Suchergebnisse

The present work considers Mda'sWays of Dying(1995) as a piece of transitional literature set in South Africa in the early 1990s. Themes discussed include representation and meaning of life and death in the novel, the connections to carnivalesque performance and culture, the political context of the novel, and issues of identity performance in relation to race and ethnicity. The theoretical framework for this work is based on post-colonial theory, Boehmer's theory of terror, and the theories of Butler and others regarding the performativity of race, gender and other elements of identity.

AbstractThe trade–conflict model claims that one state,designated 'actor', is deterred from initiating conflict against a trading partner,designated 'target', for fear of losing the welfare gains associated with trade. This paper extends the trade–conflict model to garner implications concerning trade and conflict interactions where third-party blocs are involved. The theoretical propositions supported by proofs are: (1) if the actor increases trade with a third-party who is a friend of the target, then the actor will decrease conflict toward the target; (2) if the actor increases trade with a third-party who is a rival of the target, then the actor will increase conflict toward the target. A 30-country sample from the Conflict and Peace Data Bank (COPDAB) is used and divided into three blocs, namely a Western bloc, a Middle Eastern bloc, and an Eastern bloc. The empirical analysis supports the hypotheses. A similar relationship is also discussed and tested for situations in which conflict increases or decreases between the actor and third-party bloc. In addition, the evidence shows that Western bloc countries play a central role in world political and economic relationships.

This article is an empirical analysis of the relationship between economic interdependence and international third-party interactions. When countries seek to protect their trade gains, the trade-conflict model predicts that trade reduces conflict between pairs of countries, designated the 'actors' and the 'targets'. This paper extends the trade-conflict model to garner implications concerning trade and conflict interactions where third parties are involved. The theoretical propositions supported by proofs are: (1) if the actor increases trade with a third party who is a friend of the target, then the actor will reduce conflict toward the target; (2) if the actor increases trade with a third party who is a rival of the target, then the actor will increase conflict toward the target. A similar relationship is also discussed and tested for situations in which conflict increases or decreases between the actor and the third party. The empirical results of tests using a 30-country sample from the Conflict and Peace Data Bank (COPDAB) generally support the derived hypotheses. Trade increases communication and promotes peace between states. According to the implications of structural balance theory, the imbalance in a triadic relationship can be resolved by international trade. Thus, increased world trade will give effect to the maxim: 'a friend of a friend is a friend'.

The trade-conflict model claimed that trade reduces conflict. This paper extends the trade-conflict model to incorporate foreign aid and tariff effects. The theoretical propositions supported by proofs are as follows: trade and foreign aid reduce conflict and tariffs increases conflict. Empirical tests show that trade reduces conflict between states and the causality from trade to conflict remains. Foreign aid directly decreases conflict. The marginal effect of foreign aid in reducing conflict is greater than that of trade. However, foreign aid is much smaller in magnitude than trade and trade is more important than aid in affecting international relationships. In addition, the foreign aid effect is greater for non-trading partners than trading partners. Foreign aid increases trade, and thereby indirectly decreases conflict since trade reduces conflict. However, the indirect effect of foreign aid decreasing conflict will be smaller than the direct effect. Tariffs, if over a critical level, will increase conflict. Adapted from the source document.

This study compares the performance of banks that are part of a financial holding company (FHC banks) with that of banks that are not (independent banks) using Taiwan data from 2002:Q1 to 2006:Q2. The comparisons are based on 14 performance ratios resulting from the concept of CAMEL (which is an acronym for Capital adequacy, Asset quality, Management efficiency, Earnings ability, and Liquidity sufficiency). To ensure that becoming part of an FHC is a random process, we used four matching methods to select the controlled banks so that the characteristic variables of banks in the two groups are statistically indifferent. By using the data before matching, it was found that FHC banks significantly defeat independent banks, regardless of their performance ratios. Conversely, when the sample was used after the matching, the results changed dramatically. Although FHC banks still beat the independent banks in terms of capital adequacy, asset quality, and liquidity sufficiency, FHC banks and independent banks are found to have equal profitability and management efficiency. Earlier studies that do not consider the endogeneity problem tend to overestimate the joining effect.(JELC21, G21)

In the context of an increasingly global society and rapidly changing technology, English Language Learners (ELLs) need support to develop digital literacies to prepare for a future in which learning new technology is an intuitive process. In the past few decades, technological advances have been shifting how information is produced, communicated, and interpreted. The Internet and digital environments have afforded a broader range of opportunities for literacy practices to take place. Technology has transformed the social practices and definitions of literacy, which leads to transformative implications for the teaching and learning environments facing ELLs. Despite immigrants' attraction to the US, the tension between the public school system and emergent bilingual students has garnered broad attention. There is a need for a more appropriate teaching pedagogy that embraces the cultural identities of ELLs, and empowers ELLs as critical consumers and producers of information. Though complex, the authors advocate for examining this issue using an asset perspective rather than a deficit lens. Using the sociocultural perspective of learning and critical theory, this paper aims to define and conceptualize ELL learning, establish a shared vision of digital literacies, and review the literature on how practices of digital literacies empower ELLs to become active learners. In the final section, implications and future research directions are articulated in order to move the digital literacy field forward.