Culture without the State? Reinvigorating Ukrainian Culture with Diasporic Efforts

This article explores the efforts of diaspora groups to reinvigorate culture. Cultural policy studies tend to focus on efforts of the state to fund and support the maintenance, enhancement, and preservation of national culture(s). This article contributes to this area of research by noting the effects of diaspora groups in achieving many of the same ends as official cultural policy through unofficial means. Using Ukraine as an interpretive case study, the article explores diasporic efforts to respond to a lack of cultural policy at home by invigorating Ukrainian culture abroad. Through the use of social networking tools, Ukrainian diaspora groups in the United States and Canada have been successful in maintaining their culture without the state. This study suggests that cultural policy research should involve not only official state‐centric efforts, but nonofficial diaspora‐centric efforts of cultural invigoration.     

遗传资源法律问题初探

随着生物技术的迅猛发展,遗传资源作为一国重要的战略物资,不仅在解决粮食、健康和环境问题方面发挥着重要作用,而且其在商业上的使用更会产生巨大的经济价值,已经成为各国争夺的目标。由此,引发了有关遗传资源的诸多法律问题,许多至今未有定论。对什么是遗传资源、遗传资源的权属问题进行分析,对遗传资源获取和惠益分享以及遗传资源的保护方式进行探讨具有重要的理论意义和现实意义。     

Location Efficiency and Mortgage Risks for Low-Income Households

Abstract

Household energy expenditures, especially for transportation, are fairly inelastic. Their effects on low-income households may be significant, due to the potential for energy consumption to displace other types of consumption when energy prices rise. Using accessibility as a proxy for lower transportation costs, we test the hypothesis that low- and moderate-income residents are less likely default when they are located in more accessible places. We find that regional accessibility has almost no effect on risks of default, but local job diversity has moderate mitigating effect.     

Why Do Housing Mobility Programs Fail in Moving Households to Better Neighborhoods?

This article conceptualizes the relationship between housing instability, residential mobility, and neighborhood quality. We summarize the existing literature about residential mobility and housing instability and examine their potential interactions along three dimensions: (a) the reasons for a move, including a variety of push and pull factors; (b) mobility outcomes in terms of whether moves result in residing in a better or worse neighborhood than that of the prior residence; and, especially important for low-income households, (c) the degree to which the current move and past experiences of moving have been discretionary or forced. Housing instability is a cumulative concept, with involuntary moves at its center. This synthetic model of housing instability's impact on mobility outcomes suggests that the more instability a household has experienced, the less likely mobility moves are to occur, or, if they do occur, to be long lasting. Policy implementation may underestimate the interaction between cumulative housing instability and residential mobility in housing mobility policies. Thus, these interactions have implications for mobility policies, pointing toward a path for future research that inform policies to move low-income households toward both greater housing stability and better neighborhood outcomes.     

干预，促进改变--“促进社会规范改变的工具与数据：终止针对妇女、女童暴力的亚太论坛”综述

2015年12月,为期两天的总结亚太地区终止针对妇女和女童暴力工作的会议在曼谷召开。会议认为：提高认识、改变规范和影响各界人士的行为,是消除针对妇女暴力的3个重要环节。会议总结了亚太国家过去多年的项目经验,其中三类项目受到格外关注。其一为长期的项目,因为规范改变需要几代人的努力,对长期项目效果的评估也受到重视;其二为校园中的干预行动,因为青春期是塑造青少年性别平等意识的重要时期,学校是进行反对性别暴力教育的重要场所;其三为在社区中进行的干预行动,一些有影响力的干预工具被推广。会议呼吁,要抓住联合国可持续发展目标提供的机遇,在未来15年加大反对针对妇女和女童的暴力的力度。     

‘Hotspot policing’: a comparative analysis of sanctioned acts of policing versus media representations of policing in a stigmatized community in Trinidad

The ‘Partial State of Emergency’ implemented in Trinidad and Tobago in August 2011, as well as media broadcasts on the crime situation, has brought to the forefront the high degree of interface between police officers and civilians within the identified ‘hotspot communities’. The assumed realities of these individuals were communicated in such a manner which led to the stereotyping of citizens as marginalized victims and police officers as ‘disrespectful bullies’. The media broadcasts reflected the act of policing as unitary, as opposed to encompassing a wide range of roles for interaction with civilians. These broadcasts revealed a high degree of violent physical displays by police officers, which were perceived as irrational, and in some instances inhumane. Despite community policing initiatives, there seem to be continued instances of problematic relations between police officers and civilians from ‘hotspot communities’. The research examined the sanctioned responses of police officer governing interaction with civilians from one of these communities. It highlighted the extent to which these endorsed reactions are contextually portrayed in media footage. The study described the determinants governing police use of force as evidenced in the media with the aim of providing a direction for redress during interaction.     

Podemos and Ciudadanos Shake up the Spanish Party System: The 2015 Local and Regional Elections

With a very high unemployment rate but at the first stage of a timid economic recovery, Spain held regional and local elections in May 2015. The election results showed the fall of traditional parties and the emergence of new forces and citizens’ platforms, which increased the fragmentation of the party system. The PP (Partido Popular – Popular Party) continued to be the most voted-for party but post-election agreements brought the left to power in eight of the 14 regions that held elections, ending four years of conservative general dominance. After commenting on the context, the campaign and the results of the elections, this article explores the main characteristics of the new party competition and examines the profile of those voting for new political alternatives.     

What does it mean to be a moderate Muslim in the war on terror? Muslim interpretations and reactions

The rhetorical use of labels in the war on terror has become an important tactic post 9/11. One such example is the deployment of the categories of “moderate” and “extremist” within counterterrorism discourse, with Muslims distinguished as either friend or foe based on this dichotomy. The moderate Muslim label is a relational term, only making sense when it is contrasted with what is seen as non-moderate (i.e., extremism). Such binary constructs carry a range of implicit assumptions about what is regarded as an acceptable form of Islam and the risks posed by the Islamic religion and Muslim communities. In this article, we explore the implications of this labelling for Muslim communities. In particular, we explore the interpretations Muslims themselves accord to the dichotomy of moderate and extremist and consider whether the use of such binary terms is at all helpful as a way of rallying Muslims to the cause of tackling terrorism and radicalisation. We draw on focus group data collected from Muslims living in Australia to inform our analysis.     

TheWorld’sResponsibility

正From December 1-12,Peru’s capital Lima plays host to the 2014 UN Climate Change Conference.The conference takes place juxtaposed with a series of side events on climate issues hosted by the Chinese delegation.During these events,China tries to demonstrate the efforts the government,business and academic communities,non-governmental organizations and Chinese youth have made in combating the detrimental effects of climate change.     

The Club Rules in Global Financial Governance

Though the list of reforms following the onset of the financial crisis is long, we should resist the temptation to view the emerging regulatory framework in terms of a paradigm shift. Many key features of the system, including the privileged position of financial institutions, remain unchanged. This is not merely due to obstruction or capacity shortcomings but can be explained by considering the sources of ideas and the governance setting. Ideas and policy programmes for reform were generated by a policy community also responsible for shaping the pre‐crisis governance framework. Moreover, the ideas and preferences of these players are moulded by their transnational interactions and the club‐like mechanisms in place for determining what (and who) is to be included in discussions. These settings have produced policy programmes that helped address the immediate, ‘fast‐burning’ elements of the crisis, but have so far failed to put together a comprehensive reform programme.