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Many key aspects of bridge design are governed by site-related, geometric, functional and constructional constraints. Economy is yet another decisive factor in public works, whilst enhanced sensitivity to aesthetics is driving the demand for more than merely utilitarian structures. Such exacting boundary conditions often spur careful or even innovative structural design. Since the successful translation of numerous constraints into a reliable, functional, cost-effective structure with aesthetic appeal is primarily a question of sound conceptual design, the importance of this step in the design process as a whole cannot be overstated. This paper summarises the more prominent aspects of conceptual bridge design, particularly in connection with meeting and duly balancing non-standardised economy- and aesthetics-related objectives. Taking the outcome of the conceptual design stage as a starting point, the paper also addresses the use of digital design tools for the development of other construction documents. By way of illustration, the ideas underlying the conceptual design for the Butarque footbridge in Leganés, Spain are discussed, in connection primarily with the specific boundary conditions but also with the actual layout, detailing and construction. The example shows that a modern, technologically advanced design may be compatible with a solution whose elegance meets the most exacting aesthetic standards. It also shows that when the conceptual approach is well thought out, the solution is subject to only minor change in subsequent design stages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Editorial Board of Economy and Society has assembled a virtual collection of 12 free access papers to mark a very significant anniversary – Volume 50 of the journal is being published during 2021. This overview explains the rationale for the collection in the context of the global coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, and briefly details why we want to encourage the re-reading of these particular papers. Each paper has the potential to contribute to critical understandings and progressive political engagements with economy and society in COVID times. Read together, the collection also signals the kind of work which is likely to shape the immediate future of the journal. Economy and Society has long been a key venue for the publication of social science research into public health, disease and the life sciences, and this is at the core of the collection. But the global pandemic has wrought severe disruptions throughout economy and society, forcing a host of latent tendencies, tensions and divisions to the surface of public consciousness and political debate. Around half of the papers have therefore been selected because they cast a revealing light on some of the wider-ranging dynamics of economy and society that have become all too apparent in COVID times. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In a recent article published in JSOT, S.L. Richter suggested that Urdeuteronomium can be dated by the economic features in the text. She restored, supposedly by archaeological means, three "economies" of "ancient Israel" that fit three chronological phases of the Iron Age; and concluded that "the economy assumed in Urdeuteronomium is best suited to the late Iron I/Iron IIA era and/or to a rural and isolated sector of the Iron IIB era" (Richter 2017: 50). Berge et al. (2019) have criticized some issues with this article. In this paper I discuss other aspects, mainly archaeological and economic, which show that Richter's conclusion is not valid. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This special issue argues that to make sense of the increased prominence of central banks after the 2008 financial crisis and COVID-19 pandemic requires interrogating the sources of and limits to their governmental power. In a time in which the 'big state' has returned alongside new forms of financial speculation, the theoretical claim advanced by this introductory paper is that the state 'effect' is in crucial respects conditioned by the economic governance arrangements set in place by central banks. We show that at the same time as promoting entanglements between states and markets, central banks attempt to draw new boundaries between state and economy, lending an unstable and sometimes contradictory character to their interventions. Providing the outlines of a new historical sociology of central banking which introduces the papers in the special issue, we explore the double movement that has underpinned the evolution of central banking since early modernity and holds clues for unravelling the paradoxes of the present. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper outlines the different aspects of language contact in Newar, the ethnic indigenous language community of the Kathmandu valley, focusing on language use and attitudes. The data were collected in 2016–2017 with the help of survey questionnaire, key informant interviews, informal interviews, and various observations based on the socio-ethnographic research on language contact situations in different domains, namely social, cultural, economic, and official as well as media-related activities where the informants were asked to use different languages along with the use of their own mother tongue, i.e. Newar. The findings mainly include various traits of language use and attitudes of the Newar-speaking people living in the capital city in which the people are shifting towards Nepali, English, and Hindi languages because of media, migration, globalisation, education, and other factors. The paper concludes by providing some clues to preserve and revitalise minority languages that have been shifting, changing, and dying because of various socio-political reasons in the multilingual cities like Kathmandu where language policies have been dramatically changed and get the attention of public discourses to understand the dynamic nature of language contact. