ABSTRACT - The authors' main purpose is to present ideas on defining Health Law by highlighting the particularities of the field of Health Law as well as of the teaching of this legal branch, hoping to contribute to the maturity and academic recognition of Health Law, not only as a very rich legal field but also as a powerful social instrument in the fulfillment of fundamental human rights. The authors defend that Health Law has several characteristics that distinguish it from traditional branches of law such as its complexity and multidisciplinary nature. The study of Health Law normally covers issues such as access to care, health systems organization, patients' rights, health professionals' rights and duties, strict liability, healthcare contracts between institutions and professionals, medical data protection and confidentiality, informed consent and professional secrecy, crossing different legal fields including administrative, antitrust, constitutional, contract, corporate, criminal, environmental, food and drug, intellectual property, insurance, international and supranational, labor/employment, property, taxation, and tort law. This is one of the reasons why teaching Health Law presents a challenge to the teacher, which will have to find the programs, content and methods appropriate to the profile of recipients which are normally non jurists and the needs of a multidisciplinary curricula. By describing academic definitions of Health Law as analogous to Edgewood, a fiction house which has a different architectural style in each of its walls, the authors try to describe which elements should compose a more comprehensive definition. In this article Biolaw, Bioethics and Human Rights are defined as complements to a definition of Health Law: Biolaw because it is the legal field that treats the social consequences that arise from technological advances in health and life sciences; Bioethics which evolutions normally influence the shape of the legal framework of Health; and, finally Human Rights theory and declarations are outlined as having always been historically linked to medicine and health, being the umbrella that must cover all the issues raised in the area of Health Law. To complete this brief incursion on the definition on Health Law the authors end by giving note of the complex relations between this field of Law and Public Health. Dealing more specifically on laws adopted by governments to provide important health services and regulate industries and individual conduct that affect the health of the populations, this aspect of Health Law requires special attention to avoid an imbalance between public powers and individual freedoms. The authors conclude that public trust in any health system is essentially sustained by developing health structures which are consistent with essential fundamental rights, such as the universal right to access health care, and that the study of Health Law can contribute with important insights into both health structures and fundamental rights in order to foster a health system that respects the Rule of Law. --- RESUMO – O objectivo principal dos autores é apresentar ideias sobre a definição de Direito da Saúde, destacando as particularidades desta área do direito, bem como do ensino deste ramo jurídico, na esperança de contribuir para a maturidade e para o reconhecimento académico do mesmo, não só como um campo juridicamente muito rico, mas, também, como um poderoso instrumento social no cumprimento dos direitos humanos fundamentais. Os autores defendem que o Direito da Saúde tem diversas características que o distinguem dos ramos tradicionais do direito, como a sua complexidade e natureza multidisciplinar. O estudo do Direito da Saúde abrangendo normalmente questões como o acesso aos cuidados, a organização dos sistemas de saúde, os direitos e deveres dos doentes e dos profissionais de saúde, a responsabilidade civil, os contratos entre instituições de saúde e profissionais, a protecção e a confidencialidade de dados clínicos, o consentimento informado e o sigilo profissional, implica uma abordagem transversal de diferentes áreas legais, incluindo os Direitos contratual, administrativo, antitrust, constitucional, empresarial, penal, ambiental, alimentar, farmacêutico, da propriedade intelectual, dos seguros, internacional e supranacional, trabalho, fiscal e penal. Esta é uma das razões pelas quais o ensino do Direito da Saúde representa um desafio para o professor, que terá de encontrar os programas, conteúdos e métodos adequados ao perfil dos destinatários, que são normalmente não juristas e às necessidades de um currículo multidisciplinar. Ao descrever as várias definições académicas de Direito da Saúde como análogas a Edgewood, uma casa de ficção que apresenta um estilo arquitectónico diferente em cada uma de suas paredes, os autores tentam encontrar os elementos que deveriam compor uma definição mais abrangente. No artigo, Biodireito, Bioética e Direitos Humanos são descritos como complementos de uma definição de Direito da Saúde: o Biodireito, dado que é o campo jurídico que trata as consequências sociais que surgem dos avanços tecnológicos na área da saúde e das ciências da vida; a Bioética cujas evoluções influenciam normalmente o quadro jurídico da Saúde; e, por fim, a teoria dos Direitos Humanos e as suas declarações as quais têm estado sempre historicamente ligadas à medicina e à saúde, devendo funcionar como pano de fundo de todas as questões levantadas na área do Direito da Saúde. Para finalizar a sua breve incursão sobre a definição de Direito da Saúde, os autores dão ainda nota das complexas relações entre este último e a Saúde Pública, onde se tratam mais especificamente as leis aprovadas pelos governos para regular os serviços de saúde, as indústrias e as condutas individuais que afectam a saúde das populações, aspecto do Direito da Saúde que requer uma atenção especial para evitar um desequilíbrio entre os poderes públicos e as liberdades individuais. Os autores concluem afirmando que a confiança do público em qualquer sistema de saúde é, essencialmente, sustentada pelo desenvolvimento de estruturas de saúde que sejam consistentes com o direito constitucional da saúde, tais como o direito universal ao acesso a cuidados de saúde, e que o estudo do Direito da Saúde pode contribuir com elementos importantes para a realização de um sistema de saúde que respeite o Estado de Direito e os Direitos Fundamentais. ; publishersversion ; published
The changes the rural economy and society experience today are wide ranging and complex. They stem to a large extent from changing socio-economic norms and values in a society as well as from the changes of the global economy, of the market policy and trade rules. These changes affect however, not only sectoral markets, but local economies and rural areas in general (FERMAN 1999). At the same time rural economies have to meet rising environmental and recreational claims of the society, which fundamentally change both the structure and the level of goods and services demanded from rural economies (DRABENSTOTT and MEEKER 1999). The European Structural Funds as one of the most important rural development policy planning tools in the EU currently undergo a fundamental re-organisation extending the assistance programs towards Central- and Eastern European countries (VANHOVE 1999). These reforms are deep-going and wide-reaching in their nature and influence the competitiveness of rural economies in Europe in several aspects. They will alter the sectoral structure and the activity levels in rural economies as well as the economic performance of these economies in general. In order to be able to consider these economy-wide impacts of a changing institutional framework in the future rural development planning, it is utmost important to assess these a-priori (JOHNSON and SCOTT 1997). Although the ongoing reforms of the regional development policy in the EU play a significant role in changing the rules and conditions of rural economies, there is another obvious influence on the spatial dynamics of an economy, namely the decreasing importance of agriculture in rural economies. Almost all rural areas in Europe have experienced a decline in the importance of agriculture during the nineties so that only very few rural areas could now be defined as being dependent on agruculture. As a result, the economic structure of rural economies dependends more and more on service activities (LOPEZ-BAZO et al. 1999). The role of rural areas has also been altered, particularly in northern Europe, by an increase in the demand for rural 'consumption' goods, for example for rural leisure goods and for rural tourism (EUROPEAN COMMISSION 1999). A further cause for the rapidly changing relationships between actors, sectors and regions in a spatial economy are the changes in production technologies as well as the emergence of completely new production technologies. The Information Technology (IT) branch, one of the most important example of the so called "New Economy" affect economic space and hence rural areas in various ways. The modern tele-commuting technologies e. g. increasingly separate places people live in and work in. This makes it for people more attractive to live rural and to work urban (DRABENSTOTT and MEEKER 1999). One consequence of these changes has been a blurring of the distinctions between rural and urban space and a concomitant change in the nature and the extent of interdependencies that exist between rural and urban areas. From an economic perspective these growing inter-regional interdependencies alter the degree to which income is generated, retained or leaked from a rural or urban economy and the extent to which regions are interdependent (PONS-NOVELL and VILADECANS-MARSAL 1999). The growing inter-regional interdependencies people live in one region, earn money in another one and spend it in a third one), however, have severe consequences in the regions- socio-economic development and, therefore, have to be considered carefully in regional development planning which requires an inter-regional analysis approach (SCHINDLER, ISRAELEVICH, HEWINGS 1997). The main goal of our study is to develop a reliable analysis tool for exploring the impacts of these changing global economic conditions of rural economies. Another objective of our study is to look for alternative rural development planning options and to compare them within the framework of the European Structural Funds in selected applicant countries. While there is little doubt among economists about the increasing importance of these Funds in Europe-s regional economic development, only few of the studies carried out so far have used an inter-regional and inter-sectoral framework to analyse policy impacts to rural and to urban regions as well as to various sectors of an economy explicitly (AZIS 1997a). Using the example of Latvia our study makes a contribution to close this research gap in understanding and predicting the causal structure of the fundamental changes regional economies experience today in Europe as well as to assess the impacts of potential changes in European regional policy setting within a framework of an inter-regional general equilibrium. We have demonstrated in our paper that an inter-regional CGE model can be quite a useful tool for analysing the impacts of changes in global economic conditions and for assessing the inter-regional as well as the inter-sectoral implications of potential policy changes even if computational resources are limited and a full range of regional economic data required by a formal CGE analysis are not available. We have also asserted in our study that a regional CGE model is an impact model permitting analysis of interdependent effects across various parts of an economy rather than a device for statistic testing of economic variables. In our empirical analysis we found out that the rural economy of Latvia, which was used as an example for Central and Eastern European accession countries, has to expect the largest welfare gains from the integration into the EU if Latvia opens its markets gradually and not if the current policy setting is continued or if it conducts a completely liberal market policy as it is favoured by the Chicago School of Economics. This argument is supported by the fact that the market protection in the EU is currently relatively high in comparison to Central and Eastern European countries. Since especially agricultural markets are highly protected in the EU, above all rural regions will gain from the integration to the EU. Moreover, since many of the rural regions in the CEE will be eligible for the financial aid foreseen within the EU Structural Funds these rural communities will be strengthened financially as well.
