Embracing death: the Western left and the Iranian revolution, 1978–83

The Iranian revolution of 1978–83 was a disaster for Iranian leftists, who, having worked for the overthrow of the Shah, soon found themselves being persecuted by the hard-line followers of the Ayatollah Khomeini. This paper looks at the response of Western leftists to the unfolding of the revolution, considering, first, to what extent Marxist and class-based analyses helped explain the revolution and, second, why so many Western leftist groups and individuals defended the Khomeini faction even as it moved against secular leftists and liberals. It concludes that an uncritical identification with Khomeini's declared ‘anti-imperialism’ distorted the views of those who would ordinarily have opposed his regime on class grounds, and that such a misreading was aided by an inadequate distinction between bourgeois democracy and dictatorship.     

Testing for linguistic injustice: territoriality and pluralism

This article develops a linguistic injustice test. Language policy measures passing the test conflict with the normative ideal of equal language recognition. The first part of the test checks for external restrictions – language policies that grant more recognition to one language group than to another. The second part of the test checks for internal restrictions – language policies that grant more recognition to some members of a language group than to other members of the same group. The article then applies the linguistic injustice test to two models of linguistic justice: linguistic territoriality and linguistic pluralism. It is argued that real-life cases of linguistic territoriality tend to pass the test. It is argued that instantiations of linguistic pluralism tend to fail the test.     

汉语字母词存在的合理性

《现代汉语字典》收录西文字母词在学界引起激烈争论。正方的观点是服务性是字典的一个主要功能,通过借形译法字母词已成为汉字的一部分。反方的观点是字典收录西文字母词将严重影响汉字的纯洁性和民族性。本文从概念、范畴、范围、层次、等级、程度和动态等维度以及它们之间的密切关系着眼,从《现代汉语字典》收录字母词的合理性、语言经济原则、汉字的纯洁性和民族性等方面,论证汉语字母词存在的合理性。     

索绪尔符号观再评价

语言符号的任意性是贯穿索绪尔语言符号学思想的一条重要原则.任意性理论的提出,并不纯粹是索绪尔本人对符号本质问题深刻反思的结果,而很大程度上得益于对其他许多非语言符号的比较.这是划分两类不同符号系统的一条重要标准.但是,索绪尔过分强调能指的形式侧面在符号结合体中的作用,相反对待号的能指侧面在物质质料构成上的特征,以及这些特征如何有助于区别开不同的符号体系这一问题,却注意不够.符号的解释主体对符号形态的认同,除了符号的所指功能外,实际上对符号的能指侧面的物质质料特征有着很大程度的偏重.这也是符号学的代码理论所要研究的重大问题.     

A semiotic study of regional branding reflected in the slogans of Korean regions

The purpose of the present analyses of regional slogans is to provide a semiotic perspective for understanding the symbolic communication systems involved in the construction of Korean regional governments. This study attempts to evaluate the slogans in terms of the semantic and morphological aspects of the texts. Findings show an overuse of signs within the slogans of regional governments that weakened the delivery of information regarding local identity. A leading slogan for a large region may create a unique identity in relative terms, whereas second-tier regions tend to mimic the success of others. The present research illustrates that each region of Korea cannot be differentiated in terms of a semantic analysis of linguistic signs. The communication tendencies that influence the creation of slogans for Korean regions are morphologically complex but semantically simple, resulting in the failure of these regions to secure distinctiveness in their individual brand identities.     

Reformers and revolutionaries: the battle for the working classes in Gibraltar and its hinterland, 1902–1921

Abstract

This article examines labour organisation in Gibraltar and its hinterland from c.1914 to 1921. It demonstrates that the traditionally strong links which had existed between organisations in Gibraltar and neighbouring Spain, links based upon a shared belief in anarchist ideas and practices, had, by 1921, broken down due to the adoption of gradualist and constitutionalist politics and industrial relations by workers on the Rock. Two principle agents drove this change. First, in 1919, the British Workers’ Union established a branch in Gibraltar which successfully worked to establish itself as principle negotiator and representative of workers on the Rock. Second, a reforming governor in Gibraltar undertook to open up political spaces in Gibraltar which offered the potential to work with, rather than against, the state in the colony. By the end of the period, anarchism, and anarchist ideas, was not extinguished in Gibraltar, but they would never again serve as the inspiration for industrial and political campaigns on the Rock, much to the delight of both Gibraltarian employers and the British colonial authorities. This case-study invites further consideration of how British style trade union activity in the empire displaced indigenous forms of organising, a subject which has heretofore received scant attention.     

