Hasil untuk "Social sciences and state - Asia (Asian studies only)"

Yasir Mahmood, Muhammad Ali, Ahmed et al.

This study provides a comprehensive empirical analysis of the dynamic relationship between fiscal policy and public debt sustainability in Pakistan from 1990 to 2023. It investigates the long- and short-run impacts of government expenditure, taxation, and fiscal deficits on the nation's escalating debt burden. Employing a quantitative research design and advanced econometric techniques, including the Auto-Regressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) model, the research utilizes robust time-series data from the State Bank of Pakistan, World Bank, and IMF. The findings reveal that persistent fiscal deficits are the primary driver of public debt accumulation, exhibiting a strong positive correlation. Furthermore, while tax revenue enhancements demonstrate a limited stabilizing effect in the short run, their role in ensuring long-term debt sustainability is critical. The analysis identifies a structural imbalance, with recurrent government expenditure, particularly on debt-servicing and non-developmental sectors, crowding out productive investment and exacerbating fiscal fragility. The study concludes that Pakistan's fiscal policy has historically prioritized short-term political and economic objectives, inadvertently fuelling a debt-deficit spiral and compromising long-term macroeconomic stability. Consequently, the research strongly advocates for deep-rooted structural reforms, including a significant broadening of the tax base, strategic rationalization of public spending towards development projects, and the institutionalization of fiscal discipline through enhanced governance and transparency. These measures are imperative to break the cycle of indebtedness and secure a trajectory of sustainable and inclusive economic growth. References Ahmad, M. H., & Abbas, Q. (2022). Fiscal deficit and public debt sustainability in Pakistan: Evidence from nonlinear ARDL approach. Economic Change and Restructuring, 55(3), 1473–1492. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10644-021-09371-0 Ahmed, F., & Khan, M. A. (2021). Fiscal policy, debt dynamics, and economic growth: Evidence from developing economies. Journal of Economic Studies, 48(6), 1125–1142. https://doi.org/10.1108/JES-02-2020-0074 Ahmed, S., & Malik, R. (2020). Revenue mobilization and debt sustainability: A comparative analysis of South Asian economies. South Asian Journal of Economic Policy, 5(2), 75–92.   Ali, M., & Khan, T. (2019). Fiscal sustainability and the debt-growth nexus: Evidence from Pakistan. Pakistan Economic Review, 42(1), 55–70.   Anwar, H., & Qasim, A. (2020). External borrowing and fiscal sustainability in Pakistan: New insights from ARDL modeling. International Journal of Development Studies, 15(3), 145–160.   Anwar, S., & Shah, F. (2021). Economic growth and debt sustainability: Evidence from Asian emerging economies. Asian Economic Review, 63(2), 215–233.   Arsh, S., Sarwar, J., & Iftikhar, S. (2021). An empirical analysis of short run and long run association between debt servicing and external debt in Pakistan. Bulletin of Business and Economics.   Baig, D., Qamri, G. M., Hassan, A., Khan, Q. R., & Akbar, A. (2024). Presence of Debt Overhung Effect in Pakistan: Empirical Evidence with ARDL Model. Pakistan Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences, 12(1), 1911.   Butt, H., & Awan, K. (2021). The role of external debt in shaping fiscal vulnerabilities: Evidence from Pakistan. Journal of International Finance, 29(4), 390–406.   Butt, S., & Hassan, A. (2020). Tax system inefficiencies and fiscal vulnerability: The case of Pakistan. Review of Public Finance, 12(2), 101–118.   Farooq, I., Akram, M., Khan, C., & Shah, S. R. A. (2022). Disaggregated Components of Public Debt and Economic Growth of Pakistan. Journal of Business and Social Review in Emerging Economies. https://doi.org/10.26710/jbsee.v8i3.1975 Farooq, N., & Akram, S. (2019). Fiscal deficits and debt accumulation in Pakistan: A time series perspective. Pakistan Development Journal, 58(4), 321–339.   Hanif, M. N., & Arby, M. F. (2021). Public debt dynamics and fiscal sustainability in Pakistan. Journal of Economic Policy Reform, 24(1), 1–17. https://doi.org/10.1080/17487870.2019.1592756 Hassan, I., & Rauf, S. (2020). Fiscal discipline and debt sustainability: Policy lessons from Pakistan. Journal of Fiscal Studies, 11(1), 67–82.   Hussain, A., & Latif, S. (2019). Fiscal policy, external debt, and macroeconomic instability: Evidence from Pakistan. Asian Journal of Economic Modelling, 7(3), 113–128.   Hussain, F., & Tariq, M. (2020). Economic growth and debt reduction: Evidence from Pakistan. Bulletin of Economic Research, 72(2), 145–163. https://doi.org/10.1111/boer.12245 Hussain, T., Mustafa, A. R. U., Makhdum, M. I., & Kaleem Ullah. (2022). Defense Expenditures, Fiscal Deficit and Debt Servicing Nexus: A Case Study of Pakistan. Bulletin of Business and Economics, 11(2), 74-83.   