Six decades of ethnic minority population change in China

ABSTRACT

China’s 55 non-Han ethnic minority groups were at least in part politically and institutionally ‘invented’ by China’s ethnic classification project, and also through the effects of the system of continuous population census. This paper investigates population change of the non-Han ethnic minorities (NHEMs) over the past six decades. The number of NHEMs as a whole tripled from 1953 to 2010. However, growth has differed among individual groups and in different time periods. The population of some groups has fluctuated while that of others has grown steadily, regardless of the size of the groups. As a whole, since 2000 the growth rate of NHEMs has been lower than that of the Han Chinese, and the population of 13 NHEM groups has begun to decline. A growing number of people belonging to ethnic minorities have switched their ethnic identities to Han. This has especially been the case for NHEM youth. The change in ethnic minority populations has been influenced by dynamic interactions among demographic factors, ethnic identification as well as political, economic and policy changes.     

The dissolution of ancient Kvenland and the transformation of the Kvens as an ethnic group of people. On changing ethnic categorizations in communicative and collective memories

ABSTRACT

The aim is to trace how the ethnonym Kven and the interrelated imagination of Kvenland changed over time in Nordic political discourse from the Viking Age to the mid-eighteenth century. In the negotiations over fixed borders between Sweden, Denmark and Russia, recognition of ethnic groups played an important political role in legitimating the territorial claims of the states. It brought the history of ethnic groups to the table and in the process made visible ethnonyms and names for provinces used previously. The continuity of the ethnonyms is investigated as a chronological chain of communicative and collective memory. The ethnonym and the territory of Kvenland were used by the Norwegians to maintain an ethnic boundary with the Finnish speakers in the upper Bothnian area. The names Kven and Kvenland were never used in Sweden. The investigation shows that the Kvens constituted a group of Finnish speaking people existing in continuity from the Viking Age. Their core territory was situated in the upper Gulf of Bothnia area. When this was integrated into the Swedish kingdom the inhabitants were designated Finns by the Swedes. The Finnish speakers in Tornedalen, thus, kept their linguistic and cultural continuity but lost their western Scandinavian ethnonym Kven.     

Partisanship and political attitudes: Is there a marriage gap?

While research analysts have devoted considerable attention to the gender gap in party identification and political behaviour, the question of a marriage gap in relation to political attitudes has received little empirical investigation. In an effort to remedy this situation, this paper focuses on marital differences in political values among Australian adults. The findings suggest that married and unmarried persons do differ in their political orientations. The unmarried are relatively less likely to identify with the Liberal‐National coalition than their married colleagues, and hold a more liberal view in relation to economic issues, social spending and moral attitudes.     

One community ‐ one people? Ethnicity and demography in a North‐Norwegian community 1865–1930

This article demonstrates how the ethno‐demographic composition of a particular local community changes dramatically during a period of 65 years according to the population censuses, although migration is of minor importance. The changes are explained partly as a consequence of an increase in interethnic marriages which produces a growing number of inhabitants with a “mixed” ethnic background, and partly as a change in registration practices concerning ethnicity. In the same period there are no indications of a stratified social structure in the community reflecting differences in opportunities between the various ethnic categories. The article concludes that in this period we witness an emerging fusion of ethnic categories which is generated by a growing number of affinal and consanguine relations and an absence of assets and resources which could be monopolized on an ethnic basis.     

Trends and Implications of Delayed and Non-Marriage in Korea

Korea has experienced marital transition since the 1920s, but recent data reveal rapid changes in marital behaviour and norms. Analysts usually relate these to the second fertility transition, fast growing gender equality, economic developments, and ideational changes, pointing to the necessity of understanding the process of change in marital behaviour in the context of societal transformation as well as demographic transition. With this background in mind, this paper constructs refined measures, such as age-specific first marriage rates and total first marriage rates, for different time periods and for different cohorts to present a clearer picture of marriage trends. The results are then examined in relation to various social and demographic factors, a procedure which provides an indirect check on the validity and usefulness of the method.     

