Déjà vu: economic determinants of Russia’s power in the historical perspective (1890–2020)

What reasons stood behind the instability of the power position of Russia over the last 130 years? This analysis, covering three periods of time: 1890–1913, 1980–1991, and 2000–2020, reveals astonishing similarities of structural economic problems that led to severe economic and socio-political crises. Despite different causes, each time the crisis was triggered by insufficient savings compared to needs resulting from a program of economic modernisation and imperial policy, low competitiveness of industry, and dependence on export of raw materials. These vulnerabilities of Russia became especially apparent under extraordinary circumstances (wars, economic blockades, sanctions).

Works councils and the digitalisation of manufacturing: Opportunity or threat for their power position?

In the course of the so-called ‘digital transformation’, the digitalisation of manufacturing is on the agenda in many companies. Are works councils, as an important form of workplace representation of employees’ interests, prepared to bring employees’ interests into company digitalisation processes, and does this affect their own position of power? To answer these questions, four in-depth qualitative case studies of works councils from German industrial companies are conducted. The results show that works councils can rely on important resources in the bargaining of digitalisation processes. Through the combination of resource use with other factors, such as the perception of digitalisation and the (un)willingness of management to involve works councils, three different constellations can be identified under which dealing with digitalisation represents an opportunity or a threat for works councils.

Biden’s China Policy: Old Wine in New Bottles?

The Biden Administration has accepted the Trump Administration’s definition of China as a ‘strategic competitor’, and has retained Trump’s tariffs, the ‘Quad’, and the upgrade in Taiwan’s protocol status. But Biden’s China policy is different from Trump’s in being truly strategic. The key elements of that strategy are focused on improving the United States’ competitiveness domestically and in international affairs; cooperation with allies and partners; an emphasis on human rights; partial decoupling of economic and technology relationships; and a search for some areas of cooperation with China. Success for the Biden strategy would consist neither of bottling up China in its current global power position nor in achieving a negotiated condominium in Asia. The Biden Administration would succeed if the United States can maintain its alliance system, keep a robust military presence in East Asia and prevent the forcible integration of Taiwan into China while avoiding major war. Several features of the China challenge make it reasonable to hope that such success is possible.

Gendered Acts of Face Negotiations in Teacher-Student Interaction: A Linguistic Ethnographic Investigation of Salutation

This article examined salutation as a valued and nuanced socio-cultural practice that serves the purpose of socially positioning interactants and impacting on face negotiations in interaction in Nigeria. This was done with the aim of demonstrating its significance in the shaping and ordering of naturally occurring interaction. The data for the study comprise naturally occurring interaction of 30 participants whose interactions were collected using linguistic ethnographic tools of recording, note taking, and observation while micro discourse analysis, with emphasis on notions of face negotiations as interaction strategies was used for the analysis of the data. The study revealed that students who failed to salute the teachers were offered varying face negotiations based on their gender differences. The study also found that both the office context and the power position of the teachers impacted variously on face negotiations. From the Nigerian sociolinguistic context and interpersonal pragmatics, salutation is viewed as a social solidarity and social positioning strategy especially in contexts where age, gender, and power are sensitive components of the context as such its observation or failure to observe it could easily affect the outcome of the entire interaction.

IMPLEMENTATION OF ISLAMIC VALUES IN INDONESIAN POLITICAL DYNAMICS

Islam and politics are closely related, Islam puts politics as one way to protect Muslims. Islam without politics will give birth to Muslims who do not have the freedom and freedom to implement Islamic law. Likewise, politics without Islam will only give birth to a society that glorifies power, position, and worldliness. So it is necessary to apply Islamic values in politics, especially in Indonesia, because they can be used as a reference in carrying out the dynamics of politics in Indonesia. The existence of Islamic organizations with political nuances that emerged during the movement until now in their development have implemented Islamic values. So at this time it is necessary to review how the application and development of Islamic values in politics in Indonesia so as not to deviate from the teachings of Islam. The method used in this research is discourse analysis with a qualitative approach. The data collection techniques used were library research and literature studies. The purpose of writing this research is to find out and explore the implementation of Islamic values in the dynamics of politics in Indonesia, this will be discussed and become the focus of this paper.

