‘Cometh the Hour,Cometh the Dave’: How Far is the Conservative Party's Revival All Down to David Cameron?

While one can overstate the extent to which the Conservative party has changed since 2005, especially in the light of its response to the recession, the upturn in its electoral prospects is undeniable. Not surprisingly, the Conservative leader, David Cameron, is widely credited with turning around his party's fortunes. In fact, he started with several advantages over his predecessors: New Labour was well past its prime; the economy was running into trouble; and an increasingly desperate Conservative party was more willing to listen to the message that it needed to modernise and moderate. That said, Cameron has been crucial. His communication skills are unparalleled. Early success bought him time and 'permission to be heard'. Most important though, has been his determination-despite media criticism-to stick with a staged strategy focused on conveying change and a move to the centre ground while at the same time reassuring and dividing the Tory right.     

The Future of Conservatism*

British Conservatism embodies certain basic, though not always compatible, tenets of belief. They have underpinned the Conservative Party, which has been the most successful political party in the history of western Europe. The party was the ‘in’ party in British politics in the 20th Century; the reasons for that success shifted in the 21st century to it principal opponent party. Attempts by Conservative leaders in the first two parliaments of opposition constituted quick‐fix and ultimately doomed approaches to restoring electoral dominance. The party under David Cameron has shifted to a long‐term, grounded approach, learning the lessons of earlier periods of opposition. Though the process remains incomplete, the Conservative Party is placed for the first time in the 21st century to return to being a party of governance.     

Popular Discourses on the Neurotypical Woman: Conformity,Authority and Post-War Femininities

Commentary on Asperger's Syndrome both within and outside of the neurodiversity movement relies heavily on the dichotomy between the socially skilled neurotypical or normal mind and the socially inept, but possibly brilliant, autistic other, who is usually male. These discourses often position neurotypicals—particularly neurotypical women—as an oppressive social force that hinders the individuality of men with Asperger's Syndrome as they impose compulsory sociality—the normative behavior associated with ‘social skills’ or the ability to understand and conform to the dominant behaviors and attitudes. At the same time, many women who have been diagnosed with high-functioning autism also regard neurotypical women as arbiters of conformity who gain cultural authority by imposing dominant norms and values. The popular construction of the neurotypical woman is based on long-standing gender stereotypes rooted in post-war discourses about normative femininity. More recently, difference feminism has revived these generalizations by suggesting that women think and act according to a feminine epistemology based on feeling rather than reason. Both the neurodiversity movement and the larger cultural mainstream continue to promote retrograde forms of female power based on a distortion of the empathetic and relational qualities commonly associated with women.     

Early post-war Holocaust knowledge and the search for Europe’s missing Jews

ABSTRACT

Lambertz discusses the post-war failure to trace nearly all missing Jews who had been trapped in Europe during the war, which underlines the extent of Nazi violence. Missing person enquiries provide evidence for how Jewish survivors, refugees and immigrants across the globe understood what had happened during the Nazi era. The correspondence arriving in post-war Jewish community offices across Germany in the late 1940s reveals highly fragmentary knowledge of wartime events, both on the part of far-flung former community members and the officials who attempted to assist them.     

The Progressive Dilemma Revisited

In his book of the same title, David Marquand identified the progressive dilemma faced by many intellectuals since the beginning of the twentieth century as a question of whether it was better to work through a political party or through civil society to achieve reform. This dilemma was sharpened by the emergence of the Labour party as the main challenger to the Conservatives, because the party was so closely identified with the defence of a particular interest. This hindered the creation of the kind of broad electoral coalition that could win general elections. Throughout most of its history, Labour has failed to realise its promise and sustain reforming governments. In this article, the history of the Labour party over the past hundred years is outlined, in particular the three cycles 1931–51, 1951–79 and 1979–2010 and the divisions and recriminations that have followed each period in government. The current predicament of the party is then briefly assessed.     

