Suchergebnisse

Lo studio relativo alla formazione della classe borghese e alle relazioni intercorrenti tra istituzioni urbane ed élites cittadine è, da diversi decenni, al centro di un ampio dibattito storiografico. Tra gli indicatori privilegiati di questo processo vi è, senza dubbio, l'analisi dei rapporti tra università e potere urbano; comprendere la funzione di tale ruolo all'interno del contesto socio-politico della città permette di conoscere i tempi e i modi di formazione del potere accademico e di quello urbano, nonché il reciproco intreccio di relazioni e di interessi. Il primo passo in direzione di una stesura analitica e metodologica della ricerca non poteva prescindere dallo studio approfondito della bibliografia di base inerente la storia delle università europee e italiane, con un occhio di riguardo per le realtà accademiche dell'area mediterranea e, particolarmente, del Mezzogiorno d'Italia. Ai fini della ricerca - ovviamente - l'attenzione verrà posta particolarmente sulle dinamiche sociali e sulle ingerenze politiche che, in diversi tempi e con differenti modalità, si intersecheranno nei meandri delle istituzioni universitarie, dando loro, così, delle connotazioni specifiche e trasformandone continuamente il ruolo - concreto e simbolico - che esse assumono nelle varie realtà sociali. Dal materiale bibliografico analizzato è possibile ricostruire l'evoluzione degli atenei partendo dalla loro genesi, in epoca medievale, passando attraverso le fasi del loro sviluppo in età moderna, giungendo, infine, all'Ottocento, secolo di riforme "borghesi", che cambieranno l'assetto delle università, trasformandone progressivamente il loro assetto e traghettandole alle porte dell'epoca contemporanea. Il problema dei rapporti tra ateneo e società rappresenta una tematica "costante" sin da quando l'istituzione universitaria fece la sua comparsa, ponendosi subito alla stregua di "terzo potere" accanto a quelli, di vecchia data e ben più consolidati, regio ed ecclesiastico. Fin dalla comparsa delle prime fondazioni medievali - sorte dal connubio studenti-maestri - emerge il carattere conflittuale dei rapporti tra popolazione studentesca - vera "anima" dell'istituzione - e gruppi dirigenti locali - consci delle potenzialità degli atenei e desiderosi di appropriarsi dell'amministrazione e di frenare sul nascere eventuali spinte antigoverantive -. In tutto ciò, non bisogna dimenticare l'importante funzione del ceto ecclesiastico all'interno della compagine accademica, con la quale il rapporto sarà spesso conflittuale, particolarmente all'indomani della Riforma protestante e della successiva Controriforma. Il convergere di tali e tanti interessi differenti connoterà, inevitabilmente, la storia delle università in età moderna e - sebbene ogni paese rappresenti una realtà a sé stante - i singoli casi possono essere inseriti in eventi storici generali e dai tratti comuni attraverso i quali è possibile ricostruire uno studio parallelo ed esaustivo. The study of the formation of the borgeois class and of the relationships between urban institutions and city élites has been at the centre of a wide historiographical debate for several decades. An important gauge of this process is, undoubtedly, the analysis of the relationships between university and urban power. Understanding the function of this role within the social-political context of the city enables us to know in what length of time and in what way academic and urban power is formed, and the interweaving of relationships and interests. The first step to an analytical and methodological drafting of the research could not prescind an accurate study of the essential bibliography regarding European and italian universities, with special attention given to the academic realities of the Mediterranean area, and in particular the south of Italy. For research purposes attention will be focused particularly on the social developments and political interference that, at different times and in different ways, intercross in the meanders of university institutions, giving them their specific connotations and continually transforming the roles - both concrete and symbolic - that they take on in social reality. From the bibliographical material analysed, the evolution of universities can be traced, starting from their origins in the medieval períod, going through their development stages in the modem age, reaching the nineteenth century, a century of 'borgeois' reforms that were to progressively change the order of universities, and on up to the contemporary age. The problem of the relationship between university and society has been a subject of constant debate ever since the beginnings of the former, establishing itself immediately as a sort of 'third power', alongside the older and well-consolidated regal and ecclesiastical power. The conflictual character of relationships between the student population - the 'soul' of the institution - and local governing bodies had been evident from the very beginnings of the medieval institutions rising from a student-teacher alliance. The local governing bodies were well aware of the potential of the universities and eager to take control of the administration in order to be in a position to immediately stamp out any possible anti-government movements. In all this, one must not forget the important function of the ecclesiastica! class within the university machinery, with whom there had often been a conflictual relationship, especially in the immediate period following the protestant Reform and Counter-reform. The converging of so many different interests will inevitably characterise the history of universities in the modem age, and although each country represents íts own particular reality, the individual cases can be collocated in a generai framework of historical events and common aspects through which a parallel and thorough study can be carried out.

有明末造,顧憲成、高攀龍諸君講學東林,風動天下,以致黨禍連結,與國運相始終。「東林」遂為政治史與思想史之一大關目,匪特同世之人,褒貶迭出,自近代以降,學人研究亦稱夥矣。然前人關注之重心,主要為「明末」在朝之「東林黨」;於「東林書院」之活動,尤其是書院在清初的發展演變,尚鮮有及之。本研究擬以順治、康熙兩朝為主要時段,從遺民與當道互動的角度考察東林書院之興復及其講學活動,對學界少有關注的書院祀典之爭加以考述和分析,並探討清初東林學者如何就「氣節」「學統」等議題對明代東林傳統作出反省與建構,希望繇此對東林書院由明入清之歷史變化作一勾勒。 ; 本文將清初東林書院之史事置於「道」「勢」相對的框架之中展開分析,相對於前人用「以道抗勢」分析士權與君權的對峙,本文則更關注士人階層内部在「道」「勢」兩重身份之間的張力。儒家士人既要守「道」傳學,又當以「勢」經世,兩者之閒本須權衡調和。而在明清易代之際,「民間學者」與「地方官員」兩種士人身份之殊途,實質上形成了「道」與「勢」的分離。書院作爲一地方性的學術組織,既是在野學者力量之代表,又不能不受制於官方之權力,在此時遂成爲一個「道」與「勢」折衝的空間。然而,「道」「勢」二者之關係在調和之中亦悄然變化。如果說明代的東林運動有一種「以道馭勢」的理想與實踐;那麽在清初書院的發展中,學者本身「政治」一面弱化,「學術」也退守於中行默修,於是「道」乃反為「勢」所羈縻。而在理學委頓、樸學代興這一學術本身的轉折中,「道」「勢」關係之遷變亦可為一機緣。緣乎是,對清初東林書院的研究,不但可以在一個點上展現士人文化與社會風氣的變遷,更能為我們理解傳統中國「政治」與「學術」之互動提供助益。 ; The anti-eunuch struggle of the 'Tung-lin Party' (東林黨) which was succeeded by continuous partisan disputes in the late Ming Period has long been considered of great significance to understand its contemporary politics and even the collapse of the dynasty. However, the other aspect of this movement, namely the scholarly practice of the Tung-lin academy (東林書院) has not been given equivalent attention. Therefore, the development of the academy after the so-called 'partisan disaster' (黨禍) has been, not surprisingly, seldom discussed by existing studies. This thesis aims at providing a historical account of the Tung-lin academy in early Qing period (1644-1722), focusing on four main topics: the organization of public conferences or lectures(講會), the debates over the academy's pantheon , the discourse on moral integrity(氣節) and the increasing concerns for academic orthodoxy among intellectuals. ; Scholars in the academy were by definition involved in the tension between Confucian values(道) and the political authority(勢) since they were supposed to be both academic and political elites. What complicated the issue was the defiant attitude of Ming-loyalists towards the newly established Manchu regime. Although being regarded as shelters for scholars who refused to serve the Qing government, academies could hardly be ...