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes a methodology aimed at identifying the main factors affecting the rail sector in the new normal scenario, referring to the post-pandemic era, where the transportation system has experienced significant changes. Indeed, a survey was designed, and a questionnaire was submitted to a sample of employees of Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane (Italian State Railway company). Then, a ranking of these factors was identified through the estimation of a Structural Equation Model (SEM). Results showed that the areas of Energy and Environment, Lifestyle, and Economy will positively affect the future of rail in the new normal scenario. This study offers insights into the dynamics of the rail sector's adaptation to post-pandemic conditions. By highlighting the factors that play a crucial role in shaping the future of rail transportation, this research suggests innovative strategies and policy initiatives to foster sustainable growth and resilience in the sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates specific challenges of Covid for balancing economic growth and financial stability as they apply to paradigms, programmes and policies of bank regulation and supervision at the European Commission and European Central Bank. It finds that dominant paradigms of risk reduction and control remained intact, despite a temporary programme of regulatory relaxation to spur credit growth. The ECB and the Commission were united on state aid, regulatory loosening and promoting credit creation. However, while the Commission sought credit for businesses, much of the credit went into the European housing sector, with ECB support. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dams fall in 'installations containing dangerous forces' because of their massive impact on the environment and civilian life and property as per International humanitarian law. As such, it becomes vital for hydraulic engineers to refurbish various solutions for dam rehabilitation. This paper presents a review of a new type of weir installation called Piano Key Weir (PKW), which is becoming popular around the world for its higher spillway capacity both for existing and new dam spillway installations. This paper reviews the geometry along with structural integrity, discharging capacity, economic aspects, aeration requirements, sediment transport and erosion aspects of Piano Key Weir (PKW) as compared with other traditional spillway structures and alternatives from literature. The comparison with other alternatives shows PKW to be an excellent alternative for dam risk mitigation owing to its high spillway capabilities and economy, along with its use in both existing and new hydraulic structures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports an analysis using the computable general equilibrium (CGE) model to calculate the economic development and emissions under different air pollution prevention strategies, with a focus on the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei rim surrounding the cities in the 'Capital Economic Circle'. It appeared that raising the emission tax effectively suppressed air pollution but also suppressed economic development. Raising the emission subsidy promoted economic development, but did not suppress air pollution. A stepwise tax collection mode can be used to formulate the emission tax. When using emission subsidies to encourage manufacturers to improve their exhaust treatment technology, the policy should be tilted towards small enterprises to reduce economic pressure on them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper comprehensively evaluates the dynamic effects on China's environment and economy during the COVID-19 pandemic. Results show that the COVID-19 lockdown resulted in a temporary improvement in air quality. Furthermore, nitrogen dioxide (NO2) levels in the atmosphere in China were 36% lower than in the week after last year's Lunar New Year holiday, but this also led to an economic downturn. Moreover, the aerosol optical depth (AOD) decreased significantly. During the back-to-work period, the economy recovered and there was an increase in energy consumption, and CO2, NO2 emissions sharply increased to pre-lockdown levels. In the post-lockdown period, the AOD was lower than that of the same period last year. This study can provide reference for environmental policy making, as it demonstrates to what extent the control of pollution sources can improve air quality. Precise emission reduction and regional joint prevention and control are important and effective means for the prevention and control of O3 pollution. The health and economic benefits of COVID-19 pandemic control measures are incalculable. And this can provide an effective scientific basis and theoretical support for the prevention and control of air pollution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2019, Thailand represents the case of an Asian country overshadowed by authoritarian forces, though it has time and again experienced attempts at democratization. This paper argues that democracy remains deficient in Thailand because, though there have been enormous advances in terms of the economy, social improvements and state stability, political space remains elusive and dominated by the monarchy and military. State formation in Thailand is a function of how entrenched social stratification has been reflected in a highly skewed distribution of economic resources. The paper asks the following five questions: First, why has Thailand, which appears to have become relatively strong in terms of economic and political stability, been unable to achieve democracy? Second, what has been the evolution of democracy versus authoritarianism in Thailand? Third, how have the linkages among state structures, economic relations and societal institutions evolved across time in Thailand? Fourth, what are the main features of their historical development today and how have these (as conditioned by domestic and international factors) affected Thailand's political conditions? Fifth, what is the likely future of Thai democracy? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A hypermarket is a combined supermarket and department store that carries a large range of products. Since the opening of the first hypermarket in the US in the early 1930s, this concept has spread globally. Nowhere is this trend more visible than in India, now the world's most populous country with a middle class that will expectedly grow to 800 million in 2030. This paper coins the theory of hypermarketization to explain why and how the hypermarket as a globalized form signifies the full integration of liberalization, retail and middle-class consumer culture in emerging markets. The argument that hypermarketization marks the point when successful economies in the Global South mature and then qualify as emerging markets is based on empirical material from fieldwork on vegetarianism and meat in hypermarkets and among middle-class groups in South India, namely participant observation and interviewing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Heat pump drying system is prospect technology with high efficiency and energy saving. Stable and efficient operation of heat pump drying systems in cold climate regions is achieved using a separate heat recovery room, which is designed to recover the heat in the exhaust air. Using a separate heat recovery room aims to maintain stable operation through switching between enclosed and partial air-loop modes. This paper analyzes the drying parameters to verify the stability of system, compares the running modes, and evaluate the economy of the dryer. It is