大卫·哈维空间视域中的资本批判及其启示

在资本主义城市问题突显的现实背景以及城市地理学和马克思主义双重理论背景下,大卫·哈维试图将马克思主义理论引入空间分析,形成了空间视域的资本批判理论。尽管哈维对马克思主义缺乏空间维度这一说法颇有欠缺,但他从资本积累的维度阐述了城市物质景观变迁和阶级关系再生产的新特征。哈维将资本批判引入空间理论的成果继承了马克思主义分析方法,丰富了马克思主义的内容,并为城市空间理论提供了新思路,同时也为中国解决城市问题提供了一种启示。     

Little Swans with Luxette and Loved Boy Pudding: Changing Fashions in Cookery Books

Cookery books are far from simple things: alongside the recipes we may find narrative, memoir, science, history, politics, travelogue and anthropology. The cookery book also reveals in a profoundly naked form the anxieties and paranoias of its precise historical moment. So the glamorous cookery books of the years between the wars try to persuade the newly servantless middle-class woman that the cooking she must now do herself is a creative and fashionable activity. And the postwar British, sick of the limited stodge of their still-rationed diet, clutched Elizabeth David to their collective bosom, unable to taste her pungent dishes, but in thrall to the sun-strewn fantasy of the good life her books offered. From Mrs Beeton, offering the mid-Victorian mistress of the house the instructions and routines she needed to hide the mechanisms of the domestic machine, to the potent contemporary fantasy of the Mediterranean peasant and his fabulously healthy lifestyle, Humble interrogates the cookery books of the last 150 years, asking what they can tell us about how changing attitudes to class, gender and domesticity intersect with the culture of food.     

Safe as Houses? Conservative Social Policy,Public Opinion and Parliament

Social policy is of key importance to contemporary society, accounting for two thirds of public expenditure and, through provision such as the NHS, pensions, benefits, schools, universities and social care, touching on the lives of much of the population on a daily basis. It has also been one of the areas where the Conservative party have sought to change their image, and to some extent policies, under David Cameron. Drawing upon a range of evidence, including interviews with more than ten per cent of the House of Commons and the House of Lords, this article examines the potential challenges for a Conservative government of either stance, focusing on the extent of possible support for the Conservatives' approach to social policy amongst three key groups: the public, MPs, and members of the House of Lords.     

Rashomon in Jerusalem: Mapping the Israeli Negotiators' Positions on the Israeli–Palestinian Peace Process, 1993–2001

To understand the complexities and dilemmas of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict this paper maps the divergent Israeli positions along the route of the "Oslo" peace process of 1993–2001, including the negotiations at Camp David (July 2000), and Taba (January 2001). This paper is based upon a qualitative content analysis of 20 in-depth interviews conducted in 2002 and 2003 at the Leonard Davis Institute for International Relations at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem with a broad range of Israeli negotiators, including senior politicians, foreign ministry officials, senior military officers, former members of the security services, and political aides. This paper tackles the question of how Israelis who were directly involved in the peace process now evaluate it, offering a portrait of how sharply at odds were the various perceptions of what happened and who was responsible for the ultimate failure.     

菲尔德及其《纽约民法典草案》——一个半世纪后再论法典编纂之是非

一个半世纪前,在普通法背景下的美国纽约州,菲尔德提出法典编纂计划并于1862年制定了<纽约民法典草案>,该计划遭到了以卡特为代表的学者强烈反对,双方就是否要进行民法典编纂展开大战,并最终于1888年以该草案被纽约州议会否定而终结.该法典草案分为人、财产、债和一般规定四编,是用大陆法系的组织法律材料的方法整合普通法制度的一次尝试,在法典的宏观结构和具体制度上都具有一些特色.虽然它最终在原产地遭到了失败,但对美国其他一些州甚至是国外的法典编纂产生了一定的影响.现在,我们能够对该次法典编纂之是非做出我们正确的评价.