‘Unwanted But Needed’ In South Africa: Post Pandemic Imaginations On Black Immigrant Entrepreneurs Owning Spaza Shops

Author(s): Sadhana Manik / Language(s): English / Publication Year: 0

This chapter is an attempt to imagine the policy environment and socio-economic spaces of what a post pandemic SA could be for immigrant small/micro business entrepreneurs, who are owners of ‘spaza’ shops. I present a focused gaze for this sub set of immigrants (developing the informal economy in SA) who have been experiencing a cornucopia of challenges pre-pandemic and during the pandemic based on their status as immigrant entrepreneurs, the most pronounced of which has been xenophobia which is cocooned within the explicit aim of purging South Africa of immigrants. It is for this reason that I trace the realities of the landscape pre COVID-19 and during the pandemic before offering up three ‘imaginations’ (O’Tuathail, 1996) as possibilities for the future of immigrant spaza shop owners. I draw on existing securitization policies, political utterances and practices, socio-economic events and immigrants’ experiences in post- apartheid South Africa which has created particular ‘auras’ ( Roy, 2005) and anti-immigrant discourses that provide some insights into what a post pandemic future could be.

“Makó — Not Only Hagyma”?: Competing Histories and Narratives of Onion Production and Spa Tourism in a Hungarian Town

Author(s): Vivien Apjok / Language(s): English / Issue: 2/2020

The aim of this paper is to present the role that onions and spa tourism play in local identity in the Hungarian town of Makó, as well as the possible explanations that cause the two phenomena to manifest differently in the local (urban and community) self-image. What the two phenomena have in common is the economic aspect, which in the past and in the present constitutes the main sector of the town, but we can see that this orientation is also perceived differently at many points. The question is relevant from an anthropological point of view because we can witness stacked layers of meaning that in some cases support or conflict with each other, and these affect both the self-image of the locals and the image of the town. The interpretive framework of the article is the theory of competing histories, incorporating concepts of tourism, festivals, identity, collective memory, and narrative research.The field of research is Makó, a small town in southeastern Hungary which is primarily known for its onion production but which a few years ago was also placed on the tourist map, on a national and international scale, in connection with the Hagymatikum Spa. This study seeks to answer the following questions: (1) what is the role of onions (agriculture) and spas (tourism) in the local identity of Makó; (2) how are the narratives of the two phenomena structured socially and historically; and (3) how are they intertwined in the endeavours of contemporary identity-construction? These questions are further interpreted through the theoretical framework of competing local histories and narratives that affect the construction of the local identity.

“Polish Up Yourself and Be No Drag”; The Joy and Jeopardy of Reading Anglophone Caribbean Literature in Translation

Author(s): Bartosz Wójcik / Language(s): English / Issue: Sp. Iss./2018

Caribbean literature is still under-represented in Eastern Europe, an error of exclusion that the present paper ventures to discuss. For decades Polish publishers have been understandably replicating metropolitan canons, zig-zagging between European and American bestsellers. It is only when a Caribbean or Caribbean-British writer gains an international distinction (Walcott, Naipaul) or becomes a worldwide publishing sensation (Zadie Smith, Andrea Levy) that their books are translated. Exceptions to this rule, such as the solitary Polish editions of Caryl Phillips’s A Distant Shore (Muza, 2006), Monique Roffey’s The White Woman on the Green Bicycle (Nasza Księgarnia, 2011) and Kei Miller’s The Last Warner Woman (Świat Książki, 2012), or single Francophone Caribbean novels, are few and far between. Arguably, it seems that this politics of translation and publishing stems from the systemic, colonially foisted peripherality of West Indian literature, side-lined by the cultural production of the UK as well as the USA, which dominates the curricula of English departments in more culturally homogeneous countries such as Poland. However, what constitutes a major problem for the dissemination (and popularity) of Caribbean Creole literature in Polish is exactly what makes West Indian writing so engaging, multi-layered, polyphonous and intertextual – it is the cultural component (for instance, the translation of “Creole folkways”) that is often misread, misconstrued and, as a consequence, mis-rendered. For that reason, using a number of literary sources, the present paper will attempt to showcase a selection of translatological strategies for coping with, to quote Benjamin Zephaniah, “decipher[ing]/de dread chant” into Polish.

