Ethnic diversity and its spatial change in Latvia, 1897–2011

Utilizing data from five census enumerations of Latvia (including the most recent 2011 census), this study analyzes temporal and spatial trends in ethnic diversity in the country at the national and municipal levels. The measure employed, the ethnic diversity index (EDI), makes possible a more sophisticated interpretation of the dynamics of ethnic diversity than an analysis of the changing percentage shares of Latvia's various ethnic groups over time. At the national level, a trend of declining ethnic diversity prior to Latvia's incorporation into the Soviet Union was followed by a rapid increase during the Soviet period, before the onset of gradually decreasing diversity during the post-Soviet period. These national-level trends obscure a number of trends evident at the municipal level, including salient (depending on the period) ethnic diversity gradients Rīga–Latvia, cities/towns–countryside, and the east–west. Latvia remains one of the most ethnically diverse countries of Europe, and the study outlines some of the implications of the recent stagnation of regional EDIs at rather high levels for the economic and political life of the country.     

The Diputación de la Grandeza and the organization of ‘Retrospective Art Exhibitions’ in the second half of the nineteenth century

This paper analyses the art policies deployed by old Spanish nobility in the second half of the nineteenth century, and in particular those who became involved in organising what were then known as retrospective art exhibitions. The old nobility, whose families held titles that dated back to the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries and belonged to the category of Grandes (Grandees) of Spain, joined together in the Diputación de la Grandeza de España – a private association created in opposition to the new nobility. It was a consultative institution attached to the Crown and created in 1815 under the honorary presidency of the King. This paper argues that the distinction sought by this regrouping of the old nobility does not imply lack of engagement in the new artistic model based on the notion of fine arts, in which they were responsible for a number of rather telling nuances. As well as sharing with the bourgeoisie the general idea that the arts were in need of protection, the nobility cultivated the image that patronage of the arts was linked to tradition, and this had consequences for the evaluation of history, the musealisation of their private collections and the public reception of old art.     

Mariano Arista and the 1850 Presidential Election in Mexico

Abstract – This article examines the 1850 presidential election in Mexico. It is divided into five sections: party political background, electoral regulations, candidates, campaign, results. General Mariano Arista was the successful candidate in what was the first genuinely contested presidential election since independence.     

Description of the peasants’ sexual behavior in August Wilhelm Hupel’s Topographical Messages in the context of the history of the Estonian family

The aim of this article is to introduce the work of August Wilhem Hupel, a Baltic German author of the 18th century. The article focuses on the sections in his most voluminous work Topographische Nachrichten von Lief- und Ehstland (1774–1782) that describe Estonian peasants’ sexuality. Hupel’s writings belong to the sources of the history of the Estonian family, a field that has been rediscovered at the beginning of the 21st century. Thanks to the work of Marika Mägi and Nils Blomkvist, a new paradigm for research in this field has been opened up. This article adheres to that paradigm.     

Forging parliamentary space: revolutionary assemblies in New Granada and Spain, 1810–31

SUMMARY

This article analyses the making of space in modern parliamentarism from a transatlantic perspective. By considering the case studies of New Granada and Spain between 1810 and 1831, this article focuses on the differences in shaping parliamentary space during the revolutionary period in Europe and the Americas. This study considers the multiplicity of spaces in the construction of parliaments as modern institutions. It also discusses the influences of early modern estate parliaments in the construction of new institutional space in revolutionary times. In the process, several elements will be considered, such as the choice of the town where parliaments convene and the internal organization of the assembly hall. It is argued that, despite similar issues beyond the construction of a new institution, the influence of the king’s presence in Spain led to a different shape of internal parliamentary space compared to New Granada. Such an approach makes an original contribution to the debates on the transformation of sovereignty during this period and it therefore reshapes the interpretation of the revolutionary process from a cultural perspective.     

Evidence of sixteenth- and seventeenth-century iron production and ironworking in Vidzeme (the example of Ropaži manor): an interdisciplinary approach

ABSTRACT

Using Ropa?i Manor as an example, this article analyzes evidence of iron production and ironworking in Vidzeme in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, characterizing the first results from an interdisciplinary study of this previously almost unresearched field. Content analysis of written sources in conjunction with linguistic analysis, archeological fieldwork, remote sensing and geophysics, paleobotany, and analysis of forest growing conditions illuminate aspects of economic life linked to or hypothetically relating to iron supply and processing, namely iron importation and circulation, craft activities, and charcoal production far exceeding local needs. Local iron production is not proven; neither is there evidence excluding it.     

