Against Epistocracies

This chapter argues against both oligarchic and majoritarian rule by knowers, or epistocracies. Such regimes are necessarily blind to certain interests and perspectives, rendering them epistemically inferior to fully inclusive democracies over the long term. The chapter first consider the classic defense of Chinese-style epistocracy by Daniel Bell and then turns to the more puzzling rule by the knowledgeable 95% defended by Jason Brennan. While Bell’s Chinese model is much more vulnerable to epistemic failure due to the blindspots it structurally builds in its decision-process, even Brennan’s majoritarian epistocracy takes the unjustifiable epistemic risk of silencing what could be the most relevant voices on crucial issues.

The Image of the Other in the (post-)Covid Period: Analysis of Russian-language Internet Queries

The digital age has greatly changed the way information is stored and accessed. The Internet allows us to retrieve an unlimited amount of data from anywhere, at any time of the day or night. The search for new information consistently takes place via search engines, which process and store user query statistics. The analysis of these queries allows us to trace various social trends. At the same time, the personality of the researcher does not affect the "query" of the user, who is fully "sincere and independent" in finding the information he or she needs. Our hypothesis for this study is that by analysing the queries of Internet users we can identify the attitude of the contemporary Russian society to the Other and determine the criteria by which the image of the Other is formed. Considering the nature of the COVID-19 pandemic, the researchers assumed that periods of lockdown may have had a particular effect, increasing interest in certain markers of otherness and decreasing interest in other markers. As a result, we identified 10 models of otherness during the (post)lockdown period, in which food and sexual marker groups are the dominant ones. In particular, the Other-Chinese model, as in previous years, remains worrying. The focus has shifted from the appearance to the sexual and food aspects. The COVID-19 pandemic has played a part in this. The Other-Japanese/Korean model also remains ambiguous, but there is a downward trend in alertness. As for the other models, for the most part they are allert-neutral.

A PATOP Study of Philosophy and Business Management: Western vs. Chinese Business Structures in Taiwan

Introduction. Alignment between the philosophical value of the Western parent company and the structure of the local organization is essential to improve managing effectiveness and worker productivity. The alignment may need adjustment while considering whether a Western model is fitted into the Chinese workgroup. This study examines the philosophical value concerning business management within an organization and then explores which value is applicable to the modern Chinese structure in the context of Taiwan. Purpose and methods. The purpose is the holistic view of the Chinese model, as opposed to the separated approach of the West. It does not attempt to find the best philosophical framework of business management for local Chinese structure in Taiwan, as such a framework probably does not exist. Instead, it explores the specific phenomena considered during the process of emergence of business management framework when comparing philosophical value for both selected cases of Western and Chinese enterprises. The case study and PATOP model were used. Results. As a result, there has no single model that is absolutely appropriate to both business and people in one way or the other. Both Chinese and Western philosophical ways of doing business have merits and weaknesses, as illustrated. The implication of the results is the emerged PATOP model. The model indicates an ideal work environment where the Western approach is applicable to the Chinese structure in Taiwan. Conclusions. It concludes that the philosophical approach in doing business within the Chinese structure is erected in a way of “Middle of the Road” according to the PATOP emerged from the study. However, it should be noted that there will be drift as this emerged PATOP model used in the Chinese structure with western approach, indicating another issue “what an acceptable time for drift would be”?

Varieties of Digital Authoritarianism

Digital authoritarianism threatens the privacy and rights of Internet users worldwide, yet scholarship on this topic remains limited in analytical power and case selection. In this article, we introduce a comprehensive analytical framework to the field of Internet governance and apply it first, briefly, to the well-known case of China and then, in more depth, to the still-understudied Russian case. We identify the extent and relative centralization of Internet governance as well as proactive versus reactive approaches to governance as notable differences between the cases, highlighting variation among digital authoritarians’ governance strategies. We conclude that Russia’s Internet governance model is less comprehensive and consistent than China’s, but its components may be more easily exported to other political systems. We then consider whether recent changes to Russia’s Internet governance suggest that it could converge with the Chinese model over time.

