Power,Culture, and the Rise of Transnational History in the United States

This essay focuses on the impact of the cultural turn on the writing of international history in the United States. It argues that the cultural turn has significantly shaped the emergence and practice of transnational history in the United States, drawing foreign relations history closer to other fields within American history and distancing it from the way transnational history is practiced elsewhere, particularly in Europe. It has created a more vibrant and much less well-defined field that engages with issues of race, gender, decolonization, human rights, and the environment. At first glance, the trajectory from the cultural to the transnational turn is not necessarily an obvious one. Both represent distinct approaches with distinct methodologies, historical questions, and subjects. Nonetheless, their fusion in the United States has set the American approach to transnational history apart from its European and non-western counterparts.     

美国《年度国别人权报告》与人权外交

《年度国别人权报告》是由美国国务院和人道事务局编写,以美国国会名义发表的官方正式文件,极具权威性,为世人注目。然而目前国内对这一课题还没有进行深入研究。因此本文对《年度国别人权报告》的产生、发展及其作用进行历史的考察,以揭示美国人权外交的内幕和实质。     

The Politics of HDTV in the United States

Policies adopted by the United States government between 1987 and 1993 regarding high definition television (HDTV) were made primarily by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). A brief effort by members of Congress and their bureaucratic and industrial allies to link HDTV to broader industrial policies was thwarted by the George Bush Administration between 1988 and 1990. The FCC's policies with respect to simulcasting and digital signals reflected the concern of that agency to protect the interests of consumers, broadcasters, and electronics manufacturers. The first two interests traditionally were protected by the FCC, whereas the protection of electronics was somewhat unusual and was influenced by perceptions of declining United States competitiveness. In addition, United States policymaking in this area depended strongly on the framing effect of policies adopted in Japan and Western Europe.     

The Rise,Fall, and Transformation of Native American Cultures in the Southeastern United States

The culture area of Southeast United States saw the rise of the most complex societies in Native America north of Mexico before European contact. Many of these societies developed with matrilineal kinship systems. Some built impressive mounds. The “Southeast” volume of the Handbook of North American Indians presents numerous chapters that reconstruct the prehistory, history, and cultures found in this region and chronicle the European exploration and colonization that impacted the region's cultures. The differences between the prehistoric and postcolonial cultures are so great that they appear as different cultural traditions.