Fighting for the Afterlife: Spiritists, Catholics, and Popular Religion in Nineteenth-Century France

This article examines the position of nineteenth-century French spiritism in relation to the Catholic Church. Spiritism offered an alternative "religion" to French Catholics dissatisfied with the church's traditionalism in a modernizing world. I begin by describing the spiritists' position on Catholic dogma and the movement's place as an urban popular religion. Spiritist critiques of heaven and hell incorporated liberal and republican values, thus making it appealing to these groups who were often hostile to the church. I move next to conflicts between the adversaries. Spiritists, unfettered by dogma or even logic in some cases, freely incorporated the supernatural into the nineteenth-century acceptance of Enlightenment values such as reason and science. The church, unable to deny the reality of supernatural phenomena claimed by the spiritists, limited itself to asserting the devil's hand in these phenomena. It thus could not fully address the challenge of spiritism. Spiritism as a popular religion complicates the assumption by many folklorists regarding the disappearance of popular beliefs in the face of the modern. The article concludes with a call to modify these theories in order to understand an evolving, often urban, popular culture which integrated "tradition" and "modernity" and continually created new forms of the marvellous.     

两战间的日本法西斯主义及其对外扩张理论

两次世界大战之间的二三十年代,法西斯主义在日本兴起。法西斯主义不仅改变了日本的社会政治,更提出了一系列扩张理论,强化了近代军国主义确立以来的对外侵略政策,为发动第二次世界大战从多方面作了社会动员与理论准备。由近代军国主义体制的制约,新兴法西斯主义可以区分为民间(即不穿军装的)法西斯与军队法西斯两大类别。借对外战争实现其大陆侵略政策,同时反击民主派势力,这是军部法西斯与民间法西斯势力的主要契合点。日本法西斯扩张理论的基本特点在于,为论证对外战争的必要性,最大限度动员民众投入战争,它们遍及思想文化各领域,花样繁多、内容庞杂。既有对于传统武士道、日本主义、天皇中心论等思想的兼收并蓄,更主要是一批现代法西斯理论家、活动家针对时局提出各种论述,以及军部各决策机构制定策案纲要所确认的指导思想,表述形式五花八门,极富于诡辩性、多样性、独特性、应用性与丰富性。     

The Afghanistan-Pakistan Wars, 2008-2009: Micro-geographies,Conflict Diffusion,and Clusters of Violence

A team of political geographers analyzes over 5,000 violent events collected from media reports for the Afghanistan and Pakistan conflicts during 2008 and 2009. The violent events are geocoded to precise locations and the authors employ an exploratory spatial data analysis approach to examine the recent dynamics of the wars. By mapping the violence and examining its temporal dimensions, the authors explain its diffusion from traditional foci along the border between the two countries. While violence is still overwhelmingly concentrated in the Pashtun regions in both countries, recent policy shifts by the American and Pakistani governments in the conduct of the war are reflected in a sizeable increase in overall violence and its geographic spread to key cities. The authors identify and map the clusters (hotspots) of conflict where the violence is significantly higher than expected and examine their shifts over the two-year period. Special attention is paid to the targeting strategy of drone missile strikes and the increase in their number and geographic extent by the Obama administration.     

试析1968年美国天主教会内部的"生命权"问题之争

围绕罗马教皇在1968年发布的《人类生命》通谕是否具有合理性问题,美国天主教会内部存在严重分歧,教会上层保守派一方的意见最终占据了主导地位,从而在伦理道德领域确立了美国天主教会延续至今的宗教保守主义立场。教会从此成为反对人工控制生育的中坚力量。其保守立场成为天主教会同其他教派,尤其是新基督教右翼派别的合作基础。     

明治政府建立初期的财政困难与对策

明治政府成立之初,收不抵支,没有稳定财源,支出浩瀚,财政困难重重。为摆脱困境、保障推翻德川幕府和消灭其残余势力,在政治上确立对全国统治目标的顺利实现,明治政府先后启用由利公正、大隈重信负责财政事务,实施了包括征收御用金、设立会计基金、废止银目、发行太政官札在内的一系列财政政策,这些财政政策虽然带有明显的应急性特征,却解决了倒幕战争、明治政府运转所急需的各种经费,从财政上有力地保证了倒幕战争的胜利和新政府在全国统治的确立。     

从首善书院之禁毁看晚明政治与讲学的冲突

首善书院是晚明学者冯从吾、邹元标建立的讲学书院。长期以来,学界视其为东林书院之附庸,从而简单地将其禁毁原因归结为受东林书院的牵连,是党争的结果。但是,首善书院的禁讲和禁毁实际上是取决于当时流行的政治观念——“讲学即是结党”。在这种观念下,一切讲学都是与政治相冲突的。而在京察前刻,作为官僚身份的讲学者们在京城的讲学强化了这一政治观念。政治与讲学之冲突于是发生。首善书院之禁毁,正源于此,而于党争无涉。     

Siegefields: An Archaeological Assessment of 'Small' sieges of the British Civil Wars

Abstract

Despite outnumbering the pitched battles of the British Civil Wars of the 1640s, sieges, particularly 'small' sieges against single structures such as castles and country mansions, have not been subjected to the intensive study that the battles have enjoyed. While sieges are described in the contemporary literature, we do not fully-understand the physical dynamics of 17th century siege warfare, nor have we identified the key archaeological signatures of such military events. Although castle interiors have been 'cleared' and some partially excavated, the areas immediately beyond the walls have not come in for systematic study. Yet these 'siegefields' may be 'conflict sensitive' and hold the greatest potential for information regarding siege activity. Using an array of data drawn from various survey methodologies, it may be possible to establish strategies for examining siege sites.     

The Heartbreak of the Place: Space,Religion and Politics in Post‐9/11 Mosque Controversies

In recent years, there have been a series of public controversies related to construction of Islamic worship spaces in the U.S. One of these controversies, surrounding a proposal for an Islamic community center in New York City known as Park51, dominated media coverage for several weeks in the summer of 2010 and is one of several high‐profile mosque‐building debates in the U.S. Another contentious debate occurred in the community of Temecula, Calif. These controversies represent the still‐uncertain place Islam holds in the American public sphere. Using framing theory, this article considers the ways in which Islam is portrayed in news media content by political actors and the potential consequences of such framing.