The French secular hypocrisy: the extreme right,the Republic and the battle for hegemony

ABSTRACT

The success of the extreme right in France in the past two decades has not been limited to its electoral rise. A more long-lasting victory has taken place in the ideological field, where the discourse of the extreme right now occupies a prominent place in the mainstream liberal democratic agenda. Increasingly, its ideas are seen in the media and in the platforms of mainstream parties as ‘common sense’ or at least acceptable. The growing acceptance of this ‘common sense’ is the result of very carefully crafted strategies put in place by extreme-right thinkers since the 1980s. For over three decades now, in order to change perceptions and renew extreme right-wing ideology, New Right think tanks such as the French GRECE believed it was necessary to borrow the tactics of the left and, more specifically, the Gramscian concept of hegemony: cultural power must precede political power. With the use of contemporary examples, Mondon's article demonstrates the continuing impact these ideas have had on the Front national and French politics and society, and how this change originated in the association of populist rhetoric with the neo-racist stigmatization of the Other.     

美国多元文化教育的理论困境与转向

20世纪90年代以来,在全球化与全球化教育、新保守主义和新自由主义等思潮的冲击下,美国的多元文化教育理论进入反思和深化阶段,并且开始从"民族国家多元文化教育"向"全球社会多元文化教育"转向,在新的发展路径中,多元文化教育仍然面临着如何调适国家、民族利益与全世界共同利益,以及文化诉求、经济诉求与政治诉求的复杂关系。     

Baltic Studies in North America: A Survey of Academic Dissertations 1911–2006

ABSTRACT

The article argues for an extended delineation of increasing Western cultural hegemony in the reconstituted Baltic states. An initial idiom of postcolonial studies is revisited in order to complement their dominant scope in the Baltics, focused primarily on a retrospective cultural study of Baltic/Soviet relationships. The argument elaborates on the urgency of the expanding research agenda regarding the Baltic/European research framework. By pointing out the frequent occurrence of the superiority or inferiority value scale in cross-cultural references sampled from press releases of the Art Museum of Estonia, the article concludes that mainstream cultural self-reflection in Estonia is nowadays subjected to the supremacy of the imagined West European viewpoint.     

美元霸权与国际货币体系改革论纲

利用美元的超中心地位,无限量地对外供给国际货币的美元霸权,已成为现行国际货币体系失衡与世界经济不稳定的一大痼疾.因此,如何对之有效地加以制约则成为后金融危机时代国际货币体系改革的关键.虽然以SDR为核心的超主权货币可彻底消弭美元霸权的负面影响,一劳永逸地解决“特里芬问题”,但SDR的先天缺陷及改革的复杂性决定了其近期内尚不具备可行性.相反地,基于危机后美元霸权在国际货币体系中不失主导作用但又日渐式微的客观现实,扩大SDR篮子的计价货币种类与达成相应的汇率协调机制,建立起以美元、欧元和主要新兴经济体国家货币在内的多元化国际货币体系则是当前国际社会改革与制衡美元霸权的一个现实选择.     

超越生物防御：“两用性”安全叙事与美国生物技术政策的演进

生物技术对人类社会的进步既有巨大推动作用,也有巨大的潜在风险,这种现象被称为生物技术的“两用性”。自九一一事件后,美国政府开始对生物技术“两用性”概念进行话语操弄,形成了一套独特的安全叙事,也推动了美国生物技术政策的演变。从小布什政府到拜登政府,在“两用性”安全叙事下的生物技术具有了多重的安全效应,并逐渐形成了生物技术政策领域防御性与竞争性的两种目标。从理论逻辑上看,此种防御性目标与竞争性目标之间存在着明显的矛盾,这揭示了在当前大国竞争的背景下,美国霸权逻辑已经开始侵蚀正常的决策理性。从实践上看,为了维护霸权,美国的生物技术政策已经逐步超越其生物防御战略,企图采取科研“脱钩”和加强军事化投资的方式来打压竞争对手,以此维持美国的生物技术领导地位。新兴生物技术的发展功在全球化、利在全人类。美国霸权逻辑下的政策行为是违背科研发展规律的,必将遭到客观现实的严厉“回击”,这对美国自身的生物技术发展和全球的生物安全都将带来严重的负面影响。     

The transatlantic dialogue on Iran: the European subaltern and hegemonic constraints in the implementation of the 2015 nuclear agreement with Iran

