Michael Loewe
Biographic Data
| ID | 552602 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Michael Loewe |
| GIVEN NAMES | Michael |
| FAMILY NAME | Loewe |
| SIGNATURE | LOEWE M |
| AFFILIATIONS | German Institute of Development and Sustainability |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-3555-165X |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 128 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 101 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 127 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 1 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1959 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 6 |
The Social Contract and Collective Action
How do grievances turn into collective action? This article examines how citizens' expectations in social contracts lead them to embark on street protests. It draws on original, nationally representative telephone surveys in Tunisia and Lebanon and unpacks popular preferences about the states' obligations to deliver social service provision, protection, and political participation. We measure empirically whether participation in protest can be ex…
Social Contracts and Environmental Change
Environmental change can affect social contracts, which are the relationships between societal groups and between such groups and the state. Droughts, river pollution and rising sea levels often change the distribution of resources within countries or harm some societal groups more than others, raising questions about compensation. Social contracts can also trigger environmental change, mainly because the environment and future generations cannot…
Operationalizing Social Contracts
The international development debate is increasingly referring to the notion of the “social contract”. In this paper, we measure what governments give societies, a core element of social contracts. To enable social contract comparison across countries and over time, we develop indices to capture the three “Ps”: protection against internal and external threats, provision of social and economic services, and political participation . These indices …
Drivers of change in social contracts
Social contracts have recently re-emerged as a field of research. They can stabilize the relationship between state and society by establishing some predictability about the mutual deliverables between actors - especially if they are flexible for modifications to take account of changes in the framework conditions, the positions and preferences of their parties, and prevailing norms, values and ideologies. The question is, thus, when, why and how…
Are cash-for-work programmes good for local economic growth? The case of donor-funded public works for refugees and nationals in Jordan
This article investigates whether public works / cash for work (CfW) programmes contribute to economic growth locally, beyond benefits paid to participants, especially in contexts of flight and migration. Based on quantitative and qualitative research conducted in Jordan, it affirms that CfW substantially promotes economic growth through multiplier effects since CfW participants spend most income locally. Some programmes in Jordan improve also th…
States or social networks? Popular attitudes amid health crises in the Middle East and North Africa
The article draws on nationally representative telephone surveys in Tunisia, Egypt and Lebanon to unpack popular beliefs about who can best handle the social and economic consequences from the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. It therefore offers insights into state–society relations under stress and contributes to the debate on whether or not the state should play a key role in social protection. Findings reveal intriguing differences between countries…
The social contract in Egypt, Lebanon and Tunisia
This article investigates the demand side of social contracts. It asks what people expect from their governments. Drawing on original, nationally representative surveys in Egypt, Tunisia and Lebanon, it explores popular preferences for the three possible government deliverables in social contracts: provision of social and economic services, protection from physical harm and political participation . Findings reveal that citizens expect government…
Ways to Paradise
First published in 1979, in Ways to Paradise Michael Loewe, an internationally recognised authority on Han China, assesses a wealth of an archaeological evidence in an attempt to uncover the attitudes of the pre-Buddhist Chinese to matters relating to death and hereafter. Dr Loewe examines in particular three major subjects of Han art and iconography: a recently found silk painting from Central China dating from around 168 BC; the numerous bronze…
Disentangling the Relationship Between Social Protection and Social Cohesion
While there is substantial evidence of the effect of social protection on poverty and vulnerability, limited research has focused on societal outcomes. This paper serves as introduction to a special issue (SI) examining the relationship between social protection and social cohesion in low- and middle-income countries. Over the last years, social cohesion has emerged as a central goal of development policy. The introduction and the papers in the S…
More than the Sum of Its Parts
Cash-for-Work (CfW)/public works programmes have gained great interest recently because they can deliver employment and income for vulnerable households, in addition to dearly needed infrastructure. Studying donor-funded CfW programmes for Syrian refugees and their local neighbours in Jordan we show that CfW can also improve social cohesion, which is particularly important in the context of state fragility and migration. The studied programmes st…
Subsidy Reform and the Transformation of Social Contracts
After independence, subsidies have been a cornerstone of the social contracts in the Middle East and North Africa. Governments spent heavily to reduce poverty and strengthen their legitimacy. Yet, subsidies became financially unsustainable and donors pressed for reforms. This article assesses reform processes in Morocco, Egypt and Iran between 2010 and 2017, thus before sanctions against Iran were further tightened and before the COVID-19 pandemi…
Cai Yong 蔡邕