The reconciliation trap: disputing genocide and the land issue in postwar Guatemala

ABSTRACT

Guatemala’s reconciliation debate is as much about the present and the future as it is about history. In order to highlight its political dimension, I propose to read this controversy through the lens of hegemony theory. It is precisely because of the entwinement of specific political economic interests, centuries-old ethnic conflict and structural racism in Guatemala that charging genocide constitutes a key moment in a fight over power—a fight in which controversies about the politics of history are also expressions of struggle over economic resources and political hegemony. In this light, reconciliation does not appear to be a solution but a trap, set by those who defend their interests against the changes that the Peace Accords and the recommendations of the Historical Clarification Commission demanded. In the first section, I show that one crucial motive for these elites to deny the Guatemalan genocide, besides obvious reasons of historical shame and responsibility, is economic issues, among them the century-old land question. In the following sections I present two seemingly contrary arguments from the political and academic left. One takes apart, from a poststructural perspective, simplifying binary logics of class and ethnic conflict and thus delegitimizes the indigenous and peasant struggle for economic reform in the process. The other proposes a form of universal guilt that also ends up depoliticizing the history of the civil war.     

The changing pattern of urban fertility in eastern Australia 1966–1976

The article seeks to enhance understanding of post-transitional demographic change by examining the working out at the local level of the macro-scale societal processes underpinning the recent cyclic oscillation in Australian reproductive behaviour. Variations in urban marital and overall fertility between 1966 and 1971 and between 1971 and 1976 are described and analysed. In general, inter-urban variability in both measures diminished greatly, as did the explanatory power of ecological differentials, suggesting widespread acceptance of the small family norm throughout the study-area. While the process of convergence was continuous for marital fertility, structural changes contributed to later divergence of overall fertility levels, in accordance with Alonso's cyclical model of change. The current low level of residual inter-urban variability suggests that little more may be gained from analyses of this type.     

Refiguring the Archaeology of Greater Cahokia

Revised theoretical constructs and an enlarged database allow substantive revisions to a processual accounting of greater Cahokia. Measures of political consolidation, demographic nucleation, central transformations, and centrifugal dispersions reveal the form, scale, and developmental trajectory of greater Cahokia to have been highly centralized, regional, and punctuated by abrupt and pervasive social changes, respectively. Social restructuring, political rituals, and large-scale labor mobilizations are recognizable among the archaeological remains, as are the pre-Mississippian traditions that tempered regional government. Greater Cahokia was a product of local agricultural populations dominated and accommodated over three centuries. The processes of domination and accommodation, occurring at a time when regional administration was not yet commonplace, left unmistakable regional and panregional signatures.     

Political Parties and Women’s Success in Municipal Elections in 2005 in Montérégie and Montréal (Québec,Canada)

ABSTRACT

We examine the impact of political parties on the success of women and men candidates in the 2005 municipal elections of Québec’s two most populous regions, Montérégie and Montréal. We built the dataset by requesting documentation from each municipality separately. This original dataset supports our two hypotheses. First, we demonstrate that the presence of political parties did not affect the difference in percentages of votes obtained by women and men candidates. No matter the gender, candidates affiliated with a political party obtained more votes than independent ones. Second, we find that gender did not affect contributions. No matter the gender, the presence of political parties and the candidates’ affiliation had a positive impact on their contributions. Québec conforms to findings in the U.S. literature: women and men candidates, under similar circumstances, are equally likely to obtain votes and contributions.     

On the State of Man

Abstract

Until recently increasing agricultural productivity was able to supply the world's increasing population. Now the appearance of adverse trends suggests that social and political problems will outdistance technical solutions. Explosive cost increases of energy, of fertilizers and of non-fuel minerals, as well as the possibility of adverse climatic changes and the continuing threat of political instability constitute real dangers. Paramount is the uncontrolled growth of world population, especially in South Asia, which poses the ultimate question: can the populations of these countries be saved under any circumstances, or must Nature be allowed to take its course? The quality of life for our descendants will be determined by how many of them there will be.     