The organisation of a conference on "Virginia Carini Dainotti and library politics post world war II" has acted as a stimulus to re-exam a period of recent history of the library profession often noted in a rather summary way. The viewpoint taken by myself is that of professional ethics, a sort of mirror in which we find clearly reflected the key problems that librarians and Italian libraries tried to face at that time - particularly in the Sixties - and that are still relevant today.Virginia Carini Dainotti entered, via her writings, into the debate on the big themes of democracy and freedom, and in particular the right to information, choosing the best minds of the left, from Norberto Bobbio to Lelio Basso, as her debating opposites and targets. Another theme that reoccurs in the writings of Carini Dainotti and in the professional literature of those years is that of the librarian as educator.In her theoretical skirmishes Virginia Carini Dainotti remembered that in practice the librarian will always, inevitably be measured by three adversaries, the authority on which he depends, the community in which he works and its own temptations. According to Virginia Carini Dainotti the only point of reference could be professional standards, in particular where they define the criteria for materials selection, what is acceptable and what is not, and set the limits of the librarian's independence in respect to the political authority.In one of her essays she also published a draft proposal for an articulated code of ethics, inspired essentially by the declaration of principles of the American Library Association (Library bill of rights), even if she presented it as a simple suggestion to the Italian Library Association (AIB).Carini Dainotti was uncompromisingly faithful to these ideas, at least from when, at the start of the Fifties, she concentrated her activities on the problems of the public library and the creation of a nation-wide network of librarian services, that later became the National Reading Service (Servizio nazionale di lettura).These themes were brought up very often by Carini Dainotti at the AIB congresses and at government conferences but in reality remained dead issues: only in 1994, more than twenty years later, the question was taken up by the Association and only in October 1997, at the Congress in Naples, the first Librarian's code of ethics was carried with unanimous approval.As for the theory, Carini Dainotti collected documentation, mainly but not exclusively from the United States, and also reflections on problems such as how to reconcile the freedom of the reader with the selection of books entrusted to the librarian. Emphasis was placed on the refuse of labelling pratices - a problem we have today as well if one considers the debate on rating Internet resources.One of the many merits of the works of Virginia Carini Dainotti is definitely the fact that she tried with all her might to introduce into Italy not only the concept but also the actual expression public library, to denote a library designed to meet the information needs of all members of the community and not, as was usual in Italy, a learned library formally open to all adults. She often argued against the division of libraries and librarians by the governing administrations rather than by the functions of the institutions.The last point of reference to emphasize is the decidedly supranational dimension of the profession. If sometimes the abrupt Americanism of Virginia Carini Dainotti, for example in the debate at the AIB congresses on the question of cataloguing, may seem irritating, one need only remember and acknowledge that on the relevant issues mentioned here there existed at an international level and in more advanced countries a body of practical accomplishment and an acquisition of principles that in our country barely existed.Her interventions constant calls for Italy to remain attached to Unesco and IFLA statements, and therefore to the need to respect and spread in our country the international principles of library policy and library organisation.However, a break in Italian librarianship in the course of the Sixties lead to a certain isolation from the international professional community, after all the efforts made above all in the years immediately preceding and that are generally associated to the name of Renato Pagetti, president of the Italian Library Association.The accounts of the discussions of these themes, often very lively, that cover the second half of the Sixties and the early Seventies are often despairingly provincial and inaccurate. Another characteristic is the lack of a sense of the quantitative dimensions of the problem of public libraries and more generally the lack of a scientific attitude to facts, as regards both planning and evaluation.In the Seventies there was a strong generational and ideological break between Italian librarians. However, the real turning point in the life of the Italian Library Association is to be seen in 1969, with the election of Renato Pagetti. On the other hand, in the actual development of public libraries in the Seventies, due to a political and social push that also involved the local administrations and a new generation of librarians, it is difficult to see original professional contributions. The weak attempts to elaborate a new conception of the public library or new models of service seemed to dry up in a rather vacuous ideological debate on one side and in traditional practices on the other.

Gibt es Spezifika der internen Kommunikation des öffentlichen Sektors und kann man das Wissen über diese Besonderheiten in Veränderungsprozessen gezielt nutzen? Angesichts der Debatte um das (New) Public Management und der zentralen Bedeutung von Kommunikation in Veränderungs-prozessen ist das Thema relevant, in der Literatur jedoch nur unzureichend behandelt. Eine eigene empirische Arbeit war daher von Beginn an vorgesehen und resultierte in einer Fallanalyse, welche die Kulturen zweier 2000/2001 fusionierter Berliner Bezirksämter vergleicht. Sie basiert auf der "Grounded Theory", die es mittels einer rigiden Analyse ermöglicht, praxisbezogene Theorien aus dem Datenmaterial entstehen zu sehen, d. h. soziale Systeme und ihre impliziten Regeln spezifisch zu erkennen und zu beschreiben. Dies war mir wichtig, da sich die Arbeit insgesamt der soziologischen Systemtheorie als Grundlage bedient, welche ja gerade das Spezifische sozialer Systems betont. So ergaben sich Gemeinsamkeiten der beiden Ämter als Systemen des öffentlichen Sektors, vorrangig der Einfluss der Politik sowie die erhöhten Anforderungen an Change Manager aufgrund des geringeren Existenzdrucks der im öffentlichen Sektor Beschäftigten. Aber es bildete sich auch je ein kommunikativer Wirkmechanismus pro Amt heraus, welche die spezifische Kommunikationskultur der Ämter veranschaulichten. Das Konfliktpotenzial der Fusion wurde dadurch sehr deutlich. Die Theorie argumentiert im Kern mit den aus den Daten emergierten Begriffen Macht und Sinn in der Weise, dass Sinnvakuen in Organisationen den missbräuchlichen Gebrauch von Macht befördern und vice versa. Ambivalenzverneinende Weisungen seitens der Politik verstärken diesen Kreislauf in öffentlichen Organisationen und erschweren Veränderungsprozesse maßgeblich. Die Daten zeigen jedoch auf, dass innerhalb der Verwaltung ambivalenzbejahende Kommunikation, bspw. in Form partizipativer Führung, etabliert werden kann und so ein Ausweg aus dem aufgezeigten Kreislauf möglich ist. Ziel war, einen Beitrag zu erfolgreicheren Veränderungsprozessen im öffentlichen Sektor zu leisten. Das Patentrezept für erfolgreiche Kommunikation in Veränderungsprozessen des öffentlichen Sektors kann es nicht geben. Die beiden Bezirksämter bilden jedoch durch ihre gegensätzliche Kultur ein Spektrum an Kommunikation und Führung, welches zur Orientierung im Zuge von Veränderungsprozessen dienen kann. Erfolg verspricht, das Prinzip der ambivalenzbejahenden Kommunikation und der Sinnproduktion durch Partizipation zu verfolgen – Kommunikation also in einem weit größeren Rahmen als nur mittels der Information der Belegschaft zu begreifen. Dazu wurde eine Reihe von Empfehlungen abgeleitet – die jedes System für sich so verfolgen mag, wie es ihm sinnvoll und anschlussfähig erscheint. Das Datenmaterial besteht aus 14 leitfadengestützten, transkribierten Interviews mit Vertretern der beiden Bezirksämter sowie Mitarbeiterzeitschriften und Besprechungsprotokollen. Der Empirie vorgeschaltet ist eine gründliche theoretische Auseinandersetzung mit der Ausgangsfrage - auch wenn diese gemäß der Grounded Theory im Zuge der Theorienentwicklung entschieden in den Hintergrund treten musste. Die Theorie umfasst eine Betrachtung des deutschen öffentlichen Sektors, Change Management Ansätze sowie Auslegungen zu Kommunikation in Organisationen. Die unübersehbare Fülle verlangte eine Konzentration auf Ansätze mit a) systemischer Betrachtung sowie b) solchen, die sich im Besonderen mit den öffentlichen Sektor beschäftigen und c) jenen mit dem Fokus Macht in Organisationen. Theorien zu Macht als Steuerungsmedium in Organisationen wurden im Anschluss dargestellt und diskutiert – womit ich den bereits bei der Darstellung der Systemtheorie eingeführten wesentlichen Begriffes in Organisationen wieder aufgriff. ; Are there unique characteristics in the internal communication of public sector organizations? If so, how might they be used in change processes? The discourse on (New) Public Management and the key role of communication within change processes demonstrates the subject's relevance, which has yet to be thoroughly examined in social scientific scholarship. My research, therefore, was conducted using a case