Of clocks ticking: Heterotopic space,time and motion in William Kentridge’s The Refusal of Time (2012)

In William Kentridge’s The refusal of time (2012), comment on time as both a scientific and a human entity is produced. A complex mix of the visual and nominal vocabularies of early ‘rudimentary’ technological invention, scientific experimentation and contemporary digital language characterises the artwork. Conceptually, the structural, technological and visual components of the work predominantly articulate figure tropes of space, time and motion. The work is explored through the lens of heterotopia as articulated by French philosopher michel Foucault, with special attention to the artist’s articulation of space, time and motion. the construal proceeds through the investigation of the visual metaphors implied by the organisation of space; the depiction of movement; time ticking; the allusion to human beings’ fascination with invention; science and technology; and the products thereof, especially the creation of automatons. interpreting the work as representing heterotopic temporality in space, it is argued that such heterotopic entities defy clock time as stringent ‘regular’ time. an examination is conducted of the meta-narratives on science and technology alluded to in The refusal of time, including mention of the early development of automatons; modernistic French thought; advancements in physics around 1900; and postmodern takes on science and technology.     

太空武器化及中国太空安全构建

太空技术的出现来自冷战时代的美苏军备竞赛。在世界第一颗卫星上天后,太空随之被赋予了军事化意味,太空武器化接踵而至。冷战后,为了确保太空霸权,同时维护一超独霸的地位,美国不惜重拾冷战时代的太空武器化政策,由此,引起其他国家的相应回应。太空武器化程度逐渐抬升,给国际战略稳定与平衡造成严重威胁与挑战,引起反导系统和太空军备竞赛,增加核战风险,阻碍世界核裁军进程,也给太空商业开发、"太空2030议程"等带来诸多挑战。太空武器化给中国太空安全造成巨大的挑战与威胁,使中国太空资产的安全陷于危险境地,中国利用太空资产的自由有可能被限制或被剥夺,战略目标(包括战略核力量)受到太空系统的侦察与打击的威胁。为应对太空武器化的威胁与挑战,从安全上加强太空威慑力量建设,构建中国的太空安全体系显得紧迫与必要。     

Media influences and effects on experiences of uncertainty and fear in urban public spaces

From the point of a normative idea of equality, all citizens are entitled to equal access to the cities public spaces. In the public debate, the media have often been blamed for contributing to people＇s fear and insecurity and the avoidance of public places, especially after dark. In this paper, the author addresses the question of how and to what extent experiences of risk and threats in the media, perceptions of crime coverage in the media and third-person-effects of risk and threats influence the degree of avoidance of public places and the variation in people＇s experiences of the sensation of feeling fear and insecurity in public places. The main results presented here are primarily based on survey data from a well known regional survey （Western SOM） performed in 2001-2007 on approximately 3,000 inhabitants in the local region of Gothenburg, Sweden. Experiences of risk and threats through the media are of minor importance for the independent effect on the experiences of the sensation of feeling fear and insecurity in public spaces. The main role of the media is through the perceptions the respondents have on media coverage on crime and media influence on their own and others experiences of threats and risks. Those that believe that media coverage on crime is understated have to a greater extent avoided public places and experienced the sensation of feeling fear and insecurity than those that believe that media coverage of crime is coherent with reality or overstated. The third-person-effects that occur also have consequences. Those that believe that media influence experiences of threats and risks have to a greater extent experienced the sensation of feeling fear and insecurity than those that don＇t believe in media influence （on both others and themselves）. The main conclusion presented in this paper is that the avoidance of public places and variation in people＇s experiences of the sensation of feeling fear and insecurity in public places is more related to people＇s perceptions of media content and media influence regarding risk and threats than experiences of risk and threats through the media. This, however, doesn＇t mean that the experience of risk and threats through the media doesn＇t matter. Experience of risk and threats through the media matters, but do so through reinforcing personal and social experiences of risk and threats.     

城市犯罪的移动空间盲区及其综合治理

移动空间的依托——公共交通工具,是城市人的活动发生空间位移时的主要运载体,对其犯罪盲区实施科学的综合治理是防控城市公共交通载体犯罪的有效途径.移动空间是一种很特殊的空间实体,存在许多犯罪盲区的致盲因素.对移动空间盲区实施综合治理,既要注重对所有类型移动空间盲区的共性对策,也要注重不同类型移动空间盲区的综合治理各有侧重.     

Instrumentalizing the recent past? The new Cold War narrative in Russian public space after 2014

There has been much debate about whether the US and Russia are locked in a new Cold War, but much less attention as to how the term is used in Russian political discourse. Through a close analysis of public statements, I analyze how the Cold War narrative has been used in the Russian public space since 2014, and assess how the “resuscitation” of the Cold War paradigm has been used by Moscow’s political elites, in order to discuss its impact on foreign policy. I document a distinct shift in Russian policymakers’ use of the term in 2016 and trace this shift to domestic political considerations.     