Iqbal, J., & Zahid, S. (2020). Does fiscal policy influence economic growth? Empirical evidence from Pakistan. Cogent Economics & Finance, 8(1), 1767850. https://doi.org/10.1080/23322039.2020.1767850 Iqbal, Z., & Ahmad, K. (2021). Public spending and debt dynamics in resource-constrained economies: Evidence from Pakistan. Journal of Policy Modeling, 43(1), 89–105. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpolmod.2020.11.003 Javed, A., & Arif, B. (2020). Fiscal expansion, debt accumulation, and growth trade-offs: Evidence from Pakistan. Asian Economic Journal, 34(1), 45–62.   Javed, S., & Karim, A. (2019). Taxation, compliance, and fiscal vulnerability in developing countries: Insights from Pakistan. International Journal of Public Administration, 42(7), 567–578. https://doi.org/10.1080/01900692.2018.1440735 Javed, U., & Rehman, M. (2020). Fiscal sustainability and econometric modeling: A study on Pakistan’s debt dynamics. Applied Economics and Policy, 29(2), 210–225.   Khalid, A., & Munir, H. (2021). Growth volatility and debt sustainability in emerging economies: A case of Pakistan. International Review of Applied Economics, 35(5), 621–640. https://doi.org/10.1080/02692171.2020.1851775 Khalid, S., & Nadeem, M. (2020). Structural reforms and fiscal sustainability: Evidence from Pakistan. Economic Policy Review, 13(2), 91–108.   Khan, J., Subhan, S., & Gondal, A. H. (2023). Effect of External Debt Services on Economic Growth: An Empirical Evidence from Pakistan. International Journal of Social Science Archives.   Khan, M. A., & Gill, A. R. (2022). External debt and economic growth in Pakistan: The role of fiscal policy. Journal of Public Affairs, 22(2), e2468. https://doi.org/10.1002/pa.2468 Khan, R., & Ali, S. (2019). Tax base, fiscal institutions, and debt accumulation: A South Asian perspective. South Asian Journal of Economics, 7(1), 35–52.   Malik, M., & Hussain, A. (2020). Fiscal deficits and the debt spiral: Evidence from Pakistan. Journal of Asian Economics, 67(3), 134–149. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.asieco.2020.101169 Mehmood, R., & Latif, A. (2019). Growth-debt relationship in South Asia: Empirical evidence. Asian Development Journal, 26(2), 98–116.   Minhaj ud-Din, Khan, M. A., & Tariq, M. (2020). External Debt - Blessing or Curse: Empirical Evidence from Pakistan. International Journal of Economics and Financial Issues, 10(4), 235–246.   Naeem, A. (2009). Impact of Public Debt on the Economic Growth of Pakistan. The Pakistan Development Review, 50(4), 599–615.   Qadir, T., & Farooq, S. (2019). Growth cycles and fiscal sustainability in emerging economies: Evidence from Pakistan. Economic Modelling Journal, 35(2), 110–125.   Qureshi, N., & Ali, H. (2020). External debt and fiscal challenges: Evidence from Pakistan. International Journal of Financial Studies, 8(4), 55–70. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijfs8040055 Rashid, H., & Amjad, M. (2020). Fiscal policy, debt, and growth nexus: Empirical evidence from Pakistan. Journal of Economic Development, 45(1), 23–40.   Rauf, A., & Awan, B. (2019). Fiscal deficits and debt accumulation: Empirical perspectives from Pakistan. Pakistan Journal of Economic Studies, 14(3), 215–232.   Rauf, S., & Qureshi, A. (2020). Fiscal institutions, tax capacity, and debt accumulation in Pakistan. Fiscal Studies Review, 9(1), 44–62.   Rehman, A., & Ahmad, A. (2021). Fiscal policy, budget deficit and public debt nexus in Pakistan: A time series analysis. Future Business Journal, 7(1), 39. https://doi.org/10.1186/s43093-021-00078-3 Saeed, H., & Khattak, N. (2019). Expansionary fiscal policy and debt in resource-constrained economies: Evidence from Pakistan. International Journal of Economics and Finance, 11(5), 95–106.   Saeed, R., & Shahid, M. (2021). Fiscal reforms and debt sustainability: Lessons from Pakistan. Review of Development Finance, 11(1), 77–89. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rdf.2021.02.002 Shabbir, G., & Yasin, H. M. (2022). Analyzing the impact of government spending and public debt on economic growth: Evidence from Pakistan. Financial Innovation, 8(1), 11. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40854-021-00329-8 Shah, A., & Rehman, M. (2021). Fiscal institutions and public debt management in South Asia: Evidence from Pakistan. Asian Journal of Public Policy, 13(4), 342–359. https://doi.org/10.1080/17516234.2021.1885933 Shahid, A., & Karim, M. (2020). Fiscal deficits, debt accumulation, and sustainability challenges in Pakistan. Journal of Applied Economics, 23(2), 199–217.   Tariq, H., & Abbas, F. (2021). Debt-deficit spiral and fiscal policy challenges in Pakistan. Economic Change and Restructuring, 54(2), 201–220. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10644-020-09263-1 Tariq, M., & Malik, S. (2019). Fiscal sustainability in Pakistan: An econometric assessment. Pakistan Development Review, 58(2), 135–154.   Tariq, S., & Raza, A. (2019). Revenue reforms and debt dependency: A study of South Asian economies. Asian Development Policy Review, 7(2), 90–105.   Waheed, A., & Khan, H. (2020). External borrowing and fiscal sustainability: Evidence from Pakistan. International Journal of Economics

