Children's daily travel to school in Johannesburg-Soweto,South Africa: geography and school choice in the Birth to Twenty cohort study

This paper has two aims: to explore approaches to the measurement of children's daily travel to school in a context of limited geospatial data availability and to provide data regarding school choice and distance travelled to school in Soweto-Johannesburg, South Africa. The paper makes use of data from the Birth to Twenty cohort study (n?=?1428) to explore three different approaches to estimating school choice and travel to school. First, straight-line distance between home and school is calculated. Second, census geography is used to determine whether a child's home and school fall in the same area. Third, distance data are used to determine whether a child attends the nearest school. Each of these approaches highlights a different aspect of mobility, and all provide valuable data. Overall, primary-school-aged children in Soweto-Johannesburg are shown to be travelling substantial distances to school on a daily basis. Over a third travel more than 3 km one way to school, 60% attend schools outside of the suburb in which they live, and only 18% attend their nearest school. These data provide evidence for high levels of school choice in Johannesburg-Soweto, and that families and children are making substantial investments in pursuit of high-quality educational opportunities. Additionally, these data suggest that two patterns of school choice are evident: one pattern involving travel of substantial distances and requiring a higher level of financial investment and a second pattern involving choice between more local schools, requiring less travel and a more limited financial investment.     

“SEEING” THE PAST: TEXT AND QUESTIONS OF HISTORY IN THE RĀJATARAṄGIṆĪ

Traditional scholarly opinion has regarded Kalha?a's Rājatara?gi?ī, the twelfth‐century Sanskrit chronicle of Kashmiri kings, as a work of history. This essay proposes a reinvestigation of the nature of the iconic text from outside the shadow of that label. It first closely critiques the positivist “history hypothesis,” exposing its internal contradictions over questions of chronology, causality, and objectivity as attributed to the text. It then argues that more than an empiricist historical account that modern historians like to believe it is—in the process bracketing out integral rhetorical, mythic, and didactic parts of the text—the Rājatara?gi?ī should be viewed in totality for the kāvya (epic poem) that it is, which is to say, as representing a specific language practice that sought to produce meaning and articulated the poet's vision of the land and its lineages. The essay thus urges momentarily reclaiming the text from the hegemonic but troubled understanding of it as history—only to restore it ultimately to a more cohesive notion of historicality that is consistent with its contents. Toward this end, it highlights the concrete claim to epistemic authority that is asserted both by the genre of Sanskrit kāvya generally and by the Rājatara?gi?ī in particular, and their conception of the poetic “production” of the past that bears a striking resonance with constructivist historiography. It then traces the intensely intertextual and value‐laden nature of the epistemology that frames the Rājatara?gi?ī into a narrative discourse on power and ethical governance. It is in its narrativity and discursivity—its meaningful representation of what constitutes “true” knowledge of time and human action—that the salience of the Rājatara?gi?ī may lie.     

La clerecía del Fernán González

The Poema de Fernán González is usually regarded as a hybrid text—while its subject matter is deemed epic, its expression, intentionality, and ideology are considered clerical. This article studies several elements shared by Fernán González and the other poems of the mester de clerecía school: the same stanza (the cuaderna vía) and poetic rules; similar modes of composition, transmission, and reception; and common structural, thematic, and verbal patterns. The article concludes that the Poema de Fernán González fully participates in the common artistry of the mester de clerecía and therefore can be regarded as the attempt to produce epic poetry by this learned clerical school.     

《IQ84》中的牛河形象论

在村上春树小说的人物谱系中,牛河是一位鲜活的、经典的存在。这位靠着在村上小说中跑龙套起家的人物,在《IQ84》中上升为作品的第三号主人公。牛河形象是在受到社会戕害的负面效应与长期影响下产生的,不但活灵活现、纵横捭阖,游弋在作品的艺术世界中,是作家小说人物整体构想重要的、不容忽视的存在;而且面目并不可人,行为方式甚至很难被人接受。因此在表现日本社会危机的本质特征方面脱颖而出,成为现代小说艺术中的“这一个”。这一形象的出现,改变了长期以来,读者和批评界对长篇小说主要人物概念的传统认识。     

