Showing papers in "Journal of Contemporary Asia in 2001"
TL;DR: In this paper, the structural, political and intellectual context in which a specific discourse of development emerged is examined, and the prolonged effort of American intellectuals in advising and attempting to redirect the process of development in India and its consequences for a particular version of modernization theory is analyzed.
Abstract: In this article the structural, political and intellectual context in which a specific discourse of development emerged is examined. In the context of the Cold War, the prolonged effort of American intellectuals in advising and attempting to redirect the process of development in India and its consequences for a particular version of modernization theory is analyzed. A general sociology of knowledge approach is deployed to examine the complex configuration of events that contributed to a specific discoursed that owes its intellectual lineage to the Comtean vision of social science.
42 citations
TL;DR: In the context of globalization, while international capital and world market factories are shaping the course of industrialization and "development" in many countries, it remains to be seen how fa...
Abstract: During the era of globalization, while international capital and world market factories are shaping the course of industrialization and “development” in many countries, it remains to be seen how fa...
32 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, a critical appraisal of their theoretical base and their application has been undertaken in this paper and the conclusion is that GDI and GEM, although praiseworthy achievements on the part of the UNDP, do not adequately reflect or measure male/female disparity in the Indian context.
Abstract: This paper analyses the different indices applied for the measurement of human development as constructed by the United Nations Development Program. Of special interest is the Gender Development Index (GDI), introduced in the 1995 Human Development Report and the Gender Empowerment Measure (GEM). In light of the mate bias in the Indian socioeconomic context, the application of the GDI and GEM acquires special significance. A critical appraisal of their theoretical base and their application has been undertaken in this paper. The conclusion is that GDI and GEM. although praise-worthy achievements on the part of the UNDP, do not adequately reflect or measure male/female disparity in the Indian context. Both indices suffer from the weakness of employing a pre-assigned value of the Gender Sensitive Equity Indicator. They also exhibit several other shortcomings, outlined here. GDI is a poor indicator of the relative deprivation of females as shown by our analysis of the relationship between the GDI and the female/male ratio for 16 Indian core states.
30 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examine the Mischief Reef and Scarborough Shoal disputes in the context of the dynamic political interaction between China, the Philippines, ASEAN and the United States.
Abstract: This article examines the Mischief Reef and Scarborough Shoal disputes in the context of the dynamic political interaction between China, the Philippines, ASEAN and the United States. A review of recent development indicates that these particular incidents and the Spratly disputes in general have increased in intensity and complexity drawing in ASEAN and the United States. China is the main player and several conclusion are drawn regarding its strategy and tactics. We see the status quo as unstable and propose a few possible directions of actions in the interest of conflict prevention.
29 citations
TL;DR: The authors examines some indirect costs of Sri Lanka's civil war and argues that the conflict has resulted in lower domestic and foreign investments, disruptions in trade and commerce, and lower revenues from tourism.
Abstract: Despite its low income per capita, Sri Lanka has achieved remarkable success in human development, largely due to appropriate government policies on health and education. However, Sri Lanka's economic performance has been below its potential, and the unresolved civil conflict poses one of the greatest obstacles to its long terms growth prospects. This article examines some indirect costs of Sri Lanka's civil war. It argues that the conflict has resulted in lower domestic and foreign investments, disruptions in trade and commerce, and lower revenues from tourism. As a consequence, economic growth has suffered. With no end in sight to the civil war, these costs are likely to mount, with pernicious effects on future living standards.
24 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the Globalisation of Asian migrant labour: The Philippine-Japan connection is discussed. But the authors focus on the Philippines and do not discuss the Japanese-Philippines relationship.
Abstract: (2001). Globalisation of Asian migrant labour: The Philippine-Japan connection. Journal of Contemporary Asia: Vol. 31, No. 4, pp. 533-554.
24 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors identify policies that would ameliorate these effects on the urban poor in Korea and clarify how the nature and magnitude of urban low-income households in Korea have changed since the economic crisis.
