China and Africa: economic growth and a non-transformative political elite

Prevailing narratives in the discourse on China-Africa engagement are that China is developing Africa. This paper departs from those narratives because they disregard the agency of Africa's political elite. Basing its argument on the nature of the African political elite, the paper analyses their role in determining the impact of China's economic and trade engagement on economic development in their respective countries. To do that, it first discusses the nature and identity of African political elites, and examines how they control their states and scarce resources. Having done that, the paper then analyses their role in determining the nature and extent of development emanating from their countries’ economic engagement with China. It then concludes that it is not how much foreign states invest in African countries that determines Africa's rise, but rather political elites who influence the direction of their states’ development.     

Defining Environmental Justice Communities for Regulatory Enforcement: Implications from a Block‐Group‐Level Analysis of New York State

The absence of a clear definition of environmental justice areas has been cited as one of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's major deficiencies in managing federal environmental justice programs. Several states have explicitly defined potential environmental justice areas and integrated targeted efforts into the policy‐making process. At the block‐group level, this study evaluates the effects of New York State's environmental justice policy, which defines communities of concern in terms of demographic and socioeconomic characteristics as well as mandates supplemental regulatory enforcement activities for these neighborhoods, on the agency's policy implementation practices under the Clean Air Act and Clean Water Act. The empirical findings suggest that there is inconclusive evidence regarding race/ethnicity‐ and class‐based environmental inequity. Also, the state's policy intervention is not universally effective. Moreover, task environments of a given community are a consistent determinant of the agency's regulatory compliance monitoring and assurance activities. This study then derives broader implications regarding the adoption of a policy instrument that defines and screens potential environmental justice communities.     

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.     

When actions speak louder than words: examining collective political protests in Central Asia

What explains the dynamics of contentious collective political action in post-Soviet Central Asia? How do post-Soviet Central Asian citizens negotiate the tensions between partaking in and abstaining from elite-challenging collective protests? By analysing cross-national attitudes in two Central Asian states, this article (1) systematically analyses the variation in collective protests by testing rival macro-, meso-, and micro-level theories; (2) reintroduces a conceptual and empirical distinction between low-risk and high-risk collective protests; and (3) examines the conditions under which individuals participate in two distinct types of elite-challenging collective actions. Three conclusions are reached. First, the evidence suggests that nuanced consideration of multi-level theoretical perspectives is necessary to explain contingencies of elite-challenging actions. Second, economic grievances and resource mobilization emerge as leading factors driving both low-risk and high-risk protests. Third, Islamic religiosity and social networking robustly predict participation in high-risk collective action.     

A Comparison of Dental Chartings Performed at the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command Central Identification Laboratory and the Kokura Central Identification Unit on Remains Identified from the Korean War

During the Korean War, the Office of the Quartermaster General's Graves Registration Service (GRS) was responsible for the recovery, processing, identification, and repatriation of US remains. In January 1951, the GRS established a Central Identification Unit (CIU) at Kokura, Japan. At the Kokura CIU, postmortem dental examinations were performed by the dental technicians. Thirty‐nine postmortem dental examinations performed at the CIU were compared to the findings documented in the Forensic Odontology Reports written at the JPAC Central Identification Laboratory (CIL). Differences were noted in 20 comparisons (51%). The majority of the discrepancies was considered negligible and would not alter the JPAC decision to disinter a set of unknown remains. Charting discrepancies that were considered significant included the occasional failure of the Kokura technicians to identify teeth with inter‐proximal or esthetic restorations and the misidentification of a mechanically prepared tooth (i.e., tooth prepared for a restoration) as a carious surface.     

繁荣发展农村文化 建设社会主义新农村——学习党的十七届三中全会精神的体会

加强农村文化建设,是新农村建设的必然要求和全面建设小康社会的需要,贫瘠的文化不会孕育出高速增长的经济,没有文化的现代化,就不可能实现真正意义的现代化。加强农村文化建设,是促进农村经济、政治、社会全面发展建设社会主义新农村的重要手段和有效措施。     

加强密集型中心商区治安管理的基本思路

城市密集型中心商区主要有传统繁华商业街、特色商品集中商区和综合性大型中心商区等类型。随着客流、物流和钱财的大量聚集,城市密集型中心商区可能会产生侵财类违法犯罪增多、消防安全隐患与道路交通拥堵突出等治安问题。因此,应当通过成立专门管理机构、落实商企治安管理责任、建立实时图像监控系统以及加强消防安全监督检查等途径加强密集型中心商区的治安管理。     

胡锦涛反腐倡廉思想初探

通过解析胡锦涛在第二、三、五、六、七和第十七届二次等六次中纪委全会上的重要讲话,来透视胡锦涛的反腐倡廉思想。