Underdeveloped States Research Articles

On the Justifications of Contemporary Global Justice Theories

Abstract Contemporary global justice theories could be introduced and reduced to three kinds: the deontological approach, the theory of obligation, and the theory of self-interest. Our analysis finds that only the theory of obligation and the theory of self-interest provide strong enough justifications for developed states and their people to assist underdeveloped states and their people. However, the theory of obligation requires some special preconditions, and the theory of self-interest cannot proceed in the name of justice, so we conclude that contemporary global justice theories are not tenable.

Western Exploitations and the Nexus of African Underdevelopment

This paper examines Walter Rodney’s argument of How Europe Underdeveloped Africa and its justification years after political independence. The paper has adapted Dependency Theory. The paper has reveals that widening gap between Developed and Underdeveloped States is as a result of both external and internal factors especially the colonial integration of African economies in the World Capitalist System and its exploitative institutions and programmes and internal factors of both systemic and institutional corruption, political instability, colonial mentality of consumption and other factors are responsible for underdevelopment of Africa with attendant effects of poverty, inequality, unemployment, disease and infrastructural decay etc. on basis of conclusion. The paper recommended that visionary and purposeful leadership that surrounds itself with experts will initiate and sustain revolutionary development in Africa. Also proper planning and continuity in developmental policies and programmes and united front against corruption be strictly adhered to for the continent to develop. Keywords: Development, Underdevelopment, Exploitations and Good Governance. DOI: 10.7176/JAAS/64-06 Publication date: May 31 st 2020

Bonding, Academic Culture and Aggressive Behavior among University Students in Pakistan

Aggression at universities has become a serious problem not only for developed but also for underdeveloped states across the globe. Growing violence at the campus is becoming a routine. Frequent incidences of violent conflicts and even killing in some cases at the campus has drawn the attention of scholars and made it an important area of research and investigation. This study was set out to understand students violent behavior and factors contributing to their violent behavior at the campus. A sample of 375 students was selected from different faculties of two universities from Islamabad city. The data came through a well-structured questionnaire. Multiple regression analysis was performed to see the effect of bonding and academic culture on aggressive behavior students at the university. Findings show that bonding and academic culture significantly predicts i.e. 16% of aggressive behavior of university students. It is, therefore concluded that low level of bonding and poor academic culture at the university exacerbate violent, aggressive or non-confirmatory behavior among students.

The Bretton Woods International Financial Institutions: Perspective of the Underdeveloped States

This paper analyzes the roles and operations of the Bretton Woods institutions, the International Monetary Fund, and International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, as it relates to their modus operandi and dealings with the poor and needy underdeveloped countries of the South. The most common understanding of the roles of international organizations such as the IMF and the World Bank is that of a platform for the common good of members. Viewed however, from the perspective of the weak and poor states of the world, they are instruments in the hands of the dominant power players in the international system. Adopting the theoretical frameworks of realism and third world approach, this paper finds that though the international financial institutions have supplied funds aimed for development and for the handling or control of crisis, they leave so much to desire in the cases of the underdeveloped states. The paper concludes that the actual intentions of the IMF and World Bank are primarily directed at making the developing countries perform better in their client relationship with the west.

Ensuring the Protection of the Rights of the Child is a Priority in the Legislation of Kazakhstan

Ensuring the rights of the child belongs to the global problems of our time, in the solution of which the entire world community is interested. This is explained by the decisive role of the younger generation in ensuring the viability of society and predicting its future development. However, it should be recognized that no state in the world can claim to be a model in the field of the observance of the rights of the child. Even the most democratic and economically developed countries are characterized by an increase in juvenile delinquency, the presence of families with low living standards, child mortality due to inadequate medical care, and the rise of street children. All these factors prove the impossibility of solving the children's problem only by national means and make it necessary to unite the efforts of the world community as a whole, which led to the emergence of the institution of international legal protection of the rights of the child. International protection of the rights of the child is a system of mutually agreed actions of the state and non-governmental international organizations aimed at developing and ensuring the rights of the child with the goal of creating a full-fledged and harmoniously developed personality, facilitating their incorporation into national legislation and providing international assistance to children of underdeveloped states. At the international level, there are many procedures and mechanisms that directly or indirectly relate to the protection of the rights of the child. However, despite the relatively large number of such bodies, it is their multiplicity that creates certain difficulties for the effective protection of the rights of children.

