Social relationships and shifting languages in Northern Thailand1

This paper explores how speakers’ understandings of the conduct of social relationships mediate changing and socially distinctive syncretic language practices in a Northern Thai community. Although a shift away from vernacular (Kam Muang) speech styles to Standard Thai was emblematically tied to young and urban speakers in nostalgic discourses, syncretic speech styles and metalinguistic discourses also reflected local and socially positioned understandings of institutional roles and social relationships. I argue that scholars of language change and shift should foreground the mediating role of social relationships in speakers’ uses and understandings of their communicative repertoires across multiple timescales.     

From sociolinguistic variation to socially strategic stylisation1

This article investigates the indexical relation between language, interactional stance and social class. Quantitative sociolinguistic analysis of a linguistic variable (the first person possessive singular) is combined with interactional analysis of the way one particular variant (possessive ‘me’, as in Me pencil's up me jumper) is used by speakers in ‘stylised’ interactional performances. The aim of this analysis is to explore: (1) how possessive ‘me’ is implicated in the construction and management of local identities and relationships; and (2) how macro‐social categories, such as social class, relate to linguistic choice. The data for this analysis comes from an ethnographic study of the language practices of nine‐ to ten‐year‐old children in two socially‐differentiated primary schools in north‐east England. A secondary aim of the article is to spotlight the sociolinguistic sophistication of these young children, in particular, the working‐class participants, who challenge the notion that the speech of working‐class children is in any way ‘impoverished’.     

The social capital and mental health of long-term social assistance recipients in Norway

Previous findings have generally demonstrated the positive mental health benefits of social capital. However, the mental health benefits of social capital for social assistance recipients have not been fully demonstrated. This study analyses the mental health benefits of individual-level bonding and individual-level bridging social capital for 551 Norwegian longer-term social assistance recipients. The findings demonstrate that bonding social capital, i.e. contacts with friends and access to social resources, are positively associated with mental health. Of the variables in the study that relate to bridging social capital, social trust and trust towards the social worker particularly show significant associations for mental health. Consequently, it is important that the mental health benefits of various forms of bonding and bridging social capital are acknowledged within social work practices and that social work practitioners actively aim to increase social trust in longer-term social assistance recipients.     

Trust and recognition: a comparative study of client attitudes and workers' experiences in the welfare services

Since professional conduct is important in the lives of many people, trust and recognition between professionals and their clients are critical. Social professionals administer public resources on behalf of the welfare state, and their approaches and methods of intervention are mostly founded in current welfare policy. Despite this mandate, social professionals receive little acknowledgement and recognition. This article investigates the level of public trust in the Norwegian social services compared to the national insurance agencies, and to what extent the providers of these welfare services experience recognition and public approval. A central question is whether these aspects of external appreciation influence the professionals' motivation and feelings of accomplishment. Findings indicate that the social services receive less public support than the social insurance agencies, owing to the discretionary services provided and the stigma related to social assistance. The variation in institutional trust is reflected by the differences in workers' subjective experiences. That result notwithstanding, the service providers reveal a split view of themselves: while they experience themselves positively with respect to involvement and pride in their work, they also see themselves through the deprecating eyes of the public.     

2009年中东大选述评

2009年,以色列、伊朗和阿富汗等中东国家相继举行大选。以色列"利库德集团"时隔四年重执权柄,伊朗保守派竞选连任成功,阿富汗普什图族则再掌政权。中东大选表现出社会政治发展的转型性和国家安全的现实威胁性两大共性特征,而不同的历史文化又使其表现出政治发展道路的多样性和政治发展水平的不平衡性等个性特征。一系列大选将对"巴以和平进程"、"伊朗核问题"和"阿富汗重建"产生一定的影响。     

公用企业社会责任论纲——基于法学的维度

探讨企业社会责任应避免道德化.公用企业作为一种特殊类型的企业,具有特殊的社会地位.公用企业特殊的社会地位决定了公用企业要承担不同于一般商事企业所应当承担的特殊类型的社会责任.公用企业特殊社会义务有必要视经济发展的不同阶段与水平适时地转化为法律上的强制义务、倡导性和任意性要求,通过与企业内生自律和外源性助动实施路径形成相应的制度合力,从而使公用企业更好地承担其社会责任.     

立体的文化自觉与文艺规律

文化自觉是对事物正确的认识和感悟。没有文化自觉就没有文化的建设和文化的创新。文化自觉靠学习和研究来获得。要提高对保护非物质文化遗产的文化自觉,提高文艺的社会本质和艺术本质的文化自觉。要用六维的立体思维去观察和认识文化,提高对文艺规律的文化自觉,实现社会主义文艺的大繁荣。     

现代社会转型与法治政府的变革路径

伴随着中国改革开放的进程,转型成为社会变迁的主题和基本特征。与此相应的却是,改革日益呈现出一种“锁定”的状态。在社会转型时期出现的诸多根本性问题,并不能用过渡性的办法来解决。在国家和法律的现代化进程中,特别是构建法治政府的进程中,政府不能再像过去那样,一味运用相机决策和政策调整来处理社会利益矛盾,不能再对不同群体在基本权利上区别对待。同样,在工农、城乡、区域乃至人与自然生态之间,要实现统筹协调发展的目标,更需要加强普遍性的努力,这种普遍性努力以法治和体现法治精神的整体性政策为特征。     

《资本论》的历史哲学意蕴

马克思是历史哲学领域中的旗帜性人物。在对以“永恒论”为基调的“一般历史哲学”的“批判性拒绝”中,马克思推出了以“发展论”为核心的“批判的历史哲学”。在《资本论》中,马克思遵循了哲学服务历史的基本取向,并沿着两条并行不悖的路径稳步推进了他的“历史之思”:一是依托于唯物史观的分析范式,深入物质生产领域探掘了历史的本质与规律,二是以政治经济学批判为武器切近现代工商业实践格局,洞悉了资本主义的前景和命运。据此而论,马克思在《资本论》中竭力探掘社会历史的根源并展开对资本主导下的经济运行规则和文化道德机制的实质性批判,确证了以生产方式为基础、以人类解放为核心的“经济基础—上层建筑”的历史哲学运思路向。马克思的历史哲学就是一种基于实践的历史性批判,它在回应“时代之问”中完成了关于人类“历史之谜”的哲学思考。这种历史哲学以“世界历史”为基本定向,以“人类社会”为立脚点,实现了对“当代的自我阐明”,开辟了历史哲学的新境界和开启了人类文明的新方向。     

中国城镇家庭收入增长益贫性形成机制研究

 借助社会福利函数对益贫式增长测度的可分解性,结合中国健康与营养调查（CHNS）提供的家庭就业率、劳动参与率、劳动报酬率、劳动时间等微观数据,追溯居民收入形成的劳动力市场特征要素,将居民收入和各劳动力市场特征的效用性、公平性与增长的损益相结合,应用要素分解模型阐释中国新世纪以来城镇家庭收入增长的益贫性及其形成机制,由此得到更具针对性的收入益贫式增长政策启示。