From the introduction: Ongoing globalization leads to the metamorphosis of social and economic structures and changes the scope of national governmental and non-governmental institutions. Not at least, it changes the aspect of national mentality. The creation of the European Union in 1957 is only one example for the fusion of economic and political domains. In fact, financial and capital markets liberalize, the number of global player rise, and the establishment of international non-governmental organizations increased from 1956 to 1997 by 1,600 % from 985 to 15,965. On the whole, the opportunities for business´ to take influence on the global level are higher and probably more necessary than ever before in history. Economic interrelations and dependencies, international scarcity of non-renewable energy resources and the global climate disaster lead to the necessity of introducing international institutions that act not only in national interest, but serve for the global stabilization of the world economy and its sustainability. A new aspect or logic consequence of globalization arises: Global Governance (in the following abbreviated as GG). GG is one major concomitant phenomenon in the ideology in the disparity in national interests of sovereign states. This difference in the interests of individual items compared to the interests of the entire society exists as long as human beings. Literature calls it the 'moral hazard phenomenon'. There might be common, as well as divergent interests on an efficient solution of various problems, for example in the areas of shelter for refugees and asylum seeker, the problem arising from weapons of mass destruction and the regulations of CO2 emissions. With ongoing globalization there arises a complex multidimensional competition framework. Not only global commercial companies, but also national entities start to compete in terms of production factors, fiscal and political environment and legal frameworks with each another. Figure 1 illustrates the global competition framework by showing up the interrelation among country A and country B. The countries are illustrated including first, their official political entity (government) and secondly, to the Trans-National Companies (in the following abbreviated with TNCs) operating within the country. The third party illustrated is 'the employment'. National government, TNCs and the employment of civil society are interrelated with each another within one country in two directions. Firstly, the TNCs affect the employment and therefore as a result, the government. The higher the action of TNCs within the country, the higher is the employment rate of the civil society (the lower the unemployment). The lower the unemployment rate, the more satisfied the civil society is, and therefore the more powerful the government becomes (because of higher chances to be re-elected). Secondly, the government has impact on the benefits and competitive advantage of TNCs. The better the education policy, the more valuable becomes the human capital. The better the human capital, the more efficient and thus the higher the productivity of TNCs becomes. On a whole, national government can create benefit for TNCs and the other way around. Figure 1 also illustrates the competitive relationship among country A and country B. Both countries compete in terms of providing attractiveness to the TNCs. Attractiveness can be reached by the creation of valuable factors (such as skilled labour et al.). However, this skilled labour also needs to be attracted. As the model introduces a second country, skilled labour can easily move to a place with better factors for the society (better living conditions, better security system, better employment chances, better environmental care, and much more). Though, governments do not only compete for TNCs, but in addition to that for civil society and as a result, finally for voters and power. To sum up, TNCs compete with each other in terms of production. Governments compete with each other in terms of factors. Both, TNCs and the national government, depend from each another and can therefore form an alliance in order to gain in competitive advantage and Global Power (abbreviated in the following as GP). From the aim driven point of view (as explained further in section 1.3.2), GG aims to face and to deal with global challenges in order to balance the markets, to maximize overall welfare and aspire an equal distribution of resources and wealth all over the world. At the same time, GG can be used as a strategic measure and a tool for regulating markets and gaining in competitive advantage and GP. This thesis is going to deal with GG as business strategy based on the neo-realistic approach. The increased presence of TNCs in local economies as a strategy to ensure market control has been labelled 'glocalization'. Research Question: At least after WW II, global society started to realize the ongoing trend for economic trade-off, liberalization of markets and the principle of the invisible hand; not only on a national stage, but on the global layer. National boarders melt, since the action of trade, the economic power, now shifts from the national level to a global degree. International acting companies gain in power and influence with, for instance, direct investments, rising turnover, increased cash flows, and not at least with their bargaining power (in the following abbreviated with BP). The increase in BP is often linked to (global) political activities. Global player, such as TNCs, serve often as a tie between several nations and economies. Though, there are still national governments, and national interests that are not to bring in line with the interests of the global society as a whole. There sometimes might be also dissensions among governments and the TNCs operating in the same arena. The crucial factor then is the BP of the actor. It is not always the case, that government and TNC are equal in having BP. Often there arises an asymmetric dependency, which causes a drop of BP for one of the parties. That disparity and the management of different parties' interests in general, is what Global Governance is all about. During the last 50 years, companies used their BP in order to implement national lobbying as an instrument for gaining in Global Power (in the following abbreviated as GP). Now, as national levels are detached from global platforms and by the GG framework, there arises one important question: Is Global Governance a useful strategy tool for the business sector? In most literature, Global Governance is defined to be an aim driven, goal oriented approach in order to solve problems resulting by the globalization process. But there is only little research in order to find an explanation of how exactly GG is organized. The first essential question to answer now is: What are the factors that influence GG? The second question is: How do these factors influence GG? Third question is: Is there a relation between GG and GP? Last question: Can GG be used as a business strategy in order to increase GP? If yes, how? Research Methods: The thesis´ objective is it to figure out the relationship of involvement into Global Governance and the business´ Global Power. It is pre-assumed that an increase in Global Power leads to an increase in a business market dominating power. Thereby it will be found out, what particular can be done to gain in Global Governance involvement. Several strategies are imaginable. This thesis will work out a new strategy approach by combining 1) Porter's 5 Forces model with 2) Hirschman's model of 'voice and exit" strategies. Further the framework of Global Governance will be transferred to the traditional 5 forces model in order to detect the location of Trans-National Companies in their competitive environment. Further an additional sixth force is going to be introduced. After analyzing the competitive environment of Trans-National Companies and the impact of governmental institutions on the industry, several strategies for gaining in Global Power will be developed, using the new hybrid strategy approach as a tool. In the section of definitions (1.3), the thesis and their basic components are going to be analyzed and explained. Within the theory framework (2.1-2.4), the thesis will be set up theoretically. The case study of Gazprom as Trans-National Company will transfer the theoretical model to a practical example. Thus, Russian influence on the world market (for energy) rises, and the situation concerned Europe directly, the example chosen is very relevant and of actuality. In the end the findings will be evaluated. The unit of analysis used in the theory framework is based on the global level. That is rationale because Global Actors in general are going