found that setting a separate heat recovery room can achieve a higher material uniformity, and the air parameters are less affected by surroundings. Moreover, modes need to be adjusted according to the drying parameters and surroundings. Meanwhile, the proposed system has a great advantage in reducing the exergy loss of the heat exchanger, which can reduce operating costs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the establishment of "friendly and cooperative relations' in 1992, relations between South Korea and China have been continuously elevated almost every 5 years. The two countries have achieved great advancements in expanding civil exchanges, bringing economic relations closer, finding common ground in foreign policy and security and elevation of political relations. Despite the honeymoon period that the two countries experienced after they established diplomatic relations, however, conflict is now arising due to differences in opinion and interests in various fields such politics, economy, society, culture, diplomacy, and security. This paper will examine Sino-South Korean relations using the four factor model, which is based on four approaches, starting with economic relations, followed by perception and emotions, diplomacy and security and lastly, these factors" influence on domestic politics. Following this analysis, this paper will argue that despite their continuous but rocky developments, Sino-South Korean relations will sustainably maintain their development. Considering the synergy effect of bilateral relations, two countries are standing on the opportunity to build a New Type of Sino-South Korean relations which would allow for resolution of conflicts and misunderstandings through dialogue and communication. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Scholars who study the Northern Kingdom of Israel repeatedly refer to it as a centralised state or kingdom and often take a neo-evolutionary approach in their assessments of its character. This paper argues for a different approach, one in which the agency of northern Israelite actors/taxpayers and their intricate kinship-based networks are highlighted. It applies collective action theory, which states that rational social actors cooperate with rulers, and the patrimonial household model, which states that social order is viewed as the extension of the ruler's (and god's) household, to an analysis of administration and cult in northern Israel during the Iron II. It argues that the Omrides benefited from taxpayer cooperation and a reliance on complex kin-based systems. The same can be said for the Nimshides who, it is suggested, were operating within an even less centralised system than their predecessors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 2023 conference of the Association of Industrial Relations Academics of Australia and New Zealand (AIRAANZ) provided a platform for speakers from across North and Far North Queensland to address the challenge of labour shortages in the region and present forward-looking pathways to securing a workforce with the skills needed now and into the future. Based on the presentations delivered by the expert panel, including Riccardo Welters, economist from James Cook University, Claudia Brumme-Smith and Tracey Holmes from Townsville Enterprise Limited, Hurriyet Babacan and Margaret Marty on behalf of the Rural Economies Centre of Excellence (RECoE), this article in conversation with Kaylee Boccalatte, from the Burdekin Shire, will address workforce matters as they exist in rural and regional North Queensland and propose solutions to address the ongoing issue of labour and skill shortages. Through the lens of lived North Queensland experience, various policy implications are addressed within this paper. These include developing a framework for localised open data initiatives, a framework for agricultural education and skilling pathways, improving regional and rural liveability and, finally, proactive consultation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a longue durée account of the discursive emergence of 'the market'. It seeks to develop understanding of the 'crisis system' by showing that the crises of the present have their origins earlier than some critical realist scholars have suggested and can be better understood by the theorization of the generative mechanisms that emerged from the economic and political chaos of the early 1600s. Critical discourse analysis (CDA) is employed to show that in the context of the emergence of capitalism in England, these generative mechanisms resulted in the meaning of the word 'market' slipping loose of the geo-spatial semiotic bounds by which it had commonly been delineated – i.e. as a physical space in a town or city where goods were bartered or sold – and being re-semioticised to refer to abstract space where all acts of capitalist economic exchange, including those impacting upon the natural world, take place. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent literature on social innovation highlights its conceptual ambiguity and fragmentation. According to this context, this paper explores how social innovation can contribute to the achievement of sustainable development goals (SDGs). Using a case study approach, we apply a mixed research methodology comprising a content analysis followed by multiple correspondence analysis. We examine 209 social innovation projects financed by the Portugal Social Innovation program in three dimensions: empowerment, content, and process. The social innovation projects addressed showed that social innovation projects can have varied objectives, be developed in different intervention areas, and empower different vulnerable groups of beneficiaries. The findings put in evidence the interaction between social innovation and SDGs, therefore social innovation supports the three sustainability dimensions: economy, society, and environment. In this sense, it is possible to conclude that SDGs constitute a framework that positions social innovation, bringing clarity and structure to the field. This identification and classification can promote the creation of a market of supply and demand of social innovations, strengthening the social innovation ecosystem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While economic diversification by capitalist farmers in India is a commonly accepted fact, it is rarely analysed through the lens of agrarian questions of capital. This paper argues that questions about the movement and transformation of agrarian capital continue to be significant in understanding contemporary processes of agrarian change and rural development. However, these need to be studied by looking beyond the agrarian transition debate in contexts where agrarian capitalism has consolidated itself and non-agricultural capitalist development is not fuelled by agrarian capital. Using