The rise of the Jama'at al Tabligh in Kyrgyzstan: the revival of Islamic ties between the Indian subcontinent and Central Asia?

After two centuries of close relationships, especially under the Mughals, Islamic ties between India and Central Asia have been considerably weakened, first after the Tsarist colonization and then by Soviet religious repression and ideological isolation. However, when Central Asian post-Soviet republics became independent in 1991, they renewed all kinds of links with the Indian subcontinent. Moreover, the revival of Central Asian Islam benefited from inspirational international Islamic sources from Turkey, the Arab countries and India. The latter drew less attention from analysts than other sources of influence, although it has gained ground all over the region in past years, particularly in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, where the India-based Jama'at al Tabligh has achieved significant success. This Islamic organization, established in British India in the 1920s, defines itself as a non-radical and non-political movement, promoting ‘basic’ Islamic faith and practice. So far, the Jama'at al Tabligh has been tolerated by local authorities who would rather use them as a shield against the more radical Islamic groups that are openly opposing the regime.     

十八届四中全会开创法治反腐的新局面

党的十八届四中全会通过的《中共中央关于全面推进依法治国若干重大问题的决定》提出了一系列反腐的新部署、新观点和新举措,开创了法治反腐的新局面。法治引领治腐、防腐,规范、制约权力和对腐败问题"零容忍",每一项都直接遏制权力腐败。     

Studying Peace in and with Central Eurasia: Starting from Local and Trans-Local Perspectives

ABSTRACT

In view of a crisis of liberal universalism peace research must reflect on how it is perceived, how peace is constructed in other places and how it can cope with diversity in ordering and peacebuilding. This Special Issue is an attempt to search starting points for peace research in and with Central Eurasia. The introductory concept clears a path through current research questions, normative problems and barriers of knowledge production. Considering ethnographic methodologies, it starts from the local everyday and takes an interest in how actors and institutions in concrete places and multiple socio-spatial configurations navigate conflict and peace.     

The charismatic leadership of the ECB presidency: A language-based analysis

There is little doubt that the European Central Bank (ECB), and in particular its presidency, has taken the lead in tackling the euro crisis. But can this leadership be also characterised as charismatic? This article answers the question by focusing on language – a key component as well as a reliable indicator of charisma. By means of a software-assisted content analysis of the entire corpus of ECB presidential speeches, it is found that the crisis has indeed led to the emergence of the Bank's presidency as a charismatic euro leader. This in turn confirms the recent politicisation of the ECB, but at the same time might be seen as mitigating the problems related to the Bank's democratic deficit, to the extent that charisma can be seen, from a Weberian standpoint, as an alternative source of political legitimacy.     

环保督察与空气质量改善:立足城市情境的效应异质性分析

作为生态环境保护领域的一项重大制度创新,中央环保督察已经成为党和政府推动生态文明建设的重要政策工具。然而,对于中央环保督察能否改善空气质量,尤其是其效果的可持续性,尚存在诸多争议。立足于匹配后的地级市数据评估中央环保督察对空气质量改善的平均效应,结果表明中央环保督察尽管在短期内显著改善了空气质量,其长期效应并不显著。然而,借助基于模型的递归分解法和随机森林法进一步发现:中央环保督察的长期效应存在显著的情境差异性:中央环保督察对于空气污染较重的城市具有长期改善效应,且东部城市尤为明显;一个城市的经济发展水平越高,中央环保督察效应越具有长效性;政府规模和财政自主性对中央环保督察效应起到截然相反的调节作用:前者的扩张会削弱长期效应,而后者的提升则会强化长期效应。揭示城市情境对督察效应的调节作用,有助于深化学界对中央环保督察长效性的条件认识,也为进一步完善该制度、提升其效能提供了重要的思路。     

论"两个维护"的理论逻辑、历史逻辑与现实逻辑

"两个维护",即坚决维护习近平总书记党中央的核心、全党的核心地位,坚决维护党中央权威和集中统一领导。"两个维护"不是凭空产生的,有其深刻的理论逻辑、历史逻辑和现实逻辑。从理论逻辑来看,"两个维护"是马克思主义政党理论的当代体现,是对党的民主集中制的创造性运用。从历史逻辑来看,"两个维护"是对我们党和国家正反两方面历史经验和教训的深刻总结。从现实逻辑来看,"两个维护"是加强党的政治建设的首要问题,是中华民族伟大复兴的现实需要,是推进伟大斗争的战略选择。深刻理解这三重逻辑的理论意蕴,是深刻把握"两个维护"的极端重要性、以坚决的态度和实际行动做到"两个维护"的基础和前提。     

A mob for hire? Unpacking older women’s political activism in Kyrgyzstan

This article explores the politics of older women in post-Soviet Kyrgyzstan, who have emerged as informal leaders in urban neighbourhoods to ‘speak for the poor’ to the state. Their mediating role is crucial for understanding community micro-politics, women’s political agency and more broadly state–society relations in the post-Soviet context. Drawing on in-depth interviews with older female informal leaders, the paper examines their political legitimacy and modes of mediation with the state and elites. Using Bourdieu’s concepts of political capital and ‘double dealings’, the paper argues that older women are important informal mediators, whose representational practices involve communal leadership, protest activism, bargaining and vote mobilization. Their multitasking roles are necessitated by their legitimation struggles and elites’ strategies of state capture. The article challenges the dominant media representation of older women activists as ‘a mob for hire’ and offers a more nuanced account of older women’s politics, addressing a blind spot in the literature on politics in Central Asia.     

How to Understand Master Lv Zuqian‘s Inheritance of Central Plains’ Literature

With the reference of the history that Central Plains was ruined, the academic research had migrated to the south of China, the concept of literature had experienced the historical evolution. In Southern Song Dynasty, “the inheritance of Central Plains' literature” meant that the Central Plains' literature for Northern Song was inherited in the way of talk and discussion, the learner who had inherited the Central Plains' literature would be considered that he had inherited the literature from Northern Song and also extended the thoughts of Confucius. Master Lv Zuqian inherited Central Plains' literature as he learnt the thoughts of Master Zhang Zai, Cheng Yi, and Cheng Hao in the way of talk and discussion, which represented the inheritance of Guan Luo Xue in Southern Song Dynasty. Master Lv Zuqian's family circumstances and teachers had close relationship with Guan Luo Xue, and his lecturing had aligned with the politics and the academic circumstances at that time. Understanding of the relationship between the thoughts of Master Lv Zuqian and Central Plains' literature will provide academic reference to interpreting philosophic thoughts of Master Lv Zuqian.     

From sacrum to profanum: reinterpretation of communist places of power in Baltic cities

Places always represent the social and cultural dimensions of societies, seen through relationships between ideas, beliefs, and hopes. Places and their social practices are interwoven into the urban fabric and have become vital components of urban and ideological identities. Ideological systems create unique arrangements and classifications of those special places, which can be called “hallowed” or “profaned.” This project focuses on the recent transformation of the communist system of “sacral” spaces and their recent “profanation.” The transformation of meaning, together with the use and attitude toward landscape, has become visible due to spatial and functional manifestations of post-socialist cities.