越南的中国外交研究综述(1993—2013)

本文旨在探讨从1993年到2013年间越南对中国外交的研究状况。越中关系正常化以后,特别是随着1993年中国研究中心的成立,包括中国外交在内的中国研究在越南进入一个新阶段。越南不仅成立了专门的研究机构,研究队伍也不断壮大,后备人才培养方面也取得不小进展,与此同时涌现出不少关于中国外交的研究成果。然而,至今尚没有专门的文章总结越南的中国外交研究。本文将分析1993年以来越南出版的关于中国外交的研究成果,分为中国总体外交政策、对外关系和越中关系三个类别,分析各自的特点,并介绍研究机构、队伍与人才培养等方面的情况。     

从政治视角理解把握十九届五中全会的精神品质与要义

党的十九届五中全会提出并讨论通过了国民经济和社会发展第十四个五年规划和二○三五年远景目标,这是富于强烈政治制度色彩以及持续性极强的国家治理方式和举措,是党的政治领导与思想指导反映于国家经济社会发展领域的重要制度安排,是中央政府宏观指导地方与地方党委政府了解把握全局的结合点和切入点,是引导社会与凝聚民心士气的有效方式和重...     

To Bowl a Mexican Maiden Over: Cricket in Mexico, 1827–1900

The Mexico City Cricket Club was founded in 1827 by a mixed group of British and foreign nationals. This article traces its origins, rules and regulations, membership, progress and activities through to the 1870s and again in the revival of the 1880s and 1890s. It reveals that although the game of cricket was adopted by few Mexicans, it was enthusiastically played by the British community in Mexico throughout the nineteenth century. The Club continues to the present time in Mexico City.     

Colombian Foreign Policy and the Spanish Civil War, 1936–1939 (Blakemore Prizewinner for 2020)

The Spanish civil war saw two different Liberal presidencies in Colombia. Contrary to common belief, they did not follow a unified policy towards Spain but instead faced different parameters for action which shaped their response. These policies, in turn, illuminate both the internal dynamics of the two administrations and how they conceived of Colombia's position on the world stage. By providing the national, international and wider structural contexts, this article will therefore use the Spanish conflict to shine a spotlight on the Santos and López governments and the development of Colombian foreign policy during the late 1930s.     

Joan Miró's Black and Red Series: a political reading

This article calls into question the generally accepted view of Catalan artist Joan Miró as a painter of fantasy and dream, by focusing on the artist as socially and politically engaged. A political reading of his etchings the Black and Red Series (1938) situates them within the context of the Spanish Civil War. Informed by Claude Lefort's distinction between the political and politics, the political theme is shown to be mediated through the use of allegory (in the depiction of monstrous figures) and of formal procedures of artistic creation (surrealist automatism). Finally, the artistic gesture itself is interpreted as a political act of freedom.     

试析民国前期暨南大学的海外招生

本着弘教泽而系侨情,培育华侨子弟、服务海外华侨事业之宗旨,早期暨南大学以对侨生"来者不拒、广纳学子"的基本态度,使招生录取工作在逐渐走向严密系统的同时,招生录取形式亦趋于灵活多样.     

我国行政体制改革的动因、进展与路径选择

当前国际环境日趋复杂,信息技术革命日新月异,社会主要矛盾发生深刻变化,新一轮开放高水平推进,这些新情况新变化对深化我国行政体制改革,推进政府治理现代化提出了更高要求。党的十八大以来,我国行政体制改革向纵深发展,突出政府职能转变的主线,稳步推进大部门体制,深入推进放管服改革,决策科学化、民主化和法治化进程加快。按照党...     

Thailand’s Deep State,Royal Power and the Constitutional Court (1997–2015)

ABSTRACT

This article challenges the network monarchy approach and advocates for the use of the concept of Deep State. The Deep State also has the monarchy as its keystone, but is far more institutionalised than the network monarchy accounts for. The institutionalised character of the anti-democratic alliance is best demonstrated by the recent use of courts to hamper the rise of electoral politics in a process called judicialisation of politics. This article uses exclusive material from the minutes of the 1997 and 2007 constitution-drafting assemblies to substantiate the claim that the Deep State used royalists’ attempts to make the Constitutional Court a surrogate king for purposes of its own self-interested hegemonic preservation.     

越南未来五年政治经济发展走向预测——基于对越共“十一大”制订的发展目标之分析

2011年年初,越南共产党召开了具有划时代意义的第十一届全国代表大会,大会通过了《2011—2015五年的方向和任务》、《2011—2020年经济社会发展战略》等文件,制订了未来五年具体的经济奋斗目标。本文以本次会议为契机,以会议所通过的一系列决议为基础,以现行经济政策为参照系,全面分析在未来五年中越南政治经济改革走向以及将因此而面临的种种机遇与挑战。