Making Bengali Brick Lane: claiming and contesting space in East London

Based on a recent empirical project on 'the Bengal diaspora', the paper explores the construction and contestation of meanings around the iconic East London street, Brick Lane. Taking the 2006 protests around the film Brick Lane as its starting point, the paper draws on original interviews conducted in 2008 with a range of Bengali community representatives, to examine the narratives of space, community and belonging that emerge around the idea of Brick Lane as the 'cultural heartland' of the British Bangladeshi community. By exploring the representation, production and contestation of 'social space' through everyday practices, the paper engages with and contests the representation of minority ethnic 'communities' in the context of contemporary multicultural London and examines the process of 'claiming' and 'making' space in East London. In so doing, the paper contributes to a critical tradition that challenges essentialising and pathologizing accounts of ethnic communities and racialized spaces, or that places them outside of broader social and historical processes - redolent, for example, in contemporary discussions about 'parallel lives' or 'the clash of civilizations'. By contrast, this paper views social space as made through movement and narration, with a particular emphasis on the social agency of local Bengali inhabitants and the multiple meanings that emerge from within this 'imagined community'. However, rather than simply stressing the unfinished and processual nature of spatial meanings, the paper insists on the historical, embodied and affective dimensions of such meaning making, and a reckoning with the broader social and political landscape within which such meanings take shape. The focus on Brick Lane provides an empirically rich, geographically and historically located lens through which to explore the complex role of ethnicity as a marker of social space and of spatial practices of resistance and identity. By exploring Bengali Brick Lane through its narratives of past, present and future, these stories attest to the symbolic and emotional importance of such spaces, and to their complex imaginings.     

Class voting, social change, and the left in Australia, 1943-96

The relationship between class and voting choices has been the subject of controversy in recent years, especially in connection with the apparent decline of the traditional left. This paper examines class voting in Australia, focusing on three major issues: (1) changes in the overall strength of class voting (2) realignment, or changes in the relative political positions of the classes (3) the connection between the strength of class voting and support for Labor. It finds that (1) there is a decline in 'general' class voting (2) much of this decline involves a realignment of certain middle class groups, but there is no support for the popular idea that class alignments have become more complex (3) there is no connection between the strength of class voting and Labor performance. Our results cast doubt on accounts that regard the electoral difficulties of left parties as a symptom of the decline of class.     

社会学方法论

理论和方法论二者齐头并进,社会学于是取得进展。社会学理论研究途径的多样性,在方法论的多样性上得到反映。“定量的”和“定性的”两种方法论之间的区别的贴切性已经消失或大大削弱,也许,把方法论作“上延的”和“下伸的”区分较此更有建设性。但须注意,这二者又是互补的,可以结合起来在同一研究项目中运用。所有的方法论均具有一种“非普遍”的性质,虽然又都各有特定的应用范围。多方法的分析的价值在于获取稳定的结果并开创子学科之间的交流。本文为通用的社会学研究程序提出四个“经典性”的步骤,并加上了两个往往不明显的基本步骤:信息在研究过程中的初步转换和最终转换。     

拉丁美洲人民对经济和政府作用的价值观

阿根廷、巴西、智利和墨西哥城市居民之重视个人自由,略微超过社会境遇的平等或收入分配的均等。因为他们还倾向于赞同私有制或企业主与雇员的混合控制而不是国有制,所以,这些价值观念往往有利于国有企业的私有化之风行拉美。然而,各种价值观念在各国内部各个社会阶层中的分布态势不同,而且,从60年代初至90年代初以来,此种分布态势显然一贯不变。 “世界价值观念研究中心”于1990年及1992年从这些国家里搜集的数据资料表明:各个社会阶级的价值观差异甚大,总的说来,拉丁美洲国民经济的根本改组是由领导精英通过私有化实现的,而不是出于舆论的推动。在这四个拉丁美洲国家里,最崇奉自由的价值观念者为上层阶级的成员,其次是中产阶级,他们还特别重视能够发挥个人主动性的工作职务。工人阶级的成员更注重于平等的原则,但是熟练工人阶级与非熟练工人阶级之间的差别很大,尤以阿根廷为最。     

论文化

一、文化的内容从社会学意义上来肯定文化慨念就要涉及除了生物特征以外的一切人类活动.靠这种简便和流行的方式来确认文化范围,我们就能够看到它包含除了生物遗传以外的所有人文现象、各种行为方式、态度、价值或信仰,人类作为社会成员所习得的技艺、物质材料的使用和生产等都是文化内容.     

喀麦隆的公众舆论和民意测验

目前所说的喀麦隆的“公众舆论”实际上是长期的历史、社会和政治发展的最终结果 ;从根源上追溯公众人物如何使用这个术语 ,有助于对之进行考察。本文将把喀麦隆的“公众舆论”的出现分为“三个阶段” ,即非殖民化时期、“大一统”时期和政治相对自由以来的时期 ;三个阶段持续地相互作用 ,并且都与喀麦隆政坛相继的结构变化息息相关。由此 ,我们可以看清公众话语发生变化的领域 ,看清国家政治的参与者 ,并对有关的政治状况进行思考。对“公众舆论”的“测验”能说明喀麦隆自1990年代“转型”以来政治话语、政治“活动”(相对于政治“职业”)和政治操作的各个方面 ,这也是作者想要阐明的。     

只有法则能给我们自由

前一段,有些青年学生受资产阶级自由化影响,认为“自由就是想说什么就说什么,想干什么就干什么,不应有任何限制和约束。”他们在这种错误的个人自由观的指导下说了许多违背四项基本原则的话,干了许多使亲者痛仇者快的事。     

从葛逻禄到喀喇汗王朝

葛逻禄是由三个部落组成的联盟,唐代时分属唐朝4个都督府管辖。从766年起葛逻禄成为伊斯兰世界的紧邻,并在中亚形成一种势力。840年蒙古高原的回纥汗国灭亡,回纥散往四方,其一支逃往葛逻禄避难。喀喇汗王朝是葛逻禄统治者接受了回纥汗国阿史那汗族（或“阿夫拉西亚勃家族”的一支）归这一家族所有的可汗职位。在伊斯兰历史著作中有三条关于萨曼王朝的伊斯玛因于893年对西部喀喇汗国战争的报道,它们可以相互补充。此外,这三个报道中还有关于喀喇汗王朝与葛逻禄为同一部族的重要情报。     

不仅仅是供求问题——博士生就业市场评估

多数博士生都希望能够致力于深入研究,因为他们喜爱自己的专业。统计数字表明,有博士学位的人的失业率低于没有博士学位的人,而工资则大大高于后者。2 0 0 1年,美国博士失业率略高于1 % ,中值年收入为660 0 0美元;而美国2 5岁以上(含2 5岁)成年人的总失业率是3 7% ,中值年收入为30 30 0美元。由美国国家科学基金会发起,美国国家卫生研究所、美国教育部、国家人文科学捐赠基金会、美国农业部和国家航空和空间管理局等5个联邦机构每年都对美国大学内的博士学位获得者进行调查。从1 970年到2 0 0 0年,每年的博士学位获得者增加了大约40 % :1 97…