“走廊”与“通道”:中国西南区域研究的人类学再构思

中国西南的人类学研究有着深厚的区域研究传统。改革开放之后,西南研究陆续出现了＂区域模式＂、＂族群模式＂和＂跨境模式＂三种研究范式。其中＂区域模式＂更贴近于社会历史现实,具有强烈的学科问题意识。至二十一世纪,基于历史上民族的源流考察与走势判断,兴起了诸如西南丝绸之路、茶马古道、滇黔驿道、进藏公路等＂通道＂研究。这种基于＂走廊＂学说和＂通道＂研究而展开的＂区域模式＂,将交互性和流动性作为研究之重点,来深入地阐释形塑西南中国社会人文特质的关系结构,将有利于中国人类学获得更符合中国历史文化经验的世界图式,也有助于具体研究者获得真正的文化自觉和认知主体性。人类学的中国西南研究只有基于＂区域性＂的大视野来展开,在一种关系格局中来寻找西南研究的问题意识,才能摆脱＂民族性＂的现代叙事,并对＂民族认同＂这样的问题有所超越,最终回归到当地的社会历史现实和人文形态特质来深化对中国西南的认识把握,从而在学理上展开一些更为深入的对话。     

Apps4Africa: A new State Department public diplomacy initiative

In 2010 the U.S. State Department funded an “Apps4Africa” contest to encourage development of socially conscious mobile applications for Africa. The initiative marked a significant departure from traditional public diplomacy efforts to expand diplomatic outreach beyond traditional government-to-government relationships. This case study analyses Apps4Africa to reveal its appropriateness as a model for future efforts and concludes Apps4Africa succeeded primarily because it responded to the changing dynamics of the 21st Century.     

Grandparental Involvement and South African Adolescents’ Psychological Well-Being

This study was designed to explore the grandparent-grandchild relationship from the perspective of South African adolescents, and to investigate whether grandparental involvement is independently associated with adolescents’ psychological well-being. Data were collected from 204 adolescents (mean age = 13.69) using a school-based survey. Results revealed high levels of contact between grandparents and grandchildren, although involvement varied depending on grandparent, grandchild, and family characteristics. Grandparental involvement was significantly associated with more adolescent prosocial behavior, independent of parental involvement. The findings suggest a unique association between grandparental involvement and prosocial behavior that is robust across different cultural contexts.     

The translocal villagers. Mining,mobility and stratification in post-apartheid South Africa

Internal labour migration from rural areas to urban centres has been and remains one of the dominant patterns of migration in South Africa. Based on data from ethnographic field research, this paper explores the mobility patterns and translocal relations of miners in the Northern Cape province of South Africa. By considering the tension between mobility and locality in a historical and political perspective, the concept of translocality helps to explain why miners try to expand their action space and, at the same time, why they are embedded in certain places. Thus, a translocal perspective enhances the interpretation of the spatio-temporal transformations in South Africa’s mining communities and beyond, as it sheds light on the agency of mine workers, superseding merely structuralist explanations.     

The role of social work field education programmes in the transmission of developmental social work knowledge in Southern and East Africa

This paper reports on the findings of a study on the role of social work field education programmes in the transmission of developmental social work knowledge in Southern and East Africa. It highlights the challenges in locating developmental social work placements and the creativity shown by social work educators in addressing these challenges and improving learning opportunities for social work students. Both academics and students were found to be committed to developmental social work, within a willing practice environment hampered by knowledge, capacity and resource constraints. Social work education was found to be playing a transformative role through the teaching of a developmental social work curriculum and the creation of collaborative developmental social work learning experiences. Social work educators trained and supported agency supervisors in developmental social work, while students served as conduits, modelling developmental social work practice. What has yet to be determined in future research is the students’ perspective of this developmental educational environment.     

Review essay: on Mamdani’s mode of thought

This essay tracks the formation of a global intellectual, perhaps the only one, whose work moves across Africa, America and Asia. Mahmood Mamdani has been a central figure engaging in explaining the most controversial issues such as refugees, popular versus state nationalism, mass killings (Rowanda), settler versus native, colonial citizenship and its governed subject, September 11, the Dafur movement (and its self-indulgence), Imperial Human Rights, decolonizing university and knowledge production (the US as the first and never decololinzed), settler colonialism, etc. Fearless and thoroughly grounded, Mamdani’s mode of thought is to historicize the conditions of the existence of the problematics in question with a theorization emerging out of the analyses. As a whole, Mamdani’s political practices as educator and public intellectual and the body of brilliant work have been inspirational. The essay is written as an introduction to Decolonizing the World: A Mahmood Mamdani Reader, a collection of his selected work, to open the channel of interaction between Asia and Africa.     

Stereoscopic visions: reading colonial and contemporary African photography

This piece argues for the importance of critical engagements with photographs in order to explore and rethink the past, to reflect on the present and to imagine the future. It provides a brief overview of the articles that constitute the first part of the Social Dynamics special issue on photography in Africa, a collection that contributes to the growing body of scholarship that deepens our understandings of the significance of photography on the continent.     

Reforming Land‐Tenure Systems in South Africa: Routes to Socio‐Economic and Agricultural Sustainability

Given the historical development of land tenure in South Africa, the aim of this article is to examine the best routes to alleviate poverty and retain sustainable agriculture in the country. First, a theoretical framework is presented that relates land tenure to sustainability, and three historical periods (pre‐colonial, colonial, and apartheid) are then considered to explain the changes in land tenure and their consequences. The progress and main limitations of post‐apartheid land reform to approach agricultural sustainability and alleviate poverty are discussed. Based on the analysis, different possibilities for future land reform are elaborated, followed by some recommendations for future land‐reform policies in South Africa.     

通识教育:西南联大“三常委”办学理念的认同

执校西南联大的梅贻琦、蒋梦麟、张伯苓是否具有通识教育的理念与认同(尤其是张伯苓是否赞成通识教育),是西南联大史研究中的一个命题。西南联大能够实施通识教育,深层次上的主要原因是居于西南联大最高领导层的"三常委"有着通识教育理念的认同。这种认同,集中体现在:"发展个性,完善人格;健强体魄,担当重任;文理兼融,博通为先;团体协作,消除涣散;陶冶情操,提高素养"五个方面。它表明西南联大要培养具有合理的知识结构与能力结构、品行高尚、判断独立、身体素质良好、情趣丰富高雅、勇于承担社会责任的全面发展的人。西南联大人才培养的成就及其学子的成长体悟,充分说明通识教育是高质人才辈出的重要因素。     

南非驰名商标保护第一案:麦当劳案

驰名商标的概念已为世界各国所接纳,但各国对驰名商标的认定和保护措施各不相同。1996年的"麦当劳诉朱伯格旅行饭店有限公司案"是南非新《商标法》出台后在驰名商标保护方面的第一案,南非对驰名商标的认定及保护措施在该案中得到了较好的体现和运用。该判例在商标权保护方面的重要地位,对于我国驰名商标保护亦有重要的借鉴意义。