Nationhood,Communism and State Legitimation

Abstract. Four states have disappeared as a result of the collapse of communism and many others have come into being. I want to look at the reason why these states have disappeared, what this says about the nature of state-sustaining ideologies and what the disappearance tells us about the relationship between statehood and nationhood. I will also look at the effectiveness of communism as a state-sustaining ideology. The four are, obviously, the Soviet Union, Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia and East Germany. In each case, the survival of the state was linked to communism and the end of communism brought their continued existence into jeopardy. I shall not be looking at the Soviet Union in detail. Broadly, the construction of political identities can come about in two ways – by ethnicity or by the state. Each gives rise to a different set of loyalties, creates its own panoply of rituals etc. When the two coincide, the mythical nation-state can be said to be in being, but this hardly exists in reality (Iceland may be the sole exception in Europe).     

A Loving Attack on Caputo’s ‘Caputolism’ and his Refusal of Communism

Abstract

For various reasons, John D. Caputo is one of my favorite philosophers. However, one may identify two basic weaknesses or contradictions when it comes to his thoughts on political economy: (1) Caputo insists on capitalism—even if it be a significantly transformed capitalism (what I will be calling here “Caputolism”)—but he does not question whether capitalism can accommodate the required reforms; and (2) Caputo’s refusal to entertain the possibility of communism as a good/better alternative to capitalism, even though he has referred to an earthly “Kingdom of God” composed of a “radical community of equals”—which (strongly) resembles communism, thus rendering his refusal of communism all the more perplexing.     

Religion and communism: Feuerbach,Marx and Bloch

Whilst Marx made scattered positive remarks about the details of communist society, he also made important negative indications. Religion features in this negativity: his critique of religion is withering, there is no mention of religious life in communism, and he is emphatic that religion will play no role in such a society. For Marx, one of the tangible freedoms of communism was freedom from religion. The critique of religion is fundamentally inscribed in the very genesis of Marx's thought, and Feuerbach is crucial to understanding Marx's strictures on religion. Yet Feuerbach also figures in Ernst Bloch's very positive approach to religion, which argues that communism involves the freedom to be religious, in the sense of opening up oneself and society to the gold-bearing seams of the religious experience. This essay explores how such different conceptions of the relationship between religion and communism both draw sustenance from Feuerbach.     

Australian Communist Party of Australia v The Commonwealth: Histories of Australian Legalism

Abstract

In this article I structure legalism as a device to interpret how 1951 is remembered in law, in order to show what legal orthodoxies meant in their own time, and how that shifts to a different form of legalism in our own. In doing so, I will argue that the idea of legalism famously produced by the High Court judgment in 1951 has shifted its meaning as much as the ideological support of and opposition to communism that were expressed in the case. I will suggest that this history requires conscious incorporation in the commemorative narratives of ‘democracy vs. communism’.     

Politics and Public Policy

Abstract

Donnersmarck's The Lives of Others has been widely praised as the first German film to confront the horrors of the East German communist regime. But the film's politics may be ambiguous. As critical as it is of East Germany, it does not offer a ringing endorsement of West Germany. For example, the film's playwright-hero seems to have artistic problems in the West, just as he did in the East. The film's equivocal attitude toward communism is epitomized by its apparently positive view of the Marxist author Bertolt Brecht. This essay compares The Lives of Others with Brecht's play The Good Person of Szechwan in an effort to understand Donnersmarck's attitude toward his East German predecessor and what it means for his larger view of communism and its relation to art.     

建国初期美国阻挠华侨学生回国升学内幕

新中国成立后,海外华侨学生有感于祖国的繁荣昌盛,掀起了一股回国升学的热潮。国民党集团为了“反共复国”,也极力劝诱侨生赴台升学,但收效甚微。在此背景下,美国出于“遏制中国”的险恶用心,积极介入华侨学生的升学问题,并使之染上一层浓厚的冷战色彩。本文主要依据上世纪90年代公布的美国政府的有关原始档案,分析美国政府阻挠华侨学生回国升学的背景和动机及其制定的计划、采取的措施。作者认为,虽然美国政府所采取的阻挠华侨学生回国升学的政策和措施对华侨学生的流向产生了一定影响,但其“遏制中国”的野心并未得逞。     

Remaking National Identity: Two Contested Monuments in Post-Communist Poland

Abstract

The aim of this article is to explore the remaking of national identity in post-communist Poland through the analysis of urban spaces, and, in particular, two controversial monuments that were erected under communism and survive to this day in two Polish cities. By systematically tracing the trajectory of the contested monuments, from their inception through their changing symbolism to their disputed legacies, this article will pose important questions not only about the development of cultural memory and of Polish civic society, but also the role of various agents involved in these processes. The article will examine the interaction between the official and local ‘politics of memory’ and individual initiatives centred on these monuments in an attempt to unravel the intricacies of Poland’s de-communization and nation-building following the fall of communism.     

