Global Political Changes Research Articles

Historical and Theoretical Perspectives on the Rise of China: Long Cycles, Power Transitions, and China’s Ascent

In this article I borrow insights into repeated patterns of global political change from long cycle and power transition theories and apply them to the rise of China. China is on a trajectory to become the largest economy in terms of total economic size, but viewed through the prism of those insights, it has considerable weaknesses or barriers to overcome in order to become a global hegemonic power. Nonetheless, the rise of China could produce significant instability in the interstate system as it develops into a revisionist power. It is too early to conclude that China is a revisionist power, but some signs suggest China has revisionist aims in the Asia Pacific and could become one in the future. In this context, restraining the growth of Beijing’s dissatisfaction with the current international order by accommodating it through appropriate roles and status must be considered more seriously by Washington. Another option is for Washington to enhance and upgrade its military capabilities in the Asia Pacific, but its ability to do so successfully hinges on its ability to reinvigorate the US economy.

Permacultures of transformation: steps to a cultural ecology of environmental action

This article examines a trend over the past two decades towards more explicit politicization in some areas of the ecovillage movement, particularly where covillages engage with related grassroots movements for environmental and social change. It does so using an expanded political ecology framework, also drawing upon 'Multi-level Perspective on Sustainability Transitions' and Gregory Bateson's Ecology of Mind. It argues that apparently apolitical focii on lifestyle change and personal development have in some cases given way to overt recognition of the need for global political change. It attributes this to the global political economy of sustainability becoming more evident and critiques of dominant social, political and economic regimes more compelling and widely accepted.

Beyond Varieties of Capitalism: Implications of Global Political Changes and the Emerging Shared Economy for Comparative and International Employment Relations

Beyond Varieties of Capitalism: Implications of Global Political Changes and the Emerging Shared Economy for Comparative and International Employment Relations

Przestrzenne zróżnicowanie dynamiki rozwoju lokalnego w Małopolsce na podstawie wybranych cech społeczno-gospodarczych

Utworzona w wyniku rozbioru I Rzeczypospolitej Galicja funkcjonowała w oderwaniu od pozostałej części ziem polskich przez prawie 150 lat. Duża autonomia największej terytorialnie prowincji monarchii austro-węgierskiej od drugiej połowy XIX w. wpłynęła na ukształtowanie się trwałych struktur społeczno-gospodarczych tej prowincji. Szczególny wpływ na wykrystalizowanie się stabilnych układów przestrzennych w Galicji wywarł fakt, że to właśnie pod koniec XIX wieku nastąpiły doniosłe zmiany w rozwoju społeczno-ekonomicznym tych ziem. W artykule dokonano analizy przestrzennego zróżnicowania dynamiki rozwoju lokalnego w Małopolsce w odniesieniu do teorii długiego trwania. W oparciu o wybrane cechy społeczno-gospodarcze skonstruowano syntetyczny wskaźnik rozwoju, na podstawie którego porównano hierarchię struktury rozwoju Małopolski w 1900 i 2002 roku. Analiza została przeprowadzona w oparciu o dane statystyczne oraz narzędzia GIS. Odnotowane zróżnicowanie rozwoju wynika głównie z globalnych przemian politycznych i gospodarczych, jednakże zostało one odmienione poprzez lokalne uwarunkowania instytucjonalne. Stwierdzono stabilność struktury osadniczej Małopolski, przy równoczesnym obniżeniu rangi niektórych ośrodków – zwłaszcza we wschodniej części analizowanego regionu oraz w przypadku miast powiązanych z przemysłem górniczym. Natomiast największy wzrost odnotował Kraków wraz z obszarami wchodzącymi w skład jego aglomeracji oraz regiony o funkcjach turystycznych.

Learning from Political Change and the Development of MNCs’ Political Capabilities: Evidence from the Global Mining Industry

Previous studies have suggested that (1) a type of organizational capabilities—namely, political capabilities—are required for multinational corporations (MNCs) to grow in global markets, (2) political capabilities are important for building productive relations with governments in politically risky host countries, and (3) MNCs can develop political capabilities by accumulating foreign experiences. However, empirical studies have found both positive and negative effects of such experiences on global market expansions. This study attributes such mixed findings to our lack of understanding about MNCs’ procurement processes of political capabilities and proposes types of experiences critical for such procurements by focusing on their reactions to political changes in host countries. Using data on the global mining industry and political changes in host countries, we find that MNCs develop political capabilities and thus make entries into politically risky host countries when they accumulate the experience of partially divesting some of their assets after political changes in host countries. We also find that MNCs are less likely to enter such countries if they have more experiences of exiting from host countries following political change.

