The Descents of Military Violence against Civilians: a history of the present

Inspired by the works of Michel Foucault and Erling Sandmo, this article explores contemporary discourses of military violence against civilians from a genealogical perspective. The purpose is to shed light on the historicity of certain structures of knowledge, thoughts, politics and ethics that are fundamental for the ways in which military violence against civilians is put into words, interpreted and explained in various situations and contexts today. My main argument is that the descents of Swedish contemporary discourse on military violence against civilians can be traced back to epistemological and politico-legal conflicts in the 17th century.     

Washing urban water: diplomacy in environmental art in the Bronx,New York City

Lillian Ball's art project WATERWASH creates a new ecological imaginary in the South Bronx. Building on a tradition of ‘maintenance art’, the work exhibits the power of soil, plants and microorganisms to clean water – in effect maintaining urban water. An overarching goal of WATERWASH is to educate local people about the metabolism of urban water, causes of river pollution, and to familiarize them with the capacity of soil and plants to respond to that problem. As part of its creation, the project provided diverse groups of people with opportunities to participate, including a group of Bronx youth who assisted in planting the wetland. Several of these apprentices will be involved in future monitoring of the effectiveness of the wetland in mitigating parking lot runoff. I use Isabelle Stengers' notion of ‘diplomacy’ to interrogate the efforts of the artist in negotiating and creating an occasion in which people with divergent interests can both recognize and maintain the relationships of care that sustain them. In effect, this effort extends the feminist discourse of maintenance work to include that undertaken by the ‘other-than-human’.     

16-18世纪英国宪制和宪制思想演进

英国16-18世纪宪制的演变比较曲折。内战前混合宪制已形成多年,其相应思想长期流行并影响后世。17世纪中期共和国的兴衰和分权制有名无实,给后人留下经验和教训。贵族寡头权力垄断和内阁制的形成发展,增强了18世纪英国混合制的特色。     

中国古代社会中身份规则的结构化和制度化研究

中国身份规则体系的形成是一个漫长的过程,其中的演化有两大平行发展路径,一个是结构化过程;一个是制度化过程。结构化过程把社会成员的身体标签类化,比如,性别、辈分等,使社会有了结构秩序; 制度化过程使社会成员的社会标识赋予相应的行为规则并形成体系,比如,礼制、人伦体系等,于是社会共同体的结构秩序得以延续。这些规则特点形成了各文化共同体特有的社会结构秩序,并在社会的持续演化中建构了自身社会秩序的制度化体系。     

从社会史视角看刘铭传的入仕

刘铭传是特定历史时期--19世纪中期战乱之际,通过非常规仕途进入上层政权的极具代表性的地方精英.从刘铭传的入仕,可透视晚清基层社会与上层政权发生的深刻变化、晚清统治危机的特殊性、中国传统社会发展趋势的深层基础等.     

China's Infrastructure Investment Boom and Local Debt Crisis

A noted Hong Kong-based economist addresses the emerging financing problems prompted by debt-laden local governments in China in the aftermath of the global financial crisis. More specifically, using the most recent data available, he traces the root of China's local debt overhang to a protracted debt-financed infrastructure investment boom in which several key institutions (the cadre evaluation system, the land management regime, and the banking sector) have created an environment that draws local governments into a land-infrastructure-leverage trap. The author argues that the resulting high levels of debt may ultimately impede the country's efforts to mitigate structural imbalances in its economy. Journal of Economic Literature, Classification Numbers: H600, H700, P200, P300. 3 figures, 9 tables, 121 references.     

罗斯福新政时期美国文官政治化倾向的加强

新政时期,罗斯福总统在扩大政府规模的过程中,通过“政治庇护制”任命文官,使行政部门特别是行政部门中的“政治文官”以多种方式直接参与立法和政策的制订,自主地执行联邦政府的政策,导致美国文官政治化倾向的加强。这种现象不仅源于政治与行政的特殊关系,源于“政治文官”自身的优势,也源于美国特殊的政治体制和社会结构。     

中产阶级在特立尼达和多巴哥政治现代化中的作用

在特立尼达和多巴哥政治现代化过程中,作为特立尼达和多巴哥多等级、多种族社会中的一个阶层,中产阶级既是联系社会上层又是沟通工人阶级下层的黏合剂。正是由于中产阶级的努力,特立尼达和多巴哥才建立起西方化的政治民主制度。特立尼达和多巴哥的政治现代化实践,为第三世界国家的政治现代化提供了新的启示。     

拉斯基的美国政治体制变革观

拉斯基的美国政治体制变革观,对于整个资本主义制度从私人垄断阶段过渡到国家垄断阶段的变革具有深刻的启迪意义,也从一个重要的侧面和较为适合的角度,反映出了处于思想成熟时期的拉斯基主张和一贯倡导的民主社会主义理论的丰富内涵。     

印度农民政治文化变迁和现代民族运动的兴起

印度社会精英对英国统治态度的改变是20世纪上半期印度群众性民族运动兴起的一个关键性政治变量。但是,在印度这样的农民社会里,农民(包括农村手工业者)一直是主导的社会群体,他们的政治态度不能不影响整个印度政治社会的发展。传统上的印度农民是政治冷漠主义者,他们对村社之外的全国性政治过程并不关心,但是在英国的统治下,一系列的经济、社会和政治变迁却使印度农民和全国性政治过程有了密切的利害关系,他们和印度的社会政治精英在反对英国统治方面具有了共同利益。这正是使得他们积极响应以甘地为首的印度政治精英的号召,参加印度现代民族运动,为印度民族独立和解放做出巨大历史贡献的根本原因。