• Title/Summary/Keyword: Political economy

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Thailand in 2016: The Death of King Bhumibol Adulyadej and the Uncertainty in Political Economy (태국 2016: 푸미폰 국왕의 서거와 정치·경제적 불확실성)

  • KIM, Hong Koo;LEE, Mi Ji
    • The Southeast Asian review
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    • v.27 no.2
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    • pp.245-271
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    • 2017
  • The purpose of this study is to examine and assess the major characteristics and changes of politics, economy, and diplomacy in Thailand in 2016. Specifically, it reviewed the New Constitution that was passed in 2016, the confrontation between different political forces and the trend of military regime around the New Constitution, and the political instability caused by the accession of the new king to the throne. This study also set out to figure out changes to the economy and foreign relations of the country, including its relations with South Korea, under the military regime and make predictions for the impact and future prospects of King Bhumibol Adulyadej's death on the politics and economy of the country. In 2016, the politics of Thailand took a step further toward the transfer of power to civil government and established a foundation for an authoritarian system. The draft of the New Constitution, which does not seem to be democratic, was approved by a referendum and enabled the military authorities to continue their political interventions, even after the general election. The New Constitution, in particular, reduces the power of political parties itself in addition to simply keeping the Thaksin's party in check; thus, anticipating ongoing conflicts between the military authorities and political parties. In this situation, the absence of King Bhumibol Adulyadej, who used to play a decisive role in promoting the political stability of the country, and the accession of the new king to the throne raise concerns about the acceleration of political instability, which has continued after the coup and influenced the diplomatic relations of the country. Today, Thailand is distancing itself from Western nations that do not recognize the current military regime including the U.S.A. and EU member states and instead maintains a rapidly friendly and close relation with China. In 2016, the economy of Thailand made a gradual recovery rather than high growth. The death of King Bhumibol Adulyadej has exerted limited direct economic impacts only on individual consumption and tourism and is not likely to cause a recession. An economic crisis will, however, be unavoidable if the political confrontations escalate before the general election to transfer power to the civil government.

A Political Economy of Star Power (스타권력의 정치경제학적 분석)

  • Kim, Seung-Soo
    • Korean journal of communication and information
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    • v.62
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    • pp.119-139
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    • 2013
  • Star is riddled with myth while they form the star power and support advertisers for profit realization. Their influence on society and audiences grows day by day. In particular, advertisers depend on star power when they sell their products. This article analyzed the nature of the star power dominating media resources and offering the distorted picture of consumer culture. I take a political economic view of consumer capitalism and star. The article shows how stars contribute to the accumulation of capital and defense of class relations in the consumer culture.

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The Limits and Possibilities of Political-economy Paradigm in Korean Media Studies (한국 미디어 정치경제학의 한계와 가능성 탐색)

  • Im, Yung-Ho
    • Korean journal of communication and information
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    • v.70
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    • pp.9-34
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    • 2015
  • While dramatic shifts in the media environment underscore the emerging importance of structural approaches in media studies. political economists in Korea have failed to meet such demands. It is particularly noteworthy that their most serious weakness lies in economic theories. This paper aims to examine major problems in political economic approaches in Korea and suggest some research agenda and directions for the future. Above all, political economists need to scrutinize and elaborate both microscopic and macroscopic frameworks. On the microscopic level, they may learn tremendous implications from the "audience-commodity" thesis and recent debates on "information goods" among Korean economists. For the more macroscopic part, it is urgently needed to delve into mid-level issues that may illuminate specific ways the media capital operates: trends in the accumulation of capital, the influence of technological innovation, changes in the labor process, and the relations among production, circulation and consumption sectors.

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Landscape as Materialized Discourse and Capital - Political Economic Interpretation of Urban Landscape - (담론과 자본으로서의 경관 - 도시 경관의 정치·경제적 해석을 위한 이론적 틀 -)

  • Park, Keun-Hyun;Pae, Jeong-Hann
    • Journal of the Korean Institute of Landscape Architecture
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    • v.41 no.6
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    • pp.117-128
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    • 2013
  • This study aims to examine various discourses of the urban landscape discussed in the fields of new cultural geography, spatial political economy, and landscape architecture in order to propose a theoretical framework for the interpretation of a contemporary urban landscape. The notion of landscape is a modern idea that separates humans, especially the bourgeois subject, from nature, and then achieves the visual possession of nature. New cultural geographers have studied the political aspects of landscape. According to them, landscape as materialized discourse is "a way of seeing" which includes the vision of the upper class, the imperialistic view, and the masculine and voyeuristic gaze. In addition, spatial political economists have paid attention to the economic aspects of landscape. They have emphasized that the material production of landscape is indispensable in the production of surplus values in the capitalistic system. Thus, we insist focusing dialectically on both the materiality and ideology of landscape.

