Colonising geology: Volcanic politics and geopower

This paper discusses the experiences of Christian Montserratian residents through the 1995-present eruptions of the Soufrière Hills Volcano, highlighting that while the earthly powers of the volcano are fundamentally nonhuman, they are known and understood in a diversity of ways by different actors – and they interfere in politics and the production of knowledge. Montserrat, as a UK Overseas Territory, is a non-sovereign territory with a strong Christian identity that has been enhanced by its geological experience. At the same time, the UK has used the eruption to hold greater legislative control over the island. A final group of stakeholders in the eruption is the volcanologists, mainly from the UK until 2010, whose terminology and knowledge-world has had significant impact on the island, but has also been significantly extended by it. The paper ultimately uses this example to suggest that while there are useful and important insights from the “ontological turn” (incorporating vitalism, materialism, speculative realism) in thinking about the “lively earth”, the enactment of volcanic risk management at the governmental level also constitutes a knowledge-practice that must be approached critically to avoid the pitfalls of modernist science and ensure meaningful political change.     

Frontiers’ violence: The interplay of state of exception,frontier habitus,and organized violence

As global capitalism is expanding to the most remote areas of the world, the notion of “frontier”, where competing social orders are contesting each other, is gaining traction in academic analyses. Contemporary frontiers are associated with resource exploitation in marginalized spaces and processes of socioecological transformation, which are characterized as particularly violent. This article offers a conceptual contribution to the frontier debate by putting violence in the center of a frontier concept. Building on a sociology of violence, this approach assumes that every social order comes with some form of organized violence. We argue that the frontier is characterized by a tidal passage: Existing orders and their institutions, which socially embed and constrain a particular use of violence, are challenged by an expansive order which comes along with new formations of violence, leading to a reorganization of violence. Thus the frontier describes a momentum in which the interplay of social order and organized violence becomes highly disputed. Representatives of the expansive order refuse to recognize existing orders and favour a state of exception, in which law is set aside to impose the new order.     

Limits to climate action - Narratives of bioenergy with carbon capture and storage

In recent years, bio-energy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) has been awarded a key role in climate mitigation scenarios explored by integrated assessment models and referenced in reports by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Because a majority of scenarios limiting global warming to 2 °C or 1,5 °C include vast deployment of BECCS, a critical discussion has emerged among experts about the moral implications of thus introducing an unproven technology into the policy realm.In this paper, we analyse this discussion as it has played out between 2013 and 2019, with a focus on how expert narratives are constructed in the mass media about the possibilities for decarbonisation within the current political-economic order. We find there are almost no narratives that support massive deployment of BECCS, and that all narratives presuppose limits to decarbonisation imposed by the current political-economic system. The perception of such limits lead some to argue, through deterministic and apolitical narratives, for the necessity of negative emissions technologies, while others argue instead that “degrowth” is the only solution. Thus, there is a distinct lack of positive narratives about how capitalism can bring about decarbonisation.     

Cattle Slaughter Industry in Qing China: State Ban,Muslim Dominance,and the Western Diet

Cattle slaughter and beef consumption are barely mentioned in the literature on Chinese economic, food, or animal history. This is possibly due to the widely held popular and scholarly assumption that beef was avoided and even considered taboo in the daily diet of Chinese people in premodern times. This article investigates the tangible regulation and practice of cattle slaughter in Qing China—the period when the beef taboo was argued to be formally subsumed into Chinese morality. I ask the following questions: To what extent did the Qing state ban cattle slaughter? How was the ban enforced in the localities? Did Chinese people slaughter cattle for consumption? Were there lawful beef markets in Qing China proper? How did increasing beef-eating Western sojourners since the mid-19th century impact this sector? Accordingly, I demonstrate that with the leeway provided by the state, the cattle slaughter industry developed in many regions of China proper, especially large cities. In this sector, Chinese Muslim merchants played a dominant role, even though the Han merchants could outnumber them. Their efforts have prepared the state and Chinese merchants to better cope with new circumstances since the mid-19th century. Broadly, this paper sheds light on how different religious, ethnic, and national groups affected the economy and the practice of law in the Qing dynasty.     

