Science-women: arcane knowledge and African spirituality in independent African-American cinema of the 1990s

ABSTRACT

This article explores the significant role played by arcane knowledge and expressions of African spirituality in the iconography of powerful black women in three films directed by independent African-American filmmakers in the 1990s: Sankofa (Haile Gerima, 1993, USA), Mother of the River (Zeinabu irene Davis, 1995, USA), and Eve’s Bayou (Kasi Lemmons, 1997, USA). My discussion draws on the orature and legendary tales of West African-based cosmologies in the African diasporas of the Americas and the concept (and practice) of ‘conjure’ in African–American cultures. It argues that heroic black women characters possessing extraordinary or supernatural powers not only predate the current vogue of cinematic superheroism, but that the iconography of such ‘science-women’ is embedded in culturally specific, African-rooted cosmological, epistemological and spiritual contexts. I argue that the feminine power celebrated in the films by the independent African-American filmmakers discussed here draw on legendary and historical accounts of women in African diasporic oral, literary and spiritual traditions for their cinematic storytelling to construct an affirmative and paradigmatic model of black female heroism based on empowering African spiritual beliefs and arcane knowledge.     

逻辑与建构:党在政协系统的基层组织建设研究

党在政协系统的基层组织建设有理念、实践及制度的必然逻辑。党的十九大以来,围绕基层组织建设中央层面不断进行政策倡导,政协系统从全国政协到地方政协相继展开建制实践。政协系统出台党建文本,层级越高,模仿追随的特征越明显;层级越低,主动建构的特征越突出。对政协系统党的基层组织设置的不同形态进行比较,对组织建构中出现的“形态差异”提出理论解释,将“非标准形态”列入党的组织体系,形成规范化的组织设置文本,完善人民政协专门协商机构与党的组织体系相配套的衔接与联系机制。     

A breaking-up of a pro-European consensus: Attitudes of Czech political parties towards the European integration (1998-2010)

This article represents a contribution to the debate over the attitudes of political parties to the European integration-one of the hot topics in contemporary political science. It explores the dynamics of attitudes of political parties in the Czech Republic to the EU and analyzes them in the context of parties primary ideologies. On the basis of the results of an expert survey the author interpretes the changes in the major features of “European” debate in the Czech Republic and offers a new classification schema of attitudes of political parties towards the EU, according to the preferences of economic and/or political dimension of European integration.     

不同等级医疗机构医疗过错特点--附148例医疗损害鉴定案件分析

目的分析医疗纠纷中常见过错类型及其在不同等级医院中的分布。方法某鉴定机构2016~2018年医疗损害鉴定中共计148起医疗过错鉴定案例,进行过错分类、分组比较分析。结果 148起案例中,累计过错频次为330次。出现频次前三的依次为未尽到告知义务、延误诊疗、病历书写不规范;不同等级医院出现频次前三的过错类型是具有差异的。将不同等级医院的常见过错类型进行对比分析,其中未尽到告知义务、延误诊疗在不同等级医院中的占比差异有统计学意义(P<0.05)。结论不同等级医院的医疗纠纷过错类型具有不同的分布,医院可针对出现频次多的过错类型予以高度重视。     

‘Left behind’ people,or places? The role of local economies in perceived community representation

Modern economics attributes importance to spatial inequality: yet in studying discontent with politics, existing research has mostly neglected local contexts and attitudes people hold about them. I use British Election Study data to investigate the factors leading people to believe their community is ignored by the political process. Firstly, real economic contexts play a role, since residents of low-income communities tend to take more negative views about how well their community is represented. Secondly, negative perceptions of the local economy are associated with more negative views of community representation, whereas equivalent ‘egotropic’ measures of people's personal economic situation have no such effect. Thirdly, I observe a ‘grievance’ effect wherein people are particularly negative about community representation when they believe that the national economy is more successful than that of one's local community.     

