Development theories and development experience: half a century journey

This paper examines the impact that development theories have had on development policies, and the inverse impact of actual successes and failures in the global South on development thinking. It is argued that development thinking is at the cross-roads. Development theories in postwar period went through a full circle – from Big Push and ISI to neo-liberal Washington consensus to the understanding that neither the former, nor the later really works in engineering successful catch-up development. Meanwhile, economic miracles were manufactured in East Asia without much reliance on development thinking and theoretical background – just by experimentation of the strong hand politicians.

Development theories and development experience: half a century journey

This paper examines the impact that development theories have had on development policies, and the inverse impact of actual successes and failures in the global South on development thinking. It is argued that development thinking is at the cross-roads. Development theories in postwar period went through a full circle – from Big Push and ISI to neo-liberal Washington consensus to the understanding that neither the former, nor the later really works in engineering successful catch-up development. Meanwhile, economic miracles were manufactured in East Asia without much reliance on development thinking and theoretical background – just by experimentation of the strong hand politicians.Development theories, catch up growth, economic miracles, Washington consensus, import substitution, "Big push", export orientation

Does Latin American and Caribbean Unemployment Depend on Asian Labor Standards?

Many Latin American nations have recently implemented liberal trade regimes, often as part of a larger set of market-oriented reforms, and have abandoned their industrialization policies based on import substitution. In the 1980s, Chile, Mexico, and Bolivia were among the continent`s first nations to slash tariff rates and virtually eliminate quantitative restrictions on imports. They were followed by many others, including Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Jamaica, Peru, Uruguay, Venezuela, and Trinidad and Tobago. All these countries are now much more exposed to international competition than ever before. But is this a good idea? Are labor rights really more restricted in export-oriented Asian nations than they are in Latin America? And if so, are Latin American workers prejudiced by Asia`s lower standards?

"Really? She is an abuser?" : A feminist categorical-content analysis on Asia Argento vs. Jimmy Bennet case on Facebook

The #MeToo campaign started on social media in 2017, empowering women who had experienced sexual harassment and- violence. From the start the campaign was criticized for the lack of intersectionality in representation. In the autumn of 2018, the leading figure of the campaign, Asia Argento, was accused of having sexual relations with 17-year-old Jimmy Bennet. The new story presented a differing narrative from the main storyline of #metoo, that eventually resulted in heated online debates where gender, power relations and sexual violence were present and debated. The campaign has inevitably shaped society, and the way we talk about sexual violence in an online setting. This thesis focuses on the narrative of Asia Argento on social media; how she is narrated in relation to her gender and categories of #metoo and sexual harassment. Thus, the purpose of this thesis is to analyze how women are viewed on social media in the post #metoo context. The theoretical framework of this thesis builds on existing literature on feminism, gender as a cultural construct, sexual violence and power relations as part of gender and feminism, social media, hate speech and how these subjects are discussed on social media in the #metoo context in which its own communicative practices apply. The main source material is provided by Rossi (2015), Daniels (2016), Kantola (2015), Kitzinger & Thomas (1995) and Meikle (2016). The qualitative study applies feminist epistemology to analyze 75 comments collected from 5 news outlets: CNN International, the New York Times, CBS News, Fox News and ABC News. The data was collected with random sampling to enable a broad demographic of commentators, that were later fully anonymized apart from their gender. The analysis was conducted using categorical-content analysis. Argento is analyzed through three themes: women, #metoo and sexual violence. The findings indicate that white women are fair game on social media, as their appearance, merits and femininity is denied. The loss of credibility of #MeToo movement is highlighted through Asia Argento, whereas the women supporting her are processed similarly as Argento. The latest case further impacts the narrative of the victims, as the status of the victim is negotiated. The findings indicate that the power relation between genders strongly impacts how the society treats women. Victim blaming, and mob-shaming are apparent, as the social media has enabled freedom of speech. The findings further indicate that social media is a patriarchal environment, that nurtures misogyny. Hence, hostility, stereotypes and generalizations are apparent, resulting in an environment where the weak are silenced and dominant voices are being emphasized. This does not only apply to women, but to men as well, as they too are being faced with belittling and emasculation. The thesis analyzes the narrative of a woman in the era in which gender and gender roles are still being defined. It takes a closer look at social media, and how women are perceived on social media in the post #metoo context

Development Theories and Development Experience: Half a Century Journey

This paper examines the impact that development theories have had on development policies, and the inverse impact of actual successes and failures in the global South on development thinking. It is argued that development thinking is at the cross-roads. Development theories in postwar period went through a full circle – from Big Push and ISI to neo-liberal Washington consensus to the understanding that neither the former, nor the later really works in engineering successful catch-up development. Meanwhile, economic miracles were manufactured in East Asia without much reliance on development thinking and theoretical background – just by experimentation of the strong hand politicians

Is militant Islamism a busted flush in Indonesia?