Why India’s urbanization is hidden: Observations from “rural” Bihar

In the developing world, processes of urbanization sometimes remain hidden in official statistics and urban populations are thought to be substantially misread. This article aims to better understand why that happens in urbanizing rural India. It situates hidden urban growth within a framework of agrarian transformation and distress-driven employment shifts out of agriculture. The analysis is based on mixed methods research: I draw on geospatial approaches that visualize population concentration and shifts in the economic profiles of villages, and on local fieldwork in rural Bihar, northeastern India. I find that hidden urbanization in Bihar mainly occurs around rapidly growing secondary cities that have spilled over into surrounding villages. Livelihoods in these villages are now for the most part based in secondary and tertiary economic sectors, but for a (declining) number of households farming still remains part of their livelihood portfolios. I show how village leaders, mukhiyas, actively hold on to the “rural” status of these villages even when urban growth has been substantial. Rural-to-urban settlement reclassification has consequences for village residents in terms of cost of living, land-ownership, access to rural development funding, and democratic and inclusive participation in local governance. These findings have a theoretical bearing on urbanizing India, and have direct implications for our understanding of allegedly underdeveloped rural states like Bihar.

The nexus between vulnerabilities and violence in the Caribbean*

This article analyses the nexus between the Caribbean’s manifold vulnerabilities and the direct and structural violence evident throughout the region’s history. It argues that Caribbean states are threatened not only by direct violence but also by the structural violence permeating in impoverished and marginalised sectors of the state–society complex. Both forms of violence are attributable to the historical legacy of colonisation, to US paternalism and hegemonic dominance in the post-colonial era, and to the persistence of the coloniality of power, even after Caribbean states won their independence from European imperial powers. Today, the region is, per capita, one of the most violent areas on the globe. Evidence of concatenated violence is growing across this region, demonstrating the difficulty small underdeveloped states have in addressing threats to their security, independence, economic viability, and continued existence in the intermestic environment within which they operate.

The issue of social inequality in terms of health: a comparative study of Russia within the European context

This article examines the issue of social inequality in terms of health, while citing the main results of an empirical study on the matter, which have been attained by means of analyzing data from the European social survey (ESS) for a few dozen countries, including Russia, together with statistical information on the state of their economy and welfare, utilizing a two-level linear and logistic modeling method. In different parts of Europe indexes of general wellbeing and the risk of developing depression differ quite drastically – in Russia, as is the case with most other relatively underdeveloped nations, the population’s health is markedly worse than in the most of the highly developed social democracies. These indexes significantly differ within the country as well – among people who occupy unequal positions within demographical and social structures. A natural discrepancy in health between elder and younger age groups is especially pronounced in underdeveloped countries, while in nations with a high level of prosperity and state social guarantees these age-related discrepancies are more or less evened out. Social capital and an individual’s mental strength play a crucial role in maintaining good health. Possessing psychosocial resources is beneficial to the health of those belonging to any given social stratum. However, in developed European countries this is mostly beneficial to the more vulnerable groups of lower social status. In developed European countries the health of said groups is negatively affected in no small part due to them experiencing relative deprivation, and the stress of social comparison to the prosperous majority. So this is not only due to a shortage of material resources or their limited access to high-quality medical services, as is the case in Russia and in underdeveloped European states. In well developed countries individual reserves and social bonds are especially important for the lower strata, in order for them to successfully overcome the negative impact of such strain on their health.