KIJIN KIM, JEROME ABESAMIS, ZEMMA ARDANIEL

During the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, mobility restrictions had a significant impact on trade times and costs at the borders, particularly in landlocked developing countries. This paper examines the effect of COVID-19 mobility measures on the time required for cargo to clear the borders, using monthly bilateral time measures at the border crossing points (BCPs) of Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation countries. An estimation of impulse response functions reveals that the time for inbound cargo to clear the border increased by up to 40% when the most stringent mobility restrictions were implemented. However, the results indicate that the time for outbound cargo was not significantly affected. Furthermore, our findings demonstrate the cross-border spillover effect of a trading partner’s mobility measures. Both inbound and outbound times at own-BCPs increased when a trading partner implemented tightened mobility restrictions. These findings emphasize the need for enhanced policy coordination and monitoring among trade partners during emergencies, providing valuable insights for border management strategies.

Kerry Brown, Sinan Chu

It has been over a decade since the emergence of what is now best known as the “Belt and Road Initiative” (BRI). This Special Issue, a decade after the BRI was launched, highlights the immense complexity not only of the idea itself but also of China's global influence and the varied attitudes and responses towards it. We hope that these studies, with their diverse approaches and evidence bases, contribute to enriching the expanding literature on the BRI – a trend that is unlikely to wane anytime soon as China continues to be a major global force in the twenty-first century.

The present issue of History of Science and Technology (Vol. 15, Issue 2, 2025) brings together a wide-ranging collection of studies that illuminate the long-term dynamics of scientific knowledge, technological systems, and their social, cultural, and political entanglements. The contributions assembled here reflect the journal’s enduring commitment to interdisciplinary scholarship and to the integration of diverse geographical, chronological, and methodological perspectives. Taken together, the articles demonstrate that science and technology are not isolated domains of technical ingenuity, but historically contingent processes shaped by imagination, institutions, power relations, material practices, and cultural values. A unifying theme of this issue is the continuity between past and present: ancient myths and early mechanical devices resonate with contemporary debates on artificial intelligence; nineteenth-century academic networks prefigure modern systems of scientific communication; industrial technologies mature through decades of negotiation between laboratories, factories, and regulatory regimes; and cultural technologies such as music, cinema, and transport reveal deep interconnections between material innovation and human perception. By juxtaposing case studies from Europe, Asia, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia, this issue underscores the global character of scientific and technological development while remaining attentive to local contexts and specific historical trajectories. The issue opens with Ahmed Shaker Alalaq’s study “Artificial Intelligence and Robotics in Ancient Times: Between Myth and Interpretation”, which explores how ancient civilizations conceptualized artificial beings capable of thought and action. By examining myths such as Automata, the Golem, and other legendary constructs from Greek, Chinese, and Near Eastern traditions, the article demonstrates that the aspiration to create intelligent artifacts is not a product of the digital age alone. Rather, it is embedded in long-standing philosophical and cultural reflections on consciousness, creativity, and the boundaries of human agency. Alalaq’s contribution situates contemporary debates on artificial intelligence within a longue durée perspective, showing how ethical concerns, fears of loss of control, and hopes for human enhancement were already articulated in mythological form. In doing so, the article provides a conceptual bridge between ancient imagination and modern technological realities, reminding readers that innovation is often guided by deeply rooted narratives and symbolic frameworks. Several contributions in this issue focus on the nineteenth century as a formative period for modern scientific institutions and communication networks. Denys Buhor’s article “Development of Ukrainian Mechanics: Context of Scientific Publications by Kharkiv Scientists of the 19th Century” offers a detailed historiographical and bibliometric analysis of the Kharkiv scientific milieu. By examining publications produced at Kharkiv University and the Kharkiv Institute of Technology, the study reveals how theoretical and applied mechanics developed in close institutional synergy. Figures such as Oleksandr Lyapunov and Volodymyr Steklov emerge not only as individual innovators but as representatives of scientific schools shaped by mentoring, academic heredity, and international exchange. Buhor’s work highlights the transition from isolated scholarly efforts to systematic research cultures aligned with industrialization and European scientific standards. Complementing this perspective, the article by Natalya Pasichnyk, Renat Rizhniak, and Hanna Deforzh, “International Relations and Scientific Communication of the Imperial Novorossiya University in the Last Third of the 19th Century”, examines the mechanisms through which Odesa scientists integrated into the European scientific space. Focusing on translations, academic mobility, participation in international congresses, and the role of the Notes of the Novorossiya Society of Naturalists, the authors demonstrate how multilingualism and institutional platforms facilitated knowledge circulation. This study underscores that scientific globalization in the nineteenth century was not a one-way transfer of ideas from Western Europe to the periphery, but a complex process of adaptation, negotiation, and mutual recognition. The transition from scientific knowledge to industrial application is examined in Artemii Bernatskyi’s article “Hybrid Laser-Arc Welding of Low-Alloy Steels: From Scientific Concept to Industrial Technology (1970s–2020s)”. This contribution traces the four-decade trajectory of hybrid welding from laboratory experiments to its selective stabilization in sectors such as shipbuilding, pipeline construction, wind-energy infrastructure, and offshore engineering. By emphasizing institutional conservatism, certification barriers, and capital intensity, Bernatskyi shows that technological diffusion of innovations is rarely linear or inevitable. The article also situates hybrid welding within contemporary sustainability debates, revealing how a technology originally developed for productivity gains later acquired environmental significance through reduced material consumption and extended service life of structures. A cluster of articles addresses the socio-political dimensions of technology in architectural and infrastructural contexts. Bharoto Bharoto, Himasari Hanan, and Andry Widyowijatnoko, in “Institutionalising Concrete Construction Technology: A Socio-Technical Formation of Modern Architecture in Indonesia”, analyze how concrete became the dominant material of postcolonial Indonesian architecture. Drawing on social construction theory, the authors show that technological institutionalization unfolded differently under the Old Order and the New Order regimes, yet resulted in a durable socio-technical system that bridged ideological and economic transformations. This study contributes a valuable Global South perspective to Science and Technology Studies by demonstrating that modernity emerges through negotiated, context-specific processes rather than simple technological transfer. Similarly, Hary Ganjar Budiman and colleagues explore colonial power relations in “Colonial Technopolitics in the Dutch East Indies: A Study of Colonial Hydroelectric Power in Pamanoekan and Tjiasemlanden Plantation”. By combining archival research with historical archaeology, the authors reveal how hydroelectric infrastructure functioned as an instrument of colonial technocracy. Hydropower stations are shown not merely as technical achievements, but as mechanisms for rendering nature calculable and for integrating local environments into global economic networks. The article foregrounds the concept of technopolitics, emphasizing that technology operates simultaneously as material infrastructure and as a means of governance. Petra Hyklová’s contribution, “Negotiating a Great Telescope: The Case of Czechoslovakia”, offers a detailed reconstruction of the political, institutional, and personal negotiations surrounding the construction of the Ondřejov 2-m telescope. The article demonstrates that large scientific instruments are products of complex collaborations involving scientists, manufacturers, state administrations, and international partners. By highlighting the parallel development of similar telescopes in Czechoslovakia and Azerbaijan, Hyklová reveals how scientific ambitions intersected with Cold War politics, economic constraints, and long-term planning. The continued operation of these instruments today underscores the durability of such negotiated technological systems. The cultural dimensions of technology are explored in the article “Pneumatics, Acoustics and Digital Sound: The Organ in the History of Science and Technology” by Olena Spolska and co-authors. Treating the organ as a long-lived technological system, the study traces its evolution from the ancient hydraulis to contemporary digital and hybrid instruments. The article demonstrates how advances in pneumatics, acoustics, metallurgy, electrification, and computation were gradually absorbed into organ building without erasing earlier traditions. Transport history and the culture of speed form the focus of the next article “The History of the Emergence, Development and Improvement of High-Speed Railways”. By combining technical, socio-economic, and cultural analysis, the authors show how high-speed rail transformed perceptions of space and time while serving as a tool of regional integration and economic development. From the Shinkansen and TGV to contemporary maglev and Hyperloop concepts, high-speed rail emerges as a key component of twenty-first-century energy-intelligent mobility. The issue concludes with the article “Silent Cinema as a Technological System: Infrastructure, Innovation, and Institutionalization (1890–1930)” by Liudmyla Vaniuha and colleagues. Challenging the view of silent cinema as a primitive precursor to sound film, the authors demonstrate that this period established the foundational technological and institutional structures of modern cinema. Projection systems, permanent theaters, studio infrastructures, special effects, and genre formation collectively transformed film into a global medium of mass communication. This study highlights cinema as a paradigmatic example of how technology, industry, and culture co-evolve. Together, the articles in this issue of History of Science and Technology illustrate the richness and diversity of contemporary scholarship in the field. They reaffirm that the history of science and technology is best understood through interdisciplinary approaches that connect technical detail with social context, institutional frameworks, and cultural meaning. By bringing ancient myths into dialogue with artificial intelligence, colonial infrastructures with postcolonial modernity, and nineteenth

