The Nature Of Ethnic Wholeness (Landscape and Ethnos,XII)

The character of an ethnic whole is analyzed in terms of systems theory. An ethnos is viewed as a closed system in which the initial burst of energy (innate drive) is gradually spent while entropy steadily increases. The system must constantly remove the accumulated entropy by exchanging energy and entropy with the environment. What produces the wholeness of an ethnic system is not the grouping of similar individuals, but the existence of a particular set of relationships between these individuals, giving rise to what may be termed an “ethnic field”. In light of the systems and field concepts, the author argues against defining an ethnic community as a mere social organism distinguished by common language, culture, daily life and mental outlook. Such an approach, in his view, limits the question of ethnic wholeness to the principle of external likeness, without delving into the internal linkages that hold an ethnos together.     

The Man-Nature Relationship According to the Data of Historical Geography and Ethnology (Landscape and Ethnos,X)

The establishment of a new ethnos, or ethnic community, is attributed to a burst of energy or an innate drive that enables members of the community to break with past traditions and behavioral patterns and to begin building a new set of values distinguishing the new ethnic group from others. The ethnos is viewed as both a social and a biological phenomenon, with the social aspect represented by the group's relations with other groups and institutions and the biological by the behavior of the ethnos as a biological population. The innate drive exhibited by ethnic groups in the early stage of ethnogenesis is viewed as a biological feature. In general this drive is fostered by the practice of endogamy, but there are situations in which an ethnically mixed community, resulting from exogamy, also generates the energy required to initiate the process of ethnogenesis. Although the existence of the ethnic drive can be demonstrated by reference to history and historical geography, an explanation of this form of energy must be left to genetics and anthropology.     

COMMUTING IN SMALL AND MIDDLE-SIZE TOWNS OF SOVIET GEORGIA

The author takes issue with the view expressed by M. I. Artamonov, an archeologist, that an ethnos, or ethnic group, represents a social state rather than a process. In the author's view, ethnos IS a vast system in constant development, which tends to be stabilized by endogamy and undermined by exogamy. An ethnic hierarchy is proposed to illustrate the process of ethnogenesis. It ranges from the lowest order of ethnic grouping, a consortium, through subethnos, ethnos and superethnos to mankind as a whole. Each order in the hierarchy is distinguished by particular forms of associations, trends of development and culminating phases. The concept of ethnos as an ongoing process is illustrated with reference to ethnic change in ancient China and in the Ottoman empire.     

On the Subject of Historical Geography (Landscape and Ethnos,III)

The author develops a methodology of historical geography revolving around the relationship between an ethnos, or ethnic community, and the “encompassing landscape.” He finds that under the conditions of the nomadic stockherding peoples of the steppe, where this relationship is most clearly expressed, the nomads become an inseparable part of the landscape, together with plant and animal life.     

良渚文明兴衰的生态史观

环境考古学的发展为讨论良渚文化的衰亡开拓了新的思路。然而,环境论者在表述论点时,常常会片面地强调外界环境变化对文化发展影响,显得过于机械化和简单化。从地理学和考古学的基础研究入手,深入地阐述了环境考古学的理论基础,提出生态史观是研究良渚文明兴衰的有效方法。通过对良渚文化系统动态分析,认为良渚文明的兴衰是其系统中各因素相互作用的结果,而良渚文化的衰亡是因为人地关系紧张,造成了系统的紊乱。     

Ethnogenesis from the Geographical Point of View (Landscape and Ethnos,IX)

The author deals with the question whether the biological evolution of the species Homo sapiens is continuing under conditions of established civilizations. He replies in the affirmative, but qualifies his answer. The evolution of modern man affects behavioral patterns rather than anatomical or physiologic traits, and is reflected in a greater capacity for adaptation and an expansion of the area of settlement rather than in the improvement of a particular phenotype. The evolution is analyzed best in terms of the ethnos, or ethnic group. Two states of the ethnos are distinguished: a persistent (static) state, in which the ethnos may be said to stagnate, each generation copies the behavioral patterns of the previous generation, and the life patterns are adapted to the landscape; a historical (dynamic) state, in which the new generation breaks new paths, the landscape is adapted to the needs of the economy, and the ethnos strives to expand its area of settlement.     

