Indonesia actively supports the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change to achieve the Global Goal on Adaptation by setting ambitious climate change adaptation pledges in its Nationally Determined Contributions. This paper explores the implementation of those adaptation commitments within a polycentric governance structure in Indonesia. There is a debate about whether polycentric institutions help or hinder the effectiveness of adaptation outcomes. The question remains, why is the implementation of climate change adaptation policies in Indonesia ineffective? This paper argues that the contestation between the National Development Planning Agency and the Ministry of Environment and Forestry, as two dominant ministries in adaptation, has beset the polycentric structure of adaptation governance in Indonesia and resulted in ineffective adaptation policy implementation. Moreover, the polycentric adaptation governance is ineffective because Indonesia is still facing problems in coordination, collaboration, policy learning, leadership, resource distribution, and dispersion of power.
International relations, Political institutions and public administration - Asia (Asian studies only)
Abstract Cognitive development in early childhood is fundamental to lifelong development. However, research on temperament’s role, a crucial factor connecting individual biology and sociability, is limited in early childhood cognitive development. Using data from the “Survey on the Development of Children Aged 3–6” conducted by Tsinghua University in 2022, we found that among children from middle class families, higher levels of persistence and sensitivity along with lower levels of distractibility and mood intensity are associated with superior mathematical ability, while higher levels of approach and sensitivity are positively correlated with language ability. On average, children with slow-to-warm-up temperament have a disadvantage in cognitive ability compared with children with easy temperament, especially when their parents are not responsive. However, as parental responsiveness increases, the gap narrows and eventually disappears. Similarly, children with difficult temperament fare worse in cognitive ability when their parents are not demanding. Nevertheless, as parental demandingness increases, the difference narrows and can be eliminated. Thus, in academic research and educational practice focusing on children, it is essential to account for individual differences in temperament, and to tailor parenting and teaching approaches accordingly, so as to promote equitable development opportunities for all children.
Social Sciences, Social sciences and state - Asia (Asian studies only)
This systematic literature review (SLR) explores leadership and climate change mitigation in cities. In doing so, it investigates explicit meanings of leadership, enablers of leadership, and leadership similarities and differences across regions. The review utilized three databases on 8 March 2024—Scopus, ProQuest, and Web of Science—curating an initial 496 results, resulting in 30 studies in the final analysis, using a two-reviewer screening process to limit bias and ensure consistency of approach. Inclusion criteria included English-language peer-reviewed articles over a ten-year period. The timeframe used was limited to January 2014 to December 2023 (10 years) to focus on the lead up to and post-implementation of the Paris Agreement. Further, empirical and conceptual studies were included to provide readers of this review with a thorough understanding of leadership work completed since 2014. Exclusion criteria included any studies that focus on adaptation measures and forms of leadership where the focus is on the private business, state, or national level, including leadership and climate change mitigation outside the influence of the local government. The study highlights five distinct meanings of leadership using the Braun and Clarke method of thematic analysis. It found leadership themes related to people (e.g., mayors), policy (e.g., ambitious climate plans), ideas (e.g., new concepts), collective action (e.g., motivating others), and mobilizing power (e.g., through regulations). The enablers of leadership included polycentricity, social capital influences, co-creational and mayor leadership, climate governance, and multi-actor coordination. This review segments the studies based on the findings from the literature, which focus on three continents (North America, Europe, and Asia) with a distinct difference in the meaning and enablers of leadership based on region. The 30 articles shared similarities in content, such as strong mayoral influence, but also had some distinct differences, such as how leadership is enacted based on leveraging market mechanisms, policy, and horizontal and vertical coordination. Finally, research gaps were identified, such as the scant focus on leadership and climate change mitigation in the Global South, to enable future research. Limitations of this study include the utilization of three databases, a focus on only English-language peer-reviewed articles, and a strong climate change mitigation focus.
