Middle Path Research Articles

A middle path to sustainable farming

A middle path to sustainable farming

Diversity in and among Rhetorical Traditions

Diversity in and among Rhetorical Traditions

The early years of Philippine Studies, 1953 to 1966

The academic journal has been a key element of the scholarly world for some time and as a key component of this world it deserves historical examination. But this has not often been forthcoming, especially for regions of the world outside the Anglo-American core. In this article I examine the content of the early years of Philippine Studies. Founded in 1953, it has survived and prospered up to the present day as a vehicle for scholarly studies of the Philippines. The content of the early years of Philippine Studies (1953–66) reflected a desire on the part of its editors and many of its authors and supporters to create a Philippine society based on the teachings of the Catholic Church, one that would be strong enough to create a middle path between communism and liberalism. Articles published during this period advocated social reform based on the teachings of the Catholic Church; these articles also aired warnings about the communist threat to the Philippines and the world. But alongside these materials were literary and historical studies that also, but in a more indirect fashion, supported the project of Catholic-inspired social reform.

‘Too High’, ‘Too Low’, or ‘Just Fair Enough’?

Abstract That an accused receives a fair trial is essential to the legitimacy of international criminal courts and tribunals. However, how best to interpret the right to a fair trial in order to maximize the legitimacy of international criminal courts and tribunals’ decision-making? Some argue that international criminal courts and tribunals should aspire to the highest standards of fairness and should aim to set an example for domestic courts in this regard. Others argue that the unique context within which international criminal courts and tribunals operate allows them, at times, to interpret the right to a fair trial in a way which falls below minimum international human rights standards. This article examines both of these positions and finds both to be problematic. Rather, the article argues that international criminal courts and tribunals should aim for a middle path, the ‘fair enough’ standard, when interpreting the right to a fair trial. In situations where a different standard than that found within international human rights law is applied, international criminal courts and tribunals should expend greater effort in being open and clear as to why this is so, and should take care in communicating this to their audience, including victims and the accused. By doing so, the legitimacy of their decision-making will be enhanced.

Implication of International law on Foreign Investment Process: A Reference of Nepal

Foreign investment is the movement of capital flow from one country to another country. A company and natural person can be the part of management of company or corporation in another country. Traditionally foreign investment was mere the subject matter of contract which has been changed with the presence of international law. Many issues of foreign investment are addressed by multilateral treaty provisions. There are financial investment; foreign direct investment (horizontal investment, vertical investment, conglomerate investment, greenfield investment, brownfield investment), portfolio investment, official flows, commercial loans, and technological investment etc. There are classical approach, dependency approach and middle path approach of foreign investment. Classical economic theory argues that foreign investment is beneficial for host country whereas dependency theory is reverse to classical theory and middle path theory analyses both positive and negative aspect of foreign investment. Joint venture, management contract, turnkey operation, and licensing agreement are basic method of foreign investment in Nepal. There are bilateral, regional and multilateral instruments supporting for foreign investment. Bilateral instruments include Bilateral Investment Protection Treaties and Bilateral Double Taxation Avoidance Treaties whereas regional instruments are developed by African Union, European Union etc. Multilateral instruments are developed by International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Bank Group, World Trade Organization etc. Constitution of Nepal (2015 AD) has purported liberal and open economic policy to accelerate economic growth. Foreign Investment and Technology Transfer Act, 2075 (2019 AD) and Foreign Exchange (Regulation) Act, 2019 BS (1962 AD) are principal legislation for foreign investment in Nepal. There are various principles of foreign investment which are most favored nation treatment, national treatment, preferential treatment, full protection and security, fair and equitable treatment, protection against nationalization or expropriation and protection from threat agreements etc.

Karl Loewenstein, Max Lerner, and militant democracy: an appeal to ‘strong democracy’

ABSTRACTIn the 1930s Loewenstein responded to the ease with which the Nazi Party rose to power within parliamentary democracy. In America Lerner echoed Loewenstein’s call for a ‘militant democracy’, but identified a different ‘enemy within’ – rogue capitalist interests. Loewenstein’s response to populism was an ‘authoritarian democracy’, whereas Lerner wished to embrace the people in a public engagement. This paper seeks a middle path towards a conception of democracy that avoids the vicissitudes of transient majorities without yielding the ground to either transient or entrenched minorities. In its modern guise of ‘neoliberalism’, corporate capitalism has made inroads into the sensibilities of democrats, and needs to be confronted by a notion of ‘strong democracy’ expressed through the engagement of whole populations.

