Cross-border Perspective Research Articles

Water scarcity and sustainability in the arid area of North America: Insights gained from a cross border perspective

The arid border region that encompasses the American Southwest and the Mexican northwest is an area where the nexus of water scarcity and climate change in the face of growing human demands for water, emerging energy scarcity, and economic change comes into sharp focus.

Rural Social Combustibility in Eastern Europe (1880–1914): A Cross-Border Perspective

Abstract:This article proposes a comparative, cross-border analysis of the sources of rural combustibility around the complex frontier between Austria-Hungary, Tsarist Russia and the states that emerged out of the fringes of the Ottoman Empire, Romania, Serbia and Bulgaria, at the end of the nineteenth and beginning of the twentieth centuries. Starting from the major peasant uprising that took place in 1907 in Romania, the article seeks to account for the fledgling country's explosiveness in contrast to its neighbours, given the structural and functional similarities of the systems around the frontier. It argues that, despite these skin-deep similarities, there were vital differences as regards the initial terms of peasant emancipation and the presence of a system of checks and balances, which could curb the impositions of the great landowners onto the peasants.

Fronteras europeas: De lo histórico a lo cotidiano

El presente artículo reflexiona sobre fronteras europeas y sus dinámicas cotidianas desde una óptica transfronteriza. Se parte de algunos hechos recientes que cuestionan la actual política de fronteras de la Unión Europea para hacer a continuación un repaso de la literatura sobre fronteras y territorios fronterizos. Posteriormente, se discuten los aspectos cotidianos que las prácticas transfronterizas tienen para los habitantes de los espacios fronterizos. En algunas ocasiones, y para completar el cuadro, se hace referencia a fronteras americanas. Si bien el tema de la seguridad es relevante, nos enfocamos en las dimensiones económicas y sociales de la cooperación. Tres aspectos devienen esenciales para los habitantes de frontera, que pretenden usar las ventajas del territorio en su globalidad: trabajo, residencia y compras. Como conclusión, se puede afirmar que ha habido una tendencia hacia un suavizamiento de las fronteras y una mayor integración de las zonas fronterizas de la Unión Europea.

Early Modern China and Northeast Asia: Cross-Border Perspectives by Evelyn S. Rawski

Reviewed by: Early Modern China and Northeast Asia: Cross-Border Perspectives by Evelyn S. Rawski Jack A. Goldstone Early Modern China and Northeast Asia: Cross-Border Perspectives by Evelyn S. Rawski. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2015. Pp. viii + 339. $85.00 cloth, $29.99 paper, $24.00 e-book. In her previous book, The Last Emperors, Evelyn Rawski drew on her knowledge of Manchu and Chinese sources to give us a remarkable account of the Qing administrative structure.1 In that volume she shows us a state that a Confucian scholar of the Ming era would hardly recognize as Chinese, with an army organized according to banners and an administration dominated by the Imperial Household Service at the top, a state manned by a dyad of banner and scholar leaders for every ministry and province. Moreover, it was a Chinese administration that not only celebrated Confucian rituals within its central and southern core but also carried out Buddhist rituals for its Tibetan and Mongol territories and maintained nomadic customs and rituals for its northeast regions. However much it supported Confucian scholars and enforced Confucian orthodoxy in law and letters within the basins [End Page 258] of the Yellow, Yangzi, and Pearl Rivers, the Qing domain extended far beyond these regions. To rule this vast multiethnic space and maintain the loyalty of both its Manchu conquest elite and its Han bureaucratic officials, Qing leaders blended a variety of cultural and administrative practices to create something novel and far richer and more complex than traditional Chinese governance. In her new book, Rawski again challenges what we might think of as “Chinese” history. Drawing now also on Korean and Japanese, as well as Manchu and Chinese, sources and on secondary literatures, she develops a vision of sixteenth- and seventeenth-century Northeast Asia that radically decenters China from the narrative. Rawski argues that the dominant approach to East Asia prior to 1840 has been to treat China’s history as driven mainly by the dynamics of developing and collapsing dynasties, with other Asian states—Japan, Korea, the Liao, Jin, and Manchu—playing a peripheral role and becoming more or less Sinicized the more they penetrated into the Chinese space. Spurred in part by the need of modern states to create national histories, scholars continue to relate Chinese history as the story of successive dynasties (as in the Harvard University Press History of Imperial China series),2 while the histories of Japan and Korea are also relayed mainly as self-centered national narratives. Rawski seeks to overturn the idea that East Asian history can be meaningfully told as discrete national narratives. Reminding us that for two-thirds of the period from 1000 to 2000 much of what we think of as “China” was ruled by non-Chinese dynasties, she forcefully states that the politics, culture, and history of China cannot be understood as simply and characteristically Chinese. Rather, the impact of non-Chinese polities and cultures shaped what happened in China and left indelible marks. Her book focuses in particular on the period from 1550 to 1800, centuries in which China’s economy and politics were increasingly impacted by events in Korea, Japan, the Northeast (the region roughly from Beijing to the Amur River), and Russia, as well as by the activities of European merchants, scholars, soldiers, armorers, and missionaries. Telling the story of the collapse of Ming rule and the conquest of [End Page 259] China and Central Asia from “the other side,” using Manchu, Korean, and Japanese narratives, Rawski creates quite a different perspective from the Beijing-centered view that typically emphasizes imperial power and unity. The story begins with the spread of European influence into East Asia, not only from Portugal and Spain via the sea, but also from Russia via Siberia. Europeans brought with them superior guns and artillery, which were quickly adopted by the Japanese, who used them in their invasion of Korea and then in the civil wars that eventually unified the country under the Tokugawa shogunate. Foreigners also brought silver, which in conjunction with Japanese silver and copper allowed the Ming rulers to shift to a silver-based bimetallic tax and commercial system. Rawski also puts much emphasis...

