Humor and satire in politics: Introducing cultural sociology to the field

The landscape of political humor and satire is changing rapidly, and it is becoming an increasingly relevant aspect of our culture. Although scholars have been actively trying to capture this change, majority of the existing frameworks for understanding humor and satire in politics still reduce these phenomena to mere genres or rhetoric tools. In addition, they provide insufficient accounts concerning the reception of humor and satire, and neglect to interpret and explain what they communicate. In the article, a general understanding of humor and satire outside of a political context, followed by an overview of studies discussing humor and satire in politics through their applications in social movements, as leadership tools, and through their manifestations in mass media has been presented. Lastly, a cultural sociological perspective to the field has been introduced. It has been argued that approaching humor and satire in politics through a structural hermeneutic method of the Strong Program will enable us to recognize and treat political humor and satire as autonomous and complex cultural systems which carry an internal power to move people.     

从“科玄论战”到“中国道路”——马克思主义对中国百年思想的启蒙

百年前中国的仁人志士围绕着民族复兴提出了诸多社会改造方案,其中因直面社会弊端根源而具有现代中国构建意义的是作为1840年以来中国思想交汇点的“科玄论战”。由于“科玄论战”的双方将自我主张与“唯物的历史观”相隔离,这使得“科玄论战”成为了不彻底的思想启蒙。随着马克思主义的深入传播与发展,中国的先进分子从“实践主体”与“主体实践”关系的维度明晰了中华民族伟大复兴之路。“实践主体”与“主体实践”的明晰是马克思主义对中国百年思想的启蒙,是“中国道路”的逻辑始点。     

Amassing rural power in the fight against fracking in Maryland: A report from the field

ABSTRACT

Social workers can mobilize vulnerable populations to shape policy decisions about industrial practices that could have adverse impacts on their wellbeing. One such practice is hydraulic fracturing or “fracking” to extract oil and natural gas from shale rock deposits. There is scant social work literature on mobilizing opposition to fracking despite a proliferation of literature from other disciplines. This article documents the campaign in Maryland that led to the adoption of the first legislative ban on fracking in a U.S. state with shale gas reserves, using social movement theory to identify factors that led to this successful outcome.     

Transnational queer sociological analysis of sexual identity and civic‐political activism in Hong Kong,Taiwan and mainland China

The sociology of homosexuality lacks engagement with queer theory and postcolonialism and focuses primarily on the global metropoles, thus failing to provide a plausible account of non‐Western non‐normative sexual identities. This research adopts the author’s newly proposed transnational queer sociology to address these deficiencies. First, it critiques the Western model of sexual identity predominantly employed to elucidate non‐Western, non‐normative sexualities. It does so by examining not only the queer flows between West and non‐West but also those among and within non‐Western contexts to produce translocally shared and mutually referenced experiences. Second, the proposed approach combines sociology with queer theory by emphasizing the significant role of material, as well as discursive, analyses in shaping queer identities, desires and practices. This article employs the approach to examine young gay male identities, as revealed in 90 in‐depth interviews conducted in Hong Kong (n = 30), Taiwan (Taipei, n = 30) and mainland China (Shanghai, n = 30) between 2017 and 2019. More specifically, it highlights the interplay between the state and identity by investigating the intersection and intertwining effects of these young men’s sexual and cultural/national identities, revealing three different forms of civic‐political activism. The article both demonstrates the way in which sexuality and the state are mutually constituted and provides nuanced analysis of the heterogeneity of contemporary homosexualities in Hong Kong, Taiwan and mainland China. In applying a new sociological approach to understanding sexuality, this research joins the growing body of scholarship within sociology that is decentring the Western formation of universal knowledge.     

