Under-development in practice: Nigeria and the enduring problem of corruption

Nigeria's abundant natural resource endowments should earn the country's bragging rights as the “Giant of Africa”. Instead, 52 years of corrupt practices among the often recycled ruling elites in post-independence Nigeria have crippled this giant and turned what should be one of the country's strongest assets – its vast oil wealth – into a curse. This article critically examines the concerns for corruption as an enduring obstacle to Nigeria's development writ large. After providing a historical trajectory of corrupt practices in Nigeria from the mid-1980s to the present, it discusses some of the recent corruption scandals in the country, in particular the issues surrounding the US$6.8 billion that was drained from Nigeria between 2009 and 2012 in the fuel subsidy scam. The conclusion makes a case for the reworking of a pervasive system in Nigeria that “pardons” corruption and “recycles” corrupt rulers.     

印尼山口洋的客家人——海外客家人的社会变迁之一

印尼是海外华人最多的一个国家。在印尼的华人中,客家人约占了30-40%,因此,也可以说印尼是海外客家人最多的一个国家。印尼的客家人,尤其是聚居在印尼外岛地区的客家人,虽然在海外已经生活了几代人甚至十几代人,但仍然保留了比较浓重的客家人特征,或者叫客家特性。本文主要探讨居住在山口洋市的客家人的社会变迁和文化适应,探究他们的生活方式,研究这里的客家人与其他华人的差别。     

Digital humanities and the history of working women: a cascade

In this introduction to the special issue on ‘Women's work in changing labour markets’, we argue that a combination of digital advances, notably the digitization of individual- and contextual-level data, the creation of internationally comparable occupation-based classifications, and the development of statistical models allowing for contextually informed analysis, has brought us to the brink of new developments in the field of women's work. Census and vital registration data contain more information on occupations of women than previously thought, and when used in combination with other digitized sources they allow one to assess the possible under-registration of women's work, as illustrated by some of the contributions to this special issue. Other contributions show how standardizing occupation-based classifications allows for temporal and regional comparisons of women's work and makes it feasible to study how community or regional characteristics influence that work. None of these developments – large-scale digitization of individual-level data, standardization of occupational titles and measures of stratification, and contextually informed analyses – is completely new; in some cases they are actually rooted in a venerable research tradition. However, in combination they might well constitute a cascade in the history of working women.     

Voices heard and unheard – A Scandinavian perspective

Children's rights to participate in legal processes concerning them have been a key policy issue for the Scandinavian legislators during recent decades. From the 1980s, there have been frequent amendments to the law to secure the position of the child. Despite numerous provisions stating the right of the child to express his or her views and for these to be considered before decisions are taken, there are continuing obstacles to full recognition of children as legal subjects. Too often children's voices are not heard or not heeded. This article explores the reasons for this and argues that the ambition to promote equal parenthood is one reason for the failure to give the child's views real impact on decision-making in matters concerning children.     

民族学学科结构新论

民族与民族社会是民族学研究的两个不同侧面 ,偏重作为群体的民族研究的是狭义的民族学研究 ,而偏重民族社会及其不同层次研究的是广义民族学研究。本文在此基础上将广义民族研究分为哲学、综合、具体领域三个层次 ,并对它们之间的相互关系进行了较为深入的分析。     

论法治社会理想的重构--从自由资本主义困境的突破说开去

对法治社会理想的分析是置于资本主义社会发展的重大转型期即 19世纪中叶至两次世界大战前后 ,资本主义主流社会发展进路中面临的困境及对困境的突破的大背景下展开的 ,认为西方资本主义主流社会的法治社会理想的出现和实践进路是社会矛盾的历史冲突中现实的选择。中国法治社会理想的建构和实践同样不能背离中国的国情和历史 ,而亟需解决的问题则是国家和法价值观念的重构。     

A political economy for social movements and revolution: popular media access,power and cultural hegemony

