In Search of Alternatives: The Making of Grassroots Politics and Power in Argentina

This article analyses ethnographically the reconfigurations of the state and relations of power through their dynamic interactions with subaltern alternatives that emerged in the 2001 uprising in Argentina. In this regard, it counters influential interpretations of these events articulated within John Holloway’s framework of ‘anti‐power’, which ignores the reconstruction of the state, and rank and file trade unionism. The article concludes that intensified class and political struggles in the region offer new spaces for contesting hegemonic reinventions of populism and ‘top‐down’ socialism in Latin America.     

In Search of Strategies to Face the Economic Crisis: Evidence from Greek Farms

This study examines the strategies – defensive or aggressive, individual or collective – undertaken by sheep farms in a Greek rural area in order to face the repercussions of the economic crisis and their effects on the productivity and economic performance of these farms. The article presents the results of a farm management survey conducted in 2010 and repeated in 2014 in northern Evros, Greece. The mix of strategies – mainly passive – adopted by farmers shows their confusion in the face of crisis conditions, which has resulted in reduced productivity, more use of family labour and a rise in collective actions.     

曼昆博士的悲哀

美国哈佛大学著名经济学教授,现任白宫经济顾问委员会(WhiteHouseCouncilofEconomicAdvisers)主席的格里高利·曼昆(GregoryMankiw)博士最近因言得祸。2 0 0 4年2月初,曼昆博士公开发表谈话提出:美国的工作机会流向海外可能最终对美国的经济是好事。此言一出,立即引起轩然大波。民主党迅速做出反应,强烈批评共和党政府不顾美国的国家利益,无视美国目前严重的失业状况,蓄意地把工作机会转向海外或让外国人到美国来占据本该由美国人占有的工作位置。当时在民主党内竞选总统候选人提名居领先地位的参议员约翰·剀利(JohnKerry ,)公开指责布…     

俄罗斯国家身份的探寻之旅——詹姆斯·比灵顿的俄国文化研究

詹姆斯·比灵顿是当代西方俄罗斯文化研究的领军人物。通过对他的三部关于俄罗斯文化的经典作品的研究,可以透视他以及受到他影响的西方人眼中的俄罗斯文化。比灵顿坚持跨学科的研究方法,形成了对俄罗斯文化的独特认识:对大自然的特殊感情、东正教信仰及对来自外界新生事物的周期性激情,是塑造俄罗斯文化的三个核心因素;俄罗斯文化的每一种形式都经历着"模仿-创新-摧毁"三个阶段;俄罗斯文化发展与其政治进程具有同构性;白银时代需要高度重视,白银时代的文化成果与苏联时期的文化发展有着紧密的联系。     

In Search of Co‐variance,Causal Mechanisms or Congruence? Towards a Plural Understanding of Case Studies

Methodological reflections about case study research have increased within recent years. According to our account, there are three distinct approaches to case studies: co‐variational, causal process tracing, and congruence analysis. The main goals of this article are to lay out the distinct ways in which causal inferences are drawn for the cases under study and to scrutinize the different understandings and directions of generalization within these three approaches. By doing so we highlight two aspects: First, causal process tracing and congruence analysis should be seen as two distinct alternatives to the dominant co‐variational template. Second, the main characteristics of case studies, their thickness, provides only an unavoidable dilemma if we aim to generalize the findings towards a wider population of similar cases as in the co‐variational template. If we would like to get deeper insights â‐“ as the causal process tracing approach does â‐“ or if we would like to use the empirical evidence for a broader theoretical discourse â‐“ as the congruence analysis does â‐“ case studies do not face a trade‐off.     

The crisis in Somalia: Tragedy in five acts

Somalia's catastrophic humanitarian crisis of 2007, in whichup to 300,000 Mogadishu residents were displaced in fightingpitting Ethiopian and Transitional Federal Government (TFG)forces against a complex insurgency of clan and Islamist opposition,was the culmination of a series of political miscalculationsand misjudgements on the part of Somali and external actorssince 2004. They resulted in a cascading sequence of politicalcrises which plunged Somalia into increasingly intractable conflicts.This ‘tragedy in five acts’ includes the flawedcreation of the TFG in late 2004, which emerged as a narrowcoalition rather than a government of national unity; the failureof a promising civic movement in Mogadishu in summer of 2005to challenge the power base of warlords and Islamists in thecapital; the disastrous decision by the US government to encouragean alliance between its local counter-terrorism partners inMogadishu, producing a war which led to the victory of the Councilof Islamic Courts (CIC) in June 2006; the radicalization ofthe CIC over the course of 2006, which guaranteed a war withEthiopia; and the Ethiopian offensive against the CIC in late2006, leading to its occupation of the capital, a complex insurgencyagainst Ethiopian forces and armed violence which produced whatthe UN described as a ‘humanitarian catastrophe’.In virtually every instance, key actors took decisions thatproduced unintended outcomes which harmed rather than advancedtheir interests, and at a cost in human lives and destructionof property that continues to mount.     

China and the Worldwide Search for Oil Security

The notion of oil security on a global scale is problematic because of the diverging perspectives with which oil-importing countries and oil-exporting countries view energy security. Oil-importing countries are interested in “oil supply” while oil-exporting countries focus on “oil demand.” This leaves ample space for major powers to maneuver within the complex political-economic dynamics associated with oil trade. China has been no exception.

This commentary addresses the international debate that has emerged concerning the geo-strategic and geo-economic motivations behind China's pursuit of offshore oil supply. By examining China's oil-related overseas investments in Sudan we shed light on some of the business and political complexities associated with the China-Sudan relationship. In the view of many Chinese observers, Sudan has in terms of oil exploration been a Chinese success story while in the view of many foreign observers, China's dealings in Sudan are the very reason why China has faced harsh international criticism of its overseas oil operations.

Instead of debating whether or not China has the right, just as all oil-importing countries do, to pursue its own route to oil security we encourage oil-importing countries to re-examine the existing mechanisms of oil trade. It is in the interest of China as well as the established economies to collaborate in shaping a new global structure for oil trade.     

进攻性现实主义的代表作--评米尔夏默的《大国政治的悲剧》

冷战结束以后,国际关系学界对世界格局的看法一度为乐观的自由主义所支配,尽管世人也曾翘首以盼多极化局面的出现.但近年来,现实主义却有卷土重来之势.首先是"一超独霸"的观点甚极一时,即一些大国争相讨好美国,奉行"跟着强者走"战略(bandwagon),而美国积极推进霸权战略.沃尔福思的"单极稳定论"思想首先揭开其序幕,库伯的"新帝国论"更是明目张胆地为帝国辩护."一超独霸"的观点还远未偃旗息鼓,"9·11"事件后,人们又开始为另一种新的发展趋势感到担忧,那就是,在美国重新武装的现实主义又悄然披挂上阵,新版的现实主义越来越带有浓重的保守性和"进攻性"(自由主义则被美国国务院规划室主任哈斯发展为"整合论").它突出表现为"一超多强"论,特别强调中美关系是世界上最重要的双边关系,中美之间激烈的安全竞争具有不可避免性,其理论基础是米尔夏默(John Mearsheimer)在其新著《大国政治的悲剧》①中所阐述的"进攻性现实主义"(offensive realism)理论.