Bogdanov,Marx, and the limits to growth debate

Bogdanov is a major rival to the philosophical orthodoxy of Plekhanov and Lenin. We explicate the foundational notions of his philosophy—praxis and experience—and trace his revisionism to Kant, Fichte, Mach, and Spencer. We show that Bogdanov's approach represents a predominantly pragmatic reading of Marx, influenced by the empiricism of Mach and Spencer as well as by Kantian apriorism. Bogdanov's version of Unified Science—Tektology—is considered against his philosophical background. The concept of praxis is at the center of the controversy between Marxist orthodoxy and revisionism. We analyze the connection between Bogdanov's philosophy of praxis, and the constructivism of the young Marx. Consequently, we see how Bogdanov's quest for infinite creativity is conceptually connected with the Fichtean–Marxian quest for infinite growth. Furthermore, we consider the issue of technological growth in a framework of the contemporary limits to growth debate.     

Said,Auerbach, and the Return to Philological Hermeneutics

ABSTRACT

This essay explores the relationship between Edward Said’s well-known contrapuntal reading of history and Erich Auerbach’s Ansatzpunkt, or point of departure, as a means of entering a given hermeneutic circle. Although Auerbach occupied an increasingly prominent place in Said’s critical thought, his engagement with the work of the German philologist has been largely ignored or downplayed. In this essay I take the figure of exile, which is so central to Said’s scholarship and which he explicitly links with the intellectual mission of critique, as a point of departure for a deepened exploration of Said’s critical method—a method developed in critical dialogue with Auerbach’s work. Building on the existing literature, I argue that Auerbach offers more than simply a way for Said to problematize identity politics and to challenge the dogmatism of received notions of home and political belonging. More than this, I argue that the German philologist provides Said with a way to reconfigure the dialectic between history and literature; to develop his contrapuntal approach to reading history; and to rethink the parameters of a historicist humanism that, in turn, enables him to reactivate the critical potential of philological hermeneutics.     

香格里拉 驶向心中的日月

在去香格里拉之前,很多朋友都对我说,其实香格里拉只是一个小镇,镇上并不美丽。香格里拉真正美丽的是车窗外的风景。香格里拉最美的地方,是在被命名为第一个国家级的森林公园普达措和陈凯歌拍摄《无极》的地方羊塘曲;香格里拉最值得称为心中的日月的地方是中国被列为禁登的那座山:梅里雪山。     

Resettlement,Rights to Development and the Ilisu Dam,Turkey

A cursory attempt to measure the extent of displacement over the past two decades indicates significant increases in conflict‐induced displacement and displacement resulting from development projects. At the same time a growing opposition to the latter form of displacement has raised questions over its legitimacy through a variety of media, including public campaigns and protests. This article focuses on some of the challenges that this presents to the displacement and resettlement discourse. In particular it considers the influences of the rights to development agenda on the spatial context of displacement and its associated economic and political changes. There appears to be a disjuncture between the practices of mainstream development, which tend to interpret development policy as it is defined and applied by a nation state and to assess inequalities within clear geographical definitions, and the universality of a rights based approach to development. This article examines these tensions in the context of displacement and resettlement management, drawing on evidence from a case study of the Ilisu dam in South East Anatolia, Turkey.     

Gender,Vulnerability, and the Experts: Responding to the Maldives Tsunami

This article examines the initial response by national and international agencies to gender issues during the aftermath of the Maldives tsunami, arguing that it was, in general, inadequate. Some agencies took a gender blind approach, ignoring different impacts on men and women, as well as the effects of complex gender relations on relief and recovery efforts. Other agencies paid greater attention to gender relations in their response but tended to focus exclusively on the universal category of the ‘vulnerable woman’ requiring special assistance, whilst at the same time ignoring men's vulnerabilities. This article argues that such language entrenched women as victims, excluding them from leadership and decision‐making roles and as such served to reinforce and re‐inscribe women's trauma. It is suggested that it is partly because of the nature of international bureaucracies and the fact that this disaster drew foreign ‘experts’ from around the world that the response neglected or over‐simplified gender issues.     

ICT,Social Media,and the Arab Transition to Democracy: From Venting to Acting

There is widespread use of information and communications technology (ICT) in the Middle East and North African countries. Blogging and social media have played an important role in the recent calls for reform and change. Using these new communication systems and devices, citizens have been venting their anger and frustration with their autocratic governments and rulers. Most recently, the venting has turned into action, as shown by the eradication of the old regimes in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, and Yemen, as well as the ongoing struggle in Syria. The most notable issues include lack of individual freedoms, deteriorating economic conditions, high unemployment, increased corruption, and violent treatment of citizens at the hands of security forces. The Arab Spring, or Awakening, and the events that have since followed have, in part, been promoted by ICT and other means of modern communications. Along with the popular Arab traditions of oral communication as well as Friday and Sunday sermons at mosques and churches, social media were used by organizers of the Arab Spring to call for and coordinate demonstrations against the regimes. Access to this newer media has circumvented the established and government‐controlled media such as printed press, radio, and television—outlets bent on appeasing the rulers and misinforming the masses. Arab authoritarian systems have discovered that they cannot simply flip a big red switch to stop the flow of information that they would rather keep hidden from the masses. Further discussed are digital democracies that are currently emerging because of the growing population of netizens, bloggers, and social media political activists throughout the Arab world and the many attempts to silence them.     

