Politico-economic Context Research Articles

An anti-racist English education

ABSTRACT In this conceptual article we offer a vision and a manifesto for an anti-racist English education, focusing particularly on language. Locating our work with anti-racist efforts in the UK, we conduct a brief historical reflection of these efforts, before turning our attention to the current politico-economic context and making a case for the urgent need for English teachers and teacher educators to commit to anti-racism within their work. We then outline what contemporary anti-racist efforts in English education might look, sound, and feel like. We argue for a greater attention to intersectional positionalities and activism in English education. We argue for anti-racist language policies which work in dialogue with other broader anti-racist efforts. We argue for the need to pay attention to specific contexts and racialised dynamics of institutions and local communities. We argue for anti-racist pedagogical stances which seek to sustain the language practices of marginalised children. Finally, we end with some clarifications and warn against seeing our manifesto as a reductive, tick-box exercise.

Urban Heat Transition in Berlin: Corporate Strategies, Political Conflicts, and Just Solutions

In the field of urban climate policy, heat production and demand are key sectors for achieving a sustainable city. Heat production has to shift from fossil to renewable energies, and the heat demand of most buildings has to be reduced significantly via building retrofits. However, analyses of heat transition still lack its contextualization within entangled urban politico-economic processes and materialities and require critical socio-theoretical examination. Asking about the embeddedness of heat transition within social relations and its implications for social justice issues, this article discusses the challenges and opportunities of heat transition, taking Berlin as an example. It uses an urban political ecology perspective to analyze the materialities of Berlin’s heating-housing nexus, its politico-economic context, implications for relations of inequality and power, and its contested strategies. The empirical analysis identifies major disputes about the future trajectory of heat production and about the distribution of retrofit costs. Using our conceptual approach, we discuss these empirical findings against the idea of a more just heat transition. For this purpose, we discuss three policy proposals regarding cost distribution, urban heat planning, and remunicipalization of heat utilities. We argue that this conceptual approach provides huge benefits for debates around heat transition and, more generally, energy justice and just transitions.

Remaking the Church Catholic in Post-Maoist China

Abstract After the political reforms that followed the death of Mao Zedong, Chinese Catholics were gradually allowed to reestablish their churches and resume public gatherings. Yet this opened serious challenges. After decades of persecution and isolation, which reshaped the ways Chinese Catholics worshipped and perceived themselves, they needed to redefine Chinese Catholicism. Is performing specific rituals in both Latin and a local dialect, at home and in secret, enough to be Catholic? Who holds the religious authority to effectively administer the sacraments? To what extent is a formal relationship with the Pope necessary to remain Catholic? This article explores how Chinese Catholics have searched for support from outside their family circles and the People’s Republic of China to answer their questions. This paper argues that in a rapidly changing politico-economic context marked by strict administrative control, Chinese Catholics have reestablished contacts with Global Catholicism through networking with missionary societies. More specifically, I look at collaborations which Chinese Catholics have established with the Paris Foreign Missions (MEP) to reassess the missiology of Chinese Catholicism. Discussing the evolving nature of these relationships after 1978, I show that the reconstruction of Catholicism in China has been a multilateral enterprise in which local Catholics have had to navigate political adversity, socio-cultural changes, and the Post-Vatican II reformation of worldwide Catholicism. In so doing, Chinese Catholics gradually moved outside of the intimacy of kinship groups and pre-defined rituals to engage actively with modernizing Chinese society and transforming world Catholicism.

Meta-analysis of country-level contextual moderators that impact the link between public service motivation and job satisfaction: evidence from 10 countries

ABSTRACT Public service motivation (PSM) has been found to predict job satisfaction (JS) of government and nonprofit organization employees in many varied industry, job grade, country, and culture contexts. However, the role that culture plays in this link, vis-à-vis the politico-economic context of countries, is not well understood. This meta-analysis looks at a combined sample size of 45,812 individuals, from 10 countries and 32 studies; and attempts to disambiguate the influence of these two moderators. Subgroup analysis and meta-regression techniques are employed to test hypotheses and contribute toward theory building. The study finds Asian countries to have a stronger correlation between PSM and JS, compared to Western countries; while two cultural traits, performance orientation and gender egalitarianism, demonstrate significantly higher strengthening impact in correlation effect sizes in Asia vis-a-vis the West. Future research directions and limitations are discussed.

