|
Sort Order |
|
|
|
Items / Page
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Srl | Item |
1 |
ID:
089882
|
|
|
Publication |
2009.
|
Summary/Abstract |
In the 1940s and 1950s, at the height of the peasant-based Huk rebellion in the Philippines, major newspapers reported the capture of 'Huk Amazons' on an almost daily basis. Leonila was a gun-toting college student captured during military operations against the Huks; Liwayway was a former beauty pageant winner who swore to the authorities that she was 'merely the wife' of a Huk commander. All of these Huk women were indiscriminately labelled as 'Amazons' in the press and in the popular imagination. But what did the term actually mean in the context of the Huk rebellion and, more generally, in Philippine revolutionary history? This paper explores the contested representations of these Filipina women warriors.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
2 |
ID:
089887
|
|
|
Publication |
2009.
|
Summary/Abstract |
The rapid expansion of the Indonesian pulp industry has caused considerable environmental problems. Some argue that the state and the industry have addressed this issue rather successfully through technological amendments and effective civic involvement without hindering economic growth, which could be described as a path towards ecological modernization. However, the problems caused by Indorayon, Indonesia's first pulp and rayon company, show that this path can neglect the social aspects of sustainable development, without fully respecting the political rights of the local people, even after the end of authoritarian rule. In both the Suharto and post-Suharto periods, the state and Indorayon successfully prevented the civil society movement from making effective claims relating to their environmental concerns through oppression and a 'scientific' discourse emphasizing the economic and environmental aspects of the factory operations. Recognizing that such efforts have resulted in long-lasting social conflicts, this article illustrates the limit of the impact of democratization on environmental policy making in Indonesia, and the difficulties in using ecological modernization as a policy guideline for a sustainable society in the global South.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
3 |
ID:
089886
|
|
|
Publication |
2009.
|
Summary/Abstract |
This article analyses the 2008 gubernatorial election in Indonesia's Maluku province and puts its result - a resounding victory for incumbent governor Karel Ralahalu - into the broader context of the discourse on democracy in divided societies. Through a detailed analysis of Ralahalu's electoral strategy, the article illustrates how the incumbent used a combination of populism and comprehensive networking with key organizational stakeholders to secure an easy victory. The author also highlights the peaceful conduct of the election and the overall significance of the fact that key political, religious and ethno-regional actors seem to have accepted that democratic elections are now the only legitimate means to distribute formal political power. In short, it is argued that democracy can indeed work in divided societies, especially if it is based on institutional arrangements that promote cross-communal communication and cooperation.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
4 |
ID:
089883
|
|
|
Publication |
2009.
|
Summary/Abstract |
Many theorists of democratization transition have, either explicitly or implicitly, a teleological concept of political progress, liberalization and reform. For such theorists, countries such as Malaysia are therefore in transition towards substantive 'full' liberal democracy. Taken in this light, the significant advances by opposition political parties in the 2008 federal and state elections in Malaysia represent a major advance towards this end goal. While many have highlighted that Malaysia may in fact be an exception to this rule, this paper contends instead that the Malaysian case study challenges the central tenets of democratic transition more profoundly. Indeed, since independence the Malaysian regime has proved remarkably resilient and resistant to pressures for political liberalization.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
5 |
ID:
089884
|
|
|
Publication |
2009.
|
Summary/Abstract |
Recent processes of decentralization have dramatically changed local political configurations and access to resources throughout Indonesia. In particular, the resource-rich regions at the margins of the state have, in the name of regional autonomy, experienced new spaces for manoeuvre in their claims for a larger share of forest resources. By stressing the unfolding relationship between local ethnic elites and the state, and their different strategies in negotiating and claiming authority over forests within Indonesia's changing forest regimes, the paper examines how local-level politics has taken on its special configuration in the remote border region of West Kalimantan, Indonesia. The author demonstrates this by focusing on the ongoing struggle over forest resources and by tracking the fate of a political movement for a new district in this resource-rich region. The paper further examines how current local elite strategies and networks can be related back to the period of border militarization in the 1960s and, once again, how these seem to challenge the exclusivity of the Indonesian-Malaysian border. The main argument is that central authority in the borderland has never been absolute, but waxes and wanes, and thus that state rules and laws are always up for local interpretation and negotiation, although the degree of such negotiation changes depending on the strength of the central state.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
6 |
ID:
089888
|
|
|
Publication |
2009.
|
Summary/Abstract |
'Singapore stories' are frequently tales of departure and arrival, but in the midst of this the nation-state has set out to construct a sense of permanence, and with that a future, such that the transits might become meaningful in the national narrative. Those who leave are supposed to be overseas Singaporeans; those who come, new Singaporeans. To this end, the country could do with an icon of mobility such as Zheng He, who evokes history, character and expansiveness. His legendary journeys stimulated imaginations and marked the apex of the navigational technology of his day. In mainstream historical accounts, he was a figure of peace, representing the mighty yet benevolent Middle Kingdom, and even a folk deity. The 600th anniversary of the launching of the first voyage in 1405 was celebrated throughout China and the Chinese diaspora. In Singapore, the Singapore Tourism Board and private agencies rode on the worldwide publicity generated by the 2002 book by Gavin Menzies - arguing that China discovered America before Columbus and circumnavigated the world before Magellan - to host a range of mega-events, including an international exhibition based on the book's claims. However, the celebrations were dampened by the efforts of Singapore-based Geoff Wade, a historian of Ming dynasty China, who has tirelessly disputed such claims. Other scholars and businessmen in Singapore have also entered the fray. From Raffles to Zheng He, Singapore's search for history serves only to emphasize its historical rootlessness.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|