A cross-border perspective on migration: beyond the assimilation/transnationalism debate

ABSTRACTThe transnational perspective emerged in the early 1990s as an alternative to assimilation theory, gaining instant and wide influence. But curiously, the intellectual confrontation between these two perspectives was averted, as scholars concluded that persistent homeland engagement was fully compatible with hostland integration. This paper seeks to pick up that challenge. I demonstrate how a cross-border perspective, encompassing places of origin and destination and the flows of people, ideas, and resources between them, highlights the ways in which population movements across state borders create tensions on both receiving and sending sides. In the process, I will show how looking across borders paradoxically highlights the centrality of the territorial boundary, as it simultaneously underscores the importance of dissimilation – the social and political separation of immigrants from the people they have left behind – yet also the ways in which non-citizen status and foreign origins simultaneously hamper immigrants’ ability to gain acceptance in receiving states while furnishing sending states with opportunities to reconnect with nationals abroad.

War, Supply Lines, and Society in the Sino-Korean Borderland of the Late Sixteenth Century

Based on a close analysis of Chinese and Korean primary source materials, this article explores the social ramifications of war mobilization in the Sino-Korean borderland during the late sixteenth-century Japanese invasion of Korea (1592–98). In this transnational war involving Japan, Chosŏn Korea, and Ming China, the cross-border region astride the Yalu River escaped the direct destruction wrought by the Japanese armies. Nevertheless, the deployment of Ming troops and the effects of their mobilization, the transport of provisions in particular, severely disrupted the lives and livelihood of local residents on both sides of the border. While decisions of strategic importance were made by the Wanli emperor (r. 1572–1620) and his officials in Beijing throughout the war, logistical decisions concerning the provisioning of Ming soldiers essentially rested with officials dispatched to the border region, and their choices and concerns closely reflected the region’s terrain, weather, and social conditions. This case study of Ming military logistics in the middle of the Wanli reign demonstrates the capacity of the Ming state in a region away from the central court in Beijing. It also underscores the importance of a cross-border perspective in examining the Ming war in Korea at the end of the sixteenth century.

National and Regional Identity in Kaliningrad Oblast from the Cross-border Perspective

Abstract The article analyses the notion of national and regional identity of contemporary inhabitants of Kaliningrad Oblast, as seen by local government officials, NGO activists and researchers living and working in the Polish cities of Elbląg and Gdańsk. For the purposes of the article, nine in-depth interviews were chosen conducted. The article takes into account interviewees’ opinions based on their experience, everyday cooperation with institutions and private contacts with individuals from Kaliningrad Oblast. The main question addressed is to what extent inhabitants of Kaliningrad Oblast are perceived to be different from their compatriots from other regions of Russia in matters constituting national community: narrative of history, tradition, symbols etc. The role of the Local Small Border Traffic Agreement (LBTA) between Poland and Russia, which has served as an important means of facilitating cross-border contacts, was also evaluated. The article demonstrates that despite come regional peculiarities the most prevailing level of identity in Kaliningrad Oblast is that related to the feeling of belonging to the Russian nation.

Early modern China and northeast Asia: cross-border perspectives

Acknowledgements Note on transcription and other conventions Introduction Part I. China in Regional and World History: 1. The northeast frontier in Chinese history 2. Transformations in early modern northeast Asia Part II. Cultural Negotiations: 3. Unity and diversity in state rituals 4. Kinship and succession in China, Japan and Korea 5. Identity issues: the civilized/barbarian discourse Conclusion Epilogue: drawing boundaries in northeast Asia Bibliography Index.

