Border crossings: new approaches to the Irish border

This paper explores and extends recent work on the Irish border that has sought to redress the relative lack of attention to the social, economic and cultural dimensions of the border in contrast to its intense political symbolism. In particular it addresses the theme of border crossing as a way to consider the border in terms of its everyday dimensions and in terms of questions of conventional and reconfigured categories of identity shaped by borderland life. The first section of the paper outlines recent approaches to the Irish border and their relationships to the field of border studies. The second section uses new research material to explore the ways in which the border was experienced on the ground in the lives of those most directly subject to its changing nature over the course of the twentieth century. The final part of the paper addresses recent suggestions that those experiences may form the basis of new cross-border and cross-community ‘border identities’. The term ‘border crossing’ in the paper's title thus stands both for the issue of physically crossing the border whose difficulties and effects have been central to the lives of those who have lived near the border, and for recent arguments that shared experiences of the impact of the border may be the basis for new senses of identity and commonality that imaginatively cross the borders of old categories of religion, culture and political affiliation. Recent efforts to reconceptualise border identities are emerging within a context still dominated by more polarised perspectives on identity and history, but they represent one significant strand of engagement with the Irish border. They suggest possibilities for forms of border identities that co-exist with, run counter to or cross cut old categories of division and difference.     

Death as the border: Managing missing migrants and unidentified bodies at the EU's Mediterranean frontier

The paper explores how the management of migrant bodies by national and EU authorities reflects particular understandings of contemporary borders and how the failure to address such bodies has implications far from the frontier. The study of the management both of the dead and of the data that can serve to identify missing migrants, can benefit our understanding of the contemporary border, and has to date received only limited scholarly attention. To address this gap we draw on field research carried out on the Greek island of Lesbos, one of the key migrant entry points to the EU, that has seen repeated incidents of deadly shipwrecks. Based on interviews with families of migrants and local stakeholders the paper explores how death at the border introduces novel – and often invisible – borders and categories of inclusion and exclusion. By shedding light on the experiences of the families of the dead we aspire to introduce a critical set of actors who have been marginalized from the study of the border. In exploring the remote effects of deaths on such families in migrant countries of origin, the paper shows that bordering practices have transnational impacts at the human level, thereby broadening our conceptualization of the border.     

'Nothing Can Ever Be the Case of 'Us' and 'Them' Again': Exploring the politics of difference through border pedagogy and student journal writing

Linda McDowell (1994) has called for styles of teaching which put into practice arguments about the 'politics of difference', which has become an increasingly central part of human geographical research. This paper draws on a number of years' experience of teaching an undergraduate course on multicultural historical geography, in which this was attempted. Here students were encouraged to get more involved in these debates, to take them more personally, and to develop 'situated knowledges' about the UK as a multicultural society. The approach to teaching, learning and assessment which made this possible was based on the principles of 'border pedagogy' and on students writing journals throughout the course which charted the development of their understandings of the materials they encountered.     

Solidarity as Spiritual Exercise: Accompanying Migrants at the US/Mexico Border

Abstract

This essay seeks to articulate a practical understanding of Christian solidarity as spiritual exercise that is based on Jon Sobrino's theological insights, uniquely grounded in his formation in the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola and his particular witness to the martyrs of El Salvador. We then turn to an exploration of the Kino Border Initiative, a binational ministry of sociopastoral accompaniment, educational outreach, research and advocacy as an institutional attempt to pursue a praxis of solidarity.     

Theorising Ethnicity and Ethnic Communalisations at the Margins: From Quebec to the World System

Abstract. This article explores the changing and competing relations between multiple forms of ethnic communalisations in Quebec, as the Quebecois nation is now confronted by pressures to redefine its boundaries in more inclusive terms. This specific case allows me to address two major theoretical questions. First, I re-examine the usefulness of the dominant mode of classification of nations, the binary opposition between ethnic and territorial nations. I then develop a perspective which makes visible the construction of the external and internal dimensions of ethnic boundaries as well as their interrelations. Focusing on processes of ethnic communalisation allows me to transcend both the former static, primordialist, empiricist, essentialist, naturalist and absolutist conception of ethnicity and some of the more recent radical constructivist conceptions which envisage ethnicity as an infinite slide of the signifier, a fantasy, a game. Finally, I locate ethnic communalisations and their theorisation within the framework of modernity and of the world system; by recognising the unequal relations which often underlie ethnic forms of communalisation, it becomes possible to decentre the conceptualisation and the theorisation of ethnicity, which are inseparable from ethnic relations themselves and from the position held by different countries within the world system.     