the case of the state of Punjab and drawing on intensive field research, the paper examines a broad spectrum of non-farm investments and activities of large capitalist farmers, including agriculture-based business, non-agricultural business, education-based diversification and international migration. It shows that both industrial investments and mobility through education have been limited. International migration is a preferred, but also risky, channel for the utilisation of agrarian surplus. The analysis takes seriously experiences of failure of non-agricultural businesses, resulting in the circulation of agrarian capital across the agricultural and non-agricultural sectors. This both further strains accumulation within agriculture and reveals the limits to productive investment in the non-agricultural economy imposed by historically specific social, political and economic conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Covid-19 pandemic has intensified the economic and social problems that societies face today. At the same time, the public response to the crisis points to a constructive way forward. It has brought people together and unleashed a desire to contribute in many ways, some small and others spectacular. It has demonstrated how opportunities for people to participate in collective activities both psychologically and behaviorally can achieve remarkable results, especially when addressing a common danger. This paper argues that it is timely to widen participation in organizational decision-making as an approach to addressing many of the problems which will continue to be with us post-Covid, and which indeed the pandemic has exacerbated. In order to arrive at practical policy options, it proceeds through the following stages. The first is to establish a working definition of organizational participation and to develop a framework for classifying its principal forms. This framework serves to identify the more advanced and consequential forms of participation, and is then used to structure an evidence-based review of how they can constructively contribute to economic and social improvement. The final part of the paper reviews conditions bearing on the practical implementation of participation and which serve to clarify practical policy implications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The recent excavations at Ḥorvat Tevet and the finding of ca. 260 Late Iron IIA cylindrical holemouth jars provided an unparalleled opportunity to study these relatively unknown vessels. This article offers a comprehensive analysis of cylindrical holemouth jars and includes a study of typology and morphology, alongside the analysis of provenance and distribution patterns. By shedding new light on these vessels, this paper provides the opportunity to understand and illustrate the economy of early monarchic Israel in a new and innovative way. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The last decades have seen the ideological transformations of graffiti and street art once constructed as criminal acts and associated with urban decay to being acceptable and profitable forms of commercial art. The spaces and places where these art forms are found have long transcended streets to art galleries and corporate advertising billboards and campaigns making them "the most visible forms of global urban culture and urban transgression" (Ferrell 2016, xxx; Bofkin 2014). This special issue on street art/art in the street explores street art's proliferation and complexity in different contexts as it relates to the political economy and neoliberal capitalism raising questions of social class, urban growth, cultural production, and consumerism. The themes investigated include notions of legality and illegality, regimes of visibility and invisibility, semiotic situated acts and art, ephemerality, permanence and mediatization, the political economy of place as well as the changing symbolic and economic value of street art tapping into issues of subcultural status and social class identities. This collection of papers draws on a range of theoretical frameworks and methodological approaches providing readers with interdisciplinary insights into the complex and changing nature of street art to account (and better understand) this social semiotic phenomena. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although the sovereign debt is primarily a long-term accounting occurrence that can emerge in the public budget, its management refers to the economic sphere as much as to the political one. Moreover, as its structure and size depend on the decisions made in both domains in a certain context, space, and time circumstances matter in debating the problem. Thus, the study of the nineteen eighties MENA economies 'sovereign debt crises must consider also the contextual economic and political conditions and behaviours. Since these aspects represent usually subject matters for different disciplinary fields, it is difficult to take into consideration all of them without a multifaceted keynote. The concept of 'economic policy paradigm' can represent an analytical economic device that, alongside with the economic nature of the budget crisis, can also embed the players and the strategic interests acting in the negotiation process and in the application of the economic measures to cancel out the sovereign debt. The paper applies such analytical framework to show how, due to a change in the 'economic policy paradigm for the development,' the emergence of the public debt in nineteen seventies MENA economies became the 'sovereign debt crises. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While economic issues are increasingly salient in political mobilization by European radical right-wing populist parties, we are still in need of a definition of these parties' economic positions. This paper argues that the economic supply of radical right populist parties is best characterized by a mix of economic populism and sovereigntism, which forms the basis of a common mobilization frame. Economic populism refers to defence of the economic prosperity of the 'heartland' against the elite and immigrants. Economic sovereigntism is seen, on the other hand, as a means of restoring the people's well-being and the nation's prosperity. To illustrate this argument, we conduct a qualitative analysis of five established European populist radical right parties. We demonstrate that, despite different socioeconomic stances, all parties under scrutiny share a common economic populist sovereigntist frame which claims to defend the self-identified economic interests and well-being of the people. We discuss the implications of our research for the broader understanding of populist mobilization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to investigate the interactions between CO2 emissions, economic growth and energy