Maternalism and Its Discontents

Books reviewed in thgis article: Elizabeth J. Clapp, Mothers of All Children: Women Reformers and the Rise of Juvenile Courts in Progressive Era America Estelle B. Freedman, Maternal Justice: Miriam Van Waters and the Female Reform Tradition Molly Ladd‐Taylor and Lauri Umansky (eds),‘Bad’ Mothers: The Politics of Blame in Twentieth‐Century America     

The Lawn-Chemical Economy and Its Discontents

The daily geographies of consumption represent some of the most ecologically important and economically complex frontiers for critical research. Among these, the turfgrass lawn is perhaps the most overlooked, owing to its very ordinariness. Despite the serious risks posed to human health and ecosystem viability by high-input lawn systems, little critical scholarship has engaged the lawn, especially as a structured economic phenomenon. This paper explores the forces and political economic conditions under which the lawn is produced, promulgated, and resisted in North America. In the process, we draw attention to the deeply structured economic impetus behind the direct sale of potentially toxic chemicals to urban dwellers. Based on survey research and a review of the industry, we argue (1) that chemical demand is driven by urban growth and classed aesthetics, (2) that direct and aggressive sales of chemicals to consumers are spurred by crises in the chemical-formulator industry, (3) that the search for consumer-lawn markets is driven by declining margins in the worldwide chemical trade, and (4) that counterinstitutional struggles against high-input lawns represent a salvo against otherwise abstract and daunting cultural-economic hegemony.     

试论文艺复兴时期戏剧中的古典源流及其人本精神

文艺复兴是欧洲戏剧发展史上的黄金时代。借助大量古典作品的翻译 ,文艺复兴戏剧家不仅从内容、形式上模仿古典戏剧 ,而且通过研究古典戏剧理论 ,创造出四种新的戏剧类型。同时 ,在创作过程中 ,戏剧家把人本精神和对现实生活的感受融入剧作中 ,使作品更多地反映人的天性及社会生活 ,具有鲜明的时代特色 ,文艺复兴戏剧因之超越了古典戏剧成就 ,为近代欧洲戏剧发展奠定了基础。     

Co-optation and Its Discontents: Seventh-Day Adventism in 1950s China

Most studies of Christianity in the early PRC have focused on the politicization of religious practices under the Three-Self Patriotic Movement, explaining how the Christian faith empowered people to resist the state’s atheistic propaganda. In fact, both Communist officials and Christians invoked ideas about transcendent power and moral purpose, blurring the boundary between secular and religious concerns. The state-sanctioned patriotic religions had greatly impacted the political and theological orientations of Chinese Christians in the Maoist era. This article looks at the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Shanghai, one of the first Protestant denominations to be denounced in the Three-Self Patriotic Movement. When the state infiltrated the Adventist institutions, some of the pro-government Adventist leaders worked with the officials to bring the church closer to the socialist order. Most of the Adventists, however, resisted the state and organized themselves into a diffused network of house churches. This study highlights the fluid and complex political environment that the Adventists experienced, and the ways they interacted with the Maoist state. The reorientation of theological concerns, the new strategies for evangelization, and the growth of autonomous church networks enabled the Adventists to be a fast-growing religious movement.     

汉室复兴的历程及其政治文化背景

新莽末年,饥民群聚,劫掠求生,进而形成大规模农民暴动。春陵宗室趁机发起复汉运动,同绿林诸将一道建立了更始政权,并一度得到天下豪杰的响应。但更始君臣暴虐无能,很快失去民心,葬送了人心思汉的形势,致使天下分崩离析。刘秀此时崛起于河北,并未得到民意的广泛支持。他一面用武力征讨不服,一面用爵禄招降纳叛,形成力量强大但结构松散的军事集团,经过十余年艰苦战争,纔消灭了各地割据势力。刘秀的权威和号召力先天不足,使得东汉的统治缺乏深固的社会基础。刘秀的许多举措,如加强中央集权、大力提倡谶纬等,都是为改善这一状况而推出的。