The rise of big philanthropy in global social policy: implications for policy transfer and analysis

A new group of Western development donors has emerged as increasingly influential actors in global social policy. Big philanthropies have begun implementing social protection projects on a vast scale across the Global South and have become integrated within global governance structures. It is essential to examine whether their approach to social policy in the South is effective, legitimate and desirable for the substantive agendas and programmes in these countries and for analysis of social policy in a development context. This study investigates contemporary big philanthropies through a qualitative case-study of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and its role in the health sector in Tanzania. It examines the ways in which big philanthropies engage and seek to influence policy on the ground, directly exploring the views and experiences of local stakeholders. The study finds that big philanthropies have distinctive features and mechanisms as global social policy entrepreneurs. In contrast to the vertical and linear processes associated with traditional policy transfer, a more messy and complex set of mechanisms are observed. The study also indicates that despite considerable resources and authority, philanthropic donors may not be effective in securing policy reform within aid-receiving countries due to a lack of transparency and embeddedness.

Appeared Problem and Effectiveness of Strategy in Developing Western Provinces

This paper 1 analyzed and compared the main macroeconomic indicators of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR) of China and the other provinces in China, by using the macroeconomic data of China and 12 western provinces from 1999 to 2011 and considering the indicators of average developing level and economic development. Results from this study shows that the main problems existing in the process of economic development include several aspects in XUAR, such as lacking scale of fixed and foreign investment, and existed big gap of people's income between XUAR and the whole country and the other western provinces, and also, the industrial structure is not reasonable. Therefore, XUAR should fully use the golden opportunity for a new round of western development strategy including national policy on counterpart support, and makes effort in improving investment environment and expanding the ways to attract foreign investment as well as increasing the resident’s income to reduce the gap in income. Currently, the most urgent task of XUAR is to adjust local industrial structure and speed up the social economy so as to catch up with the average developing level of China.

UIGHURS IN XINJIANG: ECONOMIC DISCRIMINATION AND POLITICAL REPRESSION

This paper deals with the political economy of systematic discrimination of Uighurs in Xinjiang, the Turkish minority in the province by the Chinese Communist Party. The various economic projects like the Western Development Program(WDP) and Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) further exacerbated the alienation of the ethnic minority. Through such programs, the Chinese government encouraged the Han population to Migrate into Xinjiang, and 'hanication'of the province culminated in widening the inequality and relative deprivation of the Uighurs. The tensions after the new development projects increased the secessionist and national tendencies among them. During the covid-19 outbreak, the government intensied the repressive measures, and the question of Uighurs in economic terms remains unresolved

Settling and 'selling' Canada's West : the role of immigration

This major research paper explores the promotional immigration material created by the Department of Agriculture during Sir John A. Macdonald's time as Prime Minister and within the context of western migration. The paper begins by examining the historiography of Canadian western expansion and continues by exploring the idea of western development as espoused by the business elites in Upper and Lower Canada. Sir John A. Macdonald's National Policy, which focused on increased tariffs, the completion of a transnational railway, and immigration are explored as well. Many attribute the active promotion of Canada to Europeans overseas with Clifford Sifton and the Laurier government. Sifton is known for having envisioned an agricultural paradise in western Canada and the idea of attracting hardworking peasant farmers, yet the contents of the promotional materials produced by the Department of Agriculture contain the same themes.

Settling and 'selling' Canada's West : the role of immigration

This major research paper explores the promotional immigration material created by the Department of Agriculture during Sir John A. Macdonald's time as Prime Minister and within the context of western migration. The paper begins by examining the historiography of Canadian western expansion and continues by exploring the idea of western development as espoused by the business elites in Upper and Lower Canada. Sir John A. Macdonald's National Policy, which focused on increased tariffs, the completion of a transnational railway, and immigration are explored as well. Many attribute the active promotion of Canada to Europeans overseas with Clifford Sifton and the Laurier government. Sifton is known for having envisioned an agricultural paradise in western Canada and the idea of attracting hardworking peasant farmers, yet the contents of the promotional materials produced by the Department of Agriculture contain the same themes.

Unwritten Rule

In 2012, Cambodia — an epicenter of violent land grabbing — announced a bold new initiative to develop land redistribution efforts inside agribusiness concessions. This book focuses on this land reform to understand the larger nature of democracy in Cambodia. The book contends that the national land-titling program, the so-called leopard skin land reform, was first and foremost a political campaign orchestrated by the world's longest-serving prime minister, Hun Sen. The reform aimed to secure the loyalty of rural voters, produce “modern” farmers, and wrest control over land distribution from local officials. Through ambiguous legal directives and unwritten rules guiding the allocation of land, the government fostered uncertainty and fear within local communities. The book gives pause both to celebratory claims that land reform will enable land tenure security, and to critical claims that land reform will enmesh rural people more tightly in state bureaucracies and create a fiscally legible landscape. Instead, the book argues that the extension of formal property rights strengthened the very patronage-based politics that Western development agencies hope to subvert.

Measurement of Urban Expansion and Spatial Correlation of Central Yunnan Urban Agglomeration Using Nighttime Light Data

The Central Yunnan Urban Agglomeration (CYUA) is an important zone of western development in China. The clarification of the spatial structure and changing trends in CYUA could help promote the coordinated development of the CYUA and enhance the overall competitiveness of the region. Based on data from the Yunnan Statistical Yearbook and the nighttime light data, this paper extracts the urban built-up area of the CYUA and analyzes the urban expansion and urban spatial connection intensity of the CYUA from 2000 to 2018 by using the urban gravity center model and the gravity model. The results show the following: (1) From 2000 to 2018, the urban built-up area of the CYUA expanded rapidly, and the urban built-up area increased by 369.35%, with Kunming accounting for 45.41% of the increased area. Kunming was the main contributor to the increase in the urban built-up area in the CYUA. From 2000 to 2018, the urban built-up areas of the CYUA were scattered in various mountain basins. (2) Overall, the urban gravity center of the CYUA has moved to Kunming, and the distance of the urban gravity center has increased since 2005, indicating that urban expansion has accelerated since 2005. (3) The development of the CYUA is extremely unbalanced. The urban spatial connection intensity between Kunming city, Yuxi city, and Qujing city, and Yi Autonomous Prefecture of Chuxiong is relatively strong, while the urban spatial connection intensity among cities other than Kunming is weak. Overall, the CYUA is characterized by stellar radiation with Kunming city as the core and Yuxi city as the secondary core.