Public Interest Judicial Review in Cross-Border Perspective

This paper assesses challenges in England and in Scotland to the ‘public interest conception’ of judicial review according to which judicial review is intended primarily to promote the public, rather than private, interest. It shows that though recent decades have seen the public interest conception of judicial review in the ascendancy south of the border, there has been in the recent past a changing of the tide: the public interest conception of judicial review has been chipped away by legislative developments which reject the premise upon which it is based – largely by implementing procedural rules which are in significant tension with it. In Scotland, on the other hand, the courts have shown less enthusiasm for that conception, with many of the procedural rules and developments which reflect it having been resisted by the Scottish judiciary or acceded to only belatedly and with some reluctance. On the basis of a consideration of the issues of standing, protective costs orders and third party interventions, it shows that, though the conception of judicial review which sees it primarily as a tool by which the public interest can be pursued and protected is in poor health on both sides of the border, the details of, and reasons for that conclusion, differ in interesting ways.

Japan and the Korean War: A Cross-Border Perspective

Japan and the Korean War: A Cross-Border Perspective

Analysis of the Legal Rules for Exploitation Windows and Commercial Practices in EU Member States and of the Importance of Exploitation Windows for New Business Practices

This report aims to provide an overview of the release windows systems in the EU and its possible evolution, paying particular attention to their impact on emerging VoD business practices.In general terms, the release windows systems across the EU function according to the same principles, i.e. to find a balance between complementarity and cannibalization in view of maximising overall revenues while building sustainable business relationships. Yet these general principles are adapted to the local context, with a specific framework, different windows and various window lengths. The result in the EU is a diversity of release windows features, reflecting the long-lasting diversity of national film industries.The study shows that a trend towards shorter theatrical windows is clearly visible and further evolutions seem inevitable, even if some stakeholders continue to oppose it. Alternative release schedules and methods - that approach the sequencing system with more flexibility - have been already tested by several companies and related to various films. Digitisation brings along increased room and potential for differentiation, flexibility and diversity. Shorter windows may benefit certain types of content in specific contexts: non-mainstream titles could in particular benefit from the added marketing impact associated with shorter windows or with a simultaneous or quasi simultaneous release e.g. in theatres and on VoD.While the differences between each film and distribution channel will continue to be crucial to attract the audience, maintaining strict and inflexible windowing rules seems no longer to be valid in current circumstances.For those systems that fix release windows in legislation and/or regulation, it will become more and more necessary to provide a sufficient number of derogations. The example of France where it is proposed by the Lescure report to make the current system of release windows more flexible shows that such debates are already ongoing.However, it is important to keep in mind that release window flexibility cannot be isolated from the broader industry context. All modifications to traditional systems will have to take the sometimes divergent interests of the different stakeholders into account. While it is crucial to entice incumbent players to develop forward looking strategies, it is equally crucial to provide some time for transition. Reflection is needed on how to reconfigure revenue sharing models between the various stakeholders.The study also noted that, from a cross-border perspective, day-and-date releases on VoD and in theatres could help spread European films in areas where they would usually not benefit from a theatrical release. This is another area where experimentation should be encouraged. However, such experiments should be part of a broader exercise in order to have a reasonable chance of success.

IFRS Adoption in Europe and Audit Market Concentration

The switch to IFRS in Europe opens the opportunities to investigate the relationship between a drastic change in the complexity of financial reporting standards and the audit market dynamics. Following concerns that mandated IFRS may have increased the domination of the global audit firms, we investigate the relationship between audit market concentration and IFRS adoption in the European setting. Our evidence suggests that IFRS adoption is associated with an increase in auditor industry concentration on a cross-border perspective. This is consistent with the view that global audit networks reacted to an increase in accounting/audit complexity by seeking more industry expertise, and that this change in market dynamics is beyond legal jurisdictions. However, we do not find any positive relationship between IFRS adoption and auditor concentration or dominance at the country level. Overall, we conclude that the audit market competition does not seem to be affected by this major change in financial reporting standards.

Book Review: Legal Recognition of Same-Sex Relationships in Europe: National, cross-border and European perspectives., edited by Katharina Boele-Woelki and Angelika Fuchs. (Cambridge: Intersent

Book Review: <i>Legal Recognition of Same-Sex Relationships in Europe: National, cross-border and European perspectives.</i>, edited by Katharina Boele-Woelki and Angelika Fuchs. (Cambridge: Intersent

National Planning Systems Between Convergence and Incongruity: Implications for Cross-Border Cooperation from the German–Polish Perspective

Convergence of national planning systems in Europe has become an important issue in the context of transnational and cross-border planning, which in turn plays a key role in the policy of creating a cohesive European space. Converging trends concerning planning styles and structures may undoubtedly be detected and also include new European Union (EU) member countries. Yet, by a minute's inspection of the (long-established) German and of the (created in the run-up to EU membership) Polish planning system from a cross-border planning perspective, it becomes obvious that similar structures may not coincide with a similar idea of what spatial planning is about. As highlighted by two chosen examples—cross-border twin-city and metropolitan planning—this results in significant hindrances for planning cooperation in its own right. The article concludes that any convergence of planning systems—if it was to have a constructive impact on cross-border planning—needs to be based on the acceptance of joint planning standards, objectives and values.

