Governing the souls of young women: exploring the perspectives of mothers on parenting in the age of sexualisation

The sexualisation of young women has emerged as a growing concern within contemporary western cultures. This has provoked adult anxieties that young women are growing up too fast by adopting inappropriate sexual practices and subjectivities. Psychological discourses have dominated, which position sexualisation as a corrupting force that infects the ‘true self’ of young women, so they develop in abnormal ways. This in turn allows psychological practices to govern how to parent against sexualisation within families. To explore this further, six mothers each with daughters aged between 8 and 12 took part in one to one semi-structured interviews designed to explore how they conceptualised and parented against the early sexualisation of young women. A Foucauldian inspired discourse analysis was employed, which suggested that the mother's talk was situated within a psychological discourse. This enabled sexualisation to be positioned as a corrupting force that disrupted the natural development of young women through deviant bodily practices (e.g. consuming sexualised goods), which prevented them from becoming their ‘true self’. Through the disciplinary gaze of psychology, class inequalities were reproduced where working class families were construed as ‘chavs’ who were bad parents and a site of contagion for sexualisation.     

Assembling security in a ‘weak state:’ the contentious politics of plural governance in Lebanon since 2005

Lebanon is most often depicted as a ‘weak state’ lacking territorial sovereignty and thus fostering the proliferation of violent non-state actors that generate political instability and regional insecurity. In contrast, this essay explores the dynamics of security politics in Lebanon since 2005 through the lens of hybrid sovereignty. It shows how an assemblage of state and non-state actors has been able to navigate between rival understandings of insecurity, producing at times shared, but still contested, understandings which have sustained a system of plural governance over security that has been able to respond to a shifting geography of threats.     

Peace education in Israel: an educational goal in the test of reality

Peace education is considered a necessary element in establishing the social conditions required for promoting peace-making between rival parties. As such, it constitutes one of Israel’s state education goals, and would therefore be expected to have a significant place in Israel’s educational policy in general and in response to peace moves that have occurred during the Arab–Israeli conflict since the 1970s in particular. This article reviews the educational policy actually applied by Israel’s state education over the years as reflected in formal educational programs and school textbooks, and suggests that although some significant changes have taken place over time, there has been and still is a significant gap between the stated goal and the practice of peace education in Israel. Reasons for this disparity and its implications are discussed and possible directions are proposed for coping with this educational challenge.     

Revolution,power and the Third World: a review of Michael Mann’s The Sources of Social Power,Volume 4

The fourth volume of Michael Mann’s The Sources of Social Power is the last in his historical sociological series, which has centred on an analysis of ideological, economic, military and political power in human societies from the start of civilisation. Mann’s final volume provides an important overview of the period of American hegemony and its worldwide effects, the rise and crisis of neoliberalism, the contrasting fates of the USSR and Maoist China, the vagaries of American empire, and modern revolutions. The implications of his study, particularly regarding the history and theory of revolutions, are of the utmost value to anyone on the Revolutionary Left today, especially in the Third World. While Mann’s study is primarily focused on the West, it provides important lessons to be drawn for the Third World.     

The dark(er) side of ‘state failure’: state formation and socio-political variation

Scholars concerned with the formation of states, specifically the relationship between state formation and war, hold one of two positions. Some agree with Charles Tilly’s historiological conclusion that war is decisive for the establishment of stateness and specify key concepts, in order to explain presumed discrepancies between past and present. Others point towards the international sphere in its current form and advocate a ‘war breaks states’ perspective. This paper argues that both standpoints neglect the ‘sub-national’ level. While proponents of the ‘war breaks states’ thesis are missing para-sovereign zones of rule, supporters of the ‘war makes states’ approach take a juridical view of statehood and focus on ‘state strength’. The failed states paradigm guiding contemporary security and development policy hinders an adequate analysis of the actual situation on the ground. Discussing the shortcomings of failed states approaches and state formation theorising, the paper proposes a conceptualisation in terms of socio-political variation instead of a mere dichotomisation of order. Some conclusive questions are raised, indicating future research directions linked to the historical sociology of state formation.     

对刑事侦查的司法审查之探究

对刑事侦查行为进行必要的司法审查是平衡诉讼格局、对侦查活动进行有效监督、合理分配侦查实施权和侦查监督权以及保障犯罪嫌疑人合法权利的必然要求.司法审查应由法院来实施,法院有权对侦查主体是否适格、证据是否合法、程序是否正当等进行审查.文章认为,实施对侦查活动的司法审查还有赖于对司法权力的合理配置、对检察机关职权和地位的再认识以及对法院体制和法官任用管理体制的改革,才能发挥出应有的效果.     

周礼是怎样形成的

周礼是在继承殷礼的基础上,在周初政治、经济以及文化条件制约之下,在平衡各种政治势力的权力和利益的基础上诞生.采用韦伯的立场、观点和方法进行相关分析.     

论商法中的经理权

商法中的经理权主要存在两方面的功能,一是明确了经理人对企业的管理权,强化了企业的管理能力和竞争能力的功能,二是安全功能.我国<公司法>中规定的经理职权并不是商法意义上的经理权,在我国公司法中真正与经理权制度相似的制度,是法定代表人制度,但它不是一种典型的商事法律制度.与商法中的经理人(强调其对内的管理权和对外的缔约权,其追求的目标是满足商事企业在经营过程中的效率与安全)也不相适应.因此,设计一个全面清晰的商事经理权制度对于解决我国当前面临的企业改制的难题以及对我国现代企业制度的完善具有非常重要的意义.     

有限责任视野下公司内部人控制的合理性分析

内部人控制是现代公司制企业中普遍存在的现象,运用股东有限责任制度、公司独立人格制度和权利义务对等原理对内部人控制存在的原因进行分析发现,就公司权力配置的应然状态而言,内部人控制有其存在的制度空间、组织基础和法理依据,其作为经营管理层面上的控制权,存在于股东有限责任制度所构建的权利和利益平衡体系之中.     

《登记公约》实施中的若干法律问题研究

1976年《登记公约》确定了发射国对其发射的空闯物体的登记义务,从而建立了空间物体的强制登记制度.随着空间科学的进步和空间活动商业化的发展,《登记公约》在实施过程中逐渐暴露出缔约国数量偏少、未登记空间物体数量较多、登记信息不统一等缺陷,严重影响了其实施的效果.因此,应当在适当的时机对公约加以修订,完善公约的内容,以使其适应空间活动的现状.