The legacy of subalternity and Gramsci’s national–popular: populist discourse in the case of the Islamic Republic of Iran

Drawing on Laclau’s concept of populist discourse and Gramsci’s ‘national–popular collective will’, and using the case of Iran, this article puts forward the idea of the legacy of subalternity in the context of post-revolution governments. The concept of ‘national–popular collective will’ facilitates an understanding of how the popular subject is constructed and the meanings embedded in that process. It is argued that Islamic Republic elites articulate a populist discourse that constructs the ‘self’ (the Islamic Republic) as synonymous with ‘the people’. Embedded in this discursive construction is a legacy of subalternity that goes back to the 1979 Revolution’s populist discourse.     

Voter perceptions of parties’ left–right positions: The role of party strategies

Left–right semantics help voters simplify the complex political reality as they reduce party views on a variety of issues to a single dimension. Less studied, however, is the question of how voters arrive at parties’ left–right positions and how parties can influence voter perceptions. In this article, I demonstrate that the party can shape the voter’s understanding of the content of its left–right ideology by using three strategies: avoidance, ambivalence, or ambiguity. Specifically, the party may avoid or de-emphasize, embrace a conflicting position, or becloud its position on the controversial issue; by so doing, it induces voters to place less weight on this issue when perceiving the party’s left–right position. The empirical analysis connects voter and party data from 21 European democracies in the period 1996–2014 and finds empirical support for the effectiveness of these strategies. In particular, the study finds robust empirical evidence that strategic avoidance, ambivalence, and ambiguity strongly moderate the association between the party’s perceived ideological brand and its underlying issue content.     

The Effect of Temperature and Exposure Time on Stability of Cholesterol and Squalene in Latent Fingermarks Deposited on PVDF Membrane

Cholesterol and squalene are fatty materials of latent fingermarks that can be utilized for dating methodologies and visualization techniques. Previous studies have suggested these compounds undergo degradation in fingermarks as a function of time (days) and light at ambient temperature. However, studies assessing how their composition changes at low and high temperatures over short periods of time (hours) have not been published previously. Here, we performed quantitative analysis of cholesterol and squalene in natural fingermark residue using PVDF membrane, after exposure to a range of temperatures (−20 to 100°C) for 4 and 8 h. We found that levels of both fatty materials remained constant at −20 to 60°C, but both showed significant reduction at 100°C, over short exposure times. These results indicate that cholesterol and squalene are detectable at −20 to 60°C, whereas at 100°C or higher, both are lost due to rapid thermal degradation.     

Reproductive health services: “Business-in-a-Box” as a model social innovation

Access to reproductive health services and products in remote and rural communities is a critical area of concern for developing countries. This article considers a pilot intervention in three districts of Pakistan where “Business-in-a-Box” as a model of place-based social innovation is used to improve the socio-economic conditions of women in remote rural settings through socially responsible micro-franchising. It finds that such programmes help build a sense of community, ownership and grassroots capabilities and skills. The article also discusses the impacts of such actions on the individual and community life, and the need to upscale and sustain these initiatives.     

Conceptualising and tracing the increased territorialisation of politics: insights from Argentina

The territorialisation of politics is a crucial transformation in state–society relations that has implications on how contemporary politics works. Defined here as the dispute for the physical control of space, be it a municipality, province or portion of land, within one or more politically constituted entities. It does not mean the emergence of a new regime type, but the process through which the territory re-emerges as a new cleavage after neoliberal reforms and authoritarian regimes have weakened/dissolved neo-corporatist arrangements for the resolution of socio-political conflicts in society. It is a cleavage because central political divisions are produced as a result of the physical encounter of or distance between political actors and of the dispute for the control of a territory for sociopolitical goals and causes that are not always territorially defined. Departing from this definition, I also raise potential explanatory hypotheses for the transformations that favoured this transformation in Argentina.     

A Model for Female-Perpetrated Domestic Violence

Child abuse often coexists with intimate partner violence. However, limited studies incorporate both phenomena in a single study. Moreover, the examination of female-on-male violence is an important development. Hence, an intrinsic case study of domestic violence is presented to provide insights regarding the nature and impact of female-perpetrated violence. The research approach was qualitative and demonstrated that a model for abusive behavior seems to be similar for both sexes. The data revealed theoretical trends such as the reality of an intergenerational transmission of violence into adulthood, as well as abusive partners presenting with borderline traits.     

Turkifying Poverty,or: the Phantom Pain of Izmir’s Lost Christian Working Class, 1924–26

This article shows that ‘Turkification’, a term widely used by historians of modern Turkey to refer to the forced transfer of property from Christian into Muslim hands, ought to be conceptualized not only in the sense of ‘enrichment’ but also, with regard to the working classes, as a process in which Muslim people inherited the poverty of their Christian predecessors. Taking ?zmir as a case in point, the article first describes the plight of the overwhelmingly Christian working class prior to 1922. It then studies reports and editorials that discussed the economic and social situation in ?zmir in the years 1923 to 1926, after the Turkish victory and forced migration of her Christian population. Over the course of these years, ?zmir experienced a serious economic crisis, and bread prices reached levels that led to widespread undernourishment and hunger among the city?s poor. Agricultural production was lagging behind pre-war levels, and positive effects of ‘Turkification? policies were failing to materialize. By analyzing the contemporary journalists? attempts at explaining the crisis, but also pointing out national and transnational factors that they were probably unaware of, the article makes an original contribution to the economic and social history of early republican Turkey.     

信用证欺诈例外原则的问题分析

信用证是国际贸易中重要的信用结算工具,由于信用证独立抽象的原则,银行只审单而不管实际的货物,导致国际贸易中利用信用证进行欺诈的案件屡屡发生。因此,各国纷纷采取信用证欺诈例外原则来进行补救,但信用证欺诈例外原则的滥用则会损害合法受益人及善意第三方在信用证项下的利益,因此,对欺诈原则应适当地适用,以发挥其最佳效用。     

《鹿特丹规则》下无单放货解决机制：从凭保函放货到凭指示放货

《鹿特丹规则》对无单放货问题设计了新的解决机制，通过使特定条件下的无单放货合法化，试图减轻承运人的负担，平衡船货双方的利益。采取规范分析的方法，对这一机制进行解构，论述其给各当事方的法律地位所带来的变化，认为对现有制度进行改良可能是更好的选择。     

自制海洛因标准品在常用有机溶剂中稳定性研究

目的 研发海洛因标准品及优化分析方法,以对云南缴获海洛因样本提纯制备成的自制海洛因对照品在常用有机溶剂中的稳定性进一步研究.方法 采用内标及GC、GC/MS方法,通过对提纯制备的海洛因在5种有机溶剂中冷藏保存后含量的变化,观察海洛因在常用有机溶剂中的稳定性.结果 乙醇、三氯甲烷及乙腈为溶剂的自制海洛因对照品储备液,保存30天时间范围内海洛因含量未发生明显变化;以丙酮作为溶剂的自制海洛因对照品储备液,在7至30天时间范围内,海洛因含量明显升高;以甲醇作为溶剂的自制海洛因对照品储备液,在0小时至30天时间范围内,海洛因含量一直呈明显的下降趋势.结论 乙醇、三氯甲烷及乙腈可以作为海洛因样品储备液溶剂使用,丙酮、甲醇不适合作为海洛因样品储备液溶剂使用.