Defending White Scientific Masculinity

While many feminist and postcolonial scholars have analyzed the post-9/11 politic in the United States, few have focused on the anthrax “attacks” that followed the 11 September 2001 World Trade Center disaster. The FBI search for the perpetrator of the 2001 anthrax mailings was an important node in US national security discourse making – it culminated in the fingering of a white male government biodefense scientist and cast doubt on the role of scientific expertise in provisioning national security. This article argues that while “white scientific masculinity” was put into question, it was simultaneously shored up as a nationalist symbol of protection against bioterrorism. This article traces shifts across the three FBI-led profiles of the anthrax perpetrator, along with concomitant news media coverage: the white male “loner” nonscientist, the white male “loner” amateur scientist and finally the white male biodefense scientist. Using a cultural studies approach, this article details how at each successive investigatory stage profilers mobilized hegemonic discourses to re-instantiate the authoritative status of white scientific masculinity in US national security. This analysis offers an important dimension to feminist and postcolonial critiques of the symbolic and institutional investment in white masculinity during the War on Terror.     

Income inequality,poverty and crime across nations

We examine the relationship between income inequality, poverty, and different types of crime. Our results are consistent with recent research in showing that inequality is unrelated to homicide rates when poverty is controlled. In our multi‐level analyses of the International Crime Victimization Survey we find that inequality is unrelated to assault, robbery, burglary, and theft when poverty is controlled. We argue that there are also theoretical reasons to doubt that the level of income inequality of a country affects the likelihood of criminal behaviour.     

Belonging: women living with intellectual disabilities and experiences of domestic