Graeme Lang - Academia.edu (original) (raw)
Books by Graeme Lang
Papers by Graeme Lang
Southeast Asia Research Centre Working Paper …, 2005
Page 1. Graeme Lang and Cathy Hiu Wan Chan ... Southeast Asia Research Centre Management Committe... more Page 1. Graeme Lang and Cathy Hiu Wan Chan ... Southeast Asia Research Centre Management Committee Professor Ian Holliday, Acting Director Professor Martin Painter Dr Vivienne Wee, Associate Director Dr Graeme Lang Dr Zang Xiaowei ...
Social Sciences in China, 2010
The rapid growth of Chinese religion and the related studies will potentially reshape the boundar... more The rapid growth of Chinese religion and the related studies will potentially reshape the boundary of sociology of religion. While sociology of religion focuses mainly on exclusive religions, so much so that it was once labeled "sociology of Christianity," it meets challenges and opportunities in China where non-exclusive religions dominate the society. At the micro-level, the prevalence of non-exclusive religion poses challenges to some key concepts rooted in Western society, such as conversion and commitment. At the organizational level, it challenges sect-to-church theory, reminding us to study nonbureaucratic religious organizations. At the market level, Chinese religions are a laboratory for sociologists to examine factors leading to the prevalence of non-exclusive religions. 1 This study is sponsored by "Research Project on Religious Beliefs among Migrating Population in Beijing" (09BaSH045), which is a part of the Eleventh Five-Year Plan for Philosophical and Social Science Studies of Beijing.
Temples in China participate in the competition for believers and are active players in the relig... more Temples in China participate in the competition for believers and are active players in the religious economy. The managers of the most successful new temples engage in strategic decision making about marketing, promotion, innovation, and public activities to increase the visibility and appeal of their temples. We illustrate with examples and data from our studies of eight new temples to the deity Wong Tai Sin (Huang Daxian) in Guangdong and Zhejiang between the late 1980s and 2004 * We would like to thank Lu Yu nfeng, Yang Der-Ruey, Yang Fenggang, Joseph Tamney, Peter Ng, and Daniel Overmyer for helpful comments on various aspects of this research and Chan Hui Ting, Chan Hiu Wan, and Hong Ming for research assistance in several phases of the project. Lang, Chan, and Ragvald: Folk Temples and the Chinese Religious Economy 3 Temples attract more worshippers than any other public religious sites in China. A large and popular temple in Guangzhou, for example, has accommodated more than...
Journal of Contemporary Asia, 2014
currency reserves, total export volumes and energy consumption and the like. Another problem is h... more currency reserves, total export volumes and energy consumption and the like. Another problem is his fixated mind set on China’s rise which denies the reader a linear timeline to fully grasp the meaning of China’s recent economic march. This produces an unfair comparison between China and the US. China’s rise is recent; its current phase of industrial take-off started no earlier than the 1990s and ended by 2010. The US, in contrast, embarked on an economic “take-off” by 1870 and moved from “take-off” to a high production and consumption phase by 1913. China’s recent rise, propelled by 1.4 billion people, compared to 40 million in 1870 in the US, is set to be more dramatic and transformative in the years to come. Shambaugh has definitely missed this historical and demographic insight. The way Shambaugh has presented and analysed information in the book sees him take contradictory positions – he admits where China maintains a lead but is quick to dismiss the influence China’s lead produces. For example, by quoting Robert Dahl and Joseph S. Nye’s definitions of power as the capacity to determine and condition the outcomes of events and actions, Shambaugh dismisses China as a global power as Beijing fails to influence any other nations or global developments, though he mentions some limited areas like global trade transactions, energy and commodity markets, cyber hacking, etc., where Chinese influence is felt (p. 8). Then he indicates that the 2011 Asia “pivot” by the US was a response to China’s assertive foreign policy in the Asia-Pacific region (p. 77). This clearly speaks of China’s capacity to condition US policy outcomes to a large extent. Again, he rejects China’s global influence as a “hollow hype” but at the end writes that: “Since China’s opening to the world in 1978, the world has changed China – and now China is beginning to change the world” (p. 317). It is important to avoid such contradictions. The major strengths of the book, despite these shortcomings, are its extensive analysis of Chinese power in its entirety, and the frequent use of original Chinese references to countenance the main arguments. It is recommended for students of Chinese foreign policy and the interested public who watch China’s rise seriously.