to form the basis of the framework. However, the topic itself implies choosing the global level as unit of analysis. The case study will concentrate on a specific firm. Here it will be switched to the firma level as unit of analysis. That makes sense, because there are only little volumes of industries that do globalize. On the other hand on the global level there is already everything globalized. Only the smallest unit of analysis fits here, because on the firm level there can be made a decision if to go global or not. Further the unit of the other player is scaled in the same small way.Inhaltsverzeichnis:Table of Contents: 1.Introduction7 1.1Research Question10 1.2Research Methods11 1.3Terms and Definitions13 1.3.1Globalization13 1.3.2Global Governance15 1.3.3Power20 1.3.4Strategy27 2.Theory Framework30 2.1Global Actors in Global Governance's Competitive Environment30 2.1.1The Role of Civil Society in Global Governance30 2.1.2The Role of International Organizations in Global Governance32 2.1.3The Role of the State in Global Governance33 2.1.4The Role of TNC in the Global Governance36 2.2Porters 5 Forces Industry Analysis of TNCs37 2.2.1Rivalry37 2.2.2Threat of Substitutes41 2.2.3Threat of New Entrants42 2.2.4Bargaining Power of Buyer and Supplier43 2.3The Government and International Organizations as Sixth Force45 2.4Elaboration of TNCs´ BP Rising Strategies52 2.4.1Self Regulatory Institutions (SRIs)54 2.4.2Privatization of the Public Sector54 2.4.3Quasi-Regulation55 2.4.4Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs)55 2.5Conclusion of Theory Framework57 3.Case Study: Gazprom61 3.1History Background of Russians Policy61 3.2Economy Background63 3.3Strategy framework64 3.3.1Gazprom and Russia64 3.3.2Gazprom and NGO´s65 3.3.3Gazprom and Europe66 4.Conclusion69 Bibliography70 Appendix72Textprobe:Textprobe: Chapter 2.2, Porters 5 Forces Industry Analysis of TNCs: Figure 11 sums up the transformation of GAs to the Porter's model. It illustrates the factors that influence the competitive environment in GG in terms of Global Power of TNCs. In the following it will be provided an analysis of the relevant forces and the competitive environment of TNCs on the GG layer in terms of GP. That analysis serves the purpose to detect the best fitting strategy for TNCs in order to increase the industry's BP. 2.2.1, Rivalry: Strong competition among rival firms decreases profits and makes the industry less attractive. However, competition is not always perfect and firms are not only price takers, but strive for a competitive advantage over their rivals, too. The intensity of rivalry is influenced by a set industry characteristics. The traditional aspects are the volume of competitors, the market growth, the aspect of the entrance cost and exit costs, the switching costs and the level of product differentiation. Rivalry will be increased by a larger number of firms, because more firms must compete for the same purpose. Rivalry even intensifies, if the firms have similar market volume and impact. When looking at the TNCs as firms, who compete for GP, there is a large number of such. In comparison, there are a lot of global player coming from different countries, representing different intentions, but only less alternatives to influence a global decision making process, or a national decision making process, that affects the world globally (demand). In fact, there are in total sum 44,000 TNCs in the world, with 280,000 subsidiaries and an annual turnover of US$ 7,000 billion. Two-thirds of world trade results from TNC production networks. The share of world GDP controlled by TNCs has grown from 17 percent in the mid-60s to 24 percent in 1984 and almost 33 percent in 1995 (UNCTAD). 51 of the world's largest economies are in fact TNCs. Continuous mergers and take-overs have created a situation in which almost every sector of the global economy is controlled by a handful of TNCs. On a whole the total volume of TNCs is rather high; however there is only little Global Power available. Due to that aspect, rivalry is high. If there is a growing market, firms are able to increase revenues simply because of the economic growth itself. A slow market growth causes firms to combat for market share and rivalry grows. Here we are talking about the market of GP in GG. The market size is only hard to measure. However it will be assumed that ongoing globalization is the factor that results in a growth in the market for assessing GP in GG. According to that argument, rivalry will be decreased within the industry of TNCs. When the majority of costs are fixed, the firm must produce near capacity to attain the lowest unit costs. Since the firm must sell a larger quantity of the product in order to benefit from economies of scale, high levels of production lead to a fight for market share and results in increased rivalry. In this case the 'product' TNCs produce is too abstract, to link it anyhow to fix or variable costs. What TNCs 'sell' is not their actual product (e.g. General Motors sells cars), but the influence they have in economy. As a result, it can be said that the more BP a TNC already has, the more influence it has, the lower costs every additional unit added. So the theory of economies of scale can be covered. However, there are no other fixed costs than the fixed costs of running the business anyhow. To sum up, it can be said that the fixed costs in the TNC´s industry are indifferent. However, there can be detected an economies of scale effect. Thus, rivalry in the existing market becomes higher. When a customer can freely switch from one product to another there is a greater struggle to capture customers. Low switching costs increase rivalry. The customer in our case is the national government (or International Organization) as GA who uses the BP of a TNC as product in order to benefit from it in terms of increasing its own GP. Switching costs may arrive when asking which TNC in detail to support. There might be done distinctions from TNCs operation industry (such as energy sector, security sector or media business). This notion leads to the argument of diversification of the product, which will be explained further. In addition here plays the linkage of the TNC an essential role; If the TNC is somehow linked to activities with other GAs. Thought, switching costs in general are assumed to be high, not at least of the lack in trust, experience, information and transparency. Therefore rivalry rises. Low levels of product differentiation leads to higher levels of rivalry. The product itself is defined to be the GB. That influence can be differentiated first in the sense of the actual product offered. Textile producer may have an other channel of influence than companies in the energy sector. It can be detected that most of the TNCs are operating in the industry of petroleum exploiter, processor and distributor (see appendix 1 and 2). What exact relationship there exists is not part of this thesis, however it will be assumed that there must be 'better preferred' industriey. The second and probably related influence measure tool is the 3 dimensions of power approach. Each industry and each TNC concentrates on a different mixture of the power dimensions in providing power. On a whole there is a high level of product differentiation, and therefore a higher level of rivalry. High exit barriers place a high cost on abandoning the product. The firm is forced to compete. High exit barriers cause a firm to remain in an industry, even when the venture is not profitable. A common exit barrier is asset specificity. When a TNC wants to exit the industry, the barriers are low. Far from it! Other competitors or GAs would pay a high price in order to take over the business. That argument leads to a slightly decrease in rivalry. To sum up, rivalry in the TNC industry is relatively high, due to the large number of competitors, scale effects, and high level of product differentiation. There also exists an approach to make rivalry measurable by indicators of industry concentration. One instrument is the Concentration Ratio (further abbreviated as CR). The CR indicates the percent of market share held by the largest (4 - 50) firms within the industry. A high CR means less competition, whereby a low CR indicates a high competitive pressure. The industry is concentrated, when a high volume of market share is held by the (4 - 50) largest firms; then the CR is high. With only a few firms holding a large market share, the competitive landscape is less competitive because it is closer to an oligopoly or to a monopoly. If the industry is characterized by many rivals from whom none of them has a significant market share, we see a low concentration ratio. Fragmented markets are more likely to be highly competitive.
