Happy Eid ul Adha- Bayram Kurban to my Turkic Friends and Readers

Dini Bayramlar Kırgınlıkların, Dargınlıkların Unutulduğu, Karşılıklı Sevgi ve Saygının Pekiştiği, Hoşgörünün Egemen Olduğu, Güzel Duyguların Paylaşıldığı Özel Günlerdir. İnsanı İnsan Yapan Değerlerin, Erdemlerin Yalın Olarak Yaşandığı Dini Bayramlarımız Toplumsal Yaşamımızda Vazgeçilmez Önem Taşır. Ramazan Bayramınızı sizlerinde barış, kardeşlik ve Huzur İçinde Anlamına ve Amacına Uygun Olarak Kutlamanızı Diliyorum.

Bu Düşüncelerle Siz Değerli İznikli Dostlarımın , Tüm İslam Aleminin Ramazan Bayramını Kutluyor ; Bayramın Tüm İnsanlığa Barış, Kardeşlik, Hoşgörü ve Huzur Getirmesini Temenni Ediyorum...

Happy Thanksgiving to my readers

President Obama Welcomes Primeminister Singh of India

By now you would know that I was born in India. I have been leaving out of my imagined community for over 35 years. I just could not stop from posting this youtube clip. Yes, it may not be relevant to my readers, however before the USSR now the USA welcomed Indian Primeministers. It is funny how time change things...

Call for Papers: Harvard Conference- On the Edge: The Long 1940s in Soviet and Post-Soviet Culture

Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures, Harvard University

A Graduate Student Conference, April 16, 2010

 

On the Edge: The Long 1940s in Soviet and Post-Soviet Culture

 

Call for Papers:

 

Marked by the social and historic upheavals of such dramatic proportions that even the decade leading up to the Russian revolution pales in comparison, the impact of the 1940s on Soviet society and culture is tangible to this day. Like the twentieth century itself, the decade overstepped its chronological borders.

Beginning on August 24, 1939, with the signing of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, it lasted until Stalin's death in March, 1953. Its crises included the Second World War, the beginning of the Cold War, mass deportations of various nationalities, and the notorious campaign against "rootless cosmopolitanism." Its anguish gave birth to a generation of thinkers, writers, and artists, who both monumentalized the "fateful forties" and helped to deflate the state-generated hyperboles of the era's sacredness and purifying ethical power in the post-Soviet years.

"On the Edge: The Long 1940s in Soviet and Post-Soviet Culture" will examine the history of this period through the double lens of cultural analysis and cross-cultural interpretation. Its goal is to bring together scholars from various spheres of the humanities and to generate discussion on the subjects outlined by, but not limited to the questions below:

 

 

1. What are the characteristic modes of intellectual, rhetorical, and artistic expression of Soviet and Western responses to the political upheavals of the period? How did those original modes of expression differ from post-Soviet responses to the same events?
   
2. Which rhetorical devices of the Soviet 1940s were later rejected by Russian and/or Western culture and mass media? Which metaphors of the Second World War and the Cold War are still in broad circulation?
   
3. Did the intellectual and artistic paradigms of the 1940s resemble or depart from the models generated during the decade leading up to the First World War and the 1917 Revolution? How did Soviet and émigré Russian intellectuals react to the Soviet Union's new role on the international stage? How did they respond to the postwar re-interpretation of Russian cultural capital?
   
4. What is meant by "official" and "unofficial" Soviet culture during this decade? Through what artistic forms did artists and intellectuals support or challenge the idea of war-generated national unification?
   
5. Which literary and artistic responses to the Second World War became cornerstones of Russian national identity? How did the post-Soviet re-evaluation of the past affect the appropriation of these responses by artists and intellectuals?
   
6. How did the arts register and/or resist the patriotic rhetoric of the decade, with its frequent changes in tone and direction?
   
7. What influence did the Cold War have on the Soviet and post-Soviet understandings of Russian imperial isolationism, cultural "independence," and "subservience towards the West"?
   