REGIONAL WAGE DIFFERENTIALS AND RACE: 1973-1978*

ABSTRACT. The intertemporal structure of regional nominal-wage differentials by race is estimated using panel data from 1973 through 1978. This allows for a more complete analysis of the time pattern of changes in wage differentials, which is not possible from cross-sectional studies. The findings indicate that, in addition to the presence of substantial locational differentials, there was a systematic change in the differentials over time.     

Myths of descent: Views of the remote past,as reflected in school textbooks in contemporary Russia

Abstract

A view of the past has proved to be a valuable aspect of ethnic identity in the contemporary world. It also plays a crucial role in contemporary struggles for political, financial, territorial and cultural resources. This struggle is especially intense in unstable political environments, as various ethnic elites compete to upgrade their political status and to gain desirable benefits. In the post-Soviet world, where ethnicity is still highly politicised, myths of the remote past and glorious ancestors are often forged and disseminated as important aspects of ethno-nationalist ideologies. Instead of appreciating cultural diversity, this trend introduces new models of social division, dominance and discrimination legitimised by a ‘distinct culture’ and ‘cultural roots’. An image of the enemy is an integral element of the ideologies in question, which have explicit or implicit xenophobic connotations. The place of this type of myth and ideology in the contemporary Russian education system is analysed here.     

An analysis of population and social change in London wards in the 1980s

"This paper discusses the estimation and projection of small area populations in London, [England] and considers trends in intercensal social and demographic indices which can be calculated using these estimates. Information available annually on vital statistics and electorates is combined with detailed data from the Census Small Area Statistics to derive demographic component based population estimates for London's electoral wards over five year periods. The availability of age disaggregated population estimates permits derivation of small area social indicators for intercensal years, for example, of unemployment and mortality. Trends in spatial inequality of such indicators during the 1980s are analysed and point to continuing wide differentials. A typology of population and social indicators gives an indication of the small area distribution of the recent population turnaround in inner London, and of its association with other social processes such as gentrification and ethnic concentration."     

Acculturation and ethnic survival?

?The so‐called ?Norwegianization? of the Sami population in parts of North‐Norway has been described in rather broad terms as a process towards a more or less complete assimilation of the minority group. However, the study of this process affronts some methodological problems. Being a process of recodification of basic identities, we ideally need data on how members of the different ethnic categories perceived each other and what impact these mutual codifications had on their organization of social interaction at different points in time. No records of the past contain this sort of information. However, through the study of population censuses we may compare the registration of ?nationality? over time, and when we trace individuals in these registrations, we also find that changes of category occur rather frequently. The category of ?mixed? descent tends to increase, and this may be due to changes in registrations and/ or growth in the rate of inter‐ethnic marriages. After this methodological illustration, the article discusses mechanisms of ethnic differentiation in seemingly ?Norwegianized? communities of today, namely dialect variations (conversational codes) as a means to sustain ethnic categorization on a regional level and presents an example of local level incorporation which may be seen as an extension of ethnic dichotomization in this type of community.?     

Contested Self-determination: Indonesia and East Timor's Battle over Borders,International Law and Ethnic Identity

ABSTRACT

East Timor's twin experiences of colonialism established its collective identity and internally recognised rights of self-determination. Political boundaries were created through negotiated treaties between Portugal and the Netherlands, and Portuguese colonialism provided East Timor with its status as a non-self-governing territory under international law in 1960. Indonesian colonialism resulted in a discursive battle over identity as both the Indonesian government and East Timor's independence movement employed ethnocultural narratives and myths to persuade the international community of the legitimacy of their respective political claims. During debates over East Timor's political status that occurred between 1975 and 1999, Indonesia emphasised the ethnic ‘kinship’ between Indonesians and East Timorese. In contrast, East Timor's representatives emphasised cultural links with Portugal and Melanesia to prove its distinctiveness from Indonesia.     