Introduction to the Special Issue

This special issue of Anthropology in Action presents a collection of articles that reflect on and analyse the role of social science in epidemic response. The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed deep social and economic inequalities within and across countries which produce unequal COVID-19 outcomes. Researchers have long noted the connections between socioeconomic inequalities and infections, and there is growing recognition that epidemics are also social and political events (Bardosh et al. 2020). Anthropological and other social science research has contributed to epidemic response, through attention to cultural and politico-economic context, reframing community ‘resistance’, bolstering community engagement in preparedness and response, and informing response activities, including risk communication (Abramowitz 2017; Bardosh et al. 2020). Despite this, much of the work has been ad hoc and not systematically integrated into the systems of epidemic response, with the exception of the Centres d’Analyses des Sciences Sociales (CASS) in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). This special issue is timely, in that it builds on foundational work in social science and epidemic response, draws on tensions and experience from recent epidemics including COVID-19 and Ebola, and charts a way forward at both a theoretical and a practical level.

Evolution of Commercial Facilities in New Urban Areas of Hanoi: Potential of Sustainable Neighborhood-level Third Place Making

Shopping contributeslargely to how people feel part of and enjoy KDTMs (Khu Do Thi Moi -new urban areas) -the carefully planned new sites, well provided with infrastructure, and very attractive of Hanoi in the market economy. Among the three facilities that are rated as most important by KDTM’s residents -education, health care, and shopping, the third is considered a pure civil space. This space clearly reflects the changes of politico-economic context and decision-making actors. Participation of the private sector in thenewly formed market economy after a long period under State-run subvention and the consumerism entailed various ways to develop neighborhood-level commercial facilities. This paper aims to analyze and discuss on: firstly, the neighborhood-level commercialfacilities have ‘promptly’ updated the changes in Vietnam's political-economic; secondly, the classify of KDTMs has resulted in a corresponding differentiation of commercial facilities according to the will of the project owners and the target consumer-resident; finally, facing the global ‘death’ of shopping malls, the KDTMs malls are trying to find themselves a new ‘vitality’: they are be-ing ‘publicized’ to (re)create the third places in KDTM, that encourage social interaction in the limited spaces -intersperse public and private practices.

COVID-19 Significantly Affects Maternal Health: A Rapid-Response Investigation from Pakistan.

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is still unfolding. Its several implications are visible, yet more of them we have to observe and witness in future. Dealing with these impacts, this rapid-response article aims to situate the COVID-19 pandemic within Pakistan's overall sociocultural and politico-economic context; next to investigate the impacts of COVID-19 particularly the psychological ones on pregnant women in Pakistan via five case. One case history of Haleema (pseudonym) revealed how the pandemic exerted a substantial amount of mental pressure due to “arranging someone to accompany her to the hospital, finding a blood donor for her, and insecurity of convenience to hospital.” In this article, we show that Pakistan's geographical division into urban with an appropriate healthcare system, infrastructure and economic status, and more impoverished rural areas may show different impacts on people in general and the pregnant women in particular. This difference of facilities may contribute to disease transmission in the more deprived areas, that also due to cultural norms and mores such as shaking hands, cheek-kissing, and hugging that spread the virus are being overturned and that pregnant women are particularly vulnerable to psychological effects of the pandemic.