A. N. Borisov, A. Borodin, R. Gubarev et al.

The global trend is mass employment of the population in the informal sector of the economy. At the same time, only in economically developed countries of the world such workers have relatively good working conditions. At the current stage of development, Russia is among the group of actively economically developing countries of the world. Therefore, the improvement of the mechanism of state social protection of those employed in the informal sector of the economy remains an urgent relevant issue for our country, which, in turn, implies monitoring of the situation.The purpose of this study is to develop tools for such monitoring with the help of artificial intelligence (more precisely, modern machine learning methods). According to the results of cluster analysis carried out using the k-means method in the Python programming language, it was found that in modern Russia there is a high degree of differentiation of regions by the level of employment in the informal sector of the economy. At the same time, most of the subjects of the Russian Federation are characterised by the same situation as in economically developing countries of Eastern Europe (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Czech Republic). Four regions of Russia (from the North Caucasus Federal District) have an abnormally high level of employment in the informal sector of the economy comparable only with economically developing countries of Asia, Africa, North and South America. In the course of solving the classification problem using a modern machine learning method (LightGBM), the key factors affecting the level of employment in the informal sector of the economy of Russian regions were identified.According to the classification results, we can conclude that a cardinal change in the current situation is not expected in the future. Therefore, for modern Russia, it is necessary to improve the state social policy for a significant part of the regions.The results of the empirical study can be applied to improve the effectiveness of the state social policy of the Russian Federation. Thus, in particular, it will be possible to specify the amount of financial resources required for additional social support of the employed population of certain regions of our country.

