A tale in stone and bronze: old/new strategies for political mobilization in the Republic of Macedonia

The redesign of Skopje’s main square and the wider central area in the last six years has been a top priority of the Macedonian government. The project, called Skopje 2014, provoked intense domestic debate and controversy as well as international reaction and concern. Although officials say that project’s aim is to unify ethnic Macedonians, it has produced several lines of political, intra-ethnic/interethnic as well as intra-cultural/intercultural divisions in the fragile Macedonian society. The aim of the paper is to offer reflections about its mobilizing potential among ethnic Macedonians in a set of social, economic, and political contexts. In that sense, four areas of mobilization are suggested: (1) around new identity markers; (2) around the name dispute and against threats (real or imagined) to the ethnic and national identity; (3) against the internal Other, that is, the ethnic Albanian community, as well as critics of these identity politics; and (4) in reaction to the global financial crisis and problems within the EU.     

Black geographies of struggle and pleasure in Nona Faustine’s White Shoes

In Nona Faustine’s photo series of self-portraits, White Shoes, the artist’s body becomes the agent in exposing the instability of racialized historical geography. Faustine revisits New York City’s landmarks to address what is missing or made invisible: a slave ship, a fugitive woman’s rebirth, or African burial grounds. Making herself visible where she is supposed to remain invisible, she highlights the unacknowledged connection between national wealth, nationalism, geography, and black labor. She discloses the topography of her travels as a changeable terrain, where one slips from the national iconic to ambiguous and finally, to the sacred. I suggest that Faustine doesn’t seek to democratize the extant historical maps, but to shift the terms of reading the city’s geography. She lifts the boundaries between the polarized pathways of knowing – the secularized and the sacred, the living and the dead, the verifiable and the missing. This shift is also made possible by the medium of photography and a feminist turn towards pleasures in one’s body. As Faustine comes to terms with the psychic and cultural inheritance of the diaspora, she moves from the collective body of pain towards black women’s pleasure in their own bodies without purging the history of sexual trauma.     

Youth Work in Croatia: Collecting Pieces for a Mosaic

This article explores the historical development of youth work in Croatia. By drawing from available data and personal experience, we describe three key phases of youth work development in a post-conflict country: (a) the period of the early 1990s as a “direct peace building" youth work; (b) the rise of nonformal education during the mid and late 1990s; and (c) the growth of a networked youth sector and its focus on youth policy advocacy starting in 2000. In addition, we refer to today's context, particularly because of its project-management orientation. Such categorization highlights various practices that we consider to represent youth work in a specific and contested national framework. Work with young people with fewer opportunities is being presented as a case, building on our observation that contemporary youth work continues to be embedded in civil society development and nonformal education, facing challenges of funding-driven discourse and unsystematic support.     

隐私的历史考察和思考

隐私是一个动态、发展的概念,其内容不是一成不变的,而是随着社会政治、经济、文化的发展和人们隐私意识的提高,其内涵不断丰富,外延不断扩展。政治上,公私领域的划分是其存在和发展的前提;经济上,生产力和科学技术的发展为其存在和发展提供了物质基础;心理上,人们对本能、自我保护和自我实现的需要为其存在和发展创造了动力;文化上,不同的文化传统使其存在和发展更具多样性。隐私是一种事实状态,不等同于隐私权的客体,更不等同于隐私权。     

新农村建设中的法制困境及对策思考

农村法治是推进我国社会主义新农村建设的根本保障。多年来农村与城市在经济、政治、文化、社会生活等多方面的差别决定和影响着中国法制建设的二元状态。鉴于我国是一个传统农业国家、农村人口众多和农村社会主体法治意识不强等原因,农村法治在社会整体转型的特殊时期面临着法治困境,需要我们从整体性和差异性着眼探寻现代农村法制建设方略,以期加快我国法治进程。     

地上权制度之历史研究——兼评我国地上权立法

地上权制度是用益物权制度框架内的一项基本制度,经济和社会的发展使地上权具有了崭新的内容,在我国土地所有权归国家和农村集体经济组织所有的条件下具有广泛的适用范围,尤其是有助于解决城市用地、工业用地、居民住宅建设用地,以及在他人所有的土地上下铺设管道等公共设施而产生的权利义务关系,从而促进社会经济的发展。     

发达国家治理历史虚无主义的实践与启示

近年来,历史虚无主义在发达国家政治生活和舆论空间时有体现,成为不和谐因素,引起了执政当局的高度关注。为了维护意识形态安全和国家安定团结,发达国家不遗余力治理历史虚无主义,在政界、学界和新闻工作中始终强调历史清醒和政治正确,树立底线意识;加强青少年爱国主义教育,强化历史观塑造;通过立法和司法实践,维护历史共识和民族英雄声誉;着力治理网络舆论,源头防范网络历史虚无主义。发达国家治理历史虚无主义的实践是维护资产阶级政治统治的重要举措,存在典型的单向度思维和不可避免的局限性,采取的一些做法对当前我国反对历史虚无主义,具有一定的借鉴意义和参考价值。     

关于后现代法学研究的思考

法治与现代性紧密联系,它的产生和发展基于法律具有客观性、自主性、确定性等理念。但是,二十世纪七八十年代以后产生的后现代法学以其反传统、非基础的理论和方法冲击着现代法学的基础。后现代法学用怀疑、批判、否定的眼光看待现代法治,并对其理论和实践等问题进行再审视、再反思。后现代法学多元的法学思维方式为我们看待问题提供了新范式,它有助于唤起民众参与法律活动的积极性。不过,后现代法学不会取代现代法学的主导地位,它对于我们的价值更多的是以未来的眼光审视现代法治,以此促进现代法治的发展。     

苏联国家监察制度评析

苏联国家监察制度经历了三个历史阶段：列宁时期监察制度的创立、斯大林时期监察制度逐步发生畸变和斯大林之后国家监察制度的调整。其一般特征主要表现为：以权力高度集中的政治体制为基础,受政治神秘主义的支配与操纵,人民监督作用有限。其启示意义是：社会主义国家既要讲权力的监督,也要讲权力的制约;国家监察机关必须拥有真正的独立性和足够的权威;需要加强自下而上的人民监督,切实保障人民的监督权。     

中国特色社会主义理论产生的社会历史根源

中国特色社会主义是社会主义自身发展的产物.社会主义体制危机呼唤社会主义的理论创新.现代生产力是中国特色社会主义理论产生的物质前提;时代主题的转换为中国特色社会主义理论的产生创造了合适的国际环境;中国共产党创新马克思主义的优良传统,以及它的领袖邓小平崇高的理想、高尚的情操、坚强的意志、丰富的经验、深厚的理论素养和创新的思维能力,是中国特色社会主义理论产生的不可或缺的主观条件;马列主义,毛泽东思想是中国特色社会主义理论的理论基础和主要理论来源;当代世界文明发展的优秀成果是中国特色社会主义理论的重要理论来源;中华民族优秀传统文化是孕育中国特色社会主义理论的深厚土壤.