Destination attributes,satisfaction, and the cruise visitor's intent to revisit and recommend

The cruise industry has seen its revenues more than double since the year 2000. Hence, it has become even more important for planners and managers to pinpoint those destination attributes that make a difference in satisfying cruise ship passengers. This is especially crucial since the extant literature established that visitors' overall satisfaction with the destination strongly influences intent to return or recommend the destination to others. The purpose of this paper is to explore how the satisfaction of cruise visitors regarding various destination attributes may relate to their satisfaction with the destination and how this may influence declared intent of repeat visits or intent to recommend the destination to those within their social and professional networks. This study is based on the data collected for the island of Oahu in 2013 in Honolulu, Hawaii. Our analysis makes use of the logistic regression, and our results indicate that distance deters passengers from repeat visits, whereas the influence of satisfaction with the destination is positive not only for revisits, but also for word-of-mouth recommendations. Satisfaction with attributes such as transportation, safety and prices strongly influences satisfaction with the destination, whereas satisfaction with other attributes such as on-shore activities or sightseeing tours were found not to be as influential. The results delineate the factors planners and managers should focus on in their efforts to increase visitor satisfaction with a destination and thereby increase the likelihood of repeat visits and positive word of mouth.     

Beira,the ocean gateway to Rhodesia and Nyasaland

The History of Sicily from the Earliest Times. By Edward A. Freeman, M.A., Hon. D.C.L., LL.D. 2 Vols.: Pp. 609 + 583. With Maps. Oxford : at the Clarendon Press, 1891.

Denmark. Edited by H. Weitemeyer. With a Coloured Map. London : W. Heinemann. Copenhagen : A. F. Host and Son. Pp. 268.

New Light on Dark Africa: being the Narrative of the German Emin Pasha Expedition. Related by Dr. Carl Peters, the Commander of the Expedition. Translated from the German by H. W. Dulcken, Ph.D. London: Ward, Lock, &; Co., 1891. Maps and Illustrations. 1 vol., pp. 597.

Rulers of India: The Earl of Mayo. By Sir W. W. Hunter. Oxford : Clarendon Press, 1891. Pp. 201.

Wild Beasts and their Ways. By Sir Samuel W. Baker, F.R.S., P.R.G.S., etc. London : Macmillan and Co., 1891. Pp. 455.

Log of a Jack Tar; and Captain O'Brien's Captivity in France. Edited by Commander Lovett Cameron, R.N. “ Adventure Series.” London: Fisher Unwin, 1891. Pp. 379. Price 5s.

Portugal. By H. Morse Stephens, “ Story of the Nations “ Series. London: T. Fisher Unwin, 1891. Pp. xxiv+450. Price 5s.

Industrial Ireland: A German View of the Irish Question. By J. B. Keller. London: T. Fisher Unwin, 1891. Pp. 48.

A Lady's Letters from Central Africa : A Journey from Mandala, Shiri Highlands, to Ujiji, Lake Tanganyika, and back. By Jane F. Moir. With an Introduction by Rev. T. M. Lindsay, D.D. Glasgow: J. MacLehose and Sons, 1891. Pp. 91.

Manica: Being a Report addressed to the Minister of the Marine and the Colonies of Portugal. By J. Paiva de Andrada, Colonel of Artillery. With a Sketch‐Map by E. G. Eavenstein. London : George Philip and Son, 1891. Pp. 63. Price 1s.

Matabeleland and Mashonaland. Being a Special Number of South Africa. London : at the Offices of South Africa, 1891. Pp. 146. Price 2s.

The Bermuda Islands: A Contribution to the Physical History and Zoology of the Somers Archipelago, with an examination of the Structure of the Coral Beefs. By Angelo Heilprin, , F.G.S.A., etc. etc. Published by the Author. Philadelphia, 1889.

Wanderings in South America, etc. By Charles Waterton. Illustrations and Index. Pp. xxxix + 367. Thomas Kelson and Sons, 1891. Price 4s.

The Malay Archipelago : The Land of the Orang‐utan and the Bird of Paradise. A Narrative of Travel, with Studies of Man and Nature. By Alfred Russel Wallace. London and New York : Macmillan and Co., 1890. Pp. xvii + 515.

The Opening of the Arctic Sea. By H. A. N. Demsford, C.E. London : Eidgway, 1890.

The Cruise of the Dunottar Castle. By W. Scott Dalgleish, M. A. Edinburgh : T. and A. Constable, 1890. Pp. 94. Illustrated.

The Cyclists’ Route‐Book of Great Britain. By W. J. Spurrier. London : Iliffe and Son, 1890. Pp. 170. Price 1s.

History of Newport and the Parish of Forgan ; and Rambles round the District. By J. S. Neish. Dundee: W. and D. C. Thomson, 1890. Pp. vii+256. Price 3s.     

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.