Imagining Islam in Kosovo - The social construction of the Kosovar Muslim subject among European political actors

ABSTRACT

Despite being a Muslim-majority society, Kosovo increasingly securitizes practising Muslims by politicizing the ostentatiously pious among them as a threat to Europe’s security and Kosovar identity. Given the EU’s significant discursive and political power in Kosovo, this article pursues the question of how European representatives conceive of pious Kosovar Muslims, and whether this image might explain their securitization. On the basis of 24 semi-structured interviews with various European officials conducted in 2018, I argue that they predominantly imagine pious Kosovar Muslims as influenced by foreign powers through indoctrination, material incentives or appeals to identity, which does condone their securitization. However, this image is in fact shaped by local Kosovar elites who instil such conceptions in European officials because such an image helps them in the pursuit of their own political agendas. The article exposes the intricate mechanism and power relations that underlie this process of policy-relevant knowledge production.     

The global threat of race in the decomposition of struggle

ABSTRACT

Many of the struggles that emerged in the wake of the 2008 global economic crisis eventually experienced decomposition in the face of multiple internal and external threats. While movement composition and decomposition are inevitable in the natural cycle of popular struggles, this article argues that what David Theo Goldberg has termed “the threat of race” constituted one important factor that brought about the eventual demise of these popular mobilizations. By drawing on the cases of US Occupy Wall Street, European anti-austerity protests, and South African struggles against xenophobia, it points to global continuity in anti-blackness across disparate geographies. As these same regions currently confront the threat of righting authoritarianism, this article argues we must also take a self-reflexive look at the seeds of reaction embedded in otherwise progressive and left-wing formations in order to achieve a more sobering account of our present predicament.     

俄欧经贸合作的动因、特点及发展趋势

俄罗斯与欧盟开展与对方的经贸合作的目的不尽相同,然而十余年来,俄欧经贸合作全面迅速发展,成效十分显著,尤其在能源领域合作成果更是令世人瞩目。展望未来俄欧经贸合作的发展趋势,短期内仍将维持以能源合作为主的稳定发展态势,中长期有可能实现建立“统一经济空间”的战略目标。     

International Law Enforcement Co-operation: A Critical Assessment

Almost all European countries are member countries of Interpol, the World Customs Organisation and the United Nations. Some of them are Benelux and Schengen countries, and 15 are EU Member States. With this in mind, Europe can be considered, in policing terms, as being made up of a series of concentric and overlapping circles. The map shows overlapping institutional sources, territorial remits, functional specialisations and strategic emphasis. This article focuses on recent developments in European police co-operation, as well as judicial co-operation. International law enforcement co-operation is more and more influenced by basic political developments. Based on a rather complex, and sometimes confusing patchwork of institutions, there is a growing influence of intergovernmental based new developments. In particular prevention and combating organised crime are the main reasons for new and more professional ways of improved horizontal co-operation.     

Party expenditure and electoral prospects: a national level analysis of Britain

The effectiveness of campaign spending is a hotly contested issue. Much of that debate concentrates upon predetermined or assumed campaign periods. Yet, in a party and electoral system such as Britain, parties are continually campaigning. Party expenditure may therefore have a constant and cumulative effect. This article examines whether increased party spending at the national level is electorally significant. It analyses annual data from 1959 to 1994 and concludes that there is insufficient consistent evidence wholly to support this proposition.     

浅谈消防部队建立新型经费保障机制的途径

目前,消防经费严重不足与经济、社会高速发展的矛盾,已成为制约消防部队发展的关键问题。为此,应积极探索建立消防部队新型经费保障机制的途径。     

破解农民融资难题——农作物与农产品抵押

农作物与农产品抵押为农民的融资难题提供了一个可行的解决方案。农作物抵押是不动产抵押,应由林木主管部门或者公证机构办理抵押登记。农产品既可以设定固定抵押也可以设定浮动抵押。然而,根据《物权法》的规定,只有农业生产经营者可以设定农产品浮动抵押,但农业生产经营者的概念并不明确,而且作为抵押物的农产品的范围也有待进一步廓清。与此同时,我们还需要解决好抵押权竞合的问题。     

Transatlantic Economic Relations in a Changing Global Political Economy: Achieving Togetherness but Missing the Bus?

This article focuses on the changing context for transatlantic relations within the global political economy. The first part of the article identifies key areas of structural change in the GPE and in particular the potentially revolutionary shifts caused by global instability and the emergence of new economic powers. The argument then explores changing patterns of economic relations between the EU and the US, within a general framework of continuity created by the coexistence of competition and convergence. These contextual factors are then related to patterns of Atlanticism and transatlanticism, to questions of values and identities in the GPE and to the possibility of an EU–US 'grand strategy' for the changing GPE. The conclusion argues that although there is perhaps more secure ground for a sustainable EU–US 'compact' than previously, the EU and the US may have 'missed the bus' in terms of jointly shaping the future of the global economy.     

金融诈骗罪立法体系之重构

我国刑法理论通说认为，金融诈骗罪的主要客体是金融秩序，但刑法典却将本类罪规定为结果犯、目的犯。这种构成形态与立法趣旨的悖反，源于人们对金融诈骗罪法益的模糊认识。金融诈骗罪属于诈骗罪的一种特殊形态，其主要客体应是公私财产权。我国刑法应当调整本类罪的体系，将其置于诈骗罪之下。     

Strategic Standardization in Europe: A Public Choice Perspective

In October 1990, the EC Commission presented a Green Paper in which it outlined a New Approach to European standardization. In particular, standardization was interpreted as a means of furthering the completion of the Internal Market. This paper discusses the impact of the modifications to the process of standard setting, as they have been proposed by the Commission, with respect to the incentives and goals of the major players in the European standardization game, i.e., national and European standardization bodies, industry and the EC Commission. Selected economic models of standardization are applied to investigate the policy impact of the New Approach.