Financial order and world politics: crisis, change and continuity

Many insist that the world economy today is in the grip of the most severe financial crisis since 1931. Although the origins of this crisis are in dispute, the extent and scale of the changes prompted by it are becoming clear. Among these changes are a recalibration of the relationship between public and private authority, a reconfiguration of the regulatory responsibilities and capacities of the state with respect to the financial system, and a rebalancing of relations of power among states. While the financial crisis has generated points of stress along all of these axes of change, we should be wary of expecting an entirely new global financial order to emerge from the carnage. The complex links between financial order and world politics suggest that this financial crisis will result in an evolutionary rather than a revolutionary transformation in the world's financial order.     

去墨西哥国家人类学博物馆解析2012玛雅预言

<正>对于美洲大陆古印第安人所曾经拥有的辉煌国度和璀璨文明历史一直非常向往,尤其是神乎其神的玛雅文明以及传说已久的2012年预言。如今有机会在"世界毁灭"之前来到墨西哥旅游,并有机会在墨西哥城的国家人类学博物馆泡上一天,     

Planning education in a globalized world

Five aspects of planning education at the turn of the century are discussed in this comment on Leonie Sandercock's well argued paper. The dominance of English as lingua franca and the advance of the Anglo‐American approach to planning education in a globalizing world are seen as facts which give long standing regional traditions in other cultures little chance to transfer their experience and knowledge to the English speaking planning world. Despite global convergence in planning and planning education the adaptation to regional characteristics is still essential to move from knowledge to action in urban and regional development. Training students to develop creative competence is considered as a crucial and indispensable component in planning education. However, returning to physical planning and urban design as taught in many European schools, is considered to be deadly for the future of planning schools in Europe. This danger and the never‐ending departmental disputes among planners coming from different academic backgrounds about planning education makes planning educators the most dangerous enemies of forward looking planning education. This brief comment to Leonie Sandercock's inspiring paper is written with an optimistic outlook. The optimism is based on a scenario of two quite different concepts of planning education: a global, more theoretical concept aiming at advancing knowledge in the field, and a regional, more professional one which strives for better local and regional life spaces in a globalizing world, dominated by global markets and a global value system.     

Towards a Political Theology of Vulnerability Anthropological and Theological Propositions

Abstract

Recent experiences of terror, violence, and catastrophe, such as the terror attacks in Norway in 2011 or the Peshawar School Massacre leaving 132 children and nine staff dead on December 16, 2014, strengthen the sense of the fundamental vulnerability in human existence. In this article, it is argued that political theology, in responding to such experiences, should aim at perceiving and protecting vulnerability as a value. For this purpose, basic propositions for a theological anthropology of vulnerability are put forward. Likewise, propositions for interpreting God as vulnerable are presented, criticizing the traditional theistic concept of God as immutable and hence unable to suffer. The relevance of these propositions for political theology is finally addressed.     

Anthropological Hermeneutics and Indian Religion

Burghart, Richard, and Audrey Cantlie, eds. Indian Religion. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1985. xi + 258 pp. including chapter references. $27.50 cloth.

Marglin, Frédérique Apffel. Wives of the God‐King: The Rituals of the Devadasis of Puri. Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1985. xv + 388 pp. including plates, bibliography, glossary, and index. $29.95 cloth.     

花厅墓地的人类学考察

把花厅墓地随葬的陶器划分为大汶口式、良渚式、薛家岗式和大汶口-良渚式、大汶口-薛家岗式,把玉器划分为良渚式、花厅式和融合式。根据随葬品的文化属性推测该花厅居民有大汶口人、良渚人和薛家岗人,大汶口人接受了良渚人的玉文化,良渚人和薛家岗人接受了大汶口的重要丧葬习俗。随着良渚人进入花厅,花厅由原来的富人和平民两个阶层分裂为贵族、富人和平民三个阶层,并使花厅由简单社会向复杂社会变化。三个不同考古学文化的先民在花厅共生共存,创造了面貌较为复杂和多样的考古学文化。     