Race,Partisanship, and Political Trust Following <Emphasis Type="Italic">Bush versus Gore</Emphasis> (2000)

In contrast to what we know about the sources of political trust among whites, recent research suggests that political mistrust among blacks indicates discontent with the political system. The current study adds to research investigating racial differences in political trust by examining racial differences in the influence of the 2000 United States presidential election on political trust. Specifically, I test for whether whites and blacks adjusted their trust in government in response to the Supreme Court’s decision in Bush versus Gore (2000) and whether the influence of the Court’s decision on trust was dependent on partisan identification. The findings indicate that blacks perceived the Court’s decision as illegitimate, reinforcing their mistrust in their political system.

Explaining Turnout Decline in Britain, 1964–2005: Party Identification and the Political Context

Turnout decline in Britain is greater than it first appears since changes in the social composition of the electorate have had a positive impact on turnout. This paper finds that whereas a weakening in the strength of party identification is associated with the long-term decline, the political context influences short-term variation. Partisan dealignment is also changing the dynamics of the determinants of turnout. Since non-identifiers are more strongly influenced by the political context than strong identifiers, and there are now more non-identifiers than previously, the political context is becoming a more important factor in determining whether people vote or not.

Clans,politics and organized crime in Central Asia

This paper investigates the role of transnational organized crime in the democratisation process in the Central Asian area. It examines the inherent connections that exist between the leading tribal families, political elites and organized crime, and explores how criminal networks have proliferated in society and consequently in politics. The complete absence of a ruling élite and striking economic issues left unsolved were the legacy that Soviet rule would leave to the newly independent Central Asian Republics. After the fall of the former Soviet Union other, more profitable forms of transnational organized crime flourished. According to the official statistics of the UNODC and the American State Department, 92% of the world’s heroin is produced in Afghanistan. Of this, around 65% is smuggled into Europe and America along the Silk Road, and therefore through the five Central Asian Republics and Russia. High levels of corruption in Central Asia heavily affect political and economic life. The economies of the region have progressively become dominated by criminal activity with smuggling, trafficking and other activities linked to transnational organized crime as the major source of income. Central Asia’s strategic location makes this a global security concern.

Parteien und die Generosität der Altersrenten in Zeiten permanenter Austerität

Zusammenfassung: Die quantitative Sozialpolitikforschung weist ein doppeltes Defizit auf: Zum einen dominieren Analysen aggregierter Ausgaben(quoten), zum anderen fokussieren die meisten Studien zu Lohnersatzraten auf die Arbeitslosen‐ und Krankenversicherung, während die Rentengenerosität weitgehend ausgespart geblieben ist. Der vorliegende Artikel stößt in diese Lücke, indem er zunächst die theoretischen Besonderheiten der Rente diskutiert und zwei Hypothesen zu deren Rückbau und der Rolle der Parteien dabei formuliert. Im Anschluss an eine Methodendiskussion präsentieren wir die Ergebnisse von (robustheitsgetesteten) Regressionsanalysen der Veränderungen der Lohnersatzraten in 18 entwickelten Demokratien. Es zeigt sich, dass die Kürzungen der Lohnersatzraten im Rentenbereich weitaus geringer ausfallen als in den beiden anderen Bereichen, und dass sich die Parteieneffekte auffallend unterscheiden.     

西方国家主流媒体“中国国防透明度”报道研究

近年来,西方国家主流媒体关于"中国国防透明度"的新闻报道及认可程度并未因为中国国防透明度的显著提升而出现"正向相关"。通过对相关数据的采集和分析可以看出,西方国家主流媒体对中国国防透明度的认可程度与其国家同中国的政治友好程度"正向相关",而与西方国家主流媒体的媒体实力"反向相关"。西方国家主流媒体对中国国防透明度的新闻报道主要受到价值观念、刻板印象和国家利益等因素的影响,使其对中国国防透明度的新闻报道呈现一种层次性,不同类别的国家对中国国防透明度的评判态度明显不一致。因此,中国国防透明度的建构迫切需要与国际传播紧密结合起来,即实现自我塑造与他者建构的契合。