A political geography of walking in Jordan: Movement and politics

The past 10-15 years has seen the growth of walking groups taking walkers from Amman to rural parts of Jordan at weekends and the development of the Jordan Trail. Through the narration and analysis of everyday accounts of walking, this paper explores political geographies of identity, movement, and territory in Jordan. Drawing on 12 months of ethnographic fieldwork, I suggest that at the heart of a growth of walking for leisure in Jordan are important political questions. How is walking conditioned by situated cultural politics? How can walking unearth intimate and embodied accounts of territory in Jordan? I build upon three developments in political geography to do this. First, research on political geography and walking; second research on everyday political geographies of the Middle East; third, critical and feminist work on territory. Literature on political geography and walking is developed by centring Jordanian walkers and the (post)colonial context of Jordan to explore what walking means under different political conditions and for individual bodies. In doing so I contribute to work on identity and nationalism in Jordan and the importance of the everyday to explore political geographies of the Middle East. I develop critical and feminist work on territory by arguing that walking bodies make and contest territory and in doing so calling for greater synergies between cultural and political geography. These arguments are made in two empirical sections. The first explores how different people talk about walking, the language for walking, and assumptions about walking bodies. The second explores how walking connects different bodies to territory, and creates territorial nationalist narratives, but also how walking can highlight indigenous and embodied relations with territory. This paper concludes that walking is political because it shapes and is shaped by situated political geographies and because it enables embodied and intimate accounts of territory to emerge.     

Searching for feminist geography in Thailand: mapping trails of inspiration

Abstract

Feminist geography in Thailand is not generally recognized in the academic landscape. Instead, feminist geography is limited to those scholars located in Women’s Studies who have a research or personal interest in the theoretical, conceptual or empirical issues taken up in feminist geography. Although the discipline of geography has been part of the Thai academy since 1935, in both the Thai Geographical Association and its flagship journal, (Geographical Journal), feminist geography has still not made significant inroads into the discipline. However, once Women’s Studies was established, and then expanded its influence, gender and feminism affected every other social science program, including Geography. Even though only a few, if any, students enrolled in feminist geography courses across Thailand, the work that did exist took on a postcolonial form. Thus the feminist geography literature that would introduce (some part of) the theories, concepts and practice of feminist geographers came through both compulsory and elective courses through a postcolonial lens. In this report, we provide a brief history of the challenges around, and progress of, feminist geography across the country through an analysis of key Thai geographical institutional shifts, journal publications and curricular offerings.     

刘渊政权的出现与北疆民族主动认同"中国"的开始--中国古代疆域形成理论探讨之二

匈奴人刘渊建立的汉是北疆民族在中原地区建立的第一个政权。本文认为汉政权的出现既是匈奴人长期和汉族保持密切关系的结果,同时也是匈奴人认同“中国”,并进而主动进入中华民族形成历程的标志。汉政权的出现对中国古代疆域形成的影响是巨大的,不仅促进亍北疆民族之间的融合,推动了中国传统治边思想和方式的发展,而且也是边疆民族主动进入中华民族形成历程的开始,由此也奠定了北疆和中原地区融为一体的牢固基础。     

Miralinidae (Marsupialia: Phalangeroidea) from northern Australia,including the youngest occurrence of the family

Five isolated molars from two localities in the Northern Territory, the middle Miocene Bullock Creek and late Oligocene Kangaroo Well sites, are assigned to the new miralinid genus Barguru, which includes the three new species: Barguru kayir, Barguru maru and Barguru kula. The Miralinidae was previously thought to be restricted to the late Oligocene and early Miocene, but the occurrence at Bullock Creek extends the time range of this family into the middle Miocene. Analysis of metaloph development in the Miralinidae suggests that loph formation in this family followed a different trajectory to that of phalangerids.     

从留根教育到综合素质教育:西班牙华文教育发展的新趋向

论文梳理了西班牙华裔子弟华文教育的发展历程,借助实地调研、问卷与访谈等手段对当地华文教育现状进行了考察与分析,并在此基础上,探索了西班牙华人社会发展新形势下的华文教育新趋向。研究显示,西班牙的华文教育具有起步晚、发展迅速的特点,并存在教育资源分配不均的突出问题。近年来,西班牙华人社会的高速发展及社会需求的转变,促使当地华文教育由传统的以教授华语为主要目标的留根教育逐渐向旨在帮助华人二代移民适应当地社会、提高群体竞争力的综合素质教育转型。华文教育的变革折射出西班牙华人社会的发展变迁,为二代移民建立跨文化视角下的双向族群认同创造了条件。     

全民族抗战新论——兼谈国共两党在抗日战争中的地位和作用

由中华民族最深刻最全面的觉醒和动员所取得的时代性进步是全民族抗战取得胜利的基础。国民党和国民政府在抗日战争中起到了不可替代的作用。中国共产党对抗日战争的作用不是领导的作用,而是导向的作用。中国共产党的正确导向和正确的战略、策略是全民族抗战胜利的根本保证。     

