Technics over life: risk,ethics and the existential condition in high-tech antenatal care

The subject of this paper is the problem of selective abortion brought about by advanced techniques of foetal diagnosis. The issue of abortion today is analysed as an outcome and illustration of the emerging ‘vital politics’. The paper explores the technicality of this new form of bio-power, and the ethical practice and forms of subjectivity it imposes. Two main points are raised. First, it is argued that the implementation of state-of-the-art foetal diagnosis in clinical practice and maternity care is underlain by the rationales of control and experimentation. The ideas of risk and the dividual are introduced as the epistemic cornerstones of this practice of high-tech reproductive medicine according to the above rationales. Second, the paper argues that foetal diagnosis in antenatal care is characterised by an ethical split. This emerges when the machinery of reproductive health care withdraws into a position of technical responsibility and leaves the choice, and the ethical responsibility, concerning medical operations (selective abortion, in particular) to the pregnant woman. This suggests that high-tech biomedicine tends to individualise risks and to impose a form of ethical individuality characterised by the demand for reflexivity through personal risk assessment, producing the anxiety generated by existential responsibility.     

历史主义的命运与马克思的历史性思想

历史主义尽管反对思辨历史哲学的历史研究方法,但其在本体论上依然是形而上学的,即相信历史是一个有意义的过程,此意义是与上帝紧密相联的。而随着世界的祛魅,这种历史意义却成了问题。仔细分析历史主义理论本身的逻辑结构,就能得出其不可避免走向虚无主义的命运。现代许多思想家为了拯救由历史主义导致的虚无主义而主张回到古希腊的"自然"观念。其实,这种回归仍然是一种观念论的。马克思基于人的感性实践活动及其"只有正确理解现在才能理解过去"的历史性思想克服了"回归到过去"的虚妄性。     

Prometheus embattled: A post-9/11 report card on the National Security Agency

Five years after the tragic events of September 11, 2001, the National Security Agency (NSA) has risen to the position of being the largest and most powerful intelligence agency in the US. Working in close conjunction with its English-speaking partners overseas, NSA is today the most prolific producer of top-quality intelligence information reaching senior US government policymakers and field commanders. But press reports over the past year concerning the Agency's controversial domestic eavesdropping program and problem-plagued modernization effort, have raised serious questions once again about the competency of the Agency's long-troubled management practices, as well as whether NSA, at the behest of the Bush administration, exceeded its legal authority by extending its operations into the US for the first time since the mid-1970s in contravention of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) of 1978.     

学术期刊编辑活动的主体间性再探

编辑学基础理论的研究在不断地深入,取得了丰硕的成果。随着形势的变化和哲学理论研究的深入,研究者的研究也发生了转向,由传统的主—客体二元对立,到主体性的探讨。哲学理论研究成果被积极地引入学术期刊编辑实践中来,并指导编辑工作。在中国新闻出版体制改革背景下,传统的编辑活动模式已经不再适应新的需求,旧的模式必须要做调整。在对西方哲学研究做一番梳理之后,试图运用马克思主义主体间性的理论来指导学术期刊编辑活动的调整。     

Walking the walk vs. talking the talk： A comparative analysis of the ASA and ASPA ethics initiatives

The American Sociological Association and the American Society for Public Administration are widely recognized as being among the premier professional associations in their respective fields within academia and beyond. Although a commitment to the promotion of ethical competence among their members is clearly viewed by both organizations as being central to the accomplishment of their missions, their techniques for doing so have included both similar and unique initiatives. It is the purpose of this paper to provide a comprehensive, comparative inventory of their ethics-related programs with a view toward determining if the establishment of what would appear to be a mutually beneficial, collaborative relationship between the ASA and ASPA in the ethics arena should be pursued.     

Universal Basic Services: A Theoretical and Moral Framework

The case for Universal Basic Services (UBS) is a recent idea that is attracting much attention. This article provides a theoretical justification for extending the delivery of public services, as an alternative to the longer‐standing argument for Universal Basic Income (UBI). It rests on human need theory and the concept of provisioning systems. Both recognise the irreducible heterogeneity of consumption, the multi‐faceted nature of human needs and the variety of systems on which we all depend. Both recognise the importance of shared systems and mutual benefits. The final part restates the case for social rights or entitlements to the satisfaction of basic needs and for collective responsibilities to meet them to serve the values of equality, efficiency, solidarity and sustainability.     