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights at Seventy: Rejuvenate or Retire?*

This lecture marks the seventieth anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) with an analysis of the Declaration's contemporary relevance. It considers whether, in today's turbulent and fractured political environment in which human rights abuses remain widespread, the UDHR still has a role to play. A case is made that the UDHR was, in fact, written precisely for a moment like now. The lecture starts by considering the important legal impact of the UDHR, whilst acknowledging that the legal enforcement of human rights sometimes overshadows the emotions of care and empathy that lie at the heart of both the Declaration and the whole concept of human rights. It then emphasises the significant role the UDHR has played in giving individuals a voice to hold states accountable. Finally, it explores the UDHR's ethical and inspirational vision that helped to create a baseline of norms and standards aimed at promoting diversity, mutual respect and peace. For all these reasons, the UDHR most certainly needs to be rejuvenated rather than retired.     

Legitimising male grooming through packaging discourse: a linguistic analysis

While packaging is a common marketing subject, this illustration paper provides an alternative perspective through the linguistic examination of packaging as discourse, focusing on male grooming, masculinity and metrosexuality. Male grooming is often perceived as trespassing into feminine space and creating ambiguity in gender borders. This study aims to explore how packaging designers negotiate masculinity, in order to persuade men to accept grooming products through social interactions within the packaging of L'Oréal Men Expert. Employing Scollon's mediated discourse analysis and incorporating the Barthesian order of signification, the study analyses how different social actions within the packaging discourse are mediated by multimodal features. The findings reveal five negotiating strategies, i.e. constructing a hegemonic masculine image; negotiating (a masculinised) metrosexuality; empowering men; giving men a logical reason to groom; and a different portrayal of skincare products. The key aim of this paper is to illustrate the differences between marketing and linguistics and propose possible collaboration.     

Lingua franca fever: sceptical remarks

The policy push in favour of fostering a global lingua franca has shed overtly imperialistic underpinnings and been recast, but many of the same objections can be levelled at new attempts to justify an old policy. Efforts to explain the impetus towards linguistic uniformity through rational choice theory obscure the power dynamics behind choice of language in multilingual contexts. Invoking democratic engagement as a benefit of uniformity overestimates the role of linguistic diversity as a drag on participation and ignores more important forces. A focus on equality of opportunity and social mobility through lingua franca competence as justification for the policy reveals a shallow conception of equality and underplays the long-term consequences for non-lingua franca communities were equality of opportunity for individuals to be taken seriously. Finally, seeing the justice issues that arise out of competition between languages as one of ensuring adequate compensation to the losers underscores how thin is the conception of equality animating the approach; it purchases an inadequate level of equal opportunity for individuals at the expense of inequality amongst language communities.     

Laboratories of Statehood: Legal Intervention in Colonial Africa and Today

The immense body of contemporary work aimed at ‘promoting the rule of law’ is often accused of ‘neo‐imperialism’. Yet, despite many points of contiguity between past and present legal interventions, the charge is overbroad and rarely illuminating. This article attempts to move beyond polemic to track concrete historical and structural forerunners of today's rule of law work. Focusing mainly (though not exclusively) on late imperial British endeavours, it traces colonial legal interventions over time, the techniques adopted (and rejected), the shifting normative bases of legitimacy, and moments of strategic recalibration in the face of resistance. Three broad attitudes towards law across the period are (provisionally) characterised as ‘regulative’, ‘constitutive’ and ‘institutive’ moments. In each phase, the Powers treat colonial territories as laboratories of statehood, within which experiments are conducted to locate the optimal configuration of law. In conclusion some counterparts to these moments in today's ‘rule of law’ activities are identified.