From the Rhenish Prussian Eifel to the Wisconsin Holyland: immigration,identity and acculturation at the regional scale

The processes and variables that contribute to the construction and maintenance of regional identity can be examined by tracing the origins and transformation of community life. In the case of immigrant communities, pre-migration experiences, social relations, power structures and public memory play significant roles in the construction of regional identity. The transplantation of several communities from the Eifel in Rhenish Prussia to Wisconsin's ‘Holyland’ in the nineteenth century provides the opportunity to study transfer and subsequent acculturation on a regional scale. The power of common cultural origins, based on kinship and an existing sense of community in the Eifel, played an enormous role in the construction of identity and community life in the Holyland. An analysis of the acculturation process within this region reveals the variables that were significant in shaping community life, and provides further insight into the ways in which acculturation and the construction of identity and borders are interrelated.     

The Diffusion of Voluntary International Management Standards: Responsible Care,ISO 9000, and ISO 14001 in the Chemical Industry

This article analyzes the factors that explain the international diffusion of voluntary international management standards. We argue that international management standards should not be analyzed in isolation but in conjunction with other standards and their institutional environment. We present two opposite views explaining how the previous diffusion of management standards facilitates or hampers the adoption of new management standards. We test a comprehensive model of diffusion of international environmental management standards within the chemical industry using a panel of 113 different countries during the period 2000 to 2003. Our results show that the previous experience of businesses in voluntary standards such as the Chemical Industry's Responsible Care Program or ISO 9000, government commitment toward Environmental Management Systems Standards, and the level of activity of international nongovernmental organizations in the country of adoption, impact positively on the adoption of ISO 14001 by chemical firms. Unlike previous studies that focused mostly on cross industry analyses, we do not find trade‐related factors significant while explaining adoption in the chemical industry. Our results differ, therefore, from previous research and highlight the need to isolate industry effects to understand the diffusion of international standards.     

From Byzantine to post-Byzantine art: the painting technique of St Stephen's wall paintings at Meteora,Greece

The old katholikon of St Stephen's monastery at the Meteora (site of the most important complex of monasteries in Greece after Mount Athos) is decorated with wall paintings that date from the beginning of 17th century. In terms of style, the artistic ensemble is altogether characteristic of the period. The painting technique has been examined by means of μRaman and μFTIR spectroscopies, gas chromatography–mass spectroscopy (GC/MS), optical microscopy (OM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM).     

From Universalism to Nationalism: Italian Freemasonry and the Great War

Abstract

During the period from 1914 to 1915, prior to Italy’s entry into the First World War, Freemasonry was a powerful force in Italian public life with a strong presence in every part of the nation and in the most vital organs of the State (parliament, public administration, the armed forces). Between them, the Grand Orient and the Grand Lodge of Italy counted 25,000 members and more than 500 lodges. Freemasons played a critical role in the campaign to mobilize Italian public opinion and political parties in support of Italy’s intervention in the war as an ally of France and Great Britain. To do so, they abandoned the movement’s traditional cosmopolitan and pacifist stances and adopted instead the objectives of the nationalists, a shift that would be consolidated during the war. Nonetheless, from 1917 onwards Italian Freemasons joined their counterparts in other European countries to press for the creation of a League of Nations to promote a new post-war universal order premised on the peaceful coexistence of independent and democratic nations. In examining the initiatives taken by Italian Freemasons in this period, this article focuses on the principles that inspired them, the language they adopted and the forms of communication and mobilization they used.     

从鱼鸟相战到鱼鸟相融──仰韶文化鱼鸟彩陶图试析

在仰韶文化彩陶图中,有一些是鱼鸟纹同绘于一件器物之上。本文通过综合分析,认为其中反映了仰韶文化不同支系之间社会集团的相互关系。即“鱼”集团与“鸟”集团之间的战争与融合。     

From the sublime to the meticulous: Art,anthropology and Victorian pilgrimage to Palestine

This essay focuses on practices of representing the Holy Land, as performed by Protestant British travellers during the Victorian and immediately post-Victorian era. I argue that traveller-artists of the period, such as the Pre-Raphaelite William Holman Hunt, promoted a realist aesthetic that combined spiritual and ethnographic sensibilities in its depiction of sacred scenes. Similar concerns are evident in the writings of nineteenth-century pilgrims to Palestine, who wrestle with issues of "participation" and "observation" in relation to topographical and cultural landscapes that are exotic and yet already rendered partially familiar through biblical narrative. In conclusion, some parallels are drawn with aspects of representation and fieldwork evident among early anthropologists.     

