Article
Area Studies
Rural livelihoods and caterpillar fungus collection: Diverse economies of surplus for dignified labour
Caihuan Duojie, Matthew Scobie
Summary: This study explores the appropriation and distribution of surplus in caterpillar fungus collection in Qinghai. It finds that a more typically capitalist enterprise type dominates in this industry, leading to insecure incomes and stringent working conditions for rural farmer collectors. The study suggests a rethink of surplus appropriation and distribution based on culturally valued dignity of labour to create more sustainable and equitable livelihoods.
ASIA PACIFIC VIEWPOINT (2023)
Article
Area Studies
Repurposing agricultural support policies for shared prosperity in rural Fiji
Kym Anderson
Summary: Despite the growing importance of tourism exports, agriculture in the rural sector plays a significant role in Fiji's economy. However, policies and institutions favoring sugar and livestock producers have led to an unequal allocation of resources, disadvantaging other farmers and non-farm product producers. Redirecting subsidies towards rural public goods and lowering tariffs on meat and milk imports can benefit a larger proportion of rural people, especially those living in poverty, while improving nutrition and health.
ASIA & THE PACIFIC POLICY STUDIES (2023)
Article
Area Studies
Reinterpretation of the autonomy of art in the contemporary environment
Zhiyun Lei, Wen Zhou
Summary: This paper examines the current status of art in society from the perspective of 'Yin and Yang' philosophy, emphasizing the power of art and its role in advocating for freedom and transformation in society.
INTERNATIONAL COMMUNICATION OF CHINESE CULTURE (2023)
Article
Area Studies
The role of the Israeli-Syrian mixed armistice commission in the fate of the Arabs of Krad al-Baqqara and Krad al-Ghaname 1948-1956
Yoram Fried
Summary: The 1949 Israeli-Syrian armistice agreement established a mixed armistice commission to oversee the implementation of the agreement. As a result, demilitarized zones were created for local Arab villagers. The fate of these villagers was influenced by the interests and involvement of the IDF, the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Syrian government, and UN observers.
BRITISH JOURNAL OF MIDDLE EASTERN STUDIES (2023)
Article
Area Studies
The ideological origins and aesthetic construction of yijing (artistic conception)
Jing Hongmei
Summary: Yijing, an important concept in China's classical aesthetic category, has its ideological origin deeply influenced by traditional philosophies of Buddhism and Taoism. The structure of Yijing bears similarities to the artistic practice and aesthetic experience of other ethnic groups, suggesting its universality in ancient and modern cultures.
INTERNATIONAL COMMUNICATION OF CHINESE CULTURE (2023)
Article
Area Studies
The Shadow Economy and Social Change in North Korea
Hyung-min Joo, Taehee Whang, Young Jun Choi, Wooseon Choi
Summary: North Koreans have heavily relied on the shadow economy since the collapse of socialism in the 1990s. The shadow economy has brought about significant changes in social practices, welfare perception, corruption levels, and public views of the regime. However, due to tight social control, people remain sceptical about the possibility of regime change.
ASIAN STUDIES REVIEW (2023)
Article
Area Studies
Seeing Sudan: visual archives in a time of war
Kylie Thomas
Summary: This visual essay examines archival photographs from Sudan, which are part of the Sudan Family Archives collected and digitized by photographer Ala Kheir in collaboration with the Photography Legacy Project. The piece reflects on these images in the context of the war in Sudan that started on April 15, 2023.
SAFUNDI (2023)
Article
Area Studies
Internal Migration Policies in China: Patterns and Determinants of the Household Registration Reform Policy Design in 2014
Julia Shu-Huah Wang, Yiwen Zhu, Chenhong Peng, Jing You
Summary: This study examines city-level patterns of internal migration policies in response to the reform of Chinese household registration. The results show that the majority of cities have adopted less lenient selection policies while offering integrative social welfare policies. Economic development and growth are related to more lenient selection policies for high-skilled migrants, while top-down controls of superior governments, local politicians' characteristics, and migrants' sociocultural environments account for both selection and integration policies.
