The politics of leisure and labor mobilities: discourses of tourism and transnational migration in Central Java,Indonesia

This article presents narratives and tropes of transnational tourism from a less considered perspective: rural migrant-origin villagers of Central Java. Drawing from ethnographic fieldwork conducted in Cilacap and Yogyakarta, I analyze how and why some former temporary labor migrants depict their typically harsh experiences in terms of tourism and leisure. Addressing the tendency in current research to approach labor migration and tourism as mutually exclusive or unrelated class categories and experiences, I consider the ways in which former migrants and non-migrant villagers evaluate or identify labor migration in terms of gender, class, religious, and ethno-national subjectivities associated with ‘tourist’ and/or ‘migrant’ categories. Popular and commercial imaginations of leisure travel and tourism importantly shape the subjectivities and positionalities of precarious labor migrants. Foregrounding the relations between tourism and labor migration reveals the multi-scalar ways in which associated discourses and infrastructures of both mutually shape and constitute global socio-economic inequalities.     

Culture, state and varieties of capitalism: a comparative study of life insurance markets in Hong Kong and Taiwan

This article examines the interplay between local culture, the state, and economic actors' agency in producing variation across markets. I adopt a political-cultural approach to examining why life insurance has been far more popular in Taiwan than Hong Kong, despite the presence of a cultural taboo on the topic of premature death in both societies. Based on interview data and documentary references, the findings reveal that as an independent state, the Taiwanese government heavily protected domestic insurance firms during their emergence. These domestic firms adopted a market-share approach by re-defining the concept of life insurance to accommodate the local cultural taboo. The colonial Hong Kong government, on the other hand, adopted laissez-faire policies that essentially favoured foreign insurance firms. When faced with the tension between local adaptation and the profitability of the business, these foreign firms chose the latter. Their reluctance to accommodate local cultures, however, resulted in a smaller market. I argue that state actions mediate who the dominant economic players are and that the nature of the dominant players affects the extent of localization. Specifically, the presence of competitive domestic players alongside transnational corporations is more likely to produce varieties of capitalism.     

中亚东干族文化传统及近年中亚地区汉语教学的发展

中亚东干族是中国陕甘回民的后裔,是因战争迁徙而聚居于哈、吉、乌三国的华人群体。本文考察中亚东干族的形成,分析其突出的文化表征,阐述东干文化对中国汉文化的继承,介绍国内对东干留学生的汉语教学与中亚地区汉语教学的现状及发展前景。     

12世纪前中央亚细亚草原的鞑靼人及其国家

波斯史学家拉施特丁的《史集》为研究蒙古人统治之前中央亚细亚草原上鞑靼人的历史提供了重要信息。拉施特丁认为,蒙古人统治之前中央亚细亚草原地区的居民以突厥部落为主,其组织"结构"为6个鞑靼人国家。本文以鄂尔浑和叶尼塞河流域突厥如尼文碑铭记载为依据,参照汉文史籍、敦煌和波斯手稿等的记载,探讨了9—12世纪在甘肃和新疆的广阔地域内活动的鞑靼人及其政权、9世纪上额尔齐斯河流域基马克人及其部落联盟的形成与鞑靼人之间的关系。     

Personal reflection and experience of a Fulbright Scholar: teaching a mental health course in Vietnam’s changing culture

This paper documents the experience of developing and teaching a course on mental health for undergraduate social worker students during a semester in Vietnam. Social work is a profession at the early stages of development in Vietnam, requiring much curriculum development. There are over 40 universities with undergraduate social work education programs, but few of the faculty have had training or experience in practicing social work. The paper will summarize the main reasons for developing such a course given the current state of mental health need and services in a changing culture, as well as the current state of professional social work education and the newly established profession of social work. The author describes the contexts underlying the course—the status of social work and social work education in Vietnam, the context of mental health and mental illness in Vietnam, and curriculum adaptation to the cultural context. From this experience, the lessons learned about the role of cross-cultural critical thinking, cultural knowledge, and other strategies will be discussed about teaching a subject like mental health internationally.     

中亚回族民间文学探析

中亚回族即东干族,是清末由中国西北地区迁移到中亚地区的一批回民及其后裔。中亚回族中至今流传有很多民间故事和民间谚语等。其民间文学丰富多彩,既保留有中国传统文化的色彩,也具有东干族的民族特征,充分表明了中亚回族人对中华文化的热爱与坚守。     

威权政治建构中的族际整合——以东南亚国家为例

处于从传统向现代社会转型的后发展多民族国家的族际整合问题,是现代政治学面临的一个重要课题。独立后的东南亚国家在威权政治的国家建构方式中,实施相对合理有效的族际整合方略,在整合民族关系、维护国家统一和推进经济现代化方面为后发展国家提供了宝贵经验,同时为自身向现代民主政治转型创造了条件。     

儒家祭祀文化与东亚书院建筑的仪式空间

祭祀文化是儒家礼制文化最重要的内容之一,祭祀是书院教育的一个重要组成部分。中韩两国的书院都有祭祀的建筑以及相应的仪式空间。东亚书院祭祀建筑的布局有着严格的规矩,遵照传统礼制思想中的方位观念。因礼仪交往行为中的宾主位置关系形成了古代建筑(包括书院建筑)中的东西阶制度。     

万历朝鲜役及其对东亚政治格局的影响

万历朝鲜役是四百多年前发生在朝鲜半岛的一场国际战争,战争最终虽以正义的胜利而告终,却使明朝与朝鲜由盛转衰,并给女真以迅速崛起的机会.此后,后金取代明朝成为朝鲜的宗主国,形成了新的东亚政治格局.战争彻底改变了日本国内各派政治力量的对比,丰臣秀吉集团的势力彻底垮台,此后以史为鉴的德川幕府,再未动侵朝的念头,一直持续到明治维新以后.万历朝鲜之役对当时东亚的政治格局产生了深远的影响.     

东北亚自然资源状况及开发前景

东北亚地区特别是蒙古和俄罗斯远东地区蕴藏着十分丰富的自然资源 ,对于本地区资源相对贫乏而经济发展对资源需要量日益增大的中国、日本、韩国来说具有极大的吸引力。从目前来看 ,与蒙古和俄罗斯搞好合作开发的前景是十分乐观的