Bringing Chinese Law in Line with Western Standards? Problematizing “Chinese” and “Western” in the Late Qing Debate over the New Criminal Code of Great Qing

This article examines the intense debates over the New Criminal Code of Great Qing (Da-Qing xin xinglü) in the National Assembly (Zizheng yuan) during the Qing empire’s New Policy Reform (1901–11). The focus is on the conflict between those who drafted and supported the new code and those who expressed reservations, especially over reform of the laws on filial piety and fornication. The issue of reconfiguring the family and social order through law was closely related to the overarching agenda of twentieth century legal reform in China—making an empire that “ruled through the principle of filial piety” into a modern nation-state that had direct relationships with its citizens. More importantly, an analysis of the late Qing debate over family law enables this article to problematize such concepts as “Chinese” and “Western” during this crucial moment of China’s empire-to-nation transformation. It showcases the paradox of China’s modern-era reforms—a contradiction between imposing Western-inspired order with a largely indigenous logic and maintaining existing sociopolitical order in the name of preserving national identity.     

近代中国邮政空间的“国进民退”

近代中国邮政空间主要是以民信局、国营邮政、侨批等多种企业实体构成。清朝邮政成立后即开始蚕食小额民间资本支持下的民信局经营空间,而基于对1936年《中华民国邮政舆图》的数字化工作发现,历经40余年经营,国营邮政基本整合了全国范围内的邮政空间,也基本完成了本领域的“国进民退”。在此过程中,国营邮政审慎模仿民信局的经营方式,使用多种创新经营策略,除了在大中城市内部和城市之间构建了便捷快速的邮政网络空间,更借助邮政代办的方式以极低的成本将营业网络“下沉”到铁路和公路无法覆盖的农村地区,较好地与传统农村“定期市”网络完成耦合,基本达到了通商处必通邮的效果。国营邮政点和邮路集聚所形成的“邮政聚集区”也成为一种显著的近代化外在空间表征,同时成为界定所谓“核心—边缘”结构的系统可信、定量可验证的空间指标。     

明清丝绸之路哈密—吐鲁番段“沙尔湖路”研究

明清丝绸之路哈密—吐鲁番段存在一条自哈密西南沙尔湖转西北至鄯善进而抵达吐鲁番的“沙尔湖路”,它与“黑风川道”“小南路”等传统路线均不同。利用《蒙古山水地图》等文献,可对沙尔湖路具体行经进行考证复原。该路沿线地形平坦,有泉水与植被,在明廷与吐鲁番、清廷与准噶尔在哈密的政治和军事对峙阶段曾广泛使用,后因泉湖干涸、气候炎热而中断。     

《明实录》建文朝科举书写及其意涵

科举是建文历史的重要内容,也是其"文治"的具体表现。然而,《明实录》书写的建文朝科举,既缺乏三级科举考试的正面记载,又大体上掩盖了附传传主建文年间科举中式的信息。本不属于政治敏感性问题的科举史事,因其体现了建文帝泽被天下士子的恩典、妨碍了朱棣"文治"的弘扬,遭到了《明实录》的排斥。这表明实录对建文历史的讳饰,不只限于政治敏感性问题,而是一切有利于建文帝形象的史事。值得注意的是,史官在实录编修中采用春秋笔法披露了建文朝科举的蛛丝马迹,使得相关史事并没有在"国史"话语体系中完全被湮没。这反映出史官与君主在建文历史的认识、评价方面,存在一定的差异,此种现象并非晚明才出现,而是明初已露端倪。     

季节时空交互视角下老年人公交移动性的影响因素研究——以芜湖市为例

公共交通是我国老年人出行的主要交通方式之一,公交移动性是衡量老年人生活质量和幸福感的重要指标。从季节和空间双重维度分析老年人公交移动性的影响因素有助于深入理解老年人出行行为机制。利用公交刷卡数据和地理探测器方法分析了季节时空因子对老年人公交移动性的影响。研究发现：①不同季节中空间因子对老年人移动频率、移动半径和移动熵的解释力和显著性存在明显差异,对老年人移动性影响机制的分析应考虑时空变化的双重影响;②不同空间因子之间以及季节与空间因子之间的交互作用可以显著增强对老年人移动性空间分异的解释力,考虑多个因素的协同效应对深入理解老年人行为有一定帮助。研究试图拓宽老年人移动性影响因素的分析思路,为老年宜居城市建设和城市移动性规划提供重要支撑。