consumption in India for 1970– 2017 within the time–frequency domain using wavelet techniques. The results show that the interaction between energy consumption and CO2 emissions is strong and varies significantly across time– frequency bands, indicating that the energy consumption leads to environmental degradation. The negative effect of economic growth on CO2 emissions is only statistically significant in the short run. In addition, the findings reveal a positive association between economic growth and energy consumption across time– frequency bands, demonstrating energy consumption increases economic growth, which in turn heightens the CO2 emissions. There should be improved energy use and reduced CO2 emissions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Can anti-capitalist satire exist within show business, or is this an oxymoron? How can mainstream films claim to be socially conscious and rebellious, when at the same time they are products of an industry which aim to appeal to the masses and maximize profits? These questions were recently raised in relation to the popular and critical success of Hollywood hits like The Big Short and The Wolf of Wall Street, which followed the 2008 financial crash. This paper uses a group of Israeli financial satires as a case study and contributes a significant transnational addition to the debate. During the first half of the 1980s, the Israeli economy struggled with rampant inflation. The crisis inspired comedies such as Million Dollar Madness, The Plumber, and The Man Who Flew in to Grab. Although these films failed, they express a unique zeitgeist in Israeli history, and they are useful to examine the paradox. This analysis of these films provides valuable insights that can guide filmmakers toward overcoming and even resolving the paradox. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Capital accumulation is the first and foremost important factor to induce economic growth and development in a country. Yet, not every country in the world is bestowed with abundant capital. Thus, in this instance foreign direct investment (FDI) emerges as a good option to supply the necessary amount of capital to countries which are deprived of the necessary capital stock. Moreover, FDI, besides being a catalyst of economic development, is a significant means of transferring technology, knowledge, managerial know-how and constitutes new potentials to create employment opportunities, increase the production volume and enhance the foreign trade balance. Furthermore, the impact of FDI inflow on the economic growth is researched in this paper for Brazil by means of utilizing various econometric methods for the period of 1970–2017. According to the results of this study there is no positive causality between economic growth and FDI inflow in the short-run. Yet, there is a positive and significant causality between FDI inflow and economic growth in the long-run as well as this stems from the fact that investments lead to positive results gradually in the long-term which also means that investments shall be converted into production as much as possible. Moreover, the novelty of this paper is that it is one of the most up-to-date studies to research FDI – economic growth correlation on Brazil in the literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The country house has long been seen as a space of luxury consumption. Large houses are characterised as enclaves of the London, spending all their money in capital, rather than buying goods locally. They sapped wealth from the local area rather than stimulating economic activity This paper analyses data from highly detailed account books which record the kitchen expenditure at Chatsworth and Hardwick Hall in the years 1658-1660 to understand how the kitchens of the Earls of Devonshire were supplied. In discussing the ways in which the household sourced foodstuffs and how much they spent doing so, this paper challenges the prevailing idea that houses are economic leeches on the local area. The Devonshires spent a vast sum of money on food locally; helping to create communities of commerce in the local area and to fuel a vibrant and various grocery trade. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The globalization of international labor migration is manifest in all countries now engaging in migration systems that are growing in size and complexity and producing an increasing diversity of flows. Furthermore, many of the processes that create and drive these systems operate on a worldwide basis, the consequence of economic globalization, capital mobility and widespread realization by governments that human resources can be traded for profit like any other resource. This paper looks at Ghana's immigration policy in the light of its economic situation. It characterizes Ghana's immigration policy as geared towards using immigration to attract critical foreign investment, transfer of technology and human resource capital/skills for socio-economic development. Running concurrently is the policy to prevent illegal immigration, transnational crime, economic exploitation, social corruption and human trafficking. The paper concludes that when the economic situation of Ghana was buoyant in the 1960s it attracted many immigrants especially from neighboring West African countries, however when the country's economy saw a down turn, immigrants were used as a convenient scapegoat and many were expelled. The irony though is that while the current poor economic situation of Ghana has made Ghanaians to immigrate to other countries, the political stability of the country does attract other West Africans and non-Africans and it is affording the country the opportunity to streamline its immigration and citizenship laws. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Four Cornish buildings with base-cruck trusses are described, part of a distinctive group that share the feature of having the blades passing the tiebeams to clasp the arcade plates. They have been dated, using a combination of ring-width and stable-isotope dendrochronology, to between the late thirteenth and late fourteenth centuries, making them the earliest known secular buildings in Cornwall. The paper discusses how these trusses relate to the development of the base-cruck form nationally and sets the buildings into their broader historical context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT This paper documents the growth and gender composition of New Zealand's information work force over the period 1976–96. By 1996, about 55% of the female work force was employed in information occupations, compared to 40% of the male work force. The share of high-skilled information workers increased substantially over time, and faster for females than males. This suggests faster upskilling of the female information work force. The paper also briefly comments on