Electoral Pluralism,Social Division and the 2016 Parliamentary Elections in Jordan

Representing one of the most stable regimes in the Middle East, Jordan has been undergoing a process of political liberalization since 1989. Due to the so‐called East Bank‐West Bank cleavage that followed by the influx of Palestinian migrants to Jordan, the country has also come to epitomize a divided society. Within this context, this paper aims to analyze the ongoing prospects for democratization in Jordan through an examination of four persistent debates shaping its electoral pluralism: those over social/identity division, electoral law as a regime‐survival mechanism, the role of the Ikhwan and the IAF's electoral boycotts, and electoral apathy. Finally, the impact of the Arab upheavals/revolts on restructuring the process of political reform — as well as opposition in the kingdom in the post‐2011 era — will be explored with reference to the changing dynamics of Islamist opposition.     

民族文化奇葩世界文学经典——蒙文版《尹湛纳希全集》编撰的思考

本文重点阐述了尹湛纳希经典作品再生产进程中的思考.尹湛纳希是蒙古文学的开创者,他以母语写作,多种版本流传于世.蒙文版<尹湛纳希>第一次推出,负载着经典作品的现实立场与历史想象,也在于编撰者的积极介入、参与文化建构的成果.     

The municipal elections of March 2001

This article analyses Algeria's ongoing 'civil war' through the lens of contemporary Algerian theatre. Specifically, it examines the relationship between Algeria's unsuccessful transition to democratic, religious pluralism and Alek Baylee Toumi's 1996 play, Madah-Sartre . Among the prominent themes covered are the issues of gender equality as represented in the efforts of Khalida Messaoudi (Toumi's sister) to resist the 1984 Algerian Family Code; the rise of Islamic radicalism; the legacy of the philosophy of Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir within contemporary Algerian intellectual and political communities; the problem of Islamic and state-sponsored terrorism; and the effects of the Islamic radicals' policies of assassinating Algerian intellectuals on the Algerian community in the diaspora.     

Human-planted alder trees as a protection against debris flows (a dendrochronological study from the Moxi Basin, Southwestern China)

Large debris flows have destroyed the infrastructure and caused the death of people living in the Moxi Basin (Sichuan Province, Southwestern China). Inhabitants of the Moxi Basin live on the flat surfaces of debris-flow fans, which are also attractive for farming. During the monsoon season debris flows are being formed above the fans. Debris flows can destroy the houses of any people living within the fan surfaces. In order to prevent the adverse effects of flows, people plant alder trees (Alnus nepalensis) at the mouths of debris flow gullies running above debris flow fans. Alders are able to capture the debris transported during flow events. Trees are well adapted to surviving in conditions of environmental stress connected with abrupt transport and deposition of sediment from debris flows. Numerous wounds, tilting and bending of alder trees caused by debris flows only very rarely cause the death of trees. By dating scars and dating the time of alder tilting (through the analysis of annual rings), we have determined the frequency of debris flows occurring at the mouth of the Daozhao valley. In 1980–2012 within the studied debris-flow fan and the Daozhao gully, 2 large debris flow events occurred (1996, 2005) and some smaller events were probably recorded every 2–3 years.     

Stable isotope analysis of Neolithic and Chalcolithic populations from Aktopraklık,northern Anatolia

This paper presents the results of stable isotope (carbon and nitrogen) analysis of human and faunal remains from the site of Aktoprakl?k, one of the earliest farming sites in the Eastern Marmara region of Northwest Anatolia. Excavations at this site have shown that occupation occurs from the middle of the 7th millennium BC through to the middle of the 6th millennium BC. The earliest Neolithic activity at this location occurs at the settlement site of Aktoprakl?k C. Since 2004 a number of Neolithic and Early Chalcolithic burials have been recovered from the settlement areas and an Early Chalcolithic cemetery (Aktoprakl?k B and A respectively). To date a total of 60 individuals have been recovered from Aktoprakl?k, 23 of which (20 adults [10 males, 8 females and 2 indet adults] and 3 children below ca. 12 years of age) form the basis of the current isotope study. In addition, 14 faunal samples from cattle, pig, sheep/goat and fallow deer are included in the analysis in order to facilitate a consideration of trophic level shifts and to interpret the ¹³C data. The data represents the first isotopic study of a farming community from this region of Anatolia. This region is important to our understanding of the north-westwards transmission of farming into Europe from the Near East, and as such Aktoprakl?k represents a key site for studying the diet of farmers at the transition to agriculture. The close clustering of isotope values overall indicates homogeneity in subsistence practices for this farming population. Interestingly, the isotope values indicate a general focus on C₃ terrestrial resources at Aktoprakl?k, despite the close proximity of both freshwater and marine environments where alternative resources could have been procured.     

Unraveling a Neanderthal palimpsest from a zooarcheological and taphonomic perspective

Practically all archeological assemblages are palimpsests. In spite of the high temporal resolution of Abric Romaní site, level O, dated to around 55 ka, is not an exception. This paper focuses on a zooarcheological and taphonomic analysis of this level, paying special attention to spatial and temporal approaches. The main goal is to unravel the palimpsest at the finest possible level by using different methods and techniques, such as archeostratigraphy, anatomical and taxonomical identification, taphonomic analysis, faunal refits and tooth wear analysis. The results obtained are compared to ethnoarcheological data so as to interpret site structure. In addition, activities carried out over different time spans (from individual episodes to long-term behaviors) are detected, and their spatial extent is explored, allowing to do inferences on settlement dynamics. This leads us to discuss the temporal and spatial scales over which Neanderthals carried out different activities within the site, and how they can be studied through the archeological record.