Contributors to the Issue

Sandra bhatasara is Lecturer at the University of Zimbabwe, Research Associate (Women and Law in Southern Africa). Her current research interests include studying land and natural resources governance, globalization, global and local environment and sustainability, rural development and poverty alleviation, indigenous knowledge, climate change, adaptation and mitigation, gender, HIV and AIDS. She published From Globalization to Global Sustainability: Perspectives on Transitions (2011), Women, Land and Poverty in Zimbabwe: Deconstructing the Impacts of the Fast Track Land Reform Programme (2011); Women's Movement(s) in Zimbabwe: The Struggle for an Alternative Socio-economic and Political Order (2010); Poverty and the Consumerist Culture: An Analysis of HIV and AIDS Infections among Young Women in Zimbabwe (2008). Among her research projects are ‘Land and Diminishing Spaces for Women in Zimbabwe: A Gender Analysis of the Socio-economic and Political Consequences of the Fast Track Land Reform Programme’ (2010); ‘Research on Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices on HIV and AIDS with Community Information Empowerment and Transparency (CIET) Africa’ (2007); ‘Students on the Frontline: An exploratory study on the Survival Strategies employed by University of Zimbabwe Students’ (2006).

R. Scott Frey is Professor of Sociology and Co-Director of the Center for the Study of Social Justice at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. He has taught previously at George Washington University and Kansas State University, and he has held chair positions at the University of North Florida and the University of Tennessee. He has also held appointments at Argonne National Laboratory and the National Science Foundation. His areas of interest are environmental sociology, development and globalization, and comparative/historical sociology. He is currently preparing a book (under contract with Routledge) on the globalization of health, safety, and environmental risks. He has contributed chapters to recent books on environmental issues and has published in numerous periodicals, including the American Journal of Sociology, the American Sociological Review, and Social Forces. He has received research funding from the Ford Foundation and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. He is an Associate Editor of the Journal of World Systems Research and serves on the editorial boards of Human Ecology Review and Sociological Inquiry.

Ijaz Shafi Gilani is Professor at the Department of Politics and International Relations, International Islamic University, Islamabad, Pakistan.

Almas Heshmati is Professor of Economics at the Department of Economics, Sogang University, Seoul, South Korea. He was previously Professor of Economics at Korea University, Seoul National University, University of Kurdistan at Hawler; RATIO Institute, Stockholm; MTT Agrifood Research, Helsinki; Research Fellow at the World Institute for Development Economics Research, The United Nations University (WIDER-UNU), Helsinki; and Associate Professor of Economics at the Stockholm School of Economics. He holds a PhD degree in Economics/Econometrics from the University of Gothenburg. He majors in applied microeconomics and microeconometrics. The focus of his economics research is on the area of agriculture, technology and services, industrial organization, development, welfare, globalization, and measurement and analysis of performance. In addition to numerous articles, he has published books on global income inequality, Lisbon development strategy, recent developments in the Chinese economy, commercialization and technology transfer, productivity in East Asian manufacturing, dynamics of industrial revolution, integrated water resources management, development economics infrastructure, information and communication technology industry, performance in power generation and socio-economic impacts of landmines.

Muhammad Zubair Khan is Lecturer at the Department of Political Science, Gomal University D. I. Khan, KPK, Pakistan.

Endre Kiss is Professor of history of philosophy at the University Eötvös (Budapest) and professor of German Literature. Kiss is a founder of the Center for Postmodernism (Budapest-Székesfehérvár).

Anthony Howell is currently a doctoral candidate at the Geography Department at UCLA and holds advanced degrees in both Statistics (UCLA – 2012) and Geography (Michigan State University – 2009). Trained as a statistician, urban-economic geographer and China specialist, Anthony's research combines applied statistical approaches with the aid of GIS techniques and mapping of spatial relationships to develop new empirically-driven theoretical frameworks that are capable of informing social and economic policy. His dissertation research, supported by a 2012–13 Fulbright scholarship, is a microeconomic analysis that presents new, critical information highlighting the short- and long-run impacts of Chinese industrial policy on innovation, knowledge spillovers and firm performance. Prior to enrolling at UCLA, Anthony attended Michigan State University for both undergraduate and graduate studies. At MSU, Anthony participated in 9 study/research abroad programs that provided diverse opportunities to study Spanish and Chinese languages, volunteer with orphans and the disabled, intern, and carry out research projects in countries ranging from Mexico to Ireland, Czech Republic, United Arab Emirates and China. In summer 2006, Anthony participated in an undergraduate research opportunity that took him for the first time to China, where he examined rural-urban migration patterns at the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing. The culmination of Anthony's experiences in China were life-changing, both personally and professionally. Since 2006, Anthony has accumulated 2-years of experience living in China, dedicating much of his time to language acquisition, and researching issues related to migration, inequality and regional growth.

Hae Kim is full professor of International Relations at the Department of Political Science at Troy University, USA. He is the author of numerous articles published in peer-reviewed journals. His publications include: ‘The Complexities of Internal Conflict in the Third World: Beyond Ethnic and Religious Conflict’ (2009); ‘The Patterns of External Debt Profile in the Developing World’ (2009); ‘A Multidimensionality of Economic Globalization and its Controversial Effect’ (2008); ‘The Determinants of Internal Conflict in the Third World’ (2006); ‘An Analysis of the Gap Between Growth and Income Inequality in the Third World’ (1998); ‘Trade-Offs between Military Spending, Quality of Life and Economic Growth’ (1996).

Amanullah Khan Miankhel works at the Department of Political Science, Gomal University, D. I. Khan, KPK, Pakistan.

Kingsly Awang Ollong is lecturer at the Department of History, Higher Teacher Training College of the University of Bamenda in Cameroon. He is a holder of a PhD in economic history with particular interest in international business. He is currently at Lesley University as an exchange fellow under the West African Research Association (WARA). His main research interest falls within the purview of multinational corporations – his PhD thesis was on that.

Jim Sheffield is Senior Lecturer at the University of Auckland's Business School in Information Systems and at University of Victoria at Wellington's Management School. Dr. Sheffield has a PhD in Business Administration (University of Arizona, USA), an MBA (University of Wisconsin, Madison, USA), MSc in Physics (University of Auckland), and a BSc in Mathematics and Physics (University of Auckland). His doctoral work at the University of Arizona in group support systems led to the creation of a Decision Support Centre at the University of Auckland. He has designed, implemented and evaluated more than 100 action research initiatives. Most of these initiatives centered on complex inter-organizational situations involving considerable confusion and conflict. Dr. Sheffield's major action research initiatives include the development of economic strategy, science policy, and comprehensive regional planning. His current research interests include: analytical frameworks for intervention design; ethical inquiry; group support systems; knowledge management; and research methods. In addition to Dr. Sheffield's body of professional and research work, his most recent publications include ‘Pluralism in Knowledge Management: A Review’, in press with the International Journal of Knowledge Management, and ‘A Paradigmatic and Methodological Examination of Knowledge Management Research: 2000–2004’ in Decision Support Systems (with Z. Guo).

David Tutchener has completed a Diploma of Journalism, a BA (History and Politics), a Post Graduate Diploma in Archaeology and a Masters of Museum Studies. He has held internships with Museum Victoria and Heritage Malta and currently works as a consultant archaeologist and researcher.