Political Dynasties in Thailand: The Recent Picture after the 2011 General Election

This article seeks to understand the patterns of family-based politics in Thailand’s 2011 House of Representatives election. The key question is whether the political dynasty, a sequence of political leaders who are considered members of the same family, is still a determining factor in Thai elections, and if so, to what extent compared to the past. Drawing on a rich set of data collected from election results between 1979 and 2011, this article argues that the political roles and influences of many political dynasties have become more complicated and have tended to increase, although some have experienced defeat in elections. The article finds that while belonging to a political dynasty could give new dynastic faces a better chance of winning a House election in their constituency than their non-dynastic counterparts, the most influential factor for electoral candidates in winning a House of Representatives election is belonging to the Pheu Thai Party or the Democrat Party. This article thus suggests that one of the best ways to avoid the monopoly of one or a few political families in Thai politics is to empower and support party members and eligible voters to meaningfully engage in political parties’ affairs and activities.     

From Republican Party to Republican Religion: The New Political Evangelists of the Right

Abstract

This essay shows an important shift in the Religious Right from Evangelical participation to Renewalist participation in politics. Renewalists, who are largely Pentecostals, Charismatics and non-denominational Christians, have been lumped into the "Evangelical" category by scholars and the media alike. Yet their theological orientations and concerns drive political questions and actions in different ways. Sarah Palin's placement on the Republican ticket in 2008 as the Vice Presidential candidate represents the first time an explicitly Renewalist Christian has been nominated. Since then, Palin's weaving of her theological orientation has influenced both political activity and Republican candidates in the 2012 election. Butler's essay explores Palin's contribution to this change, and poses questions about how this shift affects the future of the Religious Right.     

从边缘走向主流——新移民与北美华人经济发展新动向

论文在实地调研的基础上,从北美华人移民来源地、移民数量、唐人街形态变化,特别是唐人街之间的城际长途巴士的发展等方面,揭示了北美华人经济的新动向,并从经济学角度进行阐释。认为近二十年来,新移民的持续增长为北美华人社会注入源头活水;唐人街的发展瓶颈被突破,出现了新的族群经济形态,如复合商城华埠（Mall Chinatown）等在各地涌现;华人利用族群特色寻求经营创新,华人大巴在短短十余年间开创了新的城际交通服务体系,改变了原有的行业格局,进而从边缘走向主流并影响主流。此外,北美华人科技产业利用大洋两岸各自的比较优势在跨国经营中逐渐兴起。新移民与中国因素、族群特色与经营创新,成为北美华人经济的活力之源。     

Archaeology of Northeast Thailand in Relation to the Pre-Khmer and Khmer Historical Records

An earlier study of how the archaeological data from the Khmer period in northeast Thailand confirm and augment the information from historical texts is expanded into an examination of the early historic pre-Khmer and the post-Khmer periods. For these, both the historical and the archaeological data are more limited and problematic. The archaeological record confirms generally the changes associated with the transition from prehistory to history but raises questions about the sources of external influence and the types of political and economic organization which characterized northeast Thailand societies. More robust archaeological data and more precise chronological control will be necessary to test historical models of pre-Angkorian and post-Angkorian political development.     

Overseas Chinese Investments in Transition: The Case of Dongguan

An economic geographer based in Hong Kong presents a study of overseas Chinese investment coming from Hong Kong and Taiwan to Dongguan, a rapidly developing manufacturing metropolis in China's Pearl River Delta, attempting to compare the transformation of these two major sources of investment during the past quarter century. Based on systematic field work and interviews at ca. 60 firms through mid-2006, the paper argues that Hong Kong and Taiwan investments have followed different transformation paths with regard to sectoral composition, investment motivations, market orientation, entry modes, and strategies in response to institutional changes. Most of the substantive differences are related to the distinctive comparative advantages of the two source regions and the specific character of their interactions with the host region. Journal of Economic Literature, Classification Numbers: F21, O16, R11. 4 figures, 4 tables, 60 references.     

Contesting uneven development: The political geography of natural gas rents in Peru and Bolivia

Political and academic debates about the distribution of resource rents to producing areas have addressed the issue of whether or not the transfers unleash conflicts. While this kind of debate is valid, the present paper argues that such a discussion is missing the point regarding the processes behind said types of conflicts, as well as how such conflicts are framed at the sub-national political geography of the state. By more deeply exploring these dimensions, the argument of this paper is that the production of uneven development within sub-national areas is crucial for understanding the above-mentioned conflicts and how the central state internalises those conflicts, producing new political geographies of rent distribution. As such, different territorial discourses of autonomy emerge along with uneven development, but their capacity to reach institutional autonomy is grounded on the spatial politics of each state. Empirically, this paper analyses how natural gas rents are distributed to sub-national producing areas in Peru and Bolivia, and how the production of uneven development through natural gas rents at sub-national level re-activated previous territorial demands for autonomy, which were internalised by central states in different ways.     

