CIAO DATE: 06/06

Pacific Affairs:
An International Review of Asia and the Pacific

 

Summer 2005 (Vol. 78 No. 2)

Articles

• Ruining and Restoring Rivers: The State and Civil Society in Japan
  Paul Waley

  Rivers have become an important focus of environmental activity in Japan today. In particular, they are a rallying point for a large but disparate number of civil society groups. Faced with a continuing reliance on construction in concrete from many operating within the state and from the construction industry, various key groups have been fighting to win acceptance for a more eco-friendly approach to river re-landscaping. In this paper, I use these groups as a prism for a discussion about the nature of civil society in Japan and in particular its relationship to the state. I take issue with conventional interpretations that see civil society as being locked into a close (but sometimes antagonistic relationship) with the state.

• New Zealand Foreign Policy under the Clark Government: High Tide of Liberal Internationalism?
  David McCraw

  New Zealand's foreign policy for the last four years has strongly reflected the ruling Labour Party's Liberal Internationalist outlook. The government of Prime Minister Helen Clark has emphasized the promotion of democracy and human rights; the strengthening of the role of the United Nations; the advancement of anti-militarism and disarmament; and the encouragement of free trade. Although some of the government's foreign policies have inevitably not been consistent with its outlook, there have been relatively few such discrepancies so far. Indeed, this may well be the most Liberal Internationalist government New Zealand has yet had.

• Between War and Peace: The Role of Intellectuals and their Ethical Dilemmas in the Nationalist Movements in Taiwan
  Zhidong Hao

  This paper examines the complex role of intellectuals in the nationalist movements in Taiwan and, by implication, their role in making war and peace across the Taiwan Strait. Ideal typical organic intellectuals, while following the ethic of responsibility, are willing to use dubious means, including extremisms like distortions, exaggerations and even war, in advancing their nationalist causes. These means can be politically effective, but they are ethically problematic. Professionals want to remain neutral and objective in their study of nationalism, and critical intellectuals want to focus on fairness and justice to all, especially to the disadvantaged groups, in any national developments or arrangements. The professional and critical intellectual groups follow the ethic of ultimate ends, but both are marginalized in the nationalist movements in Taiwan. They largely stand on the sidelines, watching history happen. They are ethical but seldom effective, unless they become partisan and are willing to use dubious means. Such action, however, would turn them into organic intellectuals. These three roles of intellectuals also represent three aspects of intellectuality. They are ideal typically in the sense that intellectuals may transit among the roles. Nonetheless, how intellectuals balance these roles and handle the dilemmas between ethics and efficacy affects the direction of cross-Strait relations, especially with respect to war and peace in the region. This article is based on a historical-comparative analysis of the role of intellectuals, interviews of intellectuals in Taiwan, and a textual study of their writings. It hopes to shed some light on the nationalist developments across the Taiwan Strait.

• The State and the City: 1988 and the Transformation of Rangoon
  Donald M. Seekins

  This article discusses the ways in which the military regime in Burma has used its "vertical power" to constrain the "horizontal power" of the population of Rangoon, the country's capital and largest city. In March 1988, a small incident between university students and local residents led to student protests, which were violently suppressed by the authorities. The cycle of protest and state violence escalated, resulting in demonstrations that by summer 1988 involved hundreds of thousands of Rangoon residents and crossed class and occupational lines. On 18 September 1988, a new military junta seized power and "pacified" the city.

  The post-1988 regime transformed the city, imposing a "strategic redesign" of its public and private spaces to prevent a recurrence of "Democracy Summer." This included the forced relocation of residents from the city centre to remote satellite towns and the closing down of sites associated with "revolutionary nationalism," such as the main campus of Rangoon University. At the same time, a post-socialist, commercialized Rangoon emerged, funded by new sources of capital such as foreign investment and laundered "narco-dollars." In an effort to win legitimacy for itself, the junta also sponsored ambitious Buddhist projects, such as renovation of the revered Shwe Dagon Pagoda. This article calls into question the salience of ethnic politics in Burma, since in Rangoon as in minority areas, the state's relationship with society is defined by its determination to maintain a power monopoly.

Books Reviewed In This Issue

Asia General

• State-directed Development: Political Power and Industrialization in the Global Periphery. By Atul Kohli.
  Reviewed By Hyung Gu Lynn

• Cross-border Marriages: Gender and Mobility in Transnational Asia. Edited by Nicole Constable.
  Reviewed By Michael Douglass

• Wife Or Worker?: Asian Women and Migration. Edited by Nicola Piper and Mina Roces.
  Reviewed By Michael Douglass

• Buddhist Missionaries In The Era Of Globalization. Edited by Linda Learman.
  Reviewed By André Laliberté

• Filial Piety: Practice and Discourse in Contemporary East Asia. Edited by Charlotte Ikels.
  Reviewed By Tianshu Pan

• The Teleology Of The Modern Nation-state: Japan and China. Edited by Joshua A. Fogel.
  Reviewed By Robert E. Bedeski

China and Inner Asia

• China In World Politics: Policies, Processes, Prospects (2nd Edition). By Judith F. Kornberg and John R. Faust.
  Reviewed By Ganesh K. Trichur

• A Bitter Revolution: China's Struggle with the Modern World. By Rana Mitter.
  Reviewed By Flemming Christiansen

• Transforming Rural China: How Local Institutions Shape Property Rights in China. By Chih-jou Jay Chen.
  Reviewed By George C.S. Lin

• Remaking The Chinese Leviathan: Market Transition and the Politics of Governance in China. By Dali L. Yang.
  Reviewed By David Bachman