Syed Muhammad Salman, Athar Iqbal, Meer Rujaib Naseem et al.

The study focusses on historical perspective, contemporary historical perspective as well as futurologist perspective of Sino-India relations, economic development and bilateral trade.  The economic growth has been examined with the interaction effect of Belt & Road Initiative. The purpose of this study is to find out the reasons of correlation between Sino-India economic growth patterns for last two thousand years as well as making recommendations for the optimal level of the relations in the region in the emerging century of East. The study further aims to examine the cross-country impact of infrastructure development on other countries. A total of thirty countries which are a part of Belt and Road Initiative were selected. The data is collected from World Bank Database from 1990 to 2019 (n=900). The data were analyzed using penal data regression models (fixed random effect regression models) to test the effect of macro-economic variables on economic growth, while hierarchical moderated regression analysis was used to determine the moderating effect of Belt and Road Initiative on the economic growth of participating economies. Belt & Road Initiative significantly moderate the relationship of economic growth with its factors. Therefore, we conclude that Belt & Road is pivotal for economic growth of region. In the century of Asia, China and India must understand that trade cooperation and congenial relations with in the region is beneficial for all the stakeholders in Asian Region while West and USA want to utilize India to halt the progress in the region and converting India a leading state to fight with China in the best interest of West. The only resolvable issues in Sino-India relations are border marketing in Tibrt, Arnachal Perdesh and Kashmir which are not only hampering the economic growth of these areas but also deviating the focus from economic growth towards militarization of the region.  The limitations of this article is that the idea of Belt & Road was initiated in 2013 and different countries have joined BRI in different years. We have taken only those countries which have become a part of BRI till 2017. Another limitation is that we have selected few macroeconomic and social variables to test their effect on economic growth. We have selected those variables which are important for developing economies since majority of countries in BRI are developing. It is a unique study from the perspective, that it is using the available and estimated GDP of last two thousand years to find out the correlation between China’s and India’s economic growth and based on empirical analysis rather than theoretical one, suggesting the optimal level of relationship between China and India, why active participation of Betl & Road Initiative (BRI) by India is necessary for India’s growth.

Juhi Gupta, Vipul Jain

The use of areca nut also known as supari or chaali is an age-old tradition and very popular in people living in South Asian countries. However, in general, people know very little about its ill effects. This study aimed to examine knowledge, attitudes, and practices regarding the health risks associated with chewing areca nuts and betel quid among the adult population and to evaluate the knowledge about its possible role as a contributing factor in oral cancer among the adult population. The unicentric cross-sectional survey was conducted on 1644 adult subjects belonging to the adult population of Aligarh and nearby places between March 2021 and December 2021. We analyzed the data using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) software version 22. The overall average age of the participants was 39.32 ± 14.18. The male-to-female ratio was 2:1. Among the study subjects, 54% were betel nut or betel quid chewers. Only 30.8% knew that areca nut may cause oral cancer and with low knowledge related to its systematic effect. Areca nut is a known carcinogenic agent and carries the risk of cancer even if it is used alone. However, information about the systemic ill effect especially its carcinogenic effect is very low among the general population.

R. Varnashree, P. Varghese

: Female health trends have drawn enormous importance in social science, as it undoubtedly reflects the prosperity of a nation. Researchers have brought out the poor state of health among women, especially in Asian countries. Despite various governmental and non-governmental interventions the situations remain far from satisfaction. Effective health communication is crucial to improve the health literacy among people. Print media have tremendous impact on the knowledge, attitude and practices related to health. The present research sought to understand how much importance is given to various health topics in Grihsobha, a women magazine published in Kannada language, especially when the entire world was shocked with the Covid-19 pandemic. The content analysis showed that even when the entire world was affected by the pandemic, fashion and entertainment was given more importance than health issues in women magazines

T. Sulistyaningsih, M. J. Loilatu, Ali Roziqin

Purpose Smart urban governance research has progressed over the past few decades following changes and increasingly complicated city management difficulties. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to use a scoping review and bibliometric analysis to examine all the publications on smart urban governance, especially in Asia. Design/methodology/approach A total of 1,900 smart urban governance articles indexed in the Scopus database was analyzed through scoping review and bibliometric analysis. The articles were analyzed by the number of publications per year, contributing countries, subject areas, authors, cited documents, related issues and cited papers. Furthermore, VOSviewer was used to provide a visual analysis of the co-occurrence of keywords. Findings This study indicated that urban smart governance publications continue to increase yearly. Even though the area of analysis is Asia, the USA and China seriously contributed to the analysis. Therefore, the topic of smart urban governance has become a discussion for scholars in the international. From the Scopus database analysis, the top three subject areas are social sciences (28%), environmental science (20%) and medicine (16%). The synthesis using bibliometric analysis by VOSviewer obtained 13 clusters. Research limitations/implications This study only focuses on the Scopus database and one specific topic, using one bibliometric analysis tool. Meanwhile, national and international index databases are not used. Originality/value This paper examined publication trends on smart urban governance. This paper provided a comprehensive analysis of topic-specific knowledge areas based on previous studies. Additionally, this paper suggested the direction of the development of smart urban governance in the future.