美国的"成功行动"计划:遏制政策与维护后院的隐蔽行动

1953至1954年间,美国密谋颠覆危地马拉阿本斯政府的成功行动计划是冷战初期美国维护后院并遏制国际共产主义的一次重大行动,同时也是美国隐蔽行动的一个典型案例。通过对成功行动计划的分析,无疑有助于更加全面地把握美国对外政策中的隐蔽行动及其本质特征。     

Democracy: The unfinished journey, 508 bc to ad 1993

The aim of this article is to give an account of hope as it was understood by Józef Tischner a public intellectual and a prominent chaplain of the Polish Solidarity movement, which led to the fall of communism in Eastern Europe in 1989. The idea of hope was one of the basic ideas of the Solidarity movement, around which the daily experiences of its members were organized. The author thus offers insight into the intellectual history of the Eastern European dissidence movement of the 1970s and 1980s. Referring to Tischner’s biography she describes some of the ways in which Western ideas crossed the Iron Courtain. Using the example of Tischner’s dialogue with, and critique of, Thomism, she explains how dissidents’ interest in phenomenology interacted with the heritage of European thought. The author shows that despite Tischner’s distancing himself from Aquinas’ thought, he remained under Aquinas’ influence, and his own ideas were not as different and incompatible with Thomism as is often believed. Given the rising interest in the question of the relation between hope and democracy today, the question of the meaning of hope is pending.     

Economic Policy in Post-Soviet St. Petersburg

The paper assesses the efforts of regional government officials in St. Petersburg, a city heavily dependent on the defense sector, to transform its economic base after the fall of communism. It describes how the strategy initially favored in the early 1990s (the development of St. Petersburg as an international business center based largely on foreign investment) fell well short of expectations. The author then examines the results thus far from an alternative strategy, following the election of a new mayor in 1996, that focuses on the revival of the city's industry and the promotion of trade. Journal of Economic Literature, Classification Numbers: F21, H71, L52, O20. 59 references.     

Archaeology of the 1980s through the objectives of the 1970s.

In the author's view the contemporary detente and the spirit of Helsinki may spread historical optimism like that established after the end of World War I. The likeness of mentality leads to a retreat in fashion everywhere, and archaeology will hardly be an exception. Like some others the author also predicts an archaeological structuralism and considers its possible realization with respect to the ‘damned question’ of archaeology ‐ the change of cultures. There has here been sounded an unexpected call to dig less, and one more expected ‐ to theorize more.     

Democracy and Disenchantment

The victory of democracy in its ideological battle with communism has coincided with widespread voter disaffection in established democracies and with the rapid emergence of disillusion in recently 'democratised' societies. These developments raise at least two more general problems concerning the democratic dream of a self-governing community. First, there is the problem of democratic deficit: the fact that democratic arrangements are invariably constrained by arrangements of a non-democratic kind. Second, there is the problem of corruption. While such problems arise for any form of politics they have a particular significance for regimes which claim to be democratic. Following the recent victories of democracy in much of the world, it is now more difficult to appeal to the remedy of a more inclusive political system. Those of you who come in with me now will get big pieces of pie. Those who come in with me later will get smaller pieces of pie. Those who dont come in at all will get-Good Government.1 (attributed to Huey Long, Governor of Louisiana)     

关于留学人员地位和作用的若干思考

本文在对中国留学生地位与作用进行简要回顾的基础上 ,结合对优秀归国留学人员进行的统计、分析 ,对改革开放以来的归国留学人员在中国未来政治生活中将扮演的角色、留学人员回国和居留海外所发挥的不同作用 ,以及留学人员的作用将随着中国现代化的发展而渐趋缩小的趋势等问题进行了论述和探讨 ,以期对改革开放以来中国大陆留学人员的地位和作用有一定的认识。     

