Dynamic Realities
Oxford Brookes University (Gipsy Lane Campus)
The Political Economy of Straits Chinese Business Networks: An Examination in Colonial Singapore through Economic and Political Lens
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Zhengqi Pan
Economics is inextricably linked to politics. In the years following the establishment of a trading post, nineteenth century Singapore witnessed the arrival of wealthy "Chinese-Peranakans" or Straits Chinese, who had considerable economic and political clout. Entrepreneurial and articulate in English, Chinese and Malay, these Peranakans were able to form business partnerships with the British, and also served as socio-political mediators in the Singapore society at large. The Straits Chinese community was thus significant to the economic and political governance of colonial Singapore. This paper examines how and to what extent the Straits Chinese business community in Singapore was influential in both economic and political aspects, from the early nineteenth century to the immediate years after World War II. I first examine the structure and organization of the Straits Chinese business community in colonial Singapore. Then, I explore the linkages between economics and politics, investigating how economic power became tied to political power, and how the Straits Chinese business community used their limited political power to influence the establishment. This paper thus analyzes the dynamics of economic and political power of the Straits Chinese community in colonial Singapore, with broader implications on how ethnic Chinese business networks are able to exert real political influence.
Featured Methodologies for Monitoring the Media Discourse on Sustainable Development View Digital Media
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Alberto E. Lopez-Carrion
The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the 2030 Agenda are an action plan supported by the UN with the goal of enhancing human and environmental well-being by that year. Since its adoption in 2015, several actors have carried out communication campaigns with the purpose of spreading it throughout society, but various research and surveys ensure that the global population's awareness of this plan's revolutionary nature is still relatively low. This study focuses on how Spain's major internet media portrays the SDGs and the 2030 Agenda. The methodology uses a set of linguistic and statistical tools for content analysis, discourse analysis, and text mining to establish the various associations with the educational topics with which the media associate the action plan that was approved in 2015 by the consensus of the 193 UN member states. The methodology is based on a quantitative analysis of the number of appearances that have been recorded since the promulgation of this global action plan. The main findings indicate that, since the year of its promulgation, the SDGs and the 2030 Agenda have been more frequently mentioned in the news; however, this issue has been losing importance as fewer and fewer in-depth articles highlighting the action plan's transformative nature are published, and when they are, they are usually mentioned incidentally.
Strategic Management and Public Service Delivery in Federal Road Safety Corp, Nigeria View Digital Media
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Onyinye Uwaechia, Evans Onwubiko
While previous studies have examined the theories and relevance of strategic management in Nigeria, how strategic management affects public service delivery has not been central to existing academic debate. Using the quality-dominant mixed method approach this study examined the effect of strategic management on public service delivery in Federal Road Safety Corp from 2018 to 2022. The paper found that the strategic posture of the Federal Road Safety Corp is relevant for achieving the core mandate of the organisation on safer roads. Recommendations relevant for achieving the SDG target on safer roads were made.