STATE OWNERSHIP AND INNOVATION: THE RELATIVE MERITS OF LOCAL AND CENTRAL STATE JUDGED BY INNOVATION PERFORMANCE

This paper compares the innovation performance of state-owned firms owned by different levels of government, with that of privately owned firms. Analysis of a 116-firm panel dataset for the Chinese solar photovoltaic industry from 1999 to 2015 suggests that government’s financial support increases the quantity of innovation outputs. However, the efficiency in utilising the financial resources is determined by the effectiveness of agency relationships. Applying agency theory to the Chinese politico-economic context indicates that innovation quality depends on length and complexity of agency chains, engagement of monitors, and the tenure of managers. By using forward citations and proportion of patents in active use, two measures of innovation quality that are more valid and reliable than patent counts, our study finds that municipally owned firms are superior in terms of innovation productivity to those under central ownership, and comparable to private firms.

Assessing disaster capitalism in post-disaster processes in Chile: neoliberal reforms and the role of the corporate class

PurposeThis paper examines disaster capitalism in Chile, that is, the relationships between disasters and neoliberalism. It looks at two post-disaster dimensions: disasters as windows of opportunity to introduce political reforms and disasters as occasions for the corporate class to capitalize on such disasters.Design/methodology/approachTwo indices, disaster capitalism (DC) and post-disaster private involvement (PDPI), are proposed for cross-case analysis. They are based on legal records, institutional reports and economic data. The DC assesses the introduction of reforms following disasters, while PDPI evaluates the share of public-private funding used for recovery. Both indices are applied here to two disasters in Chile: the 2010 Maule earthquake, and the 2008 Chaitén volcanic eruption.FindingsResults show that the highly neoliberal Chilean context leaves limited space for new neoliberal reforms. Although recovery is implemented predominantly through the private sector, the state still assumes greater responsibility for recovery costs. Results also detect poor levels of participation from the private sector in accounting their efforts and making them publicly available. Likewise, the research suggests that neoliberal reforms become more likely after disasters. However, the preexisting politico-economic context matters. Finally, there is clearly a need for data systematization in post-disaster recovery.Originality/valueIn the Chilean context, the indices proved beneficial as a strategy for data collection and a method for scrutinizing the implications of neoliberal policy implemented in the wake of disasters, as well as in evaluating the role of the corporate class during recovery.

Cultural Modification and Cultural Alignment in Police Services: An Empirical Analysis of Select Variables

Police forces, traditionally, were tacitly assumed to be rule-bound, legalistic, bureaucratic organisations, in which top-down policies prevailed through a quasi-militaristic rank hierarchy and strict discipline code ( Reiner,2016 ). The profile of the police organisations has been radically transforming, in view of the wider politico-economic and cultural context of re-emerging conflicts and social divisions in the recent past. Because of loose ends in the legal powers and processes, police officers at the operational level were characterised by the extent of discretion on how to behave or misbehave ( Newburn & Reiner, 2012 ). An empirical study was carried out in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh using Convenience sampling on 680 (340 respondents from police from different cadres and public each through separate structured questionnaires for each category of respondents), covering three variables, namely police beat, patrolling and responding to public calls. This article presents how Visakhapatnam Police could focus on the beat and patrolling, responding to public calls as part of aligning its working processes and bring in the cultural change not only in the Police Organisation as a whole, but also among the stakeholders. The Visakha Police is today known to be more citizen-friendly, tech-savvy and relatively fast in addressing and resolving issues.

Infrastructuring “data-driven” environmental governance in Louisiana’s coastal restoration plan

Conservationists around the world advocate for “data-driven” environmental governance, expecting data infrastructures to make all relevant and actionable information readily available. But how exactly is data to be infrastructured and to what political effect? I show how putting together and maintaining environmental data for decision-making is not a straightforward technical task, but a practice shaped by and shaping politico-economic context. Drawing from the US state of Louisiana’s coastal restoration planning process, I detail two ways ecosystem modelers manage fiscal and institutional “frictions” to “infrastructuring” data as a resource for decision-making. First, these experts work with the data they have. They leverage, tweak, and maintain existing datasets and tools, spending time and money to gather additional data only to the extent it fits existing goals. The assumption is that these goals will continue to be important, but building coastal data infrastructure around current research needs, plans, and austerity arguably limits what can be said in and done with the future. Second, modelers acquire the data they made to need. Coastal communities have protested the state’s primary restoration tool: diversions of sediment from the Mississippi River. Planners reacted by relaxing institutional constraints and modelers brought together new data to highlight possible winners and losers from ecological restoration. Fishers and other coastal residents leveraged greater dissent in the planning process. Political ecologists show that technocentric environmental governance tends to foreclose dissent from hegemonic socioecological futures. I argue we can clarify the conditions in which this tends to happen by following how experts manage data frictions. As some conservationists and planners double down on driving with data in a “post-truth” world, I find that data’s politicizing effects stem from what is asked of it, not whether it is “big” or “drives.”