„Miasto, w którym los pozwolił mi znaleźć przystań…”. Spacer z pochodniami, 6 czerwca 2018

Author(s): Author Not Specified / Language(s): Polish / Issue: 1-2/2019

„Nowa” tożsamość miejsca 1 w poprzemysłowej Łodzi

Author(s): Jan Wrana / Language(s): Polish / Issue: 1/2010

Łódź owes its development in the XIX century and the fall in the XX century to great industry. The period of transformations in the political system, after the year 1989, was the time of daring attempts to revitalize large buildings providing the chance for reviving the life of the postindustrial city. Architects, the creators of changes in these very buildings, have intuitively preserved the modern context and the observance of the heritage assigned to the place, creating, at the same time, “new” identity of the places.

„Trzy kobiety i biblioteka”. Warszawska Biblioteka Wzorowa dla dzieci i jej kierowniczki (1927-2004)

Author(s): Grażyna Lewandowicz-Nosal / Language(s): English,Polish / Issue: 2/2020

The Warsaw Model Library for Children, opened in Warsaw in November 1927, is one of the best-known institutions of this type in Poland. Its organization and methods of work have served, according to the name, as an organizational model of other children’s libraries. However, the library is not only a place and collections but also people – librarians. The article presents the characters of three managers of this library and their contribution to the development of such a single institution and its impact on the nationwide network of public libraries for children. The character and activity of the organizer and the first manager of the library Maria Gutry, then Zofia Wędrychowska-Papuzińska, and Sława Łabanowska, a long-time first post-war library manager, will be discussed. The fate of the library itself is the background to present their activity. The available biographical materials and archival documents collected in the library will be referred to.

„WALKA Z TERRORYZMEM”. DOŚWIADCZENIE PRAKTYK PAŃSTWOWYCH W REPUBLICE DAGESTANU W LATACH 2005-2014

Author(s): Iwona Kaliszewska / Language(s): Polish / Issue: 1/2015

Daghestan is the most unstable republic in the North Caucasus, Russian Federation. There is an ongoing conflict between power structures who aim to ‘fight terrorism’ and Islamic militants who strive to create an Islamic State in the North Caucasus. What is the local meaning of the term ‘fighting terrorism’? Who are the local ‘Wahhabis’? How do Daghestani inhabitants experience state practices disguised under the official ‘fighting terrorism’? What is their perception of the state dealings? I show how the meanings of the terms ‘fighting terrorism’ and ‘Wahhabis’ have changed throughout the last decade in Daghestan. From my research I conclude that after 2009 the local ‘fighting terrorism’ has been perceived as the source of violence, while a ‘Wahhabi’ has become a scapegoat, persecuted for a certain set of features. I also analyse the relation between experiences of the local state practices and the more general perceptions of the state dealings. While the local ‘fighting terrorism’ has been criticised and deconstructed, the same cannot be said about its media representation. The ‘rational’ dimension of the state has been locally deconstructed, while the ‘magical’ mode remained persuasive and did not seem to be threatened by the deconstruction.

№112. What should the European Union do next in the Middle East?

Author(s): Michael Emerson,Natalie Tocci / Language(s): English / Publication Year: 2006

It is urgent that the EU should follow up on UN Resolution 1701 and the deployment of member states’ troops to Lebanon with a strategic diplomatic initiative aimed at the fundamental problem, namely the lack of an agreed resolution to the Israeli Palestinian conflict. The reasons for this are a mix of old and new; reasons which are rooted in the international, European and Middle Eastern domains.

№120. The Presevo Valley of Southern Serbia alongside Kosovo. The Case for Decentralisation and Minority Protection

