Terror or Terrorism? The “Islamic State” Between State and Nonstate Violence

As a non‐state actor that claims its own territory, the “Islamic State” utilizes a spectrum of very different kinds of coercion and violence. Considering the group's aspirations to govern the territories controlled by it, any clear distinction between uses of force and coercion that states typically claim as their legitimate right, and implement terrorist non‐state violence, tends to blur right before our analytically‐focused eyes. This contribution discusses how the group challenges the distinction between “terror from above” and “terrorism from below” as well as the meaning of the dual character of Daesh's belief system between the ideological and the religious for Daesh's repertoire of violence.     

Audiovisual laws and legal intervention in South American cinematic culture

In South America, various state organizations have an investment in producing some kind of ‘national’ cinema. Although different countries around the world have varied levels of government involvement, the four countries I would like to examine – Argentina, Bolivia, Chile and Peru – can be drawn upon for their similarities and the shared regional context in which their policies operate. Particularly important is the fact that an increase in government involvement and support has been taking place in the twenty‐first century against predictions that enhanced global capital would weaken the function of the state. Furthermore, it is frequently the case that policy, in the form of government regulation and funding, provides the only means for cinema’s continued existence, visibility and access to the public and thus cannot be underestimated. Complicating these factors is the fact that while legislation is in place, government bodies often struggle to implement the policies in a practical manner. This article examines these issues and suggests the effect they are having on the cinematic culture of the region.     

Communism and political pathology

Alastair Davidson, The Communist Party of Australia. A Short History, Hoover Institution Press, Stanford, 1970, pp. 214, $6.00.     

Thai Labour NGOs during the ‘Modern Slavery’ Reforms: NGO Transitions in a Post-aid World

This article explores how domestic NGOs responded to new opportunities that emerged during the 2015–2020 ‘modern slavery’ labour reforms in Thailand's seafood sector. The analysis takes place against the background of civil society transitions in a ‘post-aid’ setting. Like NGOs in other middle-income countries, the Thai NGO sector has struggled to remain relevant and financially viable in recent decades, as international donors have withdrawn from countries with steadily declining poverty rates. As a result of the ‘developmental successes’ of Thailand, the NGO sector needed to rethink its strategies. Examining the modern slavery labour reform process provides an opportunity to understand the strategic choices available to NGOs in the face of several important phenomena: the emergence of new actors such as international philanthropic donors; the growing influence of the private sector in governance matters; and the need for NGOs to balance multiple strategic alliances. The article draws on in-depth interviews to explore narratives of Thai labour NGO adjustments during the period of the modern slavery reform. The study contributes to a better understanding of how NGOs in post-aid countries transition and adapt to changing circumstances by embracing new roles as ‘sub-contractors’ for emerging global philanthropic donors and as ‘partners’ of private corporations.     

Human Remains from the Moravian Gravettian: Morphology and Taphonomy of Isolated Elements from the Dolní V stonice II Site

The excavation and palaeoanthropological analysis of the early Upper Palaeolithic site of Dolní V stonice II has yielded a series of incomplete and isolated human remains, comprising cranial vaults, teeth (including a series from an infant), ribs, arm bones, hand phalanges, leg bones, tarsals, metatarsals and pedal phalanges. Morphologically and morphometrically the elements are similar to those from buried individuals at Dolní V stonice I and II and Pavlov I, as well as to other European early Upper Palaeolithic human remains. They differ principally in the high percentage of cortical areas of the distal humerus and femur. The Dolní V stonice 36 infant's teeth may well derive from an undisturbed burial with in situ bone destruction. Geological processes are unlikely to have produced the taphonomic patterns observed, and the preservation and damage patterns of the elements (other than Dolní V stonice 36) suggest that the original bodies were processed by some combination of scavenging agents. Moreover, the original number of burials at Dolní V stonice II may have been greater than the four currently known.     

菲律宾卡林阿地区陶器制作传统中的社会因素

陶瓷是人类文化史上的重要发明,世界上不同地区的古代文明、不同文明传统内部之大小不等的地域性文化,都拥有差异程度不等的陶瓷文化,因此陶瓷史成为考古学上研究人类文化史、族群谱系关系史的最重要指示物,成为考古学上重建历史的最重要依据之一。陶瓷考古的研究内容是多方面的,民族考古向来是陶瓷史研究的重要方法之一,中外考古学家、人类学家都予以重视。上世纪50年代以来,我国的考古学者主要在西南开展了一系列少数民族地区原始制陶的调查研究,著名的有李仰松先生关于云南佤族、傣族、彝族及海南黎族原始制陶工艺的调查,并结合仰韶文化的制陶工具发现,研究史前时代的制陶技术发展史的不同阶段,是制陶工艺之民族考古调查研究的奠基。此外,宋兆麟、黄展岳、杨原、张季、林声等人分别对贵州苗族、云南傣族、云南元谋汉族等原始制陶的调查研究,也都是这方面重要的成果。除了技术史的调研外,还有人作文化史的民族考古研究,我曾探讨过台湾高山族民族志中的原始陶器群与闽台史前文化间的源流关系。伴随着考古学的自身发展与完善,陶瓷史的民族考古学研究还可拓展更广阔的研究领域和空间。本期收入的三篇文章,在这方面都有不同程度的突破。从研究领域看,似乎技术史是中国陶瓷考古的永恒话题,我们很少关注陶器上所反映的社会史信息,这方面得仰仗他山之石来攻玉。美国夏威夷大学人类学系教授MiriamT.Stark著、厦门大学历史系博士生佟珊翻译的《菲律宾卡林阿地区陶器制作传统中的社会因素》一文,以菲律宾吕宋岛科迪勒拉(Cordilleras)山地卡林阿(Kalinga)地区的原始制陶为例,探讨陶器制作过程的技术风格、陶器形态与装饰的物质模式,所体现的族群划分和社会分界,从物质文化的差别中钩沉社会关系,体现了考古学研究回归人类学本位。这类研究对于我们今后拓展原始制陶的民族考古,具有重要的启发。