Whither the TPP? Political Economy of Ratification and Effect on Trade Architecture in East Asia

  • Choi, Byung-il
    • East Asian Economic Review
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    • v.20 no.3
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    • pp.311-338
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    • 2016
  • In the race for establishing trading architecture consistent with new landscape of the global economy, the US is ahead of the game by concluding the Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement with 11 countries. To make it reality, the ratification is essential. In the battle for ratification in the US, declining globalism confronts rising protectionism. This paper models the ratification process as contest between globalism and protectionism, and analyzes the optimal timing for ratification. Based on this framework, various ratification scenarios are analyzed. The paper argues less likelihood for the lame-duck session passage and more likelihood for prolonged and protracted delay, due to changing political dynamics and declining intellectual support for globalism. Hence, the future of Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement may prove different, compared to the North American Free Trade Agreement and the Korea-US Free Trade Agreement, both of which were renegotiated and ratified eventually. Then, the US would lose the first move advantage. The paper also discusses strategic implications of delayed ratification on the evolution of trading architecture in East Asia.

The Customs Union between the European Union and Turkey and its Impacts on Turkey's Economy

  • Becker, Kip;Baki, Ibrahim;Lee, Jung Wan
    • The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
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    • v.3 no.2
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    • pp.41-49
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    • 2016
  • Since World War II nations have formed alliances for reasons of security and trade. Countries have seen international integration as an appropriate approach to resolving domestic and international political issues, improving their welfare by both transforming their infrastructures and increasing their foreign trade. While the majority of these relationships are straightforward d Turkey's relationship with the European Union is more complex due to differences in religion and, at times, political ideology from other Union members. As a candidate country Turkey has made advances towards the full membership of the European Union with the customs union being the most significant. The impact of customs union membership is discussed and the effects of the customs union on Turkey's trade and economy are examined from a perspective of different economic theories.

Coping with Violence in the Thai-Cambodian Border: The Silence of the Border

  • von Feigenblatt, Otto F.
    • Journal of Contemporary Eastern Asia
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    • v.10 no.2
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    • pp.35-40
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    • 2011
  • The recent listing of Preah Vihear Temple as a World Heritage Site has awakened a longtime simmering border dispute between Thailand and Cambodia over a few square kilometers surrounding the ancient Khmer Temple. While the listing of the site by UNESCO was expected to revive the economy of the impoverished border towns near the temple due to the increased tourism and funding for the preservation of the archeological site, it has had the opposite effect due to the sharp increase in violent conflict carried out by the armed forces and nationalist activists from both sides. Military skirmishes and violent protests have brought the local economy to a halt in addition to causing considerable physical damage to the local infrastructure and to the local transnational network of ethnic Kui, local business owners, Khmer and Thai villagers. This paper shows how the dispute is viewed and undertaken by three distinct communities involved in the conflict, the militaries, the metropolitan political elites and activists, and the local villagers. The three communities represent three different cultures of conflict with different interests and most importantly with differential access to the media and official representations of the dispute.

Malaysia's 13th General Election: Political Communication and Public Agenda in Social Media

  • Sern, Tham Jen;Zanuddin, Hasmah
    • Asian Journal for Public Opinion Research
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    • v.1 no.2
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    • pp.73-89
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    • 2014
  • Everyone has a voice and can broadcast it to the world. We hear about the old maxim of media do not tell people what to think but what to think about. Under this theory or approach, a key function of political communication is to make the public think about an issue in a way that is favorable to the sender of the message. In a democracy, political communication is seen as crucial for the building of a society where the state and its people feel they are connected. Thus, this is a study on how social media (e.g., Facebook, blogs, and YouTube) were used in the domain of Malaysian politics during the 13th general election campaigning period in order to set the agenda to form public opinion. The study found that Facebook was the most popular social media tool that political parties actively engaged with during the 13th general election campaign period. Apart from that, issues pertaining to the election were significantly highlighted by the political parties in social media, especially Facebook. However, other issues that were also important to the people such as the economy, crime, and education were not sufficiently highlighted during the election campaign period. This indicates that the political parties influence the public on what to think about using social media.

Economics of Antagonistic Conflict Between Political Forces in Korea: Expansion (한국의 정치세력 간 적대적 갈등의 경제학: 확장)

  • Lee, Jongmin
    • Asia-Pacific Journal of Business
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    • v.11 no.3
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    • pp.217-227
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    • 2020
  • Purpose - Against the backdrop of the recent intense political conflict in Korea's political circles, it is to reveal from an economic point of view the hidden aspects behind the hostile conflict between the two political forces. Design/methodology/approach - This paper is not a normative study to find a solution to political conflict, but a positive study to reveal the mechanism of reciprocity that exists between the two parties of conflict in real politics. Therefore, the analysis is based on game theory methodology. Findings - It is shown that the ruling party should choose a level of preemptive response that is neither insufficient nor excessive if it aims to avoid radical anti-government struggles by opposition parties. We also find that even if the chances of success of the opposition's radical offensive struggle are low, the use of that strategy is not necessarily reduced. In addition, we have obtained comparative static results that do not deviate much from our intuition. What's interesting is that unlike our intuition that the choice of the method will be indifferent if the marginal effects of radical and normal methods of struggle are the same, the opposition party rather chooses the normal method of struggle more often. Research implications or Originality - In forming the analytical model, it reflected the support of the general public following the opposition's struggle against the ruling party in order to capture real politics well in the conflict between the two opposing parties.