analysis comparing the cultures of two Berlin district offices which merged in 2000/2001. As research methodology I chose the "Grounded Theory", which allows the emergence of theories strongly related to practice by a rigid analysis of underlying data. Social systems and their implicit communication rules can be derived and specified. This was important to me as this work relies on the sociological systems theory that underlines the specifics of social systems. Similarities between the two district office as public sector systems emerged from the data: Mainly the effect of political instructions (by the Berlin Federal Government) and the advanced demands on change processes due to more secure jobs within the public sector. Also for each of the district offices a specific communication mechanism and corresponding culture arose. The potential for conflicts resulting from the merger process became apparent. The terms "power" and "sense of meaning" also emerged from the data. The theory uses them to develop the basic idea that "meaning vacuums" in organizations advance the misuse of power and vice versa, creating an endless cycle. Instructions from the political powerholders that deny openness to a diversity of ideas enhance this endless cycle in public organizations and significantly complicate change processes. The data also show that communication which fosters openness to a diversity of ideas, e.g. by participative leadership, might be established within the public sector thus preventing the cycle. The purpose of this dissertation is to contribute to more successful change processes within the public sector. Due to a system's specifics unique characteristics, there can't be a one-size-fits-all solution for effective communication. However, as the two district offices show a wide spectrum of communication and leadership by their differing cultures, the results can be used for orientation when starting a change process in the public sector. The principle to pursue a communication strategy that allows and fosters openness and the production of organizational meaning promises positive effects. Communication is then understood in a much broader sense than merely informing staff members of the change progress. I derived a set of practical recommendations that public social systems are invited to use in ways that are both appropriate and adaptable for achieving their goals. The data consist of fourteen guided and transliterated interviews with representatives of each district office plus staff newsletters and meeting minutes. The empirical part follows a sound theoretical discussion reflecting the original question. The different perspectives, though, were set aside while developing the theory itself – in accordance with the principles of the Grounded Theory. The perspectives include a reflection of the German public sector, various change management concepts and approaches to understanding organizational communication. The overabundance of change and communication methods forced me to concentrate on those with a) a systemic approach, b) a focus on the public sector, and c) an examination of power in organizations. Theories of power as a directional medium in organizations are presentend and discussed after the introduction of change and communication methods. This substantial subject is introduced as an important term within the systems theory section.

Drivers, characteristics and barriers of beneficial and adapted response mechanisms to water-related risks in the Vietnamese Mekong Delta (VMD) are at the centre of this PhD research. These subject matters owe their importance to a manifold range of factors. Water is at the fore as the most formative element for landscapes and societies in the VMD – not only in its function as a vital source of livelihood but also as a threatening natural hazard. Water-related hazards have changed and will continue to change amidst a vibrant socio-economic setting and a fundamentally changing climate. These looming threats and the ongoing changes require action if the prospering character of Vietnam's rice bowl is to be maintained. Long-term and short-term-oriented response mechanisms have thus aroused a great deal of interest in science, practice and in the public debate. Strategic assessments of the nature and values of risk-related measures have, however, rarely been addressed in the Mekong Delta context. This research has therefore brought evaluation of coping and adaptation in the context of water-related risks into focus. Quality judgements are at the centre of interest in the international community of evaluation research and practice. Within this community, evaluations commonly revolve around the identification of the most efficient strategy for a specific target group. Quality is, however, a measure of basic normative considerations on divergent implications and distinct values – aspects which cannot always be measured by a mere effectiveness assessment which judges "good" responses in seemingly absolute terms. A more comprehensive evaluation in combination with a profound understanding of the local context and individuals' decision-making processes is an essential prerequisite for identifying barriers to "good" adaptation and coping. This is, in turn, a vital requirement for promoting more sustainable development pathways for the Mekong Delta. This thesis therefore aims at a holistic assessment of "good" risk-related response mechanisms, an identification of more than just economic barriers to the successful implementation of these strategies, and an exploration of context-specific and actor-oriented ways of overcoming the barriers. The study consequently develops an innovative and adaptable evaluation framework which takes a multi-disciplinary perspective of risk-related strategies. This concept draws on three different schools of thought and combines them in an integrative approach. Firstly, it takes a social-ecological system perspective. In contrast to most of evaluation research and practice, this framework thereby explicitly addresses the risk context. It allows actors at various scales to be addressed and considers multiple dimensions. Vulnerability, as a concept arising from this line of thought, provides an expedient baseline to judge the relevance of taking action, grasp the complexity of strategy outcomes, and identify barriers emerging from the overall risk context. Secondly, the vulnerability concept is linked with an actor-oriented perspective derived from a socio-cognitive model of adaptation decision-making. This provides a, widely neglected, actor-oriented perspective to evaluation. It explains why decisions to adapt or cope are taken and involves a subjective and actor-specific evaluation component. Thirdly, the framework involves a more structured analysis of the actual adaptation/coping process along the lines of so-called "theories of change". It comprises the assessment of strategy implementation, outcomes and impacts on the vulnerability of different groups and can therefore facilitate outcome- and process-oriented evaluations. Such a multi-faceted analysis entails quite a number of methodological challenges such as empirically unfolding implicit preference structures, revealing underlying interconnectivities across scales, and facing difficulties specific to doing field research in Vietnam. A mixed-methods paradigm was used to address many of these challenges. A deliberately chosen set of methods in combination with a conscientious and flexible process created thereby the foundation for a more encompassing empirical assessment of risk-related strategies in the VMD. The data demonstrate that the risk context was diverse and varied, most notably with regard to the geographic location of the production area and the agro-economic indicators. Rice producers were the least exposed group, but experienced the largest production losses. This was mainly due to the fact that the farmers raised their susceptibility significantly by introducing winter-spring rice in 2011. In addition, the vulnerability of rice farmers was reinforced by low risk-specific capacities to cope and adapt. Aquaculture and sugarcane producers were more experienced in dealing with water-related hazards and/or produced less susceptible commodities. Nevertheless, the hydrological and geophysical characteristics as well as the location with regard to the hydraulic infrastructure made these farmers more exposed to water-related hazards than rice producers. The analysis also shows that these vulnerability patterns have and will most likely gather momentum as the sea level rises and socio-political changes lead to agricultural modernisation and rural industrialisation. How far and why the past and the future risk context induces "good" coping and adaptation actions depended, however, not only on the actual but also on the individually perceived risks. A social-psychology perspective motivated and guided by the social-ecological vulnerability concept indicates why intentions to act were formed and how different actors evaluated the quality of strategy options. The analysis of risk perception shows, for instance, that the perceived threats (i.e. hazard exposure and susceptibility) could differ substantially from the revealed threats. This became most apparent in the example of the individuals' appraisal of salinity threats. Rice producers perceived a low hazard exposure in a year of high salinity values and also seemed to have misjudged their susceptibility. This was a major reason for their producing winter-spring rice in the season with the highest salinity exposure, i.e. an action which increased the susceptibility substantially. The perceived capacity of response and the subjective