Artificial Neural Network (ANN) to Spiking Neural Network (SNN) Converters Based on Diffusive Memristors

AbstractBiorealistic spiking neural networks (SNN) are believed to hold promise for further energy improvement over artificial neural networks (ANNs). However, it is difficult to implement SNNs in hardware, in particular the complicated algorithms that ANNs can handle with ease. Thus, it is natural to look for a middle path by combining the advantages of these two types of networks and consolidating them using an ANN–SNN converter. A proof‐of‐concept study of this idea is performed by experimentally demonstrating such a converter using diffusive memristor neurons coupled with a 32×1 1‐transistor 1‐memristor (1T1R) synapse array of drift memristors. It is experimentally verified that the weighted sum output of the memristor synapse array can be readily converted into the frequency of oscillation of an oscillatory neuron based on a SiOxNy:Ag diffusive memristor. Two converters are then connected capacitively to demonstrate the synchronization capability of this network. The compact oscillatory neuron comprises multiple transistors and has much better scalability than a complimentary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) integrate and fire neuron. It paves the way for emulating half center oscillators in central pattern generators of the central nervous system.

Concepts, Conceptions and Self-Knowledge

Content externalism implies first, that there is a distinction between concepts and conceptions, and second, that there is a distinction between thoughts and states of mind. The implications require us to rethink the nature of self-knowledge. In this paper, I argue for the partial-representation theory of self-knowledge, according to which the self-ascription of a thought is authoritative when it is based on a conscious, occurrent thought in virtue of which it partially represents an underlying state of mind. The model of self-knowledge I provide accommodates the distinction between concepts and conceptions and the distinction between thoughts and states of mind, and it also offers a middle path between absolute epistemic security on the one hand, and scepticism about first-personal self-knowledge on the other.

A Middle Path in the Surgical Management of Glomus Jugulare: Lessons Learnt from a Short Series.

Introduction:Glomus jugulare are rare vascular tumors arising from the jugular bulb with intra- and extra-cranial extensions. Although considered benign, these tumors are locally invasive with involvement of critical neurovascular structures causing significant morbidity. Due to their highly vascular nature, they pose a challenge for surgeons.Settings and Design:This is a retrospective analysis of a short series of glomus jugulare managed in a tertiary state-run referral center.Subjects and Methods:Three patients (two females, one male) of ages ranging from 32 to 55 years were evaluated for glomus jugulare and surgically managed. In the first case, total petrosectomy after transposing the facial nerve, cerebellopontine angle exploration, neck dissection and infratemporal fossa approach including removal of the internal jugular vein were done. Case 2 and Case 3 were managed with subtotal resection. Radiotherapy (RT) for residual tumor was given in Case 2.Results:Case 1 had secondary hemorrhage on 8th postoperative day to which she succumbed on postoperative day 18. Case 2 and Case 3 have been comfortable with no fresh deficits after 36- and 6-month follow-up, respectively. Apart from this, the authors also enumerate the various “lessons” learnt from this series.Conclusion:Planned subtotal resection followed by RT or stereotactic radiosurgery for the residual tumor yields a better outcome with lower morbidity and mortality.

The Politics of Explanation and Strategy of Description of Bruno Latour: How to Write Infra-reflexive Texts