From Urban Social Space to Social and Environmental Justice: Observations on Laurence Ma's Essay

A senior American specialist on China and noted geographer evaluates the merits of an essay by an equally prominent specialist who advocates reflexive activism as a method designed to generate more relevant studies of the country. The author of the evaluation stresses the value of empirically based work, noting a number of contributions by geographers to the study of China's transition from doctrinaire communism to "socialism with Chinese characteristics." While not denying the need for geographical research focused on deficiencies in social and environmental justice, he is not in favor of excessive activism that may overlook advances in economic development and related accomplishments of China's governing regime. Journal of Economic Literature, Classification Numbers: P30. 24 references.     

Politics,culture, and class in the French revolution

Internationally renowned as a novelist, Ignazio Silone also played an important role in the political history of the twentieth century, including the rise and fall of international communism, the struggle against fascism in Europe, the consolidation of the post-World War II order, and the Cold War. Through a series of remarkable biographical twists, Silone became a model for generations of intellectuals—a rare synthesis of engagement and independence, politics and morality. The first Silone ‘case’ followed a series of stunning revelations concerning his services to the fascist police as a leading figure of international communism. This article examines a second Silone ‘case’, dealing with a later period when his international reputation as an intellectual was formed. While cultivating a public image of genuine and hard-won independence after his break with communism, Silone secretly collaborated with the Office of Strategic Services during World War II. My examination of this less well-known episode contributes to a more complete understanding of this significant figure, while also addressing a series of broader questions. These include the ethical responsibilities of public intellectuals, the relationship between political principle and action, and the historical record of certain forms of nominally democratic opposition to totalitarianism.     

Europe’s Right Step in the Wrong Direction

Abstract

This brief essay attempts to show, through ?i?ek’s interpretation of Hei-degger, how the European Union has also taken (as the German master in the thirties), the “right step in the wrong direction” and how it can change its political error. Following ?i?ek’s view of communism as an opportunity of emancipation for Heidegger, hermeneutics philosophy is presented as the change of direction for the Union, change that will only take place if metaphysics is overcome in the appropriate manner.     

中华书局点校本《郘亭书画经眼录》补正

张剑点校的晚清莫友芝所著《郘亭书画经眼录》一书,作为中华书局列为＂书目题跋丛书＂之一,于2008年1月正式出版。笔者因研究所涉,曾于贵州省博物馆访见莫氏＂书画经眼录＂残稿一轴,此稿于张氏校本中未曾见录。兹将二种相核,见所异处,略检其要,按目列叙,姑补版本之阙,以裨校正之用。     

后现代社会下的旅游新趋势

本文强调了后现代旅游研究的必要性。通过对国内外近年来相关文献的系统回顾,作者指出了后现代旅游的发展新趋势。本文分析了后现代主义的内涵,对现代主义与后现代主义的社会文化特征进行了比较,并总结了后现代旅游的特征和影响其发展的主要理论及内容。作者指出后现代社会下新的社会结构、阶级状况、文化背景以及社会需求给旅游地、旅游时间、游客带来了新的变化:旅游地的无差异化、游客体验的主观主导性、旅游时间的外延不断扩展、以及新的游客类型的划分。这些都为旅游的发展带来新的思考和启示。     

唐代扳指杯渊源考

在中国唐代金银器、陶瓷器中,扳指杯是引人注目的一类器物。本文在分析唐代扳指杯形制特征的基础上,结合国外资料,提出扳指杯源于罗马造型意匠,萨珊波斯、粟特等的扳指杯,在吸收罗马造型的基础上,形成了自身的一些特征;而中国扳指杯在造型上的细部差别,可能一方面反映了罗马意匠的扳指杯传入中国的不同途径和方式,另一方面反映着外来文化因素与中国传统造型艺术的和谐融合。     

Stephen Pinker and the long peace: alliance,deterrence and decline

It is now widely accepted, at least among academic students of war, that there has been a great and generally benign transformation in the character of war. The sort of big wars involving the world's greatest powers, those that in practice or in prospect dominated international affairs from the rise of Napoleon to the collapse of communism, are now considered to be essentially obsolescent. But to what extent is that really true?