The ‘White Working class’ in South Africa

In general, the analysis of classes in the literature on South Africa beginsfrom the political and ideological levels and not from the concept of the mode of production. The effect of this is to obscure the nature of the class structure and changes in it and leads to a neglect of shifts in class alliances in the class struggle. In this paper, concepts of the ‘white working class’ commonly found in the literature are critically analysed and an alternative conceptualization which begins from the mode of production is outlined. The paper ends with a brief analysis of changes in the relationship between the white working class and the state.     

Sage Advice

正Living in an age when world leadership seems to increasingly operate with an absence of conscience,the wisdom of the wise sage,Confucius,provides a foundation of values that is well worth the study.The book,Confucius From the Heart,written by Professor yu Dan and published in 2009 by Zhonghua Book Co.,is a remarkable presentation of how the words of the ancient sage can serve as a buoy for those lost at sea in a world of tumultuous decision-making.     

权力修辞向法律话语的转变——展开法治思维与实施法治方式的前提

在人们日常思维和言语表达中，权力修辞占据主导地位。权力场成了影响决策的最主要因素，这既不符合法治的原则要求，也难以成就管理国家与社会的法治方式。从思维方式决定行为方式的角度看，权力修辞向法律话语的转变是展开法治建设的思想条件。权力修辞与政法思维相匹配，重点维护的是管理秩序；法律话语与法治思维相适应，要限制权力，捍卫权利，是与法治建设相适应的法治意识形态，维护的是法律秩序。法律话语与权力修辞的冲突是我国法治建设中的重要问题，从西方法治的经验和中国法治建设的需求看，法律话语能否平衡权力修辞关系到中国法治建设的成败。     

依托学生党建增强高校主流意识形态话语权的路径思考

本文分析了高校主流意识形态话语权面临的挑战以及高校主流意识形态建设中存在的问题,阐释了学生党建与高校主流意识形态话语权二者之间的关系,在此基础上提出应从筑牢信仰之基、提升话语说服力、增强主流话语队伍战斗力、掌握网络空间话语权等方面入手,依托学生党建牢牢掌握高校主流意识形态的话语权。     

Political cartoons as carnivalesque: a multimodal discourse analysis of Argentina’s Humor Registrado magazine

Political cartoons, although generally neglected by academic criticism, are often one of the only forms of socio-political critique permitted during authoritarian rule (Barajas, Rafael. 2000. “The Transformative Power of art: Mexico’s Combat Cartoonists.” NACLA Report on the Americas, 3: 6–41). This paper explores the reasons behind this, reading the genre as a form of Bakhtin’s carnivalesque, a participatory space of oppositional discourse outside the official version with which it has an “ambivalent” relationship (Bakhtin, Mikhael. 1984. Rabelais and His World (Trans Iswolsky H). Bloomington: Indiana University Press) and can be allowed to circulate as a “safety valve” (Holquist, Michael. 1984. “Prologue.” In Rabelais and his World, edited by M. Bakhtin, xiii–xxiii. Bloomington: Indiana University Press) of controlled protest. Drawing on tools of Multimodal Discourse Analysis, Social Semiotics (Kress, Gunther, and Theo Van Leeuwen. 1996. Reading Images: The Grammar of Visual Design. New York: Routledge) and Semiology (Barthes, Roland. 1968. Elements of Semiology. New York: Hill and Wang) for methodological purposes, this study investigates this hypothesis through the political cartoons of the covers of satirical fortnightly publication Humor Registrado during the final year of Argentina’s last dictatorship, 1982–1983. The magazine’s role in challenging the dictatorship is explored through an analysis of its representations of key social actors and events during Argentina’s difficult period of transition from dictatorship to democracy following defeat in the 1982 Malvinas/Falklands War.     