CHINA QUARTERLY (2023)
Article
Area Studies
The Inner Dynamics of Moral Economies: The Case of Waste Management
Daniel Sosna
Summary: The article examines the internal dynamics and relationality of moral economies, with a focus on labor relations. Drawing on ethnographic research among Czech landfill workers, it analyzes two spheres of waste management: informal scavenging and wastewater management. The article argues that a combination of moral economy and everyday ethics can enhance our understanding of how people reason about good, dignity, and justice while pursuing their own goals. It also highlights the scalar reshaping of moral economies and emphasizes the importance of imaginative relations with distant others.
EAST EUROPEAN POLITICS AND SOCIETIES (2023)
Article
Area Studies
The Moral Matrix of Capitalism: Insights from Central and Eastern Europe
Nicolette Makovicky, Jorg Wiegratz, Dimitra Kofti
Summary: This special section focuses on moral milieus and agencies in contemporary capitalist Central and Eastern Europe, providing insights into the changing perceptions of proper economy and practice among a broad range of actors. Through case studies from Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Romania, and Russia, the contributors explore how actors at different scales construct, contest, and defend ideas of justice, redistribution, and social worth. They also analyze the capitalist moral transformation and order in the region, examining the local appropriation and critique of neoliberal moral orders.
EAST EUROPEAN POLITICS AND SOCIETIES (2023)
Article
Area Studies
The Moral Economy of Welfare: Bulgarian Roma Migrants Reclaiming Social Citizenship through Fraud
Neda Deneva
Summary: This paper explores the formation of a moral economy of welfare through acts of benefit fraud. The structural conditions of labor, citizenship, and migration regimes in contemporary Europe exclude many workers from obtaining social citizenship, positioning them as undeserving of the social contract. Through the case study of Bulgarian Roma engaged in precarious labor and short-term mobility between Bulgaria and the Netherlands, the author demonstrates how both labor conditions and welfare regimes effectively prevent their access to social citizenship, confining them to the informal labor sector and creating a situation of differential inclusion. The interpretation of benefit fraud in this context varies, from perceiving it as a crime or a survival strategy to a claim for social justice. By employing the concept of a moral economy of welfare, the author explains how migrants justify their actions not as transgressions, but as a demand for social citizenship and a critique of an unjust social and economic order. Within this moral economy of welfare, migrants see themselves as deserving state support based on their citizenship and their contribution as good workers. The exclusion from proper welfare support is seen as a failure of both states. In this context, benefit fraud is framed as an act of citizenship aimed at restoring justice.
EAST EUROPEAN POLITICS AND SOCIETIES (2023)
Article
Area Studies
Transgender activism in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan
Yana Kirey-Sitnikova
Summary: This paper examines the living conditions of transgender individuals and transgender organizing in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan. Findings suggest that transgender people in Central Asia experience widespread discrimination, harassment, and rejection, as well as economic hardships. Limited access to legal gender recognition and healthcare further exacerbate their challenges. Despite facing a hostile political environment and opposition from anti-gender movements, transgender activists self-organize to provide support, educate healthcare professionals, and advocate for trans rights. However, political instability often hinders their advocacy efforts.
CENTRAL ASIAN SURVEY (2023)
Article
Area Studies
Who Cares for Families? Narrative(s) of Return in Postsocialist Europe
Adriana Zaharijevic, Joanna Wawrzyniak, Anca Dohotariu
Summary: The article introduces and analyzes the core concept of "narrative of return" in the special section "Who Cares for Families? Narrative(s) of Return in Postsocialist Europe." It highlights the narrative that emphasizes the threat to and the need for defense or special care of families, framing care as a return to natural, traditional, or proper family values. The article defines and applies the conceptual framework in a transnational context, particularly within transnational anti-gender campaigns during the populist moment. It also focuses on the significance of the narrative of return in the postsocialist part of Europe, where it is closely linked to national restoration projects and serves as a tool for both liberation from the Soviet past and the European Union present.
