Auschwitz's Finale: racism and holocausts

It is passing strange that the existence of Auschwitz has not lessened racism. In fact quite the reverse: it has unleashed surplus racism on the ‘Third world’ and its ‘natives’. As I contend here, this is the Auschwitz finale, its abject truth, the dialectical residue of the Holocaust. Jacob Neusner calls it the Holocaust ‘myth’ and ‘mythic theology’. It now constitutes the ruling narrative in the West. This article dissects the Auschwitz discourse and its denial of other holocausts. It critiques the claim that it was the only ‘real’ genocide. It advances a contrary thesis on colonialism, racism and holocausts in history. I clarify the affinity between colonialism and fascism and Israeli tactics in Occupied Palestine. It is undeniable that Auschwitz fuels anti-Arab anti-Semitism and anti-Islamism. In my conclusion I analyse Jewish criticism of the Auschwitz finale.     

Revolution,racism and sexism: Challenges for world-system analysis

Terry R. Kandal is professor of sociology at California State University, Los Angeles. He is the author ofThe Woman Question in Classical Sociological Theory (Florida International University Press: Miami, 1988) and co-editor ofStudies of Development and Change in the Modern World (Oxford University Press, 1989). He is editor ofCalifornia Sociologist. Currently his research is focused on the history of Marxian theories of revolution.     

Scientific racism,race war and the global racial imaginary

Abstract

The premise of this paper is the elucidation of a different ontology of global politics and order of the nineteenth century. International relations theory takes for granted a largely ahistorical state-centric ontology, which reifies a specific Eurocentric state and state-system as the embodiment of global politics. Instead, I focus on an alternative ontology of race, racial hierarchy and racial difference as significant for defining the content of an imperial global politics and order. My paper places into context the emergence of scientific racism and social Darwinism as key intellectual elements in defining a political imaginary that influenced the politics of difference and violence. What I show is that this intellectual history reveals a global order that was fundamentally racialised and that global violence was understood and practiced as race wars.     

A million little ways: racism and everyday performances of blackness in Buenos Aires

In spite of the reality of racism in Argentina, dominant Argentine society holds class as the most important factor in explaining social inequalities. I analyze everyday performances of blackness in Buenos Aires, Argentina and how these both corroborate with and contest dominant ideas about race. Even attitudes and behaviors that appear to uphold the racial hierarchy are, often upon deeper analysis, complex mechanisms of negotiation within a racist society. These performances range from very casual encounters on the street to literal interpretations including an audition for a TV commercial. I detail incidents of blacks who counter racist assumptions through their performance of identity as well as how racism influences and shapes these performances among Africans and Afro-descendants. The ethnographic evidence I gathered from my own exchanges as well as those of my research consultants challenges the notion of Argentina as a nation devoid of antiblack racism.     

Citizenship education and the challenge of racism,discrimination and disadvantage

The idea behind citizenship education is that it will help both to integrate the demands of justice, equality and community and to prevent the increasing apathy towards politics and government, which may damage the health and stability of a modern liberal democracy. The recent British Report on Education for Citizenship and the Teaching of Democracy in Schools (the Crick Report) can be seen as a response to those concerns. This article discusses these concerns and offers an evaluation of the main recommendations of the Crick Report from the perspective of ethnic minorities and disadvantaged groups. If citizenship education as defined by the Crick Report is intimately linked to ideas of entitlement, justice and tolerance of difference, would such an education help students to acquire the necessary knowledge and understanding, skills and dispositions to tackle racism, discrimination and disadvantage? An incisive education must help to remove social, racial and sex barriers that prevent some citizens from enjoying their full citizenship rights. This article offers some critical general conceptual perspectives that aim to help inform teachers thinking about those issues.     

独特的意大利物业管理制度

应罗马市民营会的邀请, 去年金秋季节,我们一行数人,乘飞机抵达了被誉为南欧明珠的美丽国度--意大利。意大利土地面积有30余万平方公里,是一个多山之国,著名的亚平宁山脉贯穿意大利南北,全国差不多4/5以上的土地为山地。优惠购买私人住宅意大利人非常重视住房,这     

Terrorism in Italy: Analysis of a problem

The author, after a short premise in which the phenomenon under examination is analyzed on the basis of the study of individual motivations, considers, in the context of the present Italian moral crisis, the social and interpersonal factors that violent terrorism generate.

The inquiry then moves on to attempt to identify the aims of terrorism through the observation of the subsequent phases through which it develops.