Cover; Half Title; Title Page; Copyright Page; Table of Contents; Preface; Chapter 1: An introduction to economics; Scarcity; Opportunity cost; Investment; Methodology; The built environment; Sources of data; Chapter 2: Economic systems of resource allocation; The free market model; The centrally planned model; The mixed economy; Equity and efficiency; The market mechanism; The Marshallian cross; The concept of equilibrium; Market failure; Tutorial 1: What is affordable housing?; Chapter 3: The theory of demand; The basic law of demand; Demand for housing; Demand for commercial property
Access options:
The following links lead to the full text from the respective local libraries:
{EM}INTERNATIONAL COUNCIL OF SCIENTIFIC UNIONS - ICSU{/EM}{/p} {P}{B}SCIENCE INTERNATIONAL Newsletter No. 69, December 1998{/B}{/P} {P}{B} Code Number:NL98004 {BR} Sizes of Files: {BR} Text: 145K {BR} Graphics: Line drawings (gif) - 32K{BR} Photographs (jpg) - 52K {/B}{P} {P}{B}WORLD CONFERENCE ON SCIENCE{/B}{BR} {I}Budapest, Hungary, 26 June - 1 July 1999{/P} {/I} {P}{B}Science for the 21st century: {I}A new commitment{/B}{/P} {/FONT}{P}{/P} {/I}{P}The main goal of this important meeting, which around 2,000 participants are expected to attend, is to bring together policy makers from both the political and the administrative world, and members of the scientific community at large, to reflect together on the future of scientific research, its impact on society and the demands of society on science.{/P} {B}{P}Vostok Lake, Antarctica{/P} {/B}{P}Dr Peter D. Clarkson Research,{BR} {P}A common perception is that Antarctica is a frozen continent and that is predominantly correct. In the more northerly coastal regions of the continent, particularly in the Antarctic Peninsula, summer temperatures may rise above 0C and, on warm sunny days, streams may flow from melting glaciers and snow fields. Not surprisingly, therefore, there are many small lakes and ponds that can lose their ice cover during the summer. What is surprising, however, is that the largest known lake in Antarctica is about twenty-five times the area of Lake Geneva in Switzerland (or somewhat smaller in area than Lake Ontario on the United States-Canada border, but it has a larger volume of water) and it is sandwiched between the bedrock of the continent and about 4 km of the overlying ice sheet.{/P} {P}{B}Harmful Algal Blooms{/B}{/P} {P}A new International Programme on Global Ecology and Oceanography{/P} {/B} {P}Elizabeth Gross,{/P} {P}The last two decades have been marked by an extraordinary expansion in the occurrence of the marine phenomenon we now call "harmful algal blooms". These blooms of toxic or harmful micro-algae, often inaccurately referred to as "red tides", represent a significant and expanding threat to human health and fisheries resources throughout the world. They take many forms, ranging from massive accumulations of cells that discolor the water, to dilute, inconspicuous populations that are noticed only because of the harm caused by the highly potent toxins these cells contain. The impacts of these phenomena include: mass mortalities of wild and farmed fish and shellfish; human poisonings and fatalities from the consumption of contaminated shellfish or fish; alterations of marine ecosystem structure through adverse effects on larvae and other life history stages of commercial fisheries species; and the death of marine mammals, sea birds, and other animals. On this last point, there is now a growing appreciation of the extent to which HABs impact resources other than shellfish and fish. Human illnesses and fatalities due to five syndromes associated with harmful algae are being recorded around the world in increasingly large numbers.{/P} {B} {P}The Fifth IGBP Scientific Advisory Council Meeting{BR} Nairobi, Kenya, {/FONT}{I}1 to 7 September 1998{/P} {/B}{/I}{P}Sheila Lunter, {/P} {P}Despite a postponement and a preparation that was marked by adversity, a successful Fifth Scientific Advisory Council (SAC-V) Meeting of IGBP was held in Kenya. Many African scientists attended the meeting, which had a total participation of some 170 scientists. SAC-V was hosted by the Kenyan National Academy of Science (KNAS), with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) generously offering the use of the conference facilities at their headquarters in Gigiri, just outside Nairobi.{/P} {P}{B}NEW RESEARCH PROJECT UNDERWAY{/P} {P}Health and the environment{/P} {/B}{/FONT}{P}Heike Schroeder, {/P} {P}Health has become one of the major new integrative global change research areas, and indeed the links between environment and health are becoming increasingly visible and complex. Extreme weather patterns highlighted by the recent El Niño cycle, emergent diseases, viral mutations and environmental degradation are all contributing to this development.{/P} {P}{B}DIVERSITAS/IBOY{/B} {br}An International Biodiversity Observation Year{/P} {P} H.A. Mooney, C.S. Adam, A. Larigauderie and J. Sarukhan.{/P} {P}{B}What is DIVERSITAS?{/B}{/P} {/B}{P}DIVERSITAS is an international programme of biodiversity science which was created in 1991. It is cosponsored by six international scientific organisations: the International Union of Biological Sciences (IUBS), the Scientific Committee on Problems of the Environment (SCOPE), the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), the International Union of Microbiological Societies (IUMS), the International Council for Science (ICSU), and the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme (IGBP).{/P} {B}{P}DIVERSITAS - START - WCRP - IGBP - IHDP{/P} {P}Chair & Directors Forum{/P} {/B}{P}Heike Schroeder,{/P} {P}Global Change System for Analysis, Research and Training (START) and the Global Environmental Change (GEC) programmes held their annual Chairs and Directors Forum on 14-16 August 1998, in Bonn, Germany. The purpose of this Forum is to provide an opportunity for the programmes' Executive Directors and Scientific Chairs to exchange information on an informal basis and discuss new and ongoing activities and ways for the programmes to enhance collaboration and streamline their research efforts.{/P} {P}{BR} {I}{B}Spotlights on science{/I}{/B} {/P} {P}{B}The International Union of Crystallography{/B}{/P} {/B}{P}M. Dacombe{/P} {P}The International Union of Crystallography (IUCr) was formed in 1947 and formally admitted to ICSU on 7 April in that year. Its main objects are: to promote international cooperation in crystallography; to contribute to the advancement of crystallography in all its aspects; to facilitate international standardization of methods, of units, of nomenclature and of symbols used in crystallography; and to form a focus for the relations of crystallography to other sciences. It does this primarily through its publications, the work of its Commissions and Sub-Committees, and its triennial Congresses.{/P} {P}{B}International Union for Pure and Applied Biophysics {br}IUPAB{/P} {/B}{P}A.C.T. North,{/P} {P}Most biophysicists have probably had the same experience as me and been faced by a look of blank incomprehension after giving the answer "biophysics, "to the question "what is your subject?".{/P} {B}{I}Meeting reports{/P} {/I}{P}ICSU/CODATA{BR} 16th Biennial International CODATA Conference and General Assembly{/P} {I}{P}Habitat Center, New Delhi, India,{BR} Nov. 8 - 14, 1998{/P} {/B}{/I}{P}Report by Professor Paul G. Mezey, {P}{B}SATELLITE MEETINGS{BR} {/B}The Conference was preceded by two CODATA Task Group Satellite Meetings and Symposia, held at the Indian National Science Academy, New Delhi. On November 6 and 7, 1998, the CODATA Task Group for Data Sources in Asia-Oceania held a Meeting and Seminar, whereas on November 7, 1998, the CODATA Task Group for Data/information and Visualization held a Study-Tutorial Workshop on "Information, Visualization, and Management of Heterogeneous Systems". Both meetings were well attended. The high scientific level and the special Tutorial feature of the Data/Information and Visualization Task Group Symposium provided inspiration for future, similar meetings.{/P} {P}{/P} {B}{P}Electronic Publishing in Science {br}Report on a joint AAAS/ICSU Press/UNESCO Workshop in Paris{/P} {/B}{P}D.F. Shaw, {BR} {P}Forty-three participants accepted invitations from the joint organising committee and represented an international range of interests covering the Universities, Learned Societies, National Science Academies, National and Institutional Libraries and STM Publishers, as well as commercial information brokers and consultants.