At the intersection of globalization and ‘civilizational originality’: cultural production in Putin’s Russia

ABSTRACT

This special issue originates from a transnational collaboration of scholars in philology, comparative literature, social theory, sociology, anthropology, ethnography, and media studies. The collection strives to advance a research agenda built on the nexus of three intellectual and academic domains: post-Soviet ‘Russian cultural studies’, the research paradigm put forward by Cultural Studies, as well as empirical methods developed in sociology. The collection illustrates the importance of expanding the experience of Cultural Studies beyond its established spheres of national investigation, while it also speaks to the necessity to re-evaluate the hegemony of the English-language academic and cultural production on the global scale. The collection offers insights into the gamut of cultural practices and institutional environments in which Russian cultural production happens today. It shows how cultural industries and institutions in Russia are integrated into the global marketplace and transnational communities, while they also draw on and contribute to local lives and experiences by trying to create an autonomous space for symbolic production at personal and collective levels. Through diverse topics, the issue sheds light on the agency, i.e. practitioners and participants, creators and consumers, of Russian cultural production and the neoliberal practices implemented on creative work and cultural administration in Russia today. The Introduction outlines the development of academic studies on Russian cultural practices since 1991; describes main political developments shaping the cultural field in Putin’s Russia; and, finally, identifies the Cultural Studies debates the editors of the collection find most productive for investigations of Russia, i.e. the instrumentalization of culture and culture as resource. Relocated in an analysis of a post-socialist society, these conceptualisations seem increasingly problematic in a situation where local and federal policies governing cultural and creative work focus simultaneously on marketization and on nationalism as the main tools of legitimizing the federal government.     

伊朗伊斯兰共和国政治体制探究

1979年伊朗爆发了伊斯兰革命,从表面看,革命的胜利是政教合一体制建立的主要原因。然而在经过两伊战争、政治孤立、经济制裁、伊核危机和总统大选风波后,这种政治体制仍能稳步发展且依然具有活力的深层原因很值得研究。本文将通过波斯传统的政治思想、伊斯兰教什叶派的宗教思想、外来现代化思想的影响和其他模式尝试的失败等四个方面来揭示这一体制得以确立和发展的内在根源。     

信任缺失:新生代农民工身份建构与政治认同

新生代农民工城市融入的本质是新生代农民工与城市市民、城市社会组织及政治的互动与认同,这种互动与认同以信任为基础。其中人际信任、组织信任与政治信任分别构成新生代农民工身份建构的基础、融入城市的社会资本与政治认同的基础。由于当前社会人际信任缺失、组织信任匮乏与政治信任偏低,导致新生代农民工陷入身份建构与政治认同困境。因此只有通过修复新生代农民工的人际信任、增进其组织信任、重构政治信任方能构建起积极的身份认同。     

中国青年政治意识的未来发展

青年政治意识作为社会政治现象中的一个特殊方面,对中国、中国特色社会主义乃至中国特色社会主义政治的长远发展都具有重要的现实意义。以社会主义公共意识为基础,以主体性、发展性为一般属性,以政治性、积极性和行动性为特殊属性的政治行动意识作为主体政治心理走向政治人格的重要中介,是中国青年政治意识发展的未来取向,以政治参与意识为中心的青年政治行动意识培养是中国青年政治意识未来发展的重要路径。     

Modern Traditionalism: Consanguineous Marriage in Qatar

Consanguineous marriage, or matrimony between biological relatives, is commonplace and on the rise in Qatar, an ethnically heterogeneous Middle Eastern country. Previous studies have demonstrated that modernization often reduces traditional forms of marriage, such as arranged and consanguineous matrimony. Qatar's rapid modernization, however, has coincided with increased rates of endogamy. In this article, the authors examine the social processes that shape normative consanguineous marriage formation and progression in Qatar. On the basis of in‐depth interviews (n = 35) with men and women engaged or married to a cousin, they detail the categorical schemas that lead to consanguineous matrimony: reservation, joking, filtering, engagement, and courtship. In describing these social exchanges, the authors illustrate 2 key features embedded within them: (a) their distinct tempo and (b) how participants frame their experiences using discourses of romantic love. Reflecting larger cultural practices and attitudes in Qatar, the authors found an amalgam of contemporary and conventional that they label modern traditionalism.     

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.     

主流政治大片的政治审美与国家形象的构建

近年来,以《建国大业》、《建党伟业》等为主导的影片迅速形成了主流政治大片的新类型。但不得不指出,这种类型倚重"数星星"的娱乐议题,割裂了审美认知与情感关系,导致认知功能的丧失,难以有效地阐释政治观念及其价值,反过来也影响到审美情感的丰富性与深刻性,政治叙事缺乏感染力。我们认为,当下电影的高票房与社会议题的设置关系密切。主流政治大片需要从当下政治实践与国际政治的两个维度上,运用包括领袖人物与政治观念等多义与复杂性,设置吸引大众关注、积极参与的政治议题,从而塑造出一个理性的国家形象。     

中国共产党对江淮旅沪同乡会政治动员初探(1925-1949)

江淮旅沪同乡会是苏北旅沪移民社团中规模最大的同乡团体,其理事长亦是上海青帮中势力颇大的头目。中国共产党在与江淮旅沪同乡会打交道过程中,积累了丰富的政治动员经验:利用同乡、亲属关系,对该社团的核心人物进行动员,进而影响整个团体的政治态度;国民党的独裁、腐朽统治,加速该社团倾向革命;挖掘江淮人讲义气的性格特质,顺利实现政治动员。中国共产党动员江淮同乡会,并不是肯定同乡组织及青帮;解放后,这类组织被逐步消解。中国共产党对江淮旅沪同乡会的政治动员,是中国共产党在具体革命实践中灵活运用统一战线的尝试,动员一切可以动员的力量加入到革命队伍中来,扩大了党的群众基础,丰富和发展了马克思主义统一战线理论。     

改革攻坚:对当代中国改革一个重大基本问题的分析

改革攻坚源发于我国后发现代化语境下政治权力主导的渐进改革模式。改革攻坚是针对处于体制核心领域即政治权力系统中严重阻滞改革进一步深化的消极因素而言的。这些消极因素包括实体因素、体制因素与具体问题因素三个相互交织、相互强化的层次。改革攻坚意味着政治权力系统必须针对自身深化改革,进一步增强自身的制度规范性与治理有效性。中国改革大致在20世纪90年代中后期进入攻坚阶段。     

中东剧变以来的东盟与海合会关系研究

中东剧变对阿拉伯世界整体格局和阿拉伯板块在国际体系中的地位产生了深刻影响。阿拉伯世界转型促使海合会正不断向阿拉伯君主共同体转型,也加快了东盟本身及其许多成员国的民主化进程。面对当前海合会从海湾次地区力量迈向中东地区性力量的战略走向,东盟在政治与经济层面加强了与海合会的协作,海合会的大国外交战略也将不断变化中的东盟纳入其重要战略目标领域。尽管如此,双边政治合作仍滞后于经贸合作,东盟—海合会自由贸易区仍是未来的首要目标。