Role of the Law in Achieving Sustainable Urban Development through Fiscal Incentives in Nigeria

As the Nigerian population increasingly becomes urban; the situation has had harmful societal, environmental, health and infrastructural effects on the urban centres. The situation is exacerbated by the fact that the rate of land urbanisation in the country is moving at a slower pace; thereby placing pressure on the existing urban centres. Research conducted on urbanisation in Nigeria has revealed that the rate of urbanisation is unsustainable, serves as a constraint on economic development, and Nigeria’s cities are among the worst to live in. Data on the urbanization policies of various governments, globally, reveals that Nigeria is one of the few countries in the world without a clear urban policy. Meanwhile, Nigeria’s population continues to increase and is expected to have doubled by 2050. It is against this backdrop that this paper undertakes a multidisciplinary study of how the law’s adoption of fiscal incentives can help drive sustainable urban development in Nigeria. This paper argues that this will help the state governments in the decongestion of the existing urban centres (as the population urbanisation increases), ensure the creation of new urban centres, utilise fiscal incentives to attract businesses/ urban population to the new centres, and have sufficient fiscal revenues to sustainably manage the urban centres. This paper comparatively analyses the contribution of China’s legal system to its state-led land urbanization moving at a faster rate than its population urbanisation, thereby avoiding the ills associated with urbanization such as congestion, unemployment, etc. With China and Nigeria sharing a similar decentralized tax and fiscal system, state ownership of land, and a large population; this paper argues that the Chinese model can be adopted successfully in Nigeria.

Market Leninism in Vietnam

After a decade of recovery from the decades-long Vietnam War, a reunified Vietnam began a process in the 1990s of privatizing and opening its economy on the Chinese model. It also abandoned anti-imperialist struggle in favor of pragmatic relationships with China and broader capitalist countries.

Market Leninism in Laos

The Laotian communist forces came to power in 1975, assisted by their patron, North Vietnam. They only briefly proceeded to “build socialism,” but then fell back upon leaving the peasantry to cultivate their private landholdings, usually at subsistence level. They then transitioned, already in the 1980s, to market Leninism on the Chinese model. This has created wealth, but much of it has been diverted, lining the pockets of the party and military elites who run the country.

Tech giants versus nation states: prospects for digital multipolarity

This paper presents a political and predictive study of relationship between nation states and large corporations (tech giants) in relation to socially relevant online platforms (SROP). The key question of the article: will the current dominance of global SROP increase, or will they be fragmented (that is the separation of relatively isolated national or meta-regional segments) under the influence of nation states’ intention to protect their sovereignty. A methodological framework includes the following tools: (1) a discourse analysis of the research literature, (2) constructing predictive scenarios based on implicit models revealed in reviewed publications. Despite the search for some kind of control that nation states can have over global SROP (specifically, in India and Turkey), the Chinese model of total fragmentation of SROP is gaining support. Global SROP, as a manifestation of non-public and illegitimate power of tech giants, have transformed the landscape of contemporary international relations. A systemic virtualization of politics reduces the capacity of nation states to survive in a medium where social relations, identity, political behavior, and historical memory are formed and destructed through the intangible impact of global actors and unpredictable virtual cataclysms. The author draws a conclusion that the presumption of multipolarity of the world makes the fragmentation of SROP the only positive scenario. The intention of some governments to make do with only regulating the global tech giants can be interpreted as an illusion that threatens the survival of nation states.

Evaluating the EU as a Global Leader in International Development

ESAANZ ESSAY PRIZE WINNERAs the second-largest economy in the world and as the largest provider of development assistance, the EU is a major actor and agenda-setter in international development. This paper seeks to examine the tools used by the EU in providing assistance and the ways in which its approach to development are different to those adopted by other major actors. The EU's use of ODA and market access are distinguished as two major tools employed by the Union to promote its vision for development. Major challenges to the EU's pre-eminence in the field are also outlined, particularly focusing on challenge arising from the emergence of the Chinese model of development assistance. Drawing on reports produced by the European Commission and academic studies, therefore, this paper finds that while there are inherent shortfalls in its approach, with strong normative underpinnings and a long-term oriented approach, the EU remains a successful and prominent actor in international development.