Being an Israeli: Immigrants from the Former Soviet Union in Israel,fifteen years later

This article presents the results of a study conducted in 2006 among a representative sample of immigrants from the former Soviet Union, aged 18 and over, who arrived in Israel between 1990 and 2005. It examines the changes over time in their collective identity, focusing on the relative weight and meaning of the local, Israeli component of their identity, as compared to the Jewish and Russian components. Unlike studies conducted in other concentrations of Russian Jewish emigrés (in the United States, Canada, and Germany), which found that an increase in the intensity of the local component of their identity was held in check by the enduring strength of the Russian component, this study revealed that in Israel the local identity component grew much stronger while, correspondingly, the Russian component declined. In addition, significant similarities between the immigrants and the veteran population were found with regard to how they conceive of the Israeli narrative. These changes over time in the immigrants' identity, which were not observed in the first years of their integration into Israeli culture and society, require a reexamination of the generalizations that dominate the research literature and the professional relationship with this group, concerning its supposed social and cultural self-segregation and low potential for cultural change.     

展现半个世纪中国史学发展的真实画卷--读张剑平著《新中国史学五十年》

新中国成立以来中国史学的发展,是中国史学发展的重要阶段.这是中国史学在新社会的条件下继续发扬悠久传统的50年,是中国史学在马克思主义的理论指引下努力探索新史学发展道路的50年,也是中国史学克服社会环境的干扰,从严重的灾难中解脱并逐步走向健康发展道路的50年.     

建国五十年来我国西夏文献整理研究简述

本对近50年来我国西夏献整理研究,取得的成就进行了概述。内容涉及俄藏黑水城献、国内存世出土的西夏物献、汉西夏献的整理研究及综述研究等几方面。     

The political economy of maize production and poverty reduction in Zambia: analysis of the last 50 years

Poverty and food security are endemic issues in much of sub-Saharan Africa. To eradicate extreme poverty and hunger in the region remains a key Millennium Development Goal. Many African governments have pursued economic reforms and agricultural policy interventions in order to accelerate economic growth that reduces poverty faster. Agricultural policy regimes in Zambia in the last 50 years (1964–2008) are examined here to better understand their likely impact on food security and poverty, with an emphasis on the political economy of maize subsidy policies. The empirical work draws on secondary sources and an evaluation of farm household data from three villages in the Kasama District of Zambia from 1986/87 and 1992/93 to estimate a two-period econometric model to examine the impact on household welfare in a pre- and post-reform period. The analysis shows that past interventions had mixed effects on enhancing the production of food crops such as maize. While such reforms were politically popular, it did not necessarily translate into household-level productivity or welfare gains in the short term. The political economy of reforms needs to respond to the inherent diversity among the poor rural and urban households. The potential of agriculture to generate a more pro-poor growth process depends on the creation of new market opportunities that most benefit the rural poor. The state should encourage private sector investments for addressing infrastructure constraints to improve market access and accelerate more pro-poor growth through renewed investments in agriculture, rural infrastructure, gender inclusion, smarter subsidies and regional food trade. However, the financing of such investments poses significant challenges. There is a need to address impediments to the effective participation of public private investors to generate more effective poverty reduction and hunger eradication programmes. This article also explores the opportunities for new public–private investments through South–South cooperation and Asia-driven growth for reducing poverty in Zambia.     

Holy Blood devotion in later medieval Scotland

Of the Christocentric devotions which achieved widespread popularity in later medieval Scotland, the cult of the Holy Blood gained the greatest prominence. Strong Scottish connections with the blood-relic centres at Bruges and, to a lesser extent, Wilsnack, primarily established by Scotland’s urban merchant class, provided the conduit for the development of the cult in the east coast burghs from the second quarter of the fifteenth century. The cult remained principally an urban phenomenon and was associated closely with the guildry of those burghs in which Holy Blood altars were founded. Holy Blood devotion, while by no means exclusively associated with members of the merchant community, provided a vehicle for expression of guild identity and, as in Bruges, a mechanism for the regulation and control of guild members’ public behaviour. That regulatory function, however, was secondary to the cult’s soteriological significance, its popularity in urban Scotland reflecting the wider late medieval European lay quest for closer and more direct personal connections with God.     

The later prehistory of mainland Southeast Asia

Until the recent expansion of research into the prehistory of mainland Southeast Asia, the development of civilizations employing Indian religious and political concepts had been seen as a major fulcrum in the area's history. The prehistoric sequence in the area is reviewed, with particular attention being paid to evidence for ritual, display, exchange, and ranking behavior within lowland sedentary communities. These date to the two or three millennia preceding Indian contact. It is argued that already by the end of the prehistoric period, there were complex centralized societies with a long tradition of recognizing status differentials among individuals, affiliated groups, and communities. The sequence incorporates the exploitation of rice, and bronze and iron working. The chronology of these innovations is compared with that in China. It is not possible at present to argue for single or multiple origins, but the area of southern China is suggested as a crucial one in further research to resolve these issues.     

国内五十年来左宗棠在西北活动研究述评

文章对新中国成立以来的左宗棠研究尤其是左宗棠在西北活动的研究进行了总结与评介,概括出50年来左宗棠研究的三大特点,指出了存在的问题,提出了若干改进建议,以期为深化左宗棠研究、推进近代西北边疆史的研究有所裨益。     

Making the house a home in later medieval York

ABSTRACT

The loss of all original furnishings or decoration and the relentless refashioning of interiors have eroded our ability to appreciate how extant houses functioned as living spaces in the later Middle Ages. This paper uses a variety of documentary sources, notably York’s rich collection of probate inventories, to provide evidence on the division and furnishing of buildings. Depositions from cases within the ecclesiastical court of York ask questions about the way that particular artisanal and mercantile houses functioned both as residences and as places of work. Taking the author’s 2008 study in Medieval Domesticity a step further, the paper will consider in more depth the notion that a distinctive bourgeois ideology of domesticity, which was projected through material culture, grew up in the later medieval city. It will, moreover, ask how far later medieval artisanal or mercantile houses constituted homes.