The Origin and Early Development of Chinese Civilization: From an Archaeological Perspective

This paper reviews the process of exploring the origin of Chinese civilization from the centurial history of Chinese archaeology. Based on the academic research results obtained over the years, combined with major archaeological discoveries, and leveraging the author’s knowledge, it discusses the cultural and social evolution process and achievements in different regions of China during the early, middle, late Neolithic Age and the Bronze Age, as well as how different regional civilizations took shape one after another and developed from diversity to unity. It also highlights the characteristics of Chinese civilization; particularly, from a geographical perspective and by comparing the Chinese and Western civilizations, it briefly demonstrates the historical background and reasons for the continuity, openness, and inclusiveness of Chinese civilization.     

From the Holiday to the Academy: Implications for physical geography in higher education arising from 'popular' field-based geography in Dorset

The popularity of physical geography at all levels of formal education is declining. This paper argues that a key factor in the decline may be the disparity between geographies studied within formal education and the popular geographies encountered during leisure pursuit. Through the example of the Jurassic Coast Project, an initiative for the interpretation of Dorset's coastal landscape, approaches towards the integration of popular and academic geographies are explored. Drawing explicit links between popular experiences and academic knowledge may benefit physical geography, improving its status amongst public and student audiences, and addressing the concerns that surround its decline within higher education.     

The role of the Irish boundary commission in the entrenchment of the Irish border: from tactical panacea to political liability

The abortive saga of the Irish Boundary Commission has largely been dismissed as a minor footnote that warrants little elaboration in the discussion of Ireland's partition. This is unsurprising considering that its final report was hastily suppressed so as to prevent the destabilisation of the nascent regimes in Northern Ireland and the then Irish Free State. However, the concept of the Commission derives from the intensifying controversies of Irish Home Rule and partition, and the consequent difficulties in establishing how and where a boundary was eventually drawn as well as to the status of the entities it would be dividing. The Commission was legally conceived in Article 12 of the 1921 Anglo-Irish Treaty but confusion over its wording protracted a sequence of events that ensured that it was almost three years before it actually met. Article 12 was eventually interpreted in a restrictive manner, which exposed inherent flaws that were either ignored or naively underestimated when it was originally adapted from part of the post-World War I Treaty of Versailles. Furthermore, the complexities of evidence were inadequately scrutinised by a small and under-resourced panel that operated under considerable political pressure to delimit a precise line that satisfied subjective terms of reference. Nevertheless, the revoked Commission served as a crucial catalyst in defining the Irish Free State's relationship with the British State and in entrenching the territorial framework of Northern Ireland's six counties that exists to this day.     

"二二八"事件中国民政府派兵问题再探讨

“二二八”事件是台湾光复后一股强烈的民怨所引发的政治事件。爆发之初的一周内 ,台湾当局未向国民政府请兵镇压 ,而是千方百计地封锁消息。然而 ,由于台湾当局对局势的错误估计和官僚态度 ,台湾局势逐渐失控。面对当时复杂、混乱的局面 ,台湾当局反应过度 ,将台湾民众正常的政治要求错误地定性为暴乱 ,向中央政府请兵赴台。国民政府 (主要是蒋介石 )在错误信息下进行了错误的判断和错误的决策 ,派兵赴台镇压 ,终于酿成惨案     

When Torture is a Duty: The Murder of Imam Yapa Kaseng and the Challenge of Accountability in Thailand

Abstract

On 19 March 2008, Imam Yapa Kaseng was arrested in Narathiwat in southern Thailand and detained as a suspected insurgent by Special Task Force 39 under the provisions of martial law and the Emergency Decree on Public Administration in an Emergency Situation (hereafter Emergency Decree). Two days after his arrest, he died in the custody of the army. On 25 December 2008, the Narathiwat Provincial Court ruled that “the cause of death is that the deceased was physically assaulted by state officials … while he was in the custody of soldiers who were performing their civil service duties”. This ruling is paradoxical: Thai state officials are named as responsible for a death in custody, yet torture is categorised as a “duty”. Since the ruling, Imam Yapa’s family has pursued criminal, civil and internal state methods of redress, but the case has been stalled and the responsible state officials have not been held accountable. In response, I challenge this paradox by reading the inquest decision in light of both relevant national and international legal instruments and the testimonies given during the hearings. Drawing on the testimonies given during the inquest hearings, I construct an alternative narrative of suffering and state accountability.     

17-19世纪中叶暹罗对外贸易中的华人

选择17至19世纪中叶暹罗对外贸易中的华人作为研究对象,分不同阶段,对其在暹罗的对外贸易活动进行了描述,对暹罗华人在暹罗对外贸易中的角色和作用进行了探讨。由此得出结论,华人在暹罗对外贸易中,利用其自身优势,逐渐成为主要参与者和经营者。他们通过对外贸易活动,发展了自己的商业,积累了财富,同时满足了暹罗王室对海外贸易的需求,享受到国王赐与的特权,为其在暹罗事业的发展打下基础。