Not in our name: collective identity of the Serbian Women in Black

The Belgrade-based activist group Women in Black has been for twenty years now articulating a feminist anti-war stance in an inimical socio-political climate. The operation of this anti-patriarchal and anti-militarist organization, which has resisted numerous instances of repression, has not been until now systematically approached from a social movement perspective. This paper draws upon a range of empirical methods, comprising life-story interviews, documentary analysis and participant observation, to address the question as to how it was possible for this small circle of activists to remain on the Serbian/post-Yugoslav civic scene for the last two decades. My central argument is that a consistent collective identity, which informs the group's resource mobilization and strategic options, holds the key to the surprising survival of this activist organization. I apply recent theoretical advances on collective identity to the case of the Belgrade Women in Black with the view of promoting a potentially fruitful cross-fertilization between non-Western activism and the Western conceptual apparatus for studying civic engagement.     

关于21世纪初我国国家安全战略选择的几点思考

21世纪初我国国家安全战略选择是近年来学术界争论的一个热门话题.本文根据"9·11"事件后国际形势的新变化,就我国在21世纪初的安全选择、安全目标、安全途径等三个方面的问题进行了较深入的探讨;同时,对我国的安全战略目标、战略方针、实现的手段和途径等明确提出了自己的看法.     

时代向前发展理论不断创新——纪念邓小平逝世10周年

世纪伟人邓小平留给我们的精神财富非常丰富,最可贵的就在于他的理论创新精神.在新世纪,世界风云变幻莫测,国际关系错综复杂.在新世纪,中国面临战略机遇期,改革开放和现代化建设进入转折时期,机遇与挑战并存.理论的力量在于创新.以胡锦涛为总书记的党中央紧紧把握时代发展方向,在建设有中国特色的社会主义伟大事业的实践中,创造性地发展了邓小平理论.     

Europe 2000: the future of the european union

The collapse of communism undoubtedly affects Europe. Rather than being allied by a negative force (the communist threat), European countries are now in the position to stress positive factors leading to coherence and alliance. The future of the European Union is the focal point of this special issue. Five dimensions are being analyzed and discussed: 1) regionalism and European integration, 2) monetary policy, 3) tax harmonization, 4) democratic legitimacy, and 5) social security.     

柏林:在新与旧的和谐交融中

1990年10月德国统一,东西柏林也随之合二而一。1991年德国议会决定迁都柏林。1994年通过法律,决定迁都与新建工作从1998年至2000年分阶段完成。1999年9月德国联邦议院在柏林开始工作,标志着柏林重新成为统一后德国的政治中心。     

Self-determination and the Use of Referendums: the Case of Scotland

The Scottish Nationalist Party’s majority in the 2011 Scottish parliamentary elections opened up a wide and interesting debate on the variety of options for Scotland’s constitutional future (ranging from the status quo through a variety of intermediate options to full independence), and with it, also the innovate possibility of a multi-option referendum, reflecting the preferences of the people of Scotland. However, while the UK Government agreed that the future of Scotland’s place within the Union was for the people of Scotland to vote on, it strongly contested the Scottish Parliament’s competence to legislate for the referendum, thus ensuring a role for itself and the UK Parliament in its design. After a period of negotiations, the UK and Scottish Governments signed the Edinburgh Agreement on the 15th October 2012, enabling the Scottish Parliament to legislate for a single question referendum, and expressing their commitment to work together in the interests of all involved. This article begins looking at the background, legal framework and negotiations leading up to the Edinburgh Agreement. It then argues that, while the Agreement is notably significant and has allowed for the smooth and fast development of the process so far, by excluding the possibility of including a third option of ‘more devolution’ on the ballot paper, it is having a series of negative consequences for the current debate, namely that it is more limited, confusing and uncertain, and largely unbalanced in favour of the ‘no’ side.     

Introduction: the politics of public justification

ABSTRACT

Introducing the special issue, this introduction sketches a broad frame for studying public justification. Addressing the relevance of studying this phenomenon, we contend that justificatory processes are very much at the core today’s politics. Defining the concept inclusively, we highlight the relevance of communicative agency and, at the same time, the salience of communicative contexts that enable this agency. Casting our net widely, we show how public justification is related to other, more thoroughly studied concepts, such as legitimacy, authority and power. Encouraging students of public justification to add to our understanding of justificatory processes, we highlight multiple fruitful methodological avenues for studying the concept.     

Self-determination and the Use of Referendums: the Case of Quebec

On two occasions (1980 and 1995), Quebeckers rejected the Quebec government's sovereignty proposal. Many lessons can be drawn from the Quebec referendum experience. The purpose of this article is to shed light on the origins and motivations of the independence movement. It focuses more specifically on the 1980 and 1995 referendums, examining in both cases the political context, the judicial–institutional framework within which these public consultations were held and the arguments raised during the referendum campaigns. Furthermore, it analyses the results as well as the political, constitutional and juridical consequences of the federalist victories. The article concludes that attempts by Quebec sovereignists to question the Canadian political system have invariably resulted in a stronger and more consolidated central state while significantly weakening the Quebec state's ability to determine its own political future.