Institutional evolution and abrupt change: Reforming the administration of social assistance in Finland

Historical institutionalist studies have explained institutional change as resulting from critical junctures that interrupt long periods of stability or from endogenous, incremental evolution. Building on these theories, discursive institutionalists have focused on the roles of agency, ideas and discourse as explainers of change. Combining these approaches, this article analyses Finland’s decision in 2014 to transfer the administration of basic social assistance from municipalities to the central government. This study demonstrates that institutional change can be both abrupt and evolutionary. Due to sudden, exceptional political circumstances, the decision in question was made quickly and under pressure, circumventing possible veto players. However, it was possible only because of the incremental, endogenous change that had occurred in the way in which social assistance was administered at the municipal level. It enabled a change in political discourse, which eroded the credibility of the ideational frames that policy actors had previously utilised to reject the centralised model.     

“Who generates this city”? Socialist strategy in contemporary London

This essay, based on a “militant ethnography” of the attempts of the small radical grassroots activist group, Our London (a pseudonym), to mobilize a collective oppositional politics through activities around an election campaign, engages critically with E. Laclau and C. Mouffe's arguments on discourse and collectivity in Hegemony and Socialist Strategy (London: Verso, 1985). I argue, on the basis of my findings, that while their model does provide insights that help describe the process of building collectivity from among disparate perspectives and identities, we need to go beyond a focus on discourse alone and consider the ways politics is shaped by material contexts. This is necessary if we are to understand the continued appeal of class politics as well as the difficulties in mobilizing collectivity in highly unequal and fragmented cities. From an activist perspective, the essay also highlights how developing a conception of collective interests and a critique of overarching systems of exploitation can be important in building political unity.     

Linguists and other animals

Book reviewed in this article:
Joan Dunayer, Animal Equality: Language and Liberation     

论后印刷时代话语中图像与文字的关系

当代图像与文字的关系体现为“超媒体”和“互动电视网络系统”两种形式。传统符号学以语言为本体论基础来处理两者之间的关系在认识论上是误导，符号的本质也被还原为符号现象。图像与文字，由于各自的不同“给予”，具有不同的认识论要求。认知的中介本质、符号的非中立性以及符号体系必须拥有的三大元功能不仅为区别图像与文字奠定了认识论基础，而且也为探讨它们之间的关系提供了可能性，同时，更是理解虚拟现实的有效途径。     

全球化语境与文学的民族性

全球化与文学的民族性 ,从根本上说是一个历史问题在当前新的历史语境下的重新言说。它既表现出作为历史问题的滥觞所提供和积累的经验性意义 ,又由于历史境遇的深刻变化而必然呈示出“新质” ,并由此构成对世界现实秩序的挑战。我们既要坚持以“国家和民族”的范式参与“世界文学”的对话 ,又应积极地把握“全球化”态势以激活民族的文学     

广播广告的话语结构成分及其组合模式

从播出方式和广告文稿的结构成分看 ,播音广告文稿的话语结构安排 ,主要有三种播出形式 :一人单播式 ,二人对播式 ,多人演播式。广播广告文稿的话语结构成分有二 :广告文稿主体 ,广告主题宣讲 ,两者进行多种有效组合。其中广告文稿主体部分的人物角色有多种转换形式和多种组合形式 ,由此构成富有鲜明个性和创意的播音广告文稿的结构     

实用电源变压器检测台

该电路设计简单、构思新颖 ,适合小批量测试小型电源变压器的空载电流、额定电流及次级空载电压、满载电压、负载电流等参数     

A sociolinguistic application of Bakhtin's authoritative and internally persuasive discourse

Through the use of two central Bakhtinian concepts, authoritative and internally persuasive discourse (word), this paper examines the tension between the ideology of linguistic hegemony as a source of power in the Greek public sphere and the condition of language shift faced by the Albanian‐speaking communities of modern Greece. I argue here that a cautious application of these two notions, which are relevant to linguistic ideology, can reveal crucial aspects of two processes: that of subordination to and that of questioning of the dominant linguistic ideology by local Albanian‐speaking communities. Thus, in language shift contexts, it is possible that no simple relations obtain that place social agents in unquestionable and easily predictable positions. Such an approach proves useful for the sociolinguistic study of threatened language communities.     

英语论文中话语联系语的对比研究

无论在篇章语言学还是在语用学研究中,话语联系语均被认为具有重要功能。篇章语言学家认为,话语联系语是实现篇章语义连贯的重要手段;语用学家认为,话语联系语的作用更多地体现在为话语的理解指路导航。本文运用基于语料库的研究方法,对比分析了中国学习者与英语母语者在英语论文中使用话语联系语的差别,结果显示:(1)中国学习者在论文写作中比母语者倾向于更多地使用联系语;(2)二者使用的联系语在语义分布上大致相同;(3)在每一类别内部具体联系语的使用上二者存在较大差异,主要表现为:学习者机械套用,欠缺必要的文体意识,及在表示列举、总结、转题和推论时,倾向于借助明显的联系语来达到发展主题的目的。本文试从连贯理论与关联理论的角度出发,对可能造成以上差异的原因进行了分析,并进一步对话语联系语的教学提出了一些建议。