8. How can we characterize what can be arguably seen as the recent come-back of the rhetoric of the 1940s? What can be said about the chauvinistic campaigns conducted by the current Russian government and disseminated through popular culture?
   

 

We invite papers that consider these and other questions using a variety of methodological approaches, and explore the treatment of war in literature, music, and film, as well as in ideology and public discourse. The conference seeks to create an interdisciplinary discussion of the 1940s as a critical historical moment, recorded in the Soviet culture and frequently referred to in present-day artistic and political discourse. We also welcome researchers from adjoining disciplines, including the interpretive social sciences, history, English, American, and comparative literature, and media studies.

 

The goals of the conference are to establish connections between emerging scholars working in the field, to offer a possibility to exchange ideas and receive constructive feedback, and to create a basis for future collaboration in panels and round table forums. Participants will be encouraged to make their papers available to maximize the discussion time and to ensure productive feedback on their work. Professors Louis Menand (Harvard University) and Laura Engelstein (Yale University) have confirmed their participation in the conference as discussants.

 

Submission Details

Please submit abstracts (up to 500 words) to Olga Voronina and Maria Khotimsky (voronina@fas.harvard.edu; khotimsk@fas.harvard.edu). In addition, please include your contact information, departmental affiliation and a brief CV in your message. The deadline for submissions is January 20, 2010. All participants will be notified of acceptance by February 10th. To foster productive discussion and feedback, participants are invited to exchange their papers prior to the conference, by March 15. Accommodation and meals are included in the conference attendance.

 

Conference Organizing Committee

Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures

Harvard University

 

November 2009: Migration in Central Asian Newsletter Published

Source: Moderator: Lilia Ormonbekova, SRC, AUCA, email: src.mrt@mail.auca.kg.

If you wish to unsubscribe, send an empty email with subject "unsubscribe" to src.mrt@mail.auca.kg.

*****************************************************************************************************

Dear Colleagues!

 
 

If you would like to share your information related to migration in Central Asia (e.g. news articles, conference announcements, research reports, policy briefs, etc.), the Migration Research Track at the SRC would be pleased to share it through this network. Please send any information to Lilia Ormonbekova at src.mrt@mail.auca.kg. 

 
 

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This issue contains news reports collected from a number of electronic information sources. Most of the news are presented in Russian language.

 
 

Note:

If you experience a problem in accessing some news reports below, please download the attachments. Please, also note that the scanned copies of the news articles can be provided electronically upon request.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 
 

NEWS REVIEW No 90 (November 13-19, 2009)

 
 

News:

 
 

Kyrgyzstan

 
 

1. "24 Press Club": Kyrgyz MP: Some directors of private orphanages sell children into slavery. Read this news in Russian at http://www.24.kg/community/65717-irina-karamushkina-nekotorye-rukovoditeli.html.

 
 

2. "Akipress": Tripartite agreement aimed at protection of workers' interests signed in Jalal-Abad. Read this news in Russian at http://fergana.akipress.org/news:55821/.

 
 

3. "Akipress": 12 thousand Osh inhabitants look for jobs.  Read this news in Russian at http://fergana.akipress.org/news:55951/.

 
 

4. "Stan.tv": Migrants return. Read this news in Russian and watch photos at http://stan.tv/news/13149/.

 
 

5. "Stan.": School for working children. Read this news in Russian and watch photos at http://stan.tv/news/13246/.

 
 

6. "Akipress": Kyrgyzstanis settling in Russia prefer Kalinigrad and Lipetsk regions. Read this news in Russian at http://fergana.akipress.org/news:55221/.

 
 

7. "CA-News": Kyrgyz medics working abroad help create a website for Association of Kyrgyz specialists on heart, vessels and lungs diseases. Read this news in Russian at http://www.ca-news.org/news/260081 or at http://src.auca.kg/reports/90/01.htm.  

