Divergence of the Book of Job from Deuteronomic/Priestly Torah: Intertextual Reading between Job and Torah

The book of Job prominently portrays the motif of the pious sufferer and the confrontation between Job’s three friends who claim the retribution principle and Job who witnesses the undermined moral order in reality, and indicates finally Yahweh’s speech which marginalises issues of justice and judgment which Job vehemently called for. On the one hand, these distinct features to some extent may reflect a critical and belittling idea of Deuteronomic Torah, although it does not deny the entire concept of Torah and traditional laws about divine judgment. On the other hand, while it has been argued that the book of Job reflects the Priestly context in the Pentateuch, in a closer examination the author of Job hardly has the creational order, rituals, and ideology that priestly materials in general imply.     

Digitisation,digital interaction and social media: embedded barriers to democratic heritage

Abstract

The democratisation of heritage through digital access is a well-documented aspiration. It has included innovative ways to manage interpretation, express heritage values, and create experiences through the ‘decoding’ of heritage. This decoding of heritage becomes democratised, more polyvocal than didactic exhibitions, and less dependent on experts. However, the decision of what ‘heritage’ is and what is commissioned for digitisation (the encoding) is not necessarily a part of this democratisation. This paper will consider how digitisation reinforces the Authorised Heritage Discourse through the lens of Stephen Lukes’ three (increasingly subtle) dimensions of power: conflict resolution, control of expression and shaping of preferences. All three dimensions have an impact on how public values are represented in heritage contexts, but the introduction of digitisation requires more resources, expertise and training within established professional discourse. Social media may have a positive impact on the first two dimensions, but can reinforce hegemony. Alternatives are subject to epistemic populism. The role of digitisation and social media in the democratisation of heritage needs to be better understood. Questions regarding the nature and process of digital interaction, in terms of whose heritage is accessible, affect the very issues of democratisation digitisation appears to promote.     

Modern Őmie Women: Virtual Indigeneity and Intimations of Empowerment

The women of ?mie Artists, a cooperative that produces original bark cloth paintings for the global indigenous art market, are described in contemporary ethnographic publications as ranked into a hierarchy of chiefs on the basis of their ‘wisdom’ which is expressed in their paintings. This depiction of the ?mie, who comprise a marginalized population of less than 2000 in Oro Province of Papua New Guinea, is dramatically different from what was known of their culture several decades ago. An assessment of the likelihood of this virtual depiction reflecting the social empowerment of ?mie women is undertaken. Although the impact of missionization and entry into capitalist markets is recognized, it is the interpellation of the art market of the ‘indigenous artist’, working within a traditional mystical tie with the land and the ancestors, which must be seen as precipitating what appears in virtual form an amplification and cultural embellishment of women’s traditional knowledge and practices. This process is foregrounded against the historical change in valuation of women’s cultural contributions by the discipline and the art world.     

Giuseppe Mazzini and the democratic logic of nationalism

ABSTRACT. This article brings the thought of Giuseppe Mazzini back into the field of nationalism studies, from which it has been largely missing for a half century. It suggests the following: that Mazzini is much more modern and secular than he is usually portrayed; and that his commitment to liberal policies while rejecting liberal principles suggests that the distinction between civic and ethnic nationalism has been misconceived. Nationalism, to Mazzini, was not an end in itself but a means to an end – government of, by and for the people. The demand for such a government was manifested in three popular demands in nineteenth‐century Europe: in the West as democracy, in the East as national sovereignty (the precondition for democracy) and in both East and West as social democracy. Thus nationalism may be instrumental rather than an end in itself, and it may be attributable not to ethnic groups' natural striving for autonomy but to the pursuit of democracy.     

The Role of Non-Human Creatures in the Book of Jonah: The Implications for Eco-Justice

Previous studies on the Book of Jonah often concentrated on God, Jonah, and the people of Nineveh. This article takes a different approach by focusing on the roles of all “non-human creatures” in the Book of Jonah—the great Storm, the great fish, the animals of Nineveh, the worm, the land and the kikayon plant. This approach reveals something new about the role of non-human creatures in the book and the implications thereof for the amelioration of today’s ecological crisis. It highlights the beauty of all elements of nature working together with humanity for the good of all: a clear indication of the ecological vision implicitly proposed by the Book of Jonah. In this regard, YHWH’s attitude to every creature in the book is exemplary, to him every creature is in itself valuable and fulfills a particular important role in nature and existence.     

The Turkish Oedipus: National Self and Stereotype in the Work of a 1960s Greek Cartoonist 1

This article analyzes a particular type of radical political discourse in Greece—namely the articulation of stereotypes of Greek-ness and Turkish-ness in the work of Mendis Bostantzoglu, a Greek satirist and cartoonist. The author examines a poem and a sketch published in the 1960s, in which stereotypes of Greek-ness and Turkish-ness are presented and mocked. Relating their production to their specific historical context and current academic discussions in Greece on nationalism and Otherness, the author argues that the ways in which ethnic stereotypes of “self” and “other” are used to discuss political issues have more to tell about internal Greek issues (such as a critique of the government and its policies) than about Greece's foreign affairs. Such analyses, it is further argued, also lead to a greater appreciation of the complex and implicit sets of meanings negotiated by the stereotypes themselves.     

