A SHORT ARGUMENT FOR BELIEF IN PROGRESS

Think ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (60) ◽  
pp. 51-56
Author(s):  
Saul Smilansky
Keyword(s):  
Technological Innovation ◽  
Political Correctness ◽  
Social Progress ◽  
The West

The notion of social progress is not much in favour in these sophisticated times of scepticism, cynicism, relativism and political correctness; at least in the West. Most people might admit that some indubitable advances have occurred, primarily in terms of this or that useful technological innovation. But any wider claim about ‘social progress’ is often met by overwhelming doubt and suspicion, if not outright derision. I provide a short argument for belief in progress.

Globalization of Educational Knowledge and Research

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Keita Takayama
Keyword(s):  
Education Policy ◽  
Student Assessment ◽  
Knowledge Flows ◽  
Social Progress ◽  
High Achievers ◽  
Global Knowledge ◽  
The West ◽  
International Student Assessment ◽  
The World ◽  
Lesson Drawing

Transnational flows of educational knowledge and research are fundamentally guided by the global geopolitics of knowledge—the historically constituted relations of power born out of the continuing legacy of modernity/coloniality. In the early nation-building stage of the 19th century, state-funded education was at the core of states’ pursuit for economic and social progress. Newly formed nation states actively sought new educational knowledge from countries considered more advanced in the global race toward modernity and industrialization. The transnational lesson drawing in education at the time was guided by the view of modernity as originating in and diffusing from the West. This created the unidirectional flow of educational influence from advanced economies of the West to the rest of the world. Central to the rise of modernity in Western state formation is the use of education as a technology of social regulations. Through the expansion of state-funded education, people were turned into the people, self-governing citizens, and then the population that was amenable to a state’s social and economic calculation and military deployment. But this development was embedded in the geopolitical context of the time, in which Western modernity was deeply entangled with its underside, coloniality in the rest of the world. Various uses of education as a social control were tested out first in colonial peripheries and then brought back to the imperial centers. Today, the use of education for the modernist pursuit of perfecting society has been intensified through the constitution of the globalized education policy space. International organizations such as the World Bank and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) act as the nodes through which transnational networks of education policy actors are formed, where the power of statistics for social and educational progress is widely shared. Both developed and developing countries are increasingly incorporated into this shared epistemological space, albeit through different channels and due to different factors. The rise of international academic testing such as OECD’s Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) has certainly changed the traditional pattern of education research and knowledge flows, and more lesson drawing from countries and regions outside the Anglo-European context is pursued. And yet, the challenges that PISA poses to the Eurocentric pattern of educational knowledge and research flows are curtailed by the persistence of the colonial legacy. This most clearly crystalizes in the dismissive and derogatory characterization of East Asian PISA high achievers in the recent PISA debate. Hence, the current globalization of education knowledge and research remains entangled with the active legacy of coloniality, the uneven global knowledge structure.

scholarly journals Evaluation and Policy Research on the Sustainable Development of China’s Rare Earth Resources

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (10) ◽  
pp. 3792 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xuedong Liang ◽  
Meng Ye ◽  
Li Yang ◽  
Wanbing Fu ◽  
Zhi Li
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Rare Earth ◽  
Environmental Protection ◽  
Technological Innovation ◽  
Entropy Method ◽  
Evaluation Index System ◽  
Protection System ◽  
Social Progress ◽  
The Sustainable Development ◽  
Low Efficiency

As rare earth resources are indispensable raw materials for modern society, they have become strategic global reserve resources. Even though China is the world’s largest producer and exporter of rare earth, the industry has low efficiency and severe problems with over-exploitation and environmental pollution; therefore, there needs to be a greater focus on the sustainable exploitation of rare earth resources. This paper establishes an innovative evaluation index system for the sustainable development of China’s rare earth resources from six main aspects; economic development, social progress, environmental protection, technological innovation, rare earth development and utilization, and rare earth protection in which the indicators are assessed using an entropy method. Grey correlation analysis was used to evaluate China’s rare earth sustainable development level from 2006–2016, from which it was found that sustainable development was poor from 2006–2010 and marginally better from 2011–2016. The main factor affecting rare earth sustainable development in China was found to be the lag in the development of environment protection system and rare earth protection system. Policy recommendations for improving China’s rare earth protection, environmental protection, and technological innovation are proposed to guide government regulations and assist rare earth industry personnel.