From Soviet Modernization to Post–Soviet Transformation: Understanding Marriage and Fertility Dynamics in Uzbekistan

In this article we analyse the dynamics of marriage and childbearing in Uzbekistan through the prism of the recent socioeconomic and political history of that country. After becoming an independent nation in 1991, Uzbekistan abandoned the Soviet modernization project and aspired to set out on a radically different course of economic, social, and political development. We argue, however, that not only independence but also the preceding period of perestroika reforms (1985–91) had a dramatic effect on social conditions and practices and, consequently, the demographic behaviour of the country's population. Using data from the 1996 Uzbekistan Demographic and Health Survey we apply event–history analysis to examine changes in the timing of entry into first marriage, first and second births over four periods: two periods of pre–perestroika socialism, the perestroika years, and the period since independence. We investigate the factors that influenced the timing of these events in each of the four periods among Uzbeks, the country's eponymous and largest ethnic group, and among Uzbekistan's urban population. In general, our results point to a dialectic combination of continuity and change in Uzbekistan's recent demographic trends, which reflect the complex and contradictory nature of broader societal transformations in that and other parts of the former Soviet Union.     

The imperative of struggle: feminist and gender geographies in the United States

Abstract

The groundbreaking work of feminist and gender geographies has substantially advanced the nature of inquiry in the United States. In centering gendered ways of knowing, geographers have reframed disciplinary analyses of landscape, place, and space by troubling the normativities associated with lives, politics, and location. Though undoubtedly thriving, the visibility and impact of feminist and gender geographies have been confronted by history and changing political contexts. This essay extracts challenges to conceptualizing and doing feminist and gender geographies in the United States. By linking national freedom struggles to the current political climate and by reviewing the landscape of U.S. higher education, the essay asserts that scholars engaged with feminist and gender geographies can find utility in reflection, and by doing so, can resist contemporary disciplinary challenges to theory and practice.     

The political economy of dive tourism: precarity at the periphery in Malaysia

ABSTRACT

Using a critical political economy approach and the concept of labour precarity, the international dive tourism industry in Sabah, Malaysia and its workers’ vulnerabilities are interrogated. Fieldwork data highlights dive tourism's socio-economic impacts and the precarity of labour within the international tourism sector and also critiques it as a development strategy for a peripheral region. The paper challenges the optimistic views of labour precarity found in the existing political economy literature. Rather than identifying labour empowerment, evidence demonstrates significant worker vulnerability, uncertainty, and contingency – especially among ethnic minorities – resulting from Malaysia's state-led rentier economy.     

Ethnonationalism and attitudes towards gay and lesbian rights in Northern Ireland

Disputes over gay and lesbian rights occupy a central place on both national and international agendas in recent years. This is also the case in societies emerging from chronic ethnonational conflict where debates over gay and lesbian rights vs. ethnic‐based rights predominate. While much scholarly work focuses on the influence of socio‐demographic factors in determining attitudes toward gay and lesbian rights in postconflict societies, to date, the role of political influences, such as ethnonationalism, is noticeably under‐researched. It is with this omission in mind that this paper focuses on the influence of ethnonationalism, or congruency in religious, national and communal identity, on attitudes towards gay and lesbian rights issues. Using nationally representative data from Northern Ireland, the results suggest that while ethnonationalism is a key predictor of attitudes among Protestants, it is socio‐demographic factors, such as gender, age and educational attainment, that are the primary determinants of Catholic views.     

On Authority and Political Destination: Michael Polanyi and the Threshold of Postmodernism

ABSTRACT

This study challenges a prevalent view that Aquinas's political thought develops over time on the question of legitimate resistance to tyranny. Many scholars argue that Aquinas gradually restricts the scope of legitimate political resistance and morally permissible tyrannicide. On this view Aquinas defends tyrannicide in his early Commentary on the Sentences, adds strong qualifications in the Summa Theologiae, and finally repudiates tyrannicide in De Regno. This study finds the evidence for such a development lacking and seeks to rehabilitate a long and diverse Thomistic tradition of legitimate resistance including tyrannicide. Indeed, a close reading of De Regno shows that Aquinas upholds a doctrine of political resistance and defends the legitimacy of tyrannicide under certain circumstances. Moreover, Aquinas's doctrine of political resistance is wide open and underdeveloped. Later attempts to clarify and qualify Aquinas's doctrine of political resistance, therefore, are appropriate and even necessary.