ASA 2003: Communitas enters the academy

Fifth Decennial Conference of the Association of Social Anthropologists of the UK and Commonwealth, University of Manchester, 14-18 July 2003     

晚明书院结群现象研究--东林书院网络的构成、宗旨与形成

晚明书院以东林为最著,而东林从来不是一个独立孤立的书院,环绕在它附近有一大批书院和文会。从而在环太湖沿岸的吴中地区形成一个书院网络。这一网络以克服无善无恶论为其宗旨,以讲会为最常用的联结方式。书院网络的形成过程实际上也是东林学派的形成过程,是个人治学手段泛化为群体思维方式的过程。     

Challenging the Ivory Tower: Proposing anti-racist geographies within the academy

The experiences of academic women of colour in geography have not been discussed in detail in our discipline. While we have witnessed an gradual increase in the literature about women of colour within feminist geography, transnationalism, and diaspora studies, among other subfields, we have yet to thoroughly explore how geography's historical engagement with colonialism and imperialism work to ensure the continued domination of whiteness among faculty and students within geography. This special issue brings to light the experiences of some women of colour who research, teach and work within the discipline of geography, suggesting some future avenues for more emancipatory geographies within the academy.

Cuestionando la Torre de Marfil: Proponiendo geografías antirracistas en la academia

Las experiencias de mujeres académicas del color en la geografía no se han discutido con todo detalle en nuestra disciplina. Mientras hemos presenciado un aumento en la literatura acerca de mujeres del color dentro de la geografía feminista, transnationalism, y los estudios de diáspora, entre otro subfields, nosotros tenemos mas examinar cómo compromiso histórico de geografía con el trabajo del colonialismo y el imperialismo para asegurar la dominación continuada de la blancura entre la facultad y estudiantes dentro de la geografía. Este asunto especial revela las experiencias de algunas mujeres del color que investiga, enseña y trabaja dentro de la disciplina de la geografía, sugiriendo algunas avenidas futuras para geografías más emancipadoras dentro de la academia.     

Educating the guardians: The politics of the Australian defence force academy

In 1978–80 there was a fierce debate in public and in private over the proposal to create a new university for the academic education of officer cadets from the three services. This debate was one of the most intense and widespread in the defence area since the Vietnam War.

The pressure for a single tri‐service military academy goes back at least to the early 1960s. It reflects a broader movement in the defence field towards centralization of functions and reduction of the influence of the three separate services. Significantly, the tri‐service proposal was accepted by a Labor government in 1974 and by a Liberal‐CP government in 1976.

Opposition to the proposal came principally from the three services, the universities and parliamentarians from all parties. Hearings by the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Public Works provided a forum for criticism which was widely reported in the media.

In the event the Public Works Committee recommended against proceeding with the project but was overridden by the government The episode illustrates significant aspects of civil‐military relations and the workings of the political process.     

Academic boycotts, activism and the academy

Recent media controversy surrounding the acceptance and publication of an article from Israeli-based academics in Political Geography raises serious questions concerning academic boycotts and ideas of academic freedom. This short article provides some brief background at efforts to boycott Israeli academic institutions and outlines some of the issues surrounding the appropriateness of such boycotts in general and of Israel in particular. More specifically it examines the issues of academic freedom, and the equity, effectiveness and flexibility of academic boycotts.     

Staff selection: the interview and beyond

Abstract

The Teaching Assistant (TA) system operating in the United States has both advantages and disadvantages to graduate students employed as TAs and undergraduates taught by these TAs. The system develops teaching and communication skills and broadens TA capability, understanding and marketability. Discussion and lab sections taught by TAs provide an arena where undergraduates are exposed to everything from simple ideas to difficult ideas that need hands‐on help. However, few quality control procedures are employed to determine prospective TAs. Moreover, TA training is of limited extent and use. TAs either sink or swim; none the less the vast majority do survive and do an excellent job. A number of measures that any university, college or department might employ if they intend to begin employing TAs are recommended: all TAs should attend TA orientation sessions that discuss university‐wide TA issues; departments should also create sessions that specially train TAs in how to teach their respective courses; and departments should develop TA evaluation schemes that quickly identify TA problems.     

Pakistan's nuclear bomb: beyond the non-proliferation regime

Pakistan's status as a nuclear power, which was made manifest when it carried out six nuclear tests in May 1998, came under renewed international scrutiny following the terrorist attacks on the United States in September 2001. Of most immediate concern was the security of Pakistan's nuclear arsenal, which was believed to be vulnerable to Muslim terrorist groups with close links to the al-Qaida organization, headed by Osama bin Laden. However, the international crisis centering on the 'war against terrorism' is bound to revive debate about Pakistan's involvement in the nuclear non-proliferation regime; the risks of a nuclear war between India and Pakistan over Kashmir; and the need for tighter curbs on the export of nuclear technology to politically volatile regions in the Muslim world. These debates are likely to be overshadowed by Pakistan's own perceptions of the danger it faces of a military threat from a nuclear-capable India; its aspirations as a regional power; and its desire to be recognized as 'first among equals' in the Muslim world community of nations. Any attempt to draw Pakistan into the non-proliferation regime and to persuade it to assume its responsibilities as a nuclear power will need to address these concerns. Ultimately, however, it will be for Pakistanis to decide how long they wish to subordinate their country's economic well being to the pursuit of a nuclear programme whose priorities are defined by an unaccountable military regime.     

Writing the world: disciplinary history and beyond

In order to grasp some of the key intellectual developments and trends that shaped the global politics of twentieth century and continue to shape our own world—neo-classical economics, modernization theory, deterrence theory, the democratic peace, among others—it is necessary to explore the history of the human sciences. It is important, in other words, to examine the role of the modern research university in producing and diffusing ideas about the self, society, the economy and world order. International Relations (IR), and political science more generally, played a significant role in this story. In recent years we have seen a growth of interest in the history of IR, though it is still an underdeveloped area of research. Among other things, scholars have shown that many of the foundational myths of the discipline—the views that inform textbook understandings of the past and present—are deeply flawed. This article first surveys this recent work, highlighting its strengths and weaknesses, and then proceeds to offer some thoughts on future directions for research. It identifies a range of questions and topics that have yet to be adequately addressed, and draws on the latest methodological work in intellectual history, highlighting some new interpretative approaches that can enrich scholarship in this area.     

Rethinking the NPT's role in security: 2010 and beyond

As the states parties to the nuclear Non‐Proliferation Treaty (NPT) plan for the May 2010 review conference, they are faced with recurring political challenges that call into question the long‐term sustainability of the presently constituted non‐proliferation regime, notwithstanding the important role the NPT and its related institutions have played in slowing the pace of proliferation for four decades. Even if the review conference is deemed a success, its outcome is unlikely to address the regime's core structural weaknesses and normative contradictions. Frustration with the continuing status and benefits accorded to nuclear‐armed states outside as well as within the NPT, will continue to diminish confidence in the effectiveness of traditional non‐proliferation and deterrence practices. The progressive reframing of security in terms of creating a world without nuclear weapons may be little more than rhetoric for some leaders, but it has widespread public support. A growing number of governments are now expressing interest in new approaches and steps, including consideration of a nuclear weapons convention as a practical objective to work towards. The article discusses the challenges and options for the non‐proliferation regime and concludes that efforts to halt future proliferation will increasingly focus on reshaping the norms and rules to pave the way for negotiating a new nuclear security compact, based on a verified process to prohibit and eliminate the possession as well as the use of nuclear weapons.