The thesis reconstructs and analyses the changing geographical strength of co-operative retailing in England and Wales c.l820-1901. It charts the spatial and temporal distribution of all recorded society foundations during this period. From 1862 onwards the changing pattern of cooperative membership is presented. The distribution of society foundations by settlement size is investigated. The analysis of the pattern of co-operative growth - including the setbacks suffered as some societies failed to establish themselves permanently - draws ideas from and extends upon the existing literature on the geographical diffusion of innovations. The importance of the circulation of information - distinguishing basic awareness of the idea of co-operation and the practical knowledge necessary for its execution - is studied. This suggests the importance of printed sources in rapidly and widely extending awareness but their limitations in providing the knowledge necessary for practical operations. Factors deriving from the relative location of adopting centres and their access to information must be supplemented by consideration of the specific character of these places. In particular the significance of local conditions of retail trade is asserted together with the importance of wider social and economic circumstances as an influence on the potential for the development of collective working class initiative. Variations in the conditions of work and residence are examined as forces underlying the development attitudes amongst workers, the internal cohesion of the working class and its relationship with the middle and upper class establishment; all of which had a bearing on the extent to which co-operation was seen as a desirable and practical exercise within individual settlements.

As one of the major institutional platforms for the activist intellectuals to inaugurate political and cultural modernity, study societies had been proliferating throughout late Qing China (ca. 1894-1911). While existing studies have subsumed this distinctive sociological phenomenon under the political programmes of the broader reform and revolutionary movements, or conceived it as an instance of prototypical formation of civil society in the sociopolitical context of late Qing, they fail to problematize the meanings and functions of 'civilization' and 'civility' as the constitutive (albeit highly contested) principles of the various cultural-political practices of study societies. This study purports to fill this gap by analyzing the symbolic and practical aspects of the study society movement, with specific reference to its guiding motifs of 'Confucian religion' and 'military citizenship'. Despite their manifold differences, these notions implicated the reconstruction of social ties and cultural tradition with the distinctive purpose of constituting and strengthening a 'civilized' community of the Chinese people and citizens, which was to engage in cultural and political competition with Christianity and the imperialist states of the West. / The dual themes of competition and civilization in study societies are then explained in terms of the sociological theory of state formation and civilization, which has been articulated on the basis of European experiences of absolutist and bureaucratic state-building. Art alternative model of nationalist-imperialist state formation is set forth to explain why and how the late Qing study societies arose as a civilizing movement despite the breakdown of the state monopoly of violence and powers, an exceptional setting standing in contrast to the rise and spread of 'civilization' in the European and other world-historical contexts. The concrete courses and outcomes of the study society movement in reformist Hunan and revolutionary Shanghai are further compared and explained in terms of the cultural impacts of war-making, which in the context of late Qing had led to the rapid rise and demise of study societies by transforming the gentry elites along the directions of local militarization and semi-colonial commercialization. / Chen, Hon Fai. / "August 2007." / Adviser: Suk-ying Wong. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 69-02, Section: A, page: 0774. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 248-267). / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Electronic reproduction. [Ann Arbor, MI] : ProQuest Information and Learning, [200-] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Electronic reproduction. Ann Arbor, MI : ProQuest Information and Learning Company, [200-] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Abstract in English and Chinese. / School code: 1307.

Heft 6 der Zeitschrift Coils of the serpent.