Journal for the Study of Religion, Nature, and Culture, 2022
During historic plagues some religious advocates attributed a plague to the actions of a deity, a... more During historic plagues some religious advocates attributed a plague to the actions of a deity, and this claim has also been applied to the COVID-19 pandemic. Most contemporary religious leaders and believers, however, accepted secular analysis of the pandemic, and complied, to varying degrees, with public health restrictions and remedies. But some religious leaders and groups de ed these measures and had much higher rates of infections and deaths than the general population. Case studies of selected groups can expand our knowledge of these impacts and reactions. I focus especially on Amish and Ultra-Orthodox Jewish communities, two insular religious subcultures which have disparaged the sciences and tried to maximize their autonomy and cultural separateness from the surrounding society. Both internal and contextual factors are important in understanding their reactions to the pandemic.
European Journal of Futures Research, 2018
No contemporary major city is sustainable, with current population and levels of consumption, bey... more No contemporary major city is sustainable, with current population and levels of consumption, beyond the fossil fuels which have facilitated what has appropriately been called "high-energy modernity." At present, there appears to be no realistic possibility in any major city of replacing most of the energy from fossil fuels with renewable energy. Even in cities which could get most of their electricity from renewables, there is still a heavy reliance on motorized transport of people, goods, and food into and around the city. There does not appear to be a way to power and reproduce these fleets of vehicles solely with renewable energy, and most cities are not sustainable at their current size and density without them. But cities and regions vary in sustainability depending on local renewable energy sources, hinterland food production, population, extent of urban sprawl, and access to water-borne transportation. This paper identifies the features of more sustainable versus less sustainable cities, with examples from Asia, the Americas, and Europe. Case studies of two cities-Hong Kong and Vancouver, B. C.-are used to illustrate the analysis.
College Student Journal, Dec 1, 2001
Поиск в библиотеке, Расширенный поиск. ...
Social Scientific Studies of Religion in China, 2011
Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 1989
Despite a number of interesting studies during the past decade, Guy Swanson's path-breaking ... more Despite a number of interesting studies during the past decade, Guy Swanson's path-breaking work on the relation between religious belief and social structure in The Birth of the Gods has still not received the extensive analysis, replication, and critique which it deserves and ...
The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 2005
Hong Kong has undergone a remarkable process of a complete cycle of industrialization and de-indu... more Hong Kong has undergone a remarkable process of a complete cycle of industrialization and de-industrialization within the lifetime of one generation of workers. This paper explores the impact of this swift economic progress and examines the adjustment problems and ...
Canadian Public Policy/Analyse de Politiques, 1985
Worksharing subsidized by UI funds - arguably the most innovative federal response to unemploymen... more Worksharing subsidized by UI funds - arguably the most innovative federal response to unemployment in recent years - has been judged beneficial by most participating employers and employees. However, it has not yet been subjected to much searching public analysis ...
Science(Washington), 2000
Geography as destiny? Graeme Lang Science(Washington) 288:54685468, 982-983, American Association... more Geography as destiny? Graeme Lang Science(Washington) 288:54685468, 982-983, American Association for the Advancement of Science, 1333 H St, NW, 8 th Floor, Washington, DC, 20005, USA, 5/2000. Lang reviews" The ...
Canadian Psychiatric Association journal, 1976
No contemporary major city is sustainable, with current population and levels of consumption, bey... more No contemporary major city is sustainable, with current population and levels of consumption, beyond the fossil fuels which have facilitated what has appropriately been called “high-energy modernity.” At present, there appears to be no realistic possibility in any major city of replacing most of the energy from fossil fuels with renewable energy. Even in cities which could get most of their electricity from renewables, there is still a heavy reliance on motorized transport of people, goods, and food into and around the city. There does not appear to be a way to power and reproduce these fleets of vehicles solely with renewable energy, and most cities are not sustainable at their current size and density without them. But cities and regions vary in sustainability depending on local renewable energy sources, hinterland food production, population, extent of urban sprawl, and access to water-borne transportation. This paper identifies the features of more sustainable versus less sustainable cities, with examples from Asia, the Americas, and Europe. Case studies of two cities—Hong Kong and Vancouver, B.C.—are used to illustrate the analysis.
An overview of the major environmental challenges and policy responses in China to 2013 (book cha... more An overview of the major environmental challenges and policy responses in China to 2013 (book chapter)
Southeast Asia Research Centre Working Paper …, 2005
Page 1. Graeme Lang and Cathy Hiu Wan Chan ... Southeast Asia Research Centre Management Committe... more Page 1. Graeme Lang and Cathy Hiu Wan Chan ... Southeast Asia Research Centre Management Committee Professor Ian Holliday, Acting Director Professor Martin Painter Dr Vivienne Wee, Associate Director Dr Graeme Lang Dr Zang Xiaowei ...