Von Wistinghausen, Henning Freimaurer und Aufklärung im Russischen Reich. Die Revaler Logen 1773–1820, mit einem biographischen Lexikon (review)

SEER, 96, 2, APRIL 2018 364 critical discussion of and contextualization within the rich field of scholarship on both the Russian and Western European Enlightenments (John Robertson’s study on Naples and Scotland, two other peripheral and economically underdeveloped European states, comes to mind). Hamburg chooses instead to quote his sources at length, framing their interpretation within a wealth of detailed biographical information which, however, is not always directly relevant to an understanding of the source at hand. For any scholar interested in Russia’s intellectual history, the chance to corroborate and verify a reconstruction of the development of intellectual life and currents of thought against a solid body of existing research is essential (a comprehensive bibliography is missing in the book). However, this might be an unreasonable expectation given that Hamburg’s book is the first to trace the history of Russian political thought from medieval times until the end of the eighteenth century. As such it is an important, erudite and informative contribution to the field which will be appreciated by intellectual historians as well as historians of Europe and Russia. Basel Charlotte Henze vonWistinghausen,Henning.FreimaurerundAufklärungimRussischenReich. Die Revaler Logen 1773–1820, mit einem biographischen Lexikon. 3 vols. Böhlau, Cologne, Weimar and Vienna, 2016. 1061 + 356 pp. Illustrations. Notes. Appendices. Bibliography. Index. €150.00. This is a major contribution to the history of Freemasonry in the Russian Empire. Henning von Wistinghausen is a German career diplomat who is also an erudite historian of his family’s native Estonia, with numerous publications to his name on its Imperial Russian past and especially the ‘Kotzebue time’ (late eighteenth to early nineteenth centuries). Here Wistinghausen chronicles in great detail the history of the Masonic lodges in Reval (Tallinn), placing them firmly in the context of Imperial Russian Freemasonry from its beginnings around the 1740s to its final prohibition in 1822: volume one takes the story to approximately 1800, volume two covers the reign of Alexander I. He has ranged across Europe in search of sources and deploys a huge array of archival and rare published material, much of it previously unused, as well as demonstrating sovereign familiarity with the literature of the subject. The third of his three volumes is a biographical lexicon which provides extensive personal information on the over 400 individuals identified as Masons in Estland and mentioned in the monograph’s text. The Estonian narrative is woven together with the more familiar events in Russia proper — the interaction between the competing Masonic systems REVIEWS 365 and national allegiances of Reichel, Elagin, Gagarin and Melissino, the search for higher degrees and ‘true’ Masonry, and developments leading to the first closure of the lodges in the 1790s. (Wistinghausen cites approvingly Faggionato’s explanation of Catherine II’s crack-down on Novikov and his circle.) In particular the role of foreigners is highlighted, especially the hitherto underappreciated part played in Russian Masonry of the time by the brothers Georg and Wilhelm von Rosenberg. Catherine’s Baltic provinces had a number of lodges, in Dorpat/Tartu, Mitau/Jelgava and Riga as well as in Reval/ Tallinn; many young Baltic German nobles met Masonry while studying in Germany. Reval at this time was an important port but a provincial backwater; one of the features well portrayed here is the change over time of its culture and intellectual life, the gradual penetration of ‘Enlightenment’. The first of the four Reval lodges, Isis (1773–92), which inducted ninety-two members over its initial lifetime, was composed mainly of well-educated incomers, finding little resonance either in Reval’s stuffy merchant society or among the surrounding landed nobility. The Brotherly Love lodge (1777–88), established by an officer of the Kazan´ Cuirassier Regiment, relied heavily upon other regimental officers for its membership. The Three Polehammers (1778-85) followed the Strict Observance and the Swedish system, and did not survive the latter’s demise in Russia. The ephemeral fourth lodge, Hope at Innocence (1788–91?), was plagued by internal conflict. Isis, the only lodge to survive into the 1790s, maintained a skeleton life after 1792 to look after its property and continue its support for the poor. Under Alexander I Freemasonry revived, but once again...

