Using political discourse analysis, this book examines the extent to which the salient approaches of previous leadership generations have translated into present day policies shepherded in by Xi Jinping. On the strategic political level, the book includes comparisons of China's recent leadership periods with a focus on Xi Jinping's era, and contains examples of whether and how specific topics and tactics reoccur across generations. The state development strategy section then goes on to include chapters on shaping China’s strategic narratives, neoliberal discourse within state developmentalism, and keyword evolution. The practical policies part looks at the issues of re-education, health, class, and ethnicity, analysing how the leaders talk about China’s poor, frame the representations of megaprojects on social media, and discursively display diplomatic strength. As a study of the rule of Xi Jinping and the rhetoric of the contemporary Chinese political system, this book will be of huge interest to students and scholars of Chinese politics and political science more broadly.
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With regard to the increasing global competition for highly-skilled labour, the group of mobile international students is becoming more and more prominent in the considerations of national policy-makers. One concrete idea is to develop policies in order to bind international students and foreign knowledge workers and make them valuable contributors to the country, economically but also in terms of social and cultural aspects. The Dutch government has put this issue on the agenda and emphasized their interest in binding international talent to the Netherlands. Therefore, it is crucial to learn about the factors, which are decisive in staying and going and which are particularly appealing or unappealing about the Netherlands. In order to contribute to this process, a study was done among international students, alumni, and staff at The Hague University of Applied Sciences. This study's findings have been validated and enriched by the results of a broader survey which has been conducted among the talented international students participating in the Nuffic NL4Talents conference of 4 February 2013 in The Hague. This study suggests that two principal reasons are relevant in residence decisions: career perspective and personal factors, such as having a Dutch partner or circle of friends. Additionally, a number of further factors seems to influence whether internationals want to stay in the Netherlands. All these factors are classified in four groups: those related to the Netherlands in general, to the region/city of residence, personal aspects and aspects related to the university. With regard to the Netherlands, appealing factors appear to be the standard of living, the socio-political environment in the Netherlands and the supposedly welcoming Dutch culture. There are, however, people - in particular those who cannot fully enjoy all rights of the EU citizenship - who feel underprivileged in terms of administrative procedures and in their everyday life in the Netherlands. When it comes to the regional aspects in The Hague, appealing factors are apparently the clean and safe environment to live as well as the availability of several offers for leisure time, including an attractive cultural agenda. Here, the housing situation - more precisely the cost and quality of accommodation - appears as a rather unappealing aspect. In terms of personal considerations, the family-friendly environment in the Netherlands has been rated as particularly appealing. Also having a Dutch partner or Dutch friends may encourage international students to stay and work in the Netherlands. The findings suggest, however, that international students are more embedded in an international circle of friends than linked with the locals. Only few respondents felt being actively excluded from Dutch circles, but a majority agrees that it is difficult to establish bonds with the local population. At the same time, it has been raised that international students voluntarily live in their expat bubble. Lastly, the university experience can contribute to retaining international students. Here, appealing factors were the international study environment which makes the foreign student feel at home, as well as the level and focus of education at The Hague University of Applied Sciences. By contrast, critical views have been raised in relation to a suggested lack of career counselling and support in learning the Dutch language at university. Based on these findings, the report concludes with some recommendations which might serve as a springboard to develop strategies to bind international talent. As the discussion of findings shows, the insights of this study can be validated by insights of a related study that has recently been conducted by Agentschap NL and the advice of the Social and Economic Council of the Netherlands. Based on the findings, the report concludes with a number of recommendations outlining how national, regional, local authorities as well as universities can help to retain more international talent in the Netherlands.
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Urban experimentation has gained traction with (supra-)national and local politics as a method for catalyzing change in urban systems and practices. Yet, with experiments becoming more commonly driven by established actors, concerns persist about their potential to sidestep political issues of power, exclusion and conflict fundamental to societal change. This paper seeks to unpack what exactly is at stake when the political is ignored or neutralized during an urban experiment. Using theories on the political as an analytical lens, the paper presents a case study of an urban experiment in Amsterdam, dissecting the ways in which (de)politicization operates in the experiment. The findings demonstrate that ignoring the political in urban experimentation risks excluding certain voices and options from being considered, which ultimately leads to stagnation. The paper concludes by outlining future challenges for research and practice that addresses (de)politicization in urban experiments.