Becoming Child and Sustainability—The Kindergarten Teacher as Agency Mobiliser for Sustainability through Keeping the Concept of the Child in Play

In this article, we seek to theorize the role of the kindergarten teacher as an agency mobiliser for sustainability through keeping the concept of the child in play, ultimately envisioning the child as a knowledgeable and connectable collective. This implies a non-dialectical politics of multiplicity ready to support and join a creative pluralism of educational organization and teacher roles for sustainability. Comprising friction zones between actual and virtual multiplicities that replace discursive productions of educational policies with enfoldedness, relations between bodies and becomings. This changes the power, position and function of language in and for agency and change. Not through making the child a constructivist change-agent through language but through opening up the possibilities for teachers to explore relations between language and matter, nature and culture and what might be produced collectively and individually. We go via the concepts of agencement expanding on the concept of agency, and conceptual personae directing the becoming of the kindergarten teacher. Both concepts informed by the transformational pragmatics of Gilles Deleuze (1925–1995) and Félix Guattari (1930–1992). The overarching contribution of this article is therefore political and pragmatic and concerns the constitution of subjectivity and transformative citizenships for sustainability in inter- and intra-generational perspectives.

Can Solidarity be Taught?

In this essay I am addressing the question of whether solidarity is something that can be taught. It is based on experiences from my field research on NGOs working on education in the West African Republic of Benin and in Germany. What does it need for someone to become solidary, and what does it take to grasp the politics of solidarity? What happens to solidarity when it is instrumentalized, when solidarity campaigns are transformed into a ‘competition of care’? I understand solidarity to be first and foremost about relating to others, from a certain power position, driven by a common cause, while acknowledging the differences between those who show solidarity, and those they show it for. Solidarity as a relational process is as much about oneself as it is about the other and the relation in between. Inspired by the pedagogy of resonance and ChangeWriters methods for relationship work, I argue that as an educational practice and subject, solidarity needs to be experienced, reflected on, shared, discussed, and thus understood in its personal and political dimensions. For this to happen on a larger scale, we would not only need to let go of an instrumental vision of solidarity, but also of an instrumental vision of education.

The interplay between financial rules, trust and power in strategic partnerships in the construction industry

PurposeTo explore how and why the social structures of strategic partnerships are shaped by actors and how these interrelate with a team's interpersonal relationships over time. Grasping the complexity of this interplay is essential if we want to comprehend what actually goes on in these partnerships and understand why actors often disengage from them.Design/methodology/approachIn three cases, 14 in-depth interviews were held with knowledgeable actors about important events and activities that influenced the relationships between partners. Interview data were triangulated with journals kept by the lead author, who participated as an engaged scholar in the three cases. Because this study took an interdisciplinary approach, new insights could evolve from the multi-level analysis.FindingsTrust has a moderating effect on the relation between open-book accounting and the degree of control a dominant party wants to exercise. When the level of control is raised, this can signal distrust to the other partners, which can harm the relationship. When partners feel more dependent on each other's capabilities to reach their long-term goals, the parties seem to be less likely to put the blame on one of the partners in the case of undesirable events.Practical implicationsManagers should be aware of their power position and acknowledge the effects of power on their relationships. If long-term and close collaboration does not emerge in their partnership, it may be due to how they use their power position.Originality/valueThanks to the interdisciplinary approach, this is the first study that shows the significance of trust and power in maintaining strategic partnerships in the construction industry, and how trust can affect the financial rules of actors.