 
 

8. "24 Press Club": UN Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women: Utter poverty might be reason for increased domestic violence against women in Kyrgyzstan.  Read this news in Russian athttp://www.24.kg/community/65660-rashida-mandzhu-nishheta-v-kyrgyzstane-mozhet.html.

 
 

Kazakhstan

 
 

1. "Gazeta.kz": Kazakhstan's Prosecutor General's Office reveals 1.5 thousand violations of migration law. Read this news in Russian at http://www.gazeta.kz/art.asp?aid=139875.

 
 

2. "Megapolis.kz": "We are neither firemen, nor carpenters"…Read this news in Russian at http://www.megapolis.kz/show_article.php?art_id=13666.

 
 

3. "Megapolis.kz": Invited and uninvited guests. Read this news in Russian at http://www.megapolis.kz/show_article.php?art_id=13665.

 
 

4. "CentrAsia": Nexus in human trafficking. Seventeen Kyrgyz and Uzbek women released from sexual slavery in Almaty. Read this news in Russian at http://www.centrasia.ru/news.php?st=1258354620.

 
 

Tajikistan

 
 

1. "CentrAsia": IMF: Tajikistan needs reforms to address global financial crisis. Read this news in Russian at http://www.centrasia.ru/newsA.php?st=1258047480.

 
 

2. "Tajmigrant": Resolution of 2^nd extraordinary meeting of the All-Russian Civil Movement "Tajik Labor Migrants". Read this news in Russian at http://tajmigrant.com/rezolyuciya-ii-ogo-vneocherednogo-sezda-obshherossijskogo-obshhestvennogo-dvizheniya-tadzhikskie-trudovye-migranty.html.

 
 

3. "Tajmigrant": Religious movement among Tajiks. Read this news in Russian at http://tajmigrant.com/a-zavtra-byla%e2%80%a6.html.

 
 

4. "AsiaPlus", "B&P": Set of articles on migration. Read this news in Russian from the file attached http://src.auca.kg/reports/90/02.pdf.

 
 

Russia

 
 

1. "The Moscow Times": Diploma rule adds to foreigners' headaches. Read this news in English at http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/diploma-rule-adds-to-foreigners-headaches/389524.html.

 
 

2. "CA-News": Krasnoyarsk is the most attractive place for Tajik and Kyrgyz gastarbeiters. Read this news in Russian at http://www.ca-news.org/news/261031 or athttp://src.auca.kg/reports/90/03.htm.

 
 

3. "Regnum": Number of foreign workers in Novosibirsk to decrease by 33,8 per cent in 2010. Read this news in Russian at http://www.regnum.ru/news/1224995.html.

 
 

4. "Regnum": Almost 3,5 thousand CIS migrants arrive in Krasnoyarsk in 2009. Read this news in Russian at http://www.regnum.ru/news/1225680.html. 

 
 

5. "Novosti Kuzbassa": Unemployed in Kuzbass force out gastarbeiters from labor market.  Read this news in Russian at http://www.kuzbassfm.ru/news/27595/.

 
 

6. "Segodnya": Ukraine: Asian illegal migrants to be accommodated in palace. Read this news in Russian at http://www.segodnya.ua/news/14094212.html.

 
 

*********************

Bilateral/Multilateral Related

 
 

"Worldbank.org": Workers' remittances fall less than expected in 2009, but 2010 recovery likely to be shallow. Read this news in English athttp://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/NEWS/0,,contentMDK:22394180~pagePK:64257043~piPK:437376~theSitePK:4607,00.html.

 
 

*****************************

Features, Views, Analysis

 
 

1. "CentrAsia": Suicide crisis. More and more Tajik citizens commit suicide because of misery and despair. Read this article in Russian at http://www.centrasia.ru/news.php?st=1258017660.

 
 

2. "CA-News": Climate change leads to migration. On the way to Copenhagen or what will happen to Central Asian countries. Read this article in Russian at http://www.ca-news.org/news/260501or at http://src.auca.kg/reports/90/04.htm.

