Kinship Reconsidered: Research on a Neglected Topic

This article reviews the recent history of kinship research, noting the relative neglect of the topic in recent decades. The lack of scholarly and empirical work on kinship has been hampered by both the absence of survey and qualitative research on contemporary kinship practices. The author focuses on what is known and not known about how individual put into practice kinship in the standard, nuclear form of the family. There is surprising in attention to the ceremonial family and, little is know about how families draw boundaries and construct kinship on ritual occasions in the literature. The author concludes by suggesting research strategies for examining both how kinship is constructed and practiced in the United States and in other advanced economies.     

Decrypting cultural nuances: using drama techniques from the theatre of the oppressed to strengthen cross cultural communication in social work students

ABSTRACT

Despite widening participation in social work education in the UK, social work students from black and minority ethnic (BME) backgrounds can find that they have less positive experiences on social work courses than their counterparts. This can happen when courses do not equip students to navigate the subtle rules of communication with service users that are premised on dominant UK values. As a consequence BME students can be assessed as having poor interpersonal skills and poor skills in engaging service users. However, the issue is often more one of cultural differences and high expectations of cultural integration than one of incompetence.

This paper reports on a drama workshop using techniques from the Theatre of the Oppressed to foster awareness of the complexities of cross cultural communication that BME students may face. The workshop facilitates insight into the nuances of culturally informed values that differ from dominant UK values.

Drawing on student workshop evaluations, the authors highlight the positive use of techniques from the Theatre of the Oppressed as a pro-active pedagogical approach to equipping BME students with insight and skill to circumnavigate cross cultural communication in practice and develop awareness of empowering strategies to combat negative paradigms about BME cultures.     

基于消费者显著性偏好的双边平台转换成本和定价策略研究

针对消费者对转换成本和价格属性具有显著性偏好的实际情况，基于显著性理论对垄断双边平台企业的转换成本和定价策略问题进行了研究。研究发现：1)在显著性偏好非对称型市场上，对价格敏感的一方收取的价格最低，对高转换成本的一方收取的价格最高，而在显著性偏好对称型市场上，平台的最优价格位于非对称型市场之间，但是对价格敏感型市场收取的价格低于转换成本敏感型市场的价格。2)在高转换成本的市场，平台利润最低；低转换成本市场平台利润最高，而混合型情况的最优利润位于这两者之间。该研究结论说明平台企业应该采取措施来降低用户加入平台的转换成本，从而增加利润，这与现实的案例研究结论相吻合。     

Why spouses depress each other: A cross‐national study to test the shared resource hypothesis in depressive symptom concordance within older adult couples

The shared resource hypothesis suggests that married couples share the same environmental resources, which shape their health concordance. This study tests its cross‐national applicability. Cross‐sectional 2012–2013 Health and Retirement Study data from China, England, Mexico, and the United States were analyzed. Heterosexual couples (age ≥60) who were married or partnered were studied (N = 20,565 pairs). Dyadic data were analyzed by multilevel models to examine the effect of self and spousal social and physical health statuses on depressive symptoms. Regression models were used to test the relationship between couples' shared resources and depressive symptom concordance. Results indicated both husbands and wives' depressive symptoms were associated with their own and spouses' social and health statuses. Most couple‐level resources were insignificant predictors for Chinese and Mexican couples' concordance, but having more social and financial resources was associated with higher concordance among British and American couples. Self‐reported health was the most consistent predictor in all countries. The shared resource hypothesis was more applicable to depressive symptom concordance within couples in the United States and England, but not in China and Mexico. Couple‐centered intervention is suggested for clinical practice, and the spousal effect should be considered in policymaking.     

经济学人对中欧班列发展及影响的判断*

2019年5月《中国经济学人》杂志围绕中欧班列对“一带一路”倡议建设、中—欧亚国际贸易发展、跨境电商发展以及我国产业升级四个方面的影响对经济学人展开了问卷调查。结果显示,多数经济学人认为：首先,中欧班列与“一带一路”倡议能够形成良好互促关系,但沿线国家间安全信任度低是制约这种关系发展的最主要因素;其次,中欧班列对我国（尤其是大西北地区）国际贸易总量有净增长效应,利于改善中欧贸易失衡,但这也面临通关效率低下及由欧洲对华高技术产品出口管制所导致的回程率低等问题的困扰;再次,运输成本低廉的中欧班列为跨境电商发展提供了有利条件,但其运输时间较长影响了其促进作用的发挥;最后,中欧班列虽然能够通过优化产业布局促进我国（尤其是西部地区）产业升级,但也存在对高技术产业带动作用小及由班列恶性竞争对产业技术创新资源挤出等问题。     

唐前志怪小说的整理与辑释体的创立--评李剑国先生《唐前志怪小说辑释》

唐前古小说,抉异呈怪,不仅历代好之者甚众,且于小说史也大有价值,故搜求整理者代历代不乏。但考察前代的搜求整理,却总是不能尽如人意。李剑国先生的《唐前志怪小说辑释》,在借鉴《古小说钩沉》与《唐人小说》体例的基础上,进一步改进、完善,形成了独具特色的辑释体,创制出了一个古小说整理乃至古代典籍文献整理的科学体例。     

建国前中共党人对孙中山的纪念

建国前中共党人对孙中山的纪念内涵,在不同的历史时期有着显著的差别。随着时局变迁,在孙中山去世、国民革命失败以及抗日战争前后等阶段,中共党人纪念孙中山的内容和意义虽不断发生变化,但其利用不同的纪念空间,通过集体记忆的形式,一直重申自身革命的正统性并付诸于实践,从未改变过。     

Widowhood and Well‐being in Europe: The Role of National and Regional Context

Researchers have documented that widows have lower levels of subjective well‐being than married individuals, but we still know little about how the regional and national contexts affect the impact of widowhood on well‐being. Building on social capital theory and using data from 5 rounds of the European Social Survey (N= 119,292 people, 206 regions, 23 countries), the authors tested how marital status composition at the national and regional levels affects the well‐being of widows. Widows fare worse in countries with high proportions of married people and in regions and countries with high proportions of widowed persons. The proportion of married individuals at the regional level does not affect their well‐being. These results are in line with the greedy marriage hypothesis, but varying effects at regional and national levels suggest that the standard explanation for this phenomenon, lack of individual social support, is not valid. This study demonstrates the importance of multiple contextual embeddedness.     

先秦至魏普时期民俗中的桃

先秦至魏晋是桃文化的滥觞和形成期。古人对灵魂不死的信仰以及在生活中对桃的崇拜,奠定了桃为仙品的文化内涵的基础。而汉、魏、晋出现的大量的有关桃的神话、仙话小说推动了这一内涵的发展,而此时兴起并不断发展的道教更是强化了这一民俗信仰,使桃成为民俗生活中的仙桃。