Techniques of black male re/dress: corporeal drag and kinesthetic politics in the rebirth of Waacking/Punkin’

The improvisation-based dance Waacking/Punking developed in gay underground disco clubs of 1970s Los Angeles and circulated transnationally via television's landmark black music/dance show Soul Train. With almost all male progenitors passing during the early AIDS crisis, the culture was reborn in the 2000s to the transnational hip-hop/street dance arena, now a competition style dominated by nonblack cisgender females. While seeming to promote hetero-normative gender performance, learning the dance practice potentially queers movement norms through corporeal drag – techniques for trying on and refashioning movement that transform kinesthetic consciousness. At the same time, the obscure structural positioning of the black male figure associated with Waacking/Punking's historical context complicates and disorients gendered notions of power and racialized sexuality in its rebirth. This trans-methodological study centers experiences of black practitioners, drawing from first-person stories of pioneer and new generation dancers, as well as native ethnography and archival research. In subtle ways, Waacking practices redress black masculinity and question performing social inclusion under terms of a white patriarchal order – terms that suture blackness-to-pathology-to-violence. The erotic practice of Waacking/Punking may be understood as an embodied re-negotiation of hegemonic demands on gender and sexuality, made possible through its transmission of a black kinesthetic politics.     

Die politischen Konsequenzen der niedrigen Wahlbeteiligung bei der Europawahl 2009

If electoral abstention is linked to party preferences, low turnout—as witnessed in European Parliament elections—may hurt some parties and benefit others. In order to assess this possibility, we compare, in the member states of the EU, parties’ vote shares in the 2009 European Parliament elections with the results that would have been obtained had turnout reached the level of national general elections. We find that the effects of low turnout are minimal, and that—except for a single seat—higher turnout would not have resulted in a different composition of the European Parliament.     

Influences of accent and ethnic background on perceptions of eyewitness testimony

Abstract

The purpose of the present work was to investigate the effect two eyewitness factors, accent and ethnic background, have on the perceived favorability of eyewitness testimony and case disposition in criminal trials. Six variations of testimony were created and videotaped. The videotapes varied by accent and ethnic background of the eyewitness; the testimony text was identical. Four eyewitness favorability variables, (a) credibility, (b) judgment of accuracy, (c) deceptiveness, and (d) prestige, as well as their relationship to case disposition, were measured. One hundred and seventy-four undergraduate participants viewed one of the six videotapes. Results indicate that there was a significant main effect of accent for the four eyewitness favorability variables. Accent by ethnic background interactions also yielded significant findings for the four variables as well as for the defendant's degree of guilt. Results were interpreted using the Elaboration Likelihood Model. The potential importance of these results for judicial settings is discussed.     

地区间主义研究:成就与缺失

地区间主义是国际关系的新实践,同时也正在成为国际关系研究的新领域。国外学术界围绕地区间主义的内涵与外延、动力与功能以及其与地区主义和多边主义的关系进行了初步的研究。尽管国内学者在该领域的研究仍在相当程度上延续着西方的议程,然而也有部分学者试图在研究对象、研究方法和研究取向上做出超越。就该议题的未来发展而言,比较分析和理论化应当是两大基本趋势。而对中国学者来说,面临的最大挑战在于把握地区间主义研究的共性与个性,并善于从已有的研究议程中提炼出符合中国国家利益和国际战略需求的新的议程。     

美国国会议员访台现象研究(1997～2008)

台湾地区是美国国会议员访问最频繁的地区之一。本文分析了从1997年到2008年的美国国会议员访台记录分布及其决定因素,获得了如下主要发现:第一,美国国会议员访台频次变动受台湾岛内政治变动和美国国会选举周期影响,但以前者更为重要;第二,《与台湾关系法》赋予美国国会及其议员干预台湾问题的权力,是造成美国国会议员、特别是外交事务、军事、情报等委员会成员频繁访台的根本原因;第三,意识形态、选区利益、经贸关系等对美国国会议员访台也产生了一定的影响。     

公共财政视野下的《预算法》修改

《预算法》是我国最重要的民生法律,其修改引起社会的广泛关注。2011年11月16日,国务院讨论并通过了《中华人民共和国预算法修正案（草案）》,     

Palynology and mycology as biological evidence in a homicide case

Criminal cases are studied from several disciplines to link a suspect with a criminal act. In this case, a man was reported missing in a coastal area in Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. The victim's relatives pointed to a possible suspect, and the local police carried out the investigation. We contributed to this research by applying palynological and mycological techniques. Palynomorphs and fungal spores offer valuable trace evidence, as they can be easily transferred between objects and crime scenes due to their minute size and persist on them for a long time. The victim was found 25 days later, lying on sandy soil, which partially covered the body, 35 km from where the suspect was arrested. Comparative samples were collected from the crime scene and the suspect's home and belongings (clothes, footwear, and seized vehicle). The palynological associations obtained from the crime scene and the defendant's belongings were dominated by diatoms and acritarchs (Acantomorphitae), all elements of marine origin, and a high CFU number of Bipolaris cynodontis, which allowed the defendant's clothing to be related to the place of corpse discovery. Soil from the defendant's home had an entirely continental composition, and the fungal biota was characteristic of prairie areas which were different from those of the crime scene.