Autonomy,Reflexivity, Tragedy: Notions of Democracy in Camus and Castoriadis

Abstract

This paper looks at two 20th century theories of tragedy: those of Cornelius Castoriadis and Albert Camus. The theories that each proffer of this ancient cultural form are striking. Against more standard views, both theorists stress that tragedy is a cultural form that has only arisen historically in cultures whose forms of religious thought have been laid open to question. In this way, both argue that tragedy is an important democratic cultural form, which stages the confrontation between a no longer unquestionable divine order, and human autonomy. The intent of the paper, from the start, is a political one. It wants to place Camus alongside Castoriadis as a ‘post-Marxist’ thinker, who belongs meaningfully to what Dick Howard has called ‘the Marxian legacy’. More than this, it aims to do this by staging Camus' theorisation of tragedy, with Castoriadis', as a powerful riposte to the conservative criticism of democracy as a modern political form, that is, that it cannot muster sacral cultural forms forceful enough to meaningfully unite people beneath its banner.     

我国开征遗产税的若干问题探析

在我国,随着国民经济的持续快速发展,居民的个人资产已经到达了一定的规模,开征遗产税已是势在必行。本文首先分析了我国开征遗产税的价值目标,认为它主要包括调节社会分配不公,防止贫富分化过大;弥补个人所得税,完善财产税制;维护国家主权利益,促进国际间平等互利的交往。对我国开征遗产税亟待确立或完善的个人财产申报、登记制度,个人财产评估制度和财产法律制度等相关基础或配套制度予以了深入地探讨。着重提出了我国遗产税立法中的一些具体规定的设想。     

试论对西方道德文化遗产的批判和继承

西方道德文化遗产的精华与糟粕糅合在一起,瑕瑜互见,良莠混杂。批判地继承西方道德文化遗产,不仅是人的全面发展、社会进步的要求,更是我国社会主义市场经济的客观要求。在构建社会主义道德规范体系时,应正确对待西方道德文化遗产,取其精华,去其糟粕,并促使其向现代转换。     

Protectionism versus Reformism: The Battle for Taukei Ascendancy in Fiji’s 2014 General Election

Abstract

Discussion of intra-communal discourse in Fiji has often been overshadowed by the focus on inter-communal tension. Although the two are linked in dynamic ways, it is important to have an insight into some of the fundamental ideological schisms that have shaped inter-communal politics because they do shape the form and trajectory of national politics in a significant way. This was so during the 2014 election when the two leading political parties, FijiFirst and the Social Democratic Liberal Party (SODELPA), put in significant resources and effort into mobilising Taukei (indigenous Fijian) votes. The differences between the two parties represented the two sides of the Taukei political divide. FijiFirst pushed for fundamental reform and transformation of the Taukei society whereas SODELPA was protective of neo-traditional institutions and values, and the collision between these divergent ideological stances was a central political battle ground in the election.     

The Political Economy of Fiji: Past,Present, and Prospects

Abstract

The present in terms of the level of economic development in Fiji can be explained by the past, and particularly the distribution of political power and resources some 140 years ago. The prominent role of the traditional chiefs, the Methodist Church, and ethnicity in the political economy of Fiji dates back to the earliest days of colonisation with ramifications for the coups of the past, the politics of the present, and the prospects for economic development. A spike in emigration of Indo-Fijians since the first coup d’état of 1987 is rapidly changing the ethnic composition of the population and with it the political economy of Fiji. The fourth constitution (in four decades) promulgated in 2013 is an attempt to break free from divisive politics of the past. If successful, then the prospects for a peaceful and prosperous Fiji are healthy.     

Democracy Without Parties? Italy After Berlusconi

This article looks at the legacy of ‘Berlusconism’ for Italian politics. On the right, we identify a process of fragmentation. As a result of the personalised leadership of Silvio Berlusconi, where loyalties and ties were to il cavaliere as an individual rather than to a party or a political tradition, there is little by way of legacy on the right. Surprisingly, we find that Berlusconi's greatest legacy lies on the left of Italian politics, in the figure of Matteo Renzi. In his savvy manipulation of the media and in the careful construction of his own image, accompanied by a non‐ideological set of political slogans, Renzi has gone even further than Berlusconi. As a result, he may be the one to final bury Italian ‘party government’ and all its associated traditions and ideals.     

Brexit Means Brexit—or Does It? The Legacy of Theresa May's Discursive Treatment of Brexit

With the looming reality of Brexit drawing closer, it is the intention of this article to explore Theresa May's post‐referendum communicative behaviour on Brexit—the very issue that came to define her premiership agenda—and uncover what legacy it has left behind. Building upon, extending and updating the emerging literature on May's discourse, the inquiry helps us understand how May acted through language in order to influence and change other people's attitudes towards and ways of looking at Brexit. The article argues that there are at least seven ways, closely interrelated and feeding into each other, in which her discursive construction of Brexit has left a somewhat bitter legacy, contributing to the Brexit political paralysis and inspiring substantial levels of confusion and exasperation, both within the UK and abroad.     

论死亡保险金的非遗产化处理——基于对《保险法》第四十二条第一款的分析

我国《保险法》第42条第1款规定,死亡保险金在无指定受益人的情形下作为被保险人的遗产,由保险人依照继承法的规定履行给付保险金的义务.该规定混淆了死亡保险金与遗产,受益权与继承权,以及保险关系与继承关系.死亡保险金不能成为被保险人的遗产,《保险法》第42条第1款应当按照保险金的本来属性进行修改.保险法应当建立法定受益人制度,以解决无指定受益人情形下保险金的给付问题.     

The Backbone Structure of Audience Networks: A New Approach to Comparing Online News Consumption Across Countries

Measures of audience overlap between news sources give us information on the diversity of people’s media diets and the similarity of news outlets in terms of the audiences they share. This provides a way of addressing key questions like whether audiences are increasingly fragmented. In this article, we use audience overlap estimates to build networks that we then analyze to extract the backbone—that is, the overlapping ties that are statistically significant. We argue that the analysis of this backbone structure offers metrics that can be used to compare news consumption patterns across countries, between groups, and over time. Our analytical approach offers a new way of understanding audience structures that can enable more comparative research and, thus, more empirically grounded theoretical understandings of audience behavior in an increasingly digital media environment.     

Legacy Contaminants of Emerging Concern: Lead (Pb), Flint (MI), and Human Health

Abstract

As a heavy metal industrially mined for millenia, lead (Pb) is a legacy contaminant. It is also a contaminant of emerging concern because of its persistence, toxicity, and recent discovery of its resurgence in drinking water serving homes and schools, recently and most notoriously in Flint, Michigan. Concern about lead, however, has reemerged beyond Flint, exemplifying adoption of bad science policy despite availability of relevant good science. Much is known about lead toxicity, and profiled here. Whereas adults chronically exposed to lead may experience peripheral neuropathy, infants and children are more susceptible. They constitute sensitive subpopulations because their blood-brain barriers are immature, making them susceptible to central nervous system effects, most notably reduced IQ, when lead penetrates to developing brains. Failure to protect disadvantaged populations in Flint and beyond despite availability of proven science and inexpensive technology also exemplifies instances of environmental injustice. Emerging concern about lead thus illustrates failure of social as well as science policy. A critical lesson to be learned is that vigilance must be maintained, as knowledge about lead exposure and toxic effects provided by science does not automatically result in consistent and evenhanded legal and regulatory protection provided by government.