Geographical representations of the «Other»: the landscape of the Panama Canal Zone

Concentrating on the years 1912–1940, this paper explores why the Panama Canal Zone developed as a hyper-American suburb completely separated from surrounding countryside, cities, and people. It argues that American representations of Panama and Panamanians generated a recognizable Panama Canal Zone residential landscape. Canal Zone towns were designed to remove white American residents from an array of «Others», specifically an «Other» natural landscape (the Panamanian «jungle»), an «Other» cultural landscape (Panamanian Cities), and an «Other» people (the West Indian Panama Canal labour force and Spanish-speaking Panamanians). The negative nature of these representations undergirded American perceptions of the Canal Zone. Importantly, the manner in which Americans understood Panama bolstered the imperial practice of rationalizing discrimination against tropical people, the need for segregated housing, and the creation of an Americanized landscape. In doing so, American representations of Panama as «Other» engendered an American sense of superiority. The paper views the Canal Zone communities as not only reflecting social, moral, and economic outlooks of the American administrators, but also as embodying American perceptions of Panama and Panamanians as the «Other».     

Bridging the Gap: Hong Kong Senior Civil Servants and the 1966 Riots

The 1966 Hong Kong riots were the trigger for wide-ranging changes in relationships between the government and the public which shaped the political future of the colony. However, it is not immediately clear why a relatively small-scale disturbance which was quickly contained should have had such a considerable impact. The explanation, it is argued, lies in a confluence of factors. The riots were the first to be specifically concerned with events in Hong Kong rather than in China and therefore required attention to local causes; urban councillors were demanding more electoral representation and devolution of government functions to the Council; the Commission of Inquiry into the riots held public meetings raising political awareness; and reforming senior civil servants saw the riots as an opportunity for change. Because there was antipathy within government towards elections and to any devolution of functions, the recommendations of the Commission of Inquiry were given priority, resulting in administrative rather than public policy or electoral solutions, a decision which retarded the development of democracy.     

Mapping narratives: the 1992 Los Angeles riots as a case study for narrative-based geovisualization

In this paper, I demonstrate that narrative-based geovisualization contributes to a broader understanding of complex social and inherently spatial phenomena, such as riots, when combined with other data. Past spatial scholarship on riots has analyzed point-distribution data representing damaged structures caused by fires and vandalism. Although this approach is insightful, the analysis of damaged structures engages with just one type of many other significant occurrences during a riot. Since riots are a result of human actions, I am interested in representing other significant occurrences through the eyewitness, on-the-ground accounts—or narratives—that reveal individual observations and experiences. Using the 1992 Los Angeles riots as a case study, I combine point-distribution data and narrative data as a complementary, multiple-methods approach to investigate human actions during riots.     

The United States and Bahrain: Interpreting the Differentiated U.S. Responses to the Arab Spring

We examine how the United States' response to the situation in Bahrain can be differentiated from that in Libya and Egypt based on a comparative content analysis of the U.S. administration's press releases, remarks, and interviews during the first three months of the Arab Spring movement. Our findings indicate that although the level and duration of violence were comparable, the U.S. government response was strikingly different with the support given to the Bahraini government, in contrast to the critical stances adopted towards Libya and Egypt. We explain how the United States' lack of political incentive to act and concerted support by its allies were influential factors for the United States' differentiated policy during the Arab Spring.     

The Lusitania Riots in Pietermaritzburg 13–14 May 1915

During the Great War the sinking of the British liner Lusitania by a German submarine off the Irish coast on 7 May 1915, with the loss of 1198 lives, evoked a strong popular reaction throughout the English-peaking world, and included violent outbursts against Germans in many urban centres of the British Empire. In South Africa these riots resulted in great damage to property and pressure on the Union government to enforce harsh restrictions on enemy subjects and businesses. This is an account of the riots and their consequences in Pietermaritzburg, Natal, one of the most ‘British’ of South African cities.     