Reading has always been highly valued as an activity that is essential to total achievement in a variety of spheres of life, including non-academic ones. It is an essential skill that promotes learning and improves each person individually. Because reading habits and attitudes can play a major role in successful learning, there is a lot of interest in this topic. The purpose of this study is to examine how people who live in Pakistan's largest cities read Chinese literature and how they feel about it. In order to conduct a survey study, the research design uses a quantitative research approach. A straightforward random sample technique was used to collect data, and 300 respondents provided information via a standardized questionnaire. In this study, a pre-tested questionnaire that passed validity and reliability tests was employed. Smith's (1991) Adult Survey of Reading Attitude (ASRA) was somewhat changed. With a computed Cronbach's alpha of 0.79, adequate reliability was established. According to the findings, the participants distributed their free time as follows: 52% spent on the internet, 30% on reading, 7% on games, 0% on sports, and 11% on watching television. The majority read for roughly 1-2 hours (45%), 2-3 hours (41%), 3-4 hours (9%), and 4-5 hours (5%), each day. Preferences for reading materials revealed a shift towards online content, with 50% selecting for newspapers, 20% for online e-books and journals, 11% for textbooks, 11% for comics, and 8% for magazines. The majority of users preferred reading in Urdu (52%) over other languages (3%), English (45%), and other languages. Of the participants, 33% did not affirm reading books or novels, although a sizable portion (67%) did. According to the study, 90% of participants thought that reading books had a significant impact on their learning habits, with only 10% disagreeing. Usage trends showed that 54% of readers were utilizing print media and 45% were reading online. The reading activity (mean = 3.31), enjoyment of reading (mean = 3.79), and anxiety and difficulty (mean = 2.94) were the three areas where reading attitudes were found to be quantitatively analysed. To sum up, the survey offers insightful information on people' reading preferences and perceptions of Chinese novels. The implementation of courses aimed at improving users' reading and communication abilities as well as their comprehension of Chinese culture and language is one of the recommendations. References Abdullah, M. R. T. L., & Siraj, S. (2010, October). Prospect and implementation of M-learning for future curriculum. In 2010 4th International Conference on Distance Learning and Education (pp. 226-229). IEEE. Abidin, M. J. Z., Pour-Mohammadi, M., & Lean, O. C. (2011). The reading habits of Malaysian Chinese university students. Journal of Studies in Education, 1(1), 1-13. Adner, R., Chen, J., & Zhu, F. (2015). Frenemies in Platform Markets: The Case of Apple's iPad vs. Amazon's Kindle. Harvard Business School. Ahmed, S. (2016). Reading habits and attitudes of UMSKAL undergraduates. International Journal of Applied Linguistics and English Literature, 5(2), 189-201. Alexander, J. E., & Filler, R. C. (1976). Attitudes and reading. International Reading Association. Annafari, M. T., & Bohlin, E. (2014). Empirical exploration of factors that determine multiple mobile phone subscriptions. International Journal of Mobile Communications, 12(1), 12-28. Annamalai, S., & Muniandy, B. (2013). Reading Habit and Attitude among Malaysian Polytechnic Students. International Online Journal of Educational Sciences, 5(1). Anugrah, P. K. (2019). A Survey Study of Reading Habits and Attitudes of Undergraduate Students. Baloch, S. M. (2017). Why are Pakistanis Keen to Learn Chinese Language? Deutsche Welle (DW), November 27. Bastug, M. (2014). The structural relationship of reading attitude, reading comprehension and academic achievement. International Journal of Social Sciences and Education, 4(4), 931-946. Berk, L. E. (2009). Child development (8th Ed.). Pearson International Edition. Bignold, H. (2003). Gender difference and reading. Journal of School Librarian, 50(3), 122-133. Butt, A., Khan, M., & Gul, F. An Investigation of the Reading Habits among Pakistani University Students. China Daily, 2016. Habit of reading in China expands with mobile tech. Obtained through the Internet: http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2016-04/ 19/content_24647939.htm (accessed June 24, 2016). Chua, S. P. (2008). The effects of the sustained silent reading program on cultivating students' habits and attitudes in reading books for leisure. The Clearing House: A Journal of Educational Strategies, Issues and Ideas, 81(4), 180-184. Clark, C. (2013). Children's and Young People's Reading in 2012: Findings from the 2012 National Literacy Trust's Annual Survey. National Literacy Trust. Cunningham, A. E., & Stanovich, K. E. (1998). What reading does for the mind. American educator, 22, 8-17. Davidovitch, N., & Gerkerova, A. Social factors influencing students’ reading habits. DeSilver, D. (2014). Overall book readership stable, but e-books becoming more popular. Fact Tank. Green, (2000). Genetic polymorphism across regions of the three open reading frames of “Norwalk-like viruses”. Archives of virology, 145(2), 223-241 Fatiloro, O. F., Adesola, O. A., Hameed, B. A., & Adewumi, O. M. (2017). A Survey on the Reading Habits among Colleges of Education Students in the Information Age. Journal of Education and Practice, 8(8), 106-110. Garces-Bacsal, R. M., & Yeo, S. D. (2017). Why and what they read when they don’t have to: Factors influencing the recreational reading habits of gifted students in Singapore. Journal for the Education of the Gifted, 40(3), 247-265. Green, P. (2002). Teachers’ intervention in children’s reading. Journal of Childhood Education, 46(3), 147-149. Hassan, K. (2021). How is the China Pakistan Media Collaboration Booming Under CPEC? HC-$1.67 plus Postage, M. 0. 