Seeing Red,Tasting Blood: Sensual Citizenship on Christmas Island

Christmas Islanders participate together in blood metaphors, drawn from the island's biotic life. These metaphors proceed along specific sensual lines such that, in and through participation in this shared sensual citizenship, the identity category ‘Christmas Islanders’ is yielded. Pan-islandic sensory citizenship is based on participation in a highly visual and rhythmic auditory Christmas Island sensorium and other specifically ethnic relationships to the Island proceed primarily along the sensory lines of taste. Participation in particular sensory registers of island life is key in locating Christmas Islanders precisely as such, and is equally important in creating and maintaining ‘senses’ of ethnic difference between them. At the same time as local people participate together in pan-islandic metaphors, some ethnic groups have made sensory connections with the island that are not made by others. These connections are instrumental in locating islanders of particular ethnic membership as ‘native’ (over local), or as damaging to pan-islandic identity.     

In the Spirit of Selden Bacon: The Sociology Of Drinking and Drug Problems

In 1943, the sociologist Selden Bacon proposed studying drinking behavior from a “sociologic” perspective. Since then, a problem-oriented approach – a sociology of problem drinking and problem drug use, not a sociology of drinking and drug use behavior – has dominated the literature on alcohol and other drugs. However, a review of the literature reveals a sociology of drinking and drug problems in the spirit of the research that Bacon proposed. This article suggests that the sociology of drinking and drug problems can be regarded as a multidisciplinary field of study and usefully divided among three primary perspectives: (1) a sociocultural perspective that considers social change, modern society, and cultural influence; (2) a socio-environmental perspective that explores social learning, social setting, and alienation; and (3) an ideological perspective that examines cultural, institutional, and professional ideologies. The sociology of drinking and drug problems exposes the considerable influence of “sociologic” factors on problem drinking and problem drug use across scientific disciplines and, in particular, that problem drinking and problem drug use, from a multidisciplinary standpoint, are not caused exclusively by biologic traits. However, the sociology of drinking and drug problems is limited by the problem-oriented approach. More research needs to analyze the normal use of alcohol and other drugs to better understand the connection between substance use and social life.     

世相

担心孩子被歧视家长虚报“官职”
　　“学校的报名表,还要登记家长的单位和职务,孩子入学跟家长职务有什么关系？”广州幼升小报名接近尾声,在等待小学录取通知书的过程中,不少家长反映学校太现实,入学报名还要“拼爹”,一些身为普通职工的家长为了孩子不被歧视,不得不虚报“官职”。
　　张先生是一名普通职工,他带孩子入学面试时拿到一张家庭信息表,上面要填写详尽的父母资料,包括工作单位、职务等等。“我感觉这跟入学无关啊,但又必须填写,为了不给孩子拖后腿,让他在学校受歧视,我跟太太商量了一下,填上了‘副经理’一职。”张先生苦笑着说,“我后来在同事中一打听,他们都或大或小地给自己封了个‘官’。”     

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! The impact of Christmas rituals on subjective well-being and family's emotional climate

Abstract

This study assessed subjective well-being before and after Christmas and New Year holidays. In contradiction to lay beliefs about these holidays, stress and conflict caused by its experience was weak, while participation in rituals was high and satisfactory, and positive emotions were dominant. High frequency of participation in ritualised family celebrations increased positive well-being: satisfaction with life, perceived social well-being, and the balance of affective well-being. Satisfaction with rituals had an impact on positive affect, satisfaction with life and positive family climate, while participation frequency was more relevant for social support and lower loneliness level. Conflict experienced during Christmas increased negative affect and negative emotional family climate, while it undermined positive affect, satisfaction with life and social well-being.     