Agricultural development has long been the biggest challenge faced by governments or rulers of many countries and regions, be it in the past or at present. It affects the various political, social and economic development aspects of a country or region. Based on various long-term and short-term social needs, the authorities have attempted to find a suitable balance, searching constantly for feasible methods to manage agriculture, in the hope of harmonising the interests of peasant households, consumers and the ruling class through administrative measures. This has resulted in continuous adjustments in agricultural policies and effectively affected the development of agriculture as well as the well-being of farmers and the general public. / As an entrepot, Hong Kong had very little arable land. The number of people engaged in farming, either directly or indirectly, was dwarfed by the consumer population. How to provide the large population with sufficient food, enabling it to be a driver behind economic development? This question became an important political issue for the Hong Kong colonial government for more than 100 years. Sino-British relations fluctuated considerably after the Second World War and this made agricultural development a thorny problem for the colonial government. In the course of studying 60 years of agricultural development, the most striking impression is that the Hong Kong colonial government was totally involved in agricultural production in the New Territories through the systematic promotion of the cooperative movement involving production, transport and marketing. This had made contribution to Hong Kong's unique political and social environment. / This thesis reconstructs the agricultural history of Hong Kong in the post-war period. It explores the profound influence that the Agricultural Cooperative Movement has on the political ecosystem of the villages in the New Territories, economic efficiency and human relations in rural communities. / 陳煜禮. / 論文(哲學博士)--香港中文大學, 2007. / 參考文獻(p. 226-230). / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 69-02, Section: A, page: 0713. / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Electronic reproduction. [Ann Arbor, MI] : ProQuest Information and Learning, [200-] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Abstracts in Chinese and English. / School code: 1307. / Lun wen (zhe xue bo shi)--Xianggang Zhong wen da xue, 2007. / Can kao wen xian (p. 226-230). / Chen Yuli.

All in all, modernization, marketization, and policy fluctuation can explain the development and change of civic associations in 1980s and 1990s. The policy fluctuations plays the key, and has been more significant in the late 1990s. But as to the state-society relations, it also shows that it is not a zero-sum game, but a win-win game in recent years. / Civil associations have been a window to state-society relations in China, which catch eyes and minds of students of China since middle-1990. The theoretical perspectives always adopted include civil society and corporatism, which pay more attention to the political aspects of civic associations. Based on case studies, previous research does not explain the variations of civic associations both in time and spaces. / In analyzing the first period, various sources of data are collected to verify the prevailing modernization hypothesis and transition hypothesis. Emphasis has put on the impact of political fluctuations in 1980s. Data shows, the higher level the association registered, the more sensible they are when facing the fluctuations. Based a time series comparison, the sensitivity to fluctuation is also a function of the types of associations. Business associations, recreational associations are more sensible than others. Marketization is closely related to the development of business associations and professional association. State played a key role in the development of them. Modernization is a key factor in the development of academic associations and recreational associations. However, in a cross-sectional analysis, modernization also accounts for a part of variations of associational density between different areas, but the correlation is weak. The balance of power between state and society brought by market transition shows no correlation with the difference of associational density in the cross-sectional analysis. / In understanding the development of associations in the second period, data comes from a nationwide sampling survey and the Statistical Yearbook of Chinese Civil Affairs. Comparing to the situation in 1980s type by type, it is shown that policy change and political fluctuation are the most important explanations for the development of associations in 1990s. It finds that during the re-registration and houseclean campaign, the total number of associations dropped greatly. But more grassroots association were accepted and the autonomy of civic associations are also strengthened. But a panel analysis of provincial associational density between 1992 and 2003 shows that economic development and marketization are positive to the associational density after controlling the policy fluctuations. But there is no significant relations between the social modernization and associational density. When a interaction between the covariates and the policy change are considered, all except the urbanization are not significant related to the associational density. / To fill in both empirical and theoretical gaps, my research intends to analyze the macro political economy of civic associations in China. After reviewing the history and mapping out the landscape of civic associations, I put forward a comprehensive theoretical framework integrating modernization, marketization, and policy fluctuation as independent variables to interpret the development of civic association in Reform China. It has been divided into two periods: 1978∼1991 and 1992∼2004. / 何建宇. / 論文(哲學博士)--香港中文大學, 2007. / 參考文獻(p. 192-203). / Adviser: Shaoguang Wang. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 68-08, Section: A, page: 3583. / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Electronic reproduction. [Ann Arbor, MI] : ProQuest Information and Learning, [200-] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Abstracts in Chinese and English. / School code: 1307. / Lun wen (zhe xue bo shi)--Xianggang Zhong wen da xue, 2007. / Can kao wen xian (p. 192-203). / He Jianyu.