Localized Islam(s): interpreting agents,competing narratives,and experiences of faith

This special issue investigates contemporary transformations of Islam in the post-Communist Balkans. We put forward the concept of localized Islam as an analytical lens that aptly captures the input of various interpreting agents, competing narratives, and choices of faith. By adopting an agent-based approach that is sensitive to relevant actors’ choices and the contexts where they operate, we explore how various groups negotiate and ultimately localize the grand Islamic tradition, depending on where they are situated along the hierarchy of power. Specifically, we outline three sets of actors and narratives related to revival of Islamic faith: (1) political elites, mainstream intellectuals, and religious hierarchies often unite in safeguarding a nation-centric understanding of religion, (2) foreign networks and missionaries make use of open channels of communication to propagate their specific interpretations and agendas, and (3) lay believers tend to choose among different offers and rally around the living dimension of religious practice. Contributions in this issue bring ample evidence of multiple actors’ strategies, related perspectives, and contingent choices of being a Muslim. Case studies include political debates on mosque construction in Athens; political narratives that underpin the construction of the museum of the father of Ataturk in Western Macedonia; politicians’ and imams’ competing interpretations of the Syrian war in Kosovo, Macedonia, and Albania; the emergence of practice communities that perform Muslim identity in Bulgaria; the particular codes of sharia dating in post-war Sarajevo; and veneration of saints among Muslim Roma in different urban areas in the Balkans.     

Electoral competition in Europe's new tripolar political space: Class voting for the left,centre‐right and radical right

The rise of the radical right fundamentally changes the face of electoral competition in Western Europe. Bipolar competition is becoming tripolar, as the two dominant party poles of the twentieth century – the left and the centre‐right – are challenged by a third pole of the radical right. Between 2000 and 2015, the radical right has secured more than 12 per cent of the vote in over ten Western European countries. This article shows how electoral competition between the three party poles plays out at the micro level of social classes. It presents a model of class voting that distinguishes between classes that are a party's preserve, classes that are contested strongholds of two parties and classes over which there is an open competition. Using seven rounds of the European Social Survey, it shows that sociocultural professionals form the party preserve of the left, and large employers and managers the preserve of the centre‐right. However, the radical right competes with the centre‐right for the votes of small business owners, and it challenges the left over its working‐class stronghold. These two contested strongholds attest to the co‐existence of old and new patterns of class voting. Old patterns are structured by an economic conflict: Production workers vote for the left and small business owners for the centre‐right based on their economic attitudes. In contrast, new patterns are linked to the rise of the radical right and structured by a cultural conflict.     

Going online. Does ICT enabled-participation engage the young in local governance?

Local governments increasingly use online strategies to strengthen political participation of citizens in policy and politics. Young people, however, are generally under-represented. This article studies age patterns of participation across offline and online forms of action to test whether online initiatives are able to overcome this age bias. We first report a case study of online and offline problem reporting to local authorities. We find that simply going from offline to online participation reinforces rather than mitigates age bias. We then report a case study of message posting on an online political forum. In this case, age bias disappears. In contrast to the traditional instrumental modes, a forum is an expressive form of online participation. The young seem to value the act of participating over the outcomes of participation. For practice, these findings suggest a need for participation policies that speak to these expressive needs of young. In recent years, social media have reinforced the potential for expressive participation.     

‘Radical social democracy’: a concept that has much to say to social democrats in Turkey

This article aims to link theory and practice by connecting the experience of social democracy in Turkey with the theory of radical democracy and thereby elaborate on the notion of ‘radical social democracy’ in the sense Chantal Mouffe used the term. Parallel to the repeated electoral successes of the governing Justice and Development Party (Adalet ve Kalk?nma Partisi – AKP), the academic literature has become increasingly AKP-centred and, concomitantly, social democracy debate has become unproductive in Turkey. However, social democratic parties, notably the Republican People's Party (Cumhuriyet Halk Partisi –CHP), have been playing important roles in Turkish political life. Thus, this study endeavours to open a new window to the social democracy debate in Turkey by attracting attention to the central concepts of radical democracy such as anti-essentialism, hegemony, antagonism, collective identities, chain of equivalence, all of which are considered as functional for radical social democracy.     

