Convicts

Clare Anderson provides a radical new reading of histories of empire and nation, showing that the history of punishment is not solely connected to the emergence of prisons and penitentiaries, but to histories of governance, occupation, and global connections across the world. Exploring punitive mobility to islands, colonies, and remote inland and border regions over a period of five centuries, she proposes a close and enduring connection between punishment, governance, repression, and nation and empire building, and reveals how states, imperial powers, and trading companies used convicts to satisfy various geo-political and social ambitions. Punitive mobility became intertwined with other forms of labour bondage including enslavement, with convicts a key source of unfree labour that could be used to occupy territories. Far from passive subjects, however, convicts manifested their agency in various forms, including the extension of political ideology and cultural transfer, and vital contributions to contemporary knowledge production.

Assessment of Policies and Harm Reduction Services for Young People Who Use Drugs in Kathmandu Valley of Nepal: Identifying Gaps and Opportunities

Background: Young people under 30 represent the majority of people who use drugs in the Kathmandu Valley, Nepal. Young people who use drugs (YPWUD) may have particular needs and require different service and policy responses when compared to their older peers. This research examines the strengths and limitations of currently available policies and services; their effectiveness in meeting the needs of YPWUD and identifies gaps and opportunities for their improvement.Methodology: Semi-structured interviews (n=9) with key stakeholders and one focus group (n=5) discussion with YPWUD were conducted. Results were analyzed using the Rhodes Risk Environment framework which considers the ‘physical’, ‘social’, ‘economic’ and ‘policy’ level factors shaping risk at ‘micro’, ‘meso’ and ‘macro’ levels.Results: Drug use patterns among YPWUD in the Kathmandu Valley, Nepal are changing. Several trends have been identified including increased use of methamphetamine, diverted pharmaceuticals and ‘Southasian-Cocktail’ (a mixture of buprenorphine, benzodiazepine and antihistamines); use at the border regions and a move away from drug dealing ‘hotspots’ to online drug purchasing. YPWUD and service providers report a range of barriers to accessing services including stigma and discrimination; a lack of local services; a lack of knowledge of existing services; age of consent legislation and opening hours which may conflict with commitments such as school and college. YPWUD report a range of human rights violations including involuntary treatment, arbitrary detention, forced labour and public body searches. Service providers and policymakers report precarious international donor funding of services through HIV prevention programs with little to no youth-specific services for YPWUD.Conclusion: The findings of this study highlight the importance of youth-friendly harm reduction services that are relevant and responsive to the unique needs and experiences of YPWUD. These services should address current trends including the use of new substances (for example, methamphetamine and ‘Southasian Cocktail’) in diverse environments (including at the border regions and online). The perspectives of YPWUD are vital while developing and implementing harm reduction programs to ensure that the programs are effective, efficient and based on the diverse needs of YPWUD.

Understanding biosphere-precipitation relationships: Theory, model simulations and logical inferences

The four major biophysical controls of vegetation which govern land-atmosphere interaction emanate from the ability or vegetation to. (a) evapotranspire (b) trap solar radiation within leaf organizations. (c) regulate evapotranspiration by stomatal control and (d) modify (generally increase) the surface roughness on the scale of turbulent eddies, Simulation studies with General Circulation Models together with a few observational analyses have provided a rational understanding of vegetation-precipitation interaction. In studies with artificially enhanced vegetation-related processes a strong dependence of rainfall on vegetation has been inferred. For Sahelian and other tropical desert-border regions, where evapotranspiration is small, increasing the surface-albedo (desertification) decreases rainfall. When evaportranspiration and or land-surface roughness are increased in some selected regions - a potential effect of vegetation an increase in local rainfall is produced. The above effects both individually and jointly have simulated increased monsoon rainfall over the Indian subcontinent. Modelling studies directed at understanding the relationship between tropical forests and rainfall with realistic models of the biosphere have simulated a warmer and drier climate in response to Amazonian deforestation. Since forests absorb more solar energy and produce much larger evaportranspiration, as well as moisture convergence through the surface-roughness effect, positive feedback effect of forests on precipitation can be expected naturally. Our new simulation experiments not only reaffirmed the above results but also suggested potential global consequences due to the ongoing deforestation. From a synthesis of modeling results of the last decade, it if further inferred that variations in the biosphere-atmospheric interactions play an important role in redistributing continental precipitation to fulfill the survival and growth requirements of different biomes: forests, pasture, agricultural lands, and deserts.

Maghreb 2021: Political Development Impasses and Threats to the Subregional System

The article is devoted to the relevant issues of international relations in the Maghreb subregion, which became especially acute after the rupture of diplomatic relations between Algeria and Morocco in August 2021. The authors analyze the general parameters of the Maghreb subsystem of international relations and identify key trends in the internal political development of its member states. The growing tension in the bilateral relations between Algeria and Morocco is only a symptom of the general crisis of the regional subsystem. The study is based on the analysis of a wide array of information and analytical materials and documents, as well as the authors field research in the border regions of Morocco (2019) and Algeria (2018, 2019) and interviews with Maghreb politicians (2020, 2021). The first part of the article highlights the key parameters of the Maghreb subsystem, describes its internal architecture, reveals the interconnections with other regional subsystems, and identifies the development trends of the Maghreb that took shape in the 2010s. The second part analyzes the internal political dynamics in Libya, Tunisia and Algeria. The current situation in each country can be described as an impasse, both in terms of the development of the democratic process and the possibilities for national consolidation on an authoritarian basis. The political elites of the region are unable to offer realistic strategies for state development and it leads to the growing alienation of societies. The third part of the article reveals the implications of political development crises for the regional relations. The authors conclude by putting forward a scenario of a partial reorientation of a number of Maghreb states from a deeper Mediterranean integration to finding other allies. They also identify prospects for rebalancing relations of Maghreb states with their Arab partners. In the framework of these processes the elites can use conflicting foreign policy agenda for the national consolidation of some countries. Finally, the authors raise the question of seeking new models of state and regional development in the Maghreb.