quality judgement of the acknowledged adaptation and coping options were also of central importance for forming an intention to act. The empirical data suggest that households had a clear preference for protective infrastructural measures, despite the subjectively perceived high costs and low income effects. This seemed to be due to the positively judged long-term effects. Corresponding to this finding, negative long-term effects were a major factor restraining the application of many strategies, most notably taking children out of school, selling assets and buying on credit. Income effects were, thus, of less importance to people than expected from the weighting of quality criteria in group discussions. Migration was, for example, rarely preferred over other strategies although it was perceived to have the most positive income effect of all strategies (in addition to the judgement that it is easily implementable and comes at a comparatively low cost). This is only one of many examples which show that subjective evaluations cannot always be explained with common evaluation criteria, are often context-specific and represent in many cases more of an intuition than a structured quality judgement. Still, structured and "objectivity"-based approaches from evaluation research are essential elements in a more holistic judgement and analysis of risk-related response mechanisms and were therefore taken into consideration. They describe the revealed characteristics of the strategies, indicate their implications for the risk context, and provide a valid basis of comparison to the subjective evaluations. A theory-of-change-led assessment of the most common household strategies shows that strategies which induced a change in the exposure of the household were rarely applied in the context of flood and salinity risks. Households hardly ever sold exposed land although buyers were easily found and land prices were comparatively high. Moreover, strategies which caused a susceptibility reduction played only a minor role. Susceptibility-reducing strategies, such as the construction and maintenance of dikes and a change of crops, were either rarely put into practice or had merely a short-term impact. Most of the measures were intended to strengthen the coping and adaptive capacity. Raising the short-term availability of financial capital by buying on credit or taking a loan were the most common measures. However, these strategies often reduced the capacity of response in the long-term. Measures which were intended to strengthen the stock of capital endowment, in contrast, came at a high cost in the short-run but had positive effects on the capacity of response in the long-run. At the government level, the responsibilities with regard to flood- and salinity-related risk management were allocated hierarchically based on the centrally planned and highly technocratic Vietnamese state system. Protective and productive infrastructural measures were the most influential strategies from governmental side. The strong preference for the construction and management of dikes and sluice gates was largely based on their role in protecting a large number of people in the areas inside the dike. Nevertheless, these infrastructure-related measures had detrimental effects such as an increased flood risk outside the dike and strengthened the motivation to apply susceptibility-increasing strategies inside the dike (growing winter-spring rice, in particular). These aspects turn the construction and management of protective infrastructure into the most controversially judged measures in the research area. Susceptibility reduction seemed to play a merely minor role. Only the regular dredging of a canal had a substantial impact on the vulnerability of a large share of the population. The majority of strategies were applied in order to strengthen the capacity of response. The short-term oriented strategies, i.e. compensation payments and flood and salinity warnings, seemed to have had only a short-term effect, if any, on the capacity to cope. Agricultural training and public loan schemes were, in contrast, more common, had a longer-term effect, and were more positively judged. Overall, analyses of strategies along the lines of theories of change have been shown to facilitate a better understanding of the quality of certain strategies. In an integrative analysis with the previously outlined risk context and decision-making processes, this evaluation perspective provides innovative findings about evaluations of and barriers to "good" coping and adaptation at a region-specific, methodological and conceptual level. The analysis of the risk context enabled an identification of many context-specific barriers and recommendations for action. The data, for instance, show that several of the geo-physical and ecological limits may not be limits in "real" terms - at least not when they are taken up at higher-level arenas. Without mitigation action on a global level, sea level rise may turn most other barriers into limits and make adaptation on site impossible. Further geo-physical and ecological characteristics constitute barriers which can be overcome by "better" infrastructural planning and coordinated international and inter-regional water-resource management. Most of the economic barriers have been shown to emerge from agricultural modernisation and rural industrialisation. De-industrialised and diversified forms of income generation could clear many of these barriers and provide a basis for more sustainable livelihoods. Cognitive and knowledge-related obstacles were identified at the level of individuals' decision-making processes. Knowledge barriers arose mainly at the level of non-agricultural employment. A more adapted vocational education system could help seize the opportunities that rural industrialisation policies provide. Knowledge barriers to the implementation of "good" risk-specific strategies could be addressed by a more explicit inclusion of salinity-and flood-specific content in agricultural training. A participatory approach would, in this context, be conducive in strengthening the trust in expert know-how, involve local knowledge, develop context-specific solutions, and convey an understanding for diverging interests and implications. Many of the cognitive barriers emerged from too strong a reliance on the actions of other actors, most notably on governmental measures. In addition, cognitive processes converted some barriers into perceived limits. Too strong a hierarchical thinking and an often subordinate mentality made people believe that an order from the respective higher level is inviolable. It has thus been shown to be of particular importance to raise awareness with regard to the fallibility of infrastructural measures in addition to a reinforcement of the household's belief in its own capability to implement "good" response mechanisms. At the institutional level, the multifaceted approach revealed that a lack of official demand for evaluations, an unclear structure of responsibilities, vaguely defined criteria and insufficient control mechanisms inhibited an expedient evaluation practice. These barriers (as well as several other obstacles identified before) often relate to general institutional barriers such as prevailing elitism, a lack of participatory decision-making and the technocratic nature of the system. Many barriers thus have to be defeated at the level of national regulations and can be supported by technical cooperation from international partners. At the local level, stronger cooperation between NGOs, development organisations, researchers and the local government would provide a pertinent basis for more evaluation-based data exchanges and appraisals. Besides this lack of evaluation activities, the analysis has revealed methodological shortcomings in existing evaluation practice. It has been shown that there is a need to include more than just economic criteria, improve the competences of local evaluators in participatory and qualitative methods, specify and enforce the evaluation guidelines, and increase local participation in evaluation practice. In conclusion, the concerted analysis of risks and risk-related strategies on multiple levels and a comparison of revealed and perceived realities have been shown to put the often assumed "objective" vulnerability into perspective. At the same time, a vulnerability-centred lens in a socio-cognitive decision-making model has added agency to the often one-sided reflection of risk perception as a mere function of the individuals' appraisal of probability and magnitude of an event. It has also been demonstrated that the identification of "good" strategies is highly complex and specific to the evaluation method, the stakeholder, the spatial-scale and the time-scale. Many drivers, opportunities and barriers would therefore have remained uncovered if the conceptual framework had not included multiple scales and actor groups; single data sets had suggested a less reliable evaluation result; and an analysis based on a single evaluation approach would have depicted a merely one-sided judgement of a strategy's quality. In the end, this thesis has not presented the "ultimate" strategy in response to water-related risks in rural areas of the Mekong Delta. On the contrary, it is argued that such absolute judgments are neither achievable nor desirable. The suggested context-specific and actor-oriented evaluation approach, instead, has acknowledged and grasped the distinct nature and diverse values of risk-related strategies and has thereby made a contribution to promoting flexible and adapted measures for more sustainable development pathways for the Vietnamese Mekong Delta.