Economic Development and the Spread of Diseases of Affluence in EU Regions

Diseases of affluence (diseases of the twenty‑first century, Western diseases) by definition should have higher prevalence and/or mortality rates in richer and more developed countries than in poorer, underdeveloped states. Therefore, it has been indicated that it is the civilizational progress (directly or indirectly via changes in lifestyle, diet, physical activity, stress, etc.) that stimulates epidemic outbreaks of some illnesses (cancer, diseases of respiratory and cardiovascular systems, diabetes, mental disorders). On the other hand substantial financial resources, highly qualified medical personnel, and cutting‑edge technology of richer states, should allow for effective prevention, diagnostics, and treatment of these diseases. The European Union as a whole, as well as all its member states and their regions, may be considered “highly developed” in terms of economy. Does it, however, mean that EU can be perceived as homogeneous as far as the diseases of affluence epidemiology is concerned? Are the relatively small differences in economic regional development (compered to worldwide inequalities) a significant factor in the spatial distribution of the diseases of affluence? To evaluate the possible dispersion in the epidemiology of some of the so called Western diseases and their relation to regional development, tools of spatial statistics have been incorporated. The research covers 261 EU NUTS 2 regions for the years 2003–2010. This research may provide some insight into the existence of hypothetical diseases of affluence as well as help recognize spatial patterns of prevalence and mortality rates for these illnesses.

Methodological Approaches for Regime Performance towards Achieving Socio-Economic Democratic Consolidation in Developing Societies

This paper describes a research methodology approach for regime performance towards achieving socio-economic democratic consolidation in developing societies. The emphasis of this paper is on regime performance of Governor Gaidam towards achieving socio-economic democratic consolidation in Yobe state, 2009-2015. As part of a wider study, this paper provides the study area, research design, data collection and analysis procedure adopted for the study. Importantly, the approaches adopted and discussed in this paper become the research foundation of the first author for his PhD study. To achieve the overall aim of the paper, we specifically discussed the profile of Yobe state emphasizing creation, population, culture, geography, landmass, political economy, governance and administrative structure. Beyond the socio-economic profile of Yobe state described as one of the most underdeveloped states in Nigeria, the paper discussed the qualitative designs and approaches adopted in the PhD study. Therefore, issues of selection of informants, sources of data, methods of data collection, data analysis procedures and techniques were explained. Finally, issues of validity and reliability and social science ethical considerations which generally guided the overall study from start to finish are explained.

Spatial Approach to Diseases of Affluence Epidemiology and Regional Economic Development

Abstract Diseases of affluence (of the 21st c.) by definition should have higher prevalence and/or mortality rates in richer and more developed countries than in poorer, underdeveloped states (where diseases of poverty are more common). Therefore, it has been indicated that it is civilizational progress that makes us sick. On the other hand, substantial financial resources, highly qualified medical personnel, and the cutting-edge technology of richer states, should allow for effective preventions, diagnostics, and treatment of diseases of poverty and of affluence. Therefore, a dilemma arises: is progress making us sick or curing us? To evaluate the influence of country socioeconomic and technological development on population health, a spatial analysis of the epidemiology of diseases of affluence and distribution of economic resources for European NUTS 2 has been performed. The main aim of this paper is to assess, how regional diversity in the prevalence of diseases of affluence is related to the regional development of regions.

Comparing the Soviet and Chinese Famines: Their Perpetrators, Actors, and Victims

The Soviet (1931-33) and Chinese (1958-62) famines were man-made catastrophes that occurred in underdeveloped states with growing populations during peacetime and affected traditional surplus areas. Both are marked by overly ambitious industrialization strategies at the expense of the rural economy in which central authorities failed to lower grain quotas once famine broke out and even increased them. The famines also had differences, notably regarding the nationality or ethnic question, which played a key role in Ukraine and was present in the Kazakh famine, but was absent in the Chinese famine. Also, Chinese Communist Party leaders, notwithstanding the cruelty of their policies, were much better disposed towards peasants than were the Soviet Bolsheviks. One cannot ascribe murderous intent on Mao’s part, but rather an incoherency of policy and unwillingness to recognize and correct his errors.