C. Henderson

Ethiopia was not an object that existed independently from the questions posed by students. Rather, these student articles were part of the ‘process of state-making and the political battlefield’ (p. 41). The book is not a history of the Ethiopian Student Movement, despite rich insights into its historiography. Ethiopia in Theory powerfully strikes at the ontology of the positivist social sciences as a group of academic disciplines that has often rendered the past usable, the present legible and the future calculable. Rather than reproducing this epistemological tradition in the study of Ethiopia, the book’s strength lies in its form: Zeleke’s method of personal interrogation allows her and her readers to not only engage with the past, but also with the fragmented ways through which the past is presented. Ethiopia in Theory models a unique method of expressing self-reflexive, analytical and intellectual thought without the pretence of historical neutrality. At times, however, the book is not explicit in linking the writings of the student movement to subsequent policies. Zeleke argues that the Derg’s rural land proclamations were ‘justified in the language of the student movement’ (p. 139) but remains vague in describing what it is the students specifically wrote about the land tenure systems that were adopted in these proclamations. This points to a larger challenge about tracing and disentangling the legacies of the student movement from later ideological influences ranging from Meles Zenawi’ keen interests in Alice Amsden’s work on Asian developmentalism in the early 1990s to the Tigrayan People’s Liberation Front’s brief infatuation with Albanian Marxism in the 1980s. Perhaps, the substantive legacies of the student movement were not as dominant as the epistemological ones. Despite significant ideological shifts and political ruptures of various Ethiopian regimes, social scientists continue to be paraded as neutral arbiters and expert referees on irreconcilable political questions about what Ethiopia should be. While Ethiopia’s intellectuals are currently embroiled in a bitter contest of historical truth-making to justify contemporary political positions, Zeleke reminds us that the country’s hopes lie not in reformulating a usable past but recognising and acknowledging the partial ways in which it has been passed down to us. Ethiopia in Theory helps us navigate the silences and repressed narratives that erupt in times of war.

Shuchen Xiang

This article argues that the concept of the “barbarian” is inapplicable to the Chinese tradition. By contrasting the Greek and later European view on what it means to be human with the image of the authentic human in Chinese philosophy, this paper argues that the Chinese tradition did not have a conception of what the Greeks understood as “barbarian”. In the former, the ideal of the human is understood through an investigation of the concept of ousia, which is characterized by a dualistic hierarchy between “form” and “matter”. The same dualism and hierarchy that distinguishes ousia, can be mapped onto the Greek distinction between the human and barbarian. Chinese metaphysics is not consistent with the Greek idea that reality is constituted by unchanging forms that are self-identical and keep within their own boundaries. Relatedly, the idea that there is a static hierarchy among the myriad things of the world is also foreign to Chinese metaphysics. Instead, the Chinese metaphysical tradition assumes that nothing will stay the same forever as all “things” are a function of how they relate to an ever-changing environment. One important consequence of this view is that the human and non-human distinction is much more dynamic. Related to this dynamic view of self is the (Confucian) view that the human being only becomes authentically human through their acculturation. This acculturation is the process of a person’s growth through public symbolic media such as li (礼), yue (乐) and wen (文). This process of growth shapes the person into an other-regarding social being (ren 仁). Importantly, no one is born a fully-realized human; human-ness is not an essence that is possessed but is always a result of the process of acculturation.

K. Cunningham, M. Ruel, E. Ferguson et al.

Siaw Yan-Li, N. Jiang, Kanit Pamanee et al.

Background and Purpose: Online learning has become a new norm to higher education institutions in the developing countries since COVID-19 pandemic. An overnight shift from conventional physical learning to online learning in this pandemic moment has posed a major challenge to most of the educational institutions. Student’s readiness and satisfaction towards online learning activities are important to ensure the effectiveness of this new learning method. Therefore, this study aims to examine the online learning readiness and satisfaction among the university students from four Asian countries during COVID-19 pandemic. The domains of the examinations included student learning preference, self- direction, self-efficacy, and hardware-soft skill support.   Methodology: This survey research employed a quantitative approach to gather data. The sample respondents were 1,195 university students from Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, and China, selected using a simple random sampling method. Online questionnaires were distributed to the respondents, comprising 37 items including demographic profiles, satisfaction, and online learning readiness assessment. The survey responses were analysed descriptively and inferentially using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 21.0.   Findings: Results showed that 74.7% of the participants had a middle level of online learning readiness, and only 20.1% had high online learning readiness. The levels of online learning readiness varied among the participating countries. The participants lacked online learning preference, as shown in the lower mean scores compared to the means of self-direction, self-efficacy, and hardware-soft skill supports. For satisfaction, students reflected that online course required improvement, as observed in only 31% satisfaction with the online learning courses provided. The results also revealed that there was a significant positive correlation (r=.383) between online learning readiness and students’ satisfaction.   Contributions: This study provides preliminary insights into the preparedness of online learning in higher educational institutions in the Asian countries. It implies a potential disruptive impact on the educational system during the pandemic. Such perspectives are crucial for educators to understand students’ readiness and perceptions as a means of providing more effective online courses.   Keywords: COVID-19 pandemic, online learning readiness, higher education, satisfaction.   Cite as: Yan-Li, S., Na, J., Pamanee, K., & Sriyanto, J. (2022). Online learning readiness and satisfaction during COVID-19 pandemic among university students in four Asian countries. Journal of Nusantara Studies, 7(2), 245-269. http://dx.doi.org/10.24200/jonus.vol7iss2pp245-269