Adequate energy supply has become one of the vital components of human development and economic growth of nations. In fact, major components of the global economy such as transportation services, communications, industrial processes, and construction activities are dependent on adequate energy resources. Even mining and extraction of energy resources, including harnessing the forces of nature to produce energy, are dependent on accessibility of sufficient energy in the appropriate form at the desired location. Therefore, energy resource planning and management to provide appropriate energy in terms of both quantity and quality has become a priority at the global level. The increasing demand for energy due to growing population, higher living standards, and economic development magnifies the importance of reliable energy plans. In addition, the uneven distribution of traditional fossil fuel energy sources on the Earth and the resulting political and economic interactions are other sources of complexity within energy planning. The competition over fossil fuels that exists due to gradual depletion of such sources and the tremendous thirst of current global economic operations for these sources, as well as the sensitivity of fossil fuel supplies and prices to global conditions, all add to the complexity of effective energy planning. In addition to diversification of fossil fuel supply sources as a means of increasing national energy security, many governments are investing in non-fossil fuels, especially renewable energy sources, to combat the risks associated with adequate energy supply. Moreover, increasing the number of energy sources also adds further complication to energy planning. Global warming, resulting from concentration of greenhouse gas emissions in the atmosphere, influences energy infrastructure investments and operations management as a result of international treaty obligations and other regulations requiring that emissions be cut to sustainable levels. Burning fossil fuel, as one of the substantial driving factors of global warming and energy insecurity, is mostly impacted by such policies, pushing forward the implementation of renewable energy polices. Thus, modern energy portfolios comprise a mix of renewable energy sources and fossil fuels, with an increasing share of renewables over time. Many governments have been setting renewable energy targets that mandate increasing energy production from such sources over time. Reliance on renewable energy sources certainly helps with reduction of greenhouse gas emissions while improving national energy security. However, the growing implementation of renewable energy has some limitations. Such energy technologies are not always as cheap as fossil fuel sources, mostly due to immaturity of these energy sources in most locations as well as high prices of the materials and equipment to harness the forces of nature and transform them to usable energy. In addition, despite the fact that renewable energy sources are traditionally considered to be environmentally friendly, compared to fossil fuels, they sometimes require more natural resources such as water and land to operate and produce energy. Hence, the massive production of energy from these sources may lead to water shortage, land use change, increasing food prices, and insecurity of water supplies. In other words, the energy production from renewables might be a solution to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, but it might become a source of other problems such as scarcity of natural resources.The fact that future energy mix will rely more on renewable sources is undeniable, mostly due to depletion of fossil fuel sources over time. However, the aforementioned limitations pose a challenge to general policies that encourage immediate substitution of fossil fuels with renewables to battle climate change. In fact, such limitations should be taken into account in developing reliable energy policies that seek adequate energy supply with minimal secondary effects. Traditional energy policies have been suggesting the expansion of least cost energy options, which were mostly fossil fuels. Such sources used to be considered riskless energy options with low volatility in the absence of competitive energy markets in which various energy technologies are competing over larger market shares. Evolution of renewable energy technologies, however, complicated energy planning due to emerging risks that emanated mostly from high price volatility. Hence, energy planning began to be seen as investment problems in which the costs of energy portfolio were minimized while attempting to manage associated price risks. So, energy policies continued to rely on risky fossil fuel options and small shares of renewables with the primary goal to reduce generation costs. With emerging symptoms of climate change and the resulting consequences, the new policies accounted for the costs of carbon emissions control in addition to other costs. Such policies also encouraged the increased use of renewable energy sources. Emissions control cost is not an appropriate measure of damages because these costs are substantially less than the economic damages resulting from emissions. In addition, the effects of such policies on natural resources such as water and land is not directly taken into account. However, sustainable energy policies should be able to capture such complexities, risks, and tradeoffs within energy planning. Therefore, there is a need for adequate supply of energy while addressing issues such as global warming, energy security, economy, and environmental impacts of energy production processes. The effort in this study is to develop an energy portfolio assessment model to address the aforementioned concerns.This research utilized energy performance data, gathered from extensive review of articles and governmental institution reports. The energy performance values, namely carbon footprint, water footprint, land footprint, and cost of energy production were carefully selected in order to have the same basis for comparison purposes. If needed, adjustment factors were applied. In addition, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) energy projection scenarios were selected as the basis for estimating the share of the energy sources over the years until 2035. Furthermore, the resource availability in different states within the U.S. was obtained from publicly available governmental institutions that provide such statistics. Specifically, the carbon emissions magnitudes (metric tons per capita) for different states were extracted from EIA databases, states' freshwater withdrawals (cubic meters per capita) were found from USGS databases, states' land availability values (square kilometers) were obtained from the U.S. Census Bureau, and economic resource availability (GDP per capita) for different states were acquired from the Bureau of Economic Analysis.In this study, first, the impacts of energy production processes on global freshwater resources are investigated based on different energy projection scenarios. Considering the need for investing on energy sources with minimum environmental impacts while securing maximum efficiency, a systems approach is adopted to quantify the resource use efficiency of energy sources under sustainability indicators. The sensitivity and robustness of the resource use efficiency scores are then investigated versus existing energy performance uncertainties and varying resource availability conditions. The resource use efficiency of the energy sources is then regionalized for different resource limitation conditions in states within the U.S. Finally, a sustainable energy planning framework is developed based on Modern Portfolio Theory (MPT) and Post-Modern Portfolio Theory (PMPT) with consideration of the resource use efficiency measures and associated efficiency risks.In the energy-water nexus investigation, the energy sources are categorized into 10 major groups with distinct water footprint magnitudes and associated uncertainties. The global water footprint of energy production processes are then estimated for different EIA energy mix scenarios over the 2012-2035 period. The outcomes indicate that the water footprint of energy production increases by almost 50% depending on the scenario. In fact, growing energy production is not the only reason for increasing the energy related water footprint. Increasing the share of water intensive energy sources in the future energy mix is another driver of increasing global water footprint of energy in the future. The results of the energies' water footprint analysis demonstrate the need for a policy to reduce the water use of energy generation. Furthermore, the outcomes highlight the importance of considering the secondary impacts of energy production processes besides their carbon footprint and costs. The results also have policy implications for future energy investments in order to increase the water use efficiency of energy sources per unit of energy production, especially those with significant water footprint such as hydropower and biofuels.In the next step, substantial efforts have been dedicated to evaluating the efficiency of different energy sources from resource use perspective. For this purpose, a system of systems approach is adopted to measure the resource use efficiency of energy sources in the presence of trade-offs between independent yet interacting systems (climate, water, land, economy). Hence, a stochastic multi-criteria decision making (MCDM) framework is developed to compute the resource use efficiency scores for four sustainability assessment criteria, namely carbon footprint, water footprint, land footprint, and cost of energy production considering existing performance uncertainties. The energy sources' performances under aforementioned sustainability criteria are represented in ranges due to uncertainties that exist because of technological and regional variations. Such uncertainties are captured by the model based on Monte-Carlo selection of random values and are translated into stochastic resource use efficiency scores. As the notion of optimality is not unique, five MCDM methods are exploited in the model to counterbalance the bias toward definition of optimality. This analysis is performed under (")no resource limitation(") conditions to highlight the quality of different energy sources from a resource use perspective. The resource use efficiency is defined as a dimensionless number in scale of 0-100, with greater numbers representing a higher efficiency. The outcomes of this analysis indicate that despite increasing popularity, not all renewable energy sources are more resource use efficient than non-renewable sources. This is especially true for biofuels and different types of ethanol that demonstrate lower resource use efficiency scores compared to natural gas and nuclear energy. It is found that geothermal energy and biomass energy from miscanthus are the most and least resource use efficient energy alternatives based on the performance data available in the literature. The analysis also shows that none of the energy sources are strictly dominant or strictly dominated by other energy sources. Following the resource use efficiency analysis, sensitivity and robustness analyses are performed to determine the impacts of resource limitations and existing performance uncertainties on resource use efficiency, respectively. Sensitivity analysis indicates that geothermal energy and ethanol from sugarcane have the lowest and highest resource use efficiency sensitivity, respectively. Also, it is found that from a resource use perspective, concentrated solar power (CSP) and hydropower are respectively the most and least robust energy options with respect to the existing performance uncertainties in the literature.In addition to resource use efficiency analysis, sensitivity analysis and robustness analysis, of energy sources, this study also investigates the scheme of the energy production mix within a specific region with certain characteristics, resource limitations, and availabilities. In fact, different energy sources, especially renewables, vary in demand for natural resources (such as water and land), environmental impacts, geographic requirements, and type of infrastructure required for energy production. In fact, the efficiency of energy sources from a resource use perspective is dependent upon regional specifications, so the energy portfolio varies for different regions due to varying resource availability conditions. Hence, the resource use efficiency scores of different energy technologies are calculated based on the aforementioned sustainability criteria and regional resource availability and limitation conditions (emissions, water resources, land, and GDP) within different U.S. states, regardless of the feasibility of energy alternatives in each state. Sustainability measures are given varying weights based on the emissions cap, available economic resources, land, and water resources in each state, upon which the resource use efficiency of energy sources is calculated by utilizing the system of systems framework developed in the previous step. Efficiency scores are graphically illustrated on GIS-based maps for different states and different energy sources. The results indicate that for some states, fossil fuels such as coal and natural gas are as efficient as renewables like wind and solar energy technologies from resource use perspective. In other words, energy sources' resource use efficiency is significantly sensitive to available resources and limitations in a certain location.Moreover, energy portfolio development models have been created in order to determine the share of different energy sources of total energy production, in order to meet energy demand, maintain energy security, and address climate change with the least possible adverse impacts on the environment. In fact, the traditional (")least cost(") energy portfolios are outdated and should be replaced with (")most efficient(") ones that are not only cost-effective, but also environmentally friendly. Hence, the calculated resource use efficiency scores and associated statistical analysis outcomes for a range of renewable and nonrenewable energy sources are fed into a portfolio selection framework to choose the appropriate energy mixes associated with the risk attitudes of decision makers. For this purpose, Modern Portfolio Theory (MPT) and Post-Modern Portfolio Theory (PMPT) are both employed to illustrate how different interpretations of (")risk of return(") yield different energy portfolios. The results indicate that 2012 energy mix and projected world's 2035 energy portfolio are not sustainable in terms of resource use efficiency and could be substituted with more reliable, more effective portfolios that address energy security and global warming with minimal environmental and economic impacts. ; 2013-12-01 ; Ph.D. ; Engineering and Computer Science, Civil, Environmental and Construction Engineering ; Doctoral ; This record was generated from author submitted information.