Abstract: The “Asian economic crisis” brought with it horrendous social consequences in Korea such as mass unemployment, unparalleled rises in poverty, diminished social services, rising school dropouts, increasing suicide rates, divorce and domestic violence The primary aim of this study is to identify policies that would ameliorate these effects on the urban poor in Korea In order to do so, we clarify how the nature and magnitude of urban low-income households in Korea have changed since the economic crisis After providing an overview of macroeconomic events associated with the crisis and the main links between these events and economic conditions of the urban poor, we identify the socioeconomic characteristics and changes of household income for the urban poor during the crisis periods, 1997–1999 We investigate how the IMF program has changed the lives of the low-income households by adopting regression analyses and the decomposition method The study concludes with key policy issues that would help
22 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examine how changes in government service provision and styles of local governance signify a shift from the welfare to the contract state as the basis for political economy, and they suggest that a revitalised debate can be achieved if what is happening to local governance and communities is conceptualized as signifying the emergence of new types of feudal relations.
Abstract: In Australia, many regions and communities are becoming socio-economically marginalised and the prospects for their future viability less assured. Suggestions that Western civilization is heading toward a “New Feudalism” are surprisingly prevalent in contemporary social theory. Focused on small towns in northwest New South Wales, this article examines how changes in government service provision and styles of local governance signify a shift from the welfare to the contract state as the basis for political economy. While such a shift can be criticised in its own terms, it is suggested that the basis for a revitalised debate can be achieved if what is happening to local governance and communities is conceptualized as signifying the emergence of new types of feudal relations, based on a shift from rights to privileges, opportunities to obligations, and inclusion to exclusion. Whether or not the Enlightenment project was doomed from the start to plunge us into the Kafkaesque world, whether or not it ...
20 citations
TL;DR: It is pretty well agreed by all writers that plantations are somehow ‘different' from both smallholdings and ordinary enterprises organized along capitalist lines as discussed by the authors, and the difference would appear to lie in the way in which plantations have acquired their land and labour cheap.
Abstract: It is pretty well agreed by all writers that plantations are somehow ‘different’ — different that is from both smallholdings and ordinary enterprises organised along capitalist lines. The difference would appear to lie in the way in which plantations have acquired their land and labour cheap. (Gordon, 1977: 192–193)
18 citations
TL;DR: A close examination of American role and influence within the Asian Development Bank during its formative stage illustrates how multilateral institutions, funded by rich countries, can be used to force poor nations adopt methods for dealing with their problems, at odds with their own interest as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: The dominant discourse related to the establishment of the Asian Development Bank revolves around its structure, functions and lending operation. But the self-serving role played by the US during its formative years has been largely neglected. This article focuses on the early years of the Bank (1967–1972) and American efforts to make it a subservient tool of American foreign policy. A close examination of American role and influence within the Bank during its formative stage illustrates how multilateral institutions, funded by rich countries, can be used to force poor nations adopt methods for dealing with their problems, at odds with their own interest.
17 citations
TL;DR: Examining the changing patterns of poverty in Singapore finds that ascribed factors, such as gender and race, have significant influence on financial security at old age.
Abstract: This article examines the changing patterns of poverty in Singapore. As Singapore's population ages, the poor increasingly includes the elderly. It appears that ascribed factors, such as gender and race, have significant influence on financial security at old age. As the population ages, the adequacy of existing anti-poverty policy is challenged.
TL;DR: In this article, elections and political parties in Hong Kong's political development are discussed and the authors present a survey of the political parties and their role in the Hong Kong election process.
Abstract: (2001). Elections and political parties in Hong Kong's political development. Journal of Contemporary Asia: Vol. 31, No. 3, pp. 346-374.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors consider the role of ideas in Communism's transformation and ultimate disappearance, but neither can one minimize the way Mikhail Gorbachev and Deng Xiaoping pragmatically tailored their economic programs to win political support from powerful constituency.