ON A BIOLOGICAL-GEOGRAPHIC CONCEPTION OF ETHNIC HISTORY

A critique of L. N. Gumilev's model of ethnic development, treating mankind largely as a biological species and attributing the origins and disappearance of ethnic communities to biological factors, including a psychic innate drive that is presented as the key element in the generation of new ethnic entities. The author insists that ethnic communities are social, rather than biological categories, and that, in accordance with historical materialism, social, rather than biological, aspects are decisive in all forms of social life. Gumilev's view that interethnic mixing tends to undermine the viability of ethnic communities is also disputed. The author asserts that interethnic marriage is a positive trend, noting that interethnic families in the Soviet Union rose from 10 percent in 1959 to 13.5 in 1970.     

东南亚华商与经济民族主义

在经济全球化的大潮中,东南亚华商面对居住国“原住民优先”政策的压力、民族主义情绪的高涨和对立,应该立足于各自国家的立场和根本利益,与各自国家的其他族裔加强合作,共谋发展,实现互利共赢。这是东南亚华商的唯一出路,也是化解东南亚国家原住民经济民族主义的正确途径。东南亚华商只有随着本国国民经济的发展才能获得自身发展的机会,不可能存在超越国家利益之外的所谓海外华人的利益。     

中国大陆的马来西亚华侨华人研究——以1982~2011年间《华侨华人历史研究》刊发论文为基础的分析

论文基于《华侨华人历史研究》1982年以来刊发的约60篇马华研究论文,同时参考近年来大陆有关马华研究的博士论文,分析了大陆关于马华研究的主要领域、资料来源、资料类型、研究方法、作者群特点等。研究显示,大陆关于马华的研究,涉及到政治、政策、宗教、文化、社会、文学、女性、族群关系、医学和音乐等领域;研究者重点使用的是英语资料和马来西亚当地的资料,使用最多的是中英文图书,其次是中文期刊和中文报纸;文献分析法是主要研究方法。大陆已有一批比较固定的马华研究者,但人数相对有限,且少有人进行专一的马来西亚华人研究。选择马华作为博士学位论文研究课题的作者成为当今学界研究马华的主要力量。     

On the Anthropogenic Factor in Landscape Formation (Landscape and Ethnos VII)

In attempting to classify anthropogenic factors of landscape formation, Gumilev rejects Arnold Toynbee's concept of challenge and response as the factors underlying the genesis of civilizations on the ground that it ignores the factor of ethnic differentiation. Gumilev finds that the principal changes introduced by man into the landscape are associated with certain short-term periods of superhuman effort that coincide with intensive processes of ethnogenesis. This intensive activity is followed by a damping inertia that leads ultimately to a new equilibrium between the ethnos and the environment until the next upsurge of activity.     

Building Communities in Ancient Samnium: Cult,Ethnicity and Nested Identities

This article addresses the meaning of community in an area of the ancient world that is normally seen to diverge from the paradigm of the Classical city‐state, by examining the role of sanctuaries in the articulation of identity and belonging. The focus is on Samnium (central Italy) in the last four centuries BC, where archaeological and historical evidence, including a wealth of recent discoveries, supports a dynamic view of a region that is traditionally associated with a cohesive ethnic group. Whilst it is true that the major sanctuary at Pietrabbondante fostered the construction of Samnite ethnic identity, this article highlights the importance of other types and levels of belonging in light of a broader range of cult sites. The concept of ‘nested identities’ (a scenario where individuals identify simultaneously with overlapping groups) can bring about a more nuanced view of how cult was used as a means to negotiate belonging on ethnic and non‐ethnic levels. I hope to show that local communities, and particularly the local elites, were able to function independently rather than simply as the building blocks of the Samnite ethnos.     

