Suchergebnisse

HUMANS DID NOT BEGIN AS A GLOBAL SPECIES; THEY HAD TO EXPAND TO BECOME ONE. THIS ARTICLE EXAMINES THE INTERCONNECTEDNESS OF GLOBAL SYSTEMS BASED ON LIVING ORGANISMS OR "GLOBAL LIFE SYSTEMS." THE OBJECTS OF ANALYSIS ARE HUMAN BEINGS, PLANTS AND ANIMALS DOMESTICATED FOR FOOD, AND PATHOGENIC MICRO-ORGANISMS. THESE LIFE SYSTEMS BECAME GLOBAL MORE OR LESS TOGETHER. A GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE HELPS ONE TO UNDERSTAND MORE CLEARLY HOW THESE BIOLOGICAL FORCES MUTUALLY REINFORCE ONE ANOTHER, AND WHAT THEIR GLOBALIZATION HAS MEANT FOR THE BIOSPHERE.

Identifies 3 theoretical perspectives: a modernisation perspective, and economic discrimination perspective, and a dependency/world system perspective. Draws a set of contrasting hypotheses from these perspectives and tests them, through panel regression, with data from 57 nations. Evidence supports the dependency/world system and the modernisation views. (Abstract amended)

BETWEEN 1975 AND 1988, THERE WERE AT LEAST 20 IDENTIFIABLE ATTEMPTS TO NEGOTIATE AN END TO THE VIOLENCE OF THE BASQUE INSURGENT GROUP EUZKADI TA ASKATASUNA (ETA), AN ORGANIZATION THAT HAS BEEN WAGING ARMED STRUGGLE AGAINST THE SPANISH STATE SINCE THE 1960S. DESPITE CLEAR EVIDENCE THAT BOTH ETA AND THE SPANISH GOVERNMENT WANT THE VIOLENCE TO END, THESE ATTEMPTED NEGOTIATIONS HAVE ALL ENDED IN FAILURE. THIS STUDY ANALYSES THREE GENERAL SET OF REASONS FOR THESE FAILURES. ONE SET OF REASONS IS CONTAINED IN THE POLITICAL AND SOCIAL SETTING WITHIN WHICH NEGOTIATIONS TAKE PLACE, AND IN THE WAYS IN WHICH THAT SETTING INTRUDES INTO AND SHAPES THE NEGOTIATIONS. A SECOND SET HAS TO DO WITH THE LINKAGES BETWEEN THE CESSATION OF VIOLENCE AND THE CONDUCT OF NEGOTIATIONS. A THIRD CLUSTER OF OBSTACLES INVOLVES THE NATURE OF THE NEGOTIATION ITSELF, PARTICULARLY THE TOPICS THAT ARE ALLOWED ON THE AGENDA. THIS STUDY IS FOUNDED ON THE PREMISE THAT NEGOTIATIONS MAY BE A GOOD WAY TO BRING AN ARMED INSURGENCY TO A CLOSE; BUT UNLESS FUNDAMENTAL CHANGES ARE MADE IN THE APPROACH TO NEGOTIATIONS, THEY ARE LIKELY TO ALWAYS END IN FAILURE.

Jane Jacob's Cities and the Wealth of Nations (1984) challenged several fundamental assumptions of the social sciences. One testable implication of her thesis is that nations which depend upon the export of manufactured goods engender 'elephant' cities. Tests her thesis with data from 87 nations, contrasts its success with that of recent world-system position on 'primate' cities, and finds it relatively unsuccessful in accounting for patterns in those data. (Abstract amended)