Known as a composer of fu, of treatises on multiple technical subjects, yet hold- ing no high official position until late in his life, Cai Yong stands out as protesting against certain aspects of public life and as urging a return to the principles of earlier times. Arousing the enmity of some in power, he was put to death in 192. His corpus provides a pointed, if veiled critic of certain aspects of Han governance in his own day
Imperial China
First published in 1966, Imperial China sets out to explain China’s past histories to non-specialists. Too often the West has misunderstood the East. China is credited with an excessively long cultural history; with a continuous line of dynastic succession; with uniformly practised institutions; or with intellectual stagnation. Michael Loewe sets out here to dispel some of these misconceptions, and to mark the stages in the evolution of China’s p…
Introduction to the Handbook on Social Protection Systems
This introductory chapter familiarizes any newcomer to social protection with the main objective and key components of social protection, which it defines as “the entirety of policies and programmes that protect people against poverty and risks to their livelihoods and well-being.” It teases out the divergences among scholars when it comes to defining the primary goals of social protection, the appropriate providers and core instruments, the risk…
State Fragility, Social Contracts and the Role of Social Protection
Social contracts and state fragility represent two sides of one coin. The former concept highlights that governments need to deliver three "Ps"-protection, provision, and political participation-to be acceptable for societies, whereas the latter argues that states can fail due to lack of authority (inhibiting protection), capacity (inhibiting provision), or legitimacy. Defunct social contracts often lead to popular unrest. Using empirical evidenc…
The social contract as a tool of analysis
The term “social contract” is increasingly used in social science literature to describe sets of state-society relations – in particular with reference to the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). Nevertheless, the term has thus far remained insufficiently conceptualized and its potential to inform a systematic analysis of contemporary states has been underutilized. This article contributes to the filling of this gap. It defines social contracts a…
Remembrances of Li Xueqin (1933–2019)
I first met Li Xueqin in 1981, when he was a visiting fellow at Cambridge, and I was teaching at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London. Paul Thompson and I took a train to Cambridge to invite him to London for a few weeks-Paul said we should pay a scholar of his caliber the courtesy of going in person rather than writing to him. In London, Li spent an hour or so every morning happily working his way through all of the galleries of …
Dynastic Decline in Eastern Han
Dynastic cohesion of the Eastern Han declined from ca. 130 CE or earlier as may be seen in the absence of a decisive emperor, the treatment of his blood relatives, the growth of privately managed estates, and the cessation of measures to relieve distress and settle the population. To this we may add the growth of some types of groups of non-official influential individuals bearing various titles, and the expressions of a sharp criticism of the co…
Chinese Ideas of Life and Death
Many of the basic characteristics of Imperial China took shape during the Han period (202 BC-AD 220). This book, first published in 1982, is a key contribution to our understanding of China’s cultural history. It explains the conceptual background of many of the artefacts of China’s past, and calls on the written word of the philosopher, poet and historian, and on cultural treasures revealed by archaeologists.
Crisis and Conflict in Han China, 104 BC to AD 9
This book, first published in 1974, studies the historical development of China during the Western Han dynasty (202 BC-AD 9), a time of great intellectual, religious and political change. The struggle between Reformists and Modernists is analysed using texts contemporary to the time, and this struggle was a key point in Chinese history, leading as it did to enormous change, including to economics and foreign policy
Introducing social protection in the Middle East and North Africa
The introductory article of this special issue looks at the genesis, characteristics and challenges of social protection schemes in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). It argues that social protection policies in the MENA should be seen as a key ingredient of the social contract that governments offered to their citizens after independence. To compensate for the lack of political participation and accountability, free public health and educa…
Problems of Han Administration
Michael Loewe calls on literary and material evidence to examine three problems that arose in administering China's early empires. Religious rites due to an emperor's predecessors must both pay the correct services to his ancestors and demonstrate his right to succeed to the throne. In practical terms, tax collectors, merchants, farmers and townsmen required the establishment of a standard set of weights and measures that was universally operativ…
The Government of the Qin and Han Empires
In this concise volume, Michael Loewe provides an engaging overview of the government of the early empires of China. Topics discussed are: the seat of supreme authority; the structure of central government; provincial and local government; the armed forces; officials; government communications; laws of the empire; control of the people and the land; controversies; and problems and weaknesses of the imperial system. Enhanced by details from recent…
Chinese Ideas of Life and Death
Many of the basic characteristics of Imperial China took shape during the Han period (202 BC-AD 220). This book, first published in 1982, is a key contribution to our understanding of China’s cultural history. It explains the conceptual background of many of the artefacts of China’s past, and calls on the written word of the philosopher, poet and historian, and on cultural treasures revealed by archaeologists.