Poets and Teachers in the Underworld: From the Lucianic katabasis to the Timarion

Building on the classical tradition, which was strongly emulated in the Second Sophistic, Lucian used the katabasis motif (as we know it from, e.g., the Odyssey’s book 11) and staged various meetings in Hades. These Lucianic encounters were later rewritten by Byzantine authors who adapted them in order to express comical, critical, or subversive approaches towards power structures. In the present article, special focus will be placed on twelfth-century Byzantium and the anonymous dialogue Timarion. It is argued that the author of the Timarion used the Second Sophistic tradition of Lucian in order to discuss contemporary questions of the Greek literary and rhetorical heritage. He created a fictional space that displayed ancient learning and allowed discussions of contemporary culture in a textual parody with satirical functions.     

从跑马厅到人民公园人民广场:历史变迁与象征意义

Shanghai Racecourse was established at 1850, it was finally transformed into People's Park and People's Square in 1951. The Racecourse was originally just a simple recreational center. However, with the change of its own function and the trend of thought, it changed into a casino of cheating and murder, a place of discrimination against Chinese, a stage for the imperialists to show off their power and violence and a symbol of all evil things. The appeal to change the Racecourse echoed to the demand of opposing imperialism, taking back the concession, desire for civilization and democracy. From 1930s to 1950s, even though great change took place in the ruling party and the political power, there was an obvious continuity in the domain of thought and ideology. __________ Translated by Li Dan from the version submitted to the symposium of “Cultural succession and historical memory” held at Sichuan University, Oct. 17–18, 2007     

工业化问题研究范式的反思和重构:从工业主义到重农主义

在工业革命的影响下,工业主义在思想界迅速取代重农主义,成为占主导地位的思维方式。过去关于工业化问题的研究都是在工业主义的思维方式下进行的。这种传统的研究范式,一方面忽视了农业对工业化过程的决定作用,把工业化过程理解为一个自身独立的发展过程,另一方面没有看到工业化过程的内部结构,从而把工业化过程了解为一个抽象的线性发展过程。然而,从重农主义的理论前提出发,则可以区分出两种性质不同的工业化过程。这两种工业化过程虽然密切相关,但却有着各自的内部结构和发展趋势。     

牛郎织女神话十年研究述评(1996—2006)

1996至2006年10年间学术界关于牛郎织女神话研究所取得的成绩是有目共睹的,不仅出版了一批学术著作,而且还发表了大量学术论文,研究的视野也开阔起来。主要体现在如下几个方面：一、牛郎织女神话起源研究;二、牛郎织女神话流行状态研究;三、牛郎织女神话与相关民俗研究;四、牛郎织女神话与相关文学创作研究;五、牛郎织女神话的历史学、考古学、档案资料等方面的研究;六、牛郎织女神话的文化学、社会学、人类学等方面的研究。可以说,在牛郎织女神话研究方面已经形成了一个多姿多彩的局面。对近10年牛郎织女神话研究进行学术总结是有必要的。     

从“无讼”到“好讼”:明清时期的法律观念及其司法实践

明清两代正处于一个社会的变迁时期。若以法律诉讼为视角,社会史层面确乎发生了巨大的转向,亦即从"乡土社会"逐渐向"好讼"社会转变。于是,"无讼"的理想与"好讼"的现实必然产生冲突。其冲突的结果,则使明清两代的学者与官员对"无讼"重新进行理性的思考,认定"无讼"并非是一种无为而治的理想世界,而是通过具体的"听讼"过程而达到司法公正。随之而来的则是"息讼"观念的流行,以及"息供"、"省词讼"一类司法实践行为的普遍化。     

生存意识与历史记忆——从小说《生存》到电影《鬼子来了》

中国当代文学在其发展流变中,为抗日战争这段历史的书写提供了另一种可能。本文以尤凤伟的中篇小说《生存》和它的改编剧本,以及姜文据此再度创作和拍摄的电影《鬼子来了》为考察对象,回避其从小说、剧本到电影的流变过程中在文艺样式与拍摄技巧上的特色,而着重从创作主体建立在国族想象上的启蒙立场与文本中阶级意识的隐现上,探讨当前抗战文艺中的历史记忆与现实诉求。     

From the modern to the archaeological: starch grains from millets and their wild relatives in China

Starch grains from 31 modern samples of millets derived from the seeds of 7 species within the genus Setaria and 2 species within the genus Panicum were analyzed to determine diagnostic morphological characteristics. Ancient starch grains recovered from a sample of broomcorn millet (Panicum miliaceum) excavated from the Cishan site (10.0-7.6 cal yr BP) in the North China Plain were then subjected to the same analyses to determine the differences in morphologies, if any, between modern and ancient samples. The data indicate that morphological features, and particularly surface and fissure features, will allow for solid identifications of ancient millet starches, while size classes will be helpful, but will not be dependable taxonomic indicators.