8. (1976). IDENTIFIERS* Pakistan. Hongdao, Q., Azam, S., & Mukhtar, H. (2018). China Pakistan economic corridor: Legal injunctions and protection of Chinese investment in Pakistan under OBOR initiative. European Journal of Research in Social Sciences Vol, 6(2). Hsiao, K. L., & Chen, C. C. (2017). Value-based adoption of e-book subscription services: The roles of environmental concerns and reading habits. Telematics and Informatics, 34(5), 434-448. Hu, D., Luo, A., & Liu, H. (2013). Open access in China and its effect on academic libraries. The Journal of Academic Librarianship, 39(1), 110-112. Hussain, Abid. (2020). China-Pakistan Libraries Associations. Hyatt, D (2018 Nov 4) The growing film collaboration between Pakistan and china-China.org.cn Retrieved from http://www.China.org.cn/opinion/201811/04/content 69450390 htm Iftanti, E. (2015). What makes EFL students establish good reading habits in English. International Journal of Education and Research, 3(5), 365-374. Isakson, R. L., Isakson, M. B., Plummer, K. J., & Chapman, S. B. (2016). Development and validation of the Isakson survey of academic reading attitudes (ISARA). Journal of College Reading and Learning, 46(2), 113-138. Kannan, V. D., Peters, K., & Chapman, B. P. (2023). The relationship between adolescent reading habits and older adult social engagement–A longitudinal cohort analysis. Social Science & Medicine, 334, 116174. Karim, N. S. A., & Hasan, A. (2007). Reading habits and attitude in the digital age: Analysis of gender and academic program differences in Malaysia. The Electronic Library. Karim, N. S. A., & Hasan, A. (2007). Reading habits and attitude in the digital age: Analysis of gender and academic program differences in Malaysia. The Electronic Library. Khan, A. S. (2013). “Geo-Economic Imperatives of Gwadar Sea Port and Kashgar Economic Zone for Pakistan and China, Geo-Economic Imperatives of Gwadar Sea Port and Kashgar Economic Zone “, Vol. XIII, no. 2 IPRI journal. Retrieved from http://www.ipripak.org/journal/summer2013/art5.pdf Khan, S (2020, Dec 21) The livestreaming connecting South Asian working class of world, Retried from https://restofword.org/2020/app-connecting-south-asian-working-class/ Kim, J. Y., & Anderson, T. (2011). Reading across the curriculum: A framework for improving the reading abilities and habits of college students. Journal of College Literacy and Learning, 37, 29-40. Kush, J. C., & Watkins, M. W. (1996). Long-term stability of children's attitudes toward reading. The Journal of Educational Research, 89(5), 315-319. Liu, Z. (2005). Reading behaviour in the digital environment: Changes in reading behaviour over the past ten-year, Journal of Documentation. 61(6), 700-712. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/00220410510632040 Liu, Z., & Huang, X. (2008). Gender differences in the online reading environment. Journal of documentation. McKenna, M. C., Kear, D. J., & Ellsworth, R. A. (1995). Children's attitudes toward reading: A national survey. Reading research quarterly, 934-956. Morni, A., & Sahari, S. H. (2013). The impact of living environment on reading attitudes. Procedia-Social and behavioral sciences, 101, 415-425. Nathanson, S., Pruslow, J., & Levitt, R. (2008). The reading habits and literacy attitudes of inservice and prospective teachers: Results of a questionnaire survey. Journal of Teacher Education, 59(4), 313-321. Newport, F., 2014. Americans show low levels of concern on global warming. Obtained through the Internet: (accessed May 20, 2016). Noman, M., Safdar Sial, M., Vianna Brugni, T., Hwang, J., Yaseen Bhutto, M., & Khanh, T. H. T. (2020). Determining the challenges encountered by chinese expatriates in pakistan. Sustainability, 12(4), 1327. Noor, N. M. (2011). Reading habits and preferences of EFL postgraduates: A case study. Indonesian Journal of Applied Linguistics, 1(1), 1-9. Ogunbodede, K. F., & Sawyerr-George, O. E. (2023). Digital resources and the reading habits of university stude
his article uses soft power, a country's capacity to influence others by attraction as opposed to coercion, to examine how the dynamics of global power are changing. China's strategic use of soft power shows it is making substantial progress towards becoming another superpower, perhaps pushing the international order towards a bipolar system, even while the United States remains the only hegemon in the existing unipolar world order. China's ability to cultivate a more appealing image on the international scene is credited with its success. This is made possible by its recently acquired economic prosperity, which enables large-scale investments in international aid and infrastructure projects funded by programmes like the Belt and Road Initiative. Furthermore, China tends to present a more "friendly" foreign policy than the US, emphasising economic alliances rather than intervening militarily. On the other hand, the US seems to be losing ground as the only superpower. Its reputation has been damaged by a number of foreign policy choices, which have also undermined confidence among allies and the global community. Accusations of vaccine hoarding, the perceived shortcomings of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the decision to withdraw from the Paris Climate Agreement, and a perceived deficiency in leadership during the COVID-19 epidemic are a few of them. Due to these acts, the US is now a less desirable partner on the international scene, which could reduce its soft power and influence. References Anand, A. (2022). Repression of Uyghur Muslims and the Freedom of Religious Beliefs in China. Journal of Social Inclusion Studies, 8(1), 