论1740～1800年英格兰食物骚乱

1740~1800年是英格兰历史上食物骚乱爆发最频繁的时期。谷物供给不足和跨地区谷物流通的兴起是这一时期食物骚乱丛生的主要原因。食物骚乱是民众在一套关于谷物流通的传统价值观念促发下的仗义行为,是在现有的政治结构之内与当局进行讨价还价的一种形式,也是当时社会调节机制的组成部分。作为一种集体行动,食物骚乱通常开始于小规模的自发行动,然后,最初聚集起来的核心分子走上街头,沿路召集同盟者加入,逐渐发展成大规模的行动。骚乱者努力争取地方官员的支持,在现有的政治结构之内与当局进行讨价还价。地方当局竭力安抚骚乱者,充当民众与中间商人之间的调停人。食物骚乱总是以和平的方式平息下来。     

The World Bank–United States–Latin American Triangle: The Negotiations with Socialist Chile, 1970–1973

This paper sheds light on the largely unknown negotiations between Chile and the World Bank (WB) during the presidency of Salvador Allende (1970–1973). The prevalent understanding of the WB's involvement in Latin America portrays the Bank as a loyal ally of the U.S. government and as an institution with the power to impose its views on its borrowers. Yet, an in-depth analysis of previously unexamined primary sources demonstrates that rather than reflecting a dynamic in which the relationship was between Washington and the WB on the one hand, and Chile on the other hand, these relations constituted a WB–U.S.–Chile asymmetric triangle. Despite profound ideological discrepancies, multiple pressures, and constraints, Allende's government and the WB conducted high-ranking negotiations that challenged the U.S.-promoted economic embargo against Chile. The examination of this counterintuitive relationship sheds new light on Allende's positioning in the international arena and on the functioning of the World Bank, thereby providing a unique prism through which to reconsider dichotomist perceptions of the Cold War in Latin America.     

The Problem of Slums: Shifting Methods of Neoliberal Urban Government in Morocco

This article puts forward two main arguments. First, it highlights the relationship between different phases of neoliberalism in Morocco together with the specific methods and techniques of urban government that were deployed in an effort to govern the slums and their populations. A period of ‘roll back neoliberalism’ during the 1980s generated reforms that tried to increase government control over the urban territory to compensate for the negative social outcomes of structural adjustment. The subsequent period of ‘roll out neoliberalism’ coincided with the attempt to manage and regulate the slum population through new modalities of state intervention. Second, while evolutions in neoliberal government reflected a gradual process, this transition in Morocco was accelerated by security concerns following two moments of serious urban violence: the 1981 riots and the 2003 suicide bombings in Casablanca. Therefore, Morocco's recent political transformations cannot be understood in terms provided by the mainstream narrative linking economic liberalization to democratization. Rather, they reflect a profound shift towards intrinsically authoritarian modalities of neoliberal government which are clearly revealed at the urban scale.     

台湾当局对奄美群岛移交的因应

奄美群岛是琉球群岛的一部分。1951年9月8日,《旧金山和约》签署,美国获得琉球群岛等岛屿的行政管辖权。为了扶植日本,对抗苏联,美国拟将奄美群岛的行政管辖权移交日本。台湾当局认为,包括奄美群岛在内的琉球群岛的主权属于琉球人民,不属于日本。台湾当局与美国政府展开沟通,指出美国此举将挑战《开罗宣言》《波茨坦宣言》,公开支持琉球人民追求自治。台湾一些民众向美国国会中的参议员打电报,劝告美国勿将奄美群岛交给日本管辖。1953年12月24日,美日两国在东京签署了关于奄美群岛的协定,根据《旧金山和约》第三条,美国将奄美群岛的行政管辖权移交日本。同时,美国政府发表声明,将继续管辖冲绳群岛、先岛群岛等岛屿。     

金融危机下的“美国留学热”及其发展趋势

金融危机爆发后,为增加学校收入和刺激消费,美国政府和大中学校采取各种措施吸引中国学生赴美留学,中国掀起了留学美国的新一波热潮,留美学生人数直线上升。受美国政府、学校积极推动和人民币升值等因素的影响,这股美国留学热将持续升温,且呈低龄化趋向,但留学移民难度会有所增加。美国留学热对中国社会的影响将日益扩大,应引起有关方面的高度关注。     

