Can we ‘transform our world’ without affecting international power relations? A political analysis of the United Nations development agenda

The Millennium Development Goals and Sustainable Development Goals are the latest instalments of a development endeavour started by the United Nations (UN) after WWII. This article conducts a discourse analysis of the UN development agenda, drawing on Laclau and Mouffe’s post-Marxist thought – which combines post-structuralist discourse analysis and Marxist (Gramscian) political analysis. The essay exposes the ontological tenets underlying the UN’s agenda, and how it conditions the way social issues are understood and addressed. It explains how the agenda conceals the political dimension of development and sustainability debates. Rather than ‘transform our world’, the UN development agenda (1) hinders practices that would truly transform it in terms of more emancipation and justice, and (2) subtly reinforces the power dynamics that sustain the status quo in which underdevelopment, poverty, inequality, and exclusion emerged.     

“Welfare Mother” Activism,Mainstream Feminism,and the Cunning of History in Ontario’s 1970s Welfare Debate

ABSTRACT

This article examines the voice of mobilized welfare mothers and the mainstream women’s movement in the welfare debate of the 1970s in Ontario. A question debated was whether welfare mothers had a right to “stay home” while receiving welfare. The article shows that a radical strain of welfare mother activists at this time demanded recognition of women’s unpaid work. While mainstream women’s groups were generally sympathetic to welfare mothers, their overriding focus on employability as the solution to their poverty served to derail the radical possibilities of welfare mother politics and solidify a policy agenda that undermined the deserving status of welfare mothers.     

One narrative or several? Politics,cultural elites,and citizens in constructing a ‘New Narrative for Europe’

ABSTRACT

European Union (EU) institutions have cultivated narratives of European integration for a long time. For its 2013–2014 ‘A New Narrative for Europe’ project, however, the European Commission for the first time explicitly used the ‘narrative’ label. Drawing on non-participant observation, semi-structured interviews and qualitative discourse analysis, this article contrasts the drafting process and the resulting declaration’s narrative structure and content with its discussion by citizens in a web-based consultation. The analysis shows that participating citizens forcefully demanded a bottom-up debate and advocated pluralistic perspectives. In these circumstances, elite-driven attempts at strengthening European identity and EU legitimacy are likely to be ineffective.     

美国宗教政治的基本经验

在关注美国宗教与民主政治关系的同时,去分析宗教信仰对美国政治的影响。普遍认为不了解美国宗教就不理解美国这个国家,因为在这个国家里,处于主导地位的基督教文化长期影响美国的政治,但是我们发现9·11之后,这一传统模式正在迅速改变,其它宗教文化正在快速渗入到美国的政治经济文化之中。这种趋势对美国的政治到底有多大影响,及如何实现它的政治作用,这些甚至能帮助我们预测美国未来的政治发展走向。     

中小型儿童福利院的发展现状及出路思考

随着我国政府职能的转换以及市场经济的发展,许多民间福利性组织纷纷发展壮大,民间福利组织由于经营方式灵活,自治能力较强,所以在很大程度上迎合了社会的需求。而创建于早期的中小型官办福利组织(养老院、儿童福利院等),由于管理的滞后,经营理念的单一,在很大程度上已经不能满足日益膨胀的社会需求。本文先对现阶段中小型儿童福利院所存在的一系列问题及其原因进行了分析,然后从结构功能主义的角度提出了改革构想。     

西方多元文化教育探究

多元文化教育是当今世界教育热门话题之一,同时也是全球化时代的一个基本的教育理念.文章着重探讨西方多元文化教育的产生背景、概念和宗旨,以及课程设置和教学法,等等,以期对我国的多元文化教育起到一定的借鉴作用.     

美国的利益集团政治理论综述

较为系统地介绍了美国的利益集团政治理论,包括早期的利益集团政治理论,20世纪上半叶的利益集团政治理论,多元主义集团政治理论,精英主义集团政治理论以及利益代表制理论等。并对不同时期和不同派别的理论观点进行了比较和评析。     

21世纪文化的冲突与客家文化的发展

21世纪人类文化发展走向是全球化大趋势下的多元化.东方文化将面临西方文化新一轮冲击.客家文化将如何面对并在冲突中求得发展?这是需要认真研讨的.我们不能重开殖民主义时代以“文化孤立主义”对抗“文化霸权主义”的“文化保卫战”,而应该以“海纳百川,有容乃大”的心态与积极主动的姿态,吸纳他种文化的精华,为发展自己的文化服务.     

马克思主义和社会主义女性主义视角下的中国女性福利探讨

本文通过回顾马克思主义和社会主义女性主义两种理论文献,指出结合这两种理论的视角才能更好地解释和研究现时中国女性福利的问题。这是因为,即使中国妇女达到马克思主义女性主义所倡导的“高就业、高福利”的要求,但是实践上仍然存在职业间隔、福利脆弱、易受失业冲击等问题。所以需借用社会主义女性主义“父权制”的观点来看待,才能更深入地探究中国妇女现时碰到的关于福利方面的问题。     

浅谈儿童福利机构社工岗位的设置

社会工作者专业正式纳入全国专业技术职称体系,标志着社会工作专业将进入可持续、快速发展阶段。本文通过对儿童福利机构以及孤残儿童的需求分析,论述了社会工作人才队伍建设的必要性,提出在儿童福利机构中设置社工岗位的设想。