The United States, China, and the Politics of Hegemonic Ordering in East Asia

China's rise has raised important questions about the durability of US hegemony in East Asia. Much of the debate, however, has generally been cast in fairly simplistic terms, suggesting the durability or end of US regional hegemony. Such framings nevertheless fail to fully capture regional dynamics and complexity. Advancing an English School conception of hegemony, this paper examines the politics, contestation, and renegotiation of the post–Cold War US hegemonic order in East Asia. It maps out four logics of hegemonic ordering in the existing literature, outlines their shortfalls and advances a twofold argument. First, although regional order will not disintegrate into binary “order versus disorder” or “US versus Chinese hegemony” scenarios, the politics of hegemonic ordering—the interactive discourses, processes, relations, and practices that underpin hegemony—will intensify as the United States and China continue to both cooperate and compete for power, position, and influence in East Asia. Second, I argue that the East Asian regional order will evolve in ways that resemble hybrid forms of hegemony in a complex hierarchy. Specifically, I develop a new logic—“coalitional and collaborative hegemonies in a complex hierarchy”—that is anchored in assertiveness, fluidity, and compartmentalization. It demonstrates that Washington and Beijing will not only form coalitional hegemonies, seeking legitimation from multiple and often overlapping constituencies, but also engage in a collaborative hegemony on shared interests. This better reflects evolving regional dynamics and yields theoretical insights into examining hegemonic transitions less as clearly delineated transitions from one distinct hegemonic order to the next, and more as partial and hybrid ones.

Turecki projekt utworzenia strefy bezpieczeństwa w północnej Syrii w kontekście unijno-tureckiej współpracy w zakresie migracji

Plany władz tureckich dotyczące ustanowienia w północnej Syrii strefy bezpieczeństwa dla uchodźców syryjskich stanowią podstawę podjętych w artykule rozważań nad stanowiskiem Unii Europejskiej wobec proponowanego organizmu politycznego i możliwości podjęcia związanych z nim działań. Są zarazem punktem wyjścia dla szerszej analizy stosunków unijno-tureckich, zwłaszcza z uwzględnieniem kwestii bliskowschodniego uchodźstwa. Artykuł powstał w oparciu o politologiczną analizę treści (dokumentów i tekstów medialnych) oraz przegląd literatury naukowej na temat eksternalizacji zarządzania migracjami przez UE, stref bezpieczeństwa, stosunków UE-Turcja oraz projektu utworzenia syryjskiej strefy. Przywołane publikacje powstały głównie w latach 2017–2020, czyli w okresie wzmożonego zainteresowania badanym zagadnieniem. Konkluzje uzyskane w wyniku przeprowadzonej analizy wskazują na żywotne zainteresowanie obu stron podtrzymaniem współpracy w zakresie migracji. Po stronie unijnej wynika ono głównie z potrzeby realizacji celów eksternalizacji zrządzania migracjami, natomiast dla Turcji pozostaje ona ważnym elementem wpisującym się w proces budowy pozycji mocarstwa regionalnego. Wbrew jednak wzajemnym zależnościom partnerów w realizacji priorytetowych interesów, akceptacja dla utworzenia strefy bezpieczeństwa w Syrii przez UE – w świetle obecnych uwarunkowań prawnomiędzynarodowych i geopolitycznych – jest mało prawdopodobna. The Turkish project of a security zone in northern Syria in the context of Euro-Turkish cooperation on migration The plans of the Turkish authorities to establish a security zone in northern Syria for Syrian refugees are the basis of the study on the European Union’s position towards the proposed political organism and the possibility of taking related actions. They are also a starting point for a broader analysis of EU-Turkish relations, especially concerning the issue of Middle East refugees. The paper is based on a political science analysis of the content (documents and media texts) and a review of the scientific literature on the externalization of migration management by the EU, security zones, EU-Turkey relations and the project to create a Syrian zone. These publications were created mainly between 2017 and 2020, in the period of increased interest in the issue. The conclusions from the analysis indicate the vital interest of both parties in maintaining cooperation in the field of migration. On the EU side, it results mainly from the need to achieve the goals of externalizing migration management, while for Turkey it remains an important element in the process of building a regional power position. However, despite the mutual dependence of partners in the implementation of their priority interests, the acceptance of the creation of a security zone in Syria by the EU – in the light of the current international and geopolitical legal conditions – is unlikely.