T. Quach, Lan N. Ðoàn, Julia Liou et al.

Background The diverse Asian American population has been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, but due to limited data and other factors, disparities experienced by this population are hidden. Objective This study aims to describe the Asian American community’s experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic, focusing on the Greater San Francisco Bay Area, California, and to better inform a Federally Qualified Health Center’s (FQHC) health care services and response to challenges faced by the community. Methods We conducted a cross-sectional survey between May 20 and June 23, 2020, using a multipronged recruitment approach, including word-of-mouth, FQHC patient appointments, and social media posts. The survey was self-administered online or administered over the phone by FQHC staff in English, Cantonese, Mandarin, and Vietnamese. Survey question topics included COVID-19 testing and preventative behaviors, economic impacts of COVID-19, experience with perceived mistreatment due to their race/ethnicity, and mental health challenges. Results Among 1297 Asian American respondents, only 3.1% (39/1273) had previously been tested for COVID-19, and 46.6% (392/841) stated that they could not find a place to get tested. In addition, about two-thirds of respondents (477/707) reported feeling stressed, and 22.6% (160/707) reported feeling depressed. Furthermore, 5.6% (72/1275) of respondents reported being treated unfairly because of their race/ethnicity. Among respondents who experienced economic impacts from COVID-19, 32.2% (246/763) had lost their regular jobs and 22.5% (172/763) had reduced hours or reduced income. Additionally, 70.1% (890/1269) of respondents shared that they avoid leaving their home to go to public places (eg, grocery stores, church, and school). Conclusions We found that Asian Americans had lower levels of COVID-19 testing and limited access to testing, a high prevalence of mental health issues and economic impacts, and a high prevalence of risk-avoidant behaviors (eg, not leaving the house) in the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic. These findings provide preliminary insights into the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Asian American communities served by an FQHC and underscore the longstanding need for culturally and linguistically appropriate approaches to providing mental health, outreach, and education services. These findings led to the establishment of the first Asian multilingual and multicultural COVID-19 testing sites in the local area where the study was conducted, and laid the groundwork for subsequent COVID-19 programs, specifically contact tracing and vaccination programs.

Philipp Lottholz, Thorsten Bonacker

THE DIFFICULTY OF BUILDING LONG-LASTING PEACE AND comprehensive security in societies emerging from conflict and external rule seems to be particularly pronounced in the peripheries of the former Soviet Union and its sphere of influence. The limited success and failures of long-standing efforts to build up and shape state structures and institutions that guarantee democratic, peaceful and secure development have led to increased questioning of the assumptions of liberal and institutionalist approaches that have long dominated scientific and policy debates. Given the sustained and increasingly sophisticated ways in which regional regimes shape and restrict possibilities for cooperation and interaction, and, more significantly, the livelihoods of their populations, there appears to be ample room for further discussion of new ways of grasping current political and societal developments in Central Asia against their historical background. This special issue seeks to facilitate a better understanding of continuities, parallels, path dependencies and possible future scenarios of the development of sustainable peace and security in Central Asia in light of its imperial legacies. Drawing together historical, political and area studies perspectives, as well as critical and post-colonial approaches in critical security studies, political science and IR, the collection seeks to elucidate the macro-level and international relations perspectives, while also considering micro-level and sector-specific dynamics of ‘(post-)imperial politics’ in Central Asia. The specific contribution that we seek to bring to debates on the region and analogous cases beyond Central Asia develops along two lines. First, the in-depth inquiry of current post-imperial policies, practices and lifeworlds—as well as their imperial precursors—can yield new empirical insights that help to refine established understandings of life before, during and after the Soviet Union. Such differentiation and nuancing, as we illustrate below, can be valuable for more critically, and perhaps realistically, assessing present possibilities of progressive social and political change and the barriers posed to it by the persistence of

B. Santosa

This study examines the determinants of Indonesian banking efficiency in post-Asian monetary crisis. It used a quantitative approach and historical data, where the data used is both time series (2000–2012), and crosssectional (for some commercial banks that meet the requirements of the sample). Conceptually, it will rely upon the concept of efficiency proposed by Farrell (1957). Meanwhile, banking efficiency measurement techniques are used in the DEA with the intermediation approach as the basis for the selection of input and output. In the application of DEA, it will use both CRS models (models CCR) and VRS (BCC models). While in its construction, it will use an input-oriented approach. From here we identify the variables that affect the Indonesian banking efficiency in the post-Asian monetary crisis, by using Tobit Regression Model. Based on the sample of 17 commercial banks, our findings reveal that the efficiency of Indonesian commercial banks via the intermediation approach has been running normally and tends to be efficient in the post-Asian monetary crisis. In addition, banks in Indonesia are significantly affected by Size, State Ownership, Private Ownership, Non-merger, Foreign Ownership, Risk, and Economic Growth. From the study, it appears that the Size and Ownership of both state-private and domestic-foreign are variables that affect the Overall Technical Efficiency (OTE), Pure Technical Efficiency (PTE), and Scale Efficiency (SE). Furthermore, Non-Merger is a variable that affects the Overall Technical Efficiency (OTE), and Scale Efficiency (SE). Meanwhile, Risk affects only Pure Technical Efficiency (PTE), as well as Economic Growth which only affects Overall Technical Efficiency (OTE). Instead, Competition, Inflation, and Global Crisis did not affect all types of efficiency.

