The “Somalinisation” of terrorism and counterterrorism in Kenya: the case of refoulement

Kenya’s state discourse on terrorism and counterterrorism securitises Somali refugees and refugee camps. Using the securitisation theory, a perspective of social constructivism as a theoretical framework, the article attempts to establish the relationship between the securitisation of Somali refugees and refugee camps and refoulement as a measure to counter the securitisation. The arguments raised are the speech acts of Kenya’s securitising actors expressed in the terrorism discourse present Somali refugees and refugee camps as existential threats to peace and security in the country. Consequently, their speech acts expressed in the counterterrorism discourse present non-refoulement of the refugees as an existential threat to national security so as to justify, to the targeted audience, the adoption of refoulement, a norm-violating measure, to counter the fear of the threat of terrorism from Somali refugees and refugee camps. Terrorism and counterterrorism in Kenya have, therefore, been “Somalinised”. The conclusion offers ways of preventing the “Somalinisation” of terrorism and counterterrorism in Kenya.     

Encounters with panaceas: reading flyers and posters on ‘traditional’ healing in and around Johannesburg's Central Business District

Informed largely by the Critical Discourse Analysis framework, this article analyses flyers and posters that advertise traditional/alternative healing distributed and posted respectively in and around Johannesburg's Central Business District. Paying close attention to text and context, the paper analyses the advertising of medicines and practices referred to as traditional/alternative. The advertising, which employs modern media and advertising techniques, is as complex as the multiplicity of religious, secular and corporeal interventions offered by the healers. The ubiquitous presence of flyers and the continued pasting of posters onto city structures, despite warnings by the city of Johannesburg, are an expression of resistance to city authorities. The paper posits that what may appear to be downright charlatanism by the advertisers might in fact be a viable alternative to biomedicine, especially in Johannesburg's context of high in-migration with its attendant plethora of social and health problems. Thus the healing services that the healers advertise pose a challenge to allopathic medicine, suggesting that illness needs to be understood in a broad sense.     

话语权博弈下司法判决的形成

近年来,新媒体的迅速发展为民众表达话语权提供了广阔的渠道,致使个别案件的审判被演变为“媒体审判”、“民意审判”,判决往往成为不同话语权博弈后的结果.其实,无论是媒体监督的无序失范、司法独立性价值的消弱还是民意与判决的冲突,都可归结为媒体所代表的民意话语权与相关利益主体所代表的话语权、法律阶层所代表的话语权之间的冲突.面对该困境,文章通过典型、热点案例,从话语权选择主体、话语权表达主体两方面为困境中的理性判决提供了合理性建议.     

话语建构与马克思主义大众化——以《联共(布)党史简明教程》为中心的考察

《联共(布)党史简明教程》被称为马克思列宁主义基础知识的百科全书,是20世纪30年代以来推进马克思主义大众化的经典文本之一。该文本的编撰,彰显了联共(布)为政治而党史的马克思主义大众化话语期待,其鲜明的话语艺术成为推进马克思主义基础理论及俄国革命和建设经验大众化的重要前提,而该文本独具时代特点的话语风格与话语陷阱,则为推进当代中国马克思主义大众化及其话语构建提供了有益镜鉴。     

网络虚拟社会的公安话语介入问题探究

网络虚拟社会是现代传统社会的技术延伸,但其并非法外之地。公安机关作为重要的现代社会治理主体,需要“创造性介入”这个特殊的社会场域。立足“话语”视角,运用现代传播理念和虚拟社会特有的话语体系“介入”网络社会,管理服务网络社区,在网络人才培育、传播载体整合和传播话语内容优化上进行评估、重构和再造,打造理念先进、话语亲民、载体丰富的公安网络话语机制,增强公安机关在网络社会中的存在感及网民中的话语权和公信力。     

意识形态安全视域下社会思潮的新发展态势及其批判

在新中国70多年的社会发展变革中,多样化社会思潮不断涌现,并与马克思主义意识形态产生了激烈的论争,呈现出新的发展态势:在理论演进上,从注重抽象的学术争辩转向注重现实政治诉求;在现实关切上,从宏观的社会发展道路转向微观的利益分配;在国际交互态势上,从国外思潮不断向国内思潮转化;在话语辐散上,从知识分子话语扩展到大众话语;在传播方式上,从传统媒体时代的单向度传播转向全媒体时代的多向度传播。新时代马克思主义意识形态建设要科学把握社会思潮新的发展态势,切实增强马克思主义意识形态对当代中国多样化社会思潮的凝聚力与引领力,从而保障国家意识形态安全,提升国家治理效能。     

The overweight female body in Malaysian slimming advertisements: problem and solution

This study analyses image and text to investigate the way slimming advertising exploits women’s fear of being overweight to the extent that they feel obliged to do something about their own bodies. We show how Malaysian slimming advertisements construct certain types of female body which reinforce cultural stereotypes, namely the overweight body that exceeds culturally acceptable limits of desirable body size, and the desirable and attainable slim body with no excess fat. Three sample advertisements were selected from a Malaysian English newspaper and analysed using Jewitt and Oyama’s framework to identify the way images and text are used to give specific meanings relating to the female body. The images were examined in terms of representational, interactional and compositional meanings, and the analysis provides evidence of how the extremely overweight female body is pathologised, making it the focus of critical scrutiny. The advertisements use body images to illustrate the problem of being very overweight and the desirability of being slim, and the consumption of slimming services as a quick and easy solution to the problem.     

Peasant,Patriot, Environmentalist: Sustainable Development Discourse in Havana

Private urban agricultural ventures, initially a spontaneous response to food shortages during the Special Period, soon became a state‐sponsored project, related to global notions of sustainability. This article explores the relationship between sustainability discourse and its local dimensions to reveal the role of sustainability in the reformulation of the Revolution. Urban gardeners engage with international discourses of sustainability and interact with the Cuban state's articulation of these discourses. While this process forces urban gardeners to adapt to the changing meanings of growing food, it also provides a different language through which gardeners define themselves, especially in the context of a changing relationship with the state.