23-36 Asif, M., & Sandhu, M. S. (2023). Social Media Marketing Revolution in Pakistan: A Study of its Adoption and Impact on Business Performance. Journal of Business Insight and Innovation, 2(2), 67-77. Asif, M., Pasha, M. A., Shafiq, S., & Craine, I. (2022). Economic impacts of post COVID-19. Inverge Journal of Social Sciences, 1(1), 56-65. Bilgin, P. & Berivan, E. (2008). Hard Power, Soft Power: Toward a More Realistic Power Analysis, Insight Turkey, 10, 5-20 Moolakkattu, J. S. (2009). Robert W. Cox and critical theory of international relations. International Studies, 46(4), 439-456. Fliegel, M. (2020) An Analysis of China’s Soft Power in Northeast Asia unpublished doctoral Thesis Fliegel, M. & Kříž, Z. (2020). ‘Beijing-style Soft Power: A Different Conceptualization to the American Coinage’, China Report, SAGE Publications, Vol. 56, No. 1, p. 1-18. Fergusson, N. (2003). ‘Think Again: Power’, Foreign Policy Magazine, 1 January, http://foreignpolicy.com/2003/01/01/think-again-power/ Gallarotti, G. (2010). Cosmopolitan Power in International Relations: A Synthesis of Realism, Neoliberalism, and Constructivism. Jacobs, J. B. (2006). One China, diplomatic isolation and a separate Taiwan. In E. Friedman (Ed.), China's Rise, Taiwan's Dilemmas and International Peace (1 ed., pp. 85 - 109). Routledge Kearn, D. (2011). The Hard Truths about Soft Power. Journal of Political Power. 4. 10. Lukes, S. (2005). Power: A Radical View. 10.2307/2065624. Nair, A.M. (2023). UAE joins BRICS-backed NDB as it expands global membership, GCC Business News, September 2, 2021, available at https://www.gccbusinessnews.com/uae-joins-brics-backed-ndb-as-it-expands-global-membership/ accessed on July 6, 2023 Gallarotti, G. (2011). Soft Power: What it is, Why it’s Important, and the Conditions Under Which It Can Be Effectively Used. Division II Faculty Publications. Guo, E., & Jee, C. (2020). How the US, UK and China are planning to roll out vaccines. MIT Technology Review. Lawler, D. (2020). Vaccine initiative now covers almost entire world, but not US or Russia. Axios, October, 13. Liang, W. (2012). China’s Soft power in Africa: Is Economic Power Sufficient. Asian Perspective, 36(4): 667-692. Mattern, J.B. (2005). Why `Soft Power' Isn't So Soft: Representational Force and the Sociolinguistic Construction of Attraction in World Politics. Millennium-journal of International Studies, 33. 583-612. McGiffert, C. (Ed.). (2009). Chinese soft power and its implications for the United States: competition and cooperation in the developing world: a report of the CSIS smart power initiative. Csis. Nagl, J. A. (2022). The US Army War College Quarterly: Parameters Why America’s Army Can’t Win America’s Wars. Nye, J. S. (2023). Soft Power and American Foreign Policy. In Soft Power and Great-Power Competition: Shifting Sands in the Balance of Power Between the United States and China (pp. 47-62). Singapore: Springer Nature Singapore. Nye, J. (2011). The Future of Power (New York: Public Affairs, 2011). С. XV. Nye Jr, J. S. (2015). Is the American century over?. Political Science Quarterly, 130(3), 393-400. Nye Jr, J. S. (2014). Obama the Pragmatist,” Project Syndicate, June 10, 2014, https://www.pro ject-syndicate.org/commentary/joseph-s--nye-defends-obama-s-approach-to-foreign-policy-against-critics-calling-for-a-more-muscular-approach. Nye, J. S. (1990). Bound to lead: the changing nature of American power. Basic books. Office of the Historian, 2014. ‘The Gulf War, 1991’, Bureau of Public Affairs, United States Department of State, Retrieved from: https://history.state.gov/milestones/1989-1992/gulf-war Ozili, P. K. (2024). Causes and consequences of the 2023 banking crisis. In Governance and Policy Transformations in Central Banking (pp. 84-98). IGI Global. Silver, L., Huang, C., Clancy, L., & Fagan, M. (2023). Americans Are Critical of China’s Global Role–as Well as Its Relationship With Russia. Pew Research Center, 12. Seymour, M. (2020). The problem with soft power. Stevenson, R. (2003). New Threats and Opportunities Redefine US Interests in Africa. New York Times, 7. Vyas, U. (2006). Soft power in international relations: Japan's state, sub-state and non-state relations with China (Doctoral dissertation, University of Sheffield). Wendt, A. (1999). Social theory of international politics (Vol. 67). Cambridge university press. Wilson III, E. J. (2008). Hard power, soft power, smart power. The annals of the American academy of Political and Social Science, 616(1), 110-124. Retrieved from: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0002716207312618 Wong, C. (2011). The fiscal stimulus programme and public governance issues in China. OECD Journal on Budgeting, 11(3), 1-22. Yenigun, C. (2022). From Soft Power to Hard Power: China in the Arabian Gulf. Journal of Positive Psychology and Wellbeing, 6(2), 2298-2318.
ANDRÉS RODRÍGUEZ-POSE, FEDERICO BARTALUCCI, BAKHYTZHAN KURMANOV
et al.
Growing disparities in wealth, well-being, and access to services in Kazakhstan have raised serious concerns among policymakers, especially since the January 2022 protests. This paper evaluates these regional inequalities and presents the findings from Kazakhstan’s inaugural well-being survey. The survey, based on global best practices, involves 4,032 face-to-face interviews with a diverse sample across all 20 regions, ensuring representation. The resulting indices—the Subjective Well-Being Index and the Regional Well-Being Index—highlight both within-region and between-region disparities. Notably, the indices reveal significant variations in well-being, with certain regions reporting notably lower satisfaction levels across dimensions like trust in institutions, satisfaction with financial and housing conditions, health care and education quality, and personal security perceptions.