Freedom in the Decolonizing Republic

Abstract In this article I show how and why Freedom Is Power (FIP) is a work concerned with the decolonizing context of South Africa and the Global South, and what follows from this. I argue that the ongoing process of decolonization, that is, real liberation and empowerment, requires a realist view of freedom as power through representation. I focus on the idea of the republic and democratic institutions; and the question of how to bring about national and global political change. I thereby clarify what is distinct about and necessary for the decolonizing democratic republic and highlight why FIP is both an act of resistance and reconstruction.

Punk theory: The future of thinking in the time of no future

This essay juxtaposes the current disorientation about the course of global political changes, the emergence of theories which accentuate the present as the domain of education, and punk culture with its proclamation that there is no future, as premises on which the question of radical theory is raised. Acclaiming the works of colleagues who promote thinking about education ‘without time’ and against instrumental demands, I expect that, in the situation in which we have ‘no time’ to design well-thought political alternatives to the waning liberal democracy and the rapidly growing fundamentalisms, a chaotic and energetic movement of thought, action, and resistance (here labelled as punk theory) can and should emerge as an energetic impulse to rethink and re-act the connections between education, theory, and politics.

At a Crossroads in EU Merger Control:

In the face of momentous change in global politics – which has already begun to usher in a new age of nationalism, populism and protectionism – the European Commission continues to afford primacy to its competition-based approach to merger assessment. However, the Commission is facing increasing pressure from some EU Member States to respond to the emerging challenges of globalisation by adopting a more protectionist industrial strategy that would shelter strategic industries from ‘unwanted’ foreign takeovers. Not since the global financial crisis has the ‘pressure to protect’ been so palpable, and this renewed scrutiny will test the Commission’s resolve to continue enforcing its strict competition-based approach. This article reflects on the recent developments that have left EU merger control at a crossroads in terms of how it proceeds to react to anti-globalisation sentiment. It also examines a radical proposal to task the Commission with the role of analysing foreign takeovers that arise in the EU’s strategic sectors. It finds compelling evidence to suggest that the existing regime provides a legal basis for the Commission to afford greater consideration to public interest factors in merger cases, which would allow it to undertake this task in lieu of legislative reform.

ВЗАИМОСВЯЗЬ ДУХОВНО-НРАВСТВЕННОГО САМОСОЗНАНИЯ И САМОРЕАЛИЗАЦИИ ЛИЧНОСТИ В ПЕРИОД ВЗРОСЛОСТИ

This article is devoted to studying and analyzing the features of the interrelations between the self-realization and spiritual and moral consciousness of the personality. The relevance of the raised problem is caused by the global socially-economical and political changes happening in the modern world, influencing both the society as a whole and the personality separately. “The judgment test of personality self-realization” by S.I. Kudinov which allows to diagnose a variety of styles of self-expression manifestation of the subject, different levels and types of self-realization, as well as the methodology of a research of spiritual and moral self-consciousness of the personality by I.V. Ezhov were used in the experimental work. The statistical analysis of data is presented by the correlation and factorial analysis. The sample included 100 people at the age ranging from 25 to 45 years, representatives of various professions and social backgrounds. The correlation analysis made it possible to disclose the diverse interrelations between the components of self-realization and the components of spiritual and moral consciousness. The factorial analysis allowed to single out and to qualitatively describe the variants of self-realization of the personality, depending on the inclusiveness of the components of spiritual and moral consciousness - “Spiritual and moral self-realization of the personality”, “Transcendental self-realization of the personality”, “Formal self-realization of the personality”, “Superficial self-realization of the personality”, “Assertive self-realization of the personality”, “Ego-pragmatic self-realization of the personality”, “Destructive self-realization of the personality”.

Transnational social movements and changing organizational fields in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries

© 2016 The Author(s) Global Networks © 2016 Global Networks Partnership & John Wiley & Sons Ltd Recent decades have seen dramatic changes in the global political arena, including shifts in geopolitical arrangements, increases in popular mobilization and contestation over the direction of globalization, and efforts by elites to channel or curb popular opposition. We explore how these factors affect changes in global politics. Organizational populations are shaped by ongoing interactions among civil-society, corporate and governmental actors operating at multiple levels. During the 1990s and 2000s, corporate and government actors promoted the ‘neoliberalization of civil society’ and the appropriation of movement concepts and practices to support elite interests. Not all movement actors have been passive witnesses to this process: they have engaged in intense internal debates, and they have adapted their organizational strategies to advance social transformation. This article draws from quantitative research on the population of transnational social movement organizations (TSMOs) and on qualitative research on contemporary transnational activism to describe changes in transnational organizing at a time of growing contention in world politics. We show how interactions among global actors have shaped new, hybrid organizational forms and spaces that include actors other than states in influential roles.

