scholarly journals The Political Economy of Agricultural Market Reforms in Developing Countries

2009 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Paola Giuliano ◽  
Diego Scalise
Keyword(s):  
Developing Countries ◽  
Status Quo ◽  
The Political ◽  
Market Reforms ◽  
Political Arena ◽  
Agricultural Market ◽  
Government Ideology ◽  
The Status ◽  
International Price ◽  
Rural Representation

Abstract We study the determinants of agricultural market reforms in developing countries. What prompted the governments in these countries to abruptly begin deregulating their agricultural markets in the late 1980's? We answer this question by constructing a completely new dataset based on agricultural market regulations in 88 developing countries from 1960 to 2003. Our results suggest that the sudden and strong decline in the international price of agricultural commodities played a crucial role in destabilizing the financial equilibrium of marketing boards. In addition, changes in the rural representation in the political arena and government ideology also played significant roles in breaking up the status quo.

scholarly journals Narrating technonatures: discourses of biotechnology in a neoliberal era

2018 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 186
Author(s):  
Myles Carroll
Keyword(s):  
Social Justice ◽  
Social Relations ◽  
Power Relations ◽  
Status Quo ◽  
The Political ◽  
Effective Strategy ◽  
Economic Implications ◽  
Political Implications ◽  
The Status ◽  
Political Economic

This article considers the role played by discourses of nature in structuring the cultural politics of anti-GMO activism. It argues that such discourses have been successful rhetorical tools for activists because they mobilize widely resonant nature-culture dualisms that separate the natural and human worlds. However, these discourses hold dubious political implications. In valorizing the natural as a source of essential truth, natural purity discourses fail to challenge how naturalizations have been used to legitimize sexist, racist and colonial systems of injustice and oppression. Rather, they revitalize the discursive purchase of appeals to nature as a justification for the status quo, indirectly reinforcing existing power relations. Moreover, these discourses fail to challenge the critical though contingent reality of GMOs' location within the wider framework of neoliberal social relations. Fortunately, appeals to natural purity have not been the only effective strategy for opposing GMOs. Activist campaigns that directly target the political economic implications of GMOs within the context of neoliberalism have also had successes without resorting to appeals to the purity of nature. The successes of these campaigns suggest that while nature-culture dualisms remain politically effective normative groundings, concerns over equity, farmers' rights, and democracy retain potential as ideological terrains in the struggle for social justice.

scholarly journals Gestation, equality and freedom: ectogenesis as a political perspective

2019 ◽  
Vol 46 (2) ◽  
pp. 76-82 ◽  
Author(s):  
Giulia Cavaliere
Keyword(s):  
Status Quo ◽  
Positive Case ◽  
The Political ◽  
Small Subset ◽  
Human Fetuses ◽  
Political Perspective ◽  
Women's Equality ◽  
The Status ◽  
Limited Scope

The benefits of full ectogenesis, that is, the gestation of human fetuses outside the maternal womb, for women ground many contemporary authors’ arguments on the ethical desirability of this practice. In this paper, I present and assess two sets of arguments advanced in favour of ectogenesis: arguments stressing ectogenesis’ equality-promoting potential and arguments stressing its freedom-promoting potential. I argue that although successfully grounding a positive case for ectogenesis, these arguments have limitations in terms of their reach and scope. Concerning their limited reach, I contend that ectogenesis will likely benefit a small subset of women and, arguably, not the group who most need to achieve equality and freedom. Concerning their limited scope, I contend that these defences do not pay sufficient attention to the context in which ectogenesis would be developed and that, as a result, they risk leaving the status quo unchanged. After providing examples of these limitations, I move to my proposal concerning the role of ectogenesis in promoting women’s equality and freedom. This proposal builds on Silvia Federici’s, Mariarosa Dalla Costa’s and Selma James’ readings of the international feminist campaign ‘Wages for Housework’. It maintains that the political perspective and provocation that ectogenesis can advance should be considered and defended.

scholarly journals Bodily abjection and the politics of resistance in Tom Paulin’s Greek tragedies

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Isabelle Torrance
Keyword(s):  
Open Channel ◽  
Radical Change ◽  
Status Quo ◽  
The Political ◽  
Northern Irish ◽  
The Status ◽  
Politics Of Resistance ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Political Groups ◽  
Political Actions

