A Roma Nation? Constructing Romani identity in the context of extreme displacement

The process of displacement has affected the articulation of collective identity among the Romani diaspora. The nation state persists as the main vehicle through which diasporic identities are formulated. A challenge to this is when a diaspora has lost its homeland as its territorial reference point. This article reflects on the way in which the Romanies – a 1,000‐year‐old diaspora – confront traditional understandings of diasporic identity as combining the ideas of a loss and longing for a homeland. It explores the limits and possibilities of building a collective Romani identity in the context of extreme displacement, with reference to narratives of identity and belonging articulated by the Romani diaspora in Britain.     

论《九歌》的直接源头

《九歌》的直接源头不是《诗经》,不是楚地民歌,也不是远古神话,而是完整的楚地祭祀仪式。这可从四个方面来论证:内容上,两者都是表达和表演爱情;形式上,两者都以悲剧告终;角色上,都是“巫之一身二任”;两者所用之香草,均为祭祀之道具,取其圣洁之象征意义。《九歌》是楚地原始文化与作者个体怨愤结合而喷薄出的美丽花朵,它具有祭祀与祭事的双重性质。     

The Direct Historical Approach, Analogical Reasoning, and Theory in Americanist Archaeology

Prior to the early 1950s, Americanist archaeologists, given their interest in chronology, routinely searched for direct historical connections between ethnographically documented cultures and archaeological cultures. In those instances where clear evolutionary connections existed between ethnographic and prehistoric cultures, the ethnic affinities of the latter could be assessed, chronologies of prehistoric cultures could be built, and ethnographic descendant cultures could be used as analogs of prehistoric ancestral cultures. The latter became known as specific historical analogy, and it stands in contrast to general comparative analogy, in which no detectable evolutionary connection exists between archaeological subjects and ethnographic sources. The theory underpinning the use of specific historical analogs is Darwinian evolutionism, or descent with modification; thus similarities between ethnographic sources and archaeological subjects are homologous. By midcentury, with the problem of chronology behind them, archaeologists began to address anthropological concerns. Darwinian evolutionism was replaced by the theory of orthogenesis as an explanation of culture change, and concomitantly specific historical analogy was replaced by general comparative analogy, in which similarities between ethnographic sources and archaeological subjects are the result of convergence. For over a century anthropologists and archaeologists have mixed elements of the two theories.     

非公有制企业党组织引入公推直选的有益探索

非公有制企业党组织引入公推直选任职模式,对于实现党员权利与义务的有机统一、对上负责与对下负责的有机统一以及党内民主与人民民主的有机统一具有重要意义。但在实际推行中,公推直选在制度层面上与具体运作过程中仍存在一些问题,文章对此进行了研究与探讨。     

An Emerging Development Focus from the Pearl River Delta West to Western Guangdong: A Research Report

A senior Hong Kong-based geographer discusses factors that have the potential to intensify growth in the western part of China's Pearl River Delta and adjacent areas of western Guangdong province. He focuses on: (1) proposals for construction of a Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau bridge linking eastern and western wings of the delta, to become a catalyst for rapid development of the western delta region, with its large unutilized reserves to support economic growth; and (2) the potentially strategic roles of nearby Guangxi and Yunnan provinces in a recently promulgated China-ASEAN Free Trade Area. Journal of Economic Literature, Classification Numbers: O15, O16, O18, O20. 2 figures, 1 table, 13 references.