Association of p53 codon72 Arg>Pro polymorphism with susceptibility to nasopharyngeal carcinoma: evidence from a case-control study and meta-analysis.

Tumor suppressor p53 is a critical player in the fight against cancer as it controls the cell cycle check point, apoptotic pathways and genomic stability. It is known to be the most frequently mutated gene in a wide variety of human cancers. Single-nucleotide polymorphism of p53 at codon72 leading to substitution of proline (Pro) in place of arginine (Arg) has been identified as a risk factor for development of many cancers, including nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). However, the association of this polymorphism with NPC across the published literature has shown conflicting results. We aimed to conduct a case–control study for a possible relation of p53 codon72 Arg>Pro polymorphism with NPC risk in underdeveloped states of India, combine the result with previously available records from different databases and perform a meta-analysis to draw a more definitive conclusion. A total of 70 NPC patients and 70 healthy controls were enrolled from different hospitals of north-eastern India. The p53 codon72 Arg>Pro polymorphism was typed by polymerase chain reaction, which showed an association with NPC risk. In the meta-analysis consisting of 1842 cases and 2330 controls, it was found that individuals carrying the Pro allele and the ProPro genotype were at a significantly higher risk for NPC as compared with those with the Arg allele and the ArgArg genotype, respectively. Individuals with a ProPro genotype and a combined Pro genotype (ProPro+ArgPro) also showed a significantly higher risk for NPC over a wild homozygote ArgArg genotype. Additionally, the strength of each study was tested by power analysis and genotype distribution by Hardy–Weinberg equilibrium. The outcome of the study indicated that both allele frequency and genotype distribution of p53 codon72 Arg>Pro polymorphism were significantly associated with NPC risk. Stratified analyses based on ethnicity and source of samples supported the above result.

Trends in Rural Wage Rates: Whether India Reached Lewis Turning Point

After liberalisation of Indian economy in early 1990s, India’s GDP growth rates have been picked up and there is a sign of speeding up of structural transformation in Indian economy with the share of agriculture in GDP reduced to 12%. However, still about 50% of the labor force depends on agriculture, which shows that the structural transformation in employment is slower and productivity differences between agriculture and non-agricultural sector is growing. Some studies that the high economic growth has not been able to translate itself into increase in the wages and earnings of the workforce. Some other studies find that the majority of the labor benefited from the increased growth rates in GDP through its effects on the raising wage rates and productivity gains mainly in urban centres, however the trickle down effects of these benefits to rural areas is questionable. Many observe that since last decade, labor shortages in rural India have become an issue. Farmers in rural areas blaming it on employment guarantee scheme MGNREGA, but there is no concrete evidence to prove this, some are also claiming that the faster growth of the economy and non-farm sector are the main reasons, which is in fact is a good sign. However, there are no studies specifically test the theoretical and empirical issues of rising wage rates in India. In this paper, trends in rural wages are assessed along the Lewis continuum through wage rates data. Our results show a clear rising trend in real wage rates since 1995, and then accelerated from 2007 onwards at least in developed states like Punjab, Haryana and Tamil Nadu. Less participation in public works program in Punjab and Haryana also indicates no surplus labor. This confirms that at least developed states in India crossed the Lewis Turning Point. The acceleration of real wages even in slack season indicates that the era of labor shortage is started in rural areas especially in developed states like Tamil Nadu, Haryana, Punjab and Andhra Pradesh, which needs to be tackled through labor saving technology and wide scale farm mechanisation. On the other hand it appears that the underdeveloped states like Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar are not reached the LTP and needs to develop policies to increase productivity of rural labor in these backward states.

The Effect of Colonial Administration on State Formation in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Comparative Case Study

A comparative case study examining a number of factors that caused the underdevelopment of many Sub-Saharan states in an effort to open new avenues of study on promoting progress in underdeveloped states. In particular, the paper pays close attention to the effects that the legacy of different types of colonial government administrations had on the post-colonial state’s political and economic development.