Job’s Enemies in 30,17-18

Verses 30,17-18 in Job’s final speech are notoriously difficult for interpretation. Typically offered understandings of these verses by modern exegetes cannot be anchored in the text, and appear to be too simplistic for the Jobian context. The purpose of this paper is to understand vv. 17-18 from the perspective of the contradictory objectives that the ailing Job and his fearful community have. It is being argued that a cogent understanding of these verses can be obtained if it is assumed that they deal with Job’s closest circle of intimates (apart of his three friends) and his tragic disappointment in them, perhaps because of their effort to isolate him and prevent contagion. Such reading can be obtained by assuming only the revocalizations of just two words (????, ??????) in the MT.     

殷淳《妇人集》及《妇人诗集》考论——兼与许云和《南朝妇人集考论》一文商榷

在诸史书目录志所著录的南朝共十部妇人集中,刘宋时殷淳撰《妇人集》与《妇人诗集》可以被认为是我国现存最早的女性作品总集,不仅开创了我国文学编纂史上撰辑女性总集的风气,并影响到从南朝梁至清代系列女性作品总集的编纂。《妇人集》的内容虽然只残存于《世说新语》、《太平御览》等书中,但已可见出撰者对待女性创作的肯定意识和前瞻心态,亦可见出汉魏六朝女性作者的文才文论与群体风貌。     

Aspirations and Job Success of Highly Qualified Second Generation Iranians in Germany

This study pioneers the quantitative research of second generation Iranian graduates in Germany. Second generation immigrants in Germany, immigrants raised in Germany with at least one parent born abroad, are relevant as they are a crucial part of German society. Second generation immigrants in general as well as Iranians in particular are assumed to have high extrinsic aspirations. But a dataset big enough to study the employment situation of second generation Iranian graduates in Germany did not exist. Therefore, the article uses the KOAB dataset from 2011 to 2015, which contains data from 53,429 full-time employed higher education graduates in Germany (among those are 161 second generation Iranians). Their extrinsic job aspirations and career success (income, job satisfaction) are analyzed. Multivariate analyses reveal the higher extrinsic job aspirations of second generation Iranian graduates compared to many other migrant groups and Germans but similar to second generation Turkish graduates. Nevertheless, the extrinsic job aspiration is relevant, though only one factor among others to predict career success.     

The Jacob Story: Between Oral and Written Modes

In this article I examine the relations between Jacob’s putative oral story and the pre-Priestly narrative. I argue that Hosea’s prophecy presents the version of Jacob's oral story related in his time and antedated by many years the composition of the story-cycle in its written form. Comparison of Hosea’s prophecy and Jacob’s narrative indicates the thorough way in which the exilic author worked the oral story he received in order to fit it to his ideological messages and religious concepts. To further examine the relations between the oral and written modes, I discuss the episode of the treaty between Laban and Jacob (Gen 31,45–54) in light of a Mari letter (A.3592). Comparison of the two episodes indicates that part of the biblical narrative rests on the oral story and other part was written by the late author. Evidently, the long process of oral transmission, the growth of the narratives in its course, and the creative reworking of the author make it impossible to either isolate the early oral layer within the present story-cycle or to date the stages of its growth in the oral process of transmission.     

"良妻贤母"与"贤妻良母"的不同命运——近代中日女子教育比较

“良妻贤母”曾经是近代日本女子教育的代名词,有知识、有文化,始终是近代日本妇女的“贤”与“良”的主要标准之一。其时的中国也曾受其影响,以培养“贤妻良母”为目标。然而,近代以后半封建、半殖民地的社会状况使中国妇女不可能像日本妇女那样,在相对安稳的环境下去接受教育和知识的熏陶。日本的“良妻贤母”与中国的“贤妻良母”不仅有着不同的内涵,也面临着完全不同的命运。     

浅析十七届四中全会对党内民主建设的创新

中共十七届四中全会关于党内民主建设提出了很多新思想、新观点,主要有：党内民主是党的生命,集中统一是党的力量保证;在党内民主建设中要坚持和完善党的领导制度;以保障党员民主权利为根本,以加强党内基层民主建设为基础;完善党代表大会制度和党内选举制度;完善党内民主决策机制等。     

Inaccessible childhoods: evaluating accessibility in homes,schools and neighbourhoods with disabled children

Accessible built environments are a critical component of Canada’s commitment to disabled children’s ‘right to enjoy full and decent lives’ [United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. 1989 United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. 1989. Convention on the Rights of the Child. New York. [Google Scholar]. Convention on the Rights of the Child. New York.] . Although valid, reliable research data about the accessibility of built environments are key to developing related policies, these data currently do not exist. To begin to redress this gap, we conducted a case study series followed by a survey to determine the accessibility of schools, homes and neighbourhoods directly from disabled children (The ScHaN Project). To present a concise summary of the findings that can inform equitable, evidence-based policies, we developed a scoring system for their homes, schools and neighbourhoods. Although our findings illustrate that eliciting and interpreting data from these children were complex undertakings, it is clear that none of these central environments met Canada’s obligation to enhance equity by enabling their access, inclusion and participation.     