Political-Economy of Social Entrepreneurship in Indonesia: A Polanyian Approach

This paper attempts to develop a critical analysis on the concept of social entrepreneurship (SE) in Indonesia in comparison to that in the Global North. Departing from Karl Polanyi’s theorization of market society, this paper asserts that the concept of SE embodies a ‘double movement’. It embodies a tension between the ‘dis-embedding movement’ (attempts to organize society according to market rationality) and the ‘re-embedding movement’ (attempts to ensure that the market works to serve society’s interests), that is, between a formal and a substantive approach to the economy. The rise of SE, therefore, is always situated within a particular politico-economic context. Using Indonesia’s experience as a case study, this paper argues that the emergence of SE is strongly influenced by Widodo’s economic nationalism ideology. In this regard, SE is largely a part of Widodo’s strategy for bolstering economic growth, particularly by stimulating the rise of local entrepreneurs. Within such a framework, the nature of SE as a tool for addressing social problems is insufficiently recognized. SE in Indonesia therefore embodies tensions between the dis-embedding and re-embedding movements. The dis-embedding movement, however, prevails in Indonesia.

Mine closure from below: Transformative movements in two shrinking West African mining towns

There is broad consensus about the fact that many negative consequences of mine closure can only be avoided by differently planning and constructing mining towns from the start. This involves the establishment of closure funds, the stimulation of diversification as well as infrastructural considerations. However, these challenges are presented as technical problems that can only be solved with the intervention of experts without considering already-existing propositions and practices of the population itself, and without referring to the global politico-economic context. We propose to bridge this gap by comparing mine closures in Fria in Guinea and Obuasi in Ghana, two large and comparatively old mining towns, from the point of view of discussions about the ‘right to the city’.

TAXATION OF EMPLOYEES IN ROMANIA IN 2018. CHANGES AND ITS RESULTS ON THE COUNTRY’S ECONOMY

The politico-economic context has a significant influence on the development of a country and the visions of the decision-makers together with the economic policies implemented are key elements in a country’s economic welfare. A decisive aspect of the economic policy is the fiscal framework, and when it is not at least stable, the entire economy suffers. In the recent period, in Romania, there have been various tax changes. The present paper analyses perhaps the most controversial tax change, namely, the shifting of social security contributions from the employer’s burden to the employee, along with the reduction of their rate and the reduction of the income tax rate. Implementation of such measures should be examined in terms of economic impact. One can notice that these changes have impact on three stakeholder categories: employees, employers and the state budget. Moreover, these changes must be correlated with other measures that are not directly related to the fiscal framework. At the same time, seeing an overview, one can analyze whether these changes could actually represent a starting point for moving from proportional taxation to progressive taxation. Through several impact assessments, this paper aims to analyze both from a micro and macroeconomic perspectives this tax changes and to offer a clear overview of the economic issues arisen. Such analyses will demonstrate the economic instability created through these measures.