some related, but much narrower, 'knowledge worker' concepts, and on some of the problems encountered if one wants to relate the work force measures to endogenous growth theory. The concluding comments provide a wish list of further research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When governments' ability to maintain power is threatened, they use any tool at their disposal to re-establish or boost their survival. In this paper, we theorize dyadic strategic choices and interactions between governments and domestic terrorist groups in times of economic turmoil. We contend that governments are more likely to increase their targeting of domestic terrorist groups, which provides legitimate opportunities to divert public attention from economic concerns and rally individuals around the flag. Meanwhile, observing such incentives, domestic terrorist groups make strategic decisions similar to those of interstate actors by either decreasing their attacks (strategic conflict avoidance) or increasing them (strategic conflict seeking) to add an inability to provide safety and security to the government's existing struggles. We test these competing hypotheses by leveraging two recently released event datasets focusing on the Turkey-PKK conflict. Our findings contribute to the terrorism studies literature on decision-making and strategic choices, and broader scholarship about conflict processes by testing conflict dynamics at the domestic level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to analyze the negative impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on Serbian enterprises. In this exploratory study, we conducted 40 online surveys that consisted of twenty Likert-scale questions with top and middle managers working in public and private Serbian enterprises. The output of various statistical tests ended in the development of the negative Impact of Covid-19 on a Firm scale. The study determined which internal strengths and weaknesses, as well as external opportunities and threats, have had the strongest negative impacts on the competitiveness of Serbian companies during the pandemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

E-sports is an event involving professional game competitions. Despite a significant growth of e-sports industry, research findings and literature, including systematic evaluation and comparison of destinations are still in infant stage. Thus, the current paper attempts to review e-sports industry and address the multiple indicators for success. The results of this study show that the economic impact by esports is significant for a destination. In particular, government strategic plans and investment should be considered for strategic development of e-sports particularly in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, I will investigate the relationship between aspects of Whiteheadian process thought and political theology in Walter Lippmann and Friedrich von Hayek. While scholars have noted the differences between later actual existing neoliberalism and Lippmann's text, important continuities remain. One of these continuities is the way political boundaries police, and yet serve, economic relations. It will be argued that the unknowability of complex economic relations, thought with the help of Whitehead, gives way to a way of theoretically fencing politics and economy from one another. For Hayek, this boundary marking exercise serves to police the space of individual liberty, for it is the collectivist impulse to interfere with the unknowable and sublime object, the market, which leads to the chaos of German political life in the wartime period in which he writes. Hayek and Lippmann collapse the mystery of sovereignty into economy, and consequently legitimatise a legal architecture serving only to guard this mystery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the impact of the First World War on the nascent nationalist movement on the Isle of Man, in the British Isles. The attitudes and outlook of Manx nationalists were heavily influenced by the economic and social stresses placed on domestic society by the War, markedly altering and radicalizing the post-war movement. The paper outlines the main events that created the crisis and introduces the key players in the nationalist movement, their motives and backgrounds. The paper argues for the significance of Mona Douglas as a dynamic leader of the changes that transformed Manx nationalism in later generations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Investigating the politics of merchants and entrepreneurs, this paper discusses how Riga’s economic elite reacted to the challenges of nationalism, revolution, and war and (re)defined themselves during and after World War One. Riga’s entrepreneurs had traditionally sought protection of their businesses by maintaining close relations with the Russian tsar. War and the Russian Revolution forced them to look for protection elsewhere. This paper argues that orientation toward the German Empire in 1917/18 was not so much the outcome of desired national belonging but of economic pragmatism. Spatial identity and the perception of belonging to the Baltics proved stronger than national affiliation to Germany. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This symposium brings together the shared commitment of antideterminist Marxist and queer theory to explore the mutually constituting and indeterminate relationships between class, sexuality, and governance. Contributors call attention to the imperatives of theorizing in relation to discourses of economy, state, finance, psychology and care, and agendas of national development and neoliberal/post-neoliberal governance. Specific discussions include a queer reading of how economy functions as intimacy's other in national income accounts; troubling the idealized heteroproper family in Indian postcolonial state formation; the heteronormatively grounded ideology of development in contemporary Ecuador; the emerging neoliberalism of couples therapy in the United States; and the configuration of class, race, gender, and sexuality that informs inscriptions of ideal migrant care workers on the global stage. By highlighting both the ideological collusions and disjunctures of capitalism and sexuality, the papers in this symposium broaden the landscape of critical analysis and disruption. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper explores the growth of tourism in Iceland and sets current policy discourses in the context of the global credit crunch of 2008. Tourism in Iceland has grown from being practically non-existent in the mid-twentieth century to being one of the three key sectors of the economy. With this growth, Iceland, as many other island states, started paying more attention to the potentialities of tourism as a development option. However, interest in tourism in public debates and policy seems to become prominent in times of economic crisis while it wanes during years of economic growth. In this light, the paper will relate discourses of tourism to the present condition of economic recession and potential crisis, especially when it comes to government policies. This paper investigates the relationship between tourism and crisis as it features in public discourse in Iceland, and aims at clarifying the implications this particular discourse on tourism has on tourism development in Iceland. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently, terms such as the "fourth industrial revolution", or the "second machine age", have been used both in the business press and by academics to describe the current era of technological development. Embedded in these catchphrases is an assumption about the role of technology in the economy, who it serves, and the outcomes it provides. Communication scholars have long studied how the economy and technology are independently framed in the media, but little work has focused on how these terms are framed together. Understanding how the media frames technology's role in the economy, and how those frames change over time, is necessary to fully analyze the role of technology in today's society. This paper conducts a comparative frame analysis of the business press in two recent periods heavily influenced by technological development: 1992–1998 and 2010–2016. Results of this frame analysis show that a positive Growth frame was the most popular frame used in both periods. Overall coverage of technology's role in the economy has dropped significantly since 1992. The 2010–2016 period saw a notable drop in positive Market Disruption frames but an increase in positive Social Recomposition and Employment frames. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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The collapse of the tourist industry in Bali since late 2002 has had devastating effects on the lives of those who depended on tourism for their livelihood. This sector comprises a vast array of market segments, from those directly employed in hotels, restaurants and retail outlets, or those sustained by an ebullient domestic and export-oriented arts and crafts industry, to the miscellaneous self-employed who predicate their economic strategies on a guaranteed supply of tourists. The present paper examines one such group, the beachboys (cowok), who loiter around the beaches, cafes and bars of Lovina, North Bali, in hope of striking a love match with a foreigner. Such matches are perceived as providing a means of migration to an affluent Western or East Asian country, conceptualised as a place of fantastic wealth and opulence. Although this strategy frequently bore fruit during the prolonged tourism boom of the late 20th century, in the wake of the second series of terrorist bombings, occurring on October 2, 2005, it has foundered. Tourists have deserted the island in droves. The consequent economic and social vacuum so created is not only undermining beachboys' aspirations for a luxurious life abroad, it may also be transforming the fundamental pattern of foreigner-local interactions in North and even South Bali. The present paper points to the implications of some of these macroeconomic and social changes for the ways in which North Balinese beachboys construct their identity as cowoks, both now and in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most globalization scholars identify negative consequences for the environment in the neo-liberal orientation in current economic globalization processes. But at the same time, we can witness constant efforts at the supra-national level to institutionalize environmental interest and considerations in new institutions, arrangements and regimes. Many of the multilateral environmental arrangements give evidence of such developments. This paper aims to analyze the nature, substance and place of institutional clashes that take place between these emerging environmental institutions and the more established economic institutions linked to liberalization of trade and investment. The paper finds that (i) current globalization processes cannot be defined as giving only leeway to capital without taking care of the environment, (ii) the clashes between the economic and environmental institutions are more than only a clash between economic priorities versus environmental interest, and (iii) the pacification of these clashes will not happen in a fortnight, as the environmental advocates especially are unlikely to move towards an integration of the two kind of institutions in the short term. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Stimulating economic and population growth in northern Australia has been a long-term pursuit for the Australian Government, where the north has historically been the focus for centrally derived regional development policies. Most refer to untapping the purportedly vast opportunities of the resources and tourism sectors, and growth in the Asian middle-class in Australia's proximate north. In 2015 the Australian government detailed an ambitious policy for 'developing the north' during the period 2015-60. This includes targets to dramatically grow the population and a list of five industries with 'bright growth prospects'. However, regional develpment literature underscores there have been many impediments to generating sustained growth in northern regions of developed countries. This study is the first to evaluate baseline conditions and progress towards the aims and targets in the Australian regional growth policy. We develop key analytical indicators and provide analysis by 11 subregions within Northern Australia to ascertain the extent and implications of indicator diversity. The results highlight challenges for the policy's aims as well as regional differences in the compositions of economies and populations. In demonstrating the incorrect and implied assertion of regional homogeneity, and by demonstrating that some targets were destined to fail from inception, we underscore the importance of knowledge about localized demographic and economic conditions in policy formulation. This brings into play the important question of whether high-growth policies for northern regions is desired by the longer term resident population, and most particularly the relatively large population of Indigenous northern residents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the broad questions on China's presence in Africa from the perspectives on South-South relations. More generally, China has a diffuse and growing presence in Africa through trade relations, as the importation of various consumer goods is highly visible in most African capital cities, and numerous smaller towns. The racial problem is compounded by the prevalence of a sinophobic media in which a racial hierarchy constructs the China below whites, albeit with blacks being relegated to the bottom. Yet there are empirically observable racist tendencies amongst the Chinese settlers towards Africans, although this is often overstated. China has become influential in Africa at the level of trade, investments and geo-political relations, but it is far from being a hegemonic recolonizer. Moreover, Africa is increasingly militarized, but China is not substantially engaged at this level. The paper concludes by suggest that much more research is necessary in the future in terms of understanding South-South international relations, so that many more people learn more about countries in the Global South and their complex set of interactions. This requires various African intellectual networks to re-visit the Bandung spirit and reconstruct the idea of non-alignment and solidarity. