The United States, Germany and France: Balancing Transatlantic Relations

Relations between the United States, France and Germany significantly determine the content and structure of the broader transatlantic relationship. Relations improved after the changes of government in Germany in 2005 and France in 2007, and they can be expected to improve further after the change of administration in the United States in 2009. Washington is likely to pay more attention to its European allies while these may become more involved in issues beyond Europe's borders. Sharing leadership will be the challenge for the United States, while bringing more intellectual and material input will be the challenge for the Europeans. At the same time, France and Germany will develop and maintain independent views. But if partnership is the aim on both sides of the Atlantic, a more promising relationship can be expected even where differences exist.     

Covid-19 Pandemic,Social Mitigation and Taxation: The Open Veins of Inequality in Latin America

The pandemic of Covid-19 has exposed the veins of inequality in Latin America. With a socioeconomic disaster looming, social emergency policies seemed inevitable. Yet while governments argue over the continuity of such policies and whether the fiscal rules in place should be respected, no sustainable response has come out. This essay problematises whether the pandemic could represent a critical juncture to forge ahead with political narratives that highlight tax exemptions and privileges enjoyed by the rich. We analyse the mitigation measures adopted by Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Uruguay and their repercussions on the debate surrounding progressive tax reforms to fund social schemes.     

Chile's (Inter)National Identities: Framing the Relations with Bolivia and Peru

National identities play a significant role in Latin American international relations. They affect the ways in which policy‐makers view themselves and others, as well as influencing the ways in which their policies are ‘received’ abroad. In this way, identities create opportunities and constraints for foreign policy‐making, framing the relations between Latin American countries. The author argues that, since 1990, three main patterns of Chilean identity recently affected the country's relations with its northern neighbours Bolivia and Peru: a ‘neoliberal identity’, a ‘legalistic identity’ and a ‘progressive identity’. These three patterns of identity have created opportunities for cooperation as well as causes for conflict.     

Theory, Practice and'External Actors'in the Making of New Urban Social Movements in Brazil

Abstract – Spontaneity and authenticity have often been key words in the analysis of the'new urban social movements'that emerged in Brazil in the course of the 1970s. The movement discourse was often taken at face value and the involvement of other than'popular'institutional and social actors tended to be concealed. Though in some analyses attention has been directed to the role of the Catholic Church and other institutional actors, very little has been said about the personnel involved and their class position. This article focuses on the latter aspect and in this manner draws attention to the role of segments of the emerging new middle classes in the social construction of the movements. It is argued that processes of professional affirmation in the context of the political conjuncture of the democratisation process contributed to a radical politicisation of segments of the emerging new middle classes. Such processes were related to the theoretical reflection on the new movements and the emergence of a'militant perspective in research'which imbricated with the development of grassroots activism, amplified its impact, and furthered expectations over its role in the democratisation process. It thus contributed to the shaping of the movements. With the return to civilian rule and the changing configuration of state-society relations the relations between middle class and popular grassroots activism changed and this initially reflected in disenchanted accounts of the new movements and their failure to live up to expectations. Analysis of such processes provides an insight into the epistemo-politics of research and theory production on social movements.     

US Intervention in Colombia: The Role of Transnational Relations

In July 2000, US President, Bill Clinton, signed into law the aid package popularly known as ‘Plan Colombia’. Foreign policy analysts examining the ‘US drug war’ have generally focused upon the perceived national security interests of the US state and/or the intermestic nature of domestic politics, or the economic interests of an imperial US state in explaining US drug policy. I posit that the development, initiation and implementation of Plan Colombia cannot solely be understood through these various nation‐state paradigms, as this process was aided by, and facilitated through, an incipient transnational state. The emergence and consolidation into power of a neoliberal state within Colombia, the role of transnational lobbying by US and Colombian policy‐makers, as well as the influence of transnational corporations all played instrumental roles in the initiation, development and implementation of Plan Colombia.     

缅甸国内政治与对外关系现状

按照联合国宪章规定 ,非选举政府的执政期限不得超过 5年 ,但如今 1 0年过去了 ,缅甸军政府依然我行我素 ,敢冒天下之大不韪 ,拒绝和美国欧盟提出的承认 1 990年 5月大选结果并将政权移交给全国民主联盟的条件。缅甸军政府反复声称 ,它将完全按照自己的既定方式和时间表移交政权。为此 ,它致力于制订一部有力于自己的新宪法 ,一旦制宪完毕 ,将再举行新一轮选举 ,把自己 1 0年来苦心经营的政党 (联邦巩固发展协会 )推向政治舞台。尽管缅甸军政府至今仍被国际社会所遗弃 ,同东盟的关系微妙 ,但同中国的关系则是牢固的。     

The Transition to 'New' Social Democracy: The Role of Capitalism, Representation and (Hampered) Contestation

This article argues that existing accounts of the transformation from 'traditional' to 'new' social democracy has thus far only identified the contextual changes that have prompted this move. In doing so, they have failed to account for the motives of social democratic party actors in undertaking the transition to 'new' social democracy in response to those changes. The article draws upon a critical realist method, and Marxist and anti-representational theories, to conceptualise 'traditional' social democratic party relations as suffering from tensions between constituents' demands for decommodification, the attempt by party elites to contain (and thereby 'represent') those demands and the (in)compatibility of this process of containment with the need to recommodify social relations in the light of periodic crises in contemporary capitalism. It argues that these tensions explain the attempt by party elites to promote the move towards 'new' social democracy, the (eventual) acquiescence of party constituents to those attempts and the subsequent exit from social democratic constituencies which has resulted. The argument is made with reference to the British Labour Party and Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD).     

