Ephemeral ‘communities’: spatiality and politics in rangeland interventions in Mongolia

In recent years, the number of community-based natural resource management projects for rangeland conservation and development has grown rapidly in Mongolia. Such projects seek to develop social capital through the formation of herder groups and pasture user groups, in order to enable the coordination of complex, collective tasks needed for sustainability. Through analysis of social networks, interviews and ethnographic data from two places where such projects have been implemented, Bayanjargalan, Dundgovi, and Tariat, Arkhangai, the paper demonstrates that the spatiality of pastoral social relations is much more extensive than assumed by these projects. Furthermore, rather than being neutral technical interventions, such projects are embedded in and proliferate politics. They often bolster the informal power of wealthy herders who gain more access to pasture, while at the same time leading to tensions between different levels of government and becoming objects of struggle between Mongolia’s two dominant political parties. For all of these reasons, these efforts have tended not to build trust, and the ‘communities’ they create, in the form of herder groups and pasture user groups, have tended to be ephemeral.     

在大陆的台湾青年社会适应性与满意度分析

台湾青年在大陆求学、就业或生活的整体适应情况与满意度是值得我们关注的问题。调查显示,在大陆的台湾青年社会适应性主流是客观理性、积极向上、主动作为的,多数台湾青年对自己在大陆求学或就业的整体满意度较高;超六成被调查者表示能主动适应两岸文化差异,并能客观理性看待大陆政治体制。但两岸政治生态、价值观念、文化氛围、社会发展程度及社会结构的差异,大陆惠台政策重制订轻落实的制度缺失,台湾青年自主择业或创业难度大,身份尤其是户籍难以得到有效解决等问题也对他们的社会适应造成困扰。＂主动调整＂成为当前大多数台湾青年在大陆求学、就业或生活的首选策略。     

Chinese Dream,a Dream Inluencing the World

正THE International Dialogue on the Chinese Dream concluded in Shanghai on December8,2013.Attended by nearly 100 experts and scholars from 24 countries,the two-day event enacted international and cross-cultural dialogue on the latest research achievements on the Chinese Dream.     

Significance of the BRICS Mechanism

正The two-day Sixth BRICS(Brazil,Russia,India,China,South Africa)Summit,which convenes on July 15 in Fortaleza,Brazil,marks the fi rst session of the second cycle of BRICS Summits.Formulated as a global investment concept a decade or more ago,the BRICS group has held summits respectively in Yekaterinburg,Brasilia,Sanya,New Delhi,and Durban.Inter-BRICS cooperation began with the foreign ministers’meeting during the 2006 UN General Assembly,and progressed to the First BRICS Summit of 2009.The mechanism has since evolved into a framework for building partnerships in international politics,international economy and pragmatic cooperation.Centering on BRICS Summits,the partnership is buttressed     

Playing the fool in the territory of memory: Jaan Kross' autobiographical fictions of the twentieth century

A study was conducted among young Latvians to test the effects of different conceptualizations of Latvian national identity on group beliefs and on attitudes towards Russians. It was hypothesized that exposure to inclusive discourse presenting Latvia as a multicultural society rather than an ethnic homeland would have a direct negative effect on feelings of vulnerability, injustice, distrust, superiority and helplessness with regard to the Latvian nation and a positive effect on attitudes towards Russians. The hypothesis was tested in one survey study conducted in Riga among ethnic Latvians (N?=?150).     

State transformation and cross-border regionalism in Indonesia’s periphery: contesting the centre

Abstract

This article examines how the decentralisation and fragmentation of the Indonesian state and resultant central–local dynamics affect cross-border regionalism in Indonesia’s periphery. It argues that cross-border regionalism projects are best understood as sites for scalar contestation over regulatory control between central and local government. Moreover, scalar contestation around cross-border regional projects is characterised by the struggles to control relationships with transnational capital between elites operating at different tiers of the state. When elites at different scales have conflicting interests and strategies, this can cause policy incoherence, inhibiting the development of cross-border regionalism. Conversely, when they align, and intersect with the interests of transnational business, cross-border regionalism can succeed. To illustrate the argument, this article utilises the comparative case studies of the Batam free trade zone and West Kalimantan–Sarawak cross-border cooperation.     

The politics of landscape as ways of life in the ‘divided’ city: reflections from Mostar,Bosnia–Herzegovina

ABSTRACT

‘Divided’ cities – places of extreme exclusion and polarization – are sites where the paradox of both fragmentary and cosmopolitan capacity of the city comes to the fore. This article asks: What practices-in-landscape consolidate, construct and deconstruct the impression of a divided city? Drawing insights from the post-conflict Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the main argument I put forward is that urban infrastructures are a crucial medium through which social divisions and cohesions are performed and rearticulated on the ground. The article attends to the everyday of youth in Mostar turning to the politics of landscape as ways of life in the city.     

‘Without Education You Can Never Become President’: Teenage Pregnancy and Pseudo-empowerment in Post-Ebola Sierra Leone

ABSTRACT

This article analyses the emergence of ‘teenage pregnancy’ as a new policy focus in post-Ebola Sierra Leone and explores how Sierra Leoneans interpret the problem of ‘teenage pregnancy’. I argue that the new policy focus is not indicative of changing or new problems. Rather, ‘teenage pregnancy’ has created opportunities for donors and the Government of Sierra Leone to continue cooperation in gender politics. At the same time, Sierra Leoneans are clearly concerned about ‘teenage pregnancy’, and many agree with sensitization campaigns that responsibilize young women and girls while downplaying structural factors that render them vulnerable to arrangements involving transactional sex.     

“坚持以人民为中心”的创新理念和重大实践对民办高校思政教育队伍建设的启示

习近平总书记在福建工作期间形成了极为宝贵的创新理念和重大实践。这些理念和实践具有前瞻性、开创性、战略性,其中“坚持以人民为中心”的理念和实践对民办高校思想政治教育队伍的建设有重要的指导意义。目前,民办高校思想政治教育队伍存在理论学习不深入、学生思想动态调研不充足、专业技能学习不及时、融入学生群体不顺畅、思想政治辅导员队伍不稳定、辅导员与思想政治理论课教师之间的思想政治教育不融合等薄弱点。针对这些问题,应将“坚持以人民为中心”作为民办高校思想政治教育工作的理念和实践,将一切工作的初衷紧紧围绕着学生这个群体,促进思想政治教育队伍的建设。