Development of the Animated Poster in the First Half of the XX century

The genre of animated posters emerged at the dawn of animation. In 1899, A. Cooper an English director created one of the first movie-posters in the history of world animation. The need for movie-posters with propaganda characteristics arose during the period of the WW1. During that time, the genre of the animated poster had been developed and had even become a stimulus to the development of the animation and film industry. It had achieved its greatest success in the UK due to the advanced level of printed graphics, as well as the fact that the British pioneered the development of systematic promotion approaches. German animators also worked in the genre of animated posters, but they filmed mostly instructional movies which presented technical or military information in a clear and simple form. By the end of the WW1 the structure of movie posters had evolved from transparent to narrative. During the war the genre of the animated poster was not developed in Russia. After the war, propaganda film-posters disappeared from the screens. Their place was taken by mostly political, educational and promotional posters. The time of experimentation with figurative language, technology, and structure of the animated poster was in 1920-1930s. Themes, targets and the form of presentation had changed, but the function remained the same - informational and visual propaganda. As the commercial poster had developed predominantly in European and American animation, the release of political posters initiated the development of Soviet animation. Sentiment changes in global politics and the situation in Europe during the late 1930s which evolved into the WW2, once again stimulated the entertainers interest for the genres of political-propaganda, patriotic, and instructive posters. During the war the production of animated posters formed a considerable portion of all the animation filmed in Soviet as well as American studios. With the cessation of hostilities films in the poster animation genre almost disappeared from the screens.

Crisis as dislocation in global politics

The article asks how it is possible to conceptualize the ‘crisis of the social’, and how one can best understand the relationship between crisis and social change in global politics. In doing so, it draws on the notion of dislocation to conceptualize crisis as a lack, deficiency or failure in the social fabric. The theoretical approach builds on the work of the late political theorist Ernesto Laclau and his co-authored work with Chantal Mouffe. Two illustrative sections will develop the theoretical model further on the basis of four interrelated and mutually constitutive elements: sedimented practices and dislocation on the one hand, as well as antagonism and the institutionalization within a so-called imaginary on the other. On this basis of an in-depth theoretical analysis, the article will summarize some crucial aspects regarding the nexus between crisis and social change and their implications for the study of global politics.

A Kantian argument against world poverty

Immanuel Kant is recognised as one of the first philosophers who wrote systematically about global justice and world peace. In the current debate on global justice, he is mostly appealed to by critics of extensive duties of global justice. However, I show in this paper that an analysis of Kant's late work on rights and justice provides ample resources for disagreeing with those who take Kant to call for only modest changes in global politics. Kant's comments in the Doctrine of Right clarify that he thinks we need a coercively enforced global civil condition. But his work also contains ideas that imply that within such a global legal order there must be no extreme forms of poverty and inequality, and that the current holdings of states are by no means conclusive possessions without confirmation by the global legal order we have a duty to establish. Thus, this paper challenges the prevailing interpretation of Kant as a conservative thinker about global justice that is held, for instance, by the leading contemporary liberal thinkers such as John Rawls, Thomas Nagel, and Ronald Dworkin.

