‘Indigenous Rights’ or ‘Racial Privileges’: The Rhetoric of ‘Race’ in New Zealand Politics

The New Zealand parliamentary election campaign of 2005 was marked by a significant break in the consensus between the two major political parties, Labour and National, in the area of Maori affairs: a consensus that had previously been articulated in terms of a shared commitment to ‘biculturalism’ and the Treaty of Waitangi. In January 2004, the National Party launched an attack on government policies, describing them as giving unfair privileges to Maori based purely on ‘race’. The present paper examines the National Party's adoption of the rhetoric of ‘race’ and the conceptual, political and ideological considerations behind it. It also examines attitudinal, social policy and socioeconomic factors to explain the widespread acceptability of this rhetoric among the New Zealand public. These events are considered within the context of a growing academic and political critique of ‘culturalism’ in New Zealand social policy and social science.     

Conceptualizing Cultural Politics in Subcultural and Social Movement Studies

In this article it is argued that combining theories of social movements and subcultures provides a way of 'conceptualizing cultural politics'. The focus is on debates that have taken place over the conceptualization of subcultures and social movements as well as the status and viability of cultural politics. Contemporary subcultural theorists are critical of the rigid concepts used by the Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies (CCCS) but, it is argued, they provide few feasible alternatives. They also have little to say about the supposed contemporary significance of cultural politics. New social movement (NSM) theorists, on the other hand, have generated conceptual frameworks that recognize the complexity of collective phenomena and have developed an approach which enables us to engage with the controversy over cultural politics. However, they concentrate too narrowly on struggles waged at the level of lifestyle, culture and civil society. The article shows how, like the CCCS, critics of NSM theory rightly question the potency of symbolic challenges and stress the persistent role of material issues and the continued part that conventional political actors, such as the state, play in contemporary social conflicts. Finally, the case of New Age Travellers is used to illuminate these debates in subcultural and social movement studies and to show how elements of each approach can be employed fruitfully in empirical research.     

When runways move but people don’t: The O’Hare Modernization Program and the relative immobilities of air travel

Abstract

This paper draws on Urry’s four interconnected senses of mobility to argue that the O’Hare Modernization Project, carefully framed as moving runways rather than expanding O’Hare International Airport, has differentially affected the mobilities of people and land uses in addition to airport boundaries and noise, and that work on aeromobilities has not sufficiently considered spaces on the ground beyond airport borders. The relative immobility of the built environment around a major piece of infrastructure such as O’Hare has significant material consequences when the airport itself becomes mobile, reminding us of the politics inherent to the production of mobility systems and cities.     

经济全球化背景下中国共产党的政治主导研究

政治主导是坚持政治在国家社会主要方向、方面和重点的引导、选择,并在维护阶级和国家利益中发挥政治的规范、导向和秩序作用的特性.在经济全球化的背景下,加强中国共产党在新形势下的政治主导,既是中国共产党作为执政党的职责所在,也是新世纪以来新的形势使然.中国共产党的政治主导面临着政治与经济相互交融使政治主导的形势日益复杂、部分领域和群体政治主导观念逐渐淡化、政治主导的资源丧失以及政治主导的权威丧失等诸多挑战.鉴于此,需要采取推进政治体制改革、培育政治主导资源、填补政治主导空白、丰富政治主导方式等多种措施,以切实增强中国共产党政治主导的实效.     

伊朗政治合法性与宗教合法性之构建

伊朗政治合法性和宗教合法性的构建一直受到重视,因为这有利于社会的长治久安。其政治合法性和宗教合法性的构建需要深厚坚实的基础,但处理好两者关系需要漫长的实践过程。本文以伊朗历史上具有代表性的政治制度和宗教为例,说明伊朗政治合法性和宗教合法性构建的意义、基础、途径、两者间关系及其过程。面对全球范围内的物质和精神的冲击,伊朗面临的问题是在当今国内外新形势下,如何重新构建和巩固政权的政治合法性和宗教合法性。     

埃及公民社会伊斯兰化及政府对策

埃及公民社会的伊斯兰化发展比较迅速,这不仅体现在大量宗教公民社会。的建立,也体现在伊斯兰主义者向世俗公民社会的渗透上,穆斯林兄弟会在公民社会的诸多代表性组织中占据主导权。然而,埃及政府试图将公民社会纳入其预设的轨道之中,加强了对公民社会的管理和控制。于是,公民社会的伊斯兰化与公民社会对政府的依赖性处于一种张力之中,进而影响了埃及公民社会的发展趋势。     

论当前中东剧变的国内因素及其国际影响

从2010年12月17日突尼斯失业青年布瓦吉吉自焚开始,一场席卷突尼斯全国的政治变革大潮迅速蔓延至中东几乎所有阿拉伯国家。这一突如其来的变化,预示着更为复杂的政治变革进程已经开始。从目前情况来看,各国表面上貌似群龙无首、组织松散的街头抗议,实质都是围绕着"变革"这一主题展开,大量失业青年成为这一"变革"的主要参与力量,而网络新媒体则扮演了推波助澜的角色。变革、青年和网络是中东各国目前政治剧变的三个关键因素,进一步认清三者的互动关系及其作用和影响,不仅可以更好地了解中东当前的政治发展进程,也对维护我国的国家安全和社会稳定,有着十分重要的现实意义。     

音乐在互动式思政理论课教学中的应用

巧借音乐进行思想政治理论课的教学,不仅能快速地导入教学,激发学生乐学、好学的学习兴趣,也能借助歌曲增强教学内容的说服力和感染力,激发学生巧学。但在运用音乐进行思想政治理论课教学时,应坚持以生为本、紧扣教材、启发教育和适度使用的原则,最大限度发挥音乐在思想政治理论课教学中的作用。     

我国基本经济制度：政治、宪法确认确立的演变及其启示

如果从“三大改造”基本完成算起,新中国经济制度大体经历了由传统社会主义经济制度向中国特色社会主义基本经济体制的演变过程。演变过程给我们的启示是：基本适合生产力发展的基本经济制度以政治、宪法的形式一经确认确立,政治、宪法就必须保持相对稳定的原则。政治、宪法要准确客观地反映社会生产力发展要求和人民群众根本利益,而不是其它。执政党、领导人民制定宪法法律的党,要自觉遵循社会发展规律。     

宗教与政治的关系刍议

宗教与政治都是对人类生产与生活影响深远的重要社会现象。在原始社会,二者是水乳相容,合二为一的。近代以来,随着社会的进步与科技的发展,政教分离成为大多数国家处理政教关系的基本准则。不过,政教分离并不意味世俗与神圣关系的完全解体,二者之间仍然存在着扯不断理还乱的复杂关系。