Social Media and the Successful Anti-Mining Campaign in Bangka,Indonesia

ABSTRACT

This article elaborates on the functionalities of Facebook and WhatsApp, and the possibilities and limitations of their usage in the anti-mining campaign in Bangka, Indonesia, with special focus on the participation and offline–online intertwining of communication processes. The research reported in this article contributes to a deeper understanding of the relationship between social media and political protest in the context of discriminatory natural resource extraction in Indonesia. In 2017, the alliance against the mining activities of the Chinese company PT Mikgro Metal Perdana in Bangka, which consisted of villagers, activists, tourism operators and divers, succeeded in ousting PT MMP from Bangka. Social media enhanced mobilisation, communication, knowledge transfer, transparency, and solidarity in this anti-mining campaign. Through WhatsApp, the rapid transmission of information and communication was facilitated when urgent action was needed. The Facebook group Save Bangka Island not only provided general information but also enhanced solidarity, cohesion and the creation of an “imagined community.” However, it is also found that social media sites are stratified spaces where villagers – the primary affected group – are excluded because of their lack of Internet access.     

The state and the stray dogs in late Ottoman Istanbul: from unruly subjects to servile friends

The present article situates the systemic efforts to annihilate stray dogs within the wider picture of Ottoman modernizing reforms in the nineteenth century. The period under investigation witnessed an increasing desire on the part of the modern Ottoman state to control and reform disenfranchised human and animal groups, which were believed to jeopardize public order, security and hygiene. These groups – beggars, orphans and the unemployed – were identified as actors irreconcilable with the modern image that the reforming bureaucracy and modernizing elites sought to project. In the face of increasing challenges from European powers, they were the epitome of underdevelopment and backwardness. Ottoman elites and official authorities therefore proposed and implemented institutional measures in the form of forced labor, reformatories or deportation to reform the conditions of these groups, segregate them from the greater public and discipline them. In the modern period, along with the proposals that called for the removal of dogs, modernizing intellectuals and professionals proposed alternative plans to render non-human animals beneficial to human needs and the modern state's expectations.     

Forlorn daughters? The role of social motherhood in transnational African Methodist Episcopal missionary women networks, 1900–1940s

Abstract

This paper examines the transnational networks formed between women who were part of the African Methodist Episcopal Church (AME) within the United States (US) and its South African missionary societies during the early twentieth century. From the outset, these networks enabled South African women to gain tertiary education in the US, but were nonetheless entrenched in unequal power dynamics. US-based women considered themselves metaphorical mothers to the female South African members, portraying the African women as daughters in need of social and financial support. US AME women were complex role models for Black African women who could not reasonably maintain the lifestyle enjoyed by many AME missionary women. Often, however, South African women appear to have utilized these unequal power dynamics, embracing the rhetoric of being “forlorn daughters” of Africa to maintain the AME’s support. Nevertheless, these networks helped sustain both US and South African women’s participation within the AME Church.     

“高位推动”模式下区域协同治理政策的时空演进——以2014-2019年京津冀协同发展的政策文本分析为例

京津冀协同发展已进入政策转变阶段的关键时期。国家和地方的相关政策需要从"谋思路、打基础"的顶层设计阶段,演变到"攻坚克难"的政策执行阶段。复杂的地缘政治因素使得京津冀协同治理的方式显著区别于"珠三角"等地的准市场机制。基于"三地四方"京津冀协同发展政策文本数据,研究发现京津冀协同发展是具有显著"高位推动"特征的区域协同治理模式,即高位推动为协同治理的核心驱动力赋能、长期引导治理主体开展政策协同、重塑协同治理主体的角色定位。基于此,未来京津冀协同发展应注意高位推动作用审慎让渡市场机制,建立社会组织参与的多元主体协同机制,尝试共建共管产业园区。     

Freedom to hate: social media,algorithmic enclaves,and the rise of tribal nationalism in Indonesia

Empirically grounded in the 2017 Jakarta Gubernatorial Election (Pilkada DKI) case, this article discusses the relationship of social media and electoral politics in Indonesia. There is no doubt that sectarianism and racism played significant roles in the election and social media, which were heavily utilized during the campaign, contributed to the increasing polarization among Indonesians. However, it is misleading to frame the contestation among ordinary citizens on social media in an oppositional binary, such as democratic versus undemocratic forces, pluralism versus sectarianism, or rational versus racist voters. Marked by the utilization of volunteers, buzzers, and micro-celebrities, the Pilkada DKI exemplifies the practice of post-truth politics in marketing the brand. While encouraging freedom of expression, social media also emboldens freedom to hate, where individuals exercise their right to voice their opinions while actively silencing others. Unraveling the complexity of the relationship between social media and electoral politics, I suggest that the mutual shaping between users and algorithms results in the formation of “algorithmic enclaves” that, in turn, produce multiple forms of tribal nationalism. Within these multiple online enclaves, social media users claim and legitimize their own versions of nationalism by excluding equality and justice for others.     