The Men Who Governed Han China
How were prominent figures in the formative stages of China's imperial government affected by changes in the theory and practice of government and its institutions? Calling on documentary evidence, some found only recently, Dr. Loewe examines local administration, the careers of officials, military organisation, the nobilities and kingdoms, the concepts of imperial sovereignty and the part played by the emperors. Special attention is paid to the …
The social contract as a tool of analysis
The term “social contract” is increasingly used in social science literature to describe sets of state-society relations – in particular with reference to the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). Nevertheless, the term has thus far remained insufficiently conceptualized and its potential to inform a systematic analysis of contemporary states has been underutilized. This article contributes to the filling of this gap. It defines social contracts a…
State Fragility, Social Contracts and the Role of Social Protection
Social contracts and state fragility represent two sides of one coin. The former concept highlights that governments need to deliver three "Ps"-protection, provision, and political participation-to be acceptable for societies, whereas the latter argues that states can fail due to lack of authority (inhibiting protection), capacity (inhibiting provision), or legitimacy. Defunct social contracts often lead to popular unrest. Using empirical evidenc…
The Entrepreneur Makes a Difference
Introducing social protection in the Middle East and North Africa
The introductory article of this special issue looks at the genesis, characteristics and challenges of social protection schemes in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). It argues that social protection policies in the MENA should be seen as a key ingredient of the social contract that governments offered to their citizens after independence. To compensate for the lack of political participation and accountability, free public health and educa…
Disentangling the Relationship Between Social Protection and Social Cohesion
While there is substantial evidence of the effect of social protection on poverty and vulnerability, limited research has focused on societal outcomes. This paper serves as introduction to a special issue (SI) examining the relationship between social protection and social cohesion in low- and middle-income countries. Over the last years, social cohesion has emerged as a central goal of development policy. The introduction and the papers in the S…
Subsidy Reform and the Transformation of Social Contracts
After independence, subsidies have been a cornerstone of the social contracts in the Middle East and North Africa. Governments spent heavily to reduce poverty and strengthen their legitimacy. Yet, subsidies became financially unsustainable and donors pressed for reforms. This article assesses reform processes in Morocco, Egypt and Iran between 2010 and 2017, thus before sanctions against Iran were further tightened and before the COVID-19 pandemi…
More than the Sum of Its Parts
Cash-for-Work (CfW)/public works programmes have gained great interest recently because they can deliver employment and income for vulnerable households, in addition to dearly needed infrastructure. Studying donor-funded CfW programmes for Syrian refugees and their local neighbours in Jordan we show that CfW can also improve social cohesion, which is particularly important in the context of state fragility and migration. The studied programmes st…
Downscaling, Upgrading or Linking? Ways to Realize Micro-Insurance
Micro-insurance is seen by many as a promising tool to improve the social protection of low-income earners. This assumption is supported by the positive experience of existing micro-insurance schemes. At the same time, however, many schemes have failed to organize sustainable insurance arrangements that are affordable for the poor and near-poor. The question is thus which institutions are best able to arrange for micro-insurance. Formal instituti…
Huang Lao Thought and the Huainanzi
The Huainanzi is a corporate work which was compiled at the court of the king of Huainan, being first presented to the imperial throne in 139 B.C., and possibly receiving certain additions between then and 122 B.C. For various reasons, however, the book did not meet with the same type of acclaim that had accompanied other texts. By the eleventh century at least, the comments of Xu Shen (c. 55–149) and Gao You ( c . 168–212) had been fused togethe…
Drivers of change in social contracts
