Negotiating the Nation: Ethnicity,Nationalism and Nation-Building in Independent Namibia

Abstract. Employing recent anthropological perspectives on ethnicity and nationalism which have not yet been applied to any extent in research on cultural differentiation in Namibia, the article investigates problems and challenges in the process of nation-building in the recently independent state. Ethnicity and nationalism are here seen as socially constructed and ideologically practised phenomena, and the relationship between these ideologies is studied as one of ideological conflict. More particularly, the article investigates the formation, relevance and uses of ethnic identities; the relationship between ethnicity, class and the politics of ethnic nationalism; as well as some techniques, rhetorics and symbols employed in the social construction of nationalism in Namibia. In conclusion, the article argues the importance of making the nation-building project relevant to people not only through the creation of ever more effective and inclusive national symbols, but also through real economic and political reforms.     

Creating a Nation of Joiners: Democracy and Civil Society in Early National Massachusetts

Abstract

The Occupy Wall Street protest that has spread to other cities across the United States in the autumn of 2011 bears striking similarities to the American Railway Union's strike against the Pullman Palace Car Company near Chicago in 1894, led by Eugene Debs. That protest movement laid the foundations for progressive reforms in the early twentieth century.     

在"一个国家"和"多元文化主义"的激荡中成长--从公民社会模式看澳大利亚华人的参政空间

九十年代后期澳大利亚华人参政形式发生了结构性转变,由原来的相对散漫而少有华人参政,转变成为华人主动集会结社投身政治.本文认为,这种转变是在特定的历史时空,由华人社群与澳洲主流社会的变化互相激荡而产生的.本文利用公民社会理论来建构一个看待移民社会政治参与的参考架构,用海外华人的视角来审视澳洲华人发展史,讨论九十年代后期澳洲极端派反移民势力的兴起,以及对华人社会的影响.笔者认为,澳洲华人社会这个转变提供了一个华人参政的良好典范,即以少数族裔身份在公民社会中参与政治活动,从而改变主流社会的思维.     

Economic Opportunity,Civil Society and Political Liberty

This essay explores the dilemmas associated with ‘squaring the circle’ of wealth creation, social cohesion and political freedom in the OECD countries. As the metaphor of square and circle implies, these three essential goals of development are not necessarily compatible and may even conflict with each other, particularly at a time when advancing globalization creates perverse choices. To become and remain competitive in international markets requires a flexible use of resources which threatens social cohesion and political freedom in a number of ways. After analysing these tensions, the essay concludes with six proposals for improving the likelihood that a workable balance between prosperity, democracy and social cohesion can be maintained in advanced industrial societies.     

Liberal Government,Civil Society and Faith Communities

Abstract

This article explores the relationship between faith communities and the liberal system of government which operates in contemporary Britain. The problem addressed is as follows: liberal democracy relies upon the assumption of the validity of certain general truths: human rights, social justice, individual autonomy, and so on. In our postmodern society, however, social fragmentation has eroded the validity of such assumptions, leaving no universal or neutral benchmark through which to judge competing truth-claims. In particular, different faith traditions posit potentially incommensurable claims about what constitutes a good society. This article assesses the suggestion that in our pluralistic and differentiated society, more and more social decisions should be left to the market or to private rather than collective judgment and responsibility. It suggests various possibilities for reconceptualizing liberalism: for instance, as a modus vivendi providing a framework within which different moral outlooks can ‘live and let live’, but suggests that liberalism can have a positive moral content of its own, and need not be merely a coping mechanism for dealing with diversity.     

Neoliberalism,the Developmental State and Civil Society in Korea

Following the Asian economic crisis of the late 1990s, some scholars predicted that the introduction of neoliberal ideas and policies would result in the definitive passing of the Korean developmental state. Despite these predictions, Korean state elites have retained their influential position as economic managers by, for instance, practicing a revised form of industrial policy. Neoliberal reform has, however, had significant social implications. Rather than neoliberalism acting as a democratising force that curtails the power of the state, this article illustrates that the Korean state has used the reform agenda to justify an expansion of its powers. The state presented itself as an agent capable of resolving long-standing economic problems, and of defending law and order. By doing so, the state reduced the political space available to non-state actors. The article concludes that for some states, neoliberalism is a means of retaining economic and political influence, and that former developmental states may be particularly adept at co-opting elements of civil society into governing alliances.     

神秘的土族邦邦会

距西宁北30公里祁连山之南麓的互助县世代居住着一个勤劳纯朴、能歌善舞的民族——土族。他们有自己的语言文字,信仰藏传佛教。相传,土族是以吐谷浑为主融合其他民族成分发展形成。在漫长的历史进程中形成了自己独特的文化。土族妇女的袖子用红、黄、黑、绿、白等不同颜色拼成,恰似天上彩虹,因此,这里被誉为“彩虹的故乡”。土族的文化别具风格,在头饰、服装和喜庆节日等方面有自己的讲究,除和汉族一样,每年要过春节、端午节和中秋节外,还有正月十四和六月初八的佑宁寺观经会(宗教节日),二月二的邦邦会、擂台会(物资交流),三月三、四月八的…     

The Race Beat: The Press, the Civil Rights Struggle, and the Awakening of a Nation

Journalism, it has been said, is the first rough draft of history. In The Race Beat, Pulitzer prizewinning journalists Gene Robertsand Hank Klibanoff have come as close as anyone could to a final,definitive draft of the history of the role of the press inthe civil rights movement. Their research is exhaustive andtheir writing is compelling, resulting in a book that readslike a hybrid: part scholarly treatise and suspense novel, partadventure tale and Greek tragedy. It sets the scene with a detailed and informative history ofthe Negro press in the U.S., long predating the     

民族主义视角下的苏丹南北内战

苏丹南北内战是北方的阿拉伯主义和南方的非洲主义之间的冲突。其原因在于苏丹国家民族主义意识成长不足及国家领导人试图同化苏丹南方黑人的阿拉伯化和伊斯兰化政策。该问题的最终解决取决于苏丹国家现代化的发展及当权者的民族平等政策。