Abstract

One key marker of mass social movements transitioning to participatory democratic governance is popular media access. This essay argues that democratic media access by public constituencies becomes a site for constructing social revolution and simultaneously a manifest empirical measure of the extent of democratic participation in the production, distribution, and use of communication with new cultural possibilities. The participatory production practices (with citizens producing and hosting their own programs) and the democratic content (of oral histories, local issues, critiques of government and business, and everyday vernacular) reflect the hegemony of emerging ‘Bolivarian’ twenty-first century socialism expressed as popular participation in media production. Bolstered by constitutional changes and public funding, popular social movements of civil society, indigenous, women, and working class organizations have gained revolutionary ground by securing in practice the right of media production. Findings indicate that public and community media (that move beyond alternative sites of local expression and concerns) provide a startling revolutionary contrast to the commercial media operations in every nation. Popular media constructions suggest a new radically democratic cultural hegemony based on human solidarity with collective, participatory decision-making and cooperation offering real possibilities and experiences for increased equality and social justice.     

我国民法典视野下的数字内容瑕疵担保责任——基于欧盟背景下德国法的比较法考察

数字内容交易目前在全球数字化背景下蓬勃发展,其中,有关数字内容的瑕疵担保责任问题备受关注;立法上欧盟在新出台的《有关提供数字内容和服务的合同交易指令》中有三个条款对此作了专门规定,同时,德国也将此规定完全予以转化适用。基于现有欧盟背景下德国法有关数字内容瑕疵担保责任的比较分析,可知其不但能准确认定数字内容交易中的瑕疵形态与有效提供救济,而且有助于消费者保护。根据我国现有一般物之瑕疵担保规定并结合我国民法典编纂以及域外法经验,在解释论上,通过相关类案的比较分析,我国就此有借鉴适用的必要性;在立法论上,今后在我国《民法典》的解释与适用过程中,可先在《民法典(合同编)》司法解释中原则性地规定有关数字内容瑕疵担保责任,再另行制定具有针对性的单行法,从而有助于数字时代的我国消费者保护与数字经济发展。     

马克思对黑格尔法哲学的三维批判——对《黑格尔法哲学批判》的解读

马克思对黑格尔法哲学三个维度的批判都超出了政治哲学的范围,具有更广泛的一般哲学意义。第一,批判黑格尔法哲学唯心主义世界观,马克思指出头足倒置既是黑格尔法哲学的特征,也是黑格尔全部哲学的特征,进而确立市民社会决定国家的历史唯物主义观点;第二,批判黑格尔法哲学"发展逻辑",揭示黑格尔辩证法的泛逻辑主义方法的缺陷,马克思走向"在事物自身的发展中揭示事物发展的逻辑"的唯物辩证法的哲学道路;第三,对黑格尔法哲学的自由观的批判,得出自由的实现必须通过无产阶级革命创建新国家的结论,马克思完成了政治立场的转变,为自己确立了创立无产阶级哲学的历史使命。对黑格尔法哲学的批判表明马克思的哲学从世界观、方法论、历史观上都已不同于黑格尔思辨、抽象的唯心主义,也显示出其在实践性、阶级性和革命性上与黑格尔哲学具有根本的区别。《黑格尔法哲学批判》在马克思主义哲学发展史上的重要地位就是使"马克思成为马克思"。     

From centralisation to fragmentation and back again: the role of non-state actors in Brazil’s transformed foreign policy

Abstract

Since the 1990s, Brazil’s foreign policy-making, traditionally a highly centralised and hierarchical process, has become more fragmented, plural and horizontal. In this context, the role of non-state actors has been increasingly relevant. The impact and significance of these actors have been however a matter of debate. While there are authors that consider that non-state actors play only a secondary role in the policy-making process, there are others that assert that these actors work alongside governmental actors and directly influence policy choices. Drawing on the concept of network governance, the paper proposes a different view from the two recurrent approaches in the literature mentioned above. It argues that the recent steps to transform Brazil’s state governance from hierarchy to horizontal networks have indeed expanded the room for the direct participation of non-state actors in the policy process. However, state authorities fought to adjust this tendency, in order to retain control over the decision-making process, by putting in place formal and informal coordinating mechanisms led by the Ministry of Foreign Relations and the Presidency. This suggests Brazil’s foreign policy was made in the shadow of hierarchy. The paper demonstrates the argument using the case of Brazil’s foreign policy towards China.