Author(s): Beáta Huszka / Language(s): English / Publication Year: 2007

Presevo Valley gained international attention mostly due to the insurgency of local Albanians in 2000, which was also a key factor destabilising Macedonia in 2001. Situated in southern Serbia and bordering on Macedonia and Kosovo, Presevo Valley is home to Serbia’s Albanian minority. Although the Valley has been calm in the last few years and the resurgence of armed conflict is unlikely at the moment, the situation is still fragile and continues to pose a potential security threat for the wider region. As the solution to Kosovo’s status is approaching, the problems of Albanians in Presevo Valley deserve serious attention. There are two main sources of security threats: one is the potential influx of Serbian refugees, the other is Kosovo’s (hypothetical) partition. The latter could potentially lead to the outbreak of violence, as Albanians of the Valley recently declared their intention to be united with Kosovo if the Serbian villages in the North of Kosovo would join Serbia. This Policy Brief argues, however, that the Serbian government could reduce the chances of conflict by addressing some everyday problems faced by the Albanian minority, which could take the wind out of the sails of potential irredentists. Albanian grievances centre on issues such as their weak presence in the public sector, high unemployment, limited implementation of their language rights and the lack of economic development. Some of these problems could be effectively addressed through strengthening local autonomy, which could be part of the solution. It is argued here that continuation with the Covic plan, which combines decentralisation and demilitarisation, could bring about the desired stability for the region, which needs continued attention and assistance from international bodies, among them the European Union.

№127. The EU and Kazakhstan. Balancing Economic Cooperation and Aiding Democratic Reforms in the Central Asian region

Author(s): Bhavna Dave / Language(s): English / Publication Year: 2007

Kazakhstan’s continuing socioeconomic and political stability, a formal commitment to political reforms and an unambiguously pro-Western orientation make it the EU’s most reliable partner in the Central Asian region. Its rising oil exports – almost 80% of EU imports from Kazakhstan consist of fuel and geostrategic location make a close and continuing partnership with the EU inevitable. Recognising that Kazakhstan is favourably placed to be the foremost player in the region, this analysis advocates that the EU should 1) develop an internally differentiated strategy towards Central Asia with Kazakhstan as a strategic anchor in the region, and 2) prioritise the promotion of democratic reforms and transparency of political and economic processes which can turn Kazakhstan into a more effective and reliable partner of the EU and a positive engine for reform in the broader region.

№128. The European Union’s Strategic Role in Central Asia

Author(s): Neil Melvin / Language(s): English / Publication Year: 2007

For the first time since the collapse of communism, the EU is facing a strategic challenge in its external policies. The rise of Russia and China as international actors – with India close behind – and the growing confidence of some leading regional powers, such as Iran, are creating a serious threat to the EU’s ambition to apply external policies that reflect European values. Against this background, the employment of the democracy – promotion agenda developed during the 1990s is unlikely to be effective and may even serve to weaken the position of the EU in key regions. This situation demands an urgent and far-reaching rethink of the approach the Union takes to external relations. If the EU is to remain a serious global actor, it will have to find ways to reconcile the imperative of engaging in difficult regions beyond the immediate European neighbourhood while also remaining true to the values of the Union.

№129. Turkmenistan in transition. A window for EU engagement?

Author(s): Michael Denison / Language(s): English / Publication Year: 2007

The sudden death of President Saparmurat Niyazov on 21 December 2006 has opened a window for engagement between the European Union (EU) and Turkmenistan. There appears to be a realisation across the Turkmen political elite that Niyazov’s style of policy micro-management was unsustainable and undesirable, both in terms of its immediate outcomes, and for its broader impact on political and social cohesion. Accordingly, a more balanced and collegiate form of governance is likely to develop under the new regime, with power effectively centred on a ‘junta’ of influential security officials from different clans/regions. Although formal democratisation remains a distant prospect, a sequence of economic and social changes, initiated both from above and below is likely to occur. The principal objectives of these will be to reverse Niyazov’s most idiosyncratic and unambiguously damaging policies, and to commence a process of cautious re-engagement with the outside world. What is the aim of these changes, repairing the damage of the Niazov years or something more ambitious? These reforms have the potential to be simultaneously emancipating and destabilising. Using a fusion of traditional Turkmen and Soviet techniques, paid for by gas rents, Niyazov managed to create a regime that, for over two decades, rather effectively neutralised any actual or potential sources of opposition to his rule. Without that primitive overlay, the multiplication of political actors, combined with necessary reforms to increase the role of the private sector, is likely to test the state’s institutional strength, and open new internal commercial pressures for engagement in and beyond the region.

№133. What will it take to resolve the dispute in Western Sahara?

