Localized Islam(s): interpreting agents,competing narratives,and experiences of faith

This special issue investigates contemporary transformations of Islam in the post-Communist Balkans. We put forward the concept of localized Islam as an analytical lens that aptly captures the input of various interpreting agents, competing narratives, and choices of faith. By adopting an agent-based approach that is sensitive to relevant actors’ choices and the contexts where they operate, we explore how various groups negotiate and ultimately localize the grand Islamic tradition, depending on where they are situated along the hierarchy of power. Specifically, we outline three sets of actors and narratives related to revival of Islamic faith: (1) political elites, mainstream intellectuals, and religious hierarchies often unite in safeguarding a nation-centric understanding of religion, (2) foreign networks and missionaries make use of open channels of communication to propagate their specific interpretations and agendas, and (3) lay believers tend to choose among different offers and rally around the living dimension of religious practice. Contributions in this issue bring ample evidence of multiple actors’ strategies, related perspectives, and contingent choices of being a Muslim. Case studies include political debates on mosque construction in Athens; political narratives that underpin the construction of the museum of the father of Ataturk in Western Macedonia; politicians’ and imams’ competing interpretations of the Syrian war in Kosovo, Macedonia, and Albania; the emergence of practice communities that perform Muslim identity in Bulgaria; the particular codes of sharia dating in post-war Sarajevo; and veneration of saints among Muslim Roma in different urban areas in the Balkans.     

A Spatial Analysis of Czech Parliamentary Elections, 2006–2013

This article presents a spatial analysis of the parliamentary elections in the Czech Republic between 2006 and 2013. Among most political parties with long-term parliamentary representation, right-wing parties had higher support in areas with a high development potential and left-wing parties in areas with a low development potential. However, similar congruence between electoral support and development potential was not found in the case of most new parties. Spatial regression analyses then show that class conflict has ceased to be the unambiguous primary factor of political competition in the Czech Republic. This finding is further supported by the often inconclusive estimates for most new parties, which showed their ability to mobilise voters from different social classes.     

“爱莲（廉）”文化资源旅游价值转换研究

周敦颐的《爱莲说》对莲的“清廉、高尚”品质进行赞颂,并通过他本人的实践给他的后人留下“爱莲（廉）”家传。桂林灵川县江头村的周氏家族遵从祖训,将爱莲（廉）文化进行实践和发展,矢志不渝。在市场经济发展的今天,旅游是将这种文化传承并传播下去的有效价值转换机制。通过恢复村周边莲田种植,开发设计“爱莲（廉）”旅游产品,促进莲产业的发展,具有推动当地经济发展和廉政文化建设的双重效应。     

Where Do I Belong? Narratives of Rodina among Russian-speaking Youth in Kazakhstan

Abstract

This essay engages critically with the personal narratives of rodina (home, motherland) among Russian-speaking youth in post-Soviet Kazakhstan. It is argued that the concept of rodina as an important locus of belonging cannot be imbued with a single meaning; instead, it is characterised by internal conflicts and variations. Supported by empirical material, the essay moves beyond the confines of ‘nation’ and ‘nationality’ to illustrate the different ways in which Russian speakers frame their perception of rodina, and how such narratives can influence the construction of self- and community-identification.     

论马克思的和谐社会思想及其实践意义

构建社会主义和谐社会是遵循人类社会发展规律和演进趋向的理性抉择.追求社会和谐的思想也因此构成马克思历史理论中的重要方面。马克思致力于人的自由发展为核心。从关系学角度多视角地阐述了人与人、人与社会、人与自然之间关系和谐的内涵与必要性。马克思的和谐社会思想对当代中国的实践意义是,建设社会主义和谐社会之价值论及方法论前提在于以制度公正来消解经济关系中的不和谐,保证分配正义和共同富裕的逐步实现;以政治民主化为路径为更好地实现人权和遏制权力腐败营造条件,大力发展和创新社会主义民主;以生态文明建设来构造一个健康而又可持续发展的生存环境和生活空间,全面推进小康社会与和谐社会的时代目标。     

The Transnational Relations of the Contemporary Russian Extreme Right

This article describes and analyses the transnational relations of Russian extreme right entities. It classifies the Russian extreme right into categories according to their ideological orientation (ethnonationalism and civilisational nationalism) and forms of activity (political parties and interest groups, intellectuals, the autonomous neo-Nazi scene, and paramilitary formations). For each category important contacts are described in terms of the travels abroad of Russian extreme right activists, visits by foreign extremists to Russia, and the establishment of transnational organisation branches in Russia. The article concludes that although so far the Russian extreme right has mostly had ad hoc contacts abroad, it has been involved in the gradual building of stable networks.     

Ethnicity as political cleavage: the political agenda of the Polish national minority in Lithuania

This article examines the role of ethnicity in the formation of political cleavage and is based on the analysis of the political agenda of the Polish national minority in Lithuania after the re-establishment of the independent state in 1990. It analyzes the political performance of the Electoral Action of Poles in Lithuania (EAPL), an ethnic-based “niche” political party that tends to keep a monopoly over the representation of interests of the Polish minority in Lithuania and collects a vast majority of the votes of citizens of Polish origin. The article considers how specific in comparison to the titular nation the interests of the Polish national minority are, and how different in comparison to the political agendas of other political parties the political agenda of the EAPL is.     

Bosses,Soldiers and Rice Grains. Vietnamese Criminal Networks and Criminal Activities in the Czech Republic

Since 1975, the numbers of Vietnamese living in Europe have steadily increased. As new emigrants appeared in various countries, new types of crime came with them. Also in the Czech Republic, where a relatively large Vietnamese diaspora has been in existence since communist times, numerous Vietnamese criminal networks were established. The Vietnamese networks have a specific structure and modus operandi. Their bosses create parallel power structures within the Vietnamese diaspora and frequently merge together legal and illegal activities. The Vietnamese criminal networks are engaged in a broad spectrum of criminal activities, including economic crime, people smuggling and trafficking in drugs.     

基于无监督学习方法的收缩城市识别研究--以粤港澳大湾区9座地级市为例

当今世界,收缩城市作为一种全球性、地方性、复杂性、多维性的现象,逐渐引起学界和社会广泛关注。基于此,论文以粤港澳大湾区城市群中9座地级市为例,从经济、人口、空间地理、行政4个维度出发,通过2008-2017年各城市统计面板数据、灯光遥感数据DMSP/OLS的采集,初步建立了由44项潜在反映收缩城市特征的指标组成的识别体系。在此基础上,论文利用无监督学习中的K均值聚类算法与定量方法中的因子分析等方法划分了城市类别,并通过定性分析初步探究了其中收缩城市的形成原因。结果显示:根据论文最终构建的收缩城市综合识别体系对所研究城市的考察,肇庆、江门、惠州属于"人口流失型收缩城市",具有低城市扩张水平、低城镇化水平、低第二、三产业就业水平等特点。此外,(1)深圳、(2)广州、(3)珠海、中山、东莞和佛山,分别被划分为(1)"全面型扩张城市"、(2)"空间稳定型扩张城市"和(3)"稳定型城市"。而自然条件局限、地区政策引导缺位、区域内基础设施不配套和人口年龄结构变动是该地区收缩城市出现的成因。