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Social cohesion has emerged as a powerful hybrid concept used by academics and policy analysts. Academics use the concept to underline the social and economic failings of modernity, linking it to the decline of communal values and civic participation. Policy analysts use it to highlight the social and economic inequities caused by globalization. The desired effect of using this concept is often to influence governments to implement policies that will enhance social cohesion by reducing social and economic disparities. Despite its widespread use, however, statistical measures of social cohesion tend to overlook local, non-Western strategies of social inclusion as well as the social impact of non-Western economic systems, such as the mixed economy typical of many Aboriginal communities in North America. In this paper, we develop a model of social cohesion that addresses these omissions through the use of social indicators that measure both the behavior and perceptions of Inuit living in the Canadian Arctic with respect to the social, cultural and economic conditions of Arctic communities. We explain how and why measuring social cohesion is optimized by combining both culturally-specific and non-specific social indicators.

International student mobility, taking place within the framework of globalisation, internationalisation and transnationalism, has attained much attention. This paper adopts the Intellectual Migration framework to further our understanding of mobility regarding international higher education. It simultaneously studies China-born students in both China and North America to empirically examine the propensity for student mobility across national borders and the determining factors behind the realisation of such mobility under the same set of geopolitical and international circumstances. The analysis is based on a set of cross-sectional surveys conducted in the 2017–2019 period that yields over 1600 data points. We compare the 'who', 'why' and 'where' aspects of migration between domestic students in China and Chinese international students in North America to delineate the factors underlying international student mobility. By highlighting aspirations and capabilities on mobility outcomes, this paper contributes to differentiating mobility between undergraduate and graduate students and the implications for social inequality. Our analysis also reveals the unequal spatial distributions of educational resources between intellectual gateways and peripheries, and by extension between the Global North and the Global South. The findings of this paper have policy implications on improving the quality, accessibility, and equity of higher education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How do you design a sustainable urban area from scratch? A growing number of urban development projects, marketing themselves as sustainable or 'eco' cities, claim to have the answer. This paper focuses on the companies who create the masterplans that guide the development of such sustainable urban projects. While these projects are appearing in a diverse array of locations around the world, they are largely conceived and designed by a small, elite group of international architecture, engineering and planning firms based in North America and Europe sometimes referred to as the global intelligence corps (GIC). Drawing on research into these firms, the paper examines the contemporary drivers of internationalisation in sustainable urban planning and design. These include enhanced professional reputations and satisfaction for designers and branding benefits for clients with a desire to be seen as modern and 'global'. The paper then considers the role of international masterplanners in the global dissemination of ideas in this area, concluding that the GIC and the plans they develop are playing a significant role in the development of an international model of sustainable urbanism. However, the way in which this model is actually expressed in material form is strongly influenced by the demands and priorities of the GIC's international clients. The paper concludes by reflecting on what this research demonstrates about what it means for a planning model to be both relational and territorial. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to shed light on firm-specific drivers that lead firms to internationalise their innovation activities. The paper paints a comprehensive picture of driving forces by including firm capabilities, characteristics of the firm's competitive environment and the influence of innovation obstacles in the home country. In particular the influence of potential driving forces on the probability to carry out different innovative activities abroad is assessed (R&D, design/conception of new products, manufacturing of innovative products and implementation of new processes). In a second stage these driving forces are observed with regard to their impact on the decision to locate innovation activities in various countries and regions (China, Eastern Europe, Western Europe and North America) as well as in groups of countries with similar levels of knowledge ('country clubs'). The analysis is based on the Mannheim Innovation Panel survey which represents the German CIS (Community Innovation Survey) contribution. Two survey waves have been combined, resulting in a sample of about 1,400 firms. The results show that the decision to perform innovation activities abroad is mainly driven by organisational capabilities such as absorptive capacities, international experience and existing technological competences of the respective firm. Innovation barriers at the German home base such as lack of labour and high innovation costs prompt the set-up of later-stage innovation activities abroad while the lack of demand demonstrates a barrier to the internationalisation decision for the development and manufacturing of new products. Location decisions receive the strongest influencing effects from the international experience of the firm. Firms which innovate in developing countries seem to require a more extensive level of international experience through international R&D cooperation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is inspired by three issues, namely ongoing