JINN MAGAZINE

PACIFIC NEWS SERVICE

Issue No. 5.19

09/15/99 - 09/30/99

CONTENTS

VOICES: First-Person Essays Linking the Private to the Public

A Hotel Housekeepers' Manifesto -- Why 15 Rooms Is One Too Many
By Consuelo Barrera

They may work out of sight, but they are determined to make themselves visible. Hotel room cleaners in San Francisco -- where tourism is the number one industry -- are prepared to strike if employers do not reduce the daily load. PNS commentator Consuelo Barrera, a member of the negotiating committee of Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees Local 2, has been a room cleaner for more than 20 years.

HERESIES: Thinking the Unthinkable About the Future

Moscow's Dagestan Dilemma -- Prelude To The Breakup Of An Empire
By Thomas Goltz

Russia's troubles in Dagestan and Chechnya, highlighted in recent days by bombings in Moscow, are complex with experts offering widely different scenarios. The bottom line is that we are witnessing the end of an empire -- not the Soviet but the Russian empire. PNS commentator Thomas Goltz, author of "Azerbaijan Diary" (M.E. Sharpe, 1999) is currently working on a book on ethnic conflict in the post-Soviet Caucasus.

Taiwan -- East Asia's Other Island In Turmoil
Franz Schurmann and Song Xiang

Ever since Taiwan President Lee Tung-hui's explosive "two-state" assertion disclaiming eventual reunification with China, Chinese language newspapers have spotlighted mounting concerns among Overseas Chinese and in Taiwan itself over that island's future. Ironically, while the West has championed the independence cause in East Timor, the Clinton Administration clearly objects to Taiwan's unilateral proclamation of secession from China. Largely off the radar screen of U.S. media, people in Taiwan are growing nervous. Prosperity prevails, yet the politics of next year's presidential elections are getting more turbulent. There still is confidence that the island will muddle through, but there is also fear that something could happen.

Ideologies Battling To Shape The World Of 2000 By Franz Schurmann Date: 09-24-99 Three ideologies are battling for the hearts and minds of people around the world -- globalism, nationalism and fundamentalism. PNS editor Franz Schurmann explores their roots and trajectories. Schurmann is a professor emeritus of history and sociology at UC-Berkeley and author of numerous books on global politics.

VECTORS: A Regular Column on the Ideas and Directions Behind Today's News An American Impasse -- White Male Loners Increasingly Target Religious Institutions By Richard Rodriguez Date: 09-16-99 America is entering a dangerous time. With every mass killing there will be a growing hunger to restore a spirituality to American public life. With every call for more religion, there will be those, on the outside of our communal life, enraged by the sight of young people holding hands and bowing their heads together. PNS editor Richard Rodriguez is an author and essayist for the PBS News Hour with Jim Lehrer. PACIFIC PULSE: The Pacific Century and Its Impact on the Americas China's New Market Economy Spawns Savvy New Generation By George Koo Date: 09-22-99 The one constant in China seems to be change, and in the last 20 years that change has focused on the transition to a market economy. This has allowed the country's young people to exercise their technological and entrepreneurial skills at home -- which bodes well for China's future. PNS commentator George Koo is an independent business consultant, former Chairman of Silicon Valley based Asian American Manufacturers Association, a Human Relations Commissioner of Mountain View, Ca. and a member of Committee of 100, a national organization of prominent Chinese Americans. India Voting On What It Means To Be Indian By Andrew Robinson Date: 09-23-99 India is in the midst of its election process -- the third phase of a five-phase voting process completed Sept. 18 -- for the third time in as many years. What is at stake, writes PNS commentator Andrew Robinson, is not governance but the idea of being Indian. Robinson speaks several Indian languages and has been writing about South Asian affairs for over a decade. Taiwan Quake Shakes Chinese Mandate By Philip Cunningham Date: 09-27-99 The horrific earthquake in Taiwan has struck Beijing in ways that go beyond the obvious, visible aspects of the disaster. Mainland authorities are as always concerned with establishing Taiwan as a province of China -- and concerned by the fact that an earthquake traditionally marks the end of a dynasty. PNS corespondent Philip Cunningham is a freelance writerinterested in Asian politics and culture, and a research associate at Harvard's Fairbank Center for East Asian Research. THE AMERICAS: The Growing Enmeshment of the U.S. and Latin Worlds Mexico's Political Pulse -- Beauty Pageant More Telling Than Debates By Peter S. Cahn Date: 09-20-99 It's election season in Mexico, and politicians on all sides are speaking of unprecedented levels of democracy and openness. But in the towns and cities, the long history of corruption continues uninterrupted -- affecting even a beauty pageant. PNS commentator Peter S. Cahn is a doctoral student at the University of California, Berkeley. CALIFORNIA COLLAGE: California as Trendsetter for the Country and the World Murder Sparks Anger -- Laborers' Union Takes Off In Former UFW Stronghold By David Bacon Date: 09-29-99 San Joaquin Valley lettuce workers once formed the sturdy spine of the United Farm Workers union, but changes in agricultural practice -- drawing workers from the fields into enormous packing operations -- have sapped the UFW's strength. However the Laborers' union has stepped into the picture, and the region may see a struggle as dramatic as those of the 1960s. PNS associate editor David Bacon writes widely on immigrant and labor issues. CIVIL CONFLICTS: Interpretive Reports on Ethnic, Religious, and Inter-National Conflicts Worldwide Russia Goes Nuclear Over Chechnya By Andrei Piontkowsky Date: 09-28-99 A decade ago, no one in Russia would have dared speak of the physical extermination of a whole race. But today Russian strategists and journalists are seriously discussing using thermonuclear weapons against Chechnya. PNS commentator Andrei Piontkowsky, who holds a doctorate in applied math, heads the Center for Strategic Studies, a Moscow-based think-tank, and has written widely on nuclear security issues. Warning To Russians -- Why Genocide Against Chechnya WIll Backfire By Franz Schurmann Date: 09-30-99 Russia's news media and even Russian think tank debates speak of "physical extermination" campaigns to solve their Chechen problem. But genocidal warfare, the most heinous of crimes, is not that easy to commit, nor does it necessarily deliver the anticipated outcome. PNS editor Franz Schurmann, professor emeritus of history and sociology at UC-Berkeley, is author of numerous books and articles on foreign politics. YOUTH OUTLOOK: The World Through Young People's Eyes Love And Marriage -- The View From The Other Side Of 20 By Andrea N. Jones, Russell Morse and Jose Luis Vargas Date: 09-21-99 A recent study found young adults -- with unprecedented economic independence -- are getting married at a later age and increasingly living together as an alternative to legal marriage. These findings have drawn considerable comment, but little of that comment has come from those facing the question most immediately -- people in their teens. As these commentaries by three young writers show, the idea of marriage has a powerful hold on youth. Andrea Jones, Russel Morse and Jose Luis Vargas are on the staff of YO! (Youth Outlook), a newspaper by and for young people published by Pacific News Service. Pacific News Service, 660 Market Street, Room 210, San Francisco, CA 94104, tel: (415) 438-4755. Jinn Magazine: <http://www.pacificnews.org/jinn/> Email: <pacificnews@pacificnews.org> Copyright © 1998 Pacific News Service. All Rights Reserved. Please do not reprint our stories without our permission. Our articles are available for reprint. For rates and information, call (415) 438-4755 or send e-mail to <pacificnews@pacificnews.org>