Social sciences and state - Asia (Asian studies only)
Background: Medicinal herbs are commonly used as fundamental ingredients in Asian countries. Our goal was to transcribe the ethno medicinal usage of Aleurites moluccanus and to highlight the stated pharmacological activity and composition. Methods: Chemical composition and various pharmacological virtues of the different constituents of Aleurites moluccanus were obtained after an extensive survey from different scientific databases namely Elsevier, PubMed, Science Direct, Web of Science, Taylor and Francis, Google Scholar, Wiley On-line Library and ACS publications. Results: Aleurites moluccanus are commonly used as a spice and flavoring element in cuisines, and their health advantages are well known. Perfumes contain them as well. Carbohydrates, proteins, minerals, lipids, essential oils, flavonoids, terpenoids, and carotenoids are among the chemical constituents of cardamom that have been identified through phytochemical investigations. Antioxidant, anti-diabetic, antibacterial, anticancer, gastroprotective, and insecticidal actions are only a few of the biological functions of the A. moluccanus. Further studies can be conducted to find out more about the pharmacological properties of the plant.
Gonçalo D. Santos, Naubahar Sharif, Jack Linzhou Xing
This article analyzes a debate in Mainland China over how to designate and integrate the international field of STS (science and technology studies) in Chinese academia. Emerged at the turn of the millennium, this debate confirmed the increasing hold of STS in China, but it also revealed significant tensions regarding the general orientation and the place of the field in Chinese academia. These tensions reflect not only larger contradictions found in other globalized local instantiations of STS but also Chinese specificities. To understand both dimensions, this article approaches the rise of STS in China as a creative process of translation mediated by context-specific globalized struggles and negotiations. This approach builds on Asia-focused postcolonial discussions of translational practices to capture some of the distinctive features of the field of STS in China, including the strong influence of the Marxist tradition, the continuing hold of modernist-positivist approaches, and the strong control exercised by the party-state on academia. We use the Chinese example to highlight the translational diversity of the global STS project and to raise general questions about the future of STS across borders in the twenty-first century.
Philosophy is akin to poetry due to their respective endeavour to express the ultimate good sense which we term civilization. This can be exemplified through the Chinese vision of waterscapes which is found running through Chinese philosophy and poetry alike. As observed in Chinese tradition, the Daoist water allegory is referred to “the supreme good”. It can be further explicated with reference to the Confucian appreciation of “huge waterscapes” in terms of moral symbolism. All this permeates through the poetic depictions of waterscapes in the beautiful, majestic, and musical categories from an aesthetic perspective. Such depictions bear philosophical, moral, and aesthetic values altogether as a result of their underlying linkage with “the ultimate good sense”, and therefore have played an important role in human life from past to present. They are often employed as aesthetic objects as they delight the sight, hearing, mind and spirit. Moreover, they are utilized to revive the sense of Being and homeliness in closer contact with the nature in which we reside.
Social sciences and state - Asia (Asian studies only)
Since the suppression of the student movement in 1989, there has not been any anti-regime or pro-democracy student movement for over three decades in China. What does this suggest? Apart from the known strengthened campus control by the authority which might have forestalled it to some extent, are there alternative reasons? Has the government drawn lessons from the past and since improved its governance, thus effectively enervated student motives to challenge the government? In order to demystify what is behind, the researchers conducted an extensive survey at over thirty-five universities across China from 2015 through 2018. Through analysing the 1,859 valid responses received, the study found that current college students give a high approval rating to the status quo of the country, and they also hold strong optimism for the future. This result may indicate that there is no strong incentive for them, like the generation of the students in the 1980s, to push forward any dramatic political, economic and social changes. The West may need to take this prospect into consideration in their interactions with China, which may enjoy a long period of relative stability without political challenges from college students in the foreseeable future.
Political institutions and public administration - Asia (Asian studies only), Social sciences and state - Asia (Asian studies only)
Gender is an important theme in social studies of science and science and technology policies (e.g. Fox et al. 2017). In Japan, the Equal Employment Opportunity Act (男 女雇用機会均等法 danjo koyou kikai kintou hou) was enacted in 1986, and the Basic Act for Gender Equal Society (男女共同参画社会基本法 danjo kyoudou sankaku syakai kihon hou) in 1999. However, Japan’s gender gap is still considerable, with academia being no exception. For example, at Japanese universities and relevant institutes in 2021, women made up only 15.4% of all researchers in science, 12.5% in engineering, and 23.7% in agricultural science (Gender Equality Bureau 2022: 147). This low representation is perhaps because the Japanese government got serious about policies and programs for women researchers only in the mid2000s, almost decades after the countries and regions like the US and Europe. This book provides a concise but insightful overview of the history and reality of women researchers and related policies in Japan, the US, Europe, and China. Consisting of two parts, the book is written by six authors: Ginko Kawano, Mariko Ogawa, Miwa Yokoyama, Hisako Ohtsubo, Keiko Ohama, and Kae Takarabe. Their academic interests include, but are not limited to, gender studies, gender and science and technology policy, sociology of education, comparative education, and history of science. The book is a product of their “Gender and Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics: Comparative Studies on Policies Promoting Women’s Participation in STEM Fields” project, funded by Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research in Japan between 2016 and 2019. However, their collaborative efforts can be traced back to the mid-2000s, when Ogawa started a project to study women researchers in Asian countries.