宁夏镇北堡移民文化旅游开发初探

移民文化具有多元性、宗教性、民族性和开放性的特征。本文以宁夏镇北堡为例,分析了镇北堡移民文化的由来和特征;对镇北堡开发移民文化旅游进行了可行性分析,包括区位优势分析和资源优势分析。在资源优势分析中,笔者运用层次分析法(AHP)对镇北堡旅游资源价值进行了综合评价,得出了旅游资源的文化价值是影响旅游资源开发潜力最重要的因素;同时也说明了移民文化在整个镇北堡旅游资源中具有极高的文化价值。最后,笔者提出了宁夏镇北堡移民文化旅游开发思路和开发战略。     

云南少数民族服饰景观地域特征探析

少数民族服饰作为民族文化的重要组成部分,是非语言文化交流的途径之一,在传统文化的保持和传承方面起着重要的作用。本文分析了地理环境对云南少数民族服饰的影响、少数民族服饰景观的地域类型、特征及时空变异。认为民族服饰是最具有吸引力的旅游景观之一,在民族传统文化的开发和利用中应当给予高度重视。     

The Rise of Vo¨lkisch-Nationalism and the Decline of German Liberalism: A Comparison of Liberal Political Cultures in Schleswig-Holstein and Silesia 1912-1924

Historians have tended to focus on political economic and political organisational factors in order to explain the rise of liberalism in the nineteenth century and the decline of liberalism in the twentieth. But these factors tell only part of the story, particularly in the German case. For the precipitous decline of German liberalism after 1890 cannot be understood without examining the rise of Austro-German völkisch (ethnic) nationalism in the same period. Comparing Germany's two most liberal regions, Schleswig-Holstein and Silesia, this article argues that liberalism became increasingly dependent for its political survival on an accomodation with ethnic nationalism. It is hoped that such a comparison will lead to a reexamination of the conventional ways in which German liberal success and failure are understood, and a re-evaluation of what it meant to be a liberal in Germany and Europe during the first third of the twentieth century.     

Ethnology And Historical Geography (Landscape and Ethnos,XIII)

The theory that ethnogenesis is triggered by bursts of innate ethnic drive or energy, following an incubation period, is examined further. An examination of the historical record suggests that several superethnoses may arise simultaneously in various parts of the world. The regions covered by such superethnoses may be broken up by natural barriers ruling out any exchange of population or cultural influences, and yet the regions involved in such energetic surges tend to be monolithic. The spatial contiguity of bursts of ethnic energy at particular periods in history is illustrated by a number of examples ranging from Europe to the Far East, but what precisely triggers these energetic displays still requires the formulation of a hypothesis.     

试析马来西亚华人社会与祖籍国关系的演变——以马来西亚华人社团为例

从早期到20世纪50年代中期,马来亚华侨社团与中国之间是联系密切的侨民社团与祖国之间的关系。此后,由于马来亚华侨社会发生了本质性转变,当地华人社团与中国的关系转变为外国公民社团与祖籍国之间的关系。期间,由于种种因素,双方的关系经历了曲折发展。中马建交,特别是20世纪80年代后,马来西亚华人社团与中国的联系日益密切起来,双方的关系进入良性发展轨道。本文概述各个历史时期马来西亚华人社团与中国关系的发展演变,探讨两者关系发生变化的原因以及影响。作者认为,马来西亚华人社团与中国的良好关系对华人社会和中国而言都是积极的因素,双方日益密切的联系,加强了当地华人社会与中国,乃至马来西亚与中国之间的良好关系。     

Articulating minority nationhood: cultural and political dimensions in Québec's reasonable accommodation debate

Given their precarious position within larger states, national minorities cannot rely on federal governments to affirm their nationhood. Moreover, insofar as nationhood is predicated on a shared history, language and culture, immigrants place additional strains on the maintenance of national distinctiveness and the political claims that derive from it. In 2006–2007, following a series of confrontations over religious practices in the public sphere, Québec's provincial government appointed the Bouchard–Taylor Commission to investigate avenues for the accommodation of immigrant‐related cultural and religious differences. While it failed to generate policy, the commission did provide a discursive space for the (re)assertion of Québécois nationhood. Analysing the production of national identity in newspaper debates of the Bouchard–Taylor report, we offer an alternative to the ethnic–civic paradigm in nationalism theory. Rather than treat ethnic and civic as two separate ends of a single continuum, we conceptualise a relationship between two dimensions: one of culture and one of politics. We show that in contemporary articulations of Québec national identity, the prerequisites of political membership derive their meaning from a productive tension between blood‐based and adoptive conceptions of national culture.     