The resemioticisation of the socio-cultural construct of Nowruz festival in Tehran’s “Fatemi Spring” billboards

This study explores how the socio-cultural aspects of Nowruz are resemiotised to represent, orient and organize ideological constructs in Tehran’s “Fatemi Spring” billboards. These billboards are semiotic constructs with mixed messages about the coincidence of the Iranian new year festival of Nowruz at the beginning of spring and the Shia religious mourning on the occasion of the passing away of the holy prophet’s daughter Fateme, known as the Fatemiye period. Based on an integrated social semiotics approach, the study draws on multimodal analysis to elucidate the way semiotic resources are used for ideological transition within this discursive context. Quantitative enquiry methods are applied to illuminate the meaning construction processes shaped by the research corpus. The results show that in the generic discourse of Fatemi Spring billboards, the elements of Fatemiye mourning that belong to Shia beliefs are mostly preferred and the natural elements of spring are replaced by the Nowruz celebration rituals. Thus, people in power (billboard designers) appear to apply these ideological structures as a means to exercise discursive control over Tehran citizens.     

地方官员表态话语及其行为匹配——一个初步研究框架

官员表态话语作为展现政治倾向的方式,是一种常见但被忽略的学术议题。尝试厘清地方官员表态话语体系建构逻辑,并对照其表态话语与行为的匹配性。研究发现,向上表态是单一制国家地方官员权力遵从的必然方向,针对制度弹性的强弱可以选择贯彻执行型、发展协调型、竞争表功型等三种表态形式,地方官员基于成本收益的考量会选择完全匹配、阳奉阴违、部分匹配等不同的行为匹配方式。因此,可以从合理把握公共政策刚性与弹性的度、提升公共政策科学化水平、细化官员表态话语的语义解读、动态掌握官员表态之后的行为轨迹、实现“有责可问”向“有责必问”的转变等方面提升其言行匹配度。     

Environmental Policies and The Reproduction of Business as Usual: How Does It Work?

This paper aims to advance knowledge about corporate environmentalism by using new concepts and methods. We broaden the concept of the firm as “differentiated composite actor” by including not only managers but workers and unionists as actors. We descend into the “hidden abode of production” using Lefebvre’s concept of “everyday life” to explore the barriers environmental policies experience in this sphere. We base our explorations on life-history interviews to understand how the imaginaries of production are embedded in people’s self-conceptions. We identify seven barriers to the implementation of environmental practices: deficient regulations, collusion between controller and controlled, de-prioritisation, hierarchism, compartmentalisation, specialisation, and social unsustainability. A “necessity discourse,” legitimating the priority of efficiency and product quality over environmental sustainability, subjugates alternative sustainable practices. The paper concludes with a discussion of the results in the light of previous investigations, suggesting that the concept of the everyday could enrich future research.     

Legitimising male grooming through packaging discourse: a linguistic analysis

While packaging is a common marketing subject, this illustration paper provides an alternative perspective through the linguistic examination of packaging as discourse, focusing on male grooming, masculinity and metrosexuality. Male grooming is often perceived as trespassing into feminine space and creating ambiguity in gender borders. This study aims to explore how packaging designers negotiate masculinity, in order to persuade men to accept grooming products through social interactions within the packaging of L'Oréal Men Expert. Employing Scollon's mediated discourse analysis and incorporating the Barthesian order of signification, the study analyses how different social actions within the packaging discourse are mediated by multimodal features. The findings reveal five negotiating strategies, i.e. constructing a hegemonic masculine image; negotiating (a masculinised) metrosexuality; empowering men; giving men a logical reason to groom; and a different portrayal of skincare products. The key aim of this paper is to illustrate the differences between marketing and linguistics and propose possible collaboration.     

Mechanisms for popular participation and discursive constructions of citizenship

In the past decade, Latin America has witnessed the emergence of a political discourse that links popular participation to citizenship accompanied by an explosion of participatory mechanisms. Yet there is little qualitative research that looks at how participatory experiences affect people's perceptions of their role as citizens or to what extent the discourse transmitted through these institutions encourages participation or compliance. This article examines conceptions of citizenship among individuals who engage in participatory mechanisms in Venezuela, Ecuador and Chile. Using discourse analysis, it finds that participants in Venezuela and Ecuador have developed a ‘radical’ conception of active citizenship that differs from the liberal interpretation in Chile. Regardless of the preferred model, however, state discourse establishes parameters around citizenship. Furthermore, the discursive repertoires of citizen participants align with those produced by state institutions, suggesting that participatory mechanisms act to socialize people into participating in ‘legitimate’ and acceptable ways.