Culture as a variable in comparative politics: A review of some recent literature

Bringing culture into the analysis remains a problem for comparative political science. The notion is too vague and elusive — we are reluctant to evoke that amorphous mass of beliefs, institutions and actions which comprise the political culture of any nation when trying to compare policy processes. Only when the interplay of familiar political variables fails to correlate is culture introduced as an explanation of last resort

Recent work seeks more rigour for a cultural variable. Drawing on the anthropology of Mary Douglas and the public policy of Aaron Wildav‐sky, ‘cultural theory’ argues that groups fashion their world in limited and predictable ways. Regime, belief and economy are subsumed by more fundamental choices about the organisation of collective life. Culture is people sharing values which justify social relations.

This paper sketches the premises and findings of cultural theory. It suggests some possibilities for comparative research — and the problems of testing this ambitious reformulation of political culture.     

The assumption of equilibrium in the analysis of migration and interregional differences: a review of some recent research

"This paper questions the plausibility of the assumption of interregional equilibrium in recent research into migration and the valuation of amenities in the United States. It is shown that it is difficult to develop a satisfactory explanation for continuing net migration which is compatible with the equilibrium assumption, and that recent relevant research generally fails to support the idea that the U.S. economy is in equilibrium. The association of higher rent levels with in-migration is explained as a short-run phenomenon. If the spatial economy is in disequilibrium, then the valuations of amenities assuming equilibrium will be biased, being probably too low in areas of net in-migration and too high in areas of net out-migration."     

Aboriginal people and Canadian geography: a review of the recent literature

A review of recent literature by Canadian geographers on Aboriginal people in this country suggests an increased focus on this important topic. This paper is organized by two main sections: the dispossession of Aboriginal peoples from their land and rights, and current attempts to contest and to redefine Aboriginal people's places in contemporary Canadian society. In both sections, I address representational strategies which transformed Aboriginal peoples and their lands conceptually, and the material transformations which accompanied them. I highlight evidence of Aboriginal people's responses wherever this material is available. Some remaining challenges to Canadian geographers are: integrating the research of people working as researchers for Aboriginal organizations, and institutions working with Aboriginal people into the academic milieu; including the voices of Aboriginal peoples in our research; and addressing under‐represented topics including urban Aboriginal peoples, reserve geographies, Métis peoples and Aboriginal women. Une revue des travaux des géographes canadiens au sujet des Aborigènes de ce pays révèle que ce sujet d'étude important reçoit de plus en plus d'attention. Cet article est composé de deux sections principales: la thématique de la dépossession des terres et de la privation des droits des Aborigènes, et les tentatives actuelles de contestation et redéfinition de leur place dans la société canadienne contemporaine. Dans les deux sections, j'aborde les stratégies de représentation qui ont transformé les Aborigènes et leurs terres du point de vue conceptuel, ainsi que les transformations matérielles qui les ont accompagnées. j'attire l'attention sur la réaction des Aborigènes à chaque fois que cette information peut être vérifiée. Certains défis sont encore à relever par les géographes canadiens: intégrer, d'une part la recherche effectuée pour le compte d'organisations aborigènes et d'autre part les institutions oeuvrant de concert avec ces peuples, dans le milieu universitaire; inclure le point de vue des Aborigènes dans notre recherche; et s'attaquer à des sujets encore trop négligés, notamment les Aborigènes en milieu urbain, la géographie des réserves, les Métis et les femmes aborigènes.     

An overview of recent research on modern Chinese economic history

China formally adopted the policy of reform and opening up to the outside world in 1978. Since then, both economic practice and economic theory in China have undergone profound changes, and the academic study of modern Chinese economic history has been encouraged to expand its research horizons under the rubric of “liberating the mind and seeking truth in the facts”. A number of important monographs and essays have been produced and the study of modern Chinese economic history has entered a flourishing period. Current research focuses on two major topics: China's New Democratic economy and the planned economy during the period 1949–78; and, China's socialist market economy from 1978–2006. The study of these two areas shows numerous interconnections, points of comparison and causal links. The many and important lessons to be drawn from these studies both exhibit Chinese characteristics and have universal implications.     

Change and continuity in the recent 30 years of research on modern Chinese history: Some unsystematic reflective thoughts

Research on modern Chinese history in the past 30 years can be equally divided into two parts, which are different in terms of attended issues, observed objects, and investigated topics, and also employ different perspectives to explore “problems,” utilize different materials, and resort to different formats for narration. To understand this “thirty-year” (post-1978) historiography, it is necessary to go back to the “seventeen-year” (1949–1966) research before the Cultural Revolution and examine and analyze these studies for trends of continuity and fracture in the accumulation of scholarship. On the other hand, future research should be cautious about even an unconscious tendency of self-isolation, keep an open mind, and fully consider the numerous foreign elements “present in China” in the modern period, their consequences, and impact.     