The Origin of Balloon Framing

1981 ◽  
Vol 40 (4) ◽  
pp. 311-319 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul E. Sprague
Keyword(s):  
Technological Innovation ◽  
Rapid Growth ◽  
The West ◽  
Wooden Frame ◽  
Basic Ingredient ◽  
Early Issue ◽  
Chicago River ◽  
Frame Construction ◽  
First Time ◽  
The Village

Modern interest in the balloon frame dates from 1941 when Siegfried Giedion identified the inventor of this important technological innovation in wooden construction as George Snow of Chicago. According to Giedion, Snow used the technique for the first time in 1833 to build St. Mary's Church in Chicago. Walker Field, writing in an early issue of the SAH Journal corrected Giedion's assertion by proving that if St. Mary's Church possessed the first balloon frame, then its inventor had to be the builder of that church, a carpenter named Augustine Taylor. Here we are able to verify that indeed it was George Snow who originated balloon framing, but in 1832, not 1833, and in the erection of a building that was not a church, but a warehouse. Further investigations have revealed the probable location of Snow's warehouse on the bank of the Chicago River near its mouth, and have provided plausible explanations as to why Snow built in so revolutionary a way in so primitive a place as the village of Chicago-viz., the sudden and rapid growth of Chicago, the lack of large timbers and the services of skilled carpenters needed for ordinary frame construction, and the availability of scantling and nails. From this modest experiment in building evolved a system of wooden construction that not only made possible the rapid settlement of the treeless regions of the West, but which still serves in modified form as the basic ingredient of contemporary wooden frame construction.

scholarly journals Health Diplomacy and Regional Integration in West Africa: The West African Health Organization’s Experience

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benjamin Uchenna Anaemene
Keyword(s):  
West Africa ◽  
Regional Integration ◽  
Health Agency ◽  
West African ◽  
Social Progress ◽  
Regional Health ◽  
African Countries ◽  
The West ◽  
African Health ◽  
The Social

From the outset the founding fathers of Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) recognized the relevance of integration in the social sector based on the conviction that intense cooperation in the economic and political sectors alone will not bring about lasting regional integration. For instance, the ECOWAS treaty of 1975 and revised treaty of 1993 had the promotion of social progress and collaboration in the social field as one of the objectives of the community. Yet scholars have not given it the deserved attention. This paper therefore represents an attempt to assess the extent to which the West African Health Organization (WAHO), a specialized health agency of ECOWAS, has contributed to regional health integration in West Africa. It argues that regional integration and cooperation should not be geared solely towards economic and political purposes. It also examines the achievements as well as the major challenges confronting WAHO. It concludes that regional health integration is no longer an option but an imperative for West African countries to meet their common health challenges.  

scholarly journals Research on the Dynamic Interrelationship among R&D Investment, Technological Innovation, and Economic Growth in China

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (11) ◽  
pp. 4260 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chao Liu ◽  
Guanjun Xia
Keyword(s):  
Economic Growth ◽  
Economic Development ◽  
Technological Innovation ◽  
Market Integration ◽  
Mutual Influence ◽  
Impulse Response Function ◽  
Indicator System ◽  
Social Progress ◽  
Innovation Ability ◽  
D Investment

Technological innovation is an important driving force for a country’s sustainable economic development and social progress, and can be achieved through R&D investment, which would lead to sustainable economic growth. This process is one of the important steps for China to realize the transformation of the economic growth mode and the development from extensive to intensive type. Since R&D investment, technological innovation, and economic growth are mutually influential and inseparable, it is particularly important to understand the interrelationship between the three. By collating data from China from 1995 to 2016, this paper established an indicator system of R&D investment, technological innovation, and economic growth as research variables. Vector autoregression model, impulse response function, and variance decomposition function were adopted. A long-term stable dynamic interrelationship among the three was revealed. The empirical analysis showed that in recent years, the growth of R&D investment, technological innovation, and economic growth stagnated or even slowly declined, which indicated that the economic development had insufficient stamina. The conversion efficiency of R&D investment was not high, and R&D investment for short-term profit was ubiquitous. The innovation ability of scientific and technological achievements was not strong, the conversion rate of scientific and technological achievements was not high, and the market integration process was relatively slow. Overall, a good circular mechanism has not been established among R&D investment, technological innovation, and economic growth. Based on this, China should improve the mutual influence and interrelationship among R&D investment, technological innovation, and economic growth. The transmission mechanism among the three should be optimized and stable economic growth promoted, for example, by increasing R&D investment, enhancing the efficiency of R&D funds, improving the incentive system for scientific and technological innovation, and promting the effective use and marketization integration of innovation achievements.

Omar Noman. Economic and Social Progress in Asia: Why Pakistan Did Not Become a Tiger. Karachi: Oxford University Press, 1997. 324 pages. Hardbound. Rs 575.00.

1997 ◽  
Vol 36 (2) ◽  
pp. 203-207
Author(s):  
Faisal Bari
Keyword(s):  
Economic Development ◽  
Sri Lanka ◽  
South Korea ◽  
South Asia ◽  
The Other ◽  
Social Progress ◽  
The West ◽  
Oxford University ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
The World

Most people in Pakistan look towards the West for models of economic development, and some even look to the Islamic past. But in recent decades, the more spectacular cases have been much closer to home, and towards the East. Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan are already in the ranks of the developed, while China, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Thailand are making good progress. Despite the recent setbacks, their progress over the last three decades has been enviable. On the other hand, the countries in South Asia have lagged behind. Four decades ago there was little to choose between most of these countries, but by the seventies, the paths of some had clearly diverged, while others were beginning to diverge. Today, Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka are amongst the poorest in the world, and on certain measures, they are the poorest! What happened in the last four decades? This is the issue that Omar Noman tackles in this book.