Abstract Tom Paulin’s Greek tragedies present extremes of bodily abjection in order to service of a politics of resistance that is tied, in each case, to the political context of the drama’s production. The Riot Act (1984), Seize the Fire (1989), and Medea (2010), share a focus on the degradation of oppressed political groups and feature characters who destabilize the status quo. Yet the impact of disruptive political actions is not ultimately made clear. We are left wondering at the conclusion of each tragedy if the momentous acts of defiance we have witnessed have any power to create systemic change within politically rigged systems. The two 1980s plays are discussed together and form a sequence, with The Riot Act overtly addressing the Northern Irish conflict and Seize the Fire encompassing a broader sweep of oppressive regimes. The politics of discrimination in Medea are illuminated by comparison with similar themes in Paulin’s Love’s Bonfire (2010). Unlike other Northern Irish adaptations of Greek tragedy, Paulin’s dramas, arrested in their political moments, present little hope for the immediate future. Yet in asking us to consider if individual sacrifice is enough to achieve radical change they maintain an open channel for political discourse.

Mindset and Social Entrepreneurship: Japanese Self-initiated Expatriate Entrepreneurs in Cambodia

2018 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 68-88 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kazuko Yokoyama ◽  
Sarah Louisa Birchley
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Developing Countries ◽  
Social Entrepreneurship ◽  
Status Quo ◽  
Social Entrepreneurs ◽  
Extended Study ◽  
The Status ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Context Characteristics ◽  
Initial Research

This research is based on an extended study of Japanese self-initiated expatriate entrepreneurs (SIEEs) in Asia. Since 2015 the authors have explored various factors that influence SIEEs when setting up enterprises overseas, including the ability to take initiative; support and encouragement from family, a well-defined career anchor and exposure to overseas in the exploration stage of one’s career. An emerging trend is the desire to engage in social development activities, which has seen increasing numbers of Japanese leave well-paid companies at home to work in NGOs in developing countries. An extension of this can be seen in Japanese who choose to become self-initiated expatriate social entrepreneurs. This article focuses specifically on cases collected in Cambodia and attempts to explain how and why Japanese decide to become self-initiated expatriate social entrepreneurs in Cambodia using the concept of mindsets; entrepreneurial, social, sustainable and global. Initial research shows that some of these individuals exemplify the definition of sustainable entrepreneurship as they are creative and question the status quo in order to seek new opportunities for societal improvement ( Bornstein, 2007 ) and have multiple mindsets behind their actions. This research paper shares the context, characteristics, and outcomes of Japanese self-initiated expatriate social entrepreneurs in Cambodia and concludes by suggesting how knowledge of these SIEEs can be used in higher education contexts in Japan to improve entrepreneurship education.

The Armenian duduk resounds in Artsakh

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-11
Author(s):  
Milka Marie-Madeleine Malfait
Keyword(s):  
International Community ◽  
Status Quo ◽  
The Political ◽  
Mountainous Region ◽  
The Third ◽  
External Threats ◽  
The Future ◽  
The Status ◽  
Descriptive Method

Throughout its history, Artsakh had to guard against the external threats of Neo-Ottomanism. At the present time it is especially relevant. September 27, 2020 marks escalation of the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict over the disputed enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh – which means Artsakh in Armenian. This led to six weeks of cease fire, humanitarian disaster, which killed many people and destroyed cultural and religious heritage of Artsakh. The mountainous region is surrounded by Azerbaijani land, although populated by Armenians. Due to the political novelty of this issue, the author employed analytical and descriptive method. The acquired results demonstrate that the history repeats itself in Neo-Ottomanism, which has been a threat to Artsakh and Armenia since its emergence until the present day. In recent years, the concept of reunification with Armenia, as well as the independence of Artsakh, outlined the prospects for the future. The third solution to the conflict became the ceasefire agreement of 9 November 2020, nobly negotiated by Russia to save Armenia from military collapse. However, this solution is more painful than the status-quo. The main conclusion consists in the statement that the international community should be more vigilant and prevent the expansion of such threats.

What Changes for the Constitutional Court with the New Russian Constitution?