R. Simonyan

Intercivilizational interaction, the main arena of which is the Eurasian continent today, is one of the fundamental problems of social science. Of particular interest are the border zones, where this interaction is directly carried out. The article considers the Russian-Kazakh border area, a space of a centuries-old cultural dialogue of various peoples, the importance of which will increase with the development of the process of economic interaction between Europe and Asia. If Russia, located between the two leading actors of world politics – the European Union and China, connects the huge Eurasian continent into a single whole, then Kazakhstan, which accounts for more than a third of the length of Russia's land borders, is located in the center of this continent. Transport corridors between Asia and Europe run through Russia and Kazakhstan. So far, the Russian-Kazakh border area has not been studied enough, which primarily relates to its social component. While the border is not only a state-legal institution with the material infrastructure necessary to ensure national security and interaction with neighboring countries, but also people whose consciousness and activity ensure the fulfillment of both functions of borders – contact and barrier. The article presents the results of a comparative study of the features of the regional consciousness of the most advanced and promising part of the population of the Russian-Kazakh border region – students.

Ana Sabhana Azmy, Chusnul Mar'iyah

This study addresses efforts made by Indonesian government actors in Malaysia and Hong Kong to protect Indonesian women migrant workers in the informal sector working in both countries. Indonesian female migrant workers in Malaysia were numbered the highest in Southeast Asia, while Indonesian female migrant workers in Hong Kong were the highest in Asia. The theories and ideas used in this research are the concepts of countries and migrant workers suggested by Gunawardana with the classification of brokerage, regulatory and protectionist regimes. The increasing number of work-related cases of violence, access to health, and legal protection indicates that the problems faced by Indonesian women migrant workers and the role of government protection remain partially addressed. By using qualitative research methods, and in-depth interviews, the current study found that Indonesian government actors in Malaysia made efforts to protect two women migrant workers who were victims of violence. However, it was not only due to protection efforts but also because of the role that civil society had in their efforts to resolve the cases. Meanwhile, Indonesian government actors in Hong Kong had not performed optimally in seeking protective measures for victims of violence, and there was a dominant protective role maintained by civil society in Hong Kong in regards to the Erwiana case. The domestic recruitment process, which is quite lacking in terms of protection, had an effect on the violence experienced by the two Indonesian female migrant workers in Malaysia and had no effect on the Indonesian female migrant worker in Hong Kong. Based on these findings, it can be concluded that the role of Indonesian government actors in protecting women migrant workers is part of the protectionist regime but is partially executed because they had not been afforded protection since their departure. The novelty of this research is that the role maintained by civil society has led to the shift of the broker regime toward the protectionist. This research discovered a new finding that given the role of civil society and the synergy between government actors and civil society, the role of the Indonesian government is identified to be in the protectionist regime even though it is partial and conditional, namely given the role and participation that civil society holds.

Longgina Novadona Bayo

In contrast to accounts that explain increases in women’s political representation by reference to structural and institutional factors, this article draws attention to the agency of women candidates. The number of women elected in the Eastern Indonesian province of East Nusa Tenggara ( Nusa Tenggara Timur , NTT) increased markedly in 2019. To explain this increase, this article highlights the remarkable persistence of women candidates, many of whom succeeded in 2019 only after competing in multiple prior elections, slowly building their personal political skills and reputations. The article also draws attention to the effects of positive female role models – showing how a female candidate in a gubernatorial race inspired other women politicians – and the positive effects that can arise from co-operation among women candidates. It shows that, despite the emphasis on male dominance and dynastic power in much of the literature on Indonesian politics, there are still pathways to power for women with origins in the grassroots.

Yoshiyuki Yama

Abstract Modern sciences were introduced to Japan from Western countries during the Meiji period. In other words, this was the process of translating Western academic languages into Japanese academic languages. The translation was meant to reuse existing Chinese characters with similar meanings to Western academic languages or create new Chinese characters. Japan was able to rapidly introduce modern Western science during the Meiji period because it already had academic languages comparable to modern Western science; thus, the translation proceeded smoothly. This means that academic ways of thinking that were comparable to modern Western science were developing in Japan. At that time, modern Japanese society first encountered sociology as modern science. Sociology was translated into the Chinese characters “社会学 (Syakaigaku)” and introduced to Japan. The term Syakaigaku first appeared in Japan during the Meiji period; however, before that, early modern Japan had developed several kinds of sociological thought. The purpose of this paper is to examine the history of Japanese thought, especially the new types of Confucianism and Nativism (Kokugaku), in the Edo period in comparison with Western sociology. Various remarkable thoughts similar to those seen in Western sociology are found. This paper then reviews a Nativism scholar, Motoori Norinaga, who was active during the Edo period and influenced Japanese environmental sociology through the folklorist Kunuo Yanagita. Finally, a new sociology, which combines the Western sociological theory of ritual, the Japanese Confucian theory of ritual by Ogyu Sorai, and the narrative theory of Norinaga, is presented.