{/P} {B}{P}Dairy Foods in Health{BR} International Conference, Wellington, New Zealand{/P} {/B} {P}Specialists from 22 countries as far apart as Canada, Finland, Japan and Thailand attended the International Dairy Federation's Nutrition Week from 9-11 March 1998. The New Zealand hosts, the Milk and Health Research Centre of Masey University and the New Zealand Dairy Research Institute, welcomed 191 participants to an ambitious programme with leading nutrition scientists from all around the world. A dinner cruise was arranged on Wellington Harbour for participants. The kind weather and the festival atmosphere in Wellington combined to make the event enjoyable for all.{/P} {B}{I}{P}Calendar{/P}{/B}{/I} Details of forthcoming events from 1 January 1999 - 25 March 1999 {B}{P}ICSU/IGFA{BR} Global Change Research{/B}{/P} {P}The International Group of Funding Agencies for Global Change Research (IGFA) is an informal body of representatives of agencies and ministries of 21 countries plus the European Union responsible for the funding of global change research.{/P} {B}{P}{I}Science and technology{/I}{/B}{/P} {P}{B}Identification of science and technology priorities for Asian Regional Cooperation{/B}{/P} {P}B. Babuji{/P} {P}The following topics were presented for discussion:{/P} {LI}Country presentations on S & T status {/LI} {LI}Current and emerging global S & T senario {/LI} {LI}Identification of priority areas for Asian regional cooperation {/LI} {LI}Modes of cooperation {/LI} {LI}Resource mobilisation and way forward{/LI} {/P} {P}{B}Easing the burden on young scientists{/B}{/P} {/B}{P}Daniel Schaffer, {/P} {P}Two of the principal aims of the Third World Academy of Sciences (TWAS) are to promote the careers of young scientists in the developing world and to help scientific institutions in the South to strengthen their decision-making and research capabilities. These two goals came together in the TWAS Prize for young scientists.{/P} {P}{B}South's Centres of Excellence{/B}{BR} {/B}(New volume published){/P} {P}Daniel Schaffer,{/P} {P}The Third World Network of Scientific Organizations (TWNSO), in collaboration with the South Centre and Third World Academy of Sciences (TWAS), has announced the publication of the second edition of Profiles for Scientific Exchange and Training in the South. With more than 430 entries, the book represents a unique inventory of the capabilities and accomplishments of the most prominent research and training centres in the developing world.{/P} {B}{I}{P}news in brief{/I}{/B}{/P} {P}{B}Fields Medal and the Nevanlinna Prize {br}International Congress of Mathematicians, Berlin 1998{/P} {/B}{P}In physics or literature they have the Nobel Prize, and in mathematics there is the "Fields Medal". This highest scientific award for mathematicians was presented at the opening ceremony of the "International Congress of Mathematicians" to Richard E. Borcherds, Maxim Kontsevich, William Timothy Gowers and Curtis T. McMullen. The International Mathematical Union also awarded the "Nevanlinna Prize" for outstanding work in the field of theoretical computer science to the mathematician Peter Shor.{/P} {B}{P}Food Security {I}{br}What have Sciences to Offer?{/P} {/B}{/I}{P}David Hall,{/P} {P}The author of this report was asked to examine what opportunities exist for the sciences to play in ensuring food security in the next century. In parallel to this, would there be a role for ICSU members and scientists of varied disciplines to play, which would be effective and not duplicate existing efforts?{/P} {B}{I}{P}Electronic Journal Publishing{/P} {/I}{P}A Reader{/P} {/B}{P}To further support our work in the strengthening and development of the dissemination of research results, we are in the process of bringing together a series of articles and Internet documents which we have found interesting and insightful.{/P} {/I}{B}{P}INASP adds new section to its web site{/P} {P}{/P} {/B}{P}INASP Links and Resources "Access to Information"{/P} {B}{P}Discovery of Polonium and Radium{/P} {P}{/P} {/B}{P}An International Conference on {I}The Discovery of Polonium and Radium: its scientific and philosophical consequences, benefits and threats to mankind {/I}was organized by the Polish Government in Warsaw in September 1998.{/P} {B}{P}TREASURER OF THE IUBMB RESIGNS{/P} {/B}{P}Dr R. Brian Beechey, the Treasurer of IUBMB, has tendered his resignation as from 31 December 1998, citing his wish to pursue other interests.{/P} {B}{I}{P}Book Marketing and Distribution:{/P} {/I}{/B}{P}A practical handbook for publishers in developing countries and related training programmes{/P} {B}{P}New edition of ICSU's blue book{/B} {br}UNIVERSALITY OF SCIENCE:{/P} {P}{/P} {P}A new edition of the handbook of ICSU's Standing Committee on Freedom in the Conduct of Science SCFCS has been printed.{/P} {B}{I}house news{/P} {/I}{P}New Environmental Science Officer appointed at ICSU{/B}{/P} {P}Anne Lorigouderie joined the ICSU Secretariat as Environmental Sciences Officer in September.{/P} {B}{P}Qiu Wei joins us from CAST{/P} {/B}{P}Qiu Wei succeeds Zhang Hong, on secondment from the China Association for Science and Technology for another period of six months as of November 1998. {/P} {B}{P}Catherine moves on{/P} {/B}{P}After four years at the ICSU Secretariat, Catherine Leonard left in December. During her time at ICSU, Catherine's responsibilities have included administering the ICSU Grants Programme and editing the ICSU Year Book. {/I}{P}{B}ICSU Grants Programme for 1999{/B}{/P} {P}ICSU is pleased to announce that around one million dollars has been awarded to ICSU bodies under the ICSU grants programme for 1999. Almost half that amount has been allocated to category I grants in the $50,000 - $100,000 range for new innovative projects of high profile potential.{/P} {B}{P}Looking ahead to the millennium{/P} {P}{/P} {/B}{P}For 2000, ICSU is opening up its Category I grants programme to all of ICSU's Joint Initiatives - as it did for the 1999 Programme- and to all ICSU Scientific Associates.{/P} {B}Obituary{/B}{/P} {/I}{P}Lars Ernster 1920-98{I} {/P} {/B}{/I}{P}Lars Ernster died in his 79th year in November. Although born in Budapest he spent almost all his working life in Sweden and most of his academic life at the University of Stockholm. He began a close and long association with ICSU in 1969 when he was appointed Secretary of the Swedish National Committee on Biochemistry and this led to greater demands on his organizational talents when shortly after this he took over the Chairmanship of the Organizing Committee for the highly successful 9th International Congress on Biochemistry, which was held in Stockholm in 1973.{/P} {B}{P}New Directions in Chemistry{/P} {P}15-17 July 1999, Hong Kong{/P} {P}{/P} {/B}{P}The first IUPAC Workshop on Advanced Materials: Nanostructured Systems (IUPAC-WAM-1) will be held on the campus of the Hong Kong University for Science and Technology from 15-17 July 1999.{/P} {P}Copyright 1998 ICSU Press
This thesis discusses policies, discourses and institutionalizations of the green economy in the Global South, and analyzes how the green economy is being implemented in the Global South particularly through the case of the new green revolution in Africa and the Southern Agricultural Growth Corridor of Tanzania (SAGCOT). The objective of the thesis is to examine how the green economy agenda is transferred from the global discursive level to implementation in the Global South and transformed in the process. The aim is to provide insights into the processes and mechanisms that guide green economy implementation in the Global South. The contribution of this study lies within the exploration and examination of how, as a global environmental discourse, the green economy translates to policy implementation and how it transforms in the process towards institutionalization in the Global South. Since the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, Rio+20, in 2012, "greening" economies and growth has been of key importance in international politics. Leading policy actors and businesses increasingly frame the emerging green economy as an opportunity to realize a triple-bottom line comprising people, planet and profit. A two-fold trend seems to have emerged in the global green shift. In the Global North, the green economy usually means market-based solutions and technological innovation to make energy sectors more environmentally sustainable. By contrast, in the Global South, green economy implementations often imply transformed and modernized management or utilization of – or control over – natural resources, often under schemes that are driven from abroad. While there is a growing body of research on various implementations and outcomes of the green economy, particularly technological innovations and market-based solutions, less attention has been paid to policy implications