THE POPULAR IN THE POLITICAL SYSTEM

This paper suggests a systems theoretical re-reading of popular communication and the Popular in the political system. Luhmann' anti-humanist notion of communication helps to reframe the discussion of the Popular: it is not defined by an en- or decoding instance, but by a particular mode of ‘connectivity'. Drawing from heterogeneous material (Mars Attacks!, crowd psychology, theory of democracy), it is argued that the problem of the Popular arises when a functional system has to represent something that transgresses the system' universality. That which the system has to exclude to become a system re-emerges as ‘grotesque hybrid’, thus pointing at a universality that is, on the one hand, an opportunity for a further universalization and, on the other, a threat to the very universality of the system. The ‘Popular’ thus acquires a hybrid position by articulating these two dimensions.     

非法证据排除规则实施的制约因素和对策分析

刑事诉讼法明确规定了非法证据排除规则,但其实施却受多种因素的制约。首先,从环境因素看,我国法律缺乏足够的权威,非法证据排除规则目前难以从现有法律体系中获得力量。其次,从主观上看,它受到社会占统治地位的意识形态、刑事法律的主要精神、社会传统价值观念的制约。其三,从客观上看,其实施会受到行政机关的影响。要从根本上解决非法证据排除规则的实施问题,要实现法治,树立法律的权威,当前要做的是逐步解决上面提及的阻碍其实施的具体因素。     

从乡村到城市：排斥到融合——农民工融入城市之路

＂农民工＂为中国城市社会、经济发展做出了巨大贡献,但这一特殊群体在城市中遭遇政治、经济、文化等多层面的社会排斥,社会融合等问题逐渐凸显。终结＂农民工＂的＂边缘＂状态,推动其融入城市社会,既要改革相关制度,完善管理模式,切实解决好、维护好农民工的权益,也要进行全方位的战略思考,推动农民工社会网络的再建构,促进其自由全面发展。     

One of us? Reaction formation and inclusion as a strategy in the ethnic state

Many states question how to manage burgeoning migration. This is particularly problematic for ethnic states whose foundation myths imagine the state as the home for the nation. In this paper, we argue that ethnic states engage a type of defense mechanism, ‘reaction formation’, as part of migration policy to distract attention from threats to the claimed ethnic homogeneity that undergirds the reason for the state's existence. Using Israel as a case of a planned ethnic state, we show how a state develops a spectrum of membership models to incorporate ‘others’ into the nation-state. We suggest that Israel could conceivably devise some arrangement to incorporate the several hundred thousand labor migrants currently resident there. We argue that the state is reluctant to recognize these migrants as ‘Israeli’ because to do so would reveal a hidden truth: Israel may be becoming more Israeli than Jewish and, thus, the recognition of labor migrants and their children provokes questions about Israel's very reason for existence, that is, being a Jewish state.     

Contesting exclusion in a multi-ethnic state: rethinking ethnic nationalism in Nigeria

On the surface, ideas of a Nigerian state with common citizenry, free from ethnicity, religious bigotry and regionalism were pursued by Nigerian nationalists. Generally, a state united in common political practices, equal opportunities and under the same law was envisaged. However, the process leading to independence was characterised by ethnic nationalism. In the decolonisation era, group interest was reified and elevated above national struggle for self-government. The post-colonial project of constructing a common citizenry with the same aspirations, one Nigerian identity with a cosmopolitan outlook instead of ethnic loyalty, therefore largely eluded the country. Over the last five decades, the deepest attachment has increasingly been that of ethnic and regional consciousness. Ethnic nationalism has increasingly won support in an atmosphere of greed and clientelism. Several complex crises are currently manifesting themselves in ethnic forms. The situation has been exacerbated by political and economic exclusion, which has awakened forces and organisations that fight for ethnic and regional aspirations. This paper deals with the issue of group identification during the colonial period, especially from 1945. It also explores the extent to which the pattern of nationalist struggle defined the crucial issues of ethnic crises in post-colonial Nigeria. Finally, it examines the dimensions of the contest for citizenship.     

Travel Demand Management and Social Exclusion

Demand management policy and practice has been focused on the need to reduce car‐based trips and the level of congestion. Mode‐shift goals of transport policy now require a greater balance between congestion reduction objectives and the equally important policy objectives of social inclusion and safety. This paper examines transport disadvantage and social exclusion in urban Scotland. The work provides an overview of the trends and transport patterns in deprived areas. It examines the impact of income and gender on journey time and lifestyle and demonstrates the differential effects of transport access on the ability to access goods and services. The paper also looks at policies that are being developed to tackle the effects of transport disadvantage.     

Injecting and Rejecting,Framing and Failing

This paper seeks to examine how female subjectivities are privileged by Canadian human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination discourse and, in turn, how homosexual male subjectivities are displaced. Employing a Critical Discourse Analysis approach, I analyze selected HPV vaccination (HPVV) promotional materials, and depict the discursive strategies which privilege and exclude gendered subjectivities. My critical analysis is influenced by feminist linguistic works that seek to uncover the discursive constructions around sexuality, gender and identity, and the discursive strategies used to communicate ideas about sexual health risks and responsible citizenship. In addition, I adopt feminist theories of knowledge and power to rethink the discursive representations of some bodies and subjectivities as normal, and Others as unintelligible within HPVV discourse in today's neoliberal time.     

An alternative measure of social wellbeing: analysing the key conceptual and statistical components of quality of life

Statisticians, policy makers and social researchers widely accept that there is a need to consider a more nuanced range of measures of quality of life that move beyond the economic domain and that take into account key aspects of an individual's life circumstances. Using data from an Australian household survey, a composite Wellbeing Index was created that covered objective circumstances, with known associations to wellbeing, evaluated from the individual's subjective viewpoint. The robustness of the measure comes from the fact that while covering a broad range of key dimensions, the index only includes the items deemed important components of wellbeing by a majority of respondents. The index was then used to explore the extent to which wellbeing is associated with other dimensions of quality of life that have currency in the contemporary literature. The study contributes to the contemporary debate on social wellbeing and adds new Australian evidence to a body of research that has been mainly based on European and American data.     

The nature and prevalence of kinship care: Focus on young kinship carers

Young kinship carers tend to be overlooked in kinship care policy and practice. This Australian research project explored the prevalence of kinship care households in Australia, with a particular focus on households headed by young kinship carers. Census data were utilized to explore the number of kinship care households across the carer age spectrum and some of their characteristics, including households with Indigenous carers and carers with a culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) identity. Characteristics of households headed by carers aged 16–30 years were explored in some detail, and comparisons made with young parents. The data pointed to particular challenges for young kinship carers in relation to post‐secondary education, employment and income security. Implications for policy and practice are discussed.