New Frontiers of Philanthro‐capitalism: Digital Technologies and Humanitarianism

Digital technologies that allow large numbers of laypeople to contribute to humanitarian action facilitate the deepening adoption and adaptation of private‐sector logics and rationalities in humanitarianism. This is increasingly taking place through philanthro‐capitalism, a process in which philanthropy and humanitarianism are made central to business models. Key to this transformation is the way private businesses find supporting “digital humanitarian” organisations such as Standby Task Force to be amenable to their capital accumulation imperatives. Private‐sector institutions channel feelings of closeness to aid recipients that digital humanitarian technologies enable, in order to legitimise their claims to “help” the recipients. This has ultimately led to humanitarian and state institutions re‐articulating capitalist logics in ways that reflect the new digital humanitarian avenues of entry. In this article, I characterise this process by drawing out three capitalist logics that humanitarian and state institutions re‐articulate in the context of digital humanitarianism, in an emergent form of philanthro‐capitalism. Specifically, I argue that branding, efficiency, and bottom lines take altered forms in this context, in part being de‐politicised as a necessary condition for their adoption. This de‐politicisation involves normalising these logics by framing social and political problems as technical in nature and thus both beyond critique and amenable to digital humanitarian “solutions”. I take this line of argumentation to then re‐politicise each of these logics and the capitalist relations that they entail.     

Cartographically reconstructing surveys of community land grants in New Mexico to support historical research and political discourse

Cartographic visualization of past changes in ownership and management of real estate provides a basis for historical research, decision-making, and political discourse. Surveys associated with land title deeds represent unique and legally valid geographic records of historical boundaries, including those of some Spanish-Mexican land grants in the American Southwest that are currently administrative subdivisions of state. Accurate representation of land grant boundaries that were surveyed during the nineteenth century is problematic due to imprecise instrumentation, error of record, and uncertainty in landmark location. This study assesses the utility of coordinate points from US Bureau of Land Management (BLM) “brass-cap” monuments (cadastral points) for cartographic reconstruction of three New Mexico land grant surveys that exhibit distinct geographic characteristics. Findings reveal discrepancies with respect to land ownership maps produced by the BLM and provide insight to decisions made during surveying. These reconstructed boundaries are also compared to boundary maps produced by the BLM, based on comparisons with the original surveys and relative to known boundary markers. This study highlights the practical importance and potential scholarly applications of reconstructing geographic boundaries of politically active community land grants in a contemporary context.     

A feminist perspective on digital geographies: activism,affect and emotion,and gendered human-technology relations in Australia

Feminist digital geographies are an important part of the digital turn currently underway in geographic scholarship. At the same time, feminist movements are taking advantage of, and emerging from, digital spaces. This article considers how the digital intersects with gender and what opportunities the digital affords feminist movements. We do so by drawing on a case study of feminist activism within Destroy the Joint (DTJ), an online social media activist group, and build a qualitative analysis of a dynamic, reflexive digital space. Qualitative studies of emotion, affect and the power of digital geographies, including social media spaces populated by groups like DTJ, demonstrate how cultural and social practices are changing along with technologies. This research does not draw on a techno-deterministic approach to digital geographies but forwards a feminist perspective that critically engages with the constraints and possibilities of the complex, paradoxical and contingent within the digital.     

燃料换代历史与森林分布变迁——以近两千年长江上游为时空背景

清代中叶以前长江上游在使用传统的生物质燃料时期燃料总体十分富足,唐宋元明时期个别煮盐业发达的地区出现了薪材匮乏的现象,但并不影响总体的生物质燃料的丰富充足状况。长江上游最早在汉代就开始发现火井,并在晋代利用天然气作为手工业燃料,但直到清代才逐渐在川东、川南部分地区盐业中广泛使用,而在生活中较多使用天然气等液化气是20世纪80年代以来的事。煤炭在中国也是早在汉代就开始,在长江上游的使用早在唐宋就出现,但很长时期内不论是在生产中或是在生活中都是煤炭与木材、木炭并用。近代以来,城市生活和生产煤炭使用范围扩大,但农村受多方面的制约,煤的使用程度并不十分普及,直到今天,农村生物质燃料仍为主体。由于人口压力、工业化过程中燃料换代不能实现,清中叶以来至20世纪80年代,是长江上游生物质燃料的危机时期,也是从生物质燃料向非生物质燃料转换的转折时期,其中20世纪60年代至80年代达到顶峰。近十多年来,由于液化气、煤炭、沼气、电力等非生物质燃料大量使用,燃料换代加速,加上城市化背景下农村实际生活人口减少、环境保护意识增强、烹熟可食用品增多,虽然生物质植物燃料在农村仍为主体燃料,但城市乡村的生物质燃料薪材采伐量大大减少,森林生态环境的压力减弱。     