Social Sciences in China, 2010
The rapid growth of Chinese religion and the related studies will potentially reshape the boundar... more The rapid growth of Chinese religion and the related studies will potentially reshape the boundary of sociology of religion. While sociology of religion focuses mainly on exclusive religions, so much so that it was once labeled "sociology of Christianity," it meets challenges and opportunities in China where non-exclusive religions dominate the society. At the micro-level, the prevalence of non-exclusive religion poses challenges to some key concepts rooted in Western society, such as conversion and commitment. At the organizational level, it challenges sect-to-church theory, reminding us to study nonbureaucratic religious organizations. At the market level, Chinese religions are a laboratory for sociologists to examine factors leading to the prevalence of non-exclusive religions. 1 This study is sponsored by "Research Project on Religious Beliefs among Migrating Population in Beijing" (09BaSH045), which is a part of the Eleventh Five-Year Plan for Philosophical and Social Science Studies of Beijing.
Temples in China participate in the competition for believers and are active players in the relig... more Temples in China participate in the competition for believers and are active players in the religious economy. The managers of the most successful new temples engage in strategic decision making about marketing, promotion, innovation, and public activities to increase the visibility and appeal of their temples. We illustrate with examples and data from our studies of eight new temples to the deity Wong Tai Sin (Huang Daxian) in Guangdong and Zhejiang between the late 1980s and 2004 * We would like to thank Lu Yu nfeng, Yang Der-Ruey, Yang Fenggang, Joseph Tamney, Peter Ng, and Daniel Overmyer for helpful comments on various aspects of this research and Chan Hui Ting, Chan Hiu Wan, and Hong Ming for research assistance in several phases of the project. Lang, Chan, and Ragvald: Folk Temples and the Chinese Religious Economy 3 Temples attract more worshippers than any other public religious sites in China. A large and popular temple in Guangzhou, for example, has accommodated more than...
Journal of Contemporary Asia, 2014
currency reserves, total export volumes and energy consumption and the like. Another problem is h... more currency reserves, total export volumes and energy consumption and the like. Another problem is his fixated mind set on China’s rise which denies the reader a linear timeline to fully grasp the meaning of China’s recent economic march. This produces an unfair comparison between China and the US. China’s rise is recent; its current phase of industrial take-off started no earlier than the 1990s and ended by 2010. The US, in contrast, embarked on an economic “take-off” by 1870 and moved from “take-off” to a high production and consumption phase by 1913. China’s recent rise, propelled by 1.4 billion people, compared to 40 million in 1870 in the US, is set to be more dramatic and transformative in the years to come. Shambaugh has definitely missed this historical and demographic insight. The way Shambaugh has presented and analysed information in the book sees him take contradictory positions – he admits where China maintains a lead but is quick to dismiss the influence China’s lead produces. For example, by quoting Robert Dahl and Joseph S. Nye’s definitions of power as the capacity to determine and condition the outcomes of events and actions, Shambaugh dismisses China as a global power as Beijing fails to influence any other nations or global developments, though he mentions some limited areas like global trade transactions, energy and commodity markets, cyber hacking, etc., where Chinese influence is felt (p. 8). Then he indicates that the 2011 Asia “pivot” by the US was a response to China’s assertive foreign policy in the Asia-Pacific region (p. 77). This clearly speaks of China’s capacity to condition US policy outcomes to a large extent. Again, he rejects China’s global influence as a “hollow hype” but at the end writes that: “Since China’s opening to the world in 1978, the world has changed China – and now China is beginning to change the world” (p. 317). It is important to avoid such contradictions. The major strengths of the book, despite these shortcomings, are its extensive analysis of Chinese power in its entirety, and the frequent use of original Chinese references to countenance the main arguments. It is recommended for students of Chinese foreign policy and the interested public who watch China’s rise seriously.
Journal for the Study of Religion, Nature, and Culture, 2022
During historic plagues some religious advocates attributed a plague to the actions of a deity, a... more During historic plagues some religious advocates attributed a plague to the actions of a deity, and this claim has also been applied to the COVID-19 pandemic. Most contemporary religious leaders and believers, however, accepted secular analysis of the pandemic, and complied, to varying degrees, with public health restrictions and remedies. But some religious leaders and groups de ed these measures and had much higher rates of infections and deaths than the general population. Case studies of selected groups can expand our knowledge of these impacts and reactions. I focus especially on Amish and Ultra-Orthodox Jewish communities, two insular religious subcultures which have disparaged the sciences and tried to maximize their autonomy and cultural separateness from the surrounding society. Both internal and contextual factors are important in understanding their reactions to the pandemic.