research on South Africans of Indian origin, the anecdotal evidence that accumulates through ongoing discussions on a casual level with such people and the increasing interest among researchers about how globalization and transnational movements are impacting upon identity formation among minorities who are seeking employment or a new life in the developed economies of the 'big five' English-speaking countries, i.e. the USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the UK. It is in countries such as these that a third identity emerges and develops to instill a sense of triple identity. The information here suggests that, when people of Indian origin migrate to one of these countries, they continue to cling to South Africa because it is their country of birth, as well as to India, more for sentimental rather than practical reasons. The topic of this paper reflects a contemporary phenomenon not just among the Indians in South Africa, but also among other diasporas such as Chinese in Latin America, whose new and final emigration destination always seems to be the US. In addition, people of Chinese origin in the countries of Indochina, such as Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia, experienced similar patterns of becoming diasporas in Europe, North America and Oceania in the 1970s. However, migration implores them to renegotiate their identities in order to adapt and settle in accordance with their newly adopted host territories. This gives rise to an identity that straddles three countries, which induces the need to examine new ways of identity building in a global transnational economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 1986 McCann-Erickson commissioned a study called Leisure Futures from the Naisbitl Group, This paper summarises some of the general findings for marketing readers. We are moving from an industrial, manufacturing-based economy to a service, information-based one, and many of our basic assumptions and constructs will need to change. New ways of forecasting and managing the future will be needed and Leisure Futures represents a first application of thematic content analysis in five European countries. Leisure trends are compared between these countries and North America in some detail. Overall findings concern the changing consumer and his or her changing expectations respecting technology, convenience, globalisation , affluence, values, and many other related topics. Specific aspects of change are explored and some broad marketing examples and applications discussed. Many apparent consumer paradoxes are explored, and certain key concepts such as the search for balance, and the need to experience both the known and the new, are explained. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper aims to present some aspects of the debate about the end of the hegemony of the United States, in light of the theories of systemic cycles of accumulation and hegemonic stability. Among the conclusions, the paper shows that the North-American hegemony is diminishing not only because of the emergence of new powerful countries, such as China, but because the international system, composed by new powerful actors such as multinational corporations, global cities, religious organizations and transnational terrorist groups, is diminishing the means by which the US has exercised its global power since the mid twentieth century. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose — This paper aims to stress the importance of international and intercultural opportunities in serving as essential components in educating and training library and information professionals. More specifically, it provides an overview of issues and trends in internationalization of higher education (HE) in general and illustrates how the concept of and approaches to internationalization have affected library and information science (US) educational settings and programs primarily in Europe and the USA. Design/methodology/approach — Based on a literature review, the paper discusses the meaning and definition of the concept of internationalization. Using a framework that draws on theoretical work on internationalisation of HE programs/contexts an analysis is then presented of the changing nature of internationalization in HE environments. The theoretical analysis is coupled with illustrations of current internationalisation practices, projects, strategies and players within US education communities in Europe and the USA. Finally, a discussion of the principal issues of internationalization of the US curriculum is presented Findings — A synthesis is provided of the body of knowledge on the topics of internationalisation in general and within the HE sector in particular. Also presented is an overview of the multifaceted internationalisation activities taking place within US education. A range of thoughts and suggestions are given on how US schools can respond to the challenges of an increasing global world and, more specifically, how they can develop US programs and create classroom settings that are truly international in orientation and scope. Research limitations/implications — The geographical scope is limited to Europe and North America and the focus of the study is particularly on issues and challenges within the US education community. Practical implications — Exposure to international educational environments and acquisition and absorption of intercultural values and skills serves to enhance and enrich the academic background of US students/graduates and add to the employability and career development of the coming US professionals. International outlook, networking and intercultural communication skills are essential for practitioners, policy makers, leaders, decision makers, researchers and educators in the US field. Originality/value — No comprehensive study of the internationalization of US programs in the context of HE sector-specific internationalization theory has previously been published. The paper makes a difference in the way it reflects on US internationalization issues and tasks from the perspective of the published literature on internationalization of HE. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Labour market and social policies both affect and are affected by the process of trade liberalization and globalization. This two-way interaction and the feedback effects are the focus of this paper. The analysis is mainly conceptual—but examples are illustrated throughout, based mainly in the context of labour markets in North America, Latin America and the Caribbean basin. Attention is paid to outlining the mechanisms whereby globalization and trade liberalization affect labour market and social policy initiatives, and the extent to which these pressures will lead to a harmonization of legislative and policy initiatives, and if that harmonization will necessarily be downward to the lowest common denominator. The paper concludes that: (1) the pressures will lead towards policy harmonization; (2) the harmonization generally will be downwards; (3) such harmonization is not always negative as generally perceived; (4) efficient regulatory and social policy initiatives will survive and indeed expand, with the ‘rent-protecting’ ones under most pressure to dissipate; and (5) pure distributional or equity-oriented initiatives that have no positive feedback effect on efficiency, unfortunately, will also be under jeopardy to dissipate, and this is a serious policy concern. Alternatives for addressing this concern are discussed, as are their associated problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of International Relations / Uluslararasi Iliskiler is the property of International Relations Council and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This article presents information on the book "Global Competitive Strategies in the new World Economy: Multilateralism, Regionalization and the Transnational Firm," edited by Hafiz Mirza. In this book nineteen papers seek to understand the strategies of transnational firms in an evolving international environment, where issues of globalization, regionalism, and muitilateralism have become salient. Papers also examines the complex relationship between conflict and cooperation that characterizes firms, nation states and supranational groupings, Samsung Group's views on global regionalization strategies, the strategies of transnational corporations in Europe, North America and Asia.

Though women remain under-represented among expatriate managers due to a range of organisational and cultural barriers in selection and individual relocation concerns, they have begun to pursue alternative routes towards a global career such as frequent travel and undertaking domestic positions with international development and community development responsibilities. In this paper, we explore the perceptions that Middle Eastern and North American women have of traditional and new trajectories in global work and careers and conclude that increased flexibility allows women to pursue global development opportunities differently throughout their lifetime careers, permitting them to adapt to work–life circumstances. Thus, our research provides new insights into the nature and dynamic of the nature of women's global work and careers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Organized research units-also known as centers, institutes, and laboratories-are increasingly prominent in the university. This paper examines how ORUs emerge to promote global agendas and international collaborations in an academic health center in North America. The roles these units play in helping researchers work across institutional and national boundaries are identified and analyzed. The concept of boundary organizations is employed to explain the features of ORUs and the challenges they face. Findings provide insight into how such units operate between local and global mandates, interest groups, and sources of influence, helping to extend university research into the global space. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Thomas Friedman's 2005 book The world is flat was meant as a wake-up call to those in the United States who direct its corporate boardrooms and govern its political/economic state, a warning that globalization has brought about a level economic 'playing field' in which the United States might be losing the game. As rhetoric, the title certainly works well to raise fears about North America's future economic role. It also works in concretizing a popular view of globalization, a view that obscures its uneven, discordant, and decidedly unflat processes and practices. In this paper I help deconstruct this view by fleshing out the everyday ways through which United States expanded economically in its early (1890-1927) global empire. Based on archival work in Argentina, Russia, Scotland, and the United States, I provide a historical look at encounters between North American business men and women and their foreign customers, students, and workers. Focusing on the diverse practices and personal encounters that were critical to the early global efforts of select United States-based corporations, I expose the uneven, contested, and messy ways in which economic expansion works. By analyzing early global encounters when the economic dominance of the United States was just becoming apparent, I am able to highlight the sheer complexity and truly relational nature of United States' expansion in the early twentieth century. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Contemporary North American insecurities and fears are the focus of this article. In the first section, the inter-related concepts of insecurity, fear and vulnerability are theorised, and the argument put forward that these have come to constitute a dominant discourse in contemporary North American society. In the second section of the paper, the components of this discourse are presented by reviewing what North Americans fear, including terrorism, crime and violence, and the 'Other'. Comparisons and local manifestations of this discourse in Canada, Mexico and the US are described. The final section turns to the educational implications (effects) of this discourse as it has been taken up across the three nations. While other comparativists have focused on phenomena such as globalisation and neo-liberalism to explain contemporary education reform, the author argues that it is the discourse of fear and insecurity that now underpins educational reform. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we use household survey data to study the evolution of income distribution in Mexico over the last decade, a period of rapid integration to the global and North American economies -- "globalization" for short. We measure differences in income inequality, over time and across Mexican states, and relate them to regional differences in the degree of globalization, controlling for the potential endogenous relationship between the two. We use the percent of state employment in exporting firms or in firms with foreign capital participation, as well as data on state trade, as proxies for integration to the world economy. Our findings strongly indicate that globalization has not raised income inequality in Mexico. On the contrary, we present compelling evidence showing that income distribution is more equitable in states that are more closely linked to the world economy and that those states exhibit larger declines in inequality. We also find some statistical evidence suggesting that deepening globalization results in reduced inequality, although our results are sketchier on this point, perhaps because such effect is only observable in the long run. As a potential explanation of why globalization might improve the distribution of income among Mexican households, we show that states that are more integrated to the world economy offer better work opportunities for low-skilled women relative to more educated female workers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Within the present day globalization context there are three Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) in which the labor issues forma part of the Labor Cooperation Agreement (LCA), accompanied by a text that contains "labor principles" : the FTA of North America with its ACLAN, the Canada-Chile FTA with its ACLCC, and the FTA of Canada and Costa Rica with its ACLCCR. There are also two FTAs in which no labor agreement is incorporated: the United States and Chile (FTAEUCHI), and the USA, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Dominican Republic (FTAEUACARD). In this paper the purposes, principles and labor agreements in these FTA and LCA were analyzed, interrelating them with the principles and norms of the ITO and the labor principles adopted by the UN and the OAS. In the conclusions certain considerations related to the impact of these contents in labor relations were formulated. The paper does not refer to globalization as such, or to the non-labor contents of the FTAs. It likewise did not examine constitutional contents, or solutions to controversies, nor the application of sanctions [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Editorial. Comments on regional planning and innovations in North America. Effects of economic globalization; Opportunities offer to advanced regional development; Promotion of technology-based development; Impact of the North American Free Trade Agreement on the economy in Ontario.

With the rapid pace of globalization, psychologists internationally are experiencing complex ethical challenges. This paper explores the history and evolution of ethics and multiculturalism and their effect on the development of supervision practices for psychologists in the United States and Canada. Themes include the importance of harmonizing existing ethical rules or standards with professional ideals when responding to cultural diversity; (a) integrating different social contexts and worldviews of client, supervisee/therapist, and supervisor, and (b) responding in a manner that reflects enlightened rather than unilateral globalization—all within the power differential implicit in supervision. Historical and cultural context; (a) international perspectives, ethical guidelines, and codes, (b) evolving supervision guidelines, and (c) developments toward positive solutions are outlined. Recommendations for the future are formulated regarding graduate student/supervisee training, supervisor training, continuing education, and the development of ethical guidelines for supervision. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Biomass-based energy has become a major focus of attention from a variety of directions due to the global challenges of meeting our energy needs. Bioenergy and bio-products are also currently being explored intensively in the forest cluster, as many elements that have in the past guaranteed success have largely disappeared. As the bioenergy and biorefining economies are evolving, there is a need for realistic estimates regarding the factors which affect the diffusion of forest biorefineries. This paper outlines global and national drivers for forest biorefineries in Scandinavia and North America. It explores the financial, political, technological, and ecological and raw-material related factors, as well as business competencies, challenges and changes in the business environment. This study is based on data from an expert opinion survey and comments from the experts about the survey results yielded by a Delphi method. According to our results, key factors for the development of forest biorefineries are very similar in both studied areas. There needs to be support from the macro-scale environment particularly from governments, but also the involved industries themselves need to be active. Diffusion factors in the macro-scale business environment are better understood when compared to more industry-specific strategic factors. Both studied areas seem to have potential for success in the biorefinery business. However, a more realistic identification of national strengths as well as continuous development of competencies – while avoiding an overly optimistic attitude – is crucial. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Copyright of Desacatos is the property of Centro de Investigaciones y Estudios Superiores en Antropologia Social and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The article discusses the development of transitional research agenda for African Americans in the 20th century. It is believed that globalization should be a significant research agenda in the history of African Americans. The important part played by African Americans in the foundation of the U.S. shows that the country owed a profound debt to them. As part of research agenda, researchers must look at the condition of African Americans in North America.