The article is an attempt to interpret Bruno Latour’s Actor-Network Theory (ANT) as a recording device or, in other words, as a way of translating the world into a textual form. In directly posing the question of what ANT is and what it means to be an actor-network theorist, the author shows that this, first of all, means writing specific texts. If we accept such a version of what ANT is, then the question is how Latour proposes to write texts. His strategy of description is based on a certain politics of explanation. Like any other politics, the politics of explanation is based on certain principles or credo; in this case, these principles are related to the influence of the semiotics, ethnomethodology, and results of what Latour called the anthropology of the modern. This text, on the one hand, analyzes how Latour selectively borrows elements of semiotics and ethnomethodology in developing his policy of explanation. On the other hand, the author shows how this politics of explanation is implemented in practice in a specific description strategy. The author concludes that Latour’s politics of explanation and the subsequent description strategy presupposes an average path between two extremes. The first extreme is the output to the meta level, and the second is the use of only the explanations of the actors themselves. This middle path consists of the development of certain principles of description that would not lead either to the replacement of the language of actors by the language of a sociologist, or to a simple repetition of the language of actors. The ANT infra-language does not say anything meaningful about the world, but, in a certain way, organizes a description of the world as it is as an empty template which must be re-applied each time. It is for this reason that it is possible for historical, ethnographic, and mixed ANT-research.

A Pro-Grid Middle Path for Africa: Sub-Saharan Region Electricity Upgrades

It is just about 9 p.m. in Abuja, Nigeria, when large parts of the Maitama district suddenly go dark. Right on cue, several engines hum to life, and the darkened windows light up once more. This is a relatively affluent part of the city, and almost everyone owns a generator that can and often does provide up to 19 h of electricity needs in a day. Across the country, it has been dark for more than 2 h already, and the only lights you see in some villages are from kerosene lanterns, dry cell torches, and, increasingly, some solar lamps.

Rethinking Korea's Middle Power Diplomacy as a Nation Branding Project

South Korea s (hereafter Korea) recent middle power diplomacy has attracted worldwide attention. Korean administrations have attempted to steer the country along a middle power path, where it can play a more active global role that is commensurate with the size of its economy. Most accounts take Korea s self-declared identity as a middle power for granted; that is, they do not evaluate the non-conforming data. On the other hand, this paper traces the process of why the country projects a middle power identity. This paper first addresses alternative explanations of the positional, behavioral and identity approaches to answer this question. Following the failure of these explanations, this paper proposes that Korea s more assertive projection of its proclaimed middle power identity was a nation branding project that aimed to tackle the so-called Korea discount and to achieve its aspired place in the global prestige and status hierarchy. In turn, Korea envisioned its improved standing in the world helping it achieve its preferred global outcomes, particularly in shaping a favorable international environment surrounding the country.

“Muslim Women Seeking Power, Muslim Youth Seeking Justice”: An Edited Volume of Research Findings, Resources and Advocacy

This article gives an overview of a recently published book on the search of Muslim women and youth for social justice and equality, both in Mus-lim-majority cultures, and in Western countries of the Muslim diaspora. The theoretical and research model of critical realism is employed, in which levels of disadvantage and oppression are identified using a value-based approach. The model is applied to Islamic ontology, and the “middle path” of Islamic modesty, peace-making and compromise within multicultural, plural societies, with a focus on Islamic feminism. In a study of Muslim women in management in Western, Middle Eastern and Asian cultures, barriers to women’s employment are identified. Empirical work using “situation tests” comparing ethnically-identified CVs submitted in employment applications showed significant discrimination against Muslim women and young people in the spheres of employment in England and The Netherlands. A study of citizenship education in English schools showed that Muslim adolescents were particularly likely to adopt positive citizenship values, despite social pressures such as Islamophobia, which could lead to discrimination, and alienation. Case studies of Bangladesh and Pakistan (Muslim-majority cultures) in the search for social systems which could apply Islamic values in positive ways proved disappointing. We identified numerous ways in which girls and women in these cultures were exploited and oppressed, socially, economically and sexually. A final chapter explores why higher order values have so little purchase in some Muslim-majority (and other) cultures. The case study of women in Gaza, surviving intermittent warfare, did offer a model of Islamic peace-making, and prospects for a rapprochement of Muslim, Jewish, Christian and Humanist moral positions in seeking to establish co-operative multicultural, plural societies.

Heaven on Earth. On systematicity and aesthetic pleasure

In addition to its intense and innovative cosmological dialogue with predecessors, Kant’s Theory of the Heavens (1755) and its systematising goal tell us something more about the young Kant’s thoughts concerning humanity and the world. We intend 1) to show how Kant’s approach to the question of the order of the universe fi nds a middle path between the extremes of theology and naturalism; b) to show how purposiveness [Zweckmäβigkeit] exemplifies this middle path, and how this progressive resistance is a theoretical device to which Kant would frequently resort; c) to examine the extent to which the discernment of purposiveness and its theoretical order are felt by us as a singular aesthetic pleasure.