Within recent years, plurality and difference have been embraced in higher education both by internationalization strategies originating in a neoliberal marked-driven process as well as by counter-ideologies of ethical globalization. The neoliberal transformation has resulted in new ontologies of the university, e.g. "the entrepreneurial university" (Barnett 2012) or "the global university" (Biesta 2011) in its external relation to society defined by its preoccupation with the economic and technical development of society and with matching the needs of the labor marked (e.g.Rhoads and Szelenyi 2011, Arambewela 2010) and internally on the education marked by universities becoming similar because they are playing the same game (Biesta 2011). Furthermore, it has enforced the power structures of the international field of HE defined by flows of people and capital towards the global North and flows of knowledge produced in the North towards the South (Marginson 2008, Calhoun 2006, Altbach 2004). The ontological and structural changes is accompanied by a new epistemological hegemony of "useful" (Peters and Olssen 2005) or "specific, problem-solving knowledge" (Barnett 2012) and by new knowledge authorities such as consultants, professionals and free-lance experts (Barnett 2012). However, critics of the neo-liberal university argue that the university as educator and knowledge producer should engage in a more ethical knowledge production. It is a call for an academic knowledge production that recognizes the challenges of globalization and of the interconnectedness of lives (Rhoads and Szelenyi 2011); that recognizes the world's epistemological diversity (Santos, Nunes, and Meneses 2007); that recognizes and challenges Eurocentric paradigms (Paraskeva 2010) and makes ethical choices "in the shape of academic inquiry" (Barnett 2012, 224). At Aarhus University, the general internationalization strategy is inscribed in a neoliberal ideology and describes the development of intercultural(IC) competence in students as both a means for success in the labor marked and to success for business. The faculty-level internationalization strategies, however, both draw upon neoliberal and more ethically oriented globalization discourses and describes the aim of internationalization in terms such as developing the "flexible knowledge" needed to operate in a globalized world or "global citizenship". However, the relationship between the ideological approaches to internationalization, implied understandings of IC competence and the impact upon inter-epistemological encounters, understood as encounters between people and institutions socialized in or enacting different epistemological frameworks, is not reflected upon. Seeing international higher education as a field structured by neoliberalism at one pole and counter-ideologies of ethical globalization on the other, the paper maps the interaction of these ideologies in the epistemologies at play at three international master programs at Aarhus University and in their visions of IC competence. Drawing upon educational sociology and ethical theory, it is compared to how the "different" knowledge of the other students' is encountered, negotiated, rejected or acknowledged and made use of. Methodology and data The paper draws upon data from three international master programs at Aarhus University. The programs were selected so that they all have diverse student bodies and so that they represent different approaches to internationalization and recruit different kinds of students. The first program is an international business program. It attracts students pursuing a career in an international company. The program started with a vision of creating an international study environment to give the students cultural insights but today, the international aspect relates to the academic content about international business. In the program, about 50 % of the students are international. However, a large number of the international students have a bachelor degree from Aarhus University or other Danish universities. The second program is an interdisciplinary program in Human Security. It attracts students who want to work in aid-oriented organizations or NGOs. It is a collaboration between ethnography, biology, social science and external consultants. About 65 % of the students are international and both international and interdisciplinary cooperation is stressed. The third program is an Erasmus Mundus program in Journalism and Globalization, which offers joint degrees in cooperation with other European universities. Approximately 95 % of the students are international and the international composition of the student body is stressed as an asset. It is emphasized that the teachers speak from a liberal and European perspective but the students are encouraged to challenge it. Data about was produced with several methods: • Classroom observations focusing on epistemologies drawn upon by the lecturers and on how students acknowledge and negotiate knowledge relating to theoretical, methodological, political, cultural and paradigmatic aspects of the program. • In-depth interviews with 20 students reflecting on how knowledge is negotiated between students' different epistemological systems and epistemologies drawn upon in the program. • Policy documents relating to internationalization strategies retrieved from the university's web-page. Theoretical framework The understanding of the field as structured around a neoliberal ideology of competition and marketization on the one hand and a counter-ideology of ethical globalization involving recognition of epistemological diversity on the other calls for a theoretical framework which both encompasses existing power-structures, processes assisting their reproduction and the ethical agency that insists on recognition of difference. In the paper, Bourdieu's educational sociology (e.g. Bourdieu and Passeron 1990, Bourdieu 1989, 1986, 1994, 1977, 1988), his concepts field, habitus, capital and symbolic violence, are therefor drawn upon together with Levinas' understanding of the ethical encounter as an encounter with the other as an other who is not reduced to the same and the experience of that encounter as a trace of the other (e.g. Levinas 1996, Levinas 1986). Findings and discussion Three main types of inter-epistemological encounters are identified: 1: Remaining other: the encounter as traces of the other's knowledge 2: Becoming the same: the encounter as reduction and merger of epistemological positions 3: Rejecting the other: the encounter as reproduction of hegemonic epistemologies Finally, the paper will discuss the relationship between the typologies and the ideological approaches and the embedding of IC competence in neoliberal frameworks as potential barrier to fruitful inter-epistemological encounters. Altbach, P.G. 2004. "Globalization and the University: Myths and realities in an unequal world." Tertiary Education and Management 2 (1):83-110. Arambewela, R. 2010. "Student experience in the globalized Higher Education market: Challenges and Research Imperatives." In Globalization and internationalization in Higher Education: Theoretical, strategic and management perspectives, edited by F. Maringe and N. Foskett, 155-173. London: Continuum Publishing. Barnett, Ronald. 2012. "Liquid Knowledge, Liquid Universities." In Universities in the Knowledge Economy: Higher Education Organization and Global Change, edited by P. Temple. London and NY: Routledge. Biesta, G. 2011. "How useful should the university be? On the rise of the global university and the crisis in Higher Education." Qui Parle 20 (1):35-47. Bourdieu, Pierre. 1977. Outline of a Theory of Practice. Cambridge: Polity Press. Bourdieu, Pierre. 1986. "The Forms of Capital." In Handbook of Theory and Research for the Sociology of Education, edited by J. Richardson. New York: Greenwood. Bourdieu, Pierre. 1988. Homo Academicus. Cambridge: Polity Press. Bourdieu, Pierre. 1989. "Social Space and Symbolic Power." Sociological Theory 7 (1):14-25. Bourdieu, Pierre. 1994. "Rethinking the State: Genesis and Structure of the Bureaucratic Field." Sociological Theory 12 (1):18. Bourdieu, Pierre, and J.-C. Passeron. 1990. Reproduction in Education, Society and Culture. 2 ed. London etc: Sage. Calhoun, C. 2006. "The University and the public good." Thesis Eleven 84 (1). Levinas, E. 1996. "Is Ontology Fundamental?" In Emmanuel Levinas: Basic Philosophical Writings, edited by Bernasconi, Critchley and Peperzak, 1-10. Bloomington: Indiana U.P. Levinas, Emmanuel. 1986. "The Trace of the Other." In Deconstruction in Context, edited by Mark Taylor, 345-359. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Marginson, Simon. 2008. "Global field and global imagining: Bourdieu and worldwide higher education." British Journal of Sociology of Education 29 (3):303-15. Paraskeva, J.M. 2010. Unaccomplished utopia: Neoconservative dismantling of public education in the European Union. Rotterdam: Sense Publishers. Peters, Michael A., and Mark Olssen. 2005. "'Useful Knowledge': Redefining Research and Teaching in the Learning Economy." In Reshaping the University: New Relationships between Research, Scholarhip and Teaching, edited by Ronald Barnett. Open University Press. Rhoads, R.A., and K. Szelenyi. 2011. Global citizenship and the university: Advancing social life and relations in an interdependent world. Stanford: Stanford University Press. Santos, B.d.S., J.A. Nunes, and J.P. Meneses. 2007. "Opening up the Canon of Knowledge and Recognition of Difference." In Another Knowledge is Possible: Beyond Northers Epistemologies, edited by B.d.S. Santos. London: Verso.

