Inside Checkpoint 300: Checkpoint Regimes as Spatial Political Technologies in the Occupied Palestinian Territories

As a part of the architecture of the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian Territories, the Israeli government introduced in 2005 a series of so‐called terminal checkpoints as “neutral border crossings”, to minimise the impact of these barriers on Palestinian lives through a different design and the use of several machines, such as turnstiles and metal detectors. In this article, we analyse terminal Checkpoint 300 in Bethlehem, framing it as a spatial political technology aimed at controlling the movement of Palestinians. More specifically, we investigate the interactions between Palestinian commuters, Israeli soldiers/security guards and the machines operating inside Checkpoint 300. We conclude by suggesting that Checkpoint 300 is a porous barrier whose regime is produced, reproduced but also challenged by such interactions, and that, despite the new “neutral design”, Checkpoint 300 is a place still filled with tension and violence, often exercised by the machines and their “decisions”.     

Green cities? Urbanization,trade, and the environment

Is urbanization good for the environment? This paper establishes a simple core–periphery model with monocentric cities, which comprises key forces that shape the structure and interrelation of cities to study the impact of the urban evolution on the environment. We focus on global warming and the potential of unfettered market forces to economize on emissions. The model parameters are chosen to match the dichotomy between average “large” and “small” cities in the urban geography of the United States, and the sectoral greenhouse gas emissions recorded for the United States. Based on numerical analyzes we find that a forced switch to a system with equally sized cities reduces total emissions. Second, any city driver which pronounces the asymmetry between the core and the periphery drives up emissions in the total city system, too, and the endogenous adjustment of the urban system accounts for the bulk of the change in emissions. Third, none of the city drivers gives rise to an urban environmental Kuznets curve according to our numerical simulations. Finally, the welfare‐maximizing allocation tends to involve dispersion of cities and the more so the higher is the marginal damage from pollution.     

Homemaking and Mature Age Gay Men ‘Down-Under’: Paradox,intimacy, subjectivities,spatialities, and scale

The article investigates homemaking processes of mature age gay men living in a provincial Australian town. All too often the experience of older gay men living in non-metropolitan centres has slipped the attention of scholars. The article draws on interview data collected in Townsville (Queensland, Australia) from ten men over 40 years of age who self-identified as gay. These men were asked to explain why they live in Townsville, their understanding of home, and if they understand Townsville as home. We investigate the spatialised understandings of home articulated by these gay men, focusing on two mutually constituted geographical scales: Townsville-as-home and house-as-home, including the material objects within domestic space. For older gay men to call a provincial town home is an ongoing, complex process of reconciling multiple and contradictory subjectivities across different geographical scales. How older gay men constitute Townsville-as-home provides important insights about both non-heterosexual life in provincial centres and how to conceptualise home—as a paradoxical space, contested site, and as multiscalar.     

马来西亚城市华人移民就业情况研究——基于2005年在马来西亚实地调查的分析

基于2005年在马来西亚吉隆坡和新山实地调查获得的资料,从城市移民在行业分布、职位、就业或经营途径、收入和政府经济政策等各个方面的情况,探讨了华人与马来人城市移民的不同遭遇,比较了华人移民在吉隆坡和新山这两个不同类型城市中的不同境遇。得出结论:城市新移民中马来人比华人获得了更多的政策扶持和发展机会,但华人比马来人拥有更多的投资方式和自己的企业,在城市中华人比马来人受访者的月收入要略高一些;在不同的领域,华人新移民在新山和在吉隆坡的就业或商业机会不同。     

20世纪90年代中国城市居民的文化消费——以北京为例

文化消费的比重较大是小康型消费结构的一个重要标志,20世纪90年代北京城市居民的生活水平率先实现了小康,在居民文化消费支出不断增加的基础上,文化消费的内容日渐丰富,其中最为突出的是教育消费比重增长迅速、书报杂志消费异军突起、文娱消费浪潮不断高涨、旅游消费持续升温、休闲消费成为时尚。随着人们的视野开阔和思想解放,文化消费的领域仍在扩展之中。与乡村居民和其他城市居民相比较,北京城市居民的文化消费水平处于一个较高的位置。     

清末民初农会组织述论

清末民初的农会组织大体经历了酝酿、兴起、发展、隐退四个阶段.其基本结构表现为组成了一个层层连接的直属组织系统;建立了较为完备的领导体制;实行了严格的民主选举制度、议事办事原则以及定期的会议制度等.呈现出组织制度的近代民主性、一定程度的自治性、成员构成的复杂性、机构权限的官督性等基本特点.所从事的活动内容相当广泛,主要表现为编辑农报,翻译农书;创办农业学堂;开办农业试验场;举行农产品评会,设立陈列所;开展调查研究;向主管官署建议农业改良进行事宜,等等.这对推动近代中国农业发展具有重要的影响与作用.     

海峡西岸旅游产业结构布局现状评析与调整对策

海峡西岸旅游产业在全国和亚太地区占有重要地位,旅游产业结构布局的调整有重大意义.当前海峡西岸旅游产业偏重观光游览,旅游投入偏少;偏重自然景观,旅游文化发掘不够;偏重旅行消费,旅游六要素不完备;偏重旅游旺季,时间上经营不平衡;偏重低级竞争,市场无序现象还比较严重.旅游产业布局存在旅游集散地与目的地错位、星散布局缺乏整合、重复布局分散客流、单体布局缺乏联系等问题.海峡西岸旅游产业结构布局调整应集中精力抓准重点,延长产业链,设计旅游精品,调整布局构建多级布局体系.     

规制缓和、结构调整与竞争效率——中日韩电力体制改革比较

本文以中国、日本、韩国电力体制改革实践为比较对象,从改革的起点、目标的选择、引入竞争的方式、电力监管、电力民营化、改革的成效几个角度进行了分析,力求得到一些对深化中国电力市场化改革有意义的启示。     

Archaeozoological research on vertebrates in Central Europe with special reference to the medieval period

This paper is the outcome of a lecture held at the Institute of Archaeology, University College London. It provides a summary in English of the archaeozoological research work which has been carried out in Central Europe during the last 30 years, with special reference to material from medieval times. It is shown that a thorough zoological analysis of bones from excavations provides much information for historical interpretation. Not only was the ratio of wild and domestic animals or of the different species of interest, but also the age and sex structure of the population by taking the function of the site into consideration. Some observations on animal teeth gave indications of distinctive handicrafts. Cut marks on cervical vertebrae of horse skeletons found as grave goods from early medieval times were considered in connection with beliefs and juridical conceptions of that time.     

新疆阿勒泰地区早期铁器时代铜器的科学分析研究

阿勒泰地区位于新疆的最北端,与欧亚草原之间存在丰富的文化交流,而冶金技术的发展与人类文明紧密相关,为探究新疆阿勒泰地区的冶金发展情况,选取9件草原游牧文化的代表性器物——铜鍑和马具,使用金相显微镜、扫描电子显微镜和X射线能谱仪及双通道电感耦合等离子体发射光谱仪,对16个样品进行金相组织分析和成分分析,并探讨其制作技术特征。研究发现阿勒泰地区的早期铁器时代铜器普遍采用范铸工艺,其成分主要为红铜、砷铜、铅砷青铜。该分析结果为研究新疆阿勒泰地区的冶金发展提供了重要参考。