Cyberspace as the Environment Affected by Organized Crime Activity

IntroductionAs society develops, a broad range of types of crime is emerging, encompassing both individual and organized crime. Criminal methods, and the ways in which crime is organized, are directly related to the technological development of society. For this reason, crime is evolving and is increasingly shifting its activity to cyberspace, progressing hand-in-hand with the development of information and communication technologies (ICT), as used in the realm of cyberspace, which is a widely understood concept. This applies both to individual crimes and, increasingly, to organized crime as well. Cyberspace has become the perfect environment for committing crimes as well as for enabling new ways in which to run organized crime and manage new forms of competition for influence. This mainly occurs with regard to the impact of information, both on enemy criminal organizations (competing with each other) and on governments and international institutions combating organized crime. Interactions of this nature bear the hallmarks of a conflict or war for influence conducted in cyberspace, aimed at creating a positive image of a criminal organization, misleading the institutions combating crime and destroying potential competition - and all via the means of information interaction. The scale of this phenomenon will grow as the information society develops and interaction with it will take a variety of forms, both logical and kinetic.Therefore, it is critically important to identify the forms, methods and impact of organized crime in cyberspace, as well as ways to combat it. There will be conflicts in cyberspace, bearing the hallmarks of war, and characterized by asymmetrically weighted opponents, unlimited reach, unknown consequences, and unidentified objectives on the part of the rival.Conflicts in cyberspace will differ in character from the well-known conflicts of the past. This follows the commonly used saying that every age has its own war, consistent with the level of technological and social development. Indeed, this can be observed in the ways in which war is conducted and the measures which are taken during that war. Access to information stored, processed and transmitted via cyberspace has given society a new quality of life, making possible various social functions that were mere star-gazing and fantasy in the nottoo-distant past. It manifests itself not only in the rapid development of society, but also has a considerable economic dimension, as shown by the reduction in the cost of the functioning of society while accelerating the implementation of this functioning.On the one hand, these technologies enable the development of new social forms while, on the other, they raise legitimate concerns regarding their use. The best examples of the impact of modern technology on the functioning of society include the Internet blocks put in place in Estonia in 2007 and in Georgia in 2008. This new dimension, namely, cyberspace, will have a huge impact on the functioning of society, the course of future conflicts and the ways in which organized crime functions. The scope and impact of the competition are mere estimates, based on the above-mentioned examples.The primary aim of this article is to identify possible ways in which organized crime interacts and competes in cyberspace as well as ways in which it can be combated by governments and international institutions.In terms of the activities of organized crime and its impact on global society, it is important to identify the nature of contemporary conflicts and define the very essence of war because the cyberspace activities of organized criminal groups bear the specific hallmarks of a war for influence and profit maximization. The war itself, as a social phenomenon, in the present terms, is difficult to define. It consists of various factors related to, among other things, the incredible acceleration of global economic development, population growth, and political changes in the international arena. …

Authoritarianism Goes Global: Countering Democratic Norms

Abstract: Over the past decade, the international backlash against liberal democracy has grown and gathered momentum. Authoritarians have experimented with and refined a number of new tools, practices, and institutions that are meant to shield their regimes from external criticism and to erode the norms that inform and underlie the liberal international political order. These global political changes and systemic shifts have produced new counternorms that privilege state security, civilizational diversity, and traditional values over liberal democracy. The effects of these changes are most visible in the narrower political space that nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) are facing, the shifting purposes that regional organizations are embracing, and the rising influence of non-Western powers as international patrons.

The Sustainable Local Development in Romania - Key Issues for Heritage Sector

The increasing interest for local development came amid global economical, social and political changes. The globalization and the international economic crisis, the increasing phenomenon of relocation of businesses, internal structures of large industrial groups, and institutionalizing local autonomy as a European principle made the discussions about local development to be the subject of interest to the academic world, but especially for policy makers. For Romanian public policy, the sustainable local development became a strategically tool to sustain the heritage sector (public and private) and constitutes the goals of national strategies on social and economical development. Our paper aim is to reveal the level of Romanian sustainable local development in the context of European principles applied and to analyze the impact at the local communities as an important means of valuing regional and local heritage. This vision of the community about its future development should be shared with all relevant actors at local and translated into a set of specific objectives and a clear action plan to provide good governance. The paper includes some explorative conceptual aspect focused on theoretical and practical analysis of sustainable local development, using the empirical data provided by the strategic documents and by Euro stat in order to respond to the following aspects: to highlight the scientific literature concerning the sustainable local development; to analyze the legal requirements (European and Romanian rules) of local development and heritage in Romania; to analyze from economical point of view the impact of local development and the implications on the local and regional heritage.

Can Cyberactivism Effectuate Global Political Change?

Targeted activist strategies propel social justice movements to devise creative mechanisms in an effort to gain momentum. This discussion paper will analyze if cyberactivism can effectuate global political change. Varying views will be illustrated demonstrating the efficacy and the lack of efficacy of cyberactivism in its attempt to impact global political change. Comparisons and data analyses will assess the impact of communication media and the Internet, Internet connectivity of people, and impact of online technology on social movements. Research studies will gauge online communication tools, benefits/wins and challenges of cyberactivism, and future assumptions. Examples of cyberactivism strategies will illustrate how online technology has impacted political change in different regions of the world. The available evidence suggests that cyberactivism has created new ways for people to connect for the purpose of change despite where they live or identity differences. Although researchers may disagree about the efficacy of cyberactivism on global political change, the Internet still provides the essential platform for debate and information sharing.