Author(s): Hakim Darbouche / Language(s): English / Publication Year: 2007

After four years of diplomatic stalemate, there appeared to be some movement around the ‘frozen’ conflict in Western Sahara early in 2007, with a ‘fresh’ Moroccan proposal presented to a UN Security Council meeting on April 11th. The outcome of this submission, and its Sahrawi counterpart, was a UNSC resolution calling on: the parties to enter into negotiations without preconditions in good faith, taking into consideration the developments of the last months, with a view to achieving a just, lasting and mutually acceptable political solution, which will provide for the self-determination of the people of the Western Sahara.

№134. Democratisation and Human Rights in Central Asia: Problems, Development Prospects and the Role of the International Community

Author(s): Eugheniy Zhovtis / Language(s): English / Publication Year: 2007

To understand the reasons for the relative failures of the transition to democracy, the formation of a law-based state and the establishment of respect for human rights in the independent states of Central Asia today, as well as the role of the international community, one has to assess, first of all, the dynamics of the political process in this region of the world. In large part, the origins of the current weakness of democratic processes are the result of developments during the final decades of Soviet power. By the early 1990s, there arose a situation in which the ruling authorities Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU), ruling authorities, realising the necessity of reform but at the same time wishing to retain power, initiated a set of reforms that employed democratic phraseology but which aimed first of all at protecting the interests of the ruling group.

№135. What Went Wrong? The Impact of Western Policies towards Hamas and Hizbollah

Author(s): Natalie Tocci / Language(s): English / Publication Year: 2007

International policies and in particular EU and US policies towards Hamas and Hizbollah have had multiple and interlocking effects in the last two years. Most visibly, western policies have impacted upon the two movements themselves, on the domestic governance systems in Palestine and Lebanon, and on the relations between Hamas and Hizbollah and their respective domestic political rivals. In turn, they have also had an impact on the conflicts between Israel and Palestine/Lebanon, and on the mediating roles of the international community. The balance sheet is far from positive. Paradoxically, western policies have often hampered the quest for international peace, democracy and good governance, as well as inter- and intra-state reconciliation. This Policy Brief offers a comparative analysis of the impact of western policies on three principal domestic and international dimensions of the Middle Eastern conundrum: the transformation and popularity of Hamas and Hizbollah, Lebanese and Palestinian governance and intra-Lebanese and Palestinian reconciliation.

№139. Security Challenges in Central Asia. Implications for the EU’s Engagement Strategy

Author(s): Daniel Kimmage / Language(s): English / Publication Year: 2007

Central Asia presents the European Union with a uniquely problematic set of security challenges. Enumerated in their most basic form, without reference to context, the challenges are formidable enough: the threat of violent extremism, a well established conduit for smuggling illegal narcotics and potential instability rife with the possibility of conflict and humanitarian catastrophe. But these challenges are not stand-alone issues that can be treated individually; they are embedded in a regional context that creates additional difficulties for engagement. Namely, while Central Asian states may share a common understanding of ‘security challenges’, that understanding differs considerably from accepted definitions within the EU. More importantly, the Central Asian states themselves have evolved in various directions since gaining independence in 1991, and it is by no means clear that a ‘regional policy’ is the most effective means by which to engage them.

Экологический подход к периодизации финального палеолита и раннего мезолита в Верхневолжском регионе

Author(s): Sergey N. Lisitsyn / Language(s): Russian / Issue: 1/2017

The article reviews archaeological data on the transitional period from the Palaeolithic to the Mesolithic in the Upper Volga basin. It starts with an overview of different approaches to the periodization of the cultural history of the region from the Final Pleistocene through the Early Holocene. The periodizations based on typological grounds are criticized. As an alternative, the author attempts to correlate cultural and environmental processes, giving particular attention to the paleogeographic and stratigraphic evidence (including radiocarbon dates nad faunal fata) obtained from the multilayer sites of Zolotoruchie 1, Stanovoe 4, and Vashana. The ecological reconstructions suggest that the end of the Pleistocene in the Upper Volga was a period of cold climatic conditions, culminated in the Younger Dryas. The hypotheses suggesting a very early settlement of the region by reindeer hunters do not agree with the empirical data. The early Preboreal settlement of the Upper Volga by the Butovo culture people seems to have been associated with the north-taiga hunters. The warm Preboreal optimum caused the shift of the boreal zone to the north and the spread of pine forests in the Upper Volga, which was accompanied by the appearance in this region of the Iyenevo culture people. The cultural transformations that took place in the Upper Volga basin at the turn of the Holocene appear to have been caused by local environmental changes.