Ageing in changing community contexts: Cross-border perspectives from rural Ireland and Northern Ireland

Ongoing demographic, social, economic and cultural changes point to the dynamic and continually changing contexts of rural areas in Ireland and Northern Ireland. However, the influence of such changes on the lives of older people remains under-explored, particularly the question of how older people perceive, connect to and engage in their communities. Drawing on interviews and focus groups with indigenous and non-indigenous older people in three case-study sites in Ireland, Northern Ireland and a cross-border region, this article presents a comparative analysis of how changing community contexts have shaped the lives of rural-dwelling older people. The analysis focuses on four key areas: economic structure and service access; social relations and social cohesion; meanings and attachments; and community engagement. While the findings demonstrate that some dimensions of participants’ lives were affected by complex economic and social changes, others dimensions were connected in a more significant way to life course and residential history and the desire to maintain community capacity.

The Feared Austerity Budget Enters into Force

In this note, the author outlines the austerity measures contained in the Portuguese State Budget for 2012, with a particular focus on tax measures that are relevant from a cross-border perspective.

The History of “Belgian” Tropical Medicine from a Cross-Border Perspective

This article examines the development of a tropical medicine at the beginning of the twentieth century It is, however, not simply a history of tropical medicine institutions in Belgium, nor a comparative investigation into what made medical practice in Belgian overseas territories peculiar. Instead, we seek to challenge the pre-fixed national frameworks that characterize much medical historiography concerning the colonial tropics by adopting a relational approach to this past. This allows us to explore how much tropical medicine was in fact constructed through interactions and exchanges across national, colonial and imperial borders, and also, how the colonial dimension affected (the interplay between) medical-scientific nationalism and internationalism in the early 1900s.

Portugal - The Feared Austerity Budget Enters into Force

This article provides an overview of the main tax changes introduced by the Portuguese State Budget for 2012. The Portuguese State Budget for 2012 (the budget) is, most likely, the most ruthless piece of legislation approved in the roughly 40 years of Portugal's democracy. Nevertheless, the harshness of the measures came as no surprise to those who have been following developments in regard to Portugal's economic and financial performance. In addition to the anticipated measures aimed at raising tax revenue, the budget introduced some interesting rules for cross-border transactions and businesses, which range from mere clarifications to substantive changes. Therefore, both residents and non-residents doing business in Portugal should take these developments into consideration in order to better plan their future activities. This note focuses on measures that are relevant from a cross-border perspective; other measures are only briefly summarized. While the former are elaborated on topically, the latter are touched on using a tax-by-tax approach. Also, given its nature, this note is essentially descriptive. Remarks are, nevertheless, provided whenever they seem necessary to understanding the modifications introduced or when such modifications are questionable from a dogmatic or praxis standpoint. The note concludes with some overall critical remarks.

Integrations, identity and conflicts: A cross-border perspective on residential relocation of Hong Kong citizens to Mainland China

This paper aims to test if traditional literature on both internal residential mobility and international migration hold up in explaining the driving forces behind the home-moving behaviours of Hong Kong residents to the Chinese Mainland, under a mixture of economic integrations, past connections along with present structural and identity differences. The multi-dimensionality of this behaviour, in comparison to other forms of residential movements in the literature, is shown as there is no single attribute, albeit all necessary conditions, sufficient enough to encourage such movement on its own. Instead, the cross-border residence is primarily a middle-class, middle-aged phenomenon, due to one’s past connections with Mainland China throughout his/her life course and the possession of financial resources insufficient to afford larger living space in Hong Kong yet enough to benefit from the remarkable living cost advantages on the other side of the border. It provides some directions for studying similar forms of residential mobility in the era of globalization when the functions of national borders have become more obscure than before. Implications from this residential behaviour are then discussed.

Corporate taxation in Canada : a cross-border perspective

This article describes the principal features of Canada's corporate tax system, focusing on selected aspects of interest in a cross-border context. In reviewing Canada's corporate tax rules, the article considers, among other things, entity classification for Canadian income tax purposes, liability to corporate tax, the corporate tax rates and tax base, tax-deferred reorganization facilities, withholding taxes and anti-avoidance rules. The article also discusses matters of particular relevance to foreign investors, such as the main considerations in establishing a business presence in Canada, acquiring a Canadian business and using a Canadian holding corporation.