Making sense of party strategy innovation: challenge to ideology and conflict-mobilisation as dimensions of party competition

Abstract

This article develops a pooled comparative analysis aimed at addressing two of the three overarching research questions of the special issue. It first discuss an ‘end of ideology’ research question: that is, whether party constituencies and party strategy show clear challenges to classic twentieth century ideological alignments. Second, it investigates the type of issue strategy that parties employ in this new ideological environment, expecting mainstream parties to stress a problem-solving approach, while challenger parties should favour a conflict-mobilisation strategy. Finally, the article combines these two fundamental dimensions (ideological consistency; reliance on problem-solving vs. conflict-mobilisation strategies) in order to identify party strategy innovations in current West European elections.     

Material mnemonics and competing narratives in Palestine-Israel

Since 1948 the re-designation of depopulated Palestinian villages as national parks has evoked Lippet’s “cartography of nowhere”, as ruins and unmarked sites are subsumed in the process of material forgetting. Juxtaposing narratives and material mnemonics, this article assumes the villages of Deir Yassin, Suba, Kufr Bir’im and Iqrit as case studies to determine the extent to which memory infuses ruins with the ability to counter contemporary narratives. The article subsequently explores the use of debris in the sustenance of national memory, and questions how far “haunting” the land through commemorative tours and in situ story-telling renders the ruins noeuds de mémoire, as opposed to lieux de mémoire. Finally, the transition of the ruins from sites of history to sites of activism is charted through the use of theatre and technology that draw on the past and present as forms of cultural resistance.     

太空战争:国际安全的新视角

随着军事航天技术迅速发展,太空军事化已成为不可阻挡的发展趋势。太空军事化主要表现为两方面:导弹和反导弹系统的矛盾较量和卫星与反卫星武器的矛盾较量。这两对矛盾不断激化而且相互交错,构成了未来发生"太空战争"的主要物质基础。从20世纪50年代甚至更早,导弹与反导弹系统的矛盾斗争就已开始,特别是在60年代中期,美苏展开了旨在"确保相互摧毁"的以洲际核弹道导弹为中心的军备竞赛。为了应对进攻性洲际弹道核导弹的发展,美苏在20世纪五六十年代相继开始研制和部署反弹道导弹防御系统。导弹与反导弹系统的矛盾较量从冷战时期一直延续下来,直至2017年"萨德"入韩在相关大国间引起激烈争端。1957年苏联发射第一颗人造卫星后,美苏迅速开始研制和发射军事卫星,卫星与反卫星武器的矛盾斗争也随之开始。1991年海湾战争中美国的军事卫星发挥了重要作用,以致这场战争被称为"最初的太空战争"。太空是在新科技革命强力驱动下发生深刻变化的国际安全战略新空间、新领域,我们必须高度重视关乎国家安全顶层设计的太空军事战略课题。     

The counterinsurgency/conservation nexus: guerrilla livelihoods and the dynamics of conflict and violence in the Virunga National Park,Democratic Republic of the Congo

The growing militarisation of nature conservation has refocused attention on the relations between counterinsurgency and conservation. This contribution analyses how these two phenomena entwine in the Virunga National Park, located in the war-ridden east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It examines how this entwinement relates to dynamics of conflict and violence, and how these dynamics shape and are shaped by the livelihood and resistance practices of local inhabitants. As it shows, a particularly important form of resistance is ‘guerrilla livelihood’ activities, or cultivation, (prohibited) fishing and logging within the boundaries of the park, which often take place under the protection of armed groups. By studying the interplay among such unauthorised exploitation of natural resources, different types of conflict, and insurgent mobilisation, it is demonstrated that strict law enforcement and joint operations of the Congolese army and park guards fuel, rather than mitigate, the dynamics feeding into armed mobilisation.     

Perfectionist public space: a political philosophy approach

Public spaces are often sites of contention between competing conceptions of the good life. The potential for such conflicts increases in diverse societies where different ethnic, religious and cultural groups compete for space and representation in the public sphere. A paradigmatic example is the conflict between multiculturalism and conservatism towards the function and character of public spaces. A clear criterion is necessarily, in such conflicts, to determine which conception may be legitimately crowded-out, and which may prevail. The paper examines two strategies to justify such a criterion: a liberal approach and a perfectionist approach. According to the liberal approach, public spaces should reflect the pluralism of values in society, by combining multiplicity and coherence of values. Yet pluralism is too ambiguous a concept to determine, in practice, which conceptions of the good can legitimately be crowded-out, both physically and metaphorically, from the public sphere. Perfectionism, an ethical approach grounded in human developmentalism, holds that the good life is a life of developing and exercising our human capacities. This approach yields a substantive account of public space regulation: public spaces should promote the development and exercise of our human capacities. On this account, we can approach the conflict between competing claims on public spaces by asking whether crowding-out might harm the potential development and exercise of our capacities. The perfectionist approach also provides a finer distinction between different types of conservatisms, such that we may differentiate between conservatism that may be legitimately crowded-out from the spatial sphere, and conservatism which may prevail. This paper argues that a perfectionist approach—one which is explicitly committed to a view of the good life—is both necessary and timely.