The article discusses whether borderless North America would destroy Canadian culture. Discussions are going on in Canada to limit imitation of American institutions regardless of whether they are political, social, or cultural. According to the article, the economists tend to neglect economic liberalization and its link with culture. The economists concluded that the fear of Canada, of being overpowered by the U.S. is unreasonable.

The series of reflections are based on a roundtable discussion amongst Canada-based scholars with research interest in transnational, postcolonial, migration and diaspora studies. Their reflections engage with key ideas from Inter-Asia Cultural Studies through the lens of their research practices and personal histories. Y-Dang Troeung revisits generational memories that are shaped by the "Cold War fraternity" of China, Cambodia, and North Korea through the perspective of Critical Refugee Studies and her personal transits between Asia and Canada. Robert Diaz traces shifts in migratory routes by attending to diasporic returns to the Philippines under complex conditions of globalization that shape and constrain mobility between North America and Asia. Lara Campbell examines overlooked moments of transpacific connections in Canadian women's history to show how Inter-Asia encounters complicated the racial dynamics of the suffrage movement in early twentieth century British Columbia. The roundtable discussion demonstrates the potential for ongoing dialogues on Inter-Asia issues among scholars in Canada and beyond. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A number of contemporary paradoxes warrant explanation. First, in China, economic development has reduced poverty but dramatically increased inequalities. Second, the finance-led growth regime of North America has brought about a rupture with the Fordist Golden Age, causing a surge of inequality because of quite specific spill-over effects from the economy to policy. Third, the Eurozone crisis is often perceived as reflecting the limits of welfare states and the ideal of social equality, but some countries continue to exhibit an extended welfare system, moderate inequalities and a dynamic innovation and production system. To explain these paradoxes, this article applies a socio-economic approach based upon the concept of inequality regimes. Conventional interpretations stress the universality of the mechanisms that widen individual inequalities within each nation-state but reduce the hierarchy of national standards of living. This analysis, however, concludes that China, North America and Europe do not follow the same trajectory at all, since they have developed contrasting regimes of inequality that co-evolve and are largely complementary at the global level. This suggests an alternative to the hypothesis of an irreversible globalization of inequality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The internet affords its users an unprecedented level of contact with people from other cultural and social groups. It is often assumed that because of this it can facilitate intercultural communication and reduce the perceived distance between cultures. This article will examine this assumption by exploring two questions. Firstly, do the characteristics of computer-mediated communication (anonymity, absence of visual cues, etc.) facilitate intercultural communication and reduce distance and misunderstandings, or do they increase disparity between cultures and reinforce cultural stereotypes? Secondly, does the internet favour cultural globalization or cultural variation? Through several examples and case studies, two contrasting tendencies will be identified. The internet can favour cultural standardization, for example, through netiquette – a set of communicative rules which reflect a certain North American communicative style. However, cyberspace can also reinforce cultural variation, especially when the internet is used by diasporas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]