Let It Burn (Gillo Pontecorvo’s 1968)

Let It Burn (Gillo Pontecorvo’s 1968) Cesare Casarino (bio) Nostalgic commemoration of the glories of the 60s and abject public confession of the decade’s many failures and missed opportunities are two errors that cannot be avoided by some middle path that threads its way in between. . . . Its opportunities and failures were inextricably intertwined, marked by the objective constraints and openings of a determinate historical situation. —Fredric Jameson The time period—it seems—is the early nineteenth century. The setting is the Caribbean island and Portuguese colony of Queimada, which owes its name—“burnt”—to the circumstances of its conquest: when faced by indigenous resistance, its would-be colonizers set it ablaze, thereby christening it and exterminating its entire native population at once. Thenceforth, Queimada was destined to live up to its name, to be enveloped by flames again and again. Many years have elapsed since the inaugural colonial fire, during which the island has flourished as a lucrative cluster of sugar plantations owned by masters of Portuguese descent and cultivated by slaves of African descent, whose ancestors were shipped in by the Portuguese to perform that labor to which the native population had preferred death by fire. It is upon such a perfect colonial paradise that there descends one Sir William Walker, agent of the British Crown, to disrupt the delicate equilibrium between masters and slaves: his mission is at once to foment, aid, and abet a slave insurgency against the masters; to incite the masters to declare independence from Portugal; to convince the slaves to help the masters fight Portuguese colonial rule in exchange for freedom; to convince the masters to free the slaves and to hire them back as wage laborers in exchange for an end to the slave insurgency and for help in breaking free from the mother country; to convince the slaves that they shall share rule over the newly [End Page 28] independent Queimada with their former masters; and, above all, to pit masters and slaves against each other in as many ways as possible so as to secure monopoly on the island’s sugar production for those different types of masters that are the British corporations—and all of this in the name of progress, civilization, and freedom. It is while masterminding such havoc that Walker, at a dinner with the notables of the island, turns away from a window overlooking a harem-like courtyard filled with semi-naked black women, turns his gaze inside onto the distinguished all-male company, and addresses the symposium-like banquet with the following words (through the memorable lips of Marlon Brando): Gentlemen, let me ask you a question. Now, my metaphor might seem a trifle impertinent, but I think it is very much to the point. Which do you prefer, or should I say, which do you find more convenient, a wife or [gesturing toward the window] one of these mulatto girls? No, no, please don’t misunderstand. I’m speaking strictly in terms of economics. What is the cost of the product? What does the product yield? The product in this case being love. Purely physical love, since sentiments obviously play no part in economics. [Laughter] Quite. Now, a wife must be provided with a home, with food, with dresses, with medical attention, etc., etc. You’re obliged to keep her your whole lifetime, even until she’s grown old and perhaps a trifle unproductive. Then, of course, if you have the bad luck to survive her, you have to pay for the funeral. [Laughter] No, no, it’s true! Gentlemen, I know it seems amusing, but actually those are the facts, aren’t they? Now [gesturing to the courtyard below], with a prostitute, on the other hand, it’s quite a different matter, isn’t it? You see, there is no need to lodge her or to feed her, certainly not to dress her and bury her, thank God. She’s yours only when you need her. You pay her only for that service and you pay her by the hour. Which, gentlemen, is more important and more convenient? A slave or a paid worker? Walker’s “metaphor” twists patriarchy, capitalism, colonialism...