Historical Books: Joshua–2 Kings

Historical BooksJoshua–2 Kings Christopher T. Begg, Isaac M. Alderman, and Paul R. Redditt 1825. [Joshua; Genesis 37–50] Hulisani Ramantwana, “The Levites’ Exclusion from Land Allotment: The Joshua Story in Dialogue with the Joseph Story,” OTE 30 (2017) 785–804. In this paper, R. uses an African proverb which translates as “the baboons who get to eat are the big ones” as a lens for engaging the issue of the exclusion of the Levites from land ownership. In particular, R., with the proverb in view, reads the Joshua story (esp. Josh 14:16–17) in dialogue with the Joseph story. On this basis, R. argues that the Levites’ exclusion from land ownership was the result of a power play by the Joseph tribes under the leadership of Hoshea (Joshua) son of Nun from the tribe of Ephraim. The Levites’ exclusion thus reflects a privileging of the power-holding Joseph tribes at the expense of the tribe [End Page 636] of Levi, which was thereby relegated to second-class status. R.’s paper also engages with the current South African politico-economic context, in which those with political power enrich themselves by grabbing whatever they can to the detriment of ordinary people. [Adapted from published abstract—C.T.B.] 1826. [Joshua 22–24; Numbers 13–14; 32] Lissa M. Wray Beal, “The Past as Threat and Hope: Reading Joshua with Numbers,” BBR 27 (2017) 461–83. In the Transjordanian altar narrative of Joshua 22, a perceived threat against Israel is presented and overcome. The chapter is literarily connected with Numbers 13–14 and 32. While historical-critical scholars might attribute such connections to the activity of P authors, B.’s article works with the canonical text and a literary method to explore these intertextual connections. Extending her exploration throughout the Book of Joshua, B. further demonstrates that the literary resonances in question contribute to various significant themes in the book. More specifically, her article addresses two questions: (1) How do Numbers 13–14 and 32 serve to shape the message of Joshua 22 as well as the book’s epilogue (Joshua 22–24) as a whole? And (2) do Numbers 13–14 and 32 function in Joshua similarly to how they function in Numbers itself? B. concludes that the above chapters of Numbers profoundly shape the message of Joshua 22 and of the book’s epilogue, of which the latter text is a part. They do so by showing that Israel’s future is open to hope of promises fulfilled, as it is open to the possibility of future failure and sin. [Adapted from published abstract—C.T.B.] 1827. [Judges 4–5] Mirosław Janinski, “Prorokini Debora—‘wskrzesicielka’ nadziei Izraela: Studium egzegetyczno-teologiczne Sdz 4–5 [The Prophetess Deborah, the “Reviver” of Israel’s Hopes: An Exegetical and Theological Study of Judges 4–5],” BibAn 7 (2017) 415–39. “Deborah, the wife of Lappidoth, was a prophet who was judging Israel at that time” (Judg 4:4). With these words, the author of Judges introduces readers to a new hero of his narrative, one who will dominate the segment Judges 4–5. This solemn and expansive introduction of Deborah is noteworthy in its concentrated deployment of the figure’s titles in a single verse. In this essay, J. seeks to clarify the meaning of the honorific titles used of Deborah in 4:4 and to make clear that their application to her is fully justified. The article unfolds in three parts. First, J. reviews the major problems associated with the dating of Judges 5 and the relationship between the Song of Deborah there and the narrative of Judges 4. He then turns to the elucidation first of Deborah’s designation as “judge” and then of her “prophetess” title. The upshot of the account in Judges 4–5 is that Deborah, the judge and prophetess, emerges also as “a mother in Israel” (Judg 5:7). [Adapted from published abstract–C.T.B.] 1828. [Judges 6–8] Jacob L. Wright, “The Evolution of Gideon,” Supplementation, 105–24 [see #2032]. Examining supplements to the original Gideon account (Judges 6–8), W. suggests...

Corporate political strategies: a contemporary literature review

PurposeBy reviewing the overall concept of corporate political strategy (CPS), the purpose of this paper is to display a contemporary summary of issues of the diverse global CPSs. This study additionally aims to provide relevant corporate political behavioral concepts that surround a firm’s political actions when entering specific politico-economic markets as well as future work recommendations. This paper further provides a contemporary bibliographic analysis on CPS.Design/methodology/approachThrough a systematic ISI Web of KnowledgeTM All Databases literature review on “CPS,” the research was refined in relation to articles from “all year time-span,” “social science,” and “business economic” areas. After relevant papers were retrieved, sorted, and analyzed, a final bibliographic analysis on CPS was performed using HistCite reference graph maker.FindingsResults of this research provide a table with a conceptual summary of different CPS types, approaches to political strategy, participation levels, assessment of the political environments, research implications, as well as other related CPS factors.Research limitations/implicationsThere is still a lack of empirical research on how specific firm CPSs can help overcome the effect of foreignness within different host countries. This study provides an overview and list of CPSs that companies use when entering a particular politico-economic context as well as inner CPS research streams.Originality/valueThis contemporary conceptual taxonomy on CPS provides researchers as well as practitioners with insights into the global CPS evolution, in addition to a current picture of CPS within different contexts.