and governance aspects. This is especially the case for the Global South. For this reason, the aim of this study is to examine and discuss the processes and discursive powers that influence these trends. I apply an overall political ecology framework to understand how a global environmental discourse is translated into policies concerning the environment and natural resources. I explore how these policies are implemented in a developing country, on the basis of discursive powers and power structures. I use an overall discourse approach, especially the concepts of discourse institutionalization and governmentality, to explain how policies are formed and implemented in practice. Finally, I employ the concept of institutional bricolage to explain how the green economy has been adopted and reshaped in green economy institutionalization in the Global South. These theoretical approaches are framed in an overall critical realist epistemology. The research for this thesis has been undertaken by using a qualitative research design, and the data collection methods consisted particularly of qualitative interviews, document analysis, event ethnography, and discourse analysis. Part II of the thesis comprises three individual papers that all contribute to answering the research questions and fulfilling the study objectives. The papers discuss the implementation of the green economy in the Global South in different ways. However, common to all the three papers is the examination of how actors find new ways of opportunistically engaging with the green economy as an agenda and a discourse. All three papers explore a certain "spatial fix" element of green economy implementation in the Global South. Furthermore, they all explore some level of discourse institutionalization or influence, and draw on how discourses, informed by narratives, drive the green economy. Finally, the papers all show how a certain shift in management of natural resources is being formed by a modernization discourse under the implementation of the green economy in the Global South. This thesis extends existing research in three main ways. First, it demonstrates how discursive drivers informed by narratives influence green economy policies and agendas. Second, it examines how the green economy and the new green revolution for Africa have merged. Third, and finally, it empirically explores one example of a green economy implementation in the Global South, namely the Southern Agricultural Growth Corridor of Tanzania (SAGCOT). Based on the findings from this research, I argue that there is reason to claim that so far the green economy has not succeeded in fulfilling its ambitious targets, but rather it has led to two distinct processes when implemented in the Global South. One process is "grabbing green" and greenwashing due to the need for "spatial fixes" caused by dynamics inherent to capitalism. The other process is modernization of natural resource management, which may lead to transformed control over the use of natural resources, such as land, or transformation of agricultural practices. ; Denne avhandlingen diskuterer grønn økonomi som et globalt politisk og diskursivt rammeverk som for alvor fikk fotfeste på den internasjonale dagsordenen etter FN-toppmøtet i Rio i 2012 (Rio+20). Målet med denne studien er å undersøke og diskutere prosessen hvor grønn økonomi går fra å være en miljøstyringsdiskurs og et politisk rammeverk på globalt plan, til å bli implementert i det globale Sør gjennom ulike initiativer og miljøpolitiske retningslinjer. Studien bidrar med kunnskap om de prosessene, mekanismene og aktørene som styrer og påvirker implementeringen av grønn økonomi i det globale Sør. Grønn økonomi og vekst har vært sentralt på den internasjonale dagsordenen og for nasjonale regjeringer verden over siden Rio+20-toppmøtet. Men hvordan en grønn økonomi skal implementeres i praksis, er ikke like tydelig. Grovt sett kan vi skille mellom to ulike tilnærminger til implementering av grønn økonomi; i det globale Nord skjer denne oftest via markedsbaserte løsninger på klima- og miljøproblemer, samt en urokkelig tro på at teknologisk innovasjon skal løse utfordringene verden står ovenfor. I det globale Sør, derimot, ser grønn økonomi ut til å ofte innebære endringer og modernisering i forvaltningen av naturressurser, samt i hvordan disse utnyttes og kontrolleres i de såkalt grønne sektorene. Slik styring over naturressurser forekommer typisk i ulike «grønne» initiativer som er drevet av eksterne aktører, ofte via multinasjonale selskaper og privat utenlandsk sektor. Vi ser videre at ledende aktører innen beslutningstaking og næringsliv i økende grad benytter den sterkt fremvoksende grønne økonomien for å støtte oppunder og rettferdiggjøre sine egne ambisjoner, som ofte kan være relativt perifere fra den grønne økonomiens uttalte mål om bærekraftig utvikling, grønn vekst og fattigdomsreduksjon. Teknologiske og økonomiske aspekter ved den grønne økonomien er bredt diskutert i eksisterende forskning, men politiske og institusjonelle aspekter ved innføringen av grønn økonomi, særlig i utviklingsland, har ikke blitt viet like mye oppmerksomhet. Denne studien har derfor som mål å diskutere implikasjonene av, samt aktørene og de diskursive kreftene, som påvirker og styrer implementering av grønn økonomi. Studien tar utgangspunkt i politisk økologi for å forstå hvordan en global, hegemonisk miljøstyringsdiskurs overføres til politiske rammeverk innen naturressursforvaltning på nasjonalt og lokalt plan. Særlig er det interessant og aktuelt å se på dette via ulike maktperspektiver, samt hvordan disse politiske rammeverkene implementeres i det globale Sør. Videre er denne studien underordnet en diskursiv innramming, primært ved å benytte konseptene diskursinstitusjonalisering og 'governmentality' ('styringsmentalitet') for å forklare hvordan politiske rammeverk formes og blir implementert. Disse teoretiske tilnærmingene er forankret i den epistemologiske vitenskapsfilosofien kritisk realisme. Sist, men ikke minst, har jeg anvendt det teoretiske konseptet institusjonell 'bricolage' for å forklare hvordan grønn økonomi har blitt tatt i bruk og omformulert i institusjonaliseringen av grønn politikk og «grønne» initiativer i det globale Sør. Forskningen som danner det empiriske grunnlaget for denne avhandlingen, har blitt gjennomført under en kvalitativ metodologisk tilnærming, hvor datainnsamling hovedsakelig har bestått av dybdeintervjuer, dokumentanalyse, konferanseetnografi og diskursanalyse. Avhandlingen består av tre individuelle vitenskapelige artikler som alle bidrar til å svare på de forskningsspørsmålene studien stiller. De tre artiklene diskuterer implementeringen av grønn økonomi i det globale Sør på forskjellige måter. Felles for dem er likevel en redegjørelse for hvordan aktører finner nye måter å utnytte den grønne økonomien både som agenda og diskurs. Artiklene diskuterer i tillegg hvordan implementering av grønn økonomi bærer preg av kapitalismens behov for å ekspandere ('spatial fix'). Videre analyserer de hvordan diskurser påvirker politikk, strategier, retningslinjer og rammeverk, særlig hvordan narrativer og diskurser driver grønn økonomi. Endelig, og sentralt for hele avhandlingen, illustrerer alle tre artiklene hvordan inngripen i, og modernisering av, naturressursforvaltning er grunnleggende for hvordan grønn økonomi implementeres i det globale Sør. Avhandlingen utfyller eksisterende forskning på hovedsakelig tre måter. For det første demonstrerer den hvordan diskursive krefter og narrativer påvirker politiske strategier og retningslinjer for grønn økonomi. For det andre utforsker den hvordan den grønne økonomien og den nye, grønne revolusjonen i Afrika har blitt sammenblandet under felles mål og retorikk. For det tredje utforsker den et empirisk eksempel av hvordan grønn økonomi implementeres i det globale sør, gjennom Tanzanias jordbrukskorridor The Southern Agricultural Growth Corridor of Tanzania (SAGCOT). Denne avhandlingen argumenterer for at ulike initiativer under grønn økonomi er dypt formet av utvalgte elementer som politiske aktører velger å inkludere eller ekskludere i sine tilnærminger og politiske rammeverk. På bakgrunn av funnene i denne studien, er det grunn til å tro at grønn økonomi så langt ikke har lyktes i å innfri sine ambisiøse mål, men snarere ført til to distinkte prosesser når den har blitt implementert i det globale Sør. Disse er, for det første, en «kapring» av den grønne diskursen og «grønnvasking» som en konsekvens av interne motsetninger og dynamikker i det kapitalistiske systemet, og for det andre, modernisering av naturressursforvaltning, som kan føre til endret kontroll over tilgang til og bruken av naturressurser.