European Journal of Futures Research, 2018
No contemporary major city is sustainable, with current population and levels of consumption, bey... more No contemporary major city is sustainable, with current population and levels of consumption, beyond the fossil fuels which have facilitated what has appropriately been called "high-energy modernity." At present, there appears to be no realistic possibility in any major city of replacing most of the energy from fossil fuels with renewable energy. Even in cities which could get most of their electricity from renewables, there is still a heavy reliance on motorized transport of people, goods, and food into and around the city. There does not appear to be a way to power and reproduce these fleets of vehicles solely with renewable energy, and most cities are not sustainable at their current size and density without them. But cities and regions vary in sustainability depending on local renewable energy sources, hinterland food production, population, extent of urban sprawl, and access to water-borne transportation. This paper identifies the features of more sustainable versus less sustainable cities, with examples from Asia, the Americas, and Europe. Case studies of two cities-Hong Kong and Vancouver, B. C.-are used to illustrate the analysis.
College Student Journal, Dec 1, 2001
Поиск в библиотеке, Расширенный поиск. ...
Social Scientific Studies of Religion in China, 2011
Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 1989
Despite a number of interesting studies during the past decade, Guy Swanson's path-breaking ... more Despite a number of interesting studies during the past decade, Guy Swanson's path-breaking work on the relation between religious belief and social structure in The Birth of the Gods has still not received the extensive analysis, replication, and critique which it deserves and ...
The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 2005
Hong Kong has undergone a remarkable process of a complete cycle of industrialization and de-indu... more Hong Kong has undergone a remarkable process of a complete cycle of industrialization and de-industrialization within the lifetime of one generation of workers. This paper explores the impact of this swift economic progress and examines the adjustment problems and ...
Canadian Public Policy/Analyse de Politiques, 1985
Worksharing subsidized by UI funds - arguably the most innovative federal response to unemploymen... more Worksharing subsidized by UI funds - arguably the most innovative federal response to unemployment in recent years - has been judged beneficial by most participating employers and employees. However, it has not yet been subjected to much searching public analysis ...
Science(Washington), 2000
Geography as destiny? Graeme Lang Science(Washington) 288:54685468, 982-983, American Association... more Geography as destiny? Graeme Lang Science(Washington) 288:54685468, 982-983, American Association for the Advancement of Science, 1333 H St, NW, 8 th Floor, Washington, DC, 20005, USA, 5/2000. Lang reviews" The ...
Canadian Psychiatric Association journal, 1976
No contemporary major city is sustainable, with current population and levels of consumption, bey... more No contemporary major city is sustainable, with current population and levels of consumption, beyond the fossil fuels which have facilitated what has appropriately been called “high-energy modernity.” At present, there appears to be no realistic possibility in any major city of replacing most of the energy from fossil fuels with renewable energy. Even in cities which could get most of their electricity from renewables, there is still a heavy reliance on motorized transport of people, goods, and food into and around the city. There does not appear to be a way to power and reproduce these fleets of vehicles solely with renewable energy, and most cities are not sustainable at their current size and density without them. But cities and regions vary in sustainability depending on local renewable energy sources, hinterland food production, population, extent of urban sprawl, and access to water-borne transportation. This paper identifies the features of more sustainable versus less sustainable cities, with examples from Asia, the Americas, and Europe. Case studies of two cities—Hong Kong and Vancouver, B.C.—are used to illustrate the analysis.
An overview of the major environmental challenges and policy responses in China to 2013 (book cha... more An overview of the major environmental challenges and policy responses in China to 2013 (book chapter)
As China rapidly urbanises, many cities are building incinerators to try to reduce the growing pr... more As China rapidly urbanises, many cities are building incinerators to try to reduce the growing pressure of rising volumes of municipal waste on landfills. Incinerator projects have provoked NIMBY protests in many countries, but China is an authoritarian one-party state with a demonstrated readiness to suppress protests which challenge government projects. However, some of these protest campaigns have led to cancellation or indefinite postponement of government-supported projects at particular sites. We review three recent campaigns against incineratorsin Beijing, Guangzhou, and Wujiangexplain the successful outcomes of each campaign, and then place these conflicts within the spectrum of environmental protest-politics in China. Finally, we consider whether these outcomes contribute to 'ecological modernisation' in the management of municipal waste.
