Enforcing Mobility: Spatial Mobility under the Regime of Activation

Abstract

Spatial mobility is rarely investigated with a view on social policy and welfare administrations. Yet, recent activation and workfare policies have increased pressures on the unemployed, with one of these pressures concerning spatial mobility, i.e. the requirement to accept jobs that entail long commuting hours or even relocation. This paper investigates the shift towards activation in Germany, focusing on increased demands on job-seekers’ mobility, and uses a governmentality perspective, supplemented by the concept of symbolic violence, to gain insight into the strategies and practices deployed by Public Employment Service (PES) staff to produce ‘mobile selves’. It demonstrates that perceptions of (im)mobility figure prominently in the assessment not only of job-seekers’ labour market prospects but also of their character and motivation to seek work. Thus, the personal and familial implications of mobility are considered as mitigating circumstances mainly in the case of older jobless with poor labour market prospects. The majority of job-seekers, and particularly those living in regions with high unemployment, are subject to efforts on the part of PES staff to make them understand the necessity of being as mobile as possible; if such insight is found wanting, pedagogical devices are deployed to enhance job-seekers’ mobility.     

借得山川秀,添来景物新——《红楼梦》与爱伦·坡小说的景物美

曹雪芹和爱伦.坡在他们的作品中皆从美学角度描述景物,一个景致就是一幅优秀的画和一首优美的诗。他们强调天然和谐为造园的基本原则,并显示世外桃源与人间仙境乃园艺思想的精深表述。景物美与人物美融为一体,以体现女性的崇高。景物的色彩赋予情感和生命的象征意义。景物的导引和园林布局的形式美以打破园林围墙封锁而扩大表现空间,从园林的有限空间去感受无限的艺术空间。     

“义”与“法”:林译小说序跋之现代性解读

林译小说序跋是林纾古文创作的组成部分,蕴含着其既继承又超越桐城派的古文理论思想。林纾将翻译小说作为开启民智、警醒国人的载体,在其序跋中介绍并评价外国的政治军事、风土人情、伦理道德、宗教文化等,所涉及的内容已超越了桐城派古文所规定的"义"的范畴;林纾肯定以狄更斯小说为代表的描写底层社会的现实主义创作方法,肯定外国小说之"法"与古文叙事、状物、摹人等方面的相通,破除桐城派古文在语言运用上的诸多清规戒律,逐步消解雅俗文学之间的壁垒,拓展了桐城派古文"法"之内涵。林纾的小说序跋无论是在"义"还是在"法"等方面,都体现出了对桐城派的明显超越,显示出强烈的现代性色彩。     

字书俗字研究之力作,后学进步之阶梯——评孔仲温《玉篇俗字研究》

《玉篇俗字研究》是台湾已故学者孔仲温的遗著之一。该书以宋本《玉篇》为研究对象,共分五章。作者使用"穷尽研究法"分析材料;追根溯源,揭示俗字字形的变化情况;使用"比较法"把宋本《玉篇》俗字和唐宋字书俗字作比较。作者具有鲜明的问题意识和读者意识,集中体现在《绪论》和附录的五个字表中。作者在俗字的认定和阐述个别俗字的构形时也存在少数小错误。总体来看,本书清晰地呈现了宋本《玉篇》俗字的状况,总结了俗字变化的一些规律,为同类研究及语言文字其他方面的研究提供了可资借鉴的方法。     

犹太教“纯洁观”分析

通过分析基督教与犹太教关于“纯洁化”的区别,从而指出在犹太教那里,“纯洁观”但是一种信念、一种行为态度或者说一种人际态度,它更是一种“特别化”的生活形式,这种“特别化”的生活形式既是犹太教徒与别的民族区别的关键所在,同时也是犹太教“世界性”的本质所在。     

浅谈诗歌翻译中的几个问题

诗歌是以形式为基础的文体,诗歌翻译既追求"神似",也追求"形似"。诗歌翻译中要体现原诗的意象美和形式美,讲究语言的准确性,并保持文体风格的一致性。     

主体品性的定格和物化——论稼轩词美与用典

稼轩词中大量的典故意象所含人物的崇高美和儒雅潇洒之美是稼轩主体品性美的反映。但这种崇高美和儒雅潇洒之美只是其表,"志士失职而志不平"和杜鹃啼血似的慷慨悲壮才是稼轩典故意象蕴涵的内美本质。典故意象之大量运用对稼轩词的主导美学特质具有重大影响,具体表现在:1.内容上奠定其用典之词情感基调的作用;2.形式上的"陌生化"效果和抒情话语的多样化特征。3.对其用典之词既慷慨悲壮又含蓄蕴藉的意境具有构境作用。     

两次鸦片战争前后清朝制炮技术研究

制炮技术包括材质、设备和工艺三大方面。两次鸦片战争前后,清朝铁炮材质以白口铸铁为主,此对制造技术和质量影响很大;处在封建手工生产方式主宰下的清朝火器界主要用泥模铸炮法铸造火炮,生产效率低,加工精度不高;复合金属炮的制造方法未得到广泛推行,早于欧洲的铁模铸炮技术限于部分新铸的铁炮使用。技术与社会两方面原因导致了清朝制炮技术与英国等西方列强存在着较大的差距。     

Dual modes of ‘Good will hunting’: Untangling the reputation and relationship correlations en route to foreign amity

The present study theorizes ways in which foreign publics’ different relationship building patterns are associated with the reputation of a host country and with the outcomes of those patterns, which yield positive behavioral intentions. The study first distinguished the reputational relationship group (i.e., those who lack firsthand experience with the host country) from the behavioral relationship group (i.e., those who have firsthand experience with the host country). Next, it further conceptualized and tested the structural paths that theoretically illustrate how reputation is built across these two different groups of foreign publics. Model testing results suggested that the two groups fit well with the respective models. The results imply that the puzzle of relationship’s and reputation’s causal influences on the formation of future behavior can be solved using differentiated communication strategies. An understanding of these two distinct processing models provides a new foundation for theory building in public relations and public diplomacy, as well as new ground for strategic relationship management with foreign publics.     

“镖不喊沧”地方象征符号与乡村社会秩序

"镖不喊沧"是地方象征符号的集中体现,武林强人借助该符号所赋予的民间权威,实现了对乡村秩序的控制。随着现代化时代的到来,"镖不喊沧"的民间符号逐步转型、演变成国家在场的现代象征符号——"沧州武术之乡"。