Author's introductionIssues surrounding what has variously been defined as 'global', 'international' or 'transnational' forms of 'organized crime' are a frequent staple of globalization crisis talk and are frequently used to justify the emergence and elaboration of transnational policing capacities. How well does this functional explanation account for these related sets of phenomena? What are the particular organizational and institutional characteristics of transnational policing institutions? What counts as transnational organised crime? How does the apparent dialectic between transnational organised crime and transnational policing relate to broader issues of global governance? How do the practices of transnational policing relate to the structure of global society more generally? Sociological questions about global crime and policing turn out to be fundamental questions about the nature of the world system.Author recommendsSheptycki, J. (ed.) 2000. Issues in Transnational Policing. London: Routledge, ISBN 0‐415‐19260‐9.This pioneering book opened up the sociology of transnational policing. The book contains chapters by leading scholars in the sociology of policing and is the first to consider the consequences of globalization specific to the institutions of policing. Chapters consider a number of important emerging issues in relation to transnational policing. The introduction attends to the definitions of the book's central terms: 'policing' and 'transnational'. It also provides a typology relating to the field of policing that has had major implications for the understanding of policing accountability under transnational conditions. The first chapter, by Les Johnston, considers the emergence of transnational private security, by mapping the global security market. Chapter two, by Jean‐Paul Brodeur, provides empirical insights into the workings of legal due process in complex transnational criminal enquiries raising questions about the accountability structures in the coming 'age of transnational high policing'. Chapter three, by Didier Bigo, traces the emergence of liaison officer networks across the European policing field. Frank Gregory charts the historical rise of private criminality as a matter of international concern in chapter four, while James Sheptycki undertakes a descriptive analysis of the global system for policing money in chapter five. In chapter six, Peter Manning considers various aspects of policing and technology under conditions of transnationalisation, paying some considerable attention to the policing of 'new social spaces'– that is the rise of so‐called 'cyberspace'. Chapter seven, by James Sheptycki, is a concluding chapter which considers the historical case of the 'international war on drugs' held to be the 'paradigm example of transnational policing'.Sheptycki, J. and A. Wardak (eds) 2004. Transnational and Comparative Criminology. London: Routledge, ISBN 978‐1‐904385‐05‐9.This book advocates that contemporary criminology be both transnational and comparative. The introduction describes the field of criminology by placing it in a global context. One key question is how academic criminologists can cope with the difficulties of cultural relativism in fostering a comparative and transnational view of the field. The book is broken into four sections. In the first, a variety of comparative studies are considered. Difficulties in measuring trends in comparative crime statistics across national jurisdictions, techniques for doing so and the interpretation of such data are all considered. The use of qualitative data in comparative studies is also considered. The authors advocate the combination of different types of data in a 'second best' approach to the interpretation of transnational and other types of crime. In the second section, a variety of 'area studies' are considered. These are: West Africa, Southern Africa, Singapore, China and Saudi Arabia. These chapters each offer extended transnational and comparative treatment of issues of crime, crime definition and crime control in their respective regions. Section 3 deals with specific transnational crime control issues that have been identified. Four separate chapters consider transnational organized crime, transnational white collar crime, transnational corruption in the EU and international sex‐trafficking in the EU. The final section considers transnational control responses to transnational crime and the book concludes with a chapter on reflexivity in the academic study of crime, crime definition and crime control.Goldsmith, A. and J. Sheptycki (eds) 2007. Crafting Transnational Policing. Oxford: Hart Publishing, ISBN‐10: 1841137766.The notion that police around the world share a distinctive outlook has been established, as has the assumption that police must co‐operate internationally if they are to respond effectively to the crime and insecurity associated with the transnational condition. Yet the possibility of developing a genuinely transnational policecraft seems negligible. It is possible to discuss in ideal terms such notions as transnational ethics, global social justice and the like but what, practically speaking, could be meant by a transnational constabulary ethic? Arguably, the situated nature of policing means that there is no such thing as a common transnational policecraft and hence no possibility of an overarching ethic for the constabulary. Liberal democratic theories of policing are also ill‐adapted to the global conditions that are the consequence of prevailing neo‐liberal governmental logics. This book presents a collection of essays that are the results of a workshop at the Onati Institute for the Sociology of Law entitled: Transnational Policing and the Constabulary Ethic. It provides descriptive accounts of transnational policing in a variety of regional settings around the world but grounds the analysis in debates about what would constitute good policing under transnational conditions.Sheptycki, J. 2008. 'Transnationalism, Orientalism and Crime.'Asian Journal of Criminology, 3: 13–35. DOI: 10.1007/s11417-008-9049-0The article asks the question: how applicable are European and North American criminological theories to the situation in Asia? It takes a transnational and comparative perspective in relating contemporary and historical trends in crime, crime definition and crime control in a variety of Asian countries that comprise the so‐called Confucian sphere. It provides a criminological critique of the 'Asian values debate' and, through an analysis of trends in crime, crime definition and crime control in China and Japan, of organised crime across the region, as well as selected examples of state‐organised crime, seeks to provide a perspective on the developing criminological discourses of 'the Orient'. The paper argues that, although cultural aspects are important and interesting in understanding the crime situation in the region, ultimately it is changes in politics and governance, economy and society that are most efficacious in explaining current criminological trends and developments.Sheptycki, J. 2007. 'High Policing in the Security Control Society.'Policing 1(1): 70–9, Oxford University Press.This article considers the nature and practice of high policing in the security control society. It looks at the effects of the new information technologies on the organization of policing–intelligence and argues that a number of 'organizational pathologies' have arisen that make the functioning of security intelligence processes in high policing deeply problematic. The article also looks at the changing context of policing and argues that the circuits of the security–intelligence apparatus are woven into, and help to compose, the panic scenes of the security control society. Seen this way, the habits of high policing are not the governance of crisis, but rather governance through crisis. An alternative paradigm is suggested, viz. the human security paradigm, and the paper concludes that, unless senior ranking policing officers – the police intelligentsia'– adopt new ways of thinking, the already existing organizational pathologies of the security–intelligence system are likely to continue undermining efforts at fostering security.Sheptycki, J. 2007. 'Criminology and the Transnational Condition: A Contribution to International Political Sociology.'International Political Sociology 1: 391–405.This article contributes to international political sociology and the further enhancement of the interdisciplinary study of the global system by introducing the vocabulary of critical criminology into the discourse. It suggests that the contemporary global system is ripe with existential anxieties that are symptoms of momentous historical change and it argues that, for good or for ill, issues of crime definition and control have become central to the transnational condition. As a consequence, criminological theories should be introduced into theoretical discussions about the nature of the contemporary global scene. Such conceptual thinking is vital, given the centrality of the language of criminal threats in the language of global governance and the language of governance globally.Online materialsThe Geneva Centre for the Democratic Control of Armed Forces http://www.dcaf.ch/ Small Arms Survey http://www.smallarmssurvey.org/ One World Trust http://www.oneworldtrust.org/ Open Society Institute http://www.soros.org/ The Jack and Mae Nathanson Centre on transnational human rights, crime and security http://nathanson.osgoode.yorku.ca/ The drug policy alliance network http://www.drugpolicy.org/homepage.cfm The European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction http://www.emcdda.europa.eu/html.cfm/index190EN.html The Environmental Investigation Agency http://www.eia‐international.org/ Corporate Watch http://www.corporatewatch.org.uk/ SyllabusTopics for lecture and discussion I Introduction and overview Definitions, problems and issues: What is policing? What is crime? What do the terms internationalisation, globalisation and transnationalisation refer to? What consequences follow from a world‐system without world policing?Outside reading:Castells, M. The Rise of the Network Society, Cambridge, MA: Blackwell (1996).Held, D., A. McGrew, D. Goldblatt and J. Perraon 1999. The Global Transformations Reader. Cambridge: Polity Press.Held, D. 2003. Cosmopolitanism, a Defence. Cambridge: Polity.Sklair, L. 2001. The Transnational Capitalist Class. Oxford: Blackwell. II Issues in comparative criminology What is crime and how to academic criminologists study in comparative perspective? The use and abuse of statistics in understanding crime cross‐nationally, cross‐culturally and cross‐jurisdictionally. The uses of qualitative data in interpreting problems in comparative criminology. The comparative study of crime and the emerging world system.Outside reading:Hofstede, Geert 2001. Culture's Consequences, Comparing Values, Behaviours, Institutions and Organizations Across Nations. Beverly Hills: Sage.Reichel, P. 2007. Comparative Criminal Justice Systems, a Topic Approach. Harlow: Pearson Education. III Issues in transnational criminology What is transnational about transnational crime? How are transnational crime problems defined and prioritized? How are transnational crime problems measured and evaluated? What do we know about the various types of transnational crime?Outside reading:Beare, M. 2004. Critical Reflections on Transnational Organized Crime, Money Laundering and Corruption. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.Edwards, A. and P. Gill 2004. Transnational Organised Crime; Perspectives on Global Security. London: Routledge.Reichel, P. 2005. Handbook of Transnational Crime and Justice. London: Sage. IV Issues in transnational policing Who are the transnational police? What is Interpol? What do transnational police agents do? How are transnational policing priorities set? Under conditions of transnationalisation, what is the relationship between law and policing?Outside reading:Anderson, M. et al. 1995. Policing the European Union. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Andreas, P. and T. Snyder. Wall Around the West. Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield.Andreas, P. and E. Nadelmann 2006. Policing the Globe; Criminalization and Crime Control in International Relations. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Ratcliffe, J. 2004. Strategic Thinking in Criminal Intelligence. NSW: Federation Press.Focus questions
What challenges do researchers interested in comparative criminology face and why? What are comparative and transnational criminology and how are they different? With reference to the contemporary period, can you think of practical elements, themes or questions that are common to both? What is transnational policing and how can it be made accountable to the global commonwealth? What are the practices that feature most prominently in transnational discourses about contemporary policing and how are these understood from a human rights, civil liberties or human security point of view? What does the study of transnational crime and policing reveal about the nature and character of the world system?