Exhibiting the Native American Other: The Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition and Commodified Racism

The Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition (AYP) not only reflected the frontier culture of Seattle, Washington, in 1909, it also revealed a deeply ingrained set of values within American culture that deemed Native individuals (the Other) as inferior. This label of “inferior” is visible in the various exhibitions of Native American objects at the AYP, which also expose deliberate expressions of hierarchy and the association of culture with commodity. The visual record that remains from the AYP includes souvenir items, official photographs, and postcards, which, when viewed as a cross section of fair imagery, suggest a relationship between Georg Simmel’s theory of objective/subjective culture and commodified racism.     

Job polarization in the new economy in Danish cities: location,size, and the role of the public sector

ABSTRACT

In this paper we examine the geographic patterns of employment growth and employment polarization in small and medium-sized cities (SMCs) in Denmark during the rise of the new economy. The geography of employment polarization in Danish cities is examined using register-based employment data on occupations and wages divided into the public and private sectors in the period 1993–2006; it therefore covers a long period of transformation and growth in the Danish economy. We conclude that employment growth is characterized by employment polarization combined with growth in low- and high-wage employment and a decline in medium-wage employment. However, these patterns of polarization differ across the public and private sectors, as well as by geography. While local labour market (LLM) size, city position and city specialization influence the geography of private-sector employment growth and polarization, municipal population and composition influence the geography of public-sector growth patterns across wage levels. Finally, public and private employment are positively associated within SMCs, predominantly driven by the positive association between public employment and private-sector low-wage employment. However, public employment is not associated with an increase in private low-wage employment in more remote areas.     

Political sociology and political reality: The concept of democratic consensus

The investigation of consensus was a leading theme in the political sociology of democracy from the early 1950s until the late 1960s. Consensus has since become something of a suspect category of social inquiry. The consensus literature (V. O. Key, R. Dahl, H. Eckstein, S. M. Upset, G. A. Almond) has been charged by the ‘post‐behaviouralists’ as conservative politics disguised as impartial social science. This paper investigates the possibility of restoring consensus as a research category through an examination of its original use by John Stuart Mill. The link between Mill and contemporary political sociology is Edward Shils, who is here identified as one of the guiding spirits of the consensus literature. The paper compares consensus as treated in Mill's explicitly political science with Shils’ implicitly political science. The ‘post‐behaviouralists’ sought the recovery of the political as the leading theme of social inquiry. This is exactly as Mill originally intended. The consensus literature, however, took its bearing from Shils’ restatement of Mill, in which the political categories are submerged according to the demands of a novel and apolitical science of politics. The recovery of democratic consensus as a research category would greatly benefit from the substitution of Mill's original project in place of Shils's much weaker, if more influential, restatement of it.     

The origins of democratic thinking: The invention of politics in classical Athens

While many (perhaps most) of those engaged in the study of philosophy would accept the continued reality and importance of an analytic/continental divide in the discipline, there has been no serious examination of the political dimensions of this rift. Here a series of political assumptions are revealed to be widely held among the British analytic philosophers who were active during the period in which the analytic/continental divide was being established. This paper will approach demonstrating the analysts’ beliefs about the political affiliations of continental philosophy in three ways. Firstly, it will produce direct evidence of the analysts’ belief in the relationship between 19th century continental philosophy and various politically undesirable regimes. Secondly, it will examine in detail one illustrative example, that of Hegel. Thirdly, it will illustrate how the political beliefs already canvassed permeated beyond the limited political critique of continental philosophy into the analysts’ writing on the history of philosophy.     

The model of ethnic democracy: Response to Danel

This is a response to Adam Danel's critique of my model of ethnic democracy. Danel argues that the model fails as an ideal type and as a comparative tool because ethnic democracy does not exist anywhere. I show, however, that there are indeed quite a few cases of ethnic democracy, although some are partial and some historical, including Estonia, Latvia, Northern Ireland from 1921 to 1972, Macedonia from 1991 to 2001, interwar Poland, Slovakia, and Malaysia. Danel does not address the real functions of the model as a theory of the emergence and stability of ethnic democracy and as a conceptual scheme for the comparative study of ethnic democracies. The theory accounts for the developments of ethnic democracy in these states and for the conditions for its success and failure. Danel also tries to show that Israel is a Western liberal democracy by overstressing its liberal traits and the non-liberal characteristics of Western democracies. I argue that Israel's ideology, design, policies, and practices as the homeland of the Jewish people, most of whom are not its citizens, and as the “property” of the Israeli-Jewish majority, means that it has a second-rate ethnic democracy and as a state and society does not qualify as Western.