 
 

3. "Rossiyskaya gazeta": Sociologists conduct research on contradictory feelings Russians have towards migrants. Read this news in Russian at http://www.centrasia.ru/news.php?st=1258099080.

 
 

4. "CentrAsia": Uzbekistan in America.  Why it is Samarkand inhabitants that mainly get US visa? Read this article in Russian at http://www.centrasia.ru/news.php?st=1258622820.

 
 

*************

The NMCA newsletters are partly sponsored by the UNESCO Cluster Office in Almaty, Kazakhstan.

 

Job Posting: Russian, East European, and Eurasian Center, University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign

The Russian, East European, and Eurasian Center (REEEC) at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign is seeking qualified candidates for the position of Associate Director. REEEC is a Title VI National Resource
Center. The Associate Director provides authoritative, detailed professional knowledge in the field of Russian, East European, and Eurasian studies; assists the director in fulfilling the mission of the Center; serves as advisor to the director regarding programs and with program development; and acts for him/her as necessary.

An advanced degree (Master's required) in a humanities or social science discipline with a concentration in Russian, East European, or Eurasian studies and advanced proficiency in Russian or another language of the
region are required. Those holding a Ph.D. are also encouraged to apply. For qualified, the position allows for teaching one or two undergraduate courses per academic year.

For full description and requirements see
http://www.reeec.illinois.edu/about/job.html.

To ensure full consideration, applications must be received by 15 December 2009. Starting date is as soon as possible, but no later than 15 August 2010. The University of Illinois is an Affirmative Action, Equal Opportunity
Employer.

Buriat Popular Music: Мэдэгма Доржиева и ее музыка

Medegma Dorzhieva remains a very popular Buriat pop singer. Here is a high-resoultion clip from her for her listeners. The song is titled: "Aduushanai Duun".

Azerbaijani Bloggers Sentenced for a Donkey Interview!! Why is the question?

As a librarian, I usually try to stay away from the politics. I try to be neutral as much as I can. But then comes a time to write about some critical issues that are of common concern of democratic norms. For example, today, I was reading news from Reuters-India, where there was news titled, "Course in Azerbaijan jails opposition bloggers.."



Below is the video of "a donkey" talking about his arrival in Azerbaycan. Remember that there was money for importing donkeys from Germany to Azerbaycan.







Here is an interview by Pervana Persiani, who explains why these two bloggers were arrested. It is her version of the story. It will be interesting to see what version did the police have?












Here is the version by the eyewitness that talks about how Emin Milli and Adnan Hajizadeh were arrested. It is in Azeri language.

Risk of Mocking Azeri Bureaucrats as Donkeys Friends of two young Azeri activists insist that they were prosecuted because they were using online media like Facebook, YouTube and Twitter to build support for pro-democracy youth movements in Azerbaijan.

My Favorite Pop Singer from Azerbaycan: Brilliant Dadashova

Brilliant Dadashova and I



I have been introducing my readers to music from various parts of Eurasia. Today, I am going to focus on Azerbaycani singer- Brilliant Dadashova. Brilliant Dadashova was born in Baku on September 15, 1965 in large Azeri/Azerbaycani family. As I understand her name could be translated as "Diamond", i.e. Brilliant. Here you can find her biography and other relevant information: http://www.brilliantdadasova.com/


I want to post some of her new songs that I have enjoyed. I love her "Gece Yaman Üzündur = A beautiful long night".





Brilliant in 2008.






Her older songs can be found below.






Here is a clip that depicts her sensitive vocalizations. Enjoy this clip.








