Protest Diffusion and Cultural Resonance in the 2011 Protest Wave

The 2011 protest wave, encompassing the Arab Spring revolutions, the Indignados movement in Spain and Greece, and the Occupy Wall Street movement has often been described as a new global protest cycle. However, the dynamics of diffusion suggest a more complex picture. Transmission of protest frames and repertoires from one country and cultural region to another was quite slow and tortuous. Moreover, adoption of the new ideas and practices of protest spawned by the protest wave of 2011 involved laborious dynamics of cultural translation and domestication. This situation points to the continuing importance of local protest cultures and cultural contexts, in addition to channels of transmission, even in an era of instantaneous communication technologies.     

Pluralism,decolonization and international society

The classical narrative of the historical evolution of a pluralist international society emphasizes its European origins: emerging in Europe and then progressively expanding worldwide via European colonialism. It is a narrative that is based on particular dualities, such as those of international system and society and sovereignty/anarchy and hierarchy. These dualities create a dichotomy within the classical narrative between an ostensibly pluralist, European international society and the world beyond it, largely insulating its depictions of the evolution of the norms and institutions of the former from the hierarchies and empires of the latter. This article advances a different narrative of the evolution of pluralism within international society, suggesting that pluralism has only been reflected in the practices of the society of states since decolonization. Even after decolonization, there have been continued exceptions and violations to pluralist norms, signifying a contemporary international society that is both pluralist and hierarchical.     

The Presidency,the Parties and Democratization in Mexico

This article seeks to explain how democratization in Mexico reinvigorated a party system that a generation earlier existed mainly on paper. The process of democratization involved a reduction, though by no means the elimination, of the meta-presidentialism in favour of a more law-based system. Forces exogenous to the party system shaped the initial democratization process. However, once the regime agreed to accept certain electoral rule changes, especially after 1986, the system of party competition developed dramatically to a much greater extent than expected. The initial threat to the system posed by the Cardenas candidacy in 1988 was suppressed. However, after 1988 electoral competition became increasingly important. In terms of shaping factors, therefore, one could see the birth of party competition contingent on other democratizing influences. However, once born, it proved to have a considerable shaping influence of its own. The current democratic system in Mexico selects the president by simple majority. There is no runoff system. However, Congress is elected according to systems of proportional representation. This makes minority presidentialism likely, as has indeed been the pattern since 2000. Since the Mexican constitution confers rather few powers on the presidency, the result is likely to be a continued redistribution of power from the president to the Congress.     

Mauritania: Political Parties,Neo-patrimonialism and Democracy

This article takes issue with those analyses of ‘developmental democracy’ which treat popular participation as a clamorous inconvenience to be managed in the interests of economic efficiency. Instead it asks what follows from prioritizing participation both as a defining feature of democracy, and as an integral part of what is meant by development.

The analysis is developed in two parts. The first contrasts the narratives of popular and of liberal democracy, showing how they come to different conclusions about participation and its role in development. But it also argues there are potential complementarities. These were obscured when socialist ‘people's democracies’ were (misleadingly) seen as popular alternatives to liberal democracy. Since the end of the cold war, however, the focus has been on democratizing liberal democracy, to ensure it is responsive to the needs of citizens, as active participants in development and not just targets of state policy, rather than on whole system alternatives.

The second part reviews the experience of popular democratic experiments in Tanzania and Nicaragua, which sought to extend participation beyond the confines of representative democracy, and to link it to participatory development. It might be read as a requiem for their apparent failure. But their vicissitudes also raise broader questions: about the contradictions between popular participation and ‘people's democracy'as a system of rule; concerning the structures and procedures (elections, political parties, civil society bodies, mass organizations and so on) through which participation is organised; and about the problems of harmonizing participatory development with the management of complex national economies.     