Neo-liberal Capitalistic Policies in Modern Conservation and the Ultimate Commodification of Nature

The recent changes in global politics and the advancement of science and technology, have paved way for the modification and commodification of nature. The development of capitalism, and changes in modern conservation ideologies occurred at the same period, which is more than just a co-incidence. The capitalistic policies in conservation are shaping a new perspective of global environmentalism, which is presented as a spectacle. Whether these capitalistic policies stand the purpose is often questionable. In this work, I am going to discuss two main neo liberal practices in modern conservation, namely protected areas with reference to eco-tourism, and the Payment for Ecosystem Services with reference to REDD+ (Reducing Emissions from Forest Degradation and Deforestation), which shape modern environmentalism. These policies in modern environmentalism have made it easier to commodify nature, failing to understand that indigenous people living in forests do not have economic conditions, they have livelihood issues. So, The neo-liberal capitalistic policies has led to the loss of intrinsic value of nature, affecting the indigenous lifestyles and serves as an instrument of modern imperialism, acting as a boon to the ‘Transnational capital class’ and a curse to the indigenous people.

Indigenous ethnopsychiatry in the north-west of England: the case of ‘Barrow Man’

This paper describes the appearance and subsequent disappearance of ‘Barrow Man’ and uses anthropological and social psychological theory to examine the socio-cultural, psychological and economic conditions for the existence of the phenomenon. It argues that these conditions were the result of both specific local labour market circumstances and of the effects of global political changes, and argues that to talk about ‘Barrow Man’ as if it was a psychiatric diagnosis was to identify a moral construct as a mental disorder. It also argues that at the same time the phenomenon was expressive of certain core values that were not readily acknowledged in everyday clinical practice and that it might therefore best be understood as an institutional category.

The Suffering of Economic Injustice: A Christian Perspective

The Suffering of Economic Injustice:A Christian Perspective Ulrich Duchrow Together we are facing a global kairos of humanity because these years are decisive for whether our civilization will irreversibly continue to produce death or whether we find a way out toward a life-enhancing new culture. So let me try to make a humble contribution to our common search for liberation from suffering toward life through justice. suffering caused by economic injustice in the axial age and in the capitalist civilization of modernity We do not need to spend much time on describing the sufferings caused by economic injustice. They cry to high heaven every day. Jean Ziegler, the former UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food, speaks of more than 60 million people dying of hunger and its consequences every year, especially children, although there is more than enough to feed them. That is an annual World War II against the poor. He continues to say: “A child that dies of hunger is murdered.” He calls this a daily crime against humanity.1 Others call it structural genocide.2 All these victims are human beings with a human face, according to biblical tradition created in the image of God. So we are talking about murdering living images of God, about blasphemy. Also, the blue planet Earth’s suffering is growing dramatically. The extinction of species is accelerating, desertification is expanding, the poisoning of water and soil is increasing, and climate change is producing irreversible effects like lifting the sea level, devouring islands in the Pacific and growing parts of Bangladesh, creating weather disasters everywhere, and possibly increasing temperature in parts of Africa by ten degrees. We all know this, but so far we have not been able to make the necessary changes in global economics and politics to stop or at least slow it. Often forgotten are the psychological and spiritual sufferings and diseases of a growing number of people. In India an average of more than fifty farmers, driven into debt beyond their means, commit suicide daily out of despair.3 Workers suffer increasing stress and anxiety, and middle-class people fall into depression, projected to be the second most common illness in 2020, according the World Health Organization. So what are the roots of all of this? [End Page 27] My thesis is that what we are experiencing now started nearly three thousand years ago within what is called the Axial Age, beginning in the eighth century bce, in the whole of Eurasia from Greece to China. At that time a new economy started to appear in daily life, built on money and private property. It had tremendous social as well as psychological and spiritual effects. To analyze what happened then helps us understand what is happening today. Looking at the responses to this development by the different faiths and philosophies in Israel/Judah, India, China, and Greece may also help us to better understand the tasks and possibilities of engaged Buddhists and liberation theologians in our age. The philosopher Karl Jaspers coined the term “Axial Age.”4 According to him, the experience of violent crises between 800 and 200 bce might have prompted the parallel efforts of the prophets, the Buddha, Confucius, Daoism, and Greek philosophy to find new foundations for living together. He characterized the new approach as intellectual and spiritual (geistig), looking only marginally at the economic and political context. Recently Karen Armstrong and, based on her findings, Jeremy Rifkin took up this theory, looking particularly at war and violence as causes for the responses within the different cultures.5 Also José María Vigil, who is present here, has just published a chapter in his book on Theology of Axiality and Axial Theology.6 As far as the sociohistoric context of the Axial Age is concerned my thesis comes nearest to what David Graeber has worked out in his book Debt: The First 5,000 Years,7 although he is not very interested in the religious responses. Combining his insights with my own research,8 let me summarize how the new economy affects ancient societies. Money as unit of account was used in the palaces and temples of Mesopotamia as early...