Social contracts have recently re-emerged as a field of research. They can stabilize the relationship between state and society by establishing some predictability about the mutual deliverables between actors - especially if they are flexible for modifications to take account of changes in the framework conditions, the positions and preferences of their parties, and prevailing norms, values and ideologies. The question is, thus, when, why and how…
A Decade On
Imperial China's Reactions to the Catholic Missions
Ban Gu
Ban Gu's compilation of theHan shumay be seen in the context of a number of intellectual and religious developments. By his time the idea of theTian mingand the theory of theWu xingwere being applied to imperial times. Officials were quoting the sayings of Kongzi to support their arguments, and the writings of distinguished scholars such as Jing Fang, Liu Xiang, Liu Xin and Yang Xiong were well known. The religious controversies that had begun in…
The Global Financial Crisis and the Arab World
Much has been written on the impact of the global financial crisis on Europe, Asia and the Americas but only little on the Arab states. This article makes an early attempt to take stock of recent developments in the Arab world and offers a systematic approach to disentangle the various inter-linkages and effects of the crisis on the region. It argues that most Arab countries might be lucky and get off lightly, especially the energy-importing Arab…
New avenues to be opened for social protection in the Arab world
This article looks at social protection in the Arab world. Giving the example of Egypt, it asks why poverty is so widespread and why – despite the country's numerous social protection systems – social risks are a major contributing factor to it. It concludes that reforms are due. The existing systems are well funded but inefficient and more to the benefit of the better‐off than the poor. A reform approach is proposed which builds on both conventi…
The cosmological context of sovereignty in Han times
By the Han empire, concepts of the cosmos were changing basically from that of the 'Four Quarters' (Si fang) to the 'Five Phases' (Wu xing), with a place for emperors to act as an essential pivot in the interlocking relationships of Heaven, Earth and Man. Differing views of the duty of monarchs may be discerned, e.g., in the memorials of Dong Zhongshu and the chapters of the Huainanzi, and the underlying questions could lead to antagonisms betwee…
The Cambridge History of China. Volume I
The Wooden and Bamboo Strips Found at Mo-Chü-Tzu (Kansu)
The recent discovery of a comparatively large collection of inscribed wooden and bamboo strips in north-west China has aroused considerable interest on the part of Chinese scholars, as the material concerns both the extension of the Han government and the early methods of textual compilation in China. As the material finds are not available for inspection, the following notes can be no more than a summary of the information given in the few Chine…
Some Notes On Han-Time Documents From Chuyen
Short Notices
Journal Article Short Notices Get access MICHAEL LOEWE MICHAEL LOEWE School of Oriental and African StudiesLondon Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar The English Historical Review, Volume LXXIV, Issue 291, April 1959, Pages 334–335, https://doi.org/10.1093/ehr/LXXIV.291.334 Published: 01 April 1959
An Outline History of China
Journal Article An Outline History of China Get access An Outline History of China. Peking, Foreign Languages Press, 1958; London, Collet's Holdings Ltd., 1959. 487 pp. Illus. Map. Index. (China Knowledge Series.) 7s. Michael Loewe Michael Loewe Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar International Affairs, Volume 35, Issue 4, October 1959, Pages 492–493, https://doi.org/10.2307/2609189 Published: 01 October 1959
The Orders of Aristocratic Rank of Han China
A casual glance at the chapters of imperial annals in the Han shu and Hou Han shu reveals that the bestowal of chi#eh or orders of aristocratic rank, took place at frequent but irregular intervals throughout the Han period. Interest is immediately aroused in the significance of these events; in the circumstances in which the bestowals took place, the development of the institution both before and during the four centuries of Han empire, and in th…
The Orders of Aristocratic Rank of Han China
The Measurement of Grain During the Han Period
The movement and exchange of grain played a major role in the development of the Han economy. Suggestions for the control of these transactions figure frequently in criticisms launched against the administration and in the schemes that were devised to improve the national way of life. In addition the distribution of grain affected the livelihood of all Han officials, as a proportion of their salaries was paid in that commodity. For these reasons …