In the western world, we always acknowledge the role played by premier universities in shaping of state and national policy. There seems to be a significant presence of Harvard, Cambridge, Heidelberg or Stanford in the policy circles of their respective political spheres. The instruments of this influence tend to be the elites trained at these institutions who carry a certain network or school-of-thought with them to their professional practise. However, there does not seem to be a mechanism through which the universities or the institutes in the Western style set up can directly lobby or carry out representation in the government. It is the alumnus or ‘old-boys’ networks they rely on for both following the political trends and making subtle representation. In turn, political and state institutions never want to be seen as influencing the freedom of academia, but do their bidding behind the scenes as they not only ultimately hold the purse strings, but are also responsible for educational policy and its implementation. Such practice is embodied in a particular perception, both that of the academic institution itself and the political machinery it interacts with, that it is not the place of academia to get directly involved with the inner political workings. As the perception of both expertise and training evolves through the varying economic and political systems and as these systems start to strongly interact in a global sphere of quite different academic and political traditions, it has become essential to learn and evaluate the rules of engagement of the ‘nonwestern’ systems. Not the least because various educational aid and development initiatives together with aggressive marketing of Western education world over seek to displace the local educational practices with consequences broader than just in education itself (Kalra & Saxena, 2021). The general agenda relies on labelling local practises as backwards, inefficient, corrupt and even threatening, for example, in the case of the Islamic system. This seems ironic as the same Western policy makers and institutions seek to import highly trained, cheap and lucrative labour force as well as services which are products of these very systems they want to reform and expunge. This makes one wonder, could such dichotomies be understood by looking at the dynamics between policy institutions close to the governments and academia? One thing is clear, that no single template ormodel is sufficient for either understanding or engaging with this process. In an effort to look at particular regional scenarios we have chosen Eurasia/Central Asia as a case study. Despite their stellar performance, high degree achievement and impact, academic traditions and institutions of Central Asia have been largely misunderstood. This is mainly because this region has historically been ‘reconfigured’ to reflect the histories of the Islamic World, the Persian Empire or the Soviet Union, but not very often in its own right. Even today we refer to Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan collectively as the former Soviet republics or the ‘Stans’. Indeed there are continuities that do exist
Dwi Novia Al Husaeni, Dwi Fitria Al Husaeni, Asep Bayu Dani Nandiyanto
et al.
The research objective is to analyze the internationalization and social impacts of publications in the ASEAN Journal of Science and Engineering Education (AJSEE) using bibliographic data from 2021 to 2022 using Publish or Perish, VOSviewer, and R Studio based on the Google Scholar database. This study shows the success rate of the AJSEE for internationalization. AJSEE has a homogeneous scope in the field of science and technology education only. AJSEE could become a medium for cooperation among international countries, which is not only limited to Asian countries. This research is expected to be a reference for researchers who will publish their articles in the science and technology education area. In addition, this research is expected to provide motivation and increase the enthusiasm of local researchers in ASEAN to conduct research, especially in the field of science and engineering education.
individuals of the kind presupposed by social contract theories and neo-liberal economics, their participation in democratic politics depends on multifarious forms of mediation or brokerage. Socially-embedded women and men enter or participate in everyday politics worldwide in a hierarchical manner: some lead, others are led. Democracy does not, in other words, imply equality. But it does not mean, as Adam Auerbach argues in this book, that poorer citizens in countries such as India are hapless victims of a top-down exploitative system. Demanding Development is a study of political brokerage in squatter settlements or ‘slums’ in two Indian cities, Bhopal and Jaipur. It is based on two years of fieldwork in these cities. Data from interviews, participant-observation and surveys conducted in these low-income urban settlements propel the central claim of the book. Put plainly, Auerbach argues that more populous and ethnically diverse settlements enjoy more dense networks of political brokers and party workers than smaller and more homogenous settlements. Political brokerage and, in turn, leadership via the avenues provided by political parties emerge organically from within the settlements: those who lead and those who are led live in the same slums, but the former commit to ‘social work’ and receive compensation from their clients—voters as well as their patrons, that is, elected representatives in state and national legislatures. Political brokerage means, above all, connecting voters to their democratic representatives. For those interested in such a career, political ambition breeds skill and experience. Auerbach shows how, in these nested hierarchies of everyday democratic life, what matters most is the ability of community leaders to provide public goods, particularly better roads, streetlighting, garbage collection and primary health care. Ethnic allegiances matter, but across caste, religious and regional lines, getting the job done matters more. Of course, not all jobs can be done. There are, as Auerbach’s interviews and surveys reveal, limits to how much ‘development’ can be demanded of elected representatives via party workers. Piped water and sewage systems, for example, require extensive capital expenditure by the state, and unless a neighbourhood is blessed with one or both, a slum might need to live without them. Subaltern claim-making in Indian cities is hardly new, of course. It is true that the 74th Amendment to the Indian Constitution has created a new framework within which claims are articulated and channelled into the political system. Partha Chatterjee and his interlocutors have shown that ‘political society’ in India and beyond is centred around a new politics of the poor. Such politics may not be egalitarian in demanding public goods, denoted by vikas or ‘development’, but it can be effective. Indeed, it is precisely the effectiveness of 1. Anastasia Piliavsky, Patronage as Politics in South Asia (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2014). 