中美关系的变化和朝鲜半岛的和平

中美关系将会全面寻求合作与竞争,但是基于中国的崛起和＂美国霸权＂的衰落,＂合作中冲突＂的局面可能会逐渐形成。通过加强联合与强调多边合作,中美两国在东北亚地区采取的下注战略都向着防止任何一方统治该区域的情况发生转型。除了中美关系的冲突或合作趋势之外,朝鲜半岛也存在卷入＂他者化＂或＂国际化＂的可能性。本文建议无论是韩美联盟还是中韩合作都应遵循独立适用原则,且我们应当探索战略性的普遍原则。     

华侨华人:作为研究对象的"特殊性"及其与中国的关系

本文指出了自中国改革开放以来国内外对于华侨华人研究日趋关注的现象,认为这主要是由持不同立场的学者对华侨华人与中国关系的认识引起的.文章从四个方面探讨了华侨华人的"特殊性"及其与中国的关系,认为对于华侨华人"特殊性"的认识,有助于更好地理解华侨华人作为移民群体所具有的个案意义,从而引发对移民所具有的"普遍性"的思考,同时也有助于进一步消除关于华侨华人研究的政治敏感性,并拓宽华侨华人研究的视野.     

Electoral Institutions,Social Diversity and Fragmentation of Party Systems: A Reassessment

The article examines the determinants of party fragmentation based on electoral district data from the Swiss cantons (2010‐2015). In contrast to previous studies, three different dependent variables are taken into account: firstly, the raw number of parties, secondly, the effective number of parties based on vote shares and, thirdly, the effective number of legislative parties. On all three levels, the exclusion magnitude proves to be the most important factor. Compared to this, other institutional variables contribute little explanatory power. However, apparentments are relevant in the first stage of our analysis as they increase the raw number of parties standing for election. In terms of sociological factors, we only find limited relevance. Denominational and linguistic heterogeneity do not have any impact. This can be explained by the fact that linguistic heterogeneity is only weakly pronounced at district level. The finding emphasises the importance of district‐based data for the analysis of party system fragmentation in general.     

Dualistic Identity, Memory-encoded Norms, and State Emotion: A Social Constructivist Account of Chinese Foreign Relations

By tracing the origin and evolution of Chinese nationalism, this paper finds that the dialectical relationship between the Chinese “self” and the foreign “other” has provided the cultural-institutional context for the construction of its national identity. The positional change of the Chinese actor in the self-other interaction—resulting from the institutional shift from the tianxia order to the Westphalian system—and the consequent national humiliation have been embedded in the Chinese collective memory and given rise to the consensual norms ingrained in the national identity. Viewed through the lens of political sociology and identity politics, China’s tenacious struggle for national rejuvenation can be construed as a social practice guided by these memory-encoded social norms. Due to the protracted and ambivalent nature of the state’s purposive action in attaining great-power status on the international stage, the confidence of the resurgent state is compromised by an acute sense of frustration. This identity predicament has engendered a peculiar Chinese state emotion, which has profoundly influenced the in-group members’ evaluation and perception of out-group entities and their behavior in the antagonistic intergroup relations.     

澳门与东南亚的关系:过去、现在与未来

在目前澳门的对外关系中,东南亚并不是最重要的。然而,从长远的和发展的眼光看,东南亚在澳门的对外关系中将发挥越来越重要的作用,澳门应该重视发展与东南亚的经济社会关系。与东南亚建立良好的密切的关系,将为今后澳门经济的继续繁荣和发展作出重要的贡献     

Popular Culture, Power Relations and Urban Discipline: The Festival of the Holy Spirit in Nineteenth-Century Rio de Janeiro

The Festival of the Holy Spirit was considered the most important religious celebration in nineteenth‐century Rio de Janeiro. I discuss the popular practices of music, dance and theatre during the festival. By merging European waltz and the African batuque, the heterogeneous public re‐created and re‐invented a number of new genres that are at the roots of twentieth‐century Brazilian popular music. The festival of the Holy Spirit allows an examination of elite strategies and municipal policies regarding popular culture. In this respect, it is remarkable how much political use the Brazilian Empire made of the festival of the Holy Spirit and how its revellers fought for their celebration.     

