美国黑人妇女文学的奇葩──评长篇小说《紫颜色》

两度轰动美国的长篇小说《紫颜色》是当代黑人妇女文学的奇葩。它深刻地揭示了美国黑人女性长期遭受的穷人、黑人、女人的三重压迫和造成这种全方位压迫的历史和现实的根源：世界范围的男性中心社会的男尊女卑思想；社会发展不平衡的历史原因；殖民压迫对黑人心理的侵蚀和扭曲。同时指出了自主、自立、自强的妇女解放道路。小说的信件连缀、变化着的叙述和贴合人物个性的语言等也颇具艺术特色。     

由红到黑:对闻一多诗歌意象的一种阐释

闻一多研习美术多年,对色彩极为敏感,尤其是红色和黑色,是他的诗作当中的具有象征意义的重要颜色。前期的闻一多营造了一个以美和爱为中心的“红色”意象群,后期则偏重于创造“死亡”、“鬼”等的“黑色”意象世界。以红色追求理想、真理,以黑色加深文本的现代意义。意象的由“红”到“黑”,显示了诗人审美取向及文化取向甚至人生道路的转向与深入。     

艾丽斯·沃克的黑人女性主义思想 在中国的研究与传播

美国著名黑人女性作家艾丽斯·沃克提出“妇女主义”这一概念,将黑人女性身份的建构从白人女性主义话语、黑人男性传统话语的从属地位中分离出来,开启了黑人女性性别、阶级及种族三重身份建构的历程,突显了以黑人妇女为出发点的黑人女性主义思想。在多元文化并存的时代,中国国内对艾丽斯·沃克的黑人女性主义思想的接受和影响研究日趋成熟,研究的视野更加广泛,影响也更加深远。     

底层视角下的农民环境维权

对闽西G村农民环境抗争过程的实地研究表明,农民在与企业和基层政府的博弈中,处于社会底层。从底层的角度出发,对转型期环境抗争主体的行动策略及逻辑进行分析,展现环境维权的形成过程,发现底层表达通常采取非制度化渠道,以日常化的行动维权为主。由于底层缺乏制度化的维权渠道,往往处于不利位置,难以实现预期的抗争结果,底层利益述求得不到合理解决。     

沃克“女性主义”理论视野下的黑人男性霸权书写

在艾丽丝·沃克看来,黑人男性对同族的黑人女性的性别压迫是对白人主宰下的男性霸权势力的丑陋复制,其与种族歧视和阶级压迫一起,制约着黑人女性主体性精神的发展,并使黑人女性处于各种话语和权利的边缘地位。艾丽丝·沃克在其创作实践中,从"女性主义"的理论视角出发,修正了种族歧视话语和性别主义话语,并倡导两性间的和谐,以使黑人民族走向解放之路。     

口头叙事与村落信仰的互构——基于冀南两村白猫黑狗传说的田野考察

新时期以来,学界关于传说的研究逐步从文献资料的梳理和类型学的分析转向在田野语境中进行考察,关注传说与民众生活、地方历史的关联,呈现出一种"民俗文化整体观"的研究范式。流传于冀南广宗县刘家庄、夏家庄的白猫黑狗传说,便应置放于两村相邻但老死不相往来的特殊村际关系中加以理解。这一传说是以两村庙宇的兴修改建及相关阐释为工具,以村民对现实功利的考量为依据而不断建构而成,最终成为比较稳定的村落传统。     

Decrypting cultural nuances: using drama techniques from the theatre of the oppressed to strengthen cross cultural communication in social work students

ABSTRACT

Despite widening participation in social work education in the UK, social work students from black and minority ethnic (BME) backgrounds can find that they have less positive experiences on social work courses than their counterparts. This can happen when courses do not equip students to navigate the subtle rules of communication with service users that are premised on dominant UK values. As a consequence BME students can be assessed as having poor interpersonal skills and poor skills in engaging service users. However, the issue is often more one of cultural differences and high expectations of cultural integration than one of incompetence.

This paper reports on a drama workshop using techniques from the Theatre of the Oppressed to foster awareness of the complexities of cross cultural communication that BME students may face. The workshop facilitates insight into the nuances of culturally informed values that differ from dominant UK values.

Drawing on student workshop evaluations, the authors highlight the positive use of techniques from the Theatre of the Oppressed as a pro-active pedagogical approach to equipping BME students with insight and skill to circumnavigate cross cultural communication in practice and develop awareness of empowering strategies to combat negative paradigms about BME cultures.     

Political entrepreneurship in the field of Māori sovereignty in Aotearoa New Zealand

Individual actors have the potential to shape political outcomes through creative use of opportunities. Political entrepreneurship identifies how such actors recognize and exploit opportunities, for personal or collective gain. The existing literature focuses on individuals operating within institutional settings, with less attention paid to other types of actors. In this article, I argue for an expansion of the political entrepreneurship framework, by considering individuals in the electoral and protest arenas. An examination of the field of Māori sovereignty, or tino rangatiratanga, in Aotearoa New Zealand allows exploration of prominent actors’ innovative strategies and practices. The findings highlight the actors’ reliance on identity in mobilizing support within the community, to press claims. Broadening the application of political entrepreneurship demonstrates the roles of social, cultural and political capital in influencing outcomes, by identifying opportunities available to individuals embedded in the community and according to the context of the arena.     

Scientists in the Resistance

In her recent piece, MacKendrick (2017) asks whether we are experiencing a “new wave of science activism” and outlines various visible and vocal forms of political action taken by scientists in recent months. Coming from a slightly different perspective, this piece looks at scientists as part of the broader Resistance—people working individually and in collectivities to challenge the Trump agenda. Building on analysis of data collected from a random sample of participants from the Washington, DC , March for Science, which took place in April 2017, I explore how participants at the March for Science compare to a broader sample of participants in the Resistance. Although they have some unique characteristics, my findings show that there are few statistically significant differences between participants in the March for Science and others participating in the Resistance. I conclude this piece by discussing the implications of these findings on scientists in the Resistance and science activism more generally.     

Who Protests in America: An Analysis of Three Political Alternatives—Inaction,Institutionalized Politics,or Protest

Theories of social movements and collective action typically present social protest as one of three alternatives available to the individual: inaction, institutionalized political action, or protest. These political alternatives are rarely considered simultaneously nor are they modeled explicitly. In this paper we make use of survey data from a representative sample of the United States population. We employ multinomial logistic regression to determine what differentiates those who protest from those who engage only in institutionalized politics and from those who engage in no political action. We find that those who engage in social protest are similar in many respects to those who engage actively in institutionalized politics, yet education on social and political issues, participation in community organizations, and frequent church attendance increases the likelihood that individuals will engage in protest relative to institutionalized politics.