Some Notes On Han-Time Documents From Tun-Huang
Fragments of Han administrative documents written on wooden strips were first found in the Tun-huang area during Sir Aurel Stein's expeditions to central Asia, between I900 and I9I5. Transcriptions, translations and comments to some 700 select pieces were included in the catalogue of documents which was published by Chavannes, with the help of three Chinese scholars, in I9I3 1). A further i66 Han fragments, which were found during the last of Ste…
Some Military Despatches of the Han Period
ch'ien ] _ * Ch'ang-sha, I9I5. HS Han-shu. References are to the edition of Wang Hsien-ch'ien, Ch'ang-sha, I900. K'ao Lao Kan i ~, Chii-yen Han-chien k'ao-cheng , ;j & W , jk e . References are to the reprint made in Taipei, I960. Maspero H. Maspero (posthumously), Les documents chinois de la troisieme expedition de Sir Aurel Stein en Asie Centrale, London, I953. SC Shik-chi a . References are to the edition of Takigawa Kametaro
Lao Tzu
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Short Notices
Short Notices Get access MICHAEL LOEWE MICHAEL LOEWE Institute of Oriental StudiesCambridge Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar The English Historical Review, Volume LXXX, Issue CCCXVII, October 1965, Pages 813-a–813, https://doi.org/10.1093/ehr/LXXX.CCCXVII.813-a Published: 01 October 1965
Short Notices
Short Notices Get access MICHAEL LOEWE MICHAEL LOEWE Institute of Oriental StudiesCambridge Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar The English Historical Review, Volume LXXX, Issue CCCXVI, July 1965, Pages 629-a–629, https://doi.org/10.1093/ehr/LXXX.CCCXVI.629-a Published: 01 July 1965
The Wooden and Bamboo Strips Found at Mo-Chü-Tzu (Kansu)
The recent discovery of a comparatively large collection of inscribed wooden and bamboo strips in north-west China has aroused considerable interest on the part of Chinese scholars, as the material concerns both the extension of the Han government and the early methods of textual compilation in China. As the material finds are not available for inspection, the following notes can be no more than a summary of the information given in the few Chine…
Imperial China. The Historical Background to the Modern Age
Short Notices
Short Notices Get access MICHAEL LOEWE MICHAEL LOEWE Institute of Oriental StudiesCambridge Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar The English Historical Review, Volume LXXXII, Issue CCCXXIII, April 1967, Pages 365-a–365, https://doi.org/10.1093/ehr/LXXXII.CCCXXIII.365-a Published: 01 April 1967
Imperial China
Records of Han Administration
Short Notices
Short Notices MICHAEL LOEWE MICHAEL LOEWE Institute of Oriental StudiesCambridge Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar The English Historical Review, Volume LXXXIII, Issue CCCXXVII, April 1968, Pages 423-a–423, https://doi.org/10.1093/ehr/LXXXIII.CCCXXVII.423-a Published: 01 April 1968
Current Literature
Records of Han Administration
Short Notices
Short Notices Get access MICHAEL LOEWE MICHAEL LOEWE Clare HallCambridge Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar The English Historical Review, Volume LXXXIV, Issue CCCXXXIII, October 1969, Pages 851–852, https://doi.org/10.1093/ehr/LXXXIV.CCCXXXIII.851 Published: 01 October 1969
Chinese relations with Central Asia, 260-90
The extent and nature of Chinese penetration into Central Asia during the third century and the problems raised by the Chinese and Kharoṣṭhī documents that have been found at the various sites of Lop-nor, Niya, and elsewhere have recently formed the subject of articles by two scholars. Professer Brough has suggested that the territory of the state of Shan-shan was incorporated into the Kuṣāṇa empire for a short period, perhaps in the middle of th…
Records of Han Administration
The first volume is a survey and discussion of the inscriptions on about 700 wooden strips found in the excavations at Edsen-gol, being records of the official Han administration concerned largely with military organisation. The second volume sets out the evidence itself
Short Notices
Journal Article Short Notices Get access MICHAEL LOEWE MICHAEL LOEWE Clare HallCambridge Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar The English Historical Review, Volume LXXXV, Issue 335, April 1970, Pages 391-a–391, https://doi.org/10.1093/ehr/LXXXV.335.391-a Published: 01 April 1970
Essay Review
Short Notices
Short Notices Get access MICHAEL LOEWE MICHAEL LOEWE Clare HallCambridge Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar The English Historical Review, Volume LXXXVI, Issue CCCXXXIX, April 1971, Pages 376–377, https://doi.org/10.1093/ehr/LXXXVI.CCCXXXIX.376 Published: 01 April 1971
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