Rewarding Lula: Executive Power, Social Policy, and the Brazilian Elections of 2006

This article analyzes Luiz Inácio da Silva's resounding reelection victory in the wake of corruption scandals implicating his party and government. Voters with lower levels of economic security and schooling played a critical role in returning Lula to the presidency. Least prone to punish the president for corruption, poorer Brazilians were also the most readily persuaded by the provision of material benefits. Minimum wage increases and the income transfer program Bolsa Família expanded the purchasing power of the poor. Thus, executive power and central state resources allowed Lula to consolidate a social base that had responded only weakly to his earlier, party-based strategy of grassroots mobilization for progressive macrosocietal change. Although Lula won handily, the PT's delegation to Congress shrank for the first time, and the voting bases of president and party diverged. The PT benefited far less than the president himself from government investment in social policy.     

Democrats, Dictators, and Cooperation: The Transformation of Argentine-Chilean Relations

This article explores how Argentina and Chile put aside a century-long rivalry to form a dynamic regional partnership in the years after 1984. Their experience suggests that interstate behavior is more complex than many theories admit. Cooperation increased during and after the Cold War, with severe and moderate debt burdens, between economic liberalizers and statists, and under authoritarian and democratic regimes. This study uses institutional analysis to argue that executives were the indispensable actors who combined institutionally focused incentives and the ability to forge cooperative agreements. Previous attempts between Argentina and Chile, as well as elsewhere on the continent, failed when weak executives in one or both countries could not sustain cooperation over domestic opposition. Two crucial points are Alfonsín's and Pinoches foundation-building agreements in 1984–85 and Menem's and Aylwin's deepening institutionalization of the relationship in 1990–91.     

Subnational Regionalisation in Argentina: The Effects of Subjective Interdependence and the Relationships between Actors on Intermunicipal Cooperation

This article studies the networks of intermunicipal cooperation that occur through a process of subnational regionalization. It analyses data from two Regional Communities in the Province of Córdoba, Argentina. The results show that interlocal subjective interdependence and strong relationships between actors, results in greater inter‐municipal cooperation Furthermore, the results of the analysis suggest that interpersonal trust does not necessarily result in institutional coordination. While the local political parties are not a significant variable in this study, geographic distance does seem to play a role in the larger process of intergovernmental coordination.     

Disciplining Society through the City: The Genesis of City Planning in Brazil and Argentina (1894–1945)

This paper looks at the genesis of a discourse on urbanismo (city planning) in Brazil and Argentina between 1894 and 1945 using the ideas of Michel Foucault on discipline and his concept of bio–power. The demographic pattern of the major cities in both countries from 1890 onwards and the renewals of the centres of these cities are also discussed. Other sections are dedicated to the plans proposed for the same cities in the 1920s and to urban representations, such as ideas about social reform, the role of hygiene as a point of departure for planning, and the relationship of ideas on Taylorism (scientific management) and the city. The paper also discusses the planners opposition to elections, when they claimed that they were the only ones qualified to deal with urban problems and therefore they should be employed in the state apparatus.
Other concerns of the paper are the use of planning as an element of nation building and ideas defining eugenics (race 'betterment') as an important aspect of city planning. I conclude by arguing that, if implemented, city planning was a way of creating an industrial culture, disciplining society through the city, although the industrial proletariat has never made up the majority of the population in Brazil or Argentina. Even if many aspects of the plans proposed for both countries were not implemented, the discourse of planners can be seen as a will to discipline society through the city. This discipline would affect the freedom of movement of human bodies, and is therefore approached through Foucault's concepts of bio–power and discipline     

新加坡公民社会组织的兴起与治理中的合作网络

新加坡的政治文化和国家意识正在经历变迁."新加坡21远景计划"的制定反映并强化了这一变迁的趋势.这是新加坡公民社会及其组织兴起所必需的结构性因素.新加坡各类公民社会组织积极回应政治系统发生的变迁.现有组织力图淡化传统的角色功能,寻求赋予其自身新的合法性.新兴组织则利用大好机遇和可待开发的广阔社会空间努力发展自己.公民社会组织的兴起,为新加坡在稳健而又似乎缓慢的民主化进程中重新界定国家与社会的关系提供了新的路径.     

从“北溪-2”项目看德俄关系及俄美欧三方博弈

作为两个重要的地区大国,德国与俄罗斯的关系对彼此和欧洲都有着重要影响。在双边关系中,能源因素因其对国民经济生产的决定性意义长期发挥着“稳定器”的作用。2018年9月,由德俄牵头,法国、奥地利与荷兰合资建造的“北溪-2”天然气管道项目正式动工铺设。该项目将使输往欧洲的俄罗斯天然气绕开乌克兰,经过波罗的海海底直接连通德俄两国,德国由此成为俄罗斯天然气最重要的转运国。此举虽然在双边层面上保证了德俄的能源经济安全,但在多边层面却招致欧盟、美国等多方反对。因担心会进一步加深对俄罗斯能源的依赖,欧盟委员会及中东欧国家欲诉诸法律对该项目施以约束;美国在制裁项目企业的同时转而向波兰、乌克兰等国出口液化天然气,在利用政治机遇抢占欧洲市场的同时试图制衡俄罗斯的影响力。在多方力量博弈中,德国需要在平衡俄美欧关系中付出更多努力。