Ethno‐religious ‘unmixing’ of ‘Turkey’: 6–7 September riots as a case in Turkish nationalism*

Abstract. This article examines the structural and ideological factors that paved the way for the eruption of violence against non‐Muslims in Turkey on 6 September 1955. I argue that the conventional explanations that treat this instance of collective violence either as spontaneous rioting caused by over‐excited masses or as a government conspiracy that eventually got out of control are insufficient in that they fail to answer how and why so many people participated in these riots when we know that nothing on this scale ever took place in the history of the republic. In order to adequately understand the dynamics behind these riots one first needs to situate them in the broader historical context of the emergence, development and crystallisation of Turkish nationalism and national identity that marked the non‐Muslim citizens of the republic as the ‘others’ and potential enemies of the real Turkish nation. This historical analysis constitutes the first part of the article. Since ethno‐national riots do not always occur whenever there are conflicting identities, one also needs to explain the processes through which ethno‐national identities become radicalized and polarized. Thus, in the second part of the article, I focus on the economic, political and social conditions of the post‐single‐party era (post‐1950) that helped to radicalise the sentiments of the growing urban populace against the non‐Muslim ‘others’. I argue that it was the socio‐economic, ideological and political transformations of the Democrat Party era that made it possible for ethnic entrepreneurs and state provocateurs to mobilise the masses against a fictitious enemy.     

冷战时期苏联对尼泊尔的经济和技术援助

20世纪50年代中期,出于对抗美国在南亚地区的战略影响,苏联与尼泊尔建立了外交关系,对尼援助计划也随之启动.由于受本国经济基础和意识形态等因素的影响,苏联对尼援助的主要领域是工业及其相关产业,对尼援助的主要目的就是扩大其在南亚的战略影响,防止尼泊尔加入西方阵营,同时希望孤立中国以及在尼泊尔培养一个亲苏政权.     

冷战时期苏联对尼泊尔的经济和技术援助

20世纪50年代中期,出于对抗美国在南亚地区的战略影响,苏联与尼泊尔建立了外交关系,对尼援助计划也随之启动。由于受本国经济基础和意识形态等因素的影响,苏联对尼援助的主要领域是工业及其相关产业,对尼援助的主要目的就是扩大其在南亚的战略影响,防止尼泊尔加入西方阵营,同时希望孤立中国以及在尼泊尔培养一个亲苏政权。     

扼制还是纵容？——浅析美国移民制度对中国非法移民的影响

在过去的二三十年间,中国非法移民已成为美国华人社会一个日益严重的社会问题,它同时也引起美国政客和社会学家的关注.为什么在美国政府制定了一系列移民政策以阻止非法移民进入美国的同时,非法移民潮却始终禁而不绝?本文选取美国移民政策中的两大法令--政治庇护制度和雇主制裁条例,以说明美国移民制度中存在的一些漏洞及自相矛盾之处,这些对非法移民特别是中国非法移民的形成与发展产生了重要影响.     

美国县制演化及其对中国县制改革的启示

本文基于文献资料比较系统地考察了美国县制的起源、模式及特征,重点总结了工业社会到来时美国县制发生的危机、原因、对策和结果,论述了美国县制在后工业社会崛起的机理,最后总结了美国县制的演变规律及其对我国县制改革的启示。     

‘YOUTH RIOTS’ AND THE CONCEPT OF CONTENTIOUS POLITICS IN HISTORICAL RESEARCH

This article analyses European ‘youth riots’ as a social phenomenon after World War II. It also uses a specific riot – the 1948 Stockholm Easter Riots – in order to discuss the limits and potential of some theoretical assumptions underlying the field of historical contentious politics studies, primarily ‘contentious politics’ and ‘claims’. Using police reports and newspapers, the article shows that the riots were part of a European repertoire of post-war ‘youth riots’, but that they also bear similarities to an older popular repertoire of contention in Sweden. However, the riots do not really fit into the concept of ‘contentious politics’, as this concept is built on ‘claim-making’ as a key aspect and the participants did not make explicit claims. This leads to the conclusion that other theoretical tools, inspired by the concept of ‘moral economy’, are better suited for understanding the motivations of the rioters, whose actions are interpreted as a way of defending a perceived moral right of access to the urban public space.     