EAST EUROPEAN POLITICS AND SOCIETIES (2023)
Article
Area Studies
Caring for the Child, Caring for the Family: The Clash over the National Strategy for the Child (2019-2030) in Bulgaria
Gergana Nenova, Ana Luleva, Tatyana Kotzeva
Summary: This article examines the different meanings embedded in the public discourses against the National Strategy for the Child in Bulgaria. It explores how transnational and local influences shape the narratives of family, childcare, and child protection in the anti-gender movement. The analysis focuses on the viewpoints of conservative NGOs and citizens who participated in the discussion, highlighting their differing discourses and the underlying themes of traditional family values and child-rearing models. It also reveals the deep distrust towards the state and its institutions, which was amplified by far-right NGOs to mobilize a mass social movement against the Strategy.
EAST EUROPEAN POLITICS AND SOCIETIES (2023)
Article
Area Studies
Extreme hardship, care ethics, and humanitarian protection: Lessons from Libya and Italy
Caterina Francesca Guidi, Anna Triandafyllidou, Katie Kuschminder
Summary: This paper focuses on the extreme hardship faced by migrants crossing through Libya to reach Italy and Europe. It argues for an ethics of care that provides humanitarian protection for migrants who may not be asylum seekers but who need assistance due to the harm suffered during their journey. The paper examines the case of Italy and discusses the potential for developing a humanitarian permit at the national or European level.
MEDITERRANEAN POLITICS (2023)
Article
Area Studies
Restoring What Never Existed: The Role of Familism in the Narratives of Return in Hungary
Aniko Gregor, Ingrid Verebes
Summary: This study aims to provide insights into the mechanisms and impacts of familism in Hungarian non-governmental organizations, public and higher education, and academia, highlighting the role of academia and NGOs in reproducing and legitimizing familism.
EAST EUROPEAN POLITICS AND SOCIETIES (2023)
Article
Area Studies
The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk and the Repatriation of East Prussian Deportees from Simbirsk during World War I
Charles Perrin
Summary: This article assesses the repatriation of East Prussian deportees from Simbirsk to Germany during April to June 1918, examining if it adhered to the terms of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk. The study concludes that the repatriation was not carried out in accordance with the treaty, as interpreted by the German and Russian governments, and highlights potential policy implications for the ongoing war in Ukraine.
EAST EUROPEAN POLITICS AND SOCIETIES (2023)
Article
Area Studies
Rich Russians' Morality of Success
Elisabeth Schimpfoessl
Summary: This article explores the dominant morality and ideology among wealthy Russians, and how they perceive their role in society. Based on interviews and observations of 80 Russian millionaires and billionaires, as well as their spouses and children, conducted from the late 2000s to the late 2010s, the article highlights the influence of Soviet history on contemporary upper-class Russians' views of meritocracy. The author argues that studying international sociological research helps us better understand how Russian elites justify the concentration of wealth and power in their own hands, and how they present themselves as morally deserving. The article also suggests that these findings offer valuable insights into Western elites, particularly in terms of their emphasis on hard work and tendency to overlook biological factors.
EAST EUROPEAN POLITICS AND SOCIETIES (2023)
Article
Area Studies
Work Hard, Play Hard: The Moral Economy of Company Celebrations in Post-Socialist Bulgaria
Rossitsa Bolgurova
Summary: This article investigates the changes in workplace festivities in Bulgaria during the transition from socialism to post-socialism and examines the role of work celebrations in expressing and maintaining moral economies. During the socialist era, labor was glorified and work celebrations were utilized as a means of ideological and cultural engineering by the state. Since the 1990s, private business owners have reinterpreted and reinvented festive traditions to showcase their identities and moral orientations in both discourse and performance. Through in-depth interviews and participant observation, the author argues that highly mediated company celebrations provide employers with an opportunity to brand themselves as favorable entities in the wake of promotional cultures. These events also serve as models for the expectations of a good employee, which include not only competitiveness in work but also the ability to have fun, reflecting the growing emphasis on happiness in neoliberal workplaces.
EAST EUROPEAN POLITICS AND SOCIETIES (2023)
Article
Area Studies
The Politics of (Im)mobility: The Effects of the Pandemic on Movement Across the 'Contact Line' in Eastern Ukraine
Oleksandra Tarkhanova
Summary: This article explores how movement across the 'contact line' in Ukraine was restricted during the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on state-citizen relations.
EUROPE-ASIA STUDIES (2023)
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