Drawing maps: history and geography in contemporary black British art

For contemporary black British artists, history is a recurring and significant concept in their lives. This is the imperial and colonial history of the enslavement, exploitation, and oppression of non-white populations. Geography is conceptually twinned with history. European colonial enterprises necessitated the movement of people as well as goods across oceans and between continents. Africa, Southeast Asia, and the Americas were conquered, carved up, and mapped out by European powers. This geography is a legacy for those people whose ancestors and relatives were enslaved and/or displaced. It is equally important to those people directly affected by economic and political instability in their homelands, immigration, and/or racism. Artists Yinka Shonibare, Godfried Donkor, and Lubaina Himid appropriate centuries-old images and cultural as well as racial stereotypes to question accepted historical narratives with regards to black populations. Zarina Bhimji, Sonia Boyce, and Sokari Douglas Camp are more concerned with how history impinges upon them personally.     

Britain First: The ‘Frontline Resistance’ to the Islamification of Britain

The British National Party and English Defence League forged new frontiers in British political spaces in relation to anti‐Islam, anti‐Muslim ideologies. Whereas the former sought to do so in formal political arenas, the latter did so as a street‐level movement. With the subsequent waning of both, Britain First has emerged seemingly to fill the political void they left. In many ways, Britain First combines the strategies and actions of the parties that preceded it, at both the formal and street levels. This article considers what is known about Britain First, about its history, development and its ideology, and how this is manifested in terms of its political strategies and actions. This includes such activities as standing for European elections and also undertaking ‘Christian patrols’ and mosque ‘invasions’. The article considers how Britain First, while having some similarities with the BNP and EDL, is more confrontational and militaristic and is informed by apocalyptic Christianity.     

Do party leadership contests forecast British general elections?

When assessing election forecasts, two important criteria emerge: their accuracy (precision) and lead time (distance to event). Curiously, in both 2010 and 2015 the most accurate forecasts came from models having the longest lead time—albeit at most 12 months. Can we increase the lead time further, supposing we tolerate a small decrease in accuracy? Here, we develop a model with a lead time of more than 3 years. Our Party Leadership Model relies on the votes of MPs when selecting their party leader. We assess the forecasting quality of our model with both leave-one-out cross-validation and a before-the-fact forecast of the 2019 general election. Compared to both simple forecasting methods and other scientific forecasts, our model emerges as a leading contender. This result suggests that election forecasting may benefit from developing models with longer lead times, and that party leaders may influence election outcomes more than is usually thought.     

构建我国国有企业境外直接投资法律监管的若干思考

随着我国“走出去”战略的实施和发展,国有企业进行境外直接投资已经成为我国对外投资的重要组成部分,但也出现了诸如经营状况差强人意、国有资产流失严重等问题,对其的法律监管亟待加强和完善。本文从国有企业境外直接投资法律监管的现状入手,说明和分析法律监管存在的问题,通过比较分析和借鉴其他国家企业境外直接投资的法律监管模式,提出如何加强我国国有企业境外直接投资法律监管的法律思考,包括建立符合我国国情的有限监管体制、制订《境外直接投资管理法》和重新定位行政监管机构。     

东南亚华商上市公司发展分析——以银行业为主要研究对象

一直以来,东南亚华商,尤其是东南亚5国(新加坡、马来西亚、菲律宾、泰国、印度尼西亚)的华商对世界经济的发展起到了积极的促进作用。随着经济全球化浪潮的蔓延,东南亚华商企业几经波折,自20世纪末起频繁发生的各种危机,为东南亚华商的生存和发展带来了巨大的挑战。本文在进行资料收集和整理的基础上,以银行业为主要研究对象,对东南亚华商的经营状况进行实证分析,总结了影响华人银行发展的宏观因素,并对华商企业的未来发展进行简要探讨。     

Al-Qaeda and Anarchism: A Historian's Reply to Terrorology: Response to Commentaries

The Lehi, a fringe Jewish paramilitary group created in 1940, conducted a concerted terrorist campaign against the British authorities in Palestine during and after World War II, proclaiming that its activities were undertaken in the name of national liberation. Lehi was founded and led by Avraham Stern, also known as “Yair.” Scholar, intellectual, and poet, Stern developed a fundamental ideology of national and messianic Jewish terrorism, which became the ideological basis not only for the work of the Lehi, but also for later Jewish terrorist activism. The present article examines the intellectual foundations of Lehi terrorism and how its intellectual and ideological principles influenced Lehi's most controversial activities—internal terrorism and the execution of its own members. In conclusion, the author traces the impact of Stern's intellectual legacy on later generations of Jewish terrorists.     

‘No one speaks for us’: security policy,suspected communities and the problem of voice

This article examines some of the detrimental consequences of post-9/11 counterterrorism and security policies on Muslim minority groups in the United Kingdom. Drawing on empirical data from a qualitative study conducted in the north-west of England involving young British Pakistanis, it is argued that both political discourses and specific security policies have unjustly targeted Muslims and fuelled a wider public climate of suspicion and hostility. Three focal issues raised by participants in the study are prioritised. First, we discuss the process of collective attribution through which Muslims are generically treated as a suspect community. Second, a series of experiential ‘safety gaps’ – resulting in part from the pre-emptive turn in counterterrorism regulation – are considered. Third, critical ‘speech gaps’, which have important ramifications for future policy-making, are elucidated.     

印尼华人家庭媒体使用现状分析——基于对雅加达500余名新生代华裔青少年的调查

调查发现,就印尼华人家庭而言,代际不同,对媒体的使用倾向也不相同。祖辈常用媒体依次为报纸、广播、影视、杂志和网络;父辈最常用的媒体依次为报纸、影视、杂志、广播和网络。新生代华裔青少年常用媒体依次为网络、影视、广播、杂志和报纸。要提高中国传统文化的传播效度,必须注意传播策略,重视网络与影视的作用。     

试论汉语在泰国语言政策中的地位变迁

汉语是泰国的一门重要外语,在泰国经历了自由发展、被限制打压和当前的迅速发展几个不同阶段。本文旨在梳理不同历史时期汉语在泰国语言政策中不同地位的基础上,指出汉语在泰国语言政策中的地位变化与中泰关系的亲疏程度、汉语工具价值的高低、泰国华人国家认同的变化等因素有密切联系。     

试论西方哲学中的“常识”概念

"常识"是西方哲学中的一个重要概念.它具有普遍性、直接性、明晰性的品格,其内容涉及形而上学、认识论和实践哲学的各个方面,因此成为西方哲学中被经常讨论的话题.结合对英国古典经验主义、苏格兰常识哲学和批判的常识主义等对"常识"概念的研究表明,它在西方哲学中的意义、地位和作用是十分明显的.因此,加强对"常识"概念的研究是我们对西方哲学研究中不应忽视的方面.