Suchergebnisse

This special issue explores cases from Latin American countries, studied in comparison to global trends in the arenas of public participation, scientific knowledge production, regulation and governance. The authors demonstrate the complexity of these cases, both in terms of regional differences and the different spaces of public, policy, and scientific knowledge production into which such innovations are inserted. The articles are based on rich empirical data collected in Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Paraguay. Authors show that the top-down circulation of policy narratives on biotechnology is challenged, complemented and even partly undermined by local bottom-up dynamics. Conversely, articles also focus on those grassroots dynamics and the ways they are influenced and conditioned by macro-sociological and political economic factors. Lastly, a great deal of attention is paid to the ways states and national actors actively contribute to their own insertion in globalized markets where bioengineered living resources are increasingly tasked with solving the most pressing economic and social issues. We believe that this collection of works challenges scholars, intellectuals, policy-makers and relevant stakeholders to open up their views of biotechnology as a dynamic construct that interacts with local situations in a variety of ways. From a more distanced perspective, the aggregated findings of the contributors to this special issue suggest that the important tasks for scholarly work on bioeconomy today become (1) to observe and critically assess the de-localization and re-localization of the concept of bioeconomy in Latin America where biological resources have become increasingly strategic over the last decades; (2) to analyze the bioeconomy as a site of struggles among countries and/or social groups who articulate strategic visions as part of narrating activities.

In Belgium, the long-term management of radioactive waste falls under the exclusive competence of the Belgian federal Agency for Radioactive Waste and Enriched Fissile Materials (ONDRAF). Contrary to the existing situation for low-level waste, no institutional policy has yet been formally approved for the long-term management of long-lived and high level waste. In this context, ONDRAF considers the public and stakeholders' participation and engagement as essential in the formulation of an effective and legitimate policy. This is why, over the past few years, it has decided to engage them in different ways (public dialogues, interdisciplinary conference, consensus conference, legal public consultation) to elaborate the "Waste Plan", an ONDRAF-document containing guidelines to make a principled policy decision about nuclear waste management. To achieve "successful" public participation exercises, social scientists have been regularly mobilized either as external evaluators, follow-up committee members, or participative observers. Our previous research on such public participation processes showed that little had been said as to how stakeholders and the "public" have been mobilized by the Belgian Agency during the elaboration of the Waste Plan. How has the wider public opinion been integrated in the Waste Plan so far? To what extent could public participation and engagement redefine the internal debate within ONDRAF on the relevance and usefulness of such exercises for the long-term management of long-lived and high level waste? Based on official document analysis, semi-structured interviews and participatory observation, this paper explores how ONDRAF actually assesses the quality of public/stakeholders participation and how it makes use of it in its communication and management strategies.

Die Eurokrise wird sich über den weltweiten Konjunkturzusammenhang auch auf Afrika
auswirken. Mit angemessenen außenwirtschafts-, währungs- und fiskalpolitischen
Maßnahmen könnten die afrikanischen Regierungen die negativen Folgen für ihre Länder
jedoch abmildern.
Zu Beginn des neuen Jahrtausends lag das Wirtschaftswachstum Afrikas über dem Weltdurchschnitt.
Pro Kopf war der Zuwachs zwar zu gering für eine wirkliche Reduktion
der Armut, aber absolut gesehen war das Wachstum in einigen Ländern so hoch, dass
diese "afrikanischen Löwen" den Anschluss an die Entwicklung in anderen Kontinenten
zu gewinnen schienen. Die erste Phase der Großen Rezession (2009) überstanden Afrikas
Volkswirtschaften unbeschadet – mit Ausnahme Südafrikas und seiner Nachbarn.
Im Jahr 2013 jedoch könnten weitere afrikanische Länder vom Sog der europäischen
Krise erfasst werden.
Krisenimpulse werden über verschiedene Kanäle übertragen. Besonders wichtig sind
abnehmende Warenexporte auf Grund des Nachfragerückgangs in Europa sowie der
Rückgang im Tourismusgeschäft.
Geldüberweisungen der oft nur in prekären Verhältnissen arbeitenden afrikanischen
Migranten an ihre Familien im Heimatland sinken, je länger die Massenarbeitslosigkeit
in wichtigen Aufenthaltsländern andauert.
Europäische Banken ziehen sich aus risikoreichen Auslandsgeschäften zurück und
können angesichts der sehr flachen Finanzsektoren afrikanischer Länder dort eine
Kreditklemme auslösen.
Je kleiner die Binnenwirtschaft eines Landes und je stärker dessen Bindungen an
Europa, desto größer ist die potenzielle Gefährdung durch die Eurokrise. Aber auch
das einzige Schwellenland des Kontinents – Südafrika – kann den von Europa ausgehenden
Krisenimpuls spüren.
Die Widerstandsfähigkeit gegen die Übertragung des Krisenimpulses ist abhängig
von der Flexibilität des Privatsektors, vom fiskalischen Spielraum und von der Effizienz,
mit der die Politik diesen Spielraum nutzt.
Ratsam sind eine pragmatische Geld- und Währungspolitik, eine antizyklische, investitionsorientierte
Fiskalpolitik und eine auf Diversifikation und regionale Kooperation
setzende Außenwirtschaftspolitik.

In recent years, Japan has increased its efforts to recruit highly qualified Chinese migrants; on the other side of that coin, China has also made efforts to bring its highly qualified emigrants back home. These students and workers fulfill important functions connecting the two countries economically, culturally and academically. Yet, it is not clear how migrants decide where and when to move. This paper focuses on individual decision-making processes and analyzes the importance of family responsibilities, social and professional networks, and career planning in a life-course framework. (Asien/GIGA)

The breathing space offered by a regional flight-test ban could facilitate Cooperation on missile defences and the building of greater trust and confidence Between Moscow and Washington. (Survival / SWP)