“三治结合”何以得到全国性推广?——基于政策创新扩散的视角

在政策生成及演进过程中,政策创新扩散的持续性是关键问题,考察其引致机制、创新动力、扩散过程等议题,对理解中国政策过程有着重要作用。以浙江桐乡“三治结合”基层治理模式为例,基于政策创新扩散主体、客体与扩散路径的系统性分析框架,剖析“三治结合”创新与扩散的机制,研究发现:“三治结合”之所以能够持续创新与扩散,得益于政治上“合法性”,即“三治”自身具有政治渊源、法律依据、现实基础等符合中国情景的属性;除此之外,也离不开政策企业家、政策属性、府际关系等“技术性”变量。基于此,着重关注“三治结合”创新扩散的技术路线,认为政策企业家的专业素质、创新意识为其提供重要动力与保障;政策属性高兼容性、低成本性,影响政策扩散的规模与范围;中央政府纵向政策吸纳与同级政府横向考察学习对其全国性推广起着关键性作用。     

国内学界的网格化管理研究:回顾、反思与展望

近年来,网格化管理不仅是地方实践热点,也是我国学术研究热点之一。基于对既有文献的回顾可以发现:网格化管理实践逐渐走上了管理与服务并重的发展轨道,并已成为国家治理基层社会的重要政策工具;随着实践的发展,网格化管理研究主题不断被扩展与细化,研究话语逐渐从管理话语体系转向了治理话语体系,研究议题的设置深受地方实践与国家政策话语的影响;作为一种行政主导下的社会管理创新实践,网格化管理虽然在权力下沉、资源整合、清晰化治理、精准化服务等方面具有优势,但其强烈的技术化与行政化属性,不仅不利于社区自治力量的成长,而且还暗含着基层治理的"内卷化"风险;网格化治理与网络化治理是当前学界重点讨论的议题。在未来的研究中,应综合运用规范与实证、定性与定量等研究方法,从理论与经验层面进行全方位学理分析,以期能够用丰富的经验材料与事实证据讲好中国基层治理故事,最终生产出能够指导社会发展的新知识。     

秦汉社会势力及其官僚化问题——以商人为中心的探讨

社会势力的产生是古代国家与社会关系发展过程中的必然现象。国家既利用掌握政治、经济、文化等资源的特殊地位实施统治,注重吸收、改造、利用、动员、协调各种社会力量服务于国家,又对各种可能危害统治阶级的社会势力实施控制、打击,这是我们常见的国家与社会势力之间既相统一又相矛盾的现象。实际上,历代国家的盛衰,都与其能否处理好与各种社会势力的关系有关。秦汉社会势力因其身份构成的不同、所处历史时期的不同而与国家政权的关系十分复杂而微妙,商人就是其中的代表之一。     

Arresting Developments? Restricting the Enforcement of the UK's Universal Jurisdiction Provisions

Recently introduced legislative amendments limit the issue of arrest warrants on the application of a private prosecutor where jurisdiction is based on universal jurisdiction. The amendments addressed a ‘loophole’ in English law whereby a private prosecutor could seek and be granted an arrest warrant, generally in respect of an individual on a short term visit to the UK, even though the consent of the Attorney General would be required for the prosecution to continue. This article argues that these amendments addressed legitimate evidentiary and diplomatic relations concerns, are consistent with the UK's international obligations, and are in line with the UK's policy on the exercise of universal jurisdiction and with international trends. However, given the limited category of persons who were subject to such arrest warrants under the previous law and the practice of the UK concerning special missions, the amendments may be of limited practical significance.     

Lawyers,CABx and the Community Legal Service: A new dawn for social welfare law provision?

This article explores the prognosis for social welfare law provision in the light of the government's plans for the Community Legal Service. It considers whether the involvement of both the advice sector and the traditional legal profession can provide the basis for stable and comprehensive provision of social welfare law. I conducted in-depth interviews with CAB workers and local solicitors in the large conurbation served by two CABx who participated in the non-solicitor franchise pilot in 1997. The research focused on the relationships between the legal service providers and the impact of the franchise operation on the CAB. Although harmonious relationships were found to be largely intact at a local level, the franchise raised considerable tension within the CABx that must serve as a cautionary note to any optimism about 'establishing the Community Legal Service'.