柬埔寨的华人

据不完全统计 ,目前在柬埔寨定居的华人约有40多万 ,占柬埔寨全国人口的4 %。华人在柬埔寨定居的历史已经十分久远 ,最早可以追溯到1500年以前。扶南 ,是柬埔寨人的第一个王国 ,始建于公元1世纪。公元3世纪以后 ,扶南逐渐强盛 ,与中国的商务往来也逐渐频繁起来。到3世纪后半叶 ,两国为商务往来互换了使节。在两国交往中 ,一些中国人在柬埔寨定居了 ,在那里劳动生息 ,世代相传 ,成为柬埔寨最早的华人。据史料考证 ,公元7世纪下半叶 ,已经具有高度文明的吴哥王朝与中国盛唐之间的交往更为密切了 ,一些华人不仅已在吴哥定居 ,而且还开设了极为…     

Chinese Enterprises in Laos and Cambodia

In recent years there has been a rapid increase in Chinese enterprises investing in Laos and Cambodia. However, this increase has drawn both praise and criticism. Praise is mainly concerning Chinese enterprises＇ efforts to support local development, and their assistance in achieving power-sufficiency in power generation and stabilizing domestic prices. Criticisms, which mainly concentrate on their lack of transparency, environmental awareness, and communication with local communities, reflect the challenges Chinese companies face in going global. To address these criticisms, the Chinese government needs to strengthen their oversight capacity with respect to Chinese overseas enterprises and help them develop an awareness of corporate social responsibility （CSR）. Enterprises themselves should improve their overseas image by internalizing the idea of CSR in their business model, and interacting more with local communities and NGOs.     

柬埔寨现况

柬埔寨王国是中国的近邻,位于中南半岛南部,北接老挝,西北部与泰国为邻,东和东南部与越南接壤,西南濒泰国湾,面积18.1万平方公里。人口1143万,其中农村人口占80％,有20多个少数民族,高棉族占80％。官方语言为高棉语、英语和法语。国教为佛教,全国80％以上的人信奉佛教。首都金边,人口110万。     

Protest in South Africa: motives and meanings

South Africa is experiencing record levels of protest. Interpretations of protest fall into two groups. First, there is the argument that protests represent only limited rebellion and that though unruly, they are a mechanism for political re-engagement. A second understanding links “new social movements” that address general grievances to wider hegemonic challenges. This article addresses the issue of whether these upsurges in militant mobilization threaten or complement democratic procedures. The article draws from a study of two protest “hotspots” in Durban.     

Protest and Globalization: Media,Symbols and Audience in the Drama of Democratization

The complex processes of democratization involve interactions between global and local actors. Using the metaphor of the drama of democratization the paper considers one aspect of this interaction. The article analyzes the effect of interactions between the international dimension of democratization and protest movements. The account focuses on events at Kwangju during May 1980 and Beijing from April until June 1989. The case studies show that interactions between the international dimension of democratization and democratic protest movements can serve a democratizing function. This function is both contingent and transitory, and is played out within sections of the international audience.     

论柬埔寨的祖先神信仰

柬埔寨社会有波罗蜜神灵、涅达神灵和宗祖神灵三大神灵体系。祖先神能够跨体系地出现在这三大神灵体系中,体现了其在整个神灵体系中的重要地位。三大神灵体系中的祖先神既有区分又有重合。其中,祖神波罗蜜能够附体人类,是法力最强大的祖先神;祖神涅达是涅达神中重要的组成部分,具有强大的区域职掌能力;宗族祖先神则主司家族和行业内个人的行为规范。一些具有跨区域或家族影响力的祖神涅达及宗族祖先神常常会被归入波罗蜜神体系中,从而被赋予更大的神力。柬埔寨祖先神崇拜具有融合性、功利性、民族性、外源性等特点,是最能彰显柬埔寨人族性的文化内容。     

中国对外援助在柬埔寨

中国对柬埔寨的援助可以分为第一阶段(1953～1989年)与第二阶段(1990～2009年).第一阶段的援助基于国际主义与大国责任,对柬埔寨援助不考虑经济回报,军事援助占的比重较大,在执行上以总交货人部制为典型;第二阶段中国对柬埔寨援助强调尽国际主义义务要量力而行,讲究平等互利,军事援助大幅度减少,执行上以企业总承包责任制为典型.中国对柬埔寨的援助符合双方的利益,大大促进了双边关系,但也存在一些不足.作者针对这些不足提出了相应的改进建议.     