Abstract: Communism its political systems, ideologies, and economic institutions has disappeared in Europe and it is inexorably disintegrating in Asia. Why and how was the single most important movement of the twentieth century's inglorious demise in cynicism, disillusion, and corruption possible? The answers to these questions touch upon the nature of the modem historical experience, but any explanation must also take into account why Communist movements succeeded to coming to power in the first place. It would be an error to dismiss the role of ideas in Communism's transformation and ultimate disappearance, but neither can one minimize the way Mikhail Gorbachev and Deng Xiaoping pragmatically tailored their economic programs to win political support from powerful constituencies. In Gorbachev's case, the support of the Soviet industrial managers (the \"Red barons\"), who were later to emerge among the principal beneficiaries of the abolition of public ownership, was essential to his economic reforms after 1986. For Deng, his objective of consolidating control over the Party throughout the 1980s caused him to articulate inconsistent economic policies that won him the support of crucial regional and local Party leaders, who increased their economic power at the expense of the central government? This process of political coalition-building needed an ideology to rationalize its practical economic consequences, and \"market socialism\" provided it. But an ideological transformation was long overdue in both China and Vietnam, and virtually inevitable because the legacy of Leninist ideas was from its inception desperately deficient; there was no intellectual reservoir to sustain Communist parties anywhere. They came to power both in Europe and Asia because of morally and economically bankrupt regimes, which bequeathed them with both immense opportunities and vast problems. Many Chinese supported the Party because of patriotism, and socialism for them represented essentially the creation of a powerful nation via the growth of productive forces by whatever means proved essential the amorphous later Maoist equalitarian emphasis on the importance of relations of production appealed to few of them. 2 Market socialism supplied them a rationale also.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors tried to show that though the early Latin American experience of export integration was usually accompanied by labor militancy, export industrialization itself would not always be associated with the deterioration of living standards and increasing material hardships, and used evidence from Taiwan's experiences to contradict the conventional argument that the export integration of an underdeveloped country into the capitalist world system would inevitably give rise to a labor movement oriented at radical revolutions.
Abstract: Taiwan started export industrialization in the early 1960s. After twenty-five years of steady economic growth, this society for the first time witnessed extensive media coverage of labor militancy in the late 1980s. How can this occurrence be appropriately explained? Does it confirm the inevitability of labor militancy under an export economy? In search of answers to these questions, this article aims to achieve two goals. Firstly, it attempts to show that though the early Latin American experience of export integration was usually accompanied by labor militancy, export industrialization itself would not always be associated with the deterioration of living standards and increasing material hardships. Secondly, it uses evidence from Taiwan's experiences to contradict the conventional argument that the export integration of an underdeveloped country into the capitalist world system would inevitably give rise to a labor movement oriented at radical revolutions.
TL;DR: The future of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea is discussed in this article, where the authors present a survey of the state of the Korean economy and state-of-the-art technologies.
Abstract: (2001). The future of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. Journal of Contemporary Asia: Vol. 31, No. 1, pp. 104-120.
TL;DR: The authors examines the future of socialism in China and argues that reform is no longer the appropriate description for the process of change in China, and examines empirically using the legal system, the class system, and the international system as lenses into the situation in China today and the possibilities for change.
Abstract: This article examines the future of socialism in China. China is not socialist today, nor are its reforms likely to bring about socialism. Indeed, China has been “reforming” for over two decades, and the author argues that reform is no longer the appropriate description for the process of change in China. Change in China is increasingly characterized by uneven, often unpredictable events leading to rapid changes in some areas and stagnation in others. The institutions created over the post-Mao period contain volatile contradictions, and any socialist movement in China must take advantage of the contradictions and volatility to push for an agenda that promotes equality, democracy in both politics and economics, and international peace. These contradictions are examined empirically using the legal system, the class system, and the international system as lenses into the situation in China today and the possibilities for change. While there is a clear trend toward capitalism, this trend faces opposi...
