The Black European Women's Council: ‘thinking oneself into the New Europe’

With the continuous political shift to the right in many European countries, exclusivist constructions of the nation and concepts related to national identity – issues which are immersed in and often conflated with biology and culture – the necessity for mobilization and political activism among women, migrants, and minorities in Europe has become all the more acute and timely. Organized within the framework of the ‘European Year for Equal Opportunities 2007’ and initiated by Béatrice Achaleke, AFRA (International Centre for Black Women's Perspectives in Vienna, Austria, and co-organized by Helen Felter, Director of Tiye International (The Netherlands); the Black European Women's Congress (26–29 September 2007) culminated in the formation of the Black European Woman's Council (hereafter BEWC). Employing a mix of discourse analysis, social movement and intersectional theory, I address the issues of Black female subjectivity, political agency, and strategies in relation to the socio-political empowerment of Black women across Europe. Based on qualitative data, I argue that the cross-border network of the BEWC exhibits the potential to serve as a structured political force not only on local and national levels, but also within the sphere of the European Union; and to possibly assist Black European women activists with the task of ‘thinking themselves into the New Europe’.     

上海监狱民警单警装备使用现状之分析与对策研究

规范的单警装备使用技能是监狱人民警察执法理念的重要体现,然而在调查中发现,部分中老年民警对单警装备佩戴和使用在思想上不够重视;部分民警虽然按规定佩带了单警装备,然而碰到罪犯打群架等狱内突发事件时却不敢使用,担心在使用时把握不了尺度而因此被追究责任;很多监狱民警在伸缩警棍、催泪喷射器的使用技巧和相关理论知识方面很欠缺,在培训中缺乏直观的模拟使用和实践操作训练。如何将单警装备与日常警务工作有机结合,在上海监狱系统的民警队伍建设、实战理论、教育训练和体系建设等方面均有着重要意义。通过调查研究,以期对促进上海监狱民警更好的掌握单警装备使用技能提供一定的理论依据,切实有效的提高监狱民警的执勤执法战斗力。     

西方政策网络理论研究的最新进展及其评价

近年来西方政策网络理论研究出现了三个明显趋势:1、理论研究上从新制度主义的视角探讨政策网络为什么产生、为什么改变和为什么能够持续的深层理论问题;2、实践问题上重点探讨了政策网络的管理问题,包括政府间网络的管理问题;3、重视政策网络与政策执行效果关系研究.     

司法改革“上海方案”价值评析

在当前改革的关键时期,司法改革的核心是提高司法的公信力,树立司法的权威。我国三轮司法改革的实践证明,司法行政化与司法地方化是影响司法独立和司法公正的两大障碍性因素。如何根据法治的一般理论,遵循法治的基本规律,建构能够解决中国问题的具有中国特色的司法体制与机制,是中央顶层设计和地方实践探索的关键。“上海方案”作为本轮司法改革的先驱者,所探行的“员额制”、责任制、人财物统一管理体制等,彰显了司法改革的顶层设计性、开拓性、试水性、引领性等系列价值。同时,“上海方案”在具体制度的设计与实施中,还需要缜密论证与审慎推行。     

浅论新时期的专群工作

专门工作和群众路线一直是我国公安机关工作的根本路线,并在社会治安综合治理中发挥着重要作用。但随着市场经济体制的发展以及城市化进程的加快,旧的专群工作体制已不适应变化了的新情况,因此,建立符合时代特征的专群工作新机制就成为当前公安工作亟待解决的重要任务。     

论江泽民新安全观的辩证思维及实践问题

江泽民提出的新安全观 ,从背景看是对冷战思维的否定 ,从内容看是对传统安全观的发展 ,从结构看是辩证统一的有机整体 ,从实践看它不仅符合中国国家安全利益 ,也符合世界各国国家安全利益 ,反映了冷战后世界发展的大趋势。特别是在霸权主义有新的表现、恐怖主义危害上升、影响和平与发展的不确定因素在增加的情况下 ,江泽民新安全观越来越受到大多数国家的赞赏和欢迎。     

Maple Leaf Zeitgeist? Assessing Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Policy Changes*

In the October 2015 elections, the charismatic Justin Trudeau led the Canadian Liberal Party to its first majority government in 15 years, overturning nearly a decade of conservative government. His premiership is generally considered to have begun well. This article examines Trudeau’s conduct of the election campaign, his choice of a young and diverse Cabinet, his courtship of the media and image making, and assesses changes in foreign and domestic policy. These have yet to prove substantive but Trudeau has signalled a reversal of Stephen Harper’s conservative policies and especially in regard to migration has tapped into images of ‘compassionate Canadians’. In foreign policy, this has been evidenced in relations with the United States and with a re-engagement with the Commonwealth especially in its soft power aspects. Trudeau’s green credentials and stance on Climate Change are a contrast to those of his predecessor but he has yet to confront the different environmental profiles and policies of the Canadian states. Canada’s Strategic Partnership with the European Community and the ratification of CETA are priorities and he has to come to terms with the implications of Brexit.     

The rise and fall of “Novorossiya”: examining support for a separatist geopolitical imaginary in southeast Ukraine

In the spring of 2014, some anti-Maidan protestors in southeast Ukraine, in alliance with activists from Russia, agitated for the creation of a large separatist entity on Ukrainian territory. These efforts sought to revive a historic region called Novorossiya (“New Russia”) on the northern shores of the Black Sea that was created by Russian imperial colonizers. In public remarks, Vladimir Putin cited Novorossiya as a historic and contemporary home of a two-part interest group, ethnic Russian and Russian-speaking Ukrainians, supposedly under threat in Ukraine. Anti-Maidan agitation in Ukraine gave way to outright secession in April 2014, as armed rebel groups established the Donetsk People’s Republic and Luhans’k People’s Republic on parts of the eponymous Ukrainian oblasts. Rebel leaders aspired to create a renewed Novorossiya that incorporated all of eastern and southern Ukraine from Kharkiv to Odesa oblasts. To examine the level of support for this secessionist imaginary in the targeted oblasts, our large scientific poll in December 2014 revealed the Novorossiya project had minority support, between 20 and 25% of the population. About half of the sample believed that the concept of Novorossiya was a “historical myth” and that its resuscitation and promotion was the result of “Russian political technologies.” Analysis of the responses by socio-demographic categories indicated that for ethnic Russians, residents of the oblasts of Kharkiv and Odesa, for older and poorer residents, and especially for those who retain a nostalgic positive opinion about the Soviet Union, the motivations and aims of the Novorossiya project had significant support.     

All the labor problems fit to print: the New York Times and the cultural production of the U.S ‘labor problem’, 1870–1932

The period that spanned the Gilded Age to the onset of the Great Depression saw the rise and relative decline of the US labor movement. The salient events of labor movements over these years undoubtedly shaped public perception about labor issues, and some scholars have been attempting to unpack the mechanisms through which depictions and characterizations of the ‘labor problem’ were produced in authoritative venues that could have shaped the future of the movement. This study goes beyond the standard practice of explaining news report volume to feature the political valance of the reports on the labor problem over a 63-year time period. The aforementioned period also saw significant changes in news reporting practices, with the rise of objective informational writing and the embrace of journalism as a profession. The change within journalism itself could potentially shape the depiction of the labor problem, yet such change has been overlooked by existing literature pertaining to the topic. This research makes a theoretical case for integrating social processes central to the labor movement and journalism from 1870 to 1932 and explains patterns in the cultural production of the labor problem in the New York Times by analyzing these two tracks of history in conjunction using both qualitative and quantitative data.