Heating up the debate? Measuring fragmentation and polarisation in a German climate change hyperlink network

Research into polarisation on the internet has so far primarily focused on contentious issues and yielded contradictory results. Shifting the focus to a non-contentious setting, this article combines community detection with brokerage analysis and exponential random graph models to assess the degree of polarisation at different levels of a German hyperlink network on climate change. Although homophily accounts for a moderate degree of polarisation at the top level of the network, the communities reveal that other factors prove more decisive in shaping its structure and the article thus contributes to a more refined understanding of the nature of online polarisation.     

Family Therapy and the Pedagogy of the Oppressed: Therapeutic Use of Songs in Apartheid South Africa

A central issue for family therapy is the critical question of how to define its role in influencing social change. Family therapy has tended to focus on how to liberate and empower individual clients, not communities, from the travails of tradition. This article highlights social change mechanisms implemented by the oppressed majority in South Africa during the apartheid period. It draws inspiration from the pedagogy of the oppressed articulated by Steve Biko and other members of his generation. This enabled the Black majority in South Africa ‘to name their world by reflecting on their conditions, imagining a better world, and then taking action to create it’ (Freire, 1968, p. 253) through the use of revolutionary songs that resulted in the collapse of the cruel apartheid system. The implications for family therapy are discussed.     

Critical Reflections on the March for Science

Using MacKendrick (2017) as a springboard, this essay explores the March for Science as an example of social mobilization. I lay out some concerns regarding the use of this tactic as a response to attacks on science and suggest some ways sociology could contribute to the development of more efficacious actions to address the denigration of scientific knowledge.     

The Transnational Tilt of the Treadmill and the Role of Trade Openness on Carbon Emissions: A Comparative International Study, 1965–2010

There are various schools of thought regarding the relationship between the environment and economy. Ecological modernization argues that the harmful effects of economic growth and development on the environment decline through time, whereas the treadmill of production and ecologically unequal exchange postulate different perspectives. This study relies on World Bank and World Resources Institute data for the period of 1965–2010. Time‐series cross‐sectional Prais‐Winsten (PW) regression models with panel‐corrected standard errors (PCSE) are employed to examine whether economic growth and trade openness intensified or decoupled in relation to three measures of carbon dioxide (CO₂₎ emissions during this period. The findings of this study indicate that there has been a “tilt” in the treadmill of production—that is, the most environmentally degrading production processes have moved to less developed countries. Furthermore, integration into the world economy has been associated with an intensification in CO₂ emissions for less developed countries. Surprisingly, however, this phenomenon does not seem to be driven by exports sent to high‐income nations, suggesting that there are mechanisms embodied within the global organization of production that require further exploration.     

历史地缘政治背景下广西政治中心的选择与分省设想

唐后期,为了控驭广西西南部的非汉民族,在广西境内首次设立高层政区岭南西道,道治位于邕州,但历时短暂。从北宋到明代,在以民族因素为主导的地缘政治背景下,广西的政治中心长期位于桂林。清代中前期,民族因素对广西地缘政治的影响削弱,桂林作为省会只是历史惯性的作用。清后期爆发的边疆危机,成为广西地缘政治变动的新因素,广西省会由桂林迁往南宁成为历史发展的妊然趋势。     

试论黎族原始先民创造的生存技术——从黎族原始文化看其原始社会发展的历史轨迹

本文探究黎族原始先民创造的生存技术,以展示黎族原始社会发展的历史轨迹。     

论转型期中国政府职能制度变迁的条件初探

制度变迁是人们追求自己利益的规则选择,这种机制的发生是需要一定条件的。用马克思主义的观点来分析,就是事物的发展是一个矛盾的过程,这些矛盾就构成了事物发展的条件（动力）。文章通过对政府职能制度变迁发生的条件的系统分析,进而对处于转型期中国政府职能的制度变迁的条件作了深刻的剖析,以期对中国政府职能的转变具有借鉴意义。     

试论邓小平中国特色社会主义理论的历史性贡献

本文从三个方面论述邓小平中国特色社会主义理论的历史性贡献。     

生物灾害的防治与社会变迁——青海省东部牧区的个案分析

在社会变迁的大背景下,青海牧区频发的鼠虫灾害是生态环境日趋恶化的产物,是由于人类不恰当的活动所造成的生态灾难的一种表现形式。因此,牧区鼠虫灾害的防治,还需要从保持和维护生物多样性的高度,以科学的发展观为指导,通过科技创新,建立和完善生态补偿机制等具有针对性的举措,以实现人、社会与自然的协调发展。唯此,才能从根本上解决鼠虫等生物灾害的历史难题。     

论回汉民族关系的历史特点

本文从类型学的角度,对回汉关系在中华民族关系总体格局中所显示出来的历史特点进行了分析,以期为人们科学评价和准确把握回汉民族关系的现状和未来趋向提供一种背景和参照。作者认为,交错分布的民族居住格局、社会政治生活中的结构性融合、经济生产领域的互补传递性和文化上的求同存异是回汉民族关系的显著历史特点。