Coopetition among competitors in global industries: drivers that lead to coopetitive agreements

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Francesco Maurizio Garraffo ◽  
Suzanna Lamria Siregar
Keyword(s):  
Technological Innovation ◽  
Cultural Distance ◽  
Social Progress ◽  
Technological Innovations ◽  
Chinese Firms ◽  
Data Accessibility ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Car Industry ◽  
Industry Level ◽  
Cultural Similarity

Purpose The purpose of this study is to focus on a growing strategic approach in global industries: the coopetition. Cooperation among competitors, namely, coopetition, is a strategic guideline in many global industries affected by technological innovation. This study discussed the effect of firm-, inter-firm- and industry-level drivers leading to coopetitive agreements in global industries affected by technological innovation. Design/methodology/approach By using an event history analysis, the authors develop a framework on firm-, inter-firm- and industry-level drivers on the likelihood of each competitor in the industry entering into coopetitive agreements in global competitive contexts. Empirical data are analyzed in five global industries: car industry, telecommunication industry, air transportation industry, bank industry and computer programming services industry. Findings The results of this study suggest that firms’ experience in cooperation (H1) predicts whether a firm will enter a coopetitive agreement. Moreover, the cultural similarity among competitors (H2) predicts whether a firm will enter a coopetitive agreement with a culturally similar competitor, while the total number of competitors already involved in coopetitive agreements (H3) has a low positive effect on the likelihood of a firm to coopete. Finally, the speed of agreements among competitors (H4) and the total number of coopetitive agreements in the industry (H5) (only in the car industry and software industry) are positively related to the chance of a firm entering into a coopetitive agreement. Research limitations/implications First, the authors identified and tested specific drivers of coopetition as a result of the literature review and data accessibility. The results may have omitted some variables able to further explain the event of coopetition. Second, the results of cultural distance versus cultural similarity revealed differences on firms’ behavior according to their different nationality. Chinese firms were the most oriented to deal coopetitive agreements with other Chinese firms, while firms from other countries were progressively less oriented by cultural similarity. These results may lead to studies of the “country of origin effect” on which partners to include in coopeititve agreements or which network of partners to join. Finally, the findings of this study are based on five industries over a specific ten years period of time. Consequently, the results certainly reflect the evolution of these industries over the time period considered. Practical implications The empirical investigation clarifies the relationship between decisions on strategy and competitive dynamics with the decision-making option to coopete. While managers take into account strategic moves against competitors, according to the authors’ investigation, it is valuable to consider coopetitive actions, especially when other competitors are involved in coopetitive agreements and the industry is affected by technological innovation. Moreover, the knowledge of drivers at the firm, inter-firm and industry level affecting coopetition is helpful to identify the weak or strong signals that show the rise and proliferation of coopetition in an industry. Social implications This study highlights the relevance of coopetition as an emerging approach in the competition among firms for developing or exploiting technological innovations. This approach can improve results in technological innovations that can have an impact in sustainability as well as new innovative solutions for social progress. Originality/value In literature, attention has been focused on drivers explaining the growing number of coopetitive agreements in several industries. Some contributions already discussed this topic from the perspective of costs and benefits for players. This study tries to continue to fill this research gap by studying, at firm, inter-firm and industry level, drivers of the likelihood of each competitor in the industry entering into coopetitive agreements in global competitive contexts.

The NFL Comes of Age

2020 ◽  
pp. 33-52
Author(s):  
Richard C. Crepeau
Keyword(s):  
World War Ii ◽  
Technological Innovation ◽  
National Football League ◽  
World War ◽  
The West ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Media ◽  
Sports Illustrated ◽  
American Society ◽  
Television Audience

The fifteen years following World War II were a period of prosperity and technological innovation on a scale that transformed American society and produced a consumer driven economy. The NFL rode this wave of change to unprecedented heights. As the war came to an end Arch Ward, Paul Brown and others founded the All-America Football Conference taking professional football to the West Coast and opening a battle with the National Football League. Brown’s success in Cleveland led Dan Reeves to move the Rams to Los Angles, and that move led to the desegregation of the NFL. Player salaries increased and the league became more competitive. The merger of the two leagues with the Browns, Colts, and Forty-Niners joining the NFL came in 1950. The professionalization of all facets of the game both on and off the field was led by Paul Brown, who transformed coaching techniques and dominated the AAFC and the NFL with such players as Otto Graham and Dante Lavelli, and by virtue of the desegregation of his team as he signed Marion Motley and Bill Willis. The New NFL caught the eye of the public and under the leadership of Bert Bell used, and then dominated, television to became a major force in American sport. The rise of television and the rise of the NFL went hand-in-hand and reached a crescendo when the large television audience watched the NFL Championship Game of 1958 go into “sudden death” overtime. The NFL’s growth also coincided with the start of Sports Illustrated and the magazine bet its future by focusing its coverage on the NFL. The other element of success was the NFL’s emphasis on a macho philosophy and the violence of the game. Players like Sam Huff and Bobby Lane were lauded in the media for their toughness and their off-field lifestyles.

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