Local consumption cultures in a globalizing world

Focusing on the resilience of distinctive local consumption cultures, this paper challenges some of the more sweeping claims that have been advanced in the name of 'globalization'. Thinking about a 'globalizing' rather than a fully 'globalized' world encourages us to examine the deeply contested nature of the concept and to explore the geographically uneven nature of recent economic, political and cultural transformations. This paper approaches globalization as a site of struggle rather than as an established fact, emphasizing the need for empirically grounded studies of the impact of 'globalization' on consumer cultures in different geographical contexts. The paper examines the way that producers have 'customized' their products for different markets (drawing on evidence from China and South Africa). It then reviews case study evidence from three contrasting consumption cultures: consumption and 'public culture' in India, 'consumer nationalism' in China, and 'artful consumption' in Russia. The paper concludes by identifying some current debates and outlining some directions for future research, including a re-emphasis on consumption and material culture; an exploration of consumption as social practice; the delineation of commodity-specific consumption cultures; and some reflections on the political, ethical and methodological issues that are being raised in contemporary consumption research.     

The G20 as an improvised crisis committee and/or a contested ‘steering committee’ for the world

Arguably the most important catalytic effect of the ‘Great Recession’ of 2008–2009 has been the creation of the G20 at the leaders’ level. As a form of improvised diplomacy the G20 merits extensive scrutiny, revealing as it does the degree of adaptation possible in the international system. The G20 links a significant ideational component, a new dynamic between established and emerging powers, and a complex set of issues. The innovative quality of the G20, however, rests on two very distinct strands of activity and tests of accomplishments. The G20 can be viewed as a ‘recession‐buster’ with a vital but momentary purpose. Alternatively, the G20 can be taken to be an embedded ‘steering committee’ for the world. Both of these interpretations have validity. The crisis committee scenario highlights a technical regulatory‐driven agenda. The steering committee scenario by way of contrast showcases the connection between the G20 and a new type of global settlement. Passing the test as a crisis committee hinges on very specific deliverables. Passing the test as a steering committee is even more demanding as any move toward a new state‐specific ‘concert’ is highly contested. This article examines these debates, locating the G20 in a historical/comparative perspective and in terms of the wider context of shifting power structure at the beginning of the twenty‐first century.     

Anthropological perspectives on death and mourning

Loring M. Danforth with photography by Alexander Tsearas. The Death Rituals of Rural Greece. 1982. Princeton: Princeton University Press. 170 pages (text) with 31 photographs. $30.00 cloth, $12.50 paper.     

Anthropological genetics: A new frontier

M. H. Crawford and P. L. Workman, eds. Methods and Theories of Anthropological Genetics. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1973. xv + 509 pp. Figures, tables, references, and index. $20.00.     

Eruvim: Talmudic places in a postmodern world

Lodged in the heart of Western urban space, eruvim are religious enclaves important to Orthodox Jewish culture. Eruvim enable acceptable behaviours on the Sabbath as defined by Talmudic theological dogma. Work, and the carrying of all objects associated with work, is prohibited in public spaces on the Sabbath by the Talmud, yet within the boundaries of the eruv, many such restrictions are relaxed, facilitating social interaction and community cohesion. This paper examines the religious and spatial dimensions of eruvim, including the obsessive detail paid to the demarcation of their boundaries, which serve as metaphorical walls and doorways. It also explicates the local politics through which private space is effectively extended into public space. Conceptually, the paper situates the topic within broader concerns about diasporic Jewish identity, which is threatened by assimilationism, slow demographic growth and secularization. It invokes recent theories concerning the spatialization of consciousness and subjectivity, noting the recent growth of eruvim as part of the global surge in ethnic identity that has emerged as a backlash to postmodern capitalism.     

旅游人类学理论在中国旅游发展中的应用

本文讨论了中国旅游发展中一些长期未能得到有效解决的问题,例如旅游业服务质量问题、旅游资源和项目开发规划中的问题、中外合资与合作经营中的问题、旅游法制建设问题、中国公民出境旅游问题等,从社会文化角度分析了这些问题存在的根源.在此基础上提出,应当重视和加强旅游人类学理论对中国旅游发展的指导,妥善解决旅游发展中大量存在的社会文化问题.本文系统阐述了旅游人类学理论在中国旅游发展宏观调控、微观管理以及发展对外旅游关系中的应用.