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Theoretical trends and schools of thought in the field of anthropology evolve rapidly. Anthropological literature must keep abreast, not only of these intellectual shifts, but also of pressing global, political, and social issues. Thus, this volume, like others before it, seeks to provide updates on the state of the science and the theoretical and methodological trends of the day. Yet, there is another, more important reason why such a volume is necessary now, ‘today’, of all days, and another reason why this will serve as more than just another update on the discipline. Today, we face some of the greatest environmental challenges in global history. Understanding the damage being done by communities, large and small, and the varied ethics and efforts contributing to its repair is of vital importance. For these reasons, environmental anthropology today is different and arguably more critical than ever before. This volume thus poses the question and raises the challenge: What can increasing the emphasis on the environment in environmental anthropology, along with the science of its problems and the theoretical and methodological tools of anthropological practice do to aid conservation efforts, policy initiatives, and our overall understanding of how to survive, culturally and physically, as citizens of the planet? This is an Accepted Manuscript of a book chapter published by Routledge/CRC Press in "Environmental Anthropology Today" on 8/5/11 available online: https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203806906 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/helenkopnina/
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During the last twenty years, a remarkable new type of service has been developed in the world of sports, which can be described as the indoorisation of outdoor sports. Typical outdoor sports like climbing, skiing, surfing, rowing, and skydiving, which used to be exclusively practiced in a natural environment of mountains, oceans, rivers and the air, are now being offered for consumption in safe, predictable and controlled indoor centers. The present article emphasizes the rise of indoor lifestyle sports, such as rafting, snowboarding, skydiving and surfing. It discusses the conditions under and ways in which commercial entrepreneurs in the Netherlands have created this market, the meanings that they have ascribed to their centers and the dilemmas with which they have been confronted. It is argued that the rise of this economic market cannot be understood if it is solely interpreted as the result of economic, technological or natural developments. These economic activities were also embedded in and influenced by shared understandings and their representations in structured fields of outdoor sports, mainstream sports and leisure experience activities. A better understanding of the indoorisation of outdoor lifestyle sports can be achieved by recognizing how these structures and cultures pervaded the rise of this new market.
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This paper seeks to highlight underlying issues of the tourism system that have led to tourism extremes of too much or too little tourism. Five phases are recognized that reflect different ways of dealing with too much tourism over time, after which the impact of a sudden lack of tourism is investigated in light of future renewal processes. This discussion highlights the remarkable capacity of the tourism industry to adjust to rapidly changing circumstances and crises, even when these cause anguish to individuals and within societies at large. The paper thus seeks to contextualize the current discussions regarding the transformation of tourism post COVID-19. It highlights the complexity of changing a tourism that multiple stakeholders depend on or have grown accustomed to. To come to a more balanced tourism, it is necessary to not only come up with alternative visions and strategies, but also to engage with the political economy nature of tourism development. A future research agenda should therefore also discuss facets of entangled power, social exclusion, inequalities and class differences to come to new reference points of what actually constitutes a more inclusive tourism success.
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Oratie over het commercialiseringsproces op sportgebied, uitgesproken op 18 oktober 2006 bij de openbare aanvaarding van het ambt van bijzonder hoogleraar op het vakgebied van de Sportontwikkeling aan de Universiteit Utrecht in de faculteit Rechtsgeleerdheid, Economie, Bestuur en Organisatie, departement Bestuurs- en organisatiewetenschappen.
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This is a review of the literature on community energy. We analyze more than 250 studies that appeared in the academic literature in the period 1997-2018. We investigate the timing regarding the appearance of these studies, the geographical orientation of the research, and the journals in which the articles appeared. We also analyse the keywords used to identify the research. Further, we relate the articles to the theoretical perspectives employed. We also analyse keywords used by the authors in relation to the particular approaches employed and reflect on the country specifics of the case studies. We find that the majority of studies on community energy did appear in the last couple of years. Especially the UK, US, Germany and the Netherlands are being investigated. Energy Policy published most of the studies. Different theoretical perspectives study community energy, especially Governance, Sociology, Economics, Planning, Technology, and Transition. We conclude that the study of community energy is still in its infancy as there is little commonality in the terminology and key concepts used. Studying community energy requires further improvement in order to better integrate the different theoretical perspectives and to ground policy decisions.
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With the effects of climate change linked to the use of fossil fuels, as well as the prospect of their eventual depletion, becoming more noticeable, political establishment and society appear ready to switch towards using renewable energy. Solar power and wind power are considered to be the most significant source of global low-carbon energy supply. Wind energy continues to expand as it becomes cheaper and more technologically advanced. Yet, despite these expectations and developments, fossil fuels still comprise nine-tenths of the global commercial energy supply. In this article, the history, technology, and politics involved in the production and barriers to acceptance of wind energy will be explored. The central question is why, despite the problems associated with the use of fossil fuels, carbon dependency has not yet given way to the more ecologically benign forms of energy. Having briefly surveyed some literature on the role of political and corporate stakeholders, as well as theories relating to sociological and psychological factors responsible for the grassroots’ resistance (“not in my backyard” or NIMBYs) to renewable energy, the findings indicate that motivation for opposition to wind power varies. While the grassroots resistance is often fueled by the mistrust of the government, the governments’ reason for resisting renewable energy can be explained by their history of a close relationship with the industrial partners. This article develops an argument that understanding of various motivations for resistance at different stakeholder levels opens up space for better strategies for a successful energy transition. https://doi.org/10.30560/sdr.v1n1p11 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/helenkopnina/
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