This article analyses the US–EU transatlantic dialogue on the Iranian nuclear dossier with a particular view to the implications for EU foreign policy on Iran. Doing so, it uses neo-Gramscian scholarship to put the EU’s “over-compliance” with Iran sanctions into perspective. Constrained by the imperatives of hegemonic coercion in the form of US financial Iran sanctions against third country entities and with the hegemonic consent of a Western US-led “historic bloc”, Europe was relegated to a subaltern below its mediatory potential. It will be shown how this finding complicates the EU’s ambition to renew relations with Iran. Drawing on semi-structured interviews with experts and delegation members from the P5+1, this article thus analyses “the normative element” in the transatlantic security dialogue on Iran at a time where the latter is undergoing a sea change in the wake of the implementation of the “Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action” of July 2015.     

美元霸权与欧洲金融安全

美元霸权对于美国国家利益和国际地位至关重要,使美国能够享有"嚣张的特权"。欧元诞生后成为美元"唯一的竞争者",也成为美国警惕和遏制的对象。2008年金融危机后,美国为继续维系货币霸权,利用国际货币体系这一机制向欧元区转嫁风险,具体做法包括金融机构在市场做空欧元、评级机构打压欧洲债务国、舆论唱衰欧元前景、政府拒绝国际金融监管改革要求等。受此影响,欧洲金融安全受到严重冲击,银行业坏账大幅上升,欧元国际地位下滑,经济陷入"双底衰退",欧元区甚至一度面临解体风险。为保障金融安全,欧洲采取了多项措施:通过建立欧洲稳定机制、银行联盟等手段加快弥补单一货币区的机制缺陷;执行严格的紧缩政策,提升经济竞争力;欧洲央行政策弹性增加,更多承担"最后贷款人角色";严格规范评级市场,尤其警告美国评级霸权。通过对欧洲政策的分析可以看出,由于难以形成与美国抗衡的"国家意志"、整体战略资源有限、在安全问题上难以摆脱对美依赖等因素,欧元区维系金融安全的主要思路是"自我修复",针对美国的应对措施和能力有限。这意味着,美元霸权将继续是影响欧洲金融安全的外部因素。     

Intellectuals and political strategy: hegemony,posthegemony, and post-Marxist theory in Latin America

Recent work on posthegemony has sought to displace the theory of hegemony as the primary mode of understanding politics, particularly with respect to Latin America. However, this work has yet to address the history of the theory of hegemony in Latin America itself. The present article traces the history of the theory of hegemony as a reference point for Marxists in twentieth century Argentina, working through key texts from the theory’s regional introduction by Héctor Agosti, through the work of Pasado y Presente, to that of Ernesto Laclau. I argue that the theory of hegemony in the Argentine context has historically served to place intellectuals and their productions at the centre of history, and has conceived of political strategy and organisation from this perspective. Understanding this limitation and its history, I conclude, will give posthegemony theory the strategic and conceptual bearings by which to surpass the problematic of hegemony.     

何种文化?谁之霸权?——从苏联与中国的政治实践看葛兰西的文化霸权理论

葛兰西文化霸权理论认为,在市民社会较为成熟的欧洲国家,无产阶级应该首先通过阵地战的方式在文化领域取得领导权,进而夺取国家政权。这就表明,现代国家的真正力量不在于统治阶级的暴力和国家机器的强制性,而在于被统治阶级对统治阶级世界观和价值体系的认同。葛兰西的理论观点对当代中国的文化和意识形态建设具有重要的借鉴意义。在当代中国,执政党确立意识形态领导权地位的方式就在于通过谈判与对话的方式,将各种具有异质目的的分散意志用务实的目标统一起来,由此形成具有共同情感和利益要求的历史的集团,开创文明的新时代。     

Nigeria and South Africa: Collaboration or competition?

This article focuses on the dynamics of the relationship between Nigeria and South Africa, arguably the two most prominent states on the African continent. Each of the two states continues to make attempts at extending its hegemony beyond its respective sub-region to emerge as Africa’s foremost state. These efforts are not pursued in isolation, but affect their bilateral relations and are tied to the guiding principles of the national interest. Through data gathered from secondary sources, we analyse the trajectory of the relationship between Nigeria and South Africa, from the intensely politically contentious to the strongest of warm relations. In the final analysis, the article concludes that collaboration and competition are critical variables in the conduct of inter-state relations. Nigeria and South Africa have an historic opportunity to collaborate in the current period, in order to promote the general interest of the African continent in the international system. Will their respective pursuit of their own national interests encourage, or derail, this role?