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 27-49
Author(s):  
Ivan S. Grigoriev
Keyword(s):  
Political System ◽  
Institutional Development ◽  
Status Quo ◽  
The Political ◽  
Constitutional Court ◽  
Locus Standi ◽  
The Status ◽  
Russian Constitution ◽  
International Obligations

Abstract Of the 206 amendments introduced to the Russian constitution and adopted on July 1, 2020, 24 deal directly with the Constitutional Court, its organization, functioning, and the role it plays in the political system. Compared to many other, these are also rather precise and detailed, ranging from the number of judges on the bench, their nomination and dismissal, to the Court’s inner procedures, new locus standi limitations, and the primacy of the Constitution over Russia’s international obligations. Most changes only reproduce amendments brought to the secondary legislation over the last twenty years, and are therefore meant to preserve the status quo rather than change anything significantly. At the same time, a number of amendments aim at politicizing and instrumentalizing the Court for the president’s benefit, marking a significant departure from the previous institutional development.

Displaced Vision: The Politics of Realism in Kracauer and Kluge1

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tara Forrest
Keyword(s):  
Physical Reality ◽  
Status Quo ◽  
The Political ◽  
Siegfried Kracauer ◽  
The Future ◽  
Value Judgements ◽  
The Status ◽  
Alexander Kluge

This chapter focuses on some of the key intersections between the theories of cinematic realism developed by Siegfried Kracauer and Alexander Kluge. While, on the surface, their definitions of realism may appear very different, on closer view it is clear that both theorists are concerned with the role that a realist film practice can play in displacing the spectator’s vision and, in the process, facilitating a mode of perception that is not inflected by the ‘ideas’ and ‘value judgements’ that shape and delimit our experience of the present. Focusing on Kracauer’s Theory of Film: The Redemption of Physical Reality and on Kluge’s essays on the political promise of an “antagonistic” realist aesthetic, this chapter explores the role that a realist film practice can play in reanimating the viewer’s capacity to conceive of the possibilities of the future outside the parameters of the status quo.

The political significance of data visualization: Four key perspectives

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Torgeir Uberg Nærland
Keyword(s):  
Social Theory ◽  
Data Visualization ◽  
Status Quo ◽  
Public Deliberation ◽  
The Political ◽  
Progressive Change ◽  
The Status ◽  
Data Visualizations

Practitioners and scholars alike assume that data visualization can have political significance—as vehicle for progressive change, manipulation, or maintaining the status quo. There are, however, a variety of ways in which we can think of data visualization as politically significant. These perspectives imply differing notions of both ‘politics’ and ‘significance’. Drawing upon political and social theory, this chapter identifies and outlines four key perspectives: data visualization and 1) public deliberation, 2) ideology, 3) citizenship, and 4) as a political-administrative steering tool. The aim of this chapter is thus to provide a framework that helps clarify the various contexts, processes, and capacities through which data visualizations attain political significance.

The transnational policy process for REDD+ and domestic policy entrepreneurship in developing countries

2017 ◽  
Vol 35 (8) ◽  
pp. 1418-1436 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sébastien Jodoin
Keyword(s):  
Developing Countries ◽  
Policy Process ◽  
Policy Reform ◽  
Analytical Framework ◽  
Status Quo ◽  
Domestic Policy ◽  
Governance Arrangement ◽  
Policy Entrepreneurship ◽  
The Status ◽  
Domestic Level

This article aims to understand the complex relationship between transnational pathways of policy influence and strategies of domestic policy entrepreneurship in the pursuit of REDD+ in developing countries. Since 2007, a complex governance arrangement exerting influence through the provision of international rules, norms, markets, knowledge, and material assistance has supported the diffusion of REDD+ policies around the world. These transnational pathways of influence have played an important role in the launch of REDD+ policy-making processes at the domestic level. Indeed, over 60 developing countries in Asia, Africa, and Latin America have initiated multi-year programmes of policy reform, research, and capacity-building that aim to lay the groundwork for the implementation of REDD+. However, there is emerging evidence that the nature of policy change associated with these REDD+ policy efforts ultimately depends on the mediating influence of domestic factors. This article offers an analytical framework that focuses on whether and how domestic policy actors can seize the opportunities provided by transnational policy pathways for REDD+ to challenge or reinforce the status quo in the governance of forests and related sectors.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document