Invoking Religion in Australian Politics

As religious engagement in the Australian population continues to decline, the apparent increased prominence of religion in Australian politics is puzzling. This article examines the characteristics of 2422 speeches given by prominent Australian federal politicians between 2000 and 2006 to assess whether religion has become more prominent in early twenty-first century Australian politics, and whether or not the explanations provided to explain the increase are compelling. It is argued that the framing of the September 11 terrorist attacks and the subsequent ‘war on terror’ as a religious conflict weakened adherence to Rawls' (2005 Rawls, J. 2005. Political Liberalism, New York: Columbia University Press.  [Google Scholar]) liberal consensus (exclusion of religious beliefs from the public forum) and normalised the use of Christian terminology and ideas in Australian political discourse.     

新疆历史上的短命分裂政权--"东突厥斯坦伊斯兰共和国"的覆灭

本对20世纪30年代在新疆出现的分裂政权“东突厥斯坦伊斯兰共和国”的出笼及其覆灭过程做了深入分析,认为它是军阀混战、农民起义暴动此起彼伏的特定历史时期偶发的一次分裂运动的产物,违背了各族人民群众的意愿,不得人心。     

2002年中国近代史研究概况

2002年度中国近代史研究的进展状况,就各学科研究所表现的共同特点而言,主要是：理论探讨争鸣热烈,方法创新坚持不懈,领域开拓有所成就,热点讨论多有收获,旧题新论层见叠出。这些特点的集中表现则是：在理论探讨上,重点讨论了马克思主义唯物史观问题;在方法创新上,政治史方面出现了从社会史角度研究政治问题的力作,抗战史方面进一步研究了抗日战争与中国现代化     

Timeline History and the Anzac Myth: Settler Narratives of Local History in a North Australian Town

This paper explores rural Australian settler historical narratives through an examination of the landscape of public history in the northwestern Queensland city of Mount Isa. In various sites of public history, including the city's 75th anniversary festivities, tourism sites, and popular historical literature, certain narrative themes are predominant. Themes of ‘discoverers’, ‘firsts’, and ‘pioneers’ coalesce into a ‘timeline’ approach to history, in which the past is ordered sequentially in a linear pattern of development and progress. Aboriginal people are incorporated into linear histories in various ways, notably through the concept of ‘the last of the tribe’, which separates an aboriginal past from a European, colonial present and presumes colonial authority to be effectively established. Aboriginal people, particularly the Kalkadoon, are also incorporated within a second narrative tradition, the Anzac legend, for their heroic, desperate and failed battle in 1884 against European invaders. Aboriginal leaders in Mount Isa use these settler narrative traditions to advance native title claims and to create a respected public space for Aboriginal people in the city. In short, settler historical narratives, while being conservative in language, are continually being reshaped and metaphorically extended to new contexts, and are mobilized for both conservative and critical political agendas..