蕨麻多糖的提取及其清除自由基的作用

采用热水提取、乙醇沉淀、Sevag法获得蕨麻多糖;通过体外化学模拟试验,观察了该多糖清除自由基的活性。结果,蕨麻多糖得率为3.8%;在体外化学模拟系统反应中,该多糖能显著清除羟自由基、超氧阴离子及体外培养的淋巴细胞产生的过氧化氢;蕨麻多糖对体外亚油酸脂质过氧化无明显影响。     

四川涉藏地区民警心理健康需求特点

采用自编四川涉藏地区民警心理健康需求半开放式问卷,随机对400名四川涉藏地区公安民警进行调查,并对结果进行卡方检验,结果发现,认为自己需要心理健康服务的民警有175人(47.8%);最困扰民警的心理问题依次是工作压力问题、亲子教育问题、情绪问题(紧张、焦虑、抑郁等)、家庭问题等;民警常用娱乐消遣、寻找亲人和朋友的支持、运动排解和不管它等方式处理心理问题;民警希望得到压力管理教育、不良情绪调控、心理常识教育和人际教育等心理服务内容和情绪调控、压力管理、职业技能训练等心理训练内容;民警最希望能够通过音乐放松、与专业人员交流、心理健康讲座等方式得到心理健康服务。不同群体民警间的部分心理问题及心理需求存在显著性差异(p<0.05)。四川涉藏地区民警对心理健康服务有需求,且存在明显的人群差异性,心理干预需充分考虑其差异,以提高其适用性。     

What Could Be the ＂Imaginary Institution＂ of the City？

In his book The Imaginary Institution of Society, the French philosopher Castoriadis wanted to explain the radical change of societies and their diversity; the social imaginary matters, and explains social change. But what is it today？ The Castoriadis＇s answer is mainly a criticism of the imaginary of the bureaucratic society （perfect anticipations）. He hoped more autonomy. In the paper, it is proposed this interpretation of the imaginary of the city： The main myths are personal strength, chance （here the reference is Ulrich Beck＇s book The Risk Society）, and individual happiness （the reference being the works of the French philosopher Lipovetsky）. One is able to explain the discrepancy between public policies （including city planning） and the real social needs. It exists because the doctrines used lag behind the ＂social imaginary significations＂. The concerned fields are the beauty of cities, spatial segregation, women in the city, environment, drugs, etc.     

How Radical Right-Wing Populism Has Shaped Recent Migration Policy in Austria and Germany

Abstract

At the outset of the 2015 refugee crisis, Germany pursued an accepting asylum policy, potentially to mitigate its declining population. Austria, facing the same demographic challenges, closed itself to refugees. Differences in radical right-wing populism (RRP) in the two countries provide the basis for understanding their asylum policies. After the Second World War, Germany’s collective memory stigmatized far-right parties, while Austria’s did not. The radicalization spiral reproduces these differences today, allowing Austria’s Freedom Party to influence migration policy by pulling voters and mainstream parties to the right, while Germany’s RRP parties were unable to do the same before the crisis.     

Does IPSAS Meet Heritage Assets’ User Needs?

Public organizations need to custody and protect heritage assets. This article questions the appropriateness and quality of the unique International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSASs) in delivering financial reports that meet the user needs in regard to heritage assets. By refining the earlier findings in Italian local governments with data from a completely different region being Flanders, the results highlight that the IPSASs are lacking an important area of expectations from a relevant user need perspective, being the local ruling politicians. Finally, current article improves previous publication by examining the different kinds of responses in the light of certain municipal characteristics.

List of abbreviations

IFRS: International Financial Reporting Standards IPSASs: International Public Sector Accounting Standards IPSASB: International Public Sector Accounting Standards Boards UNESCO: United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization     

Universal Basic Services: A Theoretical and Moral Framework

The case for Universal Basic Services (UBS) is a recent idea that is attracting much attention. This article provides a theoretical justification for extending the delivery of public services, as an alternative to the longer‐standing argument for Universal Basic Income (UBI). It rests on human need theory and the concept of provisioning systems. Both recognise the irreducible heterogeneity of consumption, the multi‐faceted nature of human needs and the variety of systems on which we all depend. Both recognise the importance of shared systems and mutual benefits. The final part restates the case for social rights or entitlements to the satisfaction of basic needs and for collective responsibilities to meet them to serve the values of equality, efficiency, solidarity and sustainability.