THE IMPACT OF LOCAL DECENTRALIZATION ON ECONOMIC GROWTH: EVIDENCE FROM U.S. COUNTIES*

ABSTRACT We analyze the impact of fiscal decentralization on U.S. county population, employment, and real income growth. Our findings suggest that government organization matters for local economic growth, but that the impacts vary by government unit and by economic indicator. We find that single‐purpose governments per square mile have a positive impact on metropolitan population and employment growth, but no significant impact on nonmetropolitan counties. In contrast, the fragmentation of general‐purpose governments per capita has a negative impact on employment and population growth in nonmetropolitan counties. Our results suggest that local government decentralization matters differently for metropolitan and nonmetropolitan counties.     

A New Right to Property: Civil War Confiscation in the Reconstruction Supreme Court

During the Civil War, both the Union Congress and the Confederate Congress put in place sweeping confiscation programs designed to seize the private property of enemy citizens on a massive scale. Meeting in special session in August 1861, the U.S. Congress passed the First Confiscation Act, authorizing the federal government to seize the property of those participating directly in the rebellion. ¹ The Confederate Congress retaliated on August 30, 1861, passing the Sequestration Act. ² This law authorized the Confederate government to forever seize the real and personal property of "alien enemies," a term that included every U.S. citizen and all those living in the Confederacy who remained loyal to the Union.     

Ritual performances and collective violence in divided cities – The riots in Belfast (1886) and Jerusalem (1929)

This article explores the interrelation of violence, space, and public rituals in Belfast and Jerusalem. With the image of being cities of violence, contested by two groups that compete for political and spatial hegemony, Belfast and Jerusalem are also characterised as divided, both on a material and symbolic level. The roots of this division can be traced back to the era of the British Empire, especially to the riots in Belfast in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and the uprisings in Jerusalem during the British Mandate of Palestine. In the wider context of British imperial policies of differentiation along religious lines and urban separation, communal identities were strengthened, and processes of residential segregation were accelerated, thereby creating urban frontiers. On the basis of historical sources, particularly reports by Royal Commissions of Inquiry that were set up to investigate the riots in Belfast and Jerusalem, this paper analyses how violent urban geographies were created in both cities in different but also remarkably similar ways. Down to the present day, public religious and political rituals, often combined with nationalist and militarist elements, are a crucial part of periodic manifestations of collective violence in these cities. Practices of appropriation of space and a temporary redrawing of borders and boundaries are dominant features of these rituals. Religious ceremonies, street parades, funeral processions or political demonstrations take place at contested sites or are led through areas “belonging” to the “other” group. The analysis shows that these ritual practices contributed greatly in transforming parts of the cities into urban spaces characterised by exclusion and imbued with memories of violence. This paper concludes that ritual performances in public space have a strong impact on the production and shaping of collective violence during riots.     

The Bedouins in the Palestinian–Zionist struggle at the beginning of the British Mandate: 1920–1929

This article presents the causal factors behind the Arab riots of the 1920s and the reasons some of the Bedouin tribes joined that struggle. It provides an overview of the “Events,” as Zionist historiographers termed the riots—the developing conflict between the Palestinians and the Jews, the methods and resources used by both parties, as well as the responses of the British authorities—from the local, national, and regional perspectives, especially in the political arena. It investigates the political stances that emerged among the local Bedouin tribes regarding the Zionist–Palestinian struggle and the reasons for the diversity of stances: while some tribes took an active part in the events on the Palestinian side, others remained neutral and a few tribes even chose to ally with the Jews, or at least warn them of forthcoming attacks. These different stances consolidated during this period, affecting the events and outcomes of the Great Palestinian revolt that took place in 1936–1939, as well as the conduct of these groups during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War.