英国新社会史思潮的兴起及其整体社会史研究的国际反响

“新社会史研究”作为一种史学新思潮,与西方史学的整体化趋势,几乎同时出现于现代国际史学舞台。英国新社会史思潮具有广泛和深刻的国内外史学渊源。英国新社会史学派宣扬的核心问题是坚持“自下而上”史学观念,它彰显了由此观念指导下的整体社会史取向和研究实践。从较广泛的分析角度看,在国际史学发展格局重新调整的现时背景下,英国马克思主义新社会史学派引起国内外史学界的广泛注意和效仿。它对国际史学发展的推动性作用是不可忽视的,这集中体现了该学派及其整体史学研究的国际反响。     

关于汉代“亭”的几个问题

本文认为汉代的亭可分为边疆亭与内郡亭两大类,内郡亭又可分为都市之亭与乡野之亭。亭有多种职能,但其基本职能是治安。根据分布地域的不同,亭的职能有所偏重。《汉书·百官公卿表》中的“十里一亭”和“十亭一乡”主要是针对乡野之亭做出的概述。前者强调亭舍间的距离,在社会实际中基本得到了体现;后者强调一乡之内亭部的分布密度,它往往与实际情况有所出入。从统属关系看,亭长属于县的官吏编制,同时接受郡都尉的管辖。     

20世纪50年代中国在引进基础上的技术创新

20世纪50年代中国的技术引进和技术创新活动集中在“一五”时期和“大跃进”时期,虽然这两个时期在引进基础上的创新活动都是在重工业优先发展战略下的体制框架内进行的,但在引进技术的行业构成、规模、项目建设的实施和技术的消化乃至技术创新机制、成效等方面都有所不同。“一五”时期采用了全面、系统、灵活多样的方式和重点攻关,在消化、吸收引进技术方面取得了明显的成效,某些领域实现了技术再造,技术创新能力得到了迅速积累,但从总体上看仍处于对引进技术的翻版、修改阶段。“大跃进”时期的技术创新机制被严重干扰,群众运动代替了深入细致的科学研究,在群众性技术革新运动中引进基础上的创新活动格外活跃,通过技术革新运动学会了自行制造一些成套设备、生产工艺,但并没有从产业部门或行业整体上真正实现引进基础上的再次创新,其整体水平依然停留在对引进技术的“初级模仿”阶段。     

制约缺位：苏联政体的陷阱——陈独秀晚年对社会主义民主的思考

陈独秀晚年对前苏联的政治体制进行过冷峻的思考.他的结论是:斯大林的个人独裁,斯大林对民主的粗暴践踏,根本原因不在于他"个人心术特别坏",而在于政体存在严重弊端--最高统治者手中的权力缺乏起码的制约;是独裁制造就了独裁者,而绝非相反.陈独秀晚年对社会主义民主的思考,是独到的,具有前瞻性的.他明确地告诫人们:社会主义革命后建立的"民主政权",离真正的民主自由制度还差十万八千里;不吸收、借鉴资本主义时代的政治文明机制,不搭建权力分立、监督、制衡框架,不真正确立和完善民主选举、民主决策、言论自由等等具体的制度和程序,社会主义民主必然有其名而无其实,个人集权专断的悲剧便难免重演!陈独秀晚年的这些思考和见解,不仅在20世纪已经得到了验证,在刚刚迈入门槛的21世纪,依然具有现实的启示意义.     

坚持用唯物史观认识和把握中国国情——学习华岗史学思想的一点体会

华岗同志是一位忠诚于党的事业的革命前辈,卓越的马克思主义理论家.在思想理论战线,他所关注的领域,涉及哲学、政治学、美学、历史学诸方面.华岗的史学思想,具有鲜明的特色,至今仍有强烈的现实意义.他强调研究历史是为了推动历史、创造历史;他发扬中国史学的"求真"传统,把追求历史的真实看作是史学研究的生命;他大力提倡学术创新,认为创新是史学发展的本质要求.     

对峙中的缓和：70年代的美国对朝政策

对朝鲜政策是美国亚太政策中非常重要的一环.伴随着70年代国际局势的相对缓和,美国对朝政策也出现松动.尽管两国间危机不断,但在安全、政治、文化交流等领域美国仍采取了一些主动缓和的措施.然而,作为二战后美国第一场热战的主要对手之一和意识形态上的敌人,美国对改善对朝关系又心存疑虑,同时也受到多方牵制,最终没能有所突破.