The role of sectarianism in the Provisional IRA campaign, 1969–1997

This article concerns the nature of political violence in an ethnonationally divided society. The article engages with the debates surrounding the discrimination employed, or not, by the PIRA when selecting their targets and waging their campaign against British rule and partition in Ireland between 1969 and 1997. The piece challenges the assertion that the PIRA discriminated with religious bias, and that they actively targeted Protestant civilians. It does so by drawing upon analysis of original data collected for the piece, corroborated with qualitative primary sources including the memoirs of former PIRA members, and the sentiments of a former PIRA member turned informer, Sean O’Callaghan, who agreed to be interviewed for the piece. It is argued that the PIRA aimed only to kill individuals whom they deemed to be in some measure actively responsible for the persistence of British control in Ireland, and the prevention of a reunion with the Republic; and did so in a fashion that was, for the most part, blind to religious diversity. It is also argued, however, that the PIRA were either unable or unwilling to recognise the gap between the actual impact of their “armed struggle” and the intentions that lay behind it.     

北宋后期关于西北蕃部的民族立法述略

北宋后期,政府实施向西北扩大辖区的积极边疆政策。面临诸多新的社会和民族问题,宋廷在开边拓土、扩大辖区、维护其新旧归附区的统治时,加强了对西北地区的防务和经营,并颁行了许多相关蕃部的法律法规,强调运用法律手段调整各族关系,治理边族地区的矛盾和纠纷,对于边地社会稳定和经济发展起了重要作用。     

新桂系对桂北瑶民起义的善后政策

面对战争给桂北民众的生产生活带来的巨大破坏,新桂系当局提出了军事、政治、经济、文化教育以及风俗习惯等方面的善后政策。虽然这些善后政策当时就对瑶民的生产恢复具有很大的帮助,长远意义上也有利于瑶区社会经济文化事业的发展,有其值得大胆肯定的一面,但是善后政策背后隐藏的进行民族同化、消弭斗争的真实目的,则是我们要提出批判的。     

‘What is it about “fuck off” you don’t understand?’ The NILRC and politics of the Left in Northern Ireland

Abstract

At the 2016 Northern Ireland Assembly Election, a somewhat peculiar political ‘party’ hastily filled in nomination papers at the 11th hour. This last-minute concoction was elaborately named ‘The Northern Ireland Labour Representation Committee’. This article seeks to explore the circumstances around the creation of the NILRC, thereby developing a synthesis of the present-day situation of the Labour Party in Northern Ireland (LPNI), the local Constituency Labour Party (CLP) of the UK Labour Party. In a backdrop in which UK Labour does not stand for elections in Northern Ireland, this article engages with the LPNI’s rationale and raison d’être, followed by a discussion of the NILRC experiment of 2016. The LPNI–NILRC case carries resonances and insights of interest to political groups of the left operating in deeply divided societies.     

两宋时期巴蜀医学繁盛原因

两宋时期巴蜀地区名医辈出,医药著述丰富。兴盛的巴蜀文化、稳定的政治环境、繁荣的经济、发达的地方医学教育、丰富的药材资源等都为巴蜀地区医学的繁盛提供了条件。     

The Rise of the Middle Ground in Northern Ireland: What does it Mean?

Among the many consequences of Brexit for Northern Ireland has been how it has contributed to and coincided with some alteration of the electoral landscape. This includes the rise of the centre ground and, in particular, the Alliance Party of Northern Ireland (APNI). This article focusses specifically on how the Alliance Party, as the largest of Northern Ireland's middle ground parties, has navigated the Brexit period and with what effect. The analysis explores the implications of the growing size and strength of the Alliance Party for Northern Ireland politics, institutions, policies, north-south relations and the constitutional future. It concludes that although the nationalist versus unionist binary remains valid and consequential in Northern Ireland, it is being challenged and tested by the rise of the middle ground in ways which offer both opportunities and challenges for Northern Ireland's future.     

Theory vs reality: partisanship and Northern Ireland's Public Accounts Committee 2011–2016

Public accounts committees (PACs) are tasked with scrutinising executive use of public money, undertaking inquiries with the support of the legislative auditor. Through several means, an expectation is placed on members to be politically neutral in undertaking committee work. However, in the context of Northern Ireland, where consociationalism entrenches binary ethno-national identities throughout the political institutions, it would be expected that party-political interests would prevail and fracture the committee. This paper analyses Northern Ireland's PAC from three perspectives alongside qualitative data from interviews with committee members: theory, party-partisanship and changes in the committee's working relationship with the legislative auditor. It is argued that over the 2011–2016 mandate, this PAC coalesced and functioned well as a unit despite expectation to the contrary, and that the changing dynamics of its working relationship with the Northern Ireland Audit Office over this time are testament to its development in this way.     

Back to Stormont: The New Decade,New Approach Agreement and What it Means for Northern Ireland

The decision of the Democratic Unionist Party and Sinn Féin to once again share power in Northern Ireland has ended a three-year hiatus in the region’s devolved government. The deal which resurrects the devolved institutions—New Decade, New Approach—is not short of ambition. It introduces significant institutional reforms which place the institutions on a more sustainable footing and limit the potential for abuse of the Assembly’s infamous Petition of Concern. Nettles have been grasped on issues to do with language, culture, and identity that have long vexed political parties in Northern Ireland. Tucked away in the deal’s appendices are commitments to implement outstanding pledges made in previous agreements, plus ambitious plans for the new Northern Ireland Executive. However, as parties in the region were quick to discover, aspects of this deal are easier said than done. This article considers what New Decade, New Approach promises and, if fully implemented, what its implications are for politics and governance in Northern Ireland.     

关于香港建设国际研发之都的思考与建议

香港要提高竞争力,成功实现经济转型,在粤港澳大湾区建设中发挥关键作用,提升在国家经济发展和改革开放中的地位和功能,必须加快建设国际研发之都。香港有条件成为国际研发之都,但要解决好资金、人才、合作等三大挑战。与此同时,中央支持、香港与内地加强合作也至关重要。     

Death by a Thousand Grants? The Challenge of Grant Funding Reliance for Local Government Councils in the Northern Territory of Australia

In July 2008, the local government sector in the Northern Territory of Australia underwent wide-sweeping reforms whereby 53 councils, most of which were located in remote Indigenous communities, were amalgamated into eight regional shires. The dominant justifications for these reforms focused on internal ‘deficit’ views about the community council sector, including lack of competent and ethical staff, managerial workforce instability, inefficient use of resources, and poor oversight as the primary causes of chronic underperformance and dysfunction. This paper identifies and discusses the under-scrutinised role of grants revenue dependency and volatility in the demise of remote small councils in the Northern Territory. We analyse financial data to demonstrate the extreme volatility in year-on-year grants funding. With their high dependency on grants revenue, such volatility and unpredictability resulted in councils being hamstrung in their ability to strategically plan and ensure stability in service delivery, infrastructure management and employment provision. We argue that these fiscal dynamics, fuelled by hierarchical intergovernmental relations, contributed significantly to dysfunction in the sector, as well as mutually reinforcing pre-existing structural and endogenous weaknesses. This argument runs against the common conceptualisation of the sector as requiring of externally imposed structural reform. We conclude by suggesting that there are factors additional to scale that need to be incorporated into analysis of the effects of amalgamation policies on remote councils.