Remitting subjects: migrants,money and states

Abstract

Scholars’ and policy-makers’ interest in the remittances that migrants send home to relatives has increased dramatically in the past two decades. Focusing on remittances from the United States to El Salvador, we examine how academic studies, public discourse, and state accounting practices simultaneously produce and reveal the nature of this phenomenon. By treating the money that migrants send home as both national resource and foreign currency, central banks and international financial institutions define remittances as a ‘cost-free’ source of national income. Further, debates about remittances’ social and economic impact focus on whether remitting promotes or undermines particular values associated with neoliberalism, such as self-sufficiency, entrepreneurship and empowerment. Our analysis thus sheds light on new configurations through which money, states and migrant citizens are linked.     

Comments on Hasenfeld and Gidron: “Understanding multi-purpose hybrid voluntary organizations”

The article develops a theoretical framework to analyse the social construction of citizenship at the local level in Bolivia through the Ley de Participación Popular (LPP). It explains how decentralization at the municipal level and the introduction of participatory mechanisms affect the development of civil society in Bolivia. I argue that decentralization at the city level can provide new formal spaces for the development of civil society in relation with the state, which can in turn foster the social construction of a more inclusive citizenship regime. Many factors, however, determine if such potential is exploited. Drawing from the Bolivian experience, the article elaborates on the socio-political conditions necessary for local governance to have a positive impact on citizenship. It shows that the institutional shortcomings of the LPP, an elite-driven reform adopted in a country with a legacy of weak institutions and civil society, posed fundamental limits for social participation at the municipal level to lead to the social construction of an inclusive citizenship regime.     

On the second Configuration in Narration and Time —On the Movie Adaptations of un Amour de Swann and A la recherche du temps perdu

In appearance, the movie Un Amour de Swann directed by Volker Schlondorff is an adaptation of Prust’s novel A la Recherche du Temps Perdu by drawing up certain episodes from the original. But in reality, it is a reproduction of the text concerning the narration, time and space with Swann as the center, based on the original text. The appearance of Un Amour de Swann is a new attempt at interpretation, thus providing a new model in the adaptation and research between movies and literature.     

“中华民国第二共和宪法草案”评析

2007年3月,陈明通等人抛出"中华民国第二共和宪法草案",该草案是落实陈水扁"法理台独"指示的版本,是贯彻李登辉"两国论"的表现,是试图向统独各方压力妥协的产物。社会各界对该草案都不满意,是不可能实现的方案。     

Judicial Reform – A Neglected Dimension of SSR in El Salvador

ABSTRACT

Security Sector Reform is an integral part of peace-building but the focus of international actors tends to be on formal state security providers. This article argues that reforms in the judicial system are key for the non-violent transformation of societal conflicts. Based on historical institutionalism a theoretical argument links justice and peace. Reforms of the judiciary need to be an integral part of SSR because otherwise reforms in the military and the police can easily be undermined or turned back. A case study on El Salvador provides empirical insights on the interrelation between reforms of these institutions.     

Exhibiting the collections of the Spanish Crown and nobility for the nation: the Count of Valencia de Don Juan and the 1892 European historical exhibition

This article focuses on the place and role accorded to the collections of the Spanish Crown and nobility at the Exposición Histórico-Europea organized in Madrid in 1892. It sets the exhibition in the political and cultural context of the Fourth Centenary of the Discovery of America and analyses the role of Juan Crooke y Navarrot, the Count of Valencia de Don Juan to understand how royal and aristocratic collections were instrumentalized in a bid to assert the place of the Spanish monarchy on the European and international scene and strengthen its prestige. Commissioner of Crown property, the Count of Valencia de Don Juan was one of the members of the nobility who exhibited their collections to the public. Therefore, his investment in the organization of the exhibition, as a non-professional curator, helps understand what the event meant for Spanish nobility. This enables us to gauge what role such exhibiting played in the construction of the national heritage and art historiography of Spain.     

委内瑞拉利益集团与政治变迁

利益集团是政治变迁中重要的政治行为体之一。作为委内瑞拉传统的利益集团,工人联合会与商会联合会的发展在制度的长期作用下形成了独特的路径依赖。特别是自1958年菲霍角体系建立以后,两大利益集团通过咨询委员会与分权公共管理部门的设置充分参与整个决策过程。由于利益集团自身强大的实力以及总统、行政机关、国会等其他行为体的角色设定,利益集团在决策过程中起到举足轻重的作用。两大利益集团在此过程中与政府、政党、公民社会的紧密联系促进了利益表达机制的高效性。但随着20世纪80年代委内瑞拉经济的衰退,利益集团与政府、政党、公民社会之间的关系逐渐恶化,原有的利益表达机制受到破坏。利益表达渠道受阻引起了公民社会的不满与抗议,社会矛盾与政治冲突加剧,进而对20世纪80年代的政治危机与经济危机的爆发产生重大影响。在全面危机爆发之后,委内瑞拉以菲霍角协议为基础的政治协商体系瓦解,以查韦斯为代表的左翼政党开始登上政治舞台,委内瑞拉政治进程进入新阶段。     

Faire la paix au Mali: les limites de l’acharnement contre-terroriste

RÉSUMÉ

L’intervention internationale au Mali est conduite sur la base d’un cadre conceptuel douteux et d’une grille d’analyse peu rigoureuse, soit la thèse de la menace terroriste. Un dispositif militaire impressionnant a ainsi été mobilisé pour contrer cette menace. Nous soutenons que l’importance et la centralité accordées aux efforts contre-terroristes sapent les efforts de résolution des conflits maliens. Face aux critiques concernant le contre-terrorisme, la réponse a été de redoubler d’efforts, via la création d’une force conjointe du G5 Sahel et une présence militaire étrangère en croissance au Sahel-Sahara. Le Mali se retrouve ainsi au centre des débats sur l’avenir du maintien de la paix et des interventions militaires internationales. Au final, le résultat est une posture de guerre perpétuelle qui est perçue comme nécessaire pour concevoir tout espoir de paix et de réconciliation.     

宗教改革时期西方女性生存状况研究

波伏娃对早期现代阶段的女性命运研究聚焦于法国,对宗教改革对于女性命运的影响基本没有关注。这场思想改革运动在很大程度上取消了女性受教育的权利,固化了她们在社会和家庭生活中的弱势地位。作为一场范围广阔、影响深远的思想革新运动,宗教改革确立的女性形象影响了她们几个世纪的生活,它所崇尚的个人主义、人文精神都没有能够在女性命运中得到充分体现。