Charles F. Doran, Andrew W. Mellon Professor of International Relations; Director del Global Theory and History Program y Director del Center for Canadian Studies, en The Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), Johns Hopkins University, Washington, DC, fue entrevistado por nuestro editor, Guzmán Castro, estudiante visitante en dicha casa de estudios y alumno del Dr. Doran. En las décadas de 1960 y 1970, Charles Doran comenzó a trabajar en lo que se transformaría en una de las corrientes teóricas más dinámicas de la disciplina: power cycle theory. El ciclo de poder en la teoría de Doran representa las capacidades de un estado relativas a las capacidades de poder del resto de los miembros nucleares del sistema internacional. Dicho ciclo pasa por las etapas de crecimiento, maduración y caída, dentro del cual son de vital importancia cuatro puntos críticos: lower turning point, first inflection point, upper turning point, second inflection point. Cada uno de estos períodos críticos supone una inversión abrupta en la estructura de capacidades relativas del país en cuestión. Adicionalmente, las expectativas y roles de política exterior de los estados están sustentados en la estructura de poder subyacente. Cuando uno de estos períodos críticos aparece, las expectativas y los roles sufren severas transformaciones. Es así que las adaptaciones que deberían sufrir los roles y las expectativas, para seguir siendo coherentes con la estructura de poder, son difíciles de implementar. Si muchos estados dentro del sistema están pasando por períodos críticos, existe lo que Doran llama "systems transformation," que se caracteriza por una gran incertidumbre y ansiedad, factores que pueden derivar en "guerras extensivas." A diferencia de otras corrientes ya discutidas en nuestra sección, power cycle deja lugar para la administración pacífica de estas grandes transformaciones –i.e. la guerra no es un resultado determinado de antemano. Para ello, argumenta Doran: "governments must understand that the bounds of the system, competition from even the smallest competitor for share of power and role, will force even the most vigorous rising state to peak in power share and, ultimately decline." Comprender esto limitaría las fantasías de "unlimited growth (and) temptation of preventive attack," facilitando así los ajustes necesarios para mantener la estabilidad y la paz. Para profundizar esta breve introducción a la teoría véanse los links indicados al final. A continuación presentamos la primera parte de la entrevista con el Profesor Charles F. Doran. (Traducción del inglés, Guzmán Castro).Enfoques: ¿Cuál es para usted el o los principales desafíos para las relaciones internacionales en el siglo XXI?Charles Doran: El mayor reto para las relaciones internacionales está en decidir cómo manejar la cambiante estructura del sistema internacional. En algún momento, la estructura del sistema va a comenzar a cambiar rápidamente, como sucedió en muchas otras ocasiones: antes de la Primera Guerra Mundial; en el período de entre guerras, en la década de 1980, y como sucederá en el futuro. El gran desafío para las relaciones internacionales es operar esa transformación de manera pacífica, sin las crisis o catástrofes que han sido moneda corriente en el pasado. A su vez, elaborar marcos para pensar la relación entre el cambio tecnológico y la política internacional es un desafío de primera importancia. Si bien dicha interrelación es, sin dudas, muy difícil de proyectar, el potencial que tiene para modificar las relaciones internacionales es inmenso. Especialmente en temas de sistemas armamentísticos, que en el cambio de su vida modificarán el carácter actual de las relaciones internacionales. Un ejemplo: qué pasa si, aún en contra de nuestros mayores esfuerzos, se establece un sistema de coordinación armamentístico espacial, es decir, qué pasa si se militariza el espacio. Esto cambiaría la naturaleza de la guerra, de la seguridad y de la paz. Los asuntos tecnológicos deben ser tenidos en cuenta. No obstante, los desafíos y cuestiones clásicas van a seguir en el tapete: democracia, derechos humanos, etc., éstas nunca van a quedar obsoletas, y deben ser integradas a un entendimiento de las relaciones internacionales en pos de mantener el orden y la estabilidad. Suelo ser bastante optimista en cuanto al progreso en las relaciones internacionales: si se mira al sistema hoy, durante el último medio siglo hemos vivido un período de crecimiento y paz sin precedentes. Creo que es acertado decir que las personas tienen hoy más posibilidad de elegir quién las representa, que en el pasado. Sin embargo, la pregunta es: ¿hacia dónde va esto? Vamos a un incremento de estas cualidades, hacia una meseta o hacia un retroceso…difícil saberlo. Por último, está el tema de los grandes países que están emergiendo en la estructura del sistema internacional: China, India, Brasil, y posiblemente algunos en África, aunque más a largo plazo. La cuestión es cómo dichos países se van haciendo su lugar en la política internacional de manera de promover sus intereses nacionales, pero sin amenazar a sus vecinos –y eventualmente al sistema en su totalidad-, participando del orden y colaborando en el mantenimiento de la estabilidad mundial. Estos son tiempos desafiantes y de cambios; aunque mucha gente se reúse a entenderlo por el velo que impone el seguir viviendo en el largo medio siglo post-1945. E: Moviéndonos al área académica, ¿Cuál es el debate más relevante para disciplina? C.D.: Al responder esta pregunta no puedo escapar a las influencias de mi propio trabajo y la literatura y corrientes de pensamiento cercanas a éste. Sin embargo, me quedan pocas dudas que el debate más interesante está en los estudios dinámicos de las relaciones internacionales; no en los trabajos estáticos del neorrealismo, y en los, en parte, áridos debates entre realistas, idealistas y constructivistas; debates que discuten de una manera básica las relaciones internacionales y que no nos llevan muy lejos en el entendimiento de la política internacional, especialmente, y este es un asunto primordial, en cuanto a las prioridades y principales preocupaciones que los policy-makers deben considerar. E: ¿Podríamos decir, entonces, que el mayor potencial se encuentra en esta visión dinámica de las relaciones internacionales? C.D.: Sí. Nuevamente, la literatura más prometedora es la aquella que lidia con los cambios estructurales que están sucediendo en el sistema, pero que además trabaja con un enfoque a los problemas de policy e intenta ayudar a los policy-makers a tomar decisiones. Sin embargo, la idea no es aislar todo el resto de la literatura clásica. Todo lo contrario. Se la debe incorporar en un sentido acumulativo. El entendimiento del balance de poder; la noción de que se pueden crear regímenes que cumplan importantes tareas para el sistema y los países. El esfuerzo para integrar conceptos como la disuasión en una era en donde la proliferación de armas nucleares está en incremento, pero a la vez revisándolos para aggiornarlos luego del fin de la Guerra Fría; el esfuerzo por mirar no sólo las relaciones entre democracias –como hace la teoría de la paz democrática- que es fácil y familiar, sino analizando qué pasa con las relaciones entre democracias y no democracias, ya que los autoritarismos van a seguir existiendo, nos guste o no. En contraposición con lo que mi buen amigo y colega, el Profesor Fukuyama ha predicho. Estas relaciones son las más problemáticas y las más ricas para estudiar.E: ¿Cuáles diría usted que fueron las influencias más significativas que ha tenido –libros, personas, eventos, etc.