Mbeki's African Renaissance Vision as Reflected in isiXhosa Written Poetry: 2005–2011

IsiXhosa literary critics have not yet interrogated literature that was produced during and after the tenure of Thabo Mvuyelwa Mbeki as deputy president and president of the Republic of South Africa in order to study the impact of his African Renaissance doctrine. This article analyses poetry that was produced from 2005 to 2011. The content of the isiXhosa written poetry is profoundly influenced by the context of former President Mbeki's African Renaissance philosophy, its implementation structures and philosophy of self-confidence and self-reliance. The selected poems analysed and interpreted in this article suggest that Mbeki's legacy of the African Renaissance empowered poets to develop a narrative that advances the building of a regenerated South African nation and the African continent. Selected poetry of the period is contextualised, and the findings reveal that the poets have a dialectical relationship with historical developments of the time, and that they demonstrate acquiescence to the African Renaissance ideology, and support the operational structures created; namely African Union, Pan-African Parliament and the Vuk’uzenzele programme.     

Understanding Russia’s energy turn to China: domestic narratives and national identity priorities

This study investigates whether, as part of a broader “Asian Energy Pivot,” Russia’s energy giant Gazprom refashioned its export strategy away from Europe, and what impact such a reorientation might have on the EU–Russia gas relationship. It uses four empirical cases to emphasize the domestic movers underlying Russia’s eastward shift in energy trade, developing a constructivist theory rooted in the dynamics of Russia’s dominant public narrative and the contours of domestic politics. It argues that Russia’s national interests changed as a result of how Russian policy-makers interpreted and reacted to the stand-off with Europe, in response to what they perceived as Europe’s attempt to isolate it economically and geopolitically. Russia’s Eurasianists, who had advocated the notion of a necessary turn to the East for a long time, positioned themselves as norm entrepreneurs and their new interpretation of the preexisting material incentives shaped the future course of action.     

Oasis in the steppe: health and masculinity of Kazakhstani miners

ABSTRACT

This article studies the masculinities of Russian-speaking miners in Kazakhstan through an ethnographic study conducted in a miners’ sanatorium, a place of heightened sociality. Studies of gender in Central Asia have mostly focussed on women, and both masculinity and femininity are studied in relation to Islam and the nation-state. This article aims to make a contribution to the study of working-class masculinities in Northern Kazakhstan, arguing that labour and professional identities are important in performing masculinities. Kazakhstani miners wish to show that they are good colleagues, good drinkers, sexually capable and providers for the family. New economic pressures and deteriorating work conditions challenge the miner’s body and make it hard for miners to live up to the hegemonic masculinity.     

The dog that did not bark: the army and the emergency in India

In June 1975, Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi imposed Emergency rule, capping off a decade long process of the ‘deinstitutionalisation’ of the founding Congress party, increased social mobilisation, and political instability – factors generally considered conducive to military intervention in politics. Organisational factors encouraging military praetorianism, such as military involvement in internal security missions and the growth of ‘rival’ paramilitary institutions, accompanied this process of political decay. But the Indian military did not exploit this window of opportunity. This article offers an institutionalist explanation of the military’s political restraint based on two factors. First, institutionalised mechanisms of civilian control, forged during the critical juncture following independence, insulated the military from politics and the politicians from the military despite the weakening of the political system under which these were created. Second, military internalisation of the norm civilian supremacy, continually reinforced via professional socialisation processes, acted as an internal barrier to military role expansion.     

Uruguay’s long transitional decade and a new era of gendered activism

This article examines the nature and type of women’s activism before, during, and after Uruguay’s dictatorship, arguing that advocacy during the latter part of the country’s military rule paved the way for an increased role for women in society after democracy was restored. Focusing on the female-led movement to place the 1986 Ley de Caducidad (Law of Expiry or amnesty law) before a national referendum, it analyzes how women marshaled a gendered identity that had been effective in campaigning against the military. Through examining connections between earlier women’s movements and the 1980s, the article explores how challenging a key piece of legislation in the recently restored democratic environment ultimately forged a new era of activism for women in post-authoritarian Uruguay. The article ultimately rethinks the process of Uruguay’s transition, the continual negotiations over what is included in human rights discourse, and the importance of gendered activism in transitional societies.     

药家鑫案件的反思

药家鑫案件已渐渐地淡出了人们的视野,然而该案所折射出的教育机制的缺失、人性道德的缺失、法制环境的缺失、社会氛围的缺失,值得我们进行深刻地反思,以促使我们深挖社会的病根,检讨教育的病源,治理滋生幽暗心理的土壤,改良传染病毒的气候。非但如此,不足以保护更多的张妙,也不足以挽救更多的药家鑫。     

从当家权流变看村落社会的内聚与离散——基于对晋西南伯村生活世界的考察

传统时代妇女的依附性地位和依附性角色使得村庄以男性为中心编织了一张以血缘为纽带的家族之网。随着核心小家庭地位的提升,年轻妇女不再依附于家庭和男人,成为一支独立而有主体性的力量,妇女成为核心家庭中的当家人。在这一当家权流变过程中,妇女作为村庄的外来人角色恰恰成为冲击以内聚性及男性中心链条为特征的传统村庄,从而使村庄逐渐表现出现了离散性的特征。可以说在变革时代,妇女的外来者角色发挥着重要的牵引作用,甚至可以说是变革的原动力。     

改革开放以来党中央解决民生问题的决策与实践

改革开放以来,现代化战略的制定实施凸显了民生取向特点,中国经济的巨大发展,亦与人民生活的巨大改善紧密结合,但出现了发展中新的民生问题。党中央面对新的民生问题,在发展的指导思想上及实践中实现了若干重大转变,采取了若干重大举措,使民生问题的改善得到了实质性提升。党中央在解决民生问题上的决策与实践,主要受到中国现代化发展战略变化的影响与制约,同时也受制于演进中的不同的制度安排。     

我国电子废弃物回收处理研究——基于生产者责任延伸制度

当前,我国电子废弃物回收处理存在一些问题,为此,应结合我国企业的发展实际,尽快建立和完善以生产者责任延伸制度为切入点的电子废弃物回收与处理体系,从根本上解决电子废弃物对环境的负面影响。     

高职院校专业实践课教学与学生思想教育研究

针对高职学生在专业实践课中出现的兴趣不浓、成绩不良的现状进行分析和研究,采取两手抓的方法。一方面从学生的思想教育为出发点,在教育者与受教育者的和谐关系中引导学生热爱自己的专业,学好专业,培养学生的开拓意识。使学生有诚信品质、敬业精神和责任意识;另一方面以培养学生专业实践课学习兴趣为着落点,培养具备过硬专业技能的高素质技能人才,以适应在以后的就业中有机会不断拓展人生发展空间,既可以做能工巧匠,使之成为企业的中流砥柱,又可以随着社会经济结构的调整、市场的变化而随时随地地更换职业岗位,还可以自己开设店铺,实现自我价值,又给别人创造就业机会。