkage between Airbnb and suburbanization processes.

Speaking for Islam

2009 ◽  
Vol 26 (3) ◽  
pp. 110-127
Author(s):  
Abdoulaye Sounaye
Keyword(s):  
Common Good ◽  
The State ◽  
Institutional Transformation ◽  
The Political ◽  
Religious Authority ◽  
The Common Good ◽  
The Common ◽  
Religion And State ◽  
Islamic Values ◽  
French Model

Unexpectedly, one of the marking features of democratization in Niger has been the rise of a variety of Islamic discourses. They focus on the separation between religion and the state and, more precisely, the way it is manifested through the French model of laïcité, which democratization has adopted in Niger. For many Muslim actors, laïcité amounts to a marginalization of Islamic values and a negation of Islam. This article present three voices: the Collaborators, the Moderates, and the Despisers. Each represents a trend that seeks to influence the state’s political and ideological makeup. Although the ulama in general remain critical vis-à-vis the state’s political and institutional transformation, not all of them reject the principle of the separation between religion and state. The Collaborators suggest cooperation between the religious authority and the political one, the Moderates insist on the necessity for governance to accommodate the people’s will and visions, and the Despisers reject the underpinning liberalism that voids religious authority and demand a total re-Islamization. I argue that what is at stake here is less the separation between state and religion than the modality of this separation and its impact on religious authority. The targets, tones, and justifications of the discourses I explore are evidence of the limitations of a democratization project grounded in laïcité. Thus in place of a secular democratization, they propose a conservative democracy based on Islam and its demands for the realization of the common good.

Dampak Insentif Pajak Perumahan Terhadap Potensi Penerimaan Pajak Negara Dan Peningkatan Pendapatan Masyarakat : Kasus Provinsi Papua

2016 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 13-22
Author(s):  
Towaf Totok Irawan
Keyword(s):  
Low Income ◽  
House Prices ◽  
Tax Incentives ◽  
High Price ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Primary Input ◽  
State Revenue ◽  
Long Run ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Impact

Until now the government and private sector have not been able to address the backlog of 13.5 million housing units for ownership status and 7.6 million units for residential status. The high price of land has led to the high price of the house so that low-income communities (MBR) is not able to reach out to make a home purchase. In addition to the high price of land, tax factors also contribute to the high price of the house. The government plans to issue a policy for the provision of tax incentives, ie abolish VAT on home-forming material transaction. This policy is expected to house prices become cheaper, so the demand for housing increases, and encourage the relevant sectors to intensify its role in the construction of houses. It is expected to replace the lost tax potential and increase incomes. Analysis of the impact of tax incentives housing to potential state revenue and an increase in people's income, especially in Papua province is using the table IO because in addition to looking at the role each sector can also see the impact on taxes (income tax 21 Pph 25 Pph, VAT), and incomes (wage). Although in the short-term impact is still small, but very rewarding in the long run. Keywords: Backlog, Gross Input, Primary Input, Intermediate Input

Literalism and Moral Status

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carrie Figdor
Keyword(s):  
Moral Status ◽  
Moral Standing ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Long Run ◽  
Moral Boundaries ◽  
Psychological Capacities

Chapter 9 presents the idea that Literalism undermines current social and moral boundaries for moral status. Possession of psychological capacities, moral standing, and respectful treatment are a standard package deal. So either many more beings enjoy moral status than we now think, or the relative superiority of human moral status over other beings is diminished. It introduces the role of psychological ascriptions in drawing social and moral boundaries by examining dehumanization and anthropomorphism. It argues that in the short term Literalism does not motivate us to do more than make minor adjustments to current moral boundaries. We can distinguish the kinds of psychological capacities that matter for moral status from the kinds that best divide nature at its joints. In the long run, however, Literalism prompts us to reconsider the anthropocentric standards that govern current moral boundaries.

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