- para arribar a donde ahora se encuentra en la disciplina?C.D.: Debo decir que uno de los libros más influyentes ha sido el trabajo de Ludwig Dehio, "The Precarious Balance." Este fue escrito en un tiempo en que el país del que Dehio era un orgulloso ciudadano, Alemania, estaba en una profunda crisis. Esta reseña es importante, un colega y mentor, aquí en SAIS, Robert Osgood, me señaló algo que voy a recordar siempre, me dijo: "La más grande y útil teoría es la que emerge en el contexto nacional del propio teórico, y es el incentivo de elaborarla para explicar lo que le pasa a su país lo que le da vigor," creo que esa idea suele ser cierta. Alemania se encontraba en un estado de crisis que se había extendido por décadas: en este momento específico estaba en medio de la Segunda Guerra Mundial. Dehio intenta dar respuesta a la pregunta de por qué Alemania estaba en esa particular posición, reconociendo que otros países también habían vivido situaciones similares; es decir, encontrando un cierto patrón histórico. Su estudio fue un profundo análisis en el marco de la historia diplomática pero dando claras y relevantes respuestas en términos de policy. Vea la segunda y última parte de la entrevista la semana próxima.Algunas publicaciones y links del Prof. Doran:"Life After Easy Oil," in The American Interest (2008); "Economics, Philosophy of History, and the 'Single Dynamic' of Power Cycle Theory: Expectations, Competition, and Statecraft," in International Political Science Review (2003);Democratic Pluralism at Risk: Why Canadian Unity Matters, and Why Americans Care (2001); The NAFTA Puzzle (1994); Systems in Crisis: New Imperatives of High Politics at Century's End (1991); The Gulf, Energy and Global Security: Political and Economic Issues (1991); Forgotten Partnership: U.S.-Canada Relations Today (1983); Myth, Oil and Politics (1978); The Politics of Assimilation: Hegemony and Its Aftermath (1971); y más de 100 artículos refereados. Perfil del Profesor Doran en la página web de SAIS: http://www.sais-jhu.edu/faculty/directory/bios/d/doran.htm Perfil completo: http://charles.doran.home.att.net/background.htm *Candidato a la Maestría en Estudios Internacionales, Universidad Torcuato di TellaBuenos Aires, Argentina

Many production firms use intermediary trading firms to export indirectly. This paper uses Chinese export data at the transaction level to investigate the tax evasion motive through indirect trade. The paper provides strong evidence that, under Chinas partial export value-added tax rebate policy, production firms can effectively evade value-added taxes by underreporting their selling prices to domestic intermediary trading firms, especially when they sell differentiated products. Even for a moderate level of underreporting, the revenue loss is close to one billion U.S. dollars. The paper also finds that such underreporting behavior through domestic intermediaries may be associated with cross-border evasion through underreporting export values to foreign partners. In addition, the results indicate that the evasion motive is stronger for larger transactions.

This paper develops a novel methodology to measure the quantity of jobs and value of wages embodied in exports for a large number of countries and sectors for intermittent years between 1995 and 2011. The resulting Labor Content of Exports database allows the examination of the direct contribution of labor to exports as well as the indirect contribution via other sectors of the economy for skilled and unskilled labor. The analysis of the new data sets documents several new findings. First, the global share of labor value added in exports has been declining globally since 1995, but it has increased in low-income countries. Second, in line with the standard Hecksher-Ohlin trade model, the composition of labor directly contained in exports is skewed toward skilled labor in high-income countries relative to developing countries. However, that is not the case for the indirect labor content of exports. Third, manufacturing exports are a key source of labor demand in other sectors, especially in middle- and low-income countries. And the majority of the indirect demand for labor spurred by exports is in services sectors, whose workers are the largest beneficiaries of exporting activities globally. Fourth, differences in the labor value added in exports share across developing countries appears to be driven more by differences in the composition of exports rather than in sector labor intensities. Finally, average wages typically increase rapidly enough with the process of economic development to more than compensate the loss in jobs per unit of exports. The paper also includes the necessary information to build the Labor Content of Exports database from the original raw data, including stata do-files and matlab files, as well as descriptions of the variables in the data set.

This paper evaluates the effects of capital account controls adopted in the past years by the FLAR's member countries (Bolivia, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Perú and Venezuela) on the efficiency of the banking sector, the economic growth and the volatil

The Ethiopia Investment Climate Program, managed by the World Bank Group's Trade and Competitiveness Global Practice aims at streamlining and simplifying high priority regulatory practices and processes burdensome to the private sector and address investment climate issues that are holding back investment and productivity growth in Ethiopia. This report presents a summary of the major findings about the business registration and licensing regime in Ethiopia and develops recommendations for streamlining and improving it. The report is based on an in-depth review of the country's more than 1,300 licenses; a detailed analysis at a sector level is presented in Annex three. This report consists of two main parts: in Chapter two, we present an estimate of the costs which the registration and licensing regime in Ethiopia imposes on the business sector in the country. Chapter three then presents the key findings and recommendations based on the detailed analysis of Ethiopia's licensing regime and implementation practice, the details of which are presented in the Inventory of Business Licenses. A brief concluding chapter summarizes the recommendations and provides an estimate of the positive effects which they could have both for businesses and Government.

In this paper, authors first review the literature on the relation between finance and growth. Theory provides ambiguous predictions concerning the question of whether financial development exerts a positive, causative impact on long-run economic growth. The second part of this paper reviews the literature on the historical and policy determinants of financial development. Governments play a central role in shaping the operation of financial systems and the degree to which large segments of the financial system have access to financial services. The authors discuss the relationship between financial sector policies and economic development. The remainder of the paper proceeds as follows. Sections one and two review theory and evidence on the relation between finance and growth. Section three turns to an examination of financial sector policies, and section four concludes.

This livable cities guidance note aims to support cities in developing member countries (DMCs) of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to effectively respond to the crisis in the immediate term, and to 'build back better' in the short- and medium-term while continuously adapting to a 'new normal' with respect to human behaviors, social interactions, and business practices. The note is anchored on the core principles outlined under ADB's Strategy 2030 Operational Plan for Priority 4: Making Cities More Livable (OP4)1, and also considers the public health and economic impacts of the pandemic. Related sector and thematic areas (e.g., transport, education, health, regional cooperation and integration) are covered by similar notes in the ADB's COVID-19 guidance series.