青少年网络道德问题的心理学分析

网络是一把双刃剑,它对青少年开阔视野、拓宽知识领域起到了积极的促进作用,但同时也带来了某些负面的、消极的影响,其中最突出的问题是网络严重地冲击着青少年的世界观、人生观、价值观和道德观,导致青少年严重的网络道德失范行为。青少年网络道德失范问题已十分严重,这也给我们的青少年道德教育带来严峻的考验,成为教育工作者的一大研究课题。     

Thinking the crisis politically: lineages of resistance to neo-liberalism and the politics of the present conjuncture

Dominant forms of left theorizing in relation to the crisis have constructed emergent forms of resistance as limited and reactive. This depiction of resistances, however, is created partly by abstracting the crisis from ongoing contestation of neo-liberalism. This paper situates emerging resistances to crisis and austerity in relation to ongoing trajectories of the contestation of neo-liberalism. It examines some of the solidarities and antagonisms being shaped in relation to the crisis. The paper concludes that a focus on the dynamic trajectories of alternative politics can open up different possibilities within the current conjuncture.     

Why the intrinsic value of public goods matters

Abstract

Existing accounts of public-goods distribution rely on the existence of solidarity for providing non-universal public goods, such as the humanities or national parks. There are three fundamental problems with these accounts: they ignore instances of social fragmentation; they treat preferences for public goods as morally benign, and they assume that these preferences are the only relevant moral consideration. However, not all citizens unanimously require public goods such as the humanities or national parks. Public-goods distribution that is based only on citizens’ preferences, therefore, means that non-universal public good are at a constant risk of under-provision, and has negative implications for human flourishing. The paper, therefore, develops a complementary justification for the distribution of public goods, that decouples the distribution of public goods from ad hoc preferences, and grounds the distributive justification in the intrinsic value of these goods. There are three reasons to include intrinsic-value considerations in public-goods distribution: responding to crowding-out effects; promoting shared heritage and cross-fertilization. Finally, the intrinsic-value justification may indirectly promote solidarity. Thus, the intrinsic-value and the solidarity justifications need not be mutually exclusive, rather they can be mutually reinforcing.     

Sharing the burden in a free riders’ land: The EU migration and asylum policy in the views of public opinion and politicians

New divisions have emerged within the European Union over the handling of the recent migration crisis. While both frontline and favoured destination countries are called upon to deal with the number of migrants looking for international protection and better living conditions, no consensus has been reached yet on the quota-based mechanisms for the relocation of refugees and financial help to exposed countries proposed by the EU. Such mechanisms pose a trade-off for member states: the EU's response to the crisis offers help to countries under pressure, but it inevitably requires burden-sharing among all EU members and a limitation of their national sovereignty. Within this scenario, the article compares how public opinion and political elites in ten different EU countries view a common EU migration policy grounded on solidarity and burden-sharing. By tracing both within- and cross-national patterns of convergence (and divergence), the article shows that contextual factors influence policy preferences, with support for solidarity measures being stronger in countries with higher shares of illegal migrants and asylum seekers. While individuals’ predispositions, identity and ideological orientations account for both masses’ and elites’ attitudes towards burden-sharing measures, subjective evaluations and beliefs concerning the severity of the crisis provide additional and alternative explanations when looking at the public's preferences. In particular, it is found that concern about the flow of migrants to Europe consolidates the impact of contextual factors, whereas the overestimation of the immigrant population fosters hostility against solidarity measures, with both effects more pronounced as the country's exposure to the crisis increases. In the light of these results, the main implication of this study is that EU institutions have to primarily address entrenched beliefs and misperceptions about immigrants to enhance public support for a joint approach to migration.     

弘扬军人核心价值观 反对历史虚无主义

在弘扬军人核心价值观的过程中,我们一定要坚持反对什么,弘扬什么。在目前思想多元化的状态下,历史虚无主义是消解中共党史和中国革命史的一服毒药。尽管它的表现形式多种多样,但是,目的只有一个,就是虚无中国人民革命、建设的历史,美化殖民统治、帝、官、封统治的历史,我们必须旗帜鲜明地加以反对。     

The Emergence of a Global Civil Society: The Case of Anti-Apartheid

Abstract

This article argues that the transnational anti-apartheid movement which, from a global perspective, must be seen as one of the most significant social movements during the post-war era, made an important contribution to the emergence and consolidation of a global civil society during this period. The transnational anti-apartheid movement lasted for more than three decades, from the late 1950s to 1994, when the first democratic elections in South Africa were held, and it had a presence on all continents. In this sense, the interactions of the anti-apartheid movement were part of the construction of a global political culture during the Cold War. Further, I argue that the history of the anti-apartheid struggle provides an important historical case for the analysis of present-day global politics, as it is evident that the present mobilization of a global civil society in relation to economic globalization and supranational political institutions such as the World Trade Organization (WTO), the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank, has historical links to the post-war, transnational political culture of which the anti-apartheid movement formed an important part. Movement organizations, action forms and networks that were formed and developed in the anti-apartheid struggle are present in this contemporary context, making the transnational anti-apartheid movement an important historical resource for contemporary global civil society.     

