Situating technologies: Radio activity and the nuclear question

Theory‐dependence or ‘the principle of simulation which governs all information’ underpins Baudrillard's critique of ethics. Modern moral theory is just another ‘map that precedes the territory'—a ‘hypermoral simulation’ that makes an ‘is’ from an ‘ought’. That ‘production’ of moral knowledge is doomed to uncertainty by theory‐dependence, argues Baudrillard. Instead, he offers the ‘seduction’ of a pre‐modern ontology of Good and Evil. The ‘fatal strategy’ of seduction evokes a ‘state of grace’ which invites us to encounter Good and Evil as a ‘totality’ and be ‘re‐enchanted’ by the mystery of the world.     

Engineering the Northern Bohemian: Local Cultural Policies and Governance in the Creative City Era

This paper addresses the transformations of local cultural governance following the popularisation of the creative city thesis. While the economic impact of the arts in urban settings has been a topic of great interest in recent years and an amply documented theme, little is known about the consequence of such development knowledge and practice on the local cultural policy arena where it takes roots. Moreover, given the popularity and the enthusiasm for such strategies within municipal governments, we have seen a growing tendency to implement the creative city strategy and to formulate cultural policies that follow it in rural and smaller communities which are quite different from the more extensively documented urban and metropolitan cases. Through case studies of three cities in Northern Ontario (Canada), we can identify a number of changes in cultural governance and policy logics. Overall, the creative city narrative appears to be detrimental to typical arts advocacy in smaller communities since it leads to the domestication of the arts.     

Life on the Cusp of Ruins

More than a few of my students at Tsinghua University were perplexed by my decision to spend this Labor Day holiday (May 1) vacationing in Shanxi Province. At the heart of China’s coal belt,     

The PDS and the SPD's Dilemma of Governance in the Eastern German Länder

Coalition formation in the Federal Republic of Germany has, following unification in 1990, become a more complex process. This is particularly true in the eastern states, where the existence of a problematic partner (the post-communist Party of Democratic Socialism (PDS)) further complicates coalition options. As a result of its eastern heritage and its successful representation of eastern German interests, the PDS is likely to be an important actor in the medium/long-term future. This article argues that if the Social Democratic Party (SPD) is going to form governing majorities in the eastern states, it must, therefore, come to some sort of practical accommodation with the PDS.     

Weiwen at the Grassroots: China’s stability maintenance apparatus as a means of conflict resolution

This article assesses stability maintenance (weiwen) as a means of conflict resolution in China. It argues that the resolution of local disputes in China, particularly outside cities, is now being influenced and facilitated by the discourse and practice of stability maintenance, rather than legal methods and traditional mediation processes. This conclusion adds to the existing academic views of stability maintenance, which have previously emphasized social control to the exclusion of almost all else, and suggests that stability maintenance-focused conflict resolution may have practical benefits to Chinese citizens, given the state’s withdrawal from legal conflict resolution methods and its ambiguous attitude towards mediation.