The model of ethnic democracy: Israel as a Jewish and democratic state

The liberal democratic nation–state is on the decline in the West as a result of globalisation, regionalisation, universalisation of minority rights, multiculturalism and the rise of ethno–nationalism. While Western countries are decoupling the nation–state and shifting toward multicultural civic democracy, other countries are consolidating an alternative non–civic form of a democratic state that is identified with and subservient to a single ethnic nation. This model, ‘ethnic democracy’, is presented; its defining features, the circumstances leading to it and the conditions for its stability are elaborated upon; and it is applied to Israel. Contrary to its self–image and international reputation as a Western liberal democracy, Israel is an ethnic democracy in which the Jews appropriate the state and make it a tool for advancing their national security, demography, public space, culture and interests. At the same time, Israel is a democracy that extends various kinds of rights to 1 million Palestinian Arab citizens (16 per cent of the population) who are perceived as a threat. The criticisms against the general model and its applicability to Israel are discussed. The model has already been applied to other countries, but more applications are needed in order to develop it further.     

A CRITIQUE OF L. N. GUMILEV'S WORK ON ETHNOGEOGRAPHY AT A MEETING AT LENINGRAD UNIVERSITY

Following a critique by the ethnographer V. I. Kozlov of the biological-geographical conception of ethnic history advanced by L. N. Gumilev, a seminar was convened at the Geography Faculty of Leningrad University to discuss the merits of Gumilev's work and of the critique. The consensus of the speakers was that Gumilev's model of ethnic development, treating mankind largely as a biological species and attributing the origins and disappearance of ethnic communities to biological factors, should be treated as a working hypothesis that still required experimental proof. Several participants said they could not agree with some of Gumilev's propositions, especially the existence of a psychic innate drive that is presented as the key element in the generation of new ethnic entities. But speakers did not question his right to present his views, and Kozlov's attack on Gumilev did not appear to find wide support.     

Illiberal peacebuilding in a hybrid regime. Authoritarian strategies for conflict containment in Myanmar

The post-Cold War period has seen the rise of international liberal peacebuilding, as an overarching framework for international interventions in intrastate conflicts. In contrast, the current period is marked by decline of liberal peacebuilding, and a simultaneous rise of domestic illiberal peacebuilding. This has created a gap between the predominant theoretical and policy framework and the actual form of peacebuilding in many conflict-ridden societies. The present article addresses this challenge through a contextual case study of illiberal peacebuilding in Myanmar. The case study shows how a dominant state actor – the military (Tatmadaw) – has used both coercion and co-optation to contain armed resistance against militarized and centralized statebuilding and thereby strengthen the state's territorial control and authority. While the SLORC/SPDC military junta (1988–2011) sought to contain ethnic armed organizations through military offensives, ceasefire agreements and illiberal peacebuilding, the military based USDP-government (2011–2015) institutionalized a hybrid regime as a framework for political transformation of EAOs, and tolerated a degree of dual territorial, administrative and resource control at the local scale. These clientelist measures failed to address the substantive issues behind Myanmar's multiple and protracted conflicts. They were also combined with military offensives against non-ceasefire groups and war by other means in ceasefire areas. Moreover, the case study demonstrates that the Tatmadaw used its tutelary power to obstructs substantive conflict resolution through negotiated state reforms. Myanmar's peace initiatives during the last three decades should thus be understood as illiberal strategies for containing ethnic armed organizations rather than attempts at substantive conflict resolution.