The Trouble with David Goodhart's Britain

This article argues that David Goodhart's manifesto for 'progressive nationalism' is gravely misconceived, indicative of the entire cohesion and integration agenda. What he talks about as the making of a common culture involves dusting off tired traditions, scaling back individual rights to protect the 'common good', and ultimately retreating onto safe ground for Middle England. Since such measures to strengthen national solidarity are responsive only to the anxieties of the demographic majority, those who are deemed to be most prone to social marginalisation continue to be so. Goodhart, like many in New Labour's orbit, chooses to ignore that belonging is reciprocal.
The article advocates an alternative culture of citizenship - one that widens democratisation, brings individuals them into the political process and thereby engages the 'reciprocity of belonging' that the post-7/7 consensus neglects. To build a cohesive Britain, the first step - but not necessarily the last - is to conceive sustainable routes towards social and political inclusion for all.     

Sharing the struggle: constructing transnational solidarity in global social movements

ABSTRACT

Struggles for peace, self-determination and demilitarization are common near military installations around the world. Increasingly, these struggles have become linked in globe-spanning assemblages of activism. Based on interviews in South Korea, Okinawa, Puerto Rico, Hawai’i, and Guåhan (Guam) this paper analyzes how activists in these locales develop a sense of shared oppression that serves as a basis for connecting geographically distant activist communities. Through visiting each other’s places – and participating in activities such as direct action protests, eating together and dancing – activists develop a recognition of shared circumstance not only through intellectual discussion, but also through the production of shared visceral and emotional states. This shared feeling of mutual oppression then serves as a basis for solidarity and mutual aid among social movements that protest militarization and challenge traditional conceptualizations of security in international relations.     

Poor versus rich countries: a gap in public attitudes towards fiscal solidarity in the EU

Abstract

Existing research has primarily focused on the role of utility and identity in shaping individuals’ European Union (EU) preferences. This article argues that macroeconomic context is a crucial predictor of attitudes towards transnational financial assistance, which has been omitted from previous analyses. Using data from the 2014 European Election Studies (EES) Voter Study for 28 EU member states, this article demonstrates that citizens living in poorer EU countries are less willing to support fiscal solidarity than their counterparts in more affluent countries. Country affluence serves as a heuristic, moderating the relationship between individual-level utility and identity considerations and willingness to show solidarity to member states with economic difficulties. When a country does not fare well economically, citizens’ views on providing help to others remain negative, irrespective of individual-level utilitarian and identity considerations. Our findings have implications for understanding the decision-making calculus underlying preference formation.     

先秦礼俗与古希腊礼俗之比较

无论是中国的先秦时期,还是西方的古希腊时期,礼俗在中西道德伦理生活中皆占有重要地位。然而,不同的文化传统、社会背景酝酿出不一样的礼俗:中国人的文化传统是内敛的、谦虚的,从而更注重渗透在礼俗中的文化内涵;而古希腊则无拘无束,纵情喧嚣,其礼俗多为一些具体的外在形式;与古希腊礼俗更加注重人文关怀不同,中国先秦时期的礼俗则有更多的政治意蕴。中西礼俗的不同,在一定程度上造成了中西方生活方式及文明走向的差异。因此,比较先秦和古希腊礼俗文化,对于我们探索中西礼俗的渊源、发展和价值有着重要的作用。     

Knowledge of the Earthquake and School Education in the Perspective of Active Citizenship

This paper presents part of a larger research on the consequences of an earthquake on the scholastic life of children aged 3-11. In May, schools abruptly closed due to the earthquake in Emilia Romagna and Lombardy （Italy）. Children and teachers fled from them, leaving school backpacks and books in the classrooms. Daily life was disrupted and the community gathered in tents set up by civil defence. Immigrant families returned to their countries of origin or shared life in the tent cities. The focus of theoretical sources of the research considers mainly： the vulnerability of the persons concerned; measures for risk reduction; environmental sustainability; community resilience; controversial human development between freedom of the person and economic globalisation. From methodological point of view, the interviews with teachers, school rectors, and citizens revealed the impact of the earthquake on community identity. Unexpected human solidarity and local responsible participation were part of the new educational plan of reconstruction based on hope, active citizenship, and historical memory.     

How can we better align private security with the public interest? Towards a civilizing model of regulation

How can we better align private security with the public interest? This question has met with two answers in the literature on private security regulation, one seeking to cleanse the market of deviant sellers, the other to communalize the market through the empowerment of buyers. Both models of regulation are premised upon a limited neoclassical economic conception of how market transactions map onto the public interest. This article makes the case for a new model of regulation, one that seeks to civilize the market. Drawing upon the insights of economic sociology, our model regards the market for security as a moral economy in which commodity and non‐commodity values jostle and collide. On this basis, we propose a regulatory architecture where buyers and sellers are cast not only as economic actors but also as moral actors, revealing new avenues through which to encompass private security within the democratic promise of security.