Yalan Dunya= Lying World? by Brilliant Dadashova

CONFERENCE/CFP- Environment, Identities and Space, GOSECA Pittsburgh, Feb. 26-28

Source: GOSECA University of Pittsburgh <gosecaconference@yahoo.com>

 

University of Pittsburgh

Graduate Organization for the Study of Europe and Central Asia and Center for Russian and East European Studies present: Environment, Identities, and Space in Europe and Central Asia Seventh Annual Graduate Student Conference February 26-28, 2010

 

On the eve of the September 2009 meeting of the G20 in Pittsburgh, Jos&#1081; Manuel Barroso, President of the European Commission, spoke of the "new challenges of the 21st century" as "challenges that have no respect for borders." Foremost among these Mr. Barroso listed climate change. He prevailed upon the citizens of all prosperous countries to cease gambling over the reality of environmental change and confront this threat with resolve. As he put it: "The time for playing high-stakes poker is over." From the city which welcomed the G20 summit, first heard Mr. Barroso's call for action, and will host the 2010 UN World Environment Day, we raise a call of our own. The Graduate Organization for the Study of Europe and Central Asia (GOSECA) at the University of Pittsburgh has committed its seventh annual conference to scholarship which seeks to better understand the complex bonds between human beings and their environments. How have societies imagined the "natural" world and their relationship to it? What role did the environment play in shaping identities and spaces - political, cultural, and social? How have images and conceptualizations of environment shifted and how did such changes affect societies, their economies, politics, cultures, and identities? As sites of dramatic cultural, social and political transformations, Europe and Central Asia offer a vast potential in addressing these questions

 

We strongly encourage submissions from the widest range of disciplines in the social sciences and humanities (and particularly those which cross disciplines) that address the issues of environment, identities, and space, their interplay and the way in which they affect processes in the region. Topics include but are not limited to:

 

* representations and interpretations in art, literature,

geography/cartography, and history

* migration and demography

* policy and controversy

* "alternative voices": environmentalism and dissident politics

* the shaping of social and cultural identities

* historical legacies of land and resource use

* political violence, war, and ecoterrorism

* energy security, resource management, and cultures of consumption

 

Students currently enrolled in graduate programs are welcome to submit abstracts, which should be no more than 250 words long. Please submit abstracts, along with an academic CV (limited to two pages) to gosecaconference@yahoo.com no later than December 15, 2009. We will contact the authors of accepted abstracts by January 1, 2010.

 

Abstract Requirements

Abstracts must be no longer than 250 words. All submissions should be in PDF (preferred) or Microsoft Word format in a standard 12-point font and be double spaced. In order to ensure anonymity during the blind selection process, the body of the abstract should not contain the author's or authors' name(s) or other personal identifying information other than the title of the paper. The cover page must include: title of submission, author's or authors' name(s), institutional and departmental affiliation(s), e-mail address(es), geographic address(es), and a primary phone number. Although we require all of this information, correspondence will occur mainly via e-mail. An academic CV must also be submitted, but please limit these to two pages.

 

Paper Requirements

In order to facilitate presentation time limits, and to ensure time for active discussions, paper length will be limited to 8 typed pages, double-spaced, with 12-point font. All accepted participants will be required to submit a copy of the final paper one month prior to the conference.

 

Registration Requirements

To better promote a meaningful interdisciplinary exchange, participants are expected to attend all panels for the duration of the conference. Although we cannot provide travel support, we will be happy to arrange housing for the duration of the conference with graduate students. The registration fee is $25.00, which includes meals. Registration fee must be paid by cash or check at registration on February 26, 2010.

 

In Memoriam: Igor Starkin

9.11.2009 Прощание с Игорем Старыгиным состоится 12 ноября Прощание с Арамисом российского кино, популярным артистом Игорем Старыгиным пройдет в фойе московского Дома кино в четверг, 12 ноября. Читать дальше

Balkan Turbo-folk-Latest Songs:Amela's Bas zbog nje or Just For Here

I want to introduce to my reader Amela. Amela's music is sentimental and keeps all the regular apparatus that characterizes Balkan Turbo-Folk. Her latest song Bas zbog nie (translated to English- Just For Her) is nostalgic and captivating.

Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism Manuscripts Page

 

I accidentally stumbled upon this page as I was searching for a bibliography of repressed Azerbaijani poet Javad Ahmad. Originally, I did not anticipate finding anything interesting on this website as it looked like the registration was required. However, I realized that there was wealth of information that could be useful to those who study various aspects of information object production, dissemination and consumption. The manuscripts served as a media of choice till the movable printing press was introduced. Here you can browse scans of various Ottoman and other Turkish history related manuscripts. Here is the address of the website: https://www.yazmalar.gov.tr/detay_goster.php?k=2264&dill=eng

 

 

Call for Proposals: Midwest CONTENTdm Users Group – Fifth Annual Meeting

April 8-9, 2010
 
Hosted by
University of Iowa
At the Hotel Vetro, Iowa City, IA

 The fifth Midwest CONTENTdm Users Group annual meeting hosted by the University of Iowa will be held April 8 and 9, 2010 at the Hotel Vetro in Iowa City, Iowa.

Please consider participating in 2010, in a panel discussion, as a speaker or as a poster presenter. Proposals are needed by December 15, 2009.
 
Possible topics include:

• Building text collections: institutional repositories, EAD, newspapers, yearbooks
  
• Collection Customizations, such as website redesign, other technical aspects
  
• Metadata Standards -- migrating, harvesting, repurposing, Unicode  
  
• Oral Histories – file management; rights, transcription and maintenance
  
• Rights management
  
• System integration and interoperability: CONTENTdm collections in the institutional landscape, (linking to website, RSS feed, meta-searches, API)
  
• Tips and tricks for using CONTENTdm
  
• Video projects
  
• Workflow, staffing, and project management models
  

All presenters will be part of a "Minute Madness" session where you can speak about your topic for a minute!  
 We are offering an online proposal submission form.  To submit a proposal, please visit the conference website at: http://ir.uiowa.edu/cdm_mw2010/ and click on the link for the submission form (either in the body of the page or under "Author Corner").  You will need to create an account to access the form.
If you have any questions, please contact Amy Maroso, program planning subcommittee chair, at maroso@uillinois.edu or 217-377-9189
 
Deadline for submitting proposals is December 15, 2009

Now in its fifth year, the Midwest CONTENTdm Users Group welcomes all CONTENTdm users.  In 2009, the conference attendees represented these states: Connecticut, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.   

http://www.bsu.edu/library

 
 

 

UCLA Event- 1989: Assessing the Collapse of Communism Twenty Years Later

A symposium

Friday, November 06, 2009
8:00 AM - 6:30 PM
UCLA Faculty Center
Los Angeles, CA 90095

1989 was a momentous year in the history of Europe and the world. The collapse of communist rule in Eastern Europe set the stage for unprecedented post-socialist "transitions" in the region and for post-Cold War geo-political changes as well. In recognition of the extraordinary events symbolized by the fall of the Berlin Wall twenty years ago, this symposium aims to reflect thoughtfully on the important political, economic and socio-cultural changes that have ensued.

8:00-9:00       Continental Breakfast

9:00-9:15       Welcome - Susan McClary, Associate Vice-Provost, UCLA International Institute

9:15-9:30       Opening Remarks - Gail Kligman, Director, Center for European and Eurasian Studies

9:30-11:30     Session 1 - Post-socialist Transformations I                       

Speakers: Ivan Berend (UCLA, History), Eva Fodor (Central European University, Sociology), Jan Kubik (Rutgers University, Political Science)

11:30-11:45   Break 

11:45-1:15     Lunch (Light refreshments will be served.)