“一带一路”倡议下大学国际化发展问题研究——基于云南省中外合作办学现状的考察

在"一带一路"倡议下，云南省近年来与南亚、东南亚国家之间的教育合作不断加强，取得了可喜的成绩。基于云南省与南亚、东南亚国家的中外合作办学数据，考察云南省中外合作办学现状，发现云南省中外合作办学还存在留学生生源面窄且学历层次低、中外合作办学规模小且办学层次不高、联合科学研究产出能力较弱等问题。因此，应从国家层面、当地政府层面、大学层面分别采取相应措施，大力促进大学国际化发展，完善大学国际化的体制机制与法律监管，搭建更多国际合作平台。当地政府应加强大学国际化的统筹规划、综合协调和宏观管理，省域大学应加大国际化保障条件的建设力度。     

制度风险的法律维度: 突破非物质文化遗产保护的瓶颈

以风险理论审视非物质文化遗产的现行法律制度,根据风险产生根源不同,非物质文化遗产保护的制度风险会表现为制度运转失灵风险、制度功能偏差风险和公平性缺失风险。化解制度风险,形成制度风险的维度,不可基于同一个标准,而是需要在大的框架之下论及制度风险的法律管控,需要有针对性地创构"建立私权,善用公权"的多元法律控制体系,并在体系内引入技术规制,创设"非物质文化遗产权",推动民间习惯法与法律制度、公法与私法的互动式发展。     

论民族生境与民族文化建构

民族学经过一个多世纪的探索，逐步地达成了一个共识，建构一种文化并不是一件轻而易举的事情。文化是指导人类生存发展延续的信息系统，文化的建构是以所处自然生态系统为底本，以并存的社会生态系统为参照，文化这一信息系统不断偏离与回归所处自然生态系统与社会生态系统，在世代延续过程中逐步认知、积累其成败的经验与教训，并在传承的过程中不断地完善和丰富起来。民族以文化为分野，不同民族所处自然环境与社会环境互有差异，这就形成了民族生境的差异性，而民族生境的差异性也同样会建构出不同民族文化事实体系的差异性来。     

南方丝绸之路上的民族迁徙、文化交流和节庆共享——中华民族共同体形成与发展的一个典型案例

南方丝绸之路不仅是一条民族流动的通道，而且是一条文化交流的通道。作为许多古老民族生活和迁徙的通道，沿线不同民族在移动的过程中，文化交流交融不断深入和加强，形成了虽然各具特色但又多民族共享的节庆文化。本文主要介绍南方丝绸之路上民族的流动和文化的互动、交融的历史，以及由此所生成的文化共享，为“中华民族共同体”形成与发展提供一个典型案例，为理解“一带一路”倡议、筑牢“中华民族共同体”意识乃至推动“人类命运共同体”建设提供一定的理论思考。     

Professional discretion and length of work experience: what findings from focus groups with care managers in elder care suggest

ABSTRACT

Research has explored how care managers in elder care – who often function as ‘street-level bureaucrats’ – regard professional discretion. The way in which length of work experience affects care managers’ use of professional discretion remains, however, unexplored. This article present findings from 12 focus groups with 60 care managers. By bringing attention to how care managers experience the needs assessment process, this article sheds light on how these ‘street-level bureaucrats’ struggle when they try to balance their clients’ needs against institutional frameworks and local guidelines. Length of work experience seems to play a role in how care managers claim to use professional discretion. Experienced care managers describe how they deviate from the guidelines at times in order to create an increased scope of action in their decision-making process. Those with less time in the profession describe greater difficulties in this respect. Findings suggest that research should explore if length of work experience plays a role in the actual way in which care managers assess needs and make decisions. As such, they contribute to our understanding of how needs assessment processes are navigated by professionals while also pointing towards the nature of professional discretion in gerontological social work.     

人类命运共同体构想的三维审思：逻辑起点·现实基点·思想源点

人类命运共同体构想作为马克思主义中国化的最新理论成果，是在积极反思人类生存现状的基础之上，对世界未来发展形态的一种前瞻性擘画。总体观之，作为“类”存在的人的主体自觉以及马克思主义“类”思想是人类命运共同体构想的逻辑基点， 现代“人类交往”方式的演进与普遍发展是人类命运共同体构想的现实基点，中国传统文化中的“和合”理念是人类命运共同体构想的思想源点。逻辑起点、现实基点与思想源点共同构成人类命运共同体构想的生成之源，对其系统、深入的阐释与审思则是我们学习、领悟、实践这一伟大构想的重要环节。