Speciális régiótípusok az Európai Unió regionális egyenlőtlenségeiben

n the regional policy of the European Union, the importance of regional typologies linked to specific geographical elements has varied over the past decades. This article shows that since the 1990s the role of these specific regional typologies, and thus of regional characteristics, in European regional policy has been declining. However, the analysis of a wide range of socio-economic data reveals that some types of regions (sparsely populated regions, outermost regions, external border regions) are in a particularly unfavourable socio-economic situation, while others may need specific support not at European but at macro-regional level (for example, the coastal regions of the Mediterranean). The article concludes that, although the value of GDP per capita is indeed only marginally explained by the different regional typologies, broadening the concept of underdevelopment and recognising macro-regional challenges could be a priority for the European Union.

Mongolia’s Soft Power Tools in Relation to Russian Regions at the Beginning of the 21st Century.

This article discusses the features of international relations in Inner Asia through the prism of the Russian-Mongolian relationship. The specifics of contemporary bilateral relationships is determined by the nature of mutual influence in the economic, political and humanitarian spheres. The aim of this research is to analyze Mongolian implementation of the concept of ‘soft power’ in relation to the regions of Russia, which are culturally and historically defined as a ‘Mongolian world’. It was revealed that the foreign policy of Mongolia in relation to Russian regions such as the Republic of Buryatia, Republic of Tuva, Irkutsk and Trans-Baikal regions is being implemented in several directions. The first one is daily trade and economic contacts between Russian and Mongolian citizens. The second direction is represented by ethno-cultural holidays and festivals, within the framework of which the Mongolian language and traditions are promoted. The existing demand for the preservation and development of national cultures and languages of the indigenous peoples of Russia creates conditions for stimulating interest in all Mongolian language, literature, clothing, cuisine, cultural and sports events. Finally, Mongolia's success in fighting the pandemic during 2020 and its humanitarian assistance to the Russian regions affected by Coronavirus are also tools of ‘soft power’. The result of this policy is the spread of Mongolian influence in the border regions of the Russian Federation. In this regard, Moscow should also pay certain attention to these processes when building a strategy of bilateral relations at state level.

De verbeelding van moeras en veen

The Representation of Marsh and Bog: Figurations of the Marshy Soil as a Topos of Community in Contemporary German-Language Belgian Literature Literature from border regions is often characterised by a specific transcultural poetics that reflects the liminal as discourse and experience. In contemporary German-language prose from East Belgium (‘Ostbelgien’), the topological representation of swamp and moor occupies an important place. We will show how swamp and moor express the complex definition of national and regional identity of the German-language area in Belgium and become relevant topoi in regard to cultural memory. Literature can be seen as a privileged medium of criticism for expressing the pressures of the unspoken and the closed and for initiating intra-community public discussions. Through a cultural-historical analysis of the various figurations of bog and moor, we will examine how the relationship between landscape and community is represented and conceived in contemporary Germanophone Belgian literature.

Collaborative Destination Management of V4 Countries and Germany During the Covid-19 Pandemic

Tourism destinations need to develop a coordinated approach to the development of new tourism options. One possibility is to strengthen domestic tourism in the own country and to support local hotels and restaurants. However, rebuilding the destination requires a coordinated approach; for instance, collaborations with cross-border regions. Collaborative destination management is an approach to work with partner countries to jointly address the challenges of pandemics by establishing different types of tourism. Recommendations for action are identified from the PESTLE and SWOT analysis to ensure successful collaborative destination management of V4 countries and Germany during the Covid-19 pandemic. These analyses were performed because of brainstorming and the Delphi method with 4 experts from several fields of this study. Therefore, a strategy based on the TOWS Matrix reflects what a new collaborative destination management approach could look like during the current crisis for the Euroregions.

Comparative Politics in Borderlands: Actors, Identities, and Strategies

Comparativists are increasingly researching national border regions. Yet the distinct way in which proximity to borders independently shapes politics is rarely theorized explicitly. Drawing on the emerging subdiscipline of border studies, we identify three types of border effects: Borders involve specific actors, shape local identities, and provide distinct strategies, each of which directly affects key areas of comparative politics. An in-depth review of work on political violence and state formation shows that specifying these effects ( a) demands that comparativists consider the ways in which borderlands differ from other regions and be careful in attributing processes found there to nations as a whole, ( b) improves theories by elucidating scope conditions, and ( c) scrutinizes the validity of our research designs and measurement strategies. We end with a call to move from a comparative politics in border regions to a comparative politics of border regions that contextualizes how borders alter political processes. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Political Science, Volume 25 is May 2022. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.