论清代史馆修史、幕府修史及私家修史的互动

在清代,史馆、幕府和私家这三类修史形式一直是并存发展的。在治史范围和思想倾向上,三者有明显差异,史馆基本上垄断了国史和当代史的纂修,幕府修史的范围则随着政治环境和幕主个人兴趣的变化而变化,私家修史对社会变迁特别敏感,其研究范围往往最能体现时代特点。同时,这三类修史形式又因为幕主的政治身份和学人们的流动而发生联系,从而使不同的史学思想、修史理念在之间传播、交流。在具体的修史活动中,三者一直处在互动状态,史馆修史或刺激、或打压幕府、私家的修史活动,始终处于主导地位,决定着幕府、私家修史的盛衰消长,而幕府、私家修史在某种程度上也迫使官方不断调整修史政策,以适应社会的变化。     

雅斯贝斯的世界历史纲要与文化研究的历史视野

人类文化在本质上是历史的,只有把文化放在适当的历史视野中才能理解文化的真实内涵。雅斯贝斯的世界历史纲要,就是他为自己打造的一个历史视野。带着对人类文化和历史的困惑,并通过对雅斯贝斯世界历史纲要及其基本概念——“轴心期”的解读,本文尝试着提出一个粗略的人类历史纲要,并在此基础上尝试着提出一个新的历史视野和文化框架。本文认为,在这个新的历史视野和文化框架下,研究、分析和解读全部人类历史也即人类由起源走向未来的自我创造和自我发展的过程,是文化研究的根本任务。     

1980～1991年中国证券市场的复苏与起步

1980～1991年中国证券市场的复苏和起步,得益于理论认识的突破、市场导向改革的开启和社会融资结构的第一次变迁、金融体制改革和市场演进规律的推动。在12年艰辛曲折的演进历程中,证券发行市场初步形成,证券流通构架基本成型,市场监管框架雏形初现。证券市场发挥了筹资、“反哺”、示范和导向等作用,但也存在结构不均衡、运作不规范、制度安排不健全等问题。这些成就、问题与缺陷,成为证券市场后续成长与突破的历史起点与逻辑前提。     

在历史与现实之间——《盐铁论》史论初探

西汉昭帝时召开的盐铁会议,在西汉历史上有政策调整的意义.此次会议上双方辩论所形成的《盐铁论》一书,既是一部文学名著,也是一部历史著作和历史评论之书.该书史论的历史价值在于它深刻反思了汉武帝末年的有关政策,再现了那个时代人们对于历史和现实的种种思考,真实地反映了史学与社会的关系,它在内容和形式上都丰富了中国古代史论.     

从城市到乡村——中国特色革命道路的开辟及意义

中国共产党在成立28年后就夺取了全国政权,总结起来原因很多,但最根本的一条就是成功开辟了中国特色革命道路。时至今日,中国共产党在全国执政已60余年,经过较长时间的历史积淀,加之各种资料的陆续刊布,都为更清晰地认识中国特色革命道路的形成和发展提供了条件,而加强这方面的研究,于学术和现实皆有意义。     

A discussion of rock carvings in Ra’s al Khaimah Emirate,UAE, and Musandam province,Sultanate of Oman,using local considerations

Conversations about various examples of rock carvings with interested local tribespeople across the study region revealed information about the different loci of carvings; subject matter and techniques; and the identities of possible carvers. It was possible to place sorts of rock carvings in specific cultural contexts and in long‐standing traditions across the peninsula. Rock carvers, in most cases, were either immature tribal members or male adults from outside Arab tribal society.