The politics of history and historical memory in China-Japan relations

The current state of China-Japan relations is characterized by two seemingly contradictory developments adjacent to each other: while economic and cultural relations have experienced an unprecedented and continuous improvement since the 1980s, Chinese and Japanese public perceptions of each other have been deteriorating. This raises interesting questions. How do we explain this discrepancy and what are the sources of the increasing public animosity in China or Japan toward the other country? Can China and Japan maintain amicable relations and continue economic cooperation in spite of the enduring mistrust between their peoples? What is the role of public perception and memory of history in the foreign policies of East Asia? This paper addresses these questions, focusing especially on the last one — the role of history and collective historical memory in international relations and the interaction between public sentiment and government foreign policies. Through a detailed study of recent events and the issue of Japanese textbooks, the author argues that public perception of history can and should be guided toward more positive directions. Otherwise, it will be increasingly difficult to maintain amicable relations between the two countries, especially when new nationalism is on the rise in both counties.     

Back to the factory: the continuing salience of industrial workplace history

ABSTRACT

Factories remain significant sites of employment, crucial to capitalism. In the twentieth century, scholars registered achievements in documenting their history, but since the late 1980s, and for a generation, the field lost impetus within labour history although insights continued to accumulate through work in adjacent disciplines. The factory has not featured on the agenda of ‘transnational’ and ‘global’ labour history, but we suggest that it can and should contribute to that broader global project, reinvigorating labour history, not least by contributing a dimension close to workers’ everyday experience.     

Striking hard rock veins. Multinational Corporations and Miners’ Unions in Mexico and the United States, 1906-1952

ABSTRACT

This paper analyzes simultaneous strikes during the first half of the 20th century in North America. The transformation of production in copper, lead, zinc, and silver mining districts determined the formation of a working class that operated between Mexico and the United States. Therefore, the labor conflicts combined market circumstances and management-imposed homologation of work structures across firm divisions with the international coordination of miners. The paper describes the emergence, growth, and demise of a regional industrial system.     

The fate of the Assyrian minority in early independent Iraq: a test case of political violence based on rational primordialism

Analyzing ethno-national conflicts is usually not easy in that not all quantitative scientific tools are useful to the student of a conflict based on primordial elements. The burden of studying the outcome of a conflict is all the more complex given that the two conflicting groups might be at two different stages of their political development at any given time during the course of the conflict. In the case of the fate of the [Eastern Christian] Assyrian community in early independent Iraq, the political rationale for decisions taken by each party was drawn from different sociological, historical and political realms. Decisions in times of conflict and their political and historical ramifications are not always rational, since they draw upon primordial/communal considerations rather than the accurate reading of the overall true strategic scene.

The violence was an outcome of a combination of primordial differences and rational choice. The Iraqis sought to establish a new sovereign state with minimal disturbances from its Christian minority that they perceived as not belonging to the new nation. As for the Assyrians, they chose violence believing that at least some superpowers would support them. Historically, this rational decision based upon a primordial dispute turned out to be a mistake primarily because of lack of external support, weak internal cohesion of the group, and feeble leadership.     

Rejoinder to comments by Frederick Kaijage,Oswald Masebo,and Innocent Pikirayi on the keynote speech, ‘writing history: flow and blockage in the circulation of knowledge’

ABSTRACT

Rejoinder to comments by Frederick Kaijage, Oswald Masebo, and Innocent Pikirayi on the keynote speech, ‘Writing History: Flow and Blockage in the Circulation of Knowledge’     

国际知识产权保护和我国面临的挑战

在全球化中知识产权保护不断强化、中央提出建设创新型国家的大背景下,我国的知识产权保护面临着挑战和机遇。基于对世界上主要国家、地区知识产权制度与相关国际条约及其对我国的影响之考察,对各国及国际的知识产权保护中值得借鉴之处的分析,我们应当做的是:一方面利用知识产权制度业已形成的高端保护推动国民在高新技术与文化产品领域搞创造与创作这个“流”,另一方面积极促成新的知识产权制度来保护我们目前可能处优势的传统知识及生物多样化这个“源”。这样,才更有利于加快我国向“知识经济”与和谐社会发展的进程。     

论知识产权法制对“李约瑟难题”的破解

李约瑟博士提出的近代西方国家为何兴起与中国为何衰落的名的“李约瑟难题”的精神实质,在于探求东西方科技与经济发展动因的差异。知识产权法制对于“李约瑟难题”的破解具有重要的意义。东西方知识产权法制的缺失和奠立是形成和破解这一难题的一把钥匙。关注和研究“李约瑟难题”并从知识产权法制的角度进行破解,对于我国当今的经济建设和法治建设具有重要的启发意义。     

动荡与发展:民国时期民事诉讼制度述略

民国时期的民事诉讼制度建设,以清末修订的《民事诉讼律》为基础,但由于时局的发展和社会的变迁,又呈现出一种与清末不同的景观。仅就立法技术层面而言在改革的方向、进路等许多方面,当前的民事诉讼制度变革都与民国时期有着某种共通之处,因此,对民国时期民事诉讼制度发展历程的回顾和检视,有可能为当前的改革提供某些有益的启示。     

新文学史：社会文化思潮与历史变革的双重叠影

仅仅以“回归文学本体”的视野考察中国新文学史的构成 ,是难以揭示其本真面貌的 ,只有与“社会—历史批评”模式相结合 ,方可认清新文学史的个性主义、民族主义和马克思主义三大社会文化思潮与多次历史变革双重叠影的复杂结构形态。     

自然法学说中“正义”观念的历史变迁

]“正义”始终是西方自然法的最高价值追求。本文从自然法发展的古代、中世纪、近代和现代历史时期中 ,找寻蕴藏其中的正义观念及其理论思维方式 ,提出自然法的正义观在历史中走过了自然本体、自然本体之异化的上帝本体、社会本体和程序本体四个不同阶段 ,并分析说明 ,当代中国法治社会可以从这种历史变迁中汲取什么。