Sudan and the Unbearable Lightness of Islamism: From Revolution to Rentier Authoritarianism

The regime ruling Sudan since 1989 represents a pioneering experiment in the field of Islamist politics, being the first case in which a movement affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood managed to conquer power and hold on to it for a considerable time. During the late 1990s, internal and external pressures threatened the survival of the regime, leading the ruling class to abandon its ambition to represent a model of revolutionary Islamic governance. Oil exports provided a catalyst for this pragmatic shift, intensifying patronage-based relations at the expense of ideological affiliation. Seen from a political economy perspective, the Sudanese experience proves the flexibility of Islamism as an ideology, but also its failure as a political practice to constitute a real alternative to the authoritarian dynamics that are widespread in the MENA region.     

Resistance and reform: discourses on marital law in Japan*

This article examines opinions concerning fūfubessei (a married couple retaining their birth surnames) posted on an online forum. Recently, the topic of fūfubessei has once again come under a spotlight, since the Japanese Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the Civil Code Article 750, which stipulates that a married couple must choose either the husband's or wife's surname upon marriage registration. Owing to the large number of women forfeiting their surnames, the fūfubessei issue has often been researched from feminist perspectives, which may have hindered the voices of others. This article analyzes, using text mining (quantitative analysis) and discourse analysis (qualitative analysis), a large number of opinions from people of various cultural backgrounds. The results of this study reveal a diversity of beliefs and attitudes towards Article 750, reflecting the complexity of the issue. In general, proponents of reform claim the law violates equality, rights and liberty. From opponents there was a strong push to conform rather than to recognize a need for individual choice. Moreover, the many personal narratives provided insight into issues on the ground and revealed how many in Japanese society have dealt with the law, social pressure and social expectations and why they have followed the path they have chosen.     

Building foundations for the comparative study of state and non-state terrorism

In this article, we argue that a comparative study of state and non-state terrorism that uses the minimal foundationalist definition of terrorism as its central analytical framework offers a unique and instructive approach for answering the question: “what is terrorism?” To date, most recent comparative case study analyses of terrorism focus on ideologies, political/governance models, structural/contextual enablers, practices, organisational structures, and/or the basis of issues such as trust, belonging, and membership. We uniquely contribute to the growing literature on comparative terrorism studies by comparing and contrasting state and non-state terrorism on the basis of strategic communication vis-à-vis the preparation, execution, and outcomes of political violence (the “terrorism attack cycle”), the instrumentalisation of victims, and fear management. We argue that state and non-state terrorism are co-constituting and co-enabling phenomena, possibly best conceptualised as two bounded and coiled strands of the political violence DNA.     

Managing elopement on the mobile phone: continuity and change in Woɗaaɓe te’egal marriage

Based on extended fieldwork among Ful?e Wo?aa?e in Niger and by analysing an ethnographic case, this paper discusses aspects of continuity and change in the practice of a culture-specific form of elopement marriage, called te’egal, in which a married woman leaves her husband to marry a man from another clan. The discussion focuses on two major aspects: (1) the extensive use of mobile phone communication in arranging and logistically managing elopement, and (2) the increasing police involvement in the settlement of te’egal cases. Mobile phone use in the context of elopement is interpreted as a modern means of achieving cultural ends. It acts as a catalyst, making elopement more dynamic. In the wider context of globalization and urbanity, however, this leads not simply to continuity but also to contradictions, as the moral and legal institutions of the state increasingly interfere with the normative framework of customary law.     

开放社会下的保守婚姻——新蔡船民的婚姻状况调查

从1949年新中国成立至今,三代船民的婚姻都呈现出同质婚姻的很多共性,这也验证了布劳的同质交往原则的适用。在世界许多国家和地方离婚率迅速上升的情况下,船民却仍然保持着非常低的离婚率,而船民们保守稳定的同质婚姻和稳定的家庭结构或许能给高离婚率背景下的人们更多的启发。     

晚明的悔婚现象及其法律规制

晚明时期随着商品经济的发展和社会风尚的嬗变,民间婚姻缔结过程中悔婚现象日益增多,缘由也愈发纷繁复杂.财婚风尚悄然兴起,传统门第观念受到冲击,但是女方在悔婚事件中仍然处于十分不利的地位.而悔婚案中各级官吏既成婚维持的倾向也在晚明时期逐渐明显,使得晚明的婚姻风尚呈现出在标新嬗变与回归正统间游走的态势.     

International marriage in East and Southeast Asia: trends and research emphases

This paper gives an overview on international marriage in East and Southeast Asia. It first reviews the available data on the incidence and trends of transnational marriage. It then discusses the factors generally cited as contributing to the rising incidence of international marriage in the region: the increased mobility of population, particularly with respect to tourism, business travel, short-term employment and international study; and marriage market issues in a number of countries of the region, leading to deliberate and targeted search for spouses in other countries. It also reviews the types of international marriages in the region, including the national, ethnic and social characteristics of spouses in such marriages. Finally, it discusses the issues and problems covered and not (or inadequately) covered in the literature of international marriage in East and Southeast Asia in relation to the questions of rights and of the boundaries and sovereignty of the state.     

中国当代乡村婚姻的传统特性

缔结两性婚姻以爱情为基础获得了广泛认同，婚姻法认可感情不和可以离婚在法律上确立了感情在婚姻中的基础地位，婚姻应以爱情为基础。然而，在广大乡村地区，受制于交往场域的狭小的限制，财富积累的缓慢以及手工农业生产方式等制约，婚姻具有明显的乡土区域性，媒妁之言、门当户对、包办婚姻等通行于传统农业社会的婚嫁模式仍占主导地位。     

大陆配偶在台湾的社会困境与人权宣导分析

探讨两岸通婚发展趋势,从社会学商品化婚姻的视角分析两岸通婚现象的形成因为与相关影响,从台湾地区近15年来大陆配偶人权宣导历程,检视大陆配偶组织化过程、台湾地区非营利社团组织的角色与功能,并对台湾"陆配"问题和政策走势作出预测.