2005年：柬埔寨大吉大利的一年

2005年,柬埔寨建立了人民党(简称人党)和奉辛比克党(简称奉党)联合政府,并顺利完成了王位交接。尽管由于承续历史惯性的作用,三党关系继续出现波动,人奉两党联盟同桑兰西党(简称桑党)的较量在新条件和新形势下继续展开,但从总体看,由于人奉两党联盟的建立,柬国内政治稳定,法制框架下真正意义上的民主政治初步建立,政治环境得到净化。国际油价上涨对2005年柬经济运行带来不利影响,但是柬经济还是取得了双位数的增长,成为1993年以来最好的年份之一。制衣业、农业和旅游业继续扮演推动经济增长的火车头角色。在外交上,柬埔寨政府进一步扩展国际…     

伊洛瓦底江·吴哥——东南亚旅游资源两则

广阔的地域、复杂多样的生态环境,造就了东南亚这块神奇迷人的土地上极为丰富的旅游资源,众多的民族、悠久灿烂的历史文明,形成了东南亚这个色彩斑斓的区域里独特多彩的民族文化.     

以色列党派的离合与分野

以色列党派繁多，政党的合并(或联合)与分裂也十分频繁，是世界上党派变动较多的国家之一。以色列的大党都各有一部复杂的合并与分裂的历史。以色列议会的席位呈现分散化趋势，大党的优势在减弱，小党的作用在增强。大多数政党是犹太人的、世俗的、奉行锡安主义的，但是也有非犹太人的、宗教的、不奉行锡安主义的政党。在每一组政党内部，又存在许多的差别，甚至在一个党的内部也存在着不同的派别。人们只能根据各党的主要倾向或基本倾向对政治分野做一大致的判断。     

Political Parties and Democratic Consolidation in Africa

With the collapse of the Soviet bloc it was widely assumed that Cuba would be the next domino to fall. But now over ten years has passed since the demise of communism and the Castro regime is still in power with no signs of capitulation. However most analysts of contemporary Cuba still assume it is only a matter of time before the island succumbs to the forces of the market and the politics of liberal democracy. Indeed, for the regime to have resisted for so long is seen as illogical and counterproductive. Contrary to such mainstream views, this article argues that the encouragement of popular involvement in the revolution, especially through the mechanism of participation, has given the regime hidden strengths which may not only have secured its survival under extreme duress but could also offer a route through which it might emerge from the crisis. In this context the most important issue at stake in Cuba is not how quickly it can integrate with the global market or how long it can hang on to the remnants of Soviet‐style central planning, but rather how popular participative democratic practices can be channelled into an alternative development model aimed at satisfying basic needs and promoting selective engagement with the world market on terms decided by a politically engaged population.     

Britain and Cambodia, September 1945-November 1946: A Reappraisal

Using archival evidence from Britain and France, and published primary and secondary literature, this article offers a reassessment of Britain's role in Cambodia during liberation duties following World War II. Britain's actions in the removal of the Son Ngoc Thanh nationalist government and the Cambodian-Siamese border dispute are analysed, revealing both a more complex and detailed British involvement in Cambodian affairs than has previously been stated.     

柬埔寨2003年风雨兼程

一、平静的政治搏杀2003年 ,柬埔寨在政治风雨中度过。虽然柬埔寨当年进行了惊心动魄的大选 ,但是社会稳定 ,经济有了发展 ,国际社会对柬埔寨内政反应平静 ,柬埔寨的对外关系空前活跃。一切都显示 ,连续执政25年的柬埔寨人民党依然牢牢把握着柬埔寨的航船前进。2003年是柬埔寨大选年。如果从开始竞选的6月计算 ,到作者完成这篇综述时止 ,大选还没有画上完整的句号。失望的西哈努克起程前往北京进行例行的身体健康检查。人民党立场转硬 ,它表示如果需要 ,可以单独执政到2008年。由奉辛比克党和桑兰西党组成的民主联盟(简称民联)没有松动立场…     

我国第三代领导人与柬埔寨

1989年6月 ,江泽民同志在中共中央召开的第十三次全国代表大会上当选为中共中央总书记 ,形成了以他为核心的我国第三代领导人。按照我国第二代领导人邓小平所说的主持正义、反对霸权、政治解决柬埔寨问题的理论 ,江泽民总书记努力推动柬埔寨恢复和平 ,促成5个常任理事国就政治解决柬埔寨问题达成框架文件。他同越南新领导人共同举行高峰会谈 ,双方达成了共识。江泽民经过几年的努力 ,联合国秘书长在巴黎举行国际会议 ,就政治解决柬埔寨问题签署了最终协定。中国参与联合国对柬埔寨的监督检察 ,越南全部撤军 ,柬埔寨走向和平统一。此后柬全国…