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article explores the role of mediation and the strategic management of visual and narrative elements in William Shakespeare's play, The Winter's Tale. The author focuses on the climactic moment when Paulina demands Leontes to awaken his faith, examining the implications of this demand in terms of its mediality and the dynamics of power and faith within the play. By analyzing the aesthetic and rhetorical dimensions of Paulina's demand, the author argues that it goes beyond simply bringing Hermione back to life, but also engages both the characters and the audience in a shared exploration of faith, power, and mediation. The article emphasizes the transformative and communal nature of faith and highlights the rhetorical power of mediation in shaping social and cultural dynamics. [Extracted from the article]

Accurate measurement of urban sprawl is vital for urban planning and management. Urban planning-induced internal structure complexity affects the extent of urban sprawl. In addition, urban sprawl is closely linked to economic development. The study attempts to explore the impact of urban sprawl from an economic-dominated perspective. Thus a City-Ring road-County (CRC) scale framework based on top-down administrative divisions for urban sprawl measurement is proposed: 1) the single-index measurement based on economic activity is applied to calculate urban sprawl; 2) the spatiotemporal pattern of urban sprawl is investigated through a case study in 31 economy-dominated provincial capital cities across China from 2005 to 2015; 3) the impact of economy and land on urban sprawl is explored using correlation analysis. The results indicate that the degree of urban sprawl at the city scale shows an "inverted U-shaped" curve from 2005 to 2015, which represents that the phenomenon of urban sprawl was most severe in 2010. It finds that urban sprawl was more severe in the east and central regions relative to the provincial capitals in the western region, with the situation being most severe in the northeast region. Regions that have been transformed from suburban to urban built-up areas need to be given priority attention by the local government, including population movement, land layout, and fiscal policy, to meet the criteria of the urbanization process. Through correlation analysis, we also found that urban sprawl was influenced by the industry structure and the form of built-up area. The outcome of the study suggests that the data scale is sufficiently small in granularity to provide geographic boundaries for systematic analysis of urban sprawl in multiple administrative regions. Thus, the study helps provide a reference for differential planning policy formulation by governments at diverse economic levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Much has been written about the Petra Papyri since their discovery in 1993. However, little has been published on their connection with taxes, and our understanding of Petra and trade has changed considerably in the last couple of decades. The papyri provide plenty of information concerning the material culture of Byzantine Petra. The purpose of this paper is to review the economic and historical information in the papyri related to taxes on the land, and to understand the economic reality in Petra and its hinterland during the Byzantine period. The papyri indicate the existence of a stable society and continuity of human settlement in Petra and its neighbouring areas such as Udhruh and Al-Sadaqa, especially after the frequent earthquakes that threatened the region between the fourth- and seventh-centuries AD. It is clear from the papyri that there is an advanced tax system in the Petra region during the sixth-century AD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current trend in public policy is to valorise culture as a tool for social, economic and political transformation. This paper offers a direct contribution to debates that seek to unpack and problematise cities of culture. We adopt a more circumspect approach towards some aspects of the anticipated transformative powers of culture, and in particular the tendency to fetishize the economics of culture. Our empiricism is grounded in a detailed study of Derry~Londonderry as the inaugural UK City of Culture in 2013. We question whether City of Culture was 'life and place changing' or a '12 month party', and reveal different interpretations of success. In our view there is more potential in viewing culture as a peace resource for overcoming divisions in a socially and culturally segregated city, rather than its ability to tackle entrenched economic problems. Moving beyond the specifics of the case study we also provide lessons for future cities of culture and more generalizable insights for the academic and policy literatures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since 2008, Valenza, one of the World's largest jewellery production centres, has experienced a period of profound economic uncertainty. In four years, about a third of the jobs and workshops of the city were lost. The paper investigates the practices and the form of knowledge Valenza people used to speak and understand the crisis. While economic data were marginally known by the population, the crisis emerged in the words of Valenzani as a visual experience of the city landscape. ‘Invisible presence’ and ‘visible absence’ emerged as the fundamental keywords used by the community to describe the industry, its normality and change. The paper investigates these concepts, indicating the analysis of the sensorial experience and its rhetoric expression as a rich ground for an alternative, human understanding of economy. In so doing, it aims at aim at providing an example of a possible different way of writing economy that does not starts from econometric data, but from the very perception of the social life and space as experienced by its actors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]