Recent Developments to British Multicultural Theory,Policy and Practice: The Case of British Muslims

Since the early 1970s, there have been highly sophisticated arguments and conceptual discussions put forward in relation to how Western liberal democracies might wish to manage their diverse ethnic minority populations. It is apparent, however, that in the current climate, the important principles of unity and diversity are insufficient to challenge differing forms of ethnic, racial, and religious inequality. This paper argues that because of its underlying assumptions and modus operandi in the post-September 11 climate, British multiculturalism has been ineffective, even supporting some commentators' suggestions of a return to assimilationism. There is a new era in post-September 11 political hegemony, economic determinism and structural and cultural racisms, with European government rhetoric and public policy almost exclusively aimed at Muslims—whether as existing citizens or as part of a process of limiting immigration (which has tended to be from mainly Eastern European, North African, and Middle Eastern sending regions and nations). The example of New Labour and how it has attempted to deal with multiculturalism in Britain is a case in point. The discussion explores the changing concept of multiculturalism with special reference to British Muslims and debates that emerge in relation to identity, nation and civil society. It is argued that the experience and treatment of British Muslims is important to explore and appreciate in the current climate as it provides a test case for the future of (a) British multiculturalism and (b) British Muslims in society per se.     

Institutions and Economic Performance: The Use and Abuse of Culture in New Institutional Economics

Important research programs within New Institutional Economics advance culturalist arguments to explain failures of economic development. Focusing on the work of Douglass C. North and Avner Greif, this article argues that such arguments rely on an essentialist conception of culture that is both historically inaccurate and analytically misleading. Greif’s work in particular rests on a selective use of empirical data that ultimately distorts the deductive models that are at the core of his work. As a result, both scholars use culture to account for outcomes that are more adequately explained as the product of social conflict and political struggles—struggles in which culture plays a far more contingent and destabilizing role than the one they attribute to it. What is needed, I argue, is to link arguments about the persistence of inefficient institutions with a sociologically informed conception of culture as an ensemble of resources that enhance rather than constrain the scope of individual agency. To come to terms with the effects of culture on institutional formation and change it is necessary to replace the essentialism articulated by North and Greif with a strategic-instrumentalist view in which culture is compatible with a wide spectrum of economic behaviors, individual actions, and thus institutional trajectories.

试论中日关系的新向度——以前首相福田康夫对中外交遗产为中心

近年来,从小泉、安倍、再到福田,日本政府都非常重视构成两国关系之潜流的精神和价值理念领域。特别是前首相福田转变了小泉和安倍的"价值本位"外交方向,并从"回归古典"着手,力图通过重构中日两国的精神、价值大厦,使中日关系不仅仅是一种利益、利害关系的存在,而是建立在双方共同理解、追求并能够互相接受的价值阈值的基础之上。这样,中日关系才可能从根本上克服其脆弱性的一面,从而走得更远。而中日两国在第四个政治文件中就此所达成的共识,即为实现这一目标的"新向度"。无疑这是前首相福田对中外交的重要遗产。     

比较法学与轴心文明——兼评帕特里克·格伦《世界法律传统》

近年来国际范围内的比较法学研究,开始尝试在传统的"法系"范式之外,以"法律文化"和"法律传统"作为新的研究概念与范畴,但是究其实质,仍未摆脱西方中心主义的窠臼,并未形成比较法学研究的范式突破,同时还存在缺乏历史性的维度和全球化的视野之问题.在这个去西方中心主义和全球文明转型的时代,应当将轴心文明的概念和思想嵌入比较法学...     

从旭普林公司案看我国法院对国际商事仲裁的监督

运用国际商事仲裁的一般理论和国际商事仲裁立法与实践,结合我国法院就国际商会国际仲裁院仲裁庭根据该院仲裁规则就德国旭普林公司案在我国上海作出的仲裁裁决所实施的司法监督,探讨了国际商事仲裁裁决与涉外裁决、外国裁决和《纽约公约》项下的非本国裁决之间的联系与区别。由此认为本案项下的裁决,既不是我国裁决,也不是外国裁决,而是《纽约公约》项下的非内(本)国裁决。     

新思想库与奥巴马政府的亚洲政策决策——以新美国安全研究中心为例

在美国对外政策决策体系中,思想库在政策理念创新、人才储备、打造政策辩论平台以及教育和引导公众等方面具有非凡的作用。新近兴起的新美国安全研究中心对奥巴马政府的对外政策影响巨大。该中心的亚洲政策研究强调务实的态度,注重美国对亚洲事务的重新"参与",倡导强化和升级美国在亚洲的联盟关系,推动美国积极介入地区多边制度,其政策建议通过"旋转门制度"等对当前美国的亚洲政策决策产生了深刻影响。     

Commentary

Abstract

Women prisoners make up a small percentage of the prison population, yet they are the fastest growing population in prison, especially among women of color. Many of these women are typically young, poor, and uneducated mothers, and they often encounter an assortment of social and health problems while incarcerated. This commentary examines some of the issues that predispose women of color to commit crimes and the challenges they face in the New York State prison system.     

观念认同与地区秩序建构——兼谈中国新安全观在建构东亚秩序中的作用

观念认同对地区秩序建构有着重要意义。观念认同建构行为体的身份和利益,进而改变或影响行为体的行为,在地区秩序建构中起到了"路线图"和"粘合剂"的作用。地区行为体之间的观念认同决定了它们互动的形式和态度,界定了地区秩序的自我属性,框定了战后地区秩序的建构原则,因而成为建构地区秩序的重要因素之一。中国首倡的新安全观与东盟主张的地区规范产生了积极互动,推动东亚观念结构由洛克文化向康德文化演进。     

新精神活性物质检验鉴定面临的挑战和对策

新精神活性物质更新快,种类繁多,缺乏国际条约的监管,列入联合国管控目录困难,加之一些国家和国际社会对大麻等毒品管控降低,给我国在新精神活性物质类毒品的监管带来困难.具有成瘾性和社会危害性的新精神活性物质才能成为列管对象,毒物分析技术人员在列管程序中扮演极为重要的角色.我国对新精神活性物质的监管法规规定了相关列管程序,毒...     

社会主义新农村建设中的社会治安问题研究之一和谐社会建设中的新农村道德建设

和谐社会建设中的新农村建设首先是道德建设。要进行新农村的道德建设,就必须对我国的传统道德进行有效的梳理。国家在对农村进行物质文明建设的同时,更要加大精神文明建设的力度,真正实现自然、人和人类社会的共同、健康的发展。加强新农村的道德建设对传承我国延续几千年的道德文明,摒弃落后的、不健康的东西,重构社会主义的新型道德价值观,稳定社会治安意义重大。