The Cultural Grammar of Governance: The UK Code of Corporate Governance, Reflexivity, and the Limits of Softt Regulation

We identify limits of ‘reflexive governance’ by examining the UK Code of Corporate Governance that is celebrated for its ‘reflexivity’. By placing the historical genesis of the Code within its politico-economic context, it is shown how its scope and penetration is impeded by a shallow, ‘single loop’ of reflexivity. Legitimized by agency theory, the Code is infused by a ‘cultural grammar’ that perpetuates relations of shareholder primacy as it restricts accountability to narrow forms of information disclosure directed exclusively at shareholders. Engagement of a deeper, ‘double loop’ reflexivity allows account to be taken of the historical conditions and theoretical conceptions that shape practices and outcomes of corporate governance. Only then is it possible to disclose, challenge and reform narrow conceptions, boundaries and workings of ‘reflexive governance’.

The Smart City and other ICT-led techno-imaginaries: Any room for dialogue with Degrowth?

The 21st century has been hailed as the urban century and one in which ICT-led transformations will shape urban responses to global environmental change. The Smart City encapsulates all the desires and prospects on the transformative and disruptive role technology will have in solving urban issues both in Global North and Global South cities. Critical scholarship has pointed out that private capital, with the blessing of technocratic elites, has found a techno-environmental fix to both reshuffle economic growth and prevent other alternative politico-ecological transitions to take root in urban systems. Against this bleak outlook, the paper argues that these technological assemblages might be compatible with alternative post-capitalist urban transformations aligned with Degrowth. Through a cross-reading of research on Smart Cities with theoretical perspectives drawn from the literature on Degrowth, I suggest that Degrowth should not refrain from engaging with urban technological imaginaries in a critical and selective way. As the paper shows through alternative uses of Smart technologies and digital open-source fabrication, the question is not so much around technology per se but around the wider politico-economic context into which these technological assemblages are embedded.

Redress and Corporate Human Rights Harms: An Analysis of New Governance and the POSCO Odisha Project

Human rights harms caused by transnational business in the global South are increasingly being addressed using ‘new governance’ tools and their cooperative problem-solving processes. Such an approach is employed by OECD National Contact Points (NCPs), which received a complaint regarding Korean steel giant POSCO in India. This article explains the contested aspects of the POSCO project in its politico-economic context and shows how the NCP process sacrificed elements essential to an effective new governance approach. This case highlights the challenges facing new governance tools in advancing human rights in the global South raising significant questions about their usefulness in this context.

Arctic energy development in Russia—How “sustainability” can fit?

The purpose of this paper is to investigate how the concept of sustainability has developed in the politico-economic context of Russia and in the Russian Arctic energy industry. This paper provides a substantial overview of sustainability priorities developed in Russia and then, based on state and media perspectives on Russian Arctic energy, it analyzes the critical directions of concept development in this context. The rhetoric of the sustainability concept in the country and in the context of Arctic energy may not necessarily develop in the same way. The priorities may focus on industrial technology and transport modernization, energy and environmental security, an emergency preparedness system and coordination, governance, international partnerships on Arctic governance and maritime issues, preventing pollution and waste, sustainable management, improving quality of life of indigenous people, and scientific research issues that are crucial for this context. The paper concludes that the politico-economic context itself has strongly influenced the development of the sustainability concept in Russia. Furthermore, based on the results of this study, it is suggested that, in a context of the Russian Arctic, legitimization is more dependent on the state position than on that of the media.