Download a campus map of nearby food courts. UCLA-Lot2-food-FacultyCenter.pdf

1:15-2:00       Session 2 - NATO Expansion                        

Speaker: General Wesley Clark (former NATO Supreme Allied Commander Europe)

2:15-3:45       Session 3 - Post-socialist Transformations II                        

Speakers:  Adrian Favell (UCLA, Sociology), Wade Jacoby (Brigham Young University, Political Science)

3:45-4:00      Break

4:00-5:00       Keynote Speaker – Kenneth Jowitt (Hoover Institution, Pres and Maurine Hotchkis Senior Fellow; UCB, Robson Professor of Political Science, Emeritus)

5:00-6:30       Reception 

Download File: UCLA-Lot2-food-FacultyCenter.pdf

Sponsor(s):
Center for European and Eurasian Studies, Burkle Center for International Relations

 

'Information Economy Report 2009'

 

'The Information Economy Report 2009: Trends and Outlook in Turbulent Times' is the fourth in a series published by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD). The report is one of the few publications to monitor global trends in information and communication technologies (ICTs) as they affect developing countries. It serves as a valuable reference for policymakers in those nations. It gives special attention to the impact of the global financial crisis on ICTs.

Contents:

* Global and regional trends in the diffusion of ICTs such as fixed and mobile telecommunications, Internet, and broadband

* Ranking of the most dynamic economies in terms of increased ICT connectivity between 2003 and 2008

* Monitoring of the "digital divide"

* Survey of national statistical offices on the use of ICT in the business sector

* A review of the changing patterns in the trade of ICT goods

* A mapping of the new geography in the offshoring of IT and ICT-enabled services

* Policy recommendations on how developing countries can reap greater benefits from ICT

* A statistical annex with global ICT data.

The Information Economy Report 2009 (IER 2009) offers a fresh assessment of the diffusion of key ICT applications between 2003 and 2008. While fixed telephone subscriptions are now in slight decline, mobile and Internet use continues to expand rapidly in most countries and regions. At the same time, there is a widening gap between high-income and low-income countries in broadband connectivity. Broadband penetration is now eight times higher in developed than in developing countries. The report explores policy options for countries seeking to improve broadband connectivity.

The IER 2009 includes a chapter on the use of ICTs in the business sector. Drawing on unique data, it examines how ICT use differs both between and within countries, highlighting the rural-urban divide as well as that between large and small companies. The report recommends that governments in developing countries give more attention to ICT uptake and use by small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), as they are lagging behind larger firms. And it discusses those aspects of ICT where government intervention can make a difference.

A third chapter is devoted to the impact of the financial crisis on ICT trade. While a growing share of exports of ICT goods and services is accounted for by developing economies, especially in Asia, the crisis has affected goods and services quite differently. ICT goods are among the categories of trade most negatively affected by the recession, while IT and ICT-related services appear to be among the most resilient. A statistical annex to the report provides data on ICT infrastructure, ICT use, and ICT trade for up to 200 economies. A PDF version of the IER 2009 and its statistical annex are downloadable from the UNCTAD website (www.unctad.org/ier) from 23 October 2009.

Download Full-text PDF: http://www.unctad.org/en/docs/ier2009_en.pdf

 

 

CONF./CFP.- Cultural & Linguistic Contacts across Central Asia, Leeds, June 7

Call for Papers

 

Traces of Empire: Cultural and linguistic contacts across Central and Inner Asia

A postgraduate symposium at the University of Leeds, Monday 7th June 2010

 

Keynote Speaker: Dr Alexander Morrison (University of Liverpool)

 

This gathering of postgraduates and early career academics is intended to combine historical depth with contemporary focus of anthropological and political approaches. It will consider the development and impact of political and religious ideology, patterns of exchange, travel and trade across the numerous polities, from the T?rk to the Qing to the USSR, that have shaped the region over the centuries. Areas of discussion might include:

 

* Silk routes, caravans, and passes: travel and landscape

* Sedentary/nomadic contacts: trade, peace, war, and conflict resolution

* Linguistic diversity and homogeneity

* Performance and communication: music, film, new media

* Material culture, art, manuscript and textual traditions

* Religious orthodoxy, syncretism and spread

* Centralization, control and resistance

* Construction and transmission of images of gender and sexuality

 

Abstracts (of up to 300 words) should be submitted electronically to Geoff Humble g.f.humble@leeds.ac.uk by Monday the 18th of January 2010.

 

Geoffrey Humble

University of Leeds