Project ideasBased on knowledge acquired from this course, choose a topic in transnational or comparative criminology and create a briefing portfolio. The portfolio will consist of four items: (i) three page statement of purpose; (ii) annotated bibliography; (iii) poster and presentation; and (iv) written essay. As part of the project, students should prepare a poster presentation (approx. 18″× 24″) detailing the chosen topic through the display of quantitative and qualitative types of data together with key concepts, case‐study vignettes, maps and pictures. Students will give an oral presentation based on their poster and create an annotated bibliography and write a short essay on their chosen topic based on the feedback they receive. Some suggested topics: comparative study of gun‐homicide in two or more countries/cultures; comparative study of rape and sexual assault in two or more countries/cultures; comparative student of family violence in two or more countries/cultures; environmental organized crime; policing the global money system; policing and the global drug prohibition regime; controlling piracy on the high seas – then and now; transnational crimes of the powerful and the powerless; policing, tourism and crime; corporate crime and state crime – spot the difference.
We revisit the canonical policy of eliminating capital taxation by increasing labor taxation in a endogenous-labor, heterogeneous-agent model with income and wealth heterogeneity, when the government is subject to a strict (per-period) balancedbudget constraint. By contrast with its non-budget neutral equivalent-associated with a constant tax rate over time and a permanent increase in the level of public debt-we show that the obtained endogenous path for the labor tax rate is sharply increasing in the initial period and decreasing over time. The policy then generates a deeper recession in the short-run and a greater expansion in the long-run, as well as a smaller decline in wealth inequality associated with a reduced incentive to save for precautionary motives. Overall, the policy still generates significant losses in average welfare.
Often development focus has been on measuring and analyzing poverty in order to reduce poverty. While the poor face future prospects of being perpetually trapped in poverty, the nonpoor also are vulnerable to poverty. Vulnerability has been particularly recognized in the wake of the impact of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) that is likely to yield declines in incomes because of reduced economic activities. In this study, we provide an updated profile of the poor in the Philippines, as well as various segments of the income distribution, based on the 2018 Family Income and Expenditure Survey. We follow the typology of the low, middle and high income classes proposed in previous research reports, and simulate the likely effects of contractions in per capita income on poverty and the entire income distribution amid the coronavirus pandemic. In estimating the impact of COVID-19 on poverty, and the income distribution, data are not available at this time. The study makes use of simulation scenarios and assumptions. We find that in a (medium case) scenario of declines of incomes by 10 percent across the entire income distribution, the number of poor Filipinos can increase by 5.5 million, but with the emergency financial subsidies (i.e., the social amelioration program and the small business wage subsidy in. place) that targeted 90 percent of households, the worsening of poverty conditions has been managed so that only 1.5 million would fall into poverty, i.e., 4 million less than expected number of Filipinos falling into poverty. These simulation results are consistent with nowcasting exercises of IFPRI and the World Bank on poverty amid COVID-19 that assume a global GDP contraction of 3 percent. Further, low-income classes would, on average, transition only a quarter year more than the baseline of 21.25 years for this (medium-case) scenario if after the pandemic (and an assumed V-shaped economic recovery), their incomes would have a constant annual growth of 2.5 percent. However, under tougher conditions of income contractions of 20 percent with social protection cash assistance, we simulate that the average time for low income Filipinos to move up into middle income class would increase by three years from baseline figures. Under a protracted recovery, we would thus expect a longer period to transition. These results, though relying on simulation scenarios and simplistic assumptions, are helpful in illustrating the importance of government efforts to provide social protection not only for the poor but also for segments of the income distribution that could likely to fall into poverty given income contractions from reduced economic activities during this COVID-19 pandemic. The study also discusses various policy and data issues, recommending that the Philippine Statistics Authority start reviewing its official poverty measurement system, including the current use of income over expenditure as the poverty metric, as well as the poverty line setting methodology given the changes in income and expenditure patterns in the past decade (prior to the onset of COVID-19) that improved living conditions.
On 5 March, the World Bank released a report entitled Taking the Pulse of Poverty and Inequality in Thailand. This report was keenly anticipated, as the past decade has seen mounting concern over economic inequality in the country. In the event, findings concerning poverty presented in the report proved as noteworthy as the light that it shed on inequality. They indicated that 2016 and 2018 saw increases in poverty in Thailand. These increases, coming in the absence of major shocks, suggest troubling vulnerability to falling into poverty among important segments of the population. That vulnerability highlights structural issues of a kind that, in other contexts, analysts associate with conditions of precarity, though the March 2020 World Bank report does not use that term. Nor does that report draw on scholarship on Thailand's political economy. Despite the country's having reported the first confirmed case of Covid-19 outside China more than six weeks before the release of Taking the Pulse of Poverty and Inequality in Thailand, the report fails to address the implications of the pandemic for Thailand. Nonetheless, as the country looks toward "recovery" from the economic impact of the coronavirus, both understanding the findings of the report in the broadest possible perspective and asking whether it is not time to talk about precarity in this upper middleincome Southeast Asian economy are essential.
This guide to small area estimation aims to help users compile more reliable granular or disaggregated data in cost-effective ways. It explains small area estimation techniques with examples of how the easily accessible R analytical platform can be used to implement them, particularly to estimate indicators on poverty, employment, and health outcomes. The guide is intended for staff of national statistics offices and for other development practitioners. It aims to help them to develop and implement targeted socioeconomic policies to ensure that the vulnerable segments of societies are not left behind, and to monitor progress toward the Sustainable Development Goals.
As the world grapples with the COVID-19 pandemic, the threat of natural hazards still looms large. How will humanitarian response to a major natural hazard be affected during the COVID-19 pandemic? As the monsoon season begins in the Asia-Pacific, particularly in the South West Pacific and Southeast Asia, this is a scenario that countries face. The overlapping effects of a pandemic and a natural hazard can compound socio-economic vulnerabilities in countries. While the current focus is on managing the COVID-19 pandemic, governments and communities also need to be prepared for concurrent natural hazards. This NTS Insight explores the effects of concurrent pandemic-disaster events, and how they threaten states and societies in the Asia-Pacific. This Insight demonstrates the potential challenges of dual crises on societies and vulnerable populations. It argues that the current situation calls for a broader and deeper localisation of the humanitarian system, one that places human security as its core organising principle unlike the backseat it currently takes today. To this end, it argues that inter-regional cooperation can further localisation through the experience of the South West Pacific where human security is articulated as national security and the cooperation in Southeast Asia on disaster response which builds national capacity. With overseas travel and supply chain restrictions severely hampering the movement of relief items and international humanitarian workers, the need to empower and strengthen local humanitarian actors becomes even more pressing.
This paper is about how to improve the wellbeing of children living in poverty. We propose a framework for thinking about child poverty that supplements a focus on resource adequacy with insights from Amartya Sen's capability approach to wellbeing.
This report presents nine case studies of recent Asian Development Bank projects in Mongolia, Nepal, the People's Republic of China, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Uzbekistan, and Viet Nam. The case studies highlight innovative interventions and common effective approaches used to reduce poverty: (i) providing broader access to economic opportunities, (ii) promoting resilience, and (iii) empowering communities through improved governance. By sharing experiences gained from the successful implementation of these projects, this report aims to contribute to international efforts to develop and adopt better policies and practices toward eradicating poverty.
This ADBI newsletter is published periodically throughout the year to provide information on current events, seminars and summits, Job opportunities, blogs and news and current publications concerning growth and development in Asia and the Pacific.
