Social Capital,Islam, and the Arab Spring in the Middle East

To what extent do participatory civil society dynamics, rooted in self-assertive social capital, help explain the Arab Spring uprisings in 2011? How do pro-democratic Arab attitudes matter in promoting elite-challenging collective actions? Does Islam support or hinder elite-challenging, self-assertive social capital? To answer these questions, this study systematically examines the variation in self-assertive (emancipative) social capital in Egypt and Jordan from a comparative perspective. By using emancipative social capital theory, this article embarks on an individual-level quantitative analysis derived from the World Values Survey database to explore the empirical nexus between pro-democratic attitudes, elite-challenging actions, and Islamic values in order to partly explain comparatively high-intensive and persistent uprisings in Egypt and relatively low-intensive and less persistent demonstrations in Jordan. The findings offer critical insights in understanding the social capital dimension of the Arab Spring uprisings in 2011 and contribute new clues about empirical interactions between Islamic resurgence and civil society dynamics in the Muslim world.     

文明自信的中国理念及其世界历史意义——论习近平关于文明交流互鉴的理念

当今世界,人类文明发展面临的风险与希望、挑战与愿景正呈现出前所未有的内在张力与外在表现,深刻揭示人类文明的本质及其互动与发展特征,成为当下必须直面的具有根本性、战略性、紧迫性的重大时代课题。党的十八大以来,立足于中国道路实现史诗般崛起的现实成就与文明品质,习近平深刻把握人类文明演进的基本规律,以文明交流互鉴为主题展开一系列重要论述,系统地阐发了“多彩、平等、包容”的文明本质论、“交流、互鉴、共存”的文明关系论和“共商、共建、共享”的文明发展论,从而为在21世纪推动构建人类命运共同体、实现人类历史进步与和平发展,提供了具有世界历史意义的文明自信理念。     

Exporting ‘active citizenship’: foreign support for citizenship education in the Arab world

What explains the rise in support for active citizenship programs in the Arab region? How has active citizenship been envisioned and taught with support by foreign states? How do participants understand the usefulness and impact of such programs? In this paper, we examine the contexts in which citizenship programs that embody the political aspirations of foreign states, are implemented. Embedded in local political realities, participants in these programs routinely question the ef?cacy and applicability of training modules focused on active citizenship and civic engagement. We argue that the proliferation of active citizenship programs for civil society organizations in practice serves to both bolster state legitimacy and discourage community leaders and activists from expressing political dissent. By submerging con?icting values, practices, and perspectives while encouraging civic participation based on conformity rather than dissent, active citizenship programs risk fostering a depoliticized civil society that is detached from the local political context.     

论贺麟的宗教观

贺麟的宗教观既不同于"五四"时期反宗教运动对宗教的态度,也不像其他新儒家人物那样主张以道德或哲学去取代宗教.他的宗教观所关注的不是对人格神的信仰,而是宗教精神特别是基督教精神的文化价值,目的在于会通中西文化,谋求"儒家思想的新开展".贺麟认为,基督教是西方文化之体,研究和借鉴西方文化必须以理性的态度转化和吸收基督教精神的精华,认识其与西方的科学、民主、工业化以及人的精神世界的关系,以便为中国的新文化建设提供资源和借鉴.     

What Can Pro-Democracy Activists in Arab Countries Expect from the European Union? Lessons from the Union's Relations with Israel

In this article, we analyze the European Union's (EU) approach to the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, showing that there is a wide gap between its normative opposition to the occupation, Israel's expanding settlement project, and the EU's foreign trade policy. Our argument is not only that there is no evidence of norm diffusion from the EU to Israel, but that within the EU itself there is no diffusion from the normative political stance to the EU's economic interests. The Israeli case suggests that the pro-democracy activists of Tunisia, Egypt, and Syria should be aware that the trade interests of the EU Member States will ultimately trump the EU's political declarations.     

时代剧变推动下近代史学演进大势(下)

三、封建帝制崩溃前后"新史学"的倡导和推进戊戌维新虽然被顽固派扼杀了,但戊戌运动由此开启的思想解放的潮流是阻挡不了的。至20世纪初年,由于空前民族危机的刺激以及逐步形成的共和革命思想的推动,中国思想界出现了急剧变化的局面,掀起了输入西方新思想、新学理,用以分析中国历史与现实问题,寻找救国道路的进步潮流。十年之间,雨后春笋般地刊行了大量译著、杂志和报纸。梁启超对当时情况有过生动的概括:"戊戌政变,继以庚子‘拳祸’,清室衰微益暴露,青年学子,相率求学海外。     

关于社会主义的世界历史前景的几个重大问题

社会主义代替资本主义是历史发展的必然趋势.战后资本主义的新变化没有改变这一趋势,只是加速了这一趋势;苏联的解体、东欧的剧变不可能否定这一趋势,它只是表明了一种社会主义模式的失败和社会主义必然胜利的曲折性;信息社会的来临也决不意味着资本主义的永世长存,相反,它为社会主义战胜资本主义准备了更为坚实的技术基础,不仅如此,信息社会走向更高级的智能社会的发展趋势,印证着共产主义必然实现的真理性.