世相

兰州为给商务区让地拆百年小学
　　新学期开学的第一周,兰州市城关区兰园小学的孩子们兴奋地回到熟悉的校园,却被告知学校马上要被拆迁,这是最后一周上课。     

世相

河北曲周农田作物被毁村民跪地哭诉
　　2013年5月,河北邯郸市曲周县白寨乡滏南村掀起了一波“毁田圈地”的热潮。无论是再有10天就将收割的小麦、蔬菜大棚里已经挂果即将上市的西红柿、还是已经进入盛果期的桃树和苹果树,一律被政府雇佣的多台推土机毁掉,300多亩农田被夷为平地,村民们将颗粒无收。     

世相

校园性侵案六成发生于农村
　　近日,由十多家公益机构共同举办的“乡村幼儿园计划”启动。在启动仪式上,北京青少年法律援助与研究中心研究员朱琳透露,通过近年来对数百起校园性侵案的梳理分析发现,农村是校园性侵害案件高发地区,在这数百起案件中,有60%发生在农村,多数是由老师和校长实施。侵害地点大多是在校园周边地区。     

世相

湖南邵阳：花钱买好话
　　近日,多名湖南邵阳网友曝光短信截图称,收到邵阳市社会管理综合治理委员会办公室群发手机短信,只要他们在省里的民意调查中说好话,就可以领取误工补贴。有综治办相关工作人员透露,这笔补贴为300块钱。
　　短信截图内容显示：“邵阳人要说邵阳好,家乡才能真的好。请接到省综治民调电话并予以客观公正、积极评价的用户,持五分钟左右的电话通讯记录单到当地综治办领取误工补贴。”     

世相

洛阳千名小学生冒雨表演庆“六一”
　　5月28日上午,河南省洛阳市老城区教育局在一高中操场上举行了庆六一阳光体育队列展示暨表彰活动。
　　表彰大会上,千余名小学生进行了阳光体育队列展示,目的是庆祝六一国际儿童节,集中展示学校阳光体育活动开展成果。期间突然下起阵雨,学生们只能穿着单薄的演出服装冒雨表演了十几分钟。等待演出的学生有的在雷锋巨幅喷绘下避雨,有的把演出用的小凳子放在头上,而领导们则坐在主席台上观看。     

城市精神、大众文化与青年社会化

现代化不仅伴生了大众文化也伴生了城市化。青年的主体部分集中在城市,城市恰恰又是大众文化的天下,而以商业文化为本质的大众文化由于它的平面化、世俗化,成为青年社会化的文化环境恶化的主要因素。因此如何在城市化进程中提高大众文化的品质,以改善青年社会化的文化环境,成为一个需要迫切解决的课题。笔者认为可以以塑造代表先进文化、体现社会主导型价值观的城市精神,来提高大众文化的品质,从而为青年的社会化创造一个良好的文化环境。     

Veblen and Weber, on the Spirit of Capitalism

Abstract Sociology has benefited from inquiries into the theoretical potential in the writings associated with individual 'authors', as well as from the examination of research 'topics' through the works of two or more writers. Of these complementary approaches, the latter provides the basis for this essay. The focus here is on the 'spirit' of modern capitalism from the standpoint of the formulations by Veblen and Weber. These writers provide alternative hypotheses on the decisive variable instrumental to the spirit of capitalism, namely, technology and religion respectively. In most other respects there is remarkable similarity in the two writings. The present analysis has enabled the comprehension of the spirit of capitalism in terms of four sequential phases. These are: early capitalism (capitalism as spirit); early-modern capitalism (capitalism as spirit and economic organization); late-modern capitalism (spiritless capitalism); and post-modernity (society in need of a spirit).     

精神的边界－－网德教育视野中“黑客精神”的解读

几年来,“黑客”情结一直在纠缠青少年网民,难以理顺。本文通过对黑客精神的哲理分析,进一步揭示其实质内涵,以提高青少年网络意识。     

Spirit Coinciding with Nature

I have given a name to the studio where I make my soft sculptures: Spirit Existing. It means that my life exists together with my spirit; that spirit is inseparable from body. I believe the original nature of life is the most beautiful thing in the world. On September 6th, 1997, I handed in my resignation to the tax bureau where I worked. Leaving my family and my son at home, I came to Beijing alone to create a new life for myself. As a woman making such a choice at the age of 35, I