TL;DR: The authors examined the impacts of longer-term structural changes on the labour markets of Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) member economies, as well as the short-run labour market consequences of the Asian financial crisis.
Abstract: This study examines the impacts of longer-term structural changes on the labour markets of Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) member economies, as well as the short-run labour market consequences of the Asian financial crisis. All APEC economies have experienced significant structural change in the process of development. A major factor in this structural change has been increased trade intensity (increase in exports and imports as a share of GDP) that has occurred over the last 20 years. Because these structural changes have been extensively induced by trade liberalisation, this study provides insights into the likely consequences of the implementation of APEC's agenda on trade and investment liberalisation and facilitation. The impact of structural change is examined using a range of data, such as disaggregated changes in output and employment by industry and occupation over the period 1980 to 1997, and data on changes in trade intensity for each of the APEC nations. Other data, such as c...
TL;DR: In this article, the authors focus on the political manoeuvring of international finance capitalism: the multilateral finance companies, the transnational corporations and the World Bank-IMF incubus.
Abstract: To what extent does globatisation and the things exposed by the Asian crisis indicate a new stage in the development of monopoly capitalism and imperialism has been reached? The following discussion aims to answer these issues by concentrating on the political manoeuvring of international finance capitalism: the multilateral finance companies, the transnational corporations and the World Bank-IMF incubus.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors analyse the performance of Indian agriculture under liberalisation and suggest changes to revamp agriculture so that the benefits of liberalisation could not hitherto reach the rural poor because of the failure of economic reforms to penetrate into the vital agricultural sector.
Abstract: Indian state embarked upon a comprehensive reform of the economy in late 1980s, and there is more or less consensus amongst policy makers regarding liberalization. The reform process in India has not encountered much resistance from pressure groups because it has not made much headway in respect of debureaucratising and depoliticising the management of the infrastructure and in decentralizing rural development. It is important in this context to look at the macroeconomic policy changes and its impact on agricultural sector. This article attempts to analyse the performance of Indian agriculture under liberalisation. We know that in the recent past Indian agriculture is being neglected. The benefits of liberalisation could not hitherto reach the rural poor because of the failure of economic reforms to penetrate into the vital agricultural sector. The article also attempts to analyse the adverse impact, if any, of free market conditions on the rural poor and suggests changes to revamp agriculture so...
TL;DR: A structural analysis of the economic development in developing economies is proposed in this paper, where a development model is constructed and examined against the experience of the Hong Kong electronics industry, and the application of the model has shown that the calculation of the structural profit is not simply based on certain factors of production but on the overall cost of production.
Abstract: A structural analysis of the economic development in developing economies is proposed. A development model is constructed and examined against the experience of the Hong Kong electronics industry. The proposed model indicated that the local structural settings of developing economies did not foster a high profit incentive and investment environment for rapid economic development. However, the same settings when integrated into an international structural context can generate a structural profit that is based on the difference in the cost of production. This structural profit can act as an engine of growth for the whole economy. The application of the model has shown that the calculation of the structural profit is not simply based on certain factors of production but on the overall cost of production. In addition, the application also indicated that three main aspects of the structural settings have played the determining role in shaping the development of the industry, namely, the export network...
TL;DR: In this paper, tradition, fantasy and Britishness: Four Australian prime ministers and Australian prime minister's wives are discussed in the context of Contemporary Asia: Vol. 31, No. 1, pp. 3-30.
Abstract: (2001). Tradition, fantasy and Britishness: Four Australian prime ministers. Journal of Contemporary Asia: Vol. 31, No. 1, pp. 3-30.
Journal Article•
TL;DR: In this paper, an assessment of contraband trade between India and Sri Lanka in the late 1990s is presented, where a quantitative estimation is made to gauge the extent of such unrecorded trade.
Abstract: This is an assessment of contraband trade between India and Sri Lanka in the late-1990s. A quantitative estimation is made to gauge the extent of such unrecorded trade.