Why We Need to ‘Unpack’ Regions to Compare Them More Effectively

States are finding it increasingly difficult to provide good governance in response to today's problems in a globalised world, as they are often either too small or too big to cope with current crises. One of the strategies of states to remedy this situation is to construct regional levels of governance at the supranational or national level. This has led to the creation of diverse forms of regional governance worldwide, thereby ushering in a neo-Westphalian world of states and regions. In order to advance the research agenda of comparative regionalism, scholars need to ‘unpack’ regions along several conceptual dimensions. This includes seeing regions as economic areas, public goods spaces as well as actors in the international arena. In addition, a distinction needs to be made in studying the projects, processes and products of region building. Moreover, studying regions needs to take into account the discursive context of ‘regionalism speak’. Finally, more attention needs to be dedicated to the internal complexity of regionalisms. In sum, comparing regions is not a straightforward exercise, and in some case regions should not be compared with other regions, but with states.     

从“台湾人认同”到双重认同

台湾已经形成"台湾人认同",它是否与"中国人认同"互相排斥,是否可能成为"双重认同"的基础,两岸是否可能走向"双重认同"或"两岸认同"?对于这些问题,两岸学界与普通民众存在不同的看法。本文详细分析种种不同的看法,从中探讨"双重认同"的可能性。此外,针对现有实现双重认同途径所依据的理论,即群际接触与建构主义理论进行讨论,提出突破双重认同的关键所在,希望两岸学界共同探寻中国式的理论,破解两岸关系的这一难题。     

建构主义学习观对组织警务实战情景训练的启示

建构主义学习观倡导的观点与目前我国公安机关提倡的"贴近实战,结合实际,讲究实用,确保实效"的警务实战训练理念是一致的。建构主义理论的借鉴可以贯穿情景教学的始终,在警务实战情景训练实施中应优化情景设计,灵活地控制训练进程,营造合作的学习环境,提供开放的总结与讲评。     

基于建构主义理论的大学英语情境教学设计

建构主义强调情境对意义建构的重要作用,强调学生是教学实践的主体.基于建构主义的情境教学将单纯的语言灌输转变为主动的、有目的的知识建构过程,把外语教学情境化,突出培养学生的创新能力,从而为大学英语教学开拓了新的领域.     

It’s a Man’s World,Try to Convince the Men Otherwise: The Role of Women in Irish Policing

Police organizations are historically and predominantly male organizations; as such, the purpose of this study is to examine the role of women in Irish policing. The literature review will analyze gender-specific organizational literature, focused on the United States. Theoretical components include biological determination and social constructivism in the policing context. The study is conducted through qualitative interviews and thematic analysis of 10 current and former Gardaí in Ireland. This study empirically contributes to how the organization views gender and how those differences are institutionalized in that Gardaí are treated differently based on their gender.     

战后欧洲安全合作的建构主义分析

对于战后的欧洲安全合作的发展,新现实主义和新自由主义分别从国际权力结构的变迁以及国际制度的影响等方面做出了各自的解释,这些解释有其合理性但也有一些不足之处。事实上,战后,随着康德文化影响的增强,欧洲安全合作的发展是在经历了基础性突发因素的作用、结构变量与过程变量的影响以及互信与集体认同形成等三个阶段后最终形成“紧密安全共同体”的一个过程。     

建构主义及其对党校主体班教学的启示

建构主义是当代心理学中行为主义发展到认知主义以后的进一步发展。文章从建构主义知识观、学习观、教学观三方面对建构主义的教学思想进行了分析,提出了以学员为主体,尊重学员自己构建的知识体系;注重合作交流,建立起协商式教学模式;教师转变角色,作学员知识建构的引领者等观点,以揭示建构主义对党校主体班教学的启示。     

欧洲文化认同的建构及其对东亚一体化的启示

欧洲一体化的深化使欧洲文化认同问题日益凸显。“文化欧洲”的提出使欧洲各国面临两难。同一文化渊源,同一宗教信仰,同一价值理念,充分证明了欧洲文明的同一性。但民族国家的形成、民族文化特性的差异以及移民和东扩造成了欧洲民族文化的多样性。建构主义试图从理论上对这两难给予突破。建构主义认为,文化认同是指不同国家行为体经过国家间互动而共同构造并认同的国际规范和国际制度,是一种集体知识,即共同观念。行为体可以用共同文化观念建构一种结构,也可以分解这种结构。欧洲文化认同的建构,正是基于这个理论的运用,并必然对国际体系和东亚一体化产生重大影响。     

Norm dynamics and international organisations: South Africa in the African Union and International Criminal Court

Over the past two decades, South Africa has sought to perform several roles on the world stage, such as the economic dynamo of Southern Africa, a diplomatic heavyweight representing the African continent, and a norm leader on the world stage as a so-called ‘middle-power’. Although South Africa's evolution and rise as an important player in global affairs has generated a welcome body of critical scholarly literature, comparatively little analysis has been allocated to understanding how norm dynamics and the country's ever-evolving international identities have enabled it to construct and reconstruct its ‘interests’. Social constructivism is best suited for such an analysis because it can operationalise norms, commitments, identities, and interests, and it provides the epistemological tools to map the increasingly multilateral connections between global, regional, and domestic forums. By employing a rationalist approach to constructivism, this paper remedies the aforementioned gap in the literature by illustrating how South Africa constructs and reconstructs its identities and interests in relation to membership in international organisations (IOs). To that end, the paper examines the evolution of South Africa's participation in the African Union (especially ‘peacekeeping’ contributions) and the International Criminal Court. The paper concludes by assessing the theoretical implications and practical ramifications of the norm dynamics involved in South Africa's commitment to these two IOs.     

Communicating South Africa’s soft power: Agents,instruments and recipients

New scholarly literature that focuses on the currency of soft power is emerging in the analysis of South Africa’s foreign policy. This nascent strand of discourse seeks to capture the nexus between the ideational value of soft power and Pretoria’s foreign policy. Despite pockets of literature in this regard, there has been little analysis of the communicative settings and adaptations of soft power in the South African context. Within this analytical context, this article aims to contribute to existing discourse on South Africa’s soft power by probing the agents, sources and subjects involved in its cultivation and unpacking the links between these communicative environments. These issues are critical, given the recent emphasis on the role and utility of soft power for achieving South Africa’s foreign policy ambitions. The article stresses that, in the long term, the deepening of South Africa’s soft power capability and influence will depend largely on the extent of the strategic calibration between the communicative realms of actors, instruments and recipients.