• Selling China: Foreign Direct Investment During the Reform Era. By Yasheng Huang.
  Reviewed By Christopher Howe

• Obedient Autonomy: Chinese Intellectuals and the Achievement of Orderly Life. By Erika E.S. Evasdottir.
  Reviewed By Timothy Cheek

• "Patriots" Or "Traitors"?: A History of American-Educated Chinese Students. By Stacey Bieler.
  Reviewed By Stanley Rosen

• Génération Perdue: Le mouvement d'envoi des jeunes instruits à la campagne en Chine, 1968-1980. By Michel Bonnin.
  Reviewed By Rene Goldman

• The Role Of Japan In Liang Qichao's Introduction Of Modern Western Civilization To China. Edited by Joshua A. Fogel.
  Reviewed By Bill Sewell

• Holy War In China: The Muslim Rebellion and State in Chinese Central Asia, 1864-1877. By Hodong Kim.
  Reviewed By Uradyn E. Bulag

• The Politics Of Buddhist Organizations In Taiwan, 1989-2003: Safeguarding the Faith, Building a Pure Land, Helping the Poor. By André Laliberté.
  Reviewed By Marcus Bingenheimer

• New Reflections On Anthropological Studies Of (Greater) China. Edited by Xin Liu.
  Reviewed By Tan Chee-Beng

• Women In The New Taiwan: Gender Roles and Gender Consciousness in a Changing Society. Edited by Catherine Farris, Anru Lee and Murray Rubinstein.
  Reviewed By Ellen R. Judd

• Chinese Capitalists In Japan's New Order: The Occupied Lower Yangzi, 1937-1945. By Parks M. Coble.
  Reviewed By Karl Gerth

Northeast Asia

• The Practice Of Concern: Ritual, Well-Being, and Aging in Rural Japan. By John W. Traphagan.
  Reviewed By Gordon Mathews

• Japan At The Millennium: Joining Past and Future. Edited by David W. Edgington.
  Reviewed By John Sagers

• Divisions Of Labor: Globality, Ideology, and War in the Shaping of the Japanese Labor Movement. By Lonny E. Carlile.
  Reviewed By Charles Weathers

• Military Intervention In Pre-war Japanese Politics: Admiral Katô Kanji and the 'Washington System.' By Ian Gow.
  Reviewed By Christopher W.A. Szpilman

• Gender And Power In The Japanese Visual Field. Edited by Joshua S. Mostow, Norman Bryson and Maribeth Graybill.
  Reviewed By Hong Kal

• Masterpieces Of Kabuki: Eighteen Plays on Stage. Edited by James R. Brandon and Samuel L. Leiter.
  Reviewed By Millie Creighton

• The Korean Economy: Post-Crisis Policies, Issues and Prospects. Edited by Charles Harvie, Hyun-Hoon Lee and Jonggun Oh.
  Reviewed By Paul W. Kuznets

• Transforming Korean Politics: Democracy, Reform, and Culture. By Young Whan Kihl.
  Reviewed By Tae Yang Kwak

• Competition And Corporate Governance In Korea: Reforming and Restructuring the Chaebol. Edited by Sung-Hee Jwa and In Kwon Lee.
  Reviewed By Dennis L. McNamara

South Asia

• Disinvestment In India: Policies, Procedures, Practices. By Sudhir Naib.
  Reviewed By Charan Wadhva

• Missing Boundaries: Refugees, Migrants, Stateless and Internally Displaced Persons in South Asia. Edited by P.R. Chari, Mallika Joseph and Suba Chandran.
  Reviewed By Alan B. Anderson

• Why Ethnic Parties Succeed: Patronage and Ethnic Head Counts in India. By Kanchan Chandra.
  Reviewed By Narendra Subramanian

• South Asia's Nuclear Security Dilemma: India, Pakistan and China. Edited by Lowell Dittmer.
  Reviewed By Shrikant Paranjpe

• Blowback: Linguistic Nationalism, Institutional Decay, and Ethnic Conflict in Sri Lanka. By Neil DeVotta.
  Reviewed By Barrie M. Morrison

Southeast Asia

• Southeast Asian Responses To Globalization: Restructuring Governance and Deepening Democracy. By Francis Loh Kok Wah and Joakim Öjendal.
  Reviewed By Robert L. Curry, Jr.

• Behind The Teak Curtain: Authoritarianism, Agricultural Policies and Political Legitimacy in Rural Burma/Myanmar. By Ardeth Maung Thawnghmung.
  Reviewed By Robert H. Taylor

• Confronting Vietnam: Soviet Policy toward the Indochina Conflict, 1954-1963. By Ilya V. Gaiduk.
  Reviewed By David Chandler

• The People Next Door: Understanding Indonesia. By Duncan Graham.
  Reviewed By Sjoerd R. Jaarsma

• Cities, Transport And Communications: The Integration of Southeast Asia since 1850. By Howard Dick and Peter J. Rimmer.
  Reviewed By Terry G. McGee

Australasia and the Pacific Region

• Becoming Sinners: Christianity and Moral Torment in a Papua New Guinea Society. By Joel Robbins.
  Reviewed By Terry Brown

• The Method Of Hope: Anthropology, Philosophy and Fijian Knowledge. By Hirozaku Miyazaki.
  Reviewed By Roderick Ewins

• Pacific Places, Pacific Histories. Edited by Brij V. Lal.
  Reviewed By Glenn Petersen

• Law And Empire In The Pacific: Fiji and Hawai'i. Edited by Sally Engle Merry and Donald Brenneis.
  Reviewed By Ilana Gershon

• World War II In The Pacific. By Mark D. Roehrs and William A. Renzi.
  Reviewed By Nancy J. Pollock