Public Humanities' (Victorian) Culture Problem

Questioning scholars who claim that the public humanities are the future of the humanities, this article argues that contemporary public humanities initiatives reproduce Victorian cultural logics by reinforcing divisions between popular and national culture, defining democracy through the state and state institutions and maintaining social inequality while perpetuating imperialism. It contends that like Victorian cultural critics, especially Matthew Arnold and John Stuart Mill, who differentiate between culture and public culture in order to exclude particular social groups from democratic participation, these contemporary programs define culture institutionally in order to secure the authority of the university. Instead of changing the principle of knowledge or cultural authority, the public humanities strengthen and legitimate established power relations as they exclude minority cultural groups. Warning against channelling new energy into old forms, the article concludes by focusing on public culture as a mode of relation rather than an institutional form.     

近代早期英国农书写作的兴起

农书写作在近代早期英国的兴起是英国农业技术发展史上的一个重要现象。近代早期的英国在人口、农业、教育和观念等方面所发生的显著变化,为农书写作的兴起提供了有利条件。于是,近代早期英国农业作家的人数和新农书的数量不断增加。农书写作的形式多样,内容丰富。尽管近代早期英国的农书中仍然存在可疑的或荒谬的内容,但是它们包含了大量实用、易懂的内容,且在乡绅中拥有较多的读者。据此可以认为,近代早期英国的农书具有实用价值,在一些地方充当了传播农业技术的媒介。农书写作的兴起也因而对近代早期英国农业技术的发展起到了推动作用。     

19世纪中前期慈善主导英国下层初等教育原因

19世纪中前期,在宗教热情、社会稳定及中产阶级雄心等的刺激下,英国慈善事业空前繁荣。这一时期,政府机构不完善,不能承担正常的初等教育职能。而教育具有社会控制功能,能使社会下层服从既定的社会秩序,因此,以宗教团体为代表的各种慈善力量成为下层社会初等教育办学的主力军。     

Trust,Capitalism and Contract in English Economic History: 1500-1750

As most market transactions involved the extension of informal credit because of a lack of ready cash, this meant that interpersonal trust was of central importance, and, as a result, a reputation for honesty and fair dealing in the community was vital to being successful. Money was used only in a limited number of exchanges, and credit, in the form of household reputation, was a “cultural currency” of trust used to transact most business. Trust, belief, and credit all went together, and no distinction was made between economic and social credit, as credit produced wealth and status of the middling sort. As the market expanded in the late sixteenth century, networks of credit became more intertwined over longer geographical distances, and thus trust became more problematic, and disputes over debts led to contention. These produced an enormous amount of litigation as the common law was increasingly used to enforce contracts. This led to much downward mobility through over-indebtedness, which reinforced the social importance of having good credit, and consequently the culture of credit became increasingly legalised. Although competition for credit together with the need to maintain household profitability put stress on the social maintenance of trust in the market, the economy could not work without it. As a result, the increase in commerce was seen as an essentially sociable activity because it required trust. Trust gradually came to be interpreted as the basis of justice, and the necessity of keeping promises, as the foundation of all social organisation. But by 1750 litigation had collapsed to a very low level, and self- control and politeness on the part of rational individuals came to play a more important role in dispute settlement than legal means. Whereas in the early modern period conflict occurred and was dealt with after its occurrence, self-control aimed to prevent inter-personal conflict and litigation before they happened. As a result, the concepts of “capital” and “savings” developed in the eighteenth century, and the structure of credit networks was changed.     

Homicide and ‘Englishness’: Criminal Justice and National Identity in Victorian England

One venue for the formation of national identity that has received comparatively little attention in recent years, is that of the courtroom. In particular, the treatment of serious crimes in Victorian England involved a good deal of reference to notions of Englishness. In the course of their routine work, Victorian criminal courts promulgated particular and generally coherent views as to how ‘an Englishman’, as opposed to a foreigner, was expected to behave. This article examines how the judicial treatment of three types of nineteenth‐century violence – the duel, knife‐fighting and the killing of an adulterous spouse or his or her lover – contributed to reshaping the contours of male English national identity.     

马克思、恩格斯论述资本主义早期工人生活的 真实语境 ——论《资本主义与历史学家》的谬误

围绕“19 世纪资本主义早期工业化发展对工人阶级生存状况的影响”这一论题,哈耶克等人 向马克思、恩格斯发难,指责《英国工人阶级状况》对工人阶级生活遭遇的真实记录是对资本主义和 工业革命的全然否定。实际上,马克思和恩格斯并未否认资本主义早期工业化之前工人的生活已经面 临的各种苦难,而是拒绝借用这种苦难的面纱来掩人耳目,无视工人阶级在 19 世纪资本主义工业化早 期依然艰难甚至深化的困苦的生存境遇。他们强调,相对而言的社会进步,并不能掩盖工人阶级表现 不同但实质相同的异化处境。马克思、恩格斯正是在考察工人阶级劳动与生存状况的过程中,发现了 工人阶级作为变革社会的历史主体所背负的伟大使命。     

《英民史记》的译述及其在晚清中国的意义

《英民史记》是清末出版的英国史译著,由加拿大医师马林译自英国史学家约翰.理查.格林著的《英国人民简史》。此书并不是忠实于原著的译本,但却具有资产阶级史学的特点,并与当时的"新史学"潮流相结合,对中国的史学发展、资产阶级自由、平等、民主理念的传播及推动立宪都起到积极作用。     

How child welfare workers view their work with racial and ethnic minority families: The United States in contrast to England and Norway

This study builds on in-depth, semi-structured interviews with 93 child welfare workers employed in public child welfare agencies in the United States, Norway and England, and examines their perceptions of working with racial and ethnic minority families in contrast to White service users. Almost all workers reported on differences. In the United States, workers regarded cultural pluralism as a given and considered it an inherent feature of their work, regardless of the racial and/or ethnic background of the family. Further, they identified poverty, racism, and lack of feelings of entitlement as dimensions to practicing with minority families. A few mentioned language as an issue. The views of workers in the U.S. stand in stark contrast to the perceptions of workers in both England and Norway. They thought that communication challenges constituted a major problem, and that minority clients' lack of language proficiency and knowledge about society and social systems made it difficult for workers to understand families' meaning and intent (Kri? & Skivenes, 2009; 2010b). We discuss how caseworkers' perceptions may influence their decisions and affect minority disproportionality in the child protection system and analyze what factors may account for the cross-country differences we found. We also relate our findings to the broader question of citizenship and social rights in American society.     

都铎王朝赋税的来源与用途

16世纪,都铎王朝正处于由封建社会向近代社会的转型时期。转型时期的都铎王朝在许多方面都具备了近代特征,就赋税而言,都铎时期议会逐渐掌握了税收大权（包括赋税的征收及使用）,由此,近代英国赋税来源于议会。在赋税的使用方面,随着战争费用的增加及政府日常开支的扩大,议会授权税由主要用于战争和防卫转向政府日常开支和社会福利支出。     

英国宗教改革时期教士结婚状况述评

英国宗教改革时期,教士结婚的合法化进程一波三折,已婚教士的命运也随之起浮变化。这主要是由都铎政府的宗教政策缺乏连续性,民众对教士结婚存在心理障碍,以及教士婚姻本身存在问题。教士结婚是对人性与理性的回归,它促进了新教教义的传播。