After a short survey of some sociological and psychological theories of the causes of the phenomenon, the author concludes that the problem of terrorism cannot be solved through the threat of more serious sanctions for the crimes committed but through the reorganization and restructuring of the state, and the elimination of the insecurity and tension that are among the main causes of the phenomenon.     

The institutional logic of small-firm economies in Italy and Taiwan

This article compares the small-firm economies of Taiwan and Italy, utilizing an institutional oganizational approach in the analysis of economic structures. It is divided into three sections. First, there is a presention of the main features of the Italian and the Taiwanese economies to draw out their distinctive similarities. The second part identifies a set of institutional factors which help us understand the similarities observed in the two economies, and classifies them along two analytical headings: individual values and social structure. The third section explores the significance of the author's crossnational comparison of small-firm economies for improving the status of an institutional theory of economic structures. By, emphasizing the role of institutional factors and the social embeddedness of economic activities in Italy and Taiwan, the article provides a corrective to the unilateral emphasis on an East versus West model of economic action and shows the obvious inadequacies of restrictively cultural, political, or economic interpretations of national economies. Marco, Orrù is assistant professor of sociology at the University of South Florida. Recent publications include “Patterns of Inter-Firm Control in Japanese Business” (Organization Studies, December 1989, 549–74) and “Organizational Isomorphism in East Asia” inThe New Institutionalism in Organizational Analysis P. Dimaggio and W. Powell, eds., (University of Chicago Press, 1991). Dr. Orrù's research has also appeared inThe British Journal of Sociology, Sociological Forum, Japan'sFinancial Economic Review, and other professional journals. He is currently working on a monograph,Patterns of Asian Capitalism, co-authored with Gary G. Hamilton and Nicole Woolsey Biggart.     

意大利的青少年犯罪与青少年司法状况

意大利青少年犯罪状况逐年恶化,意大利的青少年犯罪率呈现出北部高于中部及南部地区特点。意大利青少年犯罪与社会经济、政治的状况相关,但更表现出与非法移民之间的联系。针对这种状况,在意大利,实施意大利模式的青少年司法,对青少年广泛适用恢复性司法,对治理青少年犯罪,取得了良好的效国。     

穿着考究的意大利人--写在中国意大利文化年

位于欧洲南部的意大利,是一个突出于地中海的半岛国家.亚平宁山脉纵贯半岛南北,人们一提到这个风光秀丽的亚平宁古国,便会联想到它历史悠久的文化,尤其对这个民族款式新颖的时装和堪称一绝的皮鞋赞不绝口.     

Curbing Corruption in Public Administration: A Case Study from Italy

The aim of this article is to verify whether the historic sentence, no. 500/1999 of the Italian Legitimacy Court (Corte di Cassazione) in Plenary Session, may have contributed to diminishing bribery in Italy, by increasing the area of liability for both civil servants and the public administration. The empirical analysis is based on a case study conducted in Sicily, in the province of Catania, using a unique data set. The main results of the article are: paying bureaucrats by means of an incentive wage regimes may not be effective in reducing corruption; an extension of the liability rule for the public administration and civil servants may discourage the phenomenon of bribery; and, the perfect specification of property rights helps to reduce corruption.     

Season and suicide: recent findings from Italy

Seasonal asymmetry in yearly suicide occurrence is a long-observed phenomenon in psychiatric, suicidological, and sociological research, and the effects of seasonal factors on suicidal behavior have been the focus of a number of earlier studies. Taking into account limitations of data and methods, these studies have generally favored interpretations based on psychosocial factors. Recent studies have challenged the widely held notion that seasonal effects on suicide are a unitary phenomenon, not influenced by age, gender, or circumstances of the act. In particular, the seasonal occurrence of suicides has been found to differ significantly between the young and the elderly, and differences have also been found between male and female cycles of occurrence. Suicides using violent methods have been shown to follow clearer seasonal patterns than suicides by less violent methods (such as drug or gas poisoning), possibly reflecting the greater impulsive component involved in the choice of a violent lethal means. In this paper, findings from Italy are used to illustrate the clinical implications of studies into the topic of season and suicide, with the aim of developing more effective preventative strategies.     

Addressing Information Needs in Employment Services Provision in Italy: The Role of Codesign Networks

This article examines how coproduction can contribute to information quality in support of labor-market decision-making. Data was gathered on different types of Labor Market Intelligence (LMI) as decision-support systems for stakeholders, and subsequently by analyzing a specific program, with a focus on the role of information within its coproduction process. Results confirm the importance of information systems to support employment services design, but highlight the limitations of existing channels, and outline the types of information needed for policy effectiveness: those that are gathered through continuous relations with employers and jobseekers, and that often derive from participation in policy networks.