New cultural economies of marginality: revisiting the West Coast,South Island,New Zealand

Marginal regions have been the subject of political concern and remedial action in western states for several decades now. The West Coast of the South Island of New Zealand is an interesting case study in this regard, for recent economic growth has confounded earlier expectations of post-restructuring decline, while also contradicting several of the nostrums of new regionalism. In an effort to understand this trajectory, this paper draws on documents from public and private sector organisations, newspaper articles and field visits to examine developments in four key sectors of the West Coast's economy: mining, dairy farming, forestry and tourism. Economic growth is found to be closely linked to the cultivation of new markets for primary products, but efforts to rework the cultural dimensions of marginality have also been important. Value has been added to specific products through the insertion of references to the region's alpine and forested landscapes. Isolation and peripherality have been recast in more positive terms, echoing the broader reframing of New Zealand as a scenic, unspoiled destination. In adopting a cultural economic perspective on marginal regions, the paper illustrates the significance of symbolic forms of value, the potentially flexible nature of marginality as a discursive category, and the importance of the networks which connect regions to national and international flows of capital and tourists.     

The roles of human capital and social capital in the economic integration of new arrivals from Mainland China to Hong Kong

Although it has been hypothesized in the literature that both human capital and social capital are important for the economic performance of new immigrants, few studies have examined these relationships empirically, especially in understudied populations such as Chinese populations. This study simultaneously examines the roles of human capital and social capital in the economic integration of new arrivals from Mainland China to Hong Kong, using a random sample of immigrants. In the early stage of immigration (less than 6 months after arrival), we find little support for the presumed positive effects of both human capital and social capital on employment status among new arrivals in Hong Kong. Follow-up studies are underway to investigate the dynamic relationship between social capital and economic integration in this group of new arrivals, and whether social capital, especially friendship networks, plays a more important role in the economic integration of new immigrants 1 or 2 years after arrival.     

Understanding the social exclusion and stalled welfare of citizens with learning disabilities

Despite the UK’s recent history of promoting the social inclusion and equality of men and women with learning disabilities they remain a significantly disadvantaged group. Compared with their non‐disabled peers they are more likely to be unemployed, less likely to own their own homes and are at a significantly greater risk of physical and mental ill health. The first part of this paper discusses the welfare rights of citizens with learning disabilities in terms of New Labour’s welfare to work policies. The second part discusses the UK’s mixed welfare economy and its impact upon services for men and women with learning disabilities. The paper concludes by considering whether the social inclusion of men and women with learning disabilities can be promoted solely through policies that emphasise inclusion through work and the personalisation of welfare services.     

Barriers to Help-seeking for a Gambling Problem: The Experiences of Gamblers Who Have Sought Specialist Assistance and the Perceptions of Those Who Have Not

This paper presents barriers to help-seeking data as reported by users of a national gambling helpline (help-seekers, HS, N = 125) as well as data pertaining to perceived barriers to seeking help as reported by gamblers recruited from the general population (non-help-seekers, NHS, N = 104). All data were collected via a structured, multi-modal survey. When asked to identify actual or perceived barriers to seeking help, responses indicative of pride (78% of HS participants, 84% of NHS participants), shame (73% of HS participants, 84% of NHS participants) or denial (87% of NHS participants) were most frequently reported. These three factors were also most often identified as the real or perceived primary barrier to help-seeking (collectively accounting for 55% of HS, and 60% of NHS, responses to this question) and were the only barriers to be identified by more than 10% of either HS and NHS participants without prompting. It was of note, however, that participants in both groups identified multiple barriers to help-seeking (mean of 6.7 and 12.2, respectively) and that, when presented with a list of 21 possible barrier items, NHS participants endorsed 19 of the listed items significantly more often than their HS counterparts. The implications of these findings, with respect to promoting greater or earlier help-seeking activity amongst problem gamblers, are discussed.

The Tunnel at the End of the Light: the Crisis of Transition in Hungary

The economic, political and social transition processes of the last two decades, far from being in harmony, clearly have a detrimental rather than an enriching influence on each other. These processes will never become harmonised just by themselves in a natural fashion. The worst obstacle of a successful transformation is that the chief actors, such as the government, the market and the representatives of the society. The Prince, the Merchant and the Citizen do not show the necessary commitment, competence and determination to create a new, effective type of partnership. This is a challenge which urgently demands answers on all levels of governance, economic and social life. This must be done in the frames of local communities, and on the regional, the European and the global levels. Nearly twenty years after the political turnabout, Hungary now needs a new social contract and must lay down the ethical, political, institutional and intellectual foundations for its twenty-first century democracy.

五四新文化运动与欧洲文艺复兴运动比较

五四新文化运动与欧洲文艺复兴运动生成于不同时期,植根于不同土壤,二者既有一些共同之处,又有不少差异。对其进行比较,有助于加深我们对两个运动各自特性的认识。其共同点是：（一）对传统的批判与重建;（二）倡导文学革命;（三）抨击封建权威思想;（四）呼唤人性的复苏,倡导个人的解放。其不同点是：（一）背景不同;（二）影响力不同;（三）带来的后果不同。     

论长波框架中的世界经济走势

在世界经济增长和发展的过程中 ,存在着四种相互包容、相互叠加的经济周期。 2 0世纪 90年代以来 ,世界经济进入了第五个长波上升期 ,其突出表现是新经济带来的快速增长 ,其动力是作为技术创新和制度创新的信息化和经济全球化。在这次长波上升期中 ,世界经济表现出均等化和两极分化两种趋势 ,从而改变着世界经济格局。在长波上升期中 ,如果没有外生的重大随机冲击 ,短周期和主周期一般来说会出现波动相对弱化现象。     

迈向和解的政治

运动是现代政治的典型特征,公民权运动、追求理想状态和追求宗教-文化同一性的运动,构成现代政治的主要风景线。这些运动的意识形态,皆不足以为现代政治奠定基础。能够为现代政治提供框架的,是和解的政治,它吸收各个文明的基本假定,以和平与说理作为最根本的承诺。     

儒教宗教论的再讨论——中国宗教社会学的视角

“儒教是否为宗教”的几十年争论,焦点集中在儒教是否有一个至上神,是否存在以此为中心的宗教制度或组织。实际上,即制度即分散的社会存在形式,决定了中国儒教的关系主义宗教模式,进而摆脱了以至上神为核心的宗教定义方式,决定了儒教的宗教性表达形式,不像基督教那样,具有一神教排他性而予以制度化。因此,儒教既有对现实权力秩序的制度依赖,亦有个人信仰者的弥散型道德讲求。其大,可囊括天下;其小,能独善其身。这就建构了中国儒教的社会学意义。