Public open space exposure measures in Australian health research: a critical review of the literature

Numerous studies have shown associations between public open space and a variety of health outcomes. Yet the extent to which firm conclusions and planning policy recommendations can be drawn from this body of work depends on how public open space availability has been measured and reported. Other researchers have highlighted potential issues with the way that public open space has been measured but have not systematically assessed the extent of this problem. This paper provides a comprehensive critical review of studies of public open space and health conducted in Australia to identify and compare public open space measurement and data treatment. Our analysis showed wide variation in how public open space was measured, as well as a lack of consistency in reporting public open space exposure measures and under‐reporting of measurement methods. We find that such tendencies limit how much these studies can be compared and contrasted with each other. The corollary of that finding is that without more detailed reporting of exposure measures, it will be difficult to establish an evidence base that informs planning for healthy, liveable environments. In response, we develop and present a checklist for reporting public open space exposure to address this challenge.     

The prehistory of Island Southeast Asia: A multidisciplinary review of recent research

Island Southeast Asia extends across both the equatorial and the intermediate tropical zones of world climate, and it also spans a region of complex and geologically unstable land and sea relationships. The Sundaland region in the west and the isolated islands of Wallacea in the east both witnessed complex trajectories of human movement and evolution during the Pleistocene. The record of human evolution in Sundaland is still affected by uncertainties over phylogeny, dates, and archaeological correlations. Initial human settlement across Huxley's Line into Wallacea cannot at present be proven to be older than the Late Pleistocene. Stone tool industries dating to within the past 40,000 years are described, including new discoveries which indicate a surprising level of technological virtuosity. Human populations of the Late Pleistocene and Holocene are also considered in terms of skeletal and genetic data, particularly with respect to the rather controversial antecedents of the present, mainly Mongoloid, population. The article terminates its coverage at about 2000 B.C., within the period characterized by the expansion of speakers of Austronesian languages and by the expansion of agriculture into a porous and often-resistant network of hunter-gatherer societies. The archaeological and ethnographic records of the region bear witness to a continuous but dwindling existence of hunting and gathering right through to the present day. While the results of archaeology occupy a central position in the reconstruction of Southeast Asian prehistory, a proper understanding can be achieved only if a multidisciplinary standpoint is adopted.     

The neolithic and early bronze age of the Lake Baikal Region: A review of recent research

Rich settlement and burial evidence from the Baikal/Angara region in Central Siberia provides one of the most promising opportunities in the global boreal forest for studying Holocene foragers. The Neolithic and Early Bronze Age prehistory of the region is known to western scholars only through a few English translations of the works of A. P. Okladnikov. Since the publication of Okladnikov's model, the region has witnessed large-scale archaeological fieldwork that has produced abundant quantities of new evidence. Moreover, the model has been partly invalidated by extensive radiocarbon dating. Research advances over the last couple of decades have augmented the area's previous reputation but have also revealed the need for new theoretical perspectives and modern analytical techniques.     

Equatorial spread-F: a review of recent experimental results

A number of striking experimental verifications of the Rayleigh-Taylor instability, as applied to equatorial spread-F, have been made in the past few years. We review these observations and attempt to synthesize them with parallel theoretical developments. The results also pose some new questions concerning the turbulent cascade of energy and the evolution of an inner scale for the phenomenon. We review recent observations of bottomside altitude modulation and discuss the possible role of gravity waves in initiating the equatorial spread-F process.     

回顾与展望: 中国大陆地区的民国史研究

近30年来,中华民国史(1912-1949)的学术研究在大陆地区从无到有,有了巨大的发展,已经成为一个成果丰硕、相对完整的学科。大陆民国史研究的主导史观大致经过了从革命史观到民族主义史观、现代化史观的历程。进入21世纪后,民国史研究更呈现多元化的趋势,表现为新研究领域的开拓与新史料的运用。民国史研究若要进一步发展,需要对研究对象与范围进行重新界定,构建新的解释体系与加强国际学术界的合作与交流。     

Related variety and economic development: a literature review

Since the introduction of the related variety concept in 2007, a number of studies have been undertaken to analyse its effect on economic development. Our review of 21 studies makes clear that most studies find support for the initial hypothesis that related variety supports employment growth, though some studies suggest that the growth effects of related variety may be specific to knowledge-intensive sectors only. From the review, we list a number of further research questions regarding methodology, the role of unrelated variety, different forms of relatedness and the effect of related variety on knowledge production and entrepreneurship.     

近80年关于中国本位文化问题论战研究状况综述

20世纪30年代,由10位教授发表的<中国本位的文化建设宣言>一文引发的关于中国文化走向问题的论战,直到今天,仍引起学界不断关注.本文拟对上世纪30年代至今对该问题的研究状况作一考察.20世纪30至70年代,对于该问题基本还谈不上系统研究,只是学者借机发表自己对中西文化问题的见解.上世纪80年代,我国学术界,尤其是大陆学界,对于这场论战,在一致认同其"政治"、"党化"背景的同时,已经有研究者开始关注这场论战发生的时代、社会背景,从"政治"以外的其他角度去考察这场论战.90年代至今,学者们的研究开始超越意识形态框架,而现代化视角的引入,使得这场论战的文化及现代化意义开始渐渐凸显.