Health Expenditure and Impoverishment in India

This article examines impoverishment effect of the out-of-pocket (OOP) payment for health care on households in India where only 10 per cent of the population is covered by insurance. At the national level, 10.1 per cent of rural households as against 6.2 per cent of urban households have either become poor or poorer as a consequence of OOP for health care. The proportion of rural impoverished households due to OOP health expenditure in the four most underdeveloped states of Orissa, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh are 11.4, 9.5, 7.9 and 7.3 per cents, respectively. The corresponding proportion of urban impoverished households for these states are 7.2, 7.5, 5.9 and 5.1 per cents, respectively. It is also found that the OOP payment tends to increase significantly with inequality in income distribution and shortage of physicians at the state level. Health system inadequacy measure by population density per physician has escalating effect on impoverishment.

Employment in India's informal sector: size, patterns, growth and determinants

In a developing country like India, the formal sector is a coveted employment destination. However, in the present scenario, the formal sector is unable to absorb the entire workforce. In view of these labour demand constraints in the formal sector, this paper sets out to explore the opportunities for the promotion of informal sector employment. It measures employment trends and patterns in the informal sector in India and estimates the sector's employment determinants using a large and nationally representative sample of individual data. The estimation also tests the hypothesis that the determinants of informal sector employment vary with the states’ development levels. Our findings reveal that individuals without any general or technical education have a greater probability of entering the informal sector. As education increases, this probability decreases in all the states irrespective of their development level. In some cases, results for the underdeveloped states contrast with the developing and developed states. For instance, individuals in the Other Backward Classes (OBC) category who always stay in the same employment catchment area have a greater probability of finding a job in the informal sector in the developed and developing states, while they have no exposure to finding a job in the informal sector in the underdeveloped states. Education (both general and technical) and migration are the main policy variables for the promotion of employment.

Societal Impact of Special Industrial Incentives Package: Managerial Perceptions

This paper aims to examine the relationship between select social parameters and Special Industrial Incentives Package (SIIP) granted to Himachal Pradesh, one of the eleven special category states eligible for central assistance, in January 2003. Historical evidence brings forward the fact that incentive packages fuel the industrial growth of an area, which ultimately leads to social development. Moving on the same tack, Government of India announced incentive packages to underdeveloped states, an important fiscal measure for achieving balanced regional development. In this backdrop, the present paper is an attempt to analyze the socio-economic development in Himachal Pradesh attributable to SIIP. Results of data analyses reveal that government incentives and concessions have played a key role in the overall development of the state. It was concluded that on the one hand, such incentives have positively affected social infrastructural and economic facilities in the study state, but on the other hand, negative ecological impacts were also observed. Evidence of the study is relevant to policymakers designing tax incentives for industrially backward states. Further, the study has implications for the industrially backward states, as it will help in reviewing the impact of government incentives and concessions extended to these states for better monitoring. Findings of the paper highlight the need for studying SIIP as a correlate of socio-economic development for better understanding of issues relating to industrial development of an industrially backward area.

Why Does China Participate in Intrusive Peacekeeping? Understanding Paternalistic Chinese Discourses on Development and Intervention

Why does China continue to participate in highly intrusive peacekeeping operations which, it can be argued, suspend the sovereignty of the host state and attempt to transform it into a liberal democratic, market capitalist state? This article highlights the significant role of Chinese paternalism in providing the ideological justification for intervening in states' domestic affairs. Focusing on the quasi-official annual publication, the China Modernization Report, and its discourses on development, this article contends that some Chinese discourses interpret modernization as a linear and universal process, and interpret different stages of development in distinctly hierarchical terms. This places China as superior vis-à-vis many underdeveloped states. Such notions of ‘superiority’, in turn, lead to paternalistic thinking that justifies China (and other relatively ‘developed’ states) intervening in underdeveloped states and societies in order to ‘guide’ them to the path of ‘development’.