Autocratic legitimation in Iran: Ali Khamenei’s discourse on regime “insiders” and “outsiders”

The article analyses Ali Khamenei’s discourse on insiders and outsiders in the Islamic Republic of Iran, arguing that it shows the leader of an electoral revolutionary regime striving to counter elite fragmentation and growing democratic demands. It studies identity demarcation as a tool of autocratic legitimation. In a political system where the possibility to access political positions depends on supporting a belief-system, all cadres share a basic identity, which rulers can exploit to draw boundaries between “us” and “them”. The analysis reveals how Iran’s leader capitalizes on the existence of an insider-outsider divide to promote ideas about an imagined “we” of the regime. The “we” is portrayed as an Islamic we, fully committed to his rule. The article maintains that Khamenei developed this discourse in response to the challenge of the Iranian reform movement. It analyses, first, the context in which the discourse emerged and, second, the discursive strategy itself, to substantiate the claim. It concludes that the discourse had two essential aims in the containment (1997–2003) and crushing (2009–2010) of the pro-democracy reformist and Green movements: to de-legitimate Khamenei’s opponents through othering and to legitimate the counter-mobilization of repressive agents.     

Elite and Everyday Social Contracts in Bosnia and Herzegovina: Pathways to Forging a National Social Contract?

ABSTRACT

The Dayton Peace Agreement ended the violence in Bosnia–Herzegovina, however, it also solidified antagonistic political identities leading to the creation of two social contracts: an ‘elite social contract’ involving primarily political elites of the main ethnic groups and an ‘everyday social contract’ involving ordinary citizens trying to manage a complex social and economic environment. The first social contract is hegemonic, however, alternative, non-nationalist views are slowly emerging. Grassroots groups, the surviving remnants of inter-ethnic coexistence, the integrating pull of market forces and the presence of a large diaspora all constitute resources for the creation of a resilient national social contract.     

Contested narratives of encounter from a bridge-building project in northern England

ABSTRACT

Recent years of community engagement under the war on terror in the UK have seen the co-option of bridge-building initiatives into wider narratives of securing communities. Through ethnographic insights into a peace building inter-faith initiative that made it onto the news as a ‘deradicalization’ workshop, I show how encounters in such projects are susceptible to being reframed into the very narrative in which encounters are sought after in the first place as a political settlement to growing inter-ethnic tension and conflict. This paper contributes to the growing geographies of encounter literature by making more explicit the narratives that shape how encounters function.     

大学德育与实习单位德育的和谐衔接研究

大学生到单位实习是高校教育必不可少的重要环节,而实习单位具有企业文化、先进人物、规范管理等重要德育资源。当前存在学校和实习单位对双方的德育和谐衔接认识不足、缺乏系统的衔接管理机制等。整体构建德育体系应当处理好大学德育与实习单位德育的和谐衔接问题。     

坚持党的群众路线强化党的核心凝聚力

党的十八大以来，群众工作是我党在新的历史时期保障我国社会转型顺利进行的一项基础性工作。随着社会矛盾不断激化、社会冲突性事件频发、党群关系恶化，我党的核心凝聚力及社会凝聚力不断下滑，社会稳定和发展受到较大的影响和阻碍。新历史时期下，社会凝聚力建设是我国社会转型的重要任务。只有进一步深化发展党的群众路线，密切联系群众，才能确保我党和国家的进一步繁荣和发展。     

高校共青团凝聚力建设探析

高校共青团凝聚力建设面临价值取向多元化的新趋势，高等教育改革带来的新要求，网络文化的发展提出了新挑战等所带来的新环境。高校共青团凝聚力要实现三个转变，包括参与主体的转变，工作模式的转变和沟通渠道的转变。除此之外，通过多种形式组织青年、用先进的思想引领青年、尊重和服务青年学生合理的利益诉求并服务于广大青年学生的成长成才、加强高校团干部队伍的自身建设，也是高校共青团凝聚力建设的四个工作着力点。     

以根祖文化为特色构建民族凝聚力工程——以运城市为例

＂根祖文化＂是民族的灵魂,是民族精神的重要构成部分,在增强民族凝聚力中具有重要作用。运城市是中华民族的发祥地,具有大量中华民族先祖活动的遗迹和民族文化的渊源,这就在客观上决定了运城市在构建民族凝聚力工程中必然具有＂根祖文化＂的特色。因此,组建以＂根祖文化＂为特色的组织协调系统,大力发展以＂根祖文化＂为标志的旅游企业等,必然成为运城市实施增强中华民族凝聚力工程的特色内容。     

Non-racialism and the African National Congress: views from the branch

South Africa's ruling party is well known as an organisation that supports the ideal of non-racialism. However, the extent to which the African National Congress (ANC) has defined and instrumentalised the concept of non-racialism is contested. This article looks at the history of non-racialism in the party and more recent interpretations by ANC leadership, before examining how non-racialism is understood, 19 years into democracy, by members of the party. Based on interviews with over 45 ANC branch members, the article describes how members, broadly speaking, have deep-seated concerns with non-racialism in the ANC and in society more generally. There is recognition from ANC branch members that race relations have significantly improved since the ANC moved into government; however, they feel not enough change has taken place and that racial tensions are impeding social cohesion and concomitant growth and progress in the country. There is division among members in regards to the efficacy and impact of the party's racially based policies such as affirmative action as well as the manner in which race potentially influences leadership opportunities within the party. Furthermore, the article shows that there is lack of definition and direction on the part of the ANC in regards to the instrumentalisation of non-racialism, and this deficiency has negative consequences for racial cohesion in the party. The article concludes by discussing how investigations into party branches through the lens of non-racialism, highlights more deep-seated concerns about local-level party democracy and a party fractured at the grassroots.     

试探公安队伍管理的基本规律

要实现公安队伍的革命化、现代化、正规化，就必须加强对公安队伍的严格管理。根据《中共中央关于加强公安工作的决定》和公安队伍建设“从严治警”的基本方针，结合公安队伍管理的现状，探索出了四条基本规律：领导权威控制规律；公安行为规范规律；集体行动协调规律；队伍合力凝聚规律。