Экономика арктических «островов» (на примере Ненецкого и Чукотского автономных округов)

Author(s): Alexander Nikolayevich Pelyasov,Natalya Vasilyevna Galtseva,Elena Aleksandrovna Atamanova / Language(s): Russian / Issue: 1/2017

The article discusses the economy of Arctic «islands». These territories of the Russian Arctic are unavailable by transport all the year round and have considerable specificity in comparison with the other regions of the Russian and North European Arctic. The authors consider the economy of Arctic «islands» on the example of the Nenets and Chukotka Autonomous Areas. Despite the significant similarity in the economic and social parameters, after careful study, two regions show considerable internal differences. In order to identify dissimilarity, in the comparative analysis, we use the theoretical idea of the Arctic economy as a unity of three sectors — the traditional one, corporate (market) one and transfer (state) one. Each sector has the key contradictions, structures and its trajectory of evolution. The comparison of traditional sectors reveals significant landscape diversity of Chukotka in comparison with the Nenets tundra. The corporate sector of the Nenets Autonomous Okrug economy is significantly younger than in Chukotka, due to the fact that oil and gas development is relatively new practice for the region. On the other hand, because of the mining development of Chukotka gold, which started in 1960-s, it can be considered as an old industrial region. The level of the profitability of gold production is significantly lower than of the Nenets oil production. Therefore, we propose to include the economy of the Nenets Autonomous Okrug to the rental model, and Chukotka economy to the transfer model. The difference of transfer sectors of two areas is the result of not only the difference in the power of the regional budgets, but also of the urban settlement structure which is centralized in the Nenets Autonomous Okrug and polycentric in Chukotka. It means that the public health and culture in the Nenets Autonomous Okrug are dated generally for the capital of Naryan-Mar, and social facilities in Chukotka are significantly decentralized and concentrated in Okrug’s and regional centres.

Экономика региона

Frequency: 4 issues / Country: Russian Federation

The Journal “Economy of Region” aims at presenting the original results of both fundamental and applied research in the field of regional economics. It provides the international review of the economic development of different countries and regions. The Journal gives to researchers the opportunity to share their most important research contributions with international academic community.

The Journal’s founders are the Institute of Economics of the Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences and Ural Federal University Named after the First President of Russia B.N.Yeltsin.

“Economy of Region” publishes research papers both in Russian and in English 4 times per year.

The key subject areas of “Economy of Region” include:

• New Paradigms and Concepts of Regional Development;

• Transformations of Economic Space and Regional Dynamics;

• State Regulation of Regional Development;

• Economic Security and Sustainable Regional Development;

• Social and Economic Regional Development;

• Modeling of the Regional Economy

• Industry and Inter-industry Associations ;

• Urban Economics;

• International Experience of Regional Development.

ЭКОНОМИКО-ДЕМОГРАФИЧЕСКОЕ РАЗВИТИЕ МАЛЫХ ГОРОДОВ ЦЕНТРАЛЬНОЙ РОССИИ: ВАЖЕН ЛИ ГЕНДЕРНЫЙ АСПЕКТ?

Author(s): Irina Evgenevna Kalabikhina,Denis Nikolaevich Mokrensky,Matvej Sergeevich Oborin,Marina Yurevna Sheresheva / Language(s): Russian / Issue: 2/2018

The main purpose of this study is to analyze the current situation in the economic and demographic development of the population and households in the central Russia small cities, with special attention to the gender aspect. The method of statistical analysis was applied here. Additionally municipal statistics and population census data was made use of. The results show that small cities of central Russia over the past decades have undergone the processes of population decline, its (population) concentration in regional centers, its aging, and the growth in the share of single-person households. All these processes are accompanied by feminization of the population. At the same time, women represent a large share of workers and get lower incomes than men (the gender gap is an equal or higher than the Russian average). The described situation is not only deplorable for the present and future status of women, but it also is a significant challenge for the future sustainable development of small cities, because investigated processes show a tendency to intensify. One of the important practical conclusions is the statement that even a high level of social support (which exists in a number of small cities) does not guarantee the mitigation of challenges. It is necessary to develop the programs aimed to boost networking and inter-municipal cooperation for pooling resources.