In the late 1990s, Indonesia - the world’s most populous Muslim nation - began a transition from authoritarian rule. At the time, many commentators expressed concern about the security threat posed by militant Islamist extremists in the wake of Suharto’s downfall. Initially, Indonesia did witness a proliferation of Islamist paramilitary groups and a heightened security environment. Yet, in the decade and more since then, the dire threat predictions have largely failed to materialize. In fact, Indonesia today in coordination with international partners has reduced its potential climate of threat at least strategically. This outcome raises some interesting questions. First, has Indonesia really contained its paramilitary/extremist threat? Secondly, if so, how and what lessons, if any, can we draw from this? The following paper examines the ways in which Indonesia’s security concerns have actually diminished.Publisher PD

Overcoming Barriers in Communities

Panelist Evelyn Cardona, discussed the work of the Brooklyn Coalition Against Family Violence, where she is the director, her own experience as a battered woman, and how she overcame it. Panelist Nechama Wolfson, president of the Shalom Task Force, then talked about the work of Shalom Task Force, a grasroots group of Orthodox Jewish women was doing on the community. Panelist Angela Lee, associate director of the New York Asian Women\u27s Center, discussed the work her organization does with Asian battered women. Panelist Mircia Sanchez discussed the Harlem Dowling West Side Center for Children and Family Services, where she is a coordinator, and their work with children who come into foster care because of domestic violence. Panelist Maria Arias, supervising attorney at the Battered Women\u27s Rights Clinic, discussed the importance of looking at how factors like racism, being an immigrant, and being poor affect the experience of a battered woman. Panelist Anurardha Sharma, Executive Director for SAKHI for South Asian Women, discussed the organization, the kinds of abuse and violence South Asian women experience, and some of the barriers that women these women face

Warriors of Buddhism: Buddhism and violence as seen from a Vajrayana Tibetan Buddhist perspective

Buddhism is considered by many today as the non-violent religion par excellence. The concept of ahimsa (non-violence) coupled with the notion of pratityasamutpada (i.e. that everything is casually interconnected, with the implication that pain inflicted upon others is therefore really done to oneself and thus to be avoided) seems to be one of the main arguments for promoting Buddhism as an excellent method for promoting world peace. However this non-violent, serene picture of Buddhism is not the only picture. Buddhists on occasion speak of a need to use violence, and employ it. Buddhists kill. Sometimes they also kill each other. The history as well as the present of Buddhist Asia is bloodstained. How do Buddhists justify approving of and using violence? How do they legitimise their pro-violent utterances and actions when such actions ought to result in excommunication? What are they saying? There are several answers to this, some of which are presented in this article, with the primary focus on Buddhist Tibet. 

A focused force: Australia's Defence priorities in the Asian century

The biggest questions for Australia’s defence white paper concern China. How does China's rise affect Australia's strategic situation and what does it mean for our defence needs? Just as Australia's strategic outlook has been dominated in past decades by American primacy in Asia, so in future it will be shaped more than anything else by what follows as America's primacy fades and China's grows. The biggest risk is not that China becomes a direct threat to Australia but that the erosion of American power unleashes strategic competition among Asia's strongest states, which in turn increases the risk that Australia could face a number of military threats to its interests, even its territorial security. The blunt truth is that our existing and planned forces will not be able to achieve the strategic objectives set for them over the past decade, let alone any wider objectives that may be set in future. To provide future Australian governments with genuine military options to protect Australia's strategic interests if Asia becomes more contested, our defence planning needs to focus on the capabilities that provide those options most cost-effectively. At sea, we should invest in a much bigger fleet of submarines, which are most cost-effective for maritime denial, and stop building highly vulnerable and extremely expensive surface ships for which there is no clear strategic purpose. In the air we need to ensure a robust air combat and strike capacity against the kinds of forces that major-power adversaries will have in the 2020s and '30s. That means aircraft at least as capable as the joint strike fighter, and many more of them than planned at present. To build a focused force to achieve Australia's long-term strategic objectives as they are now defined would need spending 2.5 per cent of GDP or more

Determinants Of Barries To Quality Of Direct Foreign Investments Evidences From South & East Asian Economies

The objective of this paper is to examine whether FDI inflows in South & East Asian economies posses any barriers which are deterring to attract FDI of their actual potential? If so, what are those various set of barriers? These questions are addressed in this study using cross section time series data for 17 South and East Asian economies from 1996 to 2005.http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/64376/1/wp910.pd