2. Partha Chatterjee, The Politics of the Governed: Reflections on Popular Politics in Most of the World (New York: Columbia University Press, 2004); see also Ajay Gudavarthy, Re-Framing Democracy and Agency in India: Interrogating Political Society (New Delhi: Anthem Press, 2012). SOUTH ASIA: JOURNAL OF SOUTH ASIAN STUDIES 2022, VOL. 45, NO. 4, 758–764 hierarchical politics among the poor that allow large-scale infrastructure upgrades to be postponed, sometimes indefinitely, until funds materialise. There is a curious paradox here: efficacious grass-roots democracy, marked by competition and hierarchy, might coexist with a dysfunctional macro-politics rooted in cosy relations between big business and elected politicians. This paradox could have been explored in this book, particularly in the light of the work of the heterodox economist Kalyan Sanyal on the costs of urban informality, but Auerbach limits himself to a narrower micro-political analysis. At this level of analysis, only democratic demands are visible, some of which are easier than others to meet. Slums serviced by a dense network of political brokers and party workers are also, of course, sites of political violence. From Paul Brass via Thomas Blom Hansen to Ward Berenschot, we have learned much about the local roots of communal violence in cities and towns across North India. Auerbach fails to consider this dimension of grass-roots democracy in Indian cities. Might the striking support for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) in, say, the slums of Bhopal tell us something about the election of (Sadhvi) Pragya Singh Thakur from this parliamentary constituency? Do the everyday practices of demanding development in slums also lead to demands for autocratic, centralised leadership? Could grass-roots democracy and everyday authoritarianism have the same social bases? Anthropologists and sociologists studying urban politics in India are unlikely to be surprised by the findings of Demanding Development. In fact, the book might be read as a translation of the work done by a generation of urban researchers into the language of American political science. This is a language of measurement and quantification of social and political processes explicated by other social scientists. But there is also banality at play here. Is it really puzzling that small squatter settlements have fewer political brokers than larger ones? Or that ethnic homogeneity in slums, a rarity in itself, is associated statistically with a low density of party workers? To be fair, Auerbach is scrupulous in acknowledging his debt to prior scholarship in the form of extensive notes. Such acknowledgements, however, reveal how far the novelty of academic work rests on the disciplinary framework within which it is constructed. In sum, this study of slum politics in two North Indian state capitals builds on and validates existing scholarship on urban politics in South Asia and, indeed, Latin America. It is propelled by interviews with political brokers in slums, who narrate their work-a-day routines in detail. The poor residents of these urban settlements, by contrast, appear as statistical aggregates and averages. If Indian politics grants a modicum of voice to the poor without the agency to upset the entire applecart, American political science now seems to grant the poor the agency to shuffle patrons and brokers without the voice to articulate why they do what they do. Accordingly, the urban poor in contemporary India and elsewhere must seemingly settle for a strategic politics of survival visa-vis the crumbs offered by democratic politics. 3. Christophe Jaffrelot, Atul Kohli and Kanta Murali, Business and Politics in India (New York: Oxford University Press, 2019). 4. Kalyan Sanyal, Rethinking Capitalist Development: Primitive Accumulation, Governmentality and Post-Colonial Capitalism (New Delhi: Routledge, 2007). 5. Paul Brass, Theft of an Idol: Text and Context in the Representation of Collective Violence (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1997); Thomas Blom Hansen, Wages of Violence: Naming and Identity in Postcolonial Bombay (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2001); and Ward Berenschot, Riot Politics: Hindu-Muslim Violence and the Indian State (London: Hurst & Co., 2011). SOUTH ASIA: JOURNAL OF SOUTH ASIAN STUDIES 759
Abstract How do people form personal ties? A consensus holds in sociological and social network scholarship that in-person networks are dominated by status homophily and that guanxi networks rely extensively on balance. This article argues that social networking sites (SNSs) reconceptualize the character of homophily and tie-formation altogether in guanxi networks. Drawing on 50 semi-structured interviews with Hong Kong youth from 2017 to 2020, this article examines how the technical capabilities of SNSs and principles of guanxi culture come together to erode status boundaries, create access to larger networks, and cause spillovers of information and tie strength. As a result, the basis of tie-formation in guanxi networks on SNSs shifts from balance to assortation and status homophily to value homophily. In this transformed calculus of tie-formation, two typologies of values rise to the fore: substantive values that reflect opinions and interests, as well as structural values that reflect networkability.
Social Sciences, Social sciences and state - Asia (Asian studies only)
Kaneko Fumiko (1903–1926) was an anarchist rebel during the Taishō era of modern Japan. She was arrested in 1923 and charged with high treason for participating in a plot to attack the imperial family. She also had connections with members of the Korean national liberation movement, most notably her partner Park Yeol. Her experience of abuse, abandonment, and exploitation growing up led her to form a highly critical and dismissive attitude towards established norms and institutions, which she saw as hypocritical, self-serving and oppressive. She describes her position as anarchist, nihilist and egoist and cites Max Stirner, the founder of egoism, as her most significant influence. Egoism is a radical individualism that denies any authority and espouses that the individual pursues her self-interest unhindered.
Kaneko strived to always live by her egoist principles by following her wishes. However, in one of the letters she gave to the court during her imprisonment, she doubts a past decision. Namely, she felt that Park was at one point making decisions unilaterally and not respecting her will. Hence, she wrote that, according to her egoism, she should have left Park. Nonetheless, in the same letter, she reaffirms her love for Park and defiantly accepts all the consequences of their relationship, including the death sentence. Using psychoanalytic theory from the Lacanian tradition, I argue that Kaneko’s confirmation of her love for Park indicates fidelity to her desire. This fidelity opens up a dimension where she can be more faithful to herself than through Stirnean egoism.
