The politics of landscape as ways of life in the ‘divided’ city: reflections from Mostar,Bosnia–Herzegovina

ABSTRACT

‘Divided’ cities – places of extreme exclusion and polarization – are sites where the paradox of both fragmentary and cosmopolitan capacity of the city comes to the fore. This article asks: What practices-in-landscape consolidate, construct and deconstruct the impression of a divided city? Drawing insights from the post-conflict Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the main argument I put forward is that urban infrastructures are a crucial medium through which social divisions and cohesions are performed and rearticulated on the ground. The article attends to the everyday of youth in Mostar turning to the politics of landscape as ways of life in the city.     

‘Without Education You Can Never Become President’: Teenage Pregnancy and Pseudo-empowerment in Post-Ebola Sierra Leone

ABSTRACT

This article analyses the emergence of ‘teenage pregnancy’ as a new policy focus in post-Ebola Sierra Leone and explores how Sierra Leoneans interpret the problem of ‘teenage pregnancy’. I argue that the new policy focus is not indicative of changing or new problems. Rather, ‘teenage pregnancy’ has created opportunities for donors and the Government of Sierra Leone to continue cooperation in gender politics. At the same time, Sierra Leoneans are clearly concerned about ‘teenage pregnancy’, and many agree with sensitization campaigns that responsibilize young women and girls while downplaying structural factors that render them vulnerable to arrangements involving transactional sex.     

政府与社会组织关系演进的历史逻辑

从总体性二元合一走向分化性二元合一,解决分化与耦合两个方面的问题,是中国政府与社会组织关系演进的总体态势。运用结构功能主义视角,可以发现,演进历经让渡与承接、规范与依附、激活与协同等阶段,由政府与社会组织的功能性界分,到基于责任结构整合的政会功能黏附,逐渐发展为基于全面结构整合的政会功能分化与耦合。演进的基本逻辑,是政府主导下功能演变与结构调整的互动,即由政府主导的演进轨道、由功能演变与结构调整互动而构成的演进机制。展望未来,分化性二元合一体系的完善,必须按照现代国家治理的要求,在政府与社会组织之间打造共建、共治与共享的结构功能系统,实现基于责任结构契合的功能目标一致、基于权力结构合理的功能形式耦合、基于利益结构规范的功能输出互益。     

Small arms and light weapons: the disjunction problem

ABSTRACT

Growing in range and urgency, humanitarian needs now pose increasingly acute questions for national security policy formulation. Whether over forced migration, food scarcity or nefarious electronic penetration, state security preferences face uneasy accommodations with individual needs be it for child survival, basic sustenance or rights to privacy. This paper deliberates a further field of increasingly apparent value contest: that involving the transfer, diversion and lethal use of small arms and light weapons (SALW). After outlining the scale of this phenomenon, existing regulatory mechanisms over SALW transfers are assessed. It is argued that these controls are inadequate, a deficiency that is embedded within a range of inter-linked disjunctions. They are outlined in a model that is evaluated against empirical findings. Where SALW control inadequacy is causally connected to the disjunctive model, it is argued, current levels of SALW-induced casualties are unlikely to abate. The paper concludes by considering feasible options for enhanced management of global SALW proliferation.     

Civil society and state-centred struggles

This article is about civil society and state-centred struggles in contemporary Zimbabwe. I first identify and outline three current understandings of civil society. Two understandings (one Liberal, one Radical) are state-centric and exist firmly within the logic of state discourses and state politics. A third understanding, also Radical, is society-centric and speaks about politics existing at a distance from the state and possibly beyond the boundaries of civil society. This civil society-state discussion frames the second section of the article, which looks specifically at Zimbabwe. It details civil society as contested terrain (from the late 1990s onwards) within the context of a scholarly debate about agrarian transformation and political change. This debate, which reproduces (in theoretical garb) the key political society (or party) fault-lines within Zimbabwean society, has taken place primarily within the restricted confines of state-centred discourses.     

“坚持以人民为中心”的创新理念和重大实践对民办高校思政教育队伍建设的启示

习近平总书记在福建工作期间形成了极为宝贵的创新理念和重大实践。这些理念和实践具有前瞻性、开创性、战略性,其中“坚持以人民为中心”的理念和实践对民办高校思想政治教育队伍的建设有重要的指导意义。目前,民办高校思想政治教育队伍存在理论学习不深入、学生思想动态调研不充足、专业技能学习不及时、融入学生群体不顺畅、思想政治辅导员队伍不稳定、辅导员与思想政治理论课教师之间的思想政治教育不融合等薄弱点。针对这些问题,应将“坚持以人民为中心”作为民办高校思想政治教育工作的理念和实践,将一切工作的初衷紧紧围绕着学生这个群体,促进思想政治教育队伍的建设。     

当代马华报刊文本中的华族政治参与意识表达

本文通过对《星洲日报》和《南洋商报》及其他马华主要报刊相关言论和社论的文本分析,揭示了20世纪80-90年代期间马来西亚华人政治参与意识的变化,包括民主政治思想的启蒙,民主政治实践的探索,以及超越种族政治的发展变化过程。     

郑洪年与国立暨南大学的党化教育(1927—1934)

党化教育是国民党掌权后在思想领域实行一党专制的重要手段,尤以民国国立大学内的党化教育最为典型。本文着重以民国华侨教育家郑洪年任校长期间的国立暨南大学为考察点,探讨国民党在国立大学实施党化教育的主旨、具体措施及其影响,以加深对民国时期党化教育的认识。     

The Creative Industries Concept: Stakeholder Reflections on Its Relevance and Potential in Australia

The creative industries concept or term continues to attract attention in both developed and developing economies worldwide. However, it is not universally applied, with other terms such as cultural industries, arts and culture, copyright industries, or the experience economy used in various global locations. There is also ongoing debate and critique in relation to the creative industries concept, given that it emphasises employment and wealth creation and gathers together a range of disparate disciplines. This article explores these issues via interviews with twenty-two key leaders representing fifteen different industry organisations, advocacy groups, and government funding bodies in the Australian creative industries sector. The findings reveal only a moderate level of understanding and application of the creative industries concept, with a range of views on its relevance and utility for those working in the sector. In addition, the findings propose that there is significant potential and need for the sector to work towards a stronger advocacy position and profile within the broader economy. However, this represents a major challenge for the creative industries sector, given the existing vertical and horizontal power structures within this complex and diverse area of the economy.