Thirty years of science studies: knowledge,society and the political

This article explores the last 30 years of science studies. It presents what the author takes to be some of the main questions raised in this field, the solutions most of its practitioners advocated, and what informed their intellectual and political attitudes. It tries to place the social studies of knowledge in a broader perspective, linking it to parallel changes in anthropology, sociology and history, and it questions its relations to social change on the one hand, and to the political on the other. It closes with a critique of some, often dominant, attitudes in the STS field.     

Technology and Global Politics: The Modern Experiences of Bertrand Russell and John H. Herz

As questions of technology and world government are returning to the agenda of International Relations (IR), there is a risk that technology is approached in a simple, instrumentalist manner. Beginning from an overview of the overwhelmingly instrumental approaches to technology lodged in the dominant traditions of IR, the article revisits the post-war decades when scholars thought profoundly about the impact of technology on global politics. Combining the history of (international) political thought, IR theory, and Science and Technology Studies (STS) the article examines the relationship between technology and politics, authority, and liberty in the thought of Bertrand Russell (1872–1970) and John H. Herz (1908–2005), which leads to the unearthing of a sophisticated and complex set of ideas. Particularly during the nuclear revolution, these figures developed global visions in which the interrelations among technology, security, democracy, sustainability, and freedom were critical. Russell and Herz's approaches to technology and (global) politics are insightful and relevant for IR's attempt to re-engage with technology: by anticipating contemporary critical and reflexive approaches to technology, they can help bridge the fields of IR and STS and open new avenues for research. The Large Technical Systems (LTS) approach within STS is used to exemplify this possibility.     

Heritage Noire: truth,history, and colonial anxiety in The Blair Witch Project

When watching the film The Blair Witch Project we seem to be witnessing through its clumsy, apparently uncrafted footage the unmediated documentation of 'reality' as it occurs. This article argues that the carefully crafted deceit of The Blair Witch Project may be understood as part of a subversive 'public history' project that uses modern history's own scientific motifs and methodologies against itself and challenges its basic tenets. If positive myths of the past are structured into what we tend to call heritage, i.e. shared narratives affirming a positive sense of self and region or nation, then this paper argues that The Blair Witch Project takes the same notion and subverts it, giving its chosen audience a dark and unsettling sense of its own history.     

The Life of the Law in the Islamic Republic of Iran

Beyond the esoteric deliberations of Islamic jurists and their exegesis of criminal and private law doctrines, Iranian law lives a life of its own. It is a life of routine practices of judges, court clerks, lawyers and clients, each of whom is striving to turn the law to their own advantage. It is also a life of contested legality, a relentless struggle over the right to determine the law in a juridical field which is infused with strife and hostility. These conflicts are reproduced daily as two competing conceptions of law, and their corresponding perceptions of legality clash in pursuit of justice. The Iranian judiciary’s concept of law, its reconstruction of Islamic jurisprudence and methods of dispensing justice, which on the surface are reminiscent of Max Weber’s “qādi-justice,” collide with the legal profession’s formal rational understanding thereof. However, Iranian judges are not Weberian qādis, and the legal profession is not a homogenous group of attorneys driven by a collective commitment to the rule of law. To understand their conflict, we need to explore the mundane workings of the legal system in the context of the transformation of Iranian society and the unresolved disputes over the direction of its modernity.     

New Insights into the Provenance of the Obsidian Fragments of the Island of Ustica (Palermo,Sicily)

In this study we applied a multidisciplinary approach, coupling geophysical and geochemical measurements, to unveil the provenance of 170 obsidian flakes, collected on the volcanic island of Ustica (Sicily). On this island there are some prehistoric settlements dated from the Neolithic to the Middle Bronze Age. Despite not having geological outcrops of obsidian rocks, the countryside of Ustica is rich in fragments of this volcanic glass, imported from other source areas. The study of obsidian findings was carried out first through visual observations and density measurements. At least two different obsidian families have been distinguished, probably imported from Lipari and Pantelleria islands. Analysing the magnetic properties of the samples, these two main sources were confirmed, but the possibility of other provenances was inferred. Finally, we characterized the geochemical signature of the Ustica obsidians by performing microchemical analyses through electron microprobe (EMPA) and laser ablation (LA–ICP–MS). The results were compared with literature data, confirming the presence of the Lipari and Pantelleria sources (Sicily) and indicating for the first time in this part of Italy a third provenance from Palmarola island (Latium). Our results shed new light on the commercial exchanges in the peri‐Tyrrhenian area during the prehistoric age.     

出入“经”“史”:“古史三系说”之本意及蒙文通学术旨趣

蒙文通的古史研究在民国学界破旧立新的古史运动中有意无意地起到推波助澜之功效,《古史甄微》中打破上古一元的古史三系说,也暗合了当时"新史学"所高举的"古史多元观",蒙文通由此而日益受到民国学界的重视。但若回到蒙文通自身的学术脉络,不难发现,《古史甄微》旨在"羽翼经学":通过追溯三皇五帝说的起源,以地理、民族、文化的视角创立古史三系说,重建上古国史,澄清经史关系,以史证经,申明儒学在中国文化中的地位。     

试谈过程论理念与文化遗产可持续发展——兼论文化遗产学思想与方法

过程论思想能够深化我们对于文化遗产之为过程的认识,过程控制有益于我们进行文化遗产保护与利用过程中的精细化管理,从而最大限度地维持文化遗产的健康生命,推进文化遗产的可持续发展,实现惠及广大民众、增进社会和谐的最终目标.与此同时,随着文化遗产学学科的逐步确立,学科性质、学科特色、研究对象等问题已达成基本共识,但其思想基础与研究方法仍悬而未决,过程论思想同样给我们提供了有益的启迪.     

基础日语说课

说课,是介于备课和上课之间的一种教学研究活动,现在已经成为了各大中小学校评价教师教学效果、教学质量的一种教学活动,是教师在备课的基础上,面对同行、专家,系统而概括地解说自己对某一门课程或者某一章节的理解,阐述自己的教学观点,表述自己执教的教学思想、方法、手段以及组织教学的形式等,然后由大家进行评说。说课,是一种新的教学研究活动,需要广大教师认真学〉-j,积极参与。     

Integrating the Strands of Victorian Diversity

This roundtable article provides responses to the other contributions, emphasizing the need for connecting various research strands in Victorian Studies, and considering international aspects. The essay ends with a proposal to take inspiration from the method of microhistorical morphology, forcing the scholar to consider many different contexts.     

试论东方学理论视野中的“夷学”构建

文化研究的重要目的之一是探讨文化创造的可能性机制。在西方,萨义德东方学理论的提出,对于西方文化语境中东西方文化关系的反思有极其重要的现实意义,对于我们用以分析和反思以夏文化为主流的中原文化跟周边偏远地区的文化关系亦有着重要的启示意义。但由于文化背景的差异,东方学理论限于对抗性、批判性的局限,向中国的文化现实提出了创造性地创建新型文化关系理论的要求。本文从东方学理论入手,论证了“夷学”提出的理论必要性和现实性,并且论述了“夷学”与文化创造的思维模式与内在联系。