Social sciences and state - Asia (Asian studies only)
ABSTRACT Objectives Early reports from the initial months of the coronavirus pandemic reveal ethnic disparities in coronavirus incidence, severity, and mortality. This study aimed to evaluate the relationship between ethnicity and outcomes of coronavirus positivity and hospitalization. Design An observational cohort study using electronic health record (EHR) data from a large community healthcare system in Washington State across the first phase of the pandemic (March 5 – June 7, 2020). Results A total of 18,667 patients (65.9% of all tested) with EHR-documented ethnicity were included. Overall, 6.4% of patients tested positive for coronavirus. Among Latinx patients, 18.6% of those tested were positive, compared to only 4.0% of tested White patients. Multivariable logistic regression revealed significantly higher odds of positivity for Latinxs (aOR = 4.96, 95% CI 4.19–5.87), Asians (aOR = 2.33, 95% CI 1.74–3.08), Blacks (aOR = 1.82, 95% CI 1.43–2.31), and members of other ethnic minority groups (aOR = 2.34, 95% CI 1.80–2.95), compared to Whites in models adjusting for relevant confounders. Latinxs had a higher percentage of self-pay insurance (22.2%) compared to other ethnic groups (7.9–15.8%) and, among those who tested positive, were the only ethnic subpopulation with significantly higher odds than Whites to be hospitalized for COVID-19 (aOR = 2.19, 95% CI 1.45–3.33). We observed a positive correlation between infection and the percentage of Latinxs (r = 0.61, 95% CI 0.45–0.74), Blacks (r = 0.51, 95% CI 0.32–0.66), or Asians (r = 0.64, 95% CI 0.49–0.76) in a given zip-code. This correlationwas negative for Whites (r = −0.63, 95% CI −0.75, −0.45). Conclusions We present empirical evidence of higher rates of coronavirus positivity among People of Color compared to White people in Washington State. Social determinants of health, such as occupation, housing, healthcare access, and community structure, may contribute to health disparities in the coronavirus pandemic. Targeted capture of these variables in electronic health records is warranted to inform health equity analyses.
Background: Antenatal care (ANC) services have been globally lauded as having positive effects on pregnancy outcomes and reducing maternal and perinatal mortalities. However, the utilization of ANC is not uniform among its target population, particularly in rural areas of sub-Saharan Africa and south Asia. Objective: The objective is to ascertain and compare the patterns, determinants, and outcomes of ANC utilization among rural and urban women of child-bearing age in Kaduna State, north-western Nigeria by using a comparative, community-based, cross-sectional, descriptive study design among 340 women in a rural (n = 170) and an urban (n = 170) community. Materials and Methods: Respondents were selected by cluster sampling and multistage sampling methods in the rural and urban areas, respectively. Data were collected by using a structured, self-administered questionnaire and analyzed by using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS), version 25. Results were presented in tables, and associations were tested by using chi-square (x2) test. Results: Most of the respondents were between 25 and 29 years, more than 80% were married, and only 23.5% (rural) and 38.8% (urban) had a post-secondary level of education. The ANC attendance was 61.8%, representing 210 out of the 340 respondents (rural 40.6%, urban 82.9%). Among the ANC attendees, 71% initiated ANC in the first trimester (rural 60.9%, urban 75.9%) and 61.4% had at least four visits (rural 56.5%, urban 63.8%). The determinants of ANC utilization were mainly levels of education and incomes of the respondents and/ or their husbands. Conclusion: A consistent pattern of rural–urban disparities was demonstrated in diverse aspects of ANC utilization, including the determinants and outcomes thereof, with better indices among urban women relative to rural women. These findings underscore the need to bridge the gap between rural and urban areas. Priority attention needs to be given to the spatial (geographical) siting of health facilities, literacy, and financial standing of both women and their husbands.
Abstract Insisting on a radical divide between post-1750 ideologies in Europe and earlier political thought in both Europe and Asia, modernist scholars of nationalism have called attention, quite justifiably, to European nationalisms’ unique focus on popular sovereignty, legal equality, territorial fixity, and the primacy of secular over universal religious loyalties. Yet this essay argues that nationalism also shared basic developmental and expressive features with political thought in pre-1750 Europe as well as in rimland—that is to say outlying—sectors of Asia. Polities in Western Europe and rimland Asia were all protected against Inner Asian occupation, all enjoyed relatively cohesive local geographies, and all experienced economic and social pressures to integration that were not only sustained but surprisingly synchronized throughout the second millennium. In Western Europe and rimland Asia each major state came to identify with a named ethnicity, specific artifacts became badges of inclusion, and central ethnicity expanded and grew more standardized. Using Myanmar and pre-1750 England/Britain as case studies, this essay reconstructs these centuries-long similarities in process and form between “political ethnicity,” on the one hand, and modern nationalism, on the other. Finally, however, this essay explores cultural and material answers to the obvious question: if political ethnicities in Myanmar and pre-1750 England/Britain were indeed comparable, why did the latter realm alone generate recognizable expressions of nationalism? As such, this essay both strengthens and weakens claims for European exceptionalism.