On the difficulty of making social choices

The difficulty of making social choices seems to take on two forms: one that is related to both preferences and the method used in aggregating them and one which is related to the preferences only. In the former type the difficulty has to do with the discrepancies of outcomes resulting from various preference aggregation methods and the computation of winners in elections. Some approaches and results which take their motivation from the computability theory are discussed. The latter institution-free type of difficulty pertains to solution theory of the voting games. We discuss the relationships between various solution concepts, e.g. uncovered set, Banks set, Copeland winners. Finally rough sets are utilized in an effort to measure the difficulty of making social choices.     

Cybernetic Risk Analysis

The Pearl Harbor case study reveals that risk analysis failure may be caused by any of a number of factors. However, the most important variables are system load, gain, lead time, and lag time. The dynamics of such cybernetic systems analysis constitute an important aspect in this regard. Four different risk management strategies, or organization designs, have been proposed in this paper. Each has a unique combination of the imputed variables and each has a unique cause of surprise, risk analysis failure, and crisis.     

试论西方人类学仪式研究范式的现代性转换

西方人类学对于"仪式"的研究,从早期的"神话—仪式"学派,到后来的功能主义学派、结构主义学派,再到象征主义学派,将仪式研究从原来视野相对狭窄的宗教神话领域逐步扩展到更为宏阔的社会生活领域。在此过程中,西方人类学仪式研究形成了一套较为完整的人类学仪式研究的知识谱系,完成了西方人类学仪式研究范式的现代性转换。     

新世纪冯至《十四行集》研究的回顾与反思

检视新世纪冯至《十四行集》的研究，从内外结合的版本研究、现代解诗学的实践、审美现代性范式以及比较研究四个方面，回顾近十多年研究成果，辨析和反思研究观念与研究方法，展望《十四行集》研究的可能学术增长点。     

Evidential inference for diffusion-type processes

This article analyses diffusion-type processes from a new point-of-view. Consider two statistical hypotheses on a diffusion process. We do not use a classical test to reject or accept one hypothesis using the Neyman–Pearson procedure and do not involve Bayesian approach. As an alternative, we propose using a likelihood paradigm to characterizing the statistical evidence in support of these hypotheses. The method is based on evidential inference introduced and described by Royall [Royall R. Statistical evidence: a likelihood paradigm. London: Chapman and Hall; 1997]. In this paper, we extend the theory of Royall to the case when data are observations from a diffusion-type process instead of iid observations. The empirical distribution of likelihood ratio is used to formulate the probability of strong, misleading and weak evidences. Since the strength of evidence can be affected by the sampling characteristics, we present a simulation study that demonstrates these effects. Also we try to control misleading evidence and reduce them by adjusting these characteristics. As an illustration, we apply the method to the Microsoft stock prices.     

Complexity: Some Remarks about a Classical Aesthetic Concept

The connection between autonomous art and complexity has been extensively and deeply studied in literary theories in the 20th century. The rise of aesthetic autonomy implies the complexity of literary work as the concept of a sealed container arises from the relationship between the parts that make it up. In this model, the interpretation subject works to directly face literary texts. Instead of pursuing the author’s intention, it aims to reproduce the richness and subtlety of the aesthetic state, and consider the richness and subtlety revealed in the maximum amount of text details in literary works, even if procedurally deviating from the way of mainstream understanding. There is increasing skepticism about the consequences of the autonomous aesthetics, which has been coerced by the development of contemporary capitalism, and it is necessary to develop new forms of aesthetics to reflect the changing social situation.     

文化认知中定向思维模式的建构与解构——以中国少数民族文化范式为研究视阈

定向思维模式的建构与解构实际上反映出认知结构的二重性特征，两者在文化认知活动中可互为挹注共存于对立统一关系里。因此，对中国少数民族文化范式的研究，不仅要重视建构之功能催生的符号化文化构成，还应关注解构之功能显现的非常见的文化元素。同时，只有弄清楚定向思维模式的建构与解构在文化认知中的意涵，才能明确定向思维模式的“趋向”和“专注”特点以及“惰化”和“孤立”倾向，从而为牵及民族文化事项的认知固化与迁移提供理论工具并用以指导多元文化实践。     

Schematising hospitality: Ai WeiWei’s activist artwork as a form of dark travel

The article provides a holistic appraisal of activist-artist Ai WeiWei’s work. It argues that, despite its topical innovations and evolution, it continues to be informed by narratives of ‘hospitality’ as an experiential form of engagement with variations of otherness (father, migrant, tourist and refugee). Dividing Ai’s artwork into two overlapping phases of development (national and international/global), it considers the artist’s construction of a cosmopolitan identity with uses of ‘technology’ as embodied and communal property. As Ai’s work on the refugee crisis on Lesbos attests, his (dark) artistic cosmopolitan symbolisations use geo-political imaginaries of justice and hospitality in subsequent projects.     

Contingent constellations: African urban complexity seen through the workings of a Ghanaian bus station

In this article, I explore the intricate relationship between regulation and contingency in processes of urban economic organisation by focusing on the workings of a central bus station in Accra, Ghana. After introducing the position of the station in Ghana’s urban economy and transport infrastructure, I set out its internal regulative arrangements in relation to larger socio-economic and political constellations the practices of the station workers are contingent upon. Next, I turn the analysis around and describe the ways in which people accommodate themselves within, exploit and thereby co-produce emergent contingencies. The focus on the station, I suggest, offers a window into the complex constituents of niche economic practices that prevail in many spheres of African cities and allows a nuanced reflection on the incongruous and undetermined dynamics of everyday urban ‘becomings.’     

复杂性科学视角下企业成长研究梳理与启示

作为研究和处理复杂系统和行为的工具，复杂性科学为企业成长研究提供了新的起点。从复杂性科学的背景出发，总结了目前企业成长研究的基本共识、内容体系，并为企业管理与决策实践提供指导。