Search

This edited volume features essays derived from presentations delivered at the 15th Biennial Public Address Conference held at Syracuse University in October 2016, as well as additional material. The Conceit of Context explores the often invoked—indeed a central term in the history of rhetorical studies—but less often engaged concept of context. In this volume, we center the notion of context as the site of engagement, critique, and imagination, seeking to deepen the critical and political promise of context in the study of public discourse.

Biz Jets: Technology and Market Structure in the Corporate Jet Aircraft Industry traces the development of business jet aircraft from the mid-1950s through early 1993. It begins with a discussion of the technological and market opportunities existing in the period prior to the introduction of the Lockheed JetStar and the North American Sabreliner. The subsequent appearances of other biz jets -- the Learjets, HS-125s, Jet Commanders, Falcons, Gulfstreams, Citations, Challengers, Mitsubishis and derivative aircraft are treated in considerable detail. Biz Jets also covers'planes involved in many unsuccessful attempts to enter the industry from 1955 through 1993. The study shows that while the industry has been quite concentrated throughout its history, the positions of the leading firms have always been contestable. Indeed, leaders at one point in time have often been displaced by others who succeeded in marshalling technological and market opportunities to their advantage. Manufacturers have had to undertake continuous efforts to improve the price-performance characteristics of their aircraft to gain and hold their market shares. Rivalries in the effective use of the stream of new technologies have brought forth new aircraft with both better performance and lower operating costs. At the same time, however, participation in the market has been extremely risky. Only a few companies have been able to earn profits. Entries, exits and mergers have altered the structure of the industry, but it remained decidedly unstable at least through 1992.

First Published in 2004. The Asia-Pacific region is now clearly witnessing the rapid ageing of many of its nations and Asia is already the region with, relatively, the largest number of older persons. This book focuses on the challenges that this demographic trend poses to economies and societies in the region, and the policies that have evolved to date to meet new demands. It looks forward over the coming decades to consider how societies and economies will deal with ageing and the necessary structural and behavioural changes that this will entail. The book is organized into two main sections. The first introduces the key features, demography, research and long-term care issues of the region, and provides region-wide context and analysis. The second section offers in-depth case studies of thirteen countries, including China, Japan, Korea and Indonesia. As well as providing a wealth of original research material, the book also offers valuable comparative analysis: while the larger economies have had to develop policies to maintain their social and economic successes in the face of demographic ageing, developing countries must find ways to build their economies around an ageing population. With contributors drawn from a range of academic and professional disciplines, including many practising social gerontologists, this book will be of interest to scholars in economics, sociology, social policy, health policy, politics and development studies. With its particular emphasis on the future, it will also be an essential reference for anybody with a professional interest in policy-making in the region.