Evaluation of results of minimally invasive per cutaneous surgeries in management of calcaneal fractures

<h3> </h3><p><strong>Background:</strong> To analyze the outcome percutaneous surgeries in fractures of the calcaneum.</p><p class="abstract"><strong>Methods:</strong> 20 patients admitted in a tertiary care center in Ahmedabad were followed up from admission to until 2 years post operatively and functional outcomes in them following operative intervention were analyzed using AOFAS and Maryland scoring system.<strong></strong></p><p class="abstract"><strong>Results:</strong> Majority of patients have excellent or good outcome following percutaneous surgery in fractures of the calcaneum. The results were evaluated for 22 people with intraarticular calcaneum fractures using the Maryland foot score and AOFAS score. The mean AOFAS score was 86. There were 6 excellent, 12 good and 4 fair results.</p><p class="abstract"><strong>Conclusions:</strong> Percutaneous fixation in fractures of the calcaneum is a middle path in treatment of calcaneum fracture having the benefit of better reduction of ORIF plating and lesser soft tissue injury or chances of infection of conservative management.</p>

Efficacy of a program Based on Education Needs for Citizenship in the development of Middle Path and Moderation Values in the Secondary School Students

Efficacy of a program Based on Education Needs for Citizenship in the development of Middle Path and Moderation Values in the Secondary School Students

Americanising Brexit Britain's Welfare State?

AbstractWill the British welfare state revert to an Americanisation trajectory or retain features of the European model after April 2019? After a period of historically prolonged austerity and substantial working age welfare reform, with the UK facing yet another renegotiation of the social contract in a post‐Brexit world, the question of whether there remains space for an alternative to the ‘American’ model is of crucial importance. We argue that there has been a blurring of differences across the American and European welfare states in terms of working age benefits, as most countries have adopted aspects of work‐based conditionality reforms, which attach the receipt of benefits to the active pursuit of work and, to varying extents, the underlying politics of US welfare reform, where there are large coalitions supportive of more punitive policies towards low‐income adults and minorities. These trends are taking place against the backdrop of a second major shift: increasing restrictions on benefits for immigrants. This double narrowing of the welfare state, making benefits conditional for citizens and excluding those who are not citizens, seemingly sets the agenda for a more restrictive post‐Brexit welfare state. The experience of the last two decades suggests, however, that the adoption of the American model has not been wholesale; steering a middle path between punitive conditional American benefits and more traditionally generous universal benefits is on the agenda across advanced welfare states.

Chinese Rationality in the Modern World

The article focuses on the key issues of contemporary Chinese academic publications on the specifcs of Chinese rationality. Among its most common characteristics, there are focus on practice, attention to everyday life of society and individuals, pursuit of centrality and harmony in the moral sphere. Cross-cultural comparisons serve to justify the role of traditional rationality as a balancer keeping Chinese thought away from subjectivism, irrationalism, abstract reasoning and formalism. The researchers seek to identify the impacts of “applied rationality” upon the formation of positive features of Chinese national character. The widespread interpretation of Chinese practical rationality underlines the priority of practice of political governance over the theoretical reasoning about politics; in the moral sphere it leads to rejection of extremes in human behavior and sets the normative status of the middle path and harmony. The inclination of humans to keep their emotions under control and to take a proactive approach to the world was accompanied by recognition of the higher value of empirical experience and intuition compared to formal and abstract ideas. The focus on the secular life of people deprived the Chinese rationality of the “otherworldly” religious dimension. The participants of the discussion note that the Chinese culture has gained stability and “elasticity,” but it lacks Western formal rationality, which is a prerequisite for scientifc knowledge. Chinese researchers pay much attention to the impact of traditional rationality on the formation of Chinese philosophy in the 20th century and to the choice of socio-political path of national development. The emphasis on the differences between the cultures ofChinaand the West is combined with searches for similarities between Chinese rationality and Marxism. That steers the discussion beyond the sphere of comparative studies and makes its content relevant to the understanding of broader set of contemporary problems.

Privacy, Interests, and Inalienable Rights

Abstract Some rights are so important for human autonomy and well-being that many scholars insist they should not be waived, traded, or abandoned. Privacy is a recent addition to this list. At the other end of the spectrum is the belief that privacy is a mere unimportant interest or preference. This paper defends a middle path between viewing privacy as an inalienable, non-waivable, non-transferrable right and the view of privacy as a mere subjective interest. First, an account of privacy is offered that clarifies the concept and demonstrates how privacy is directly related to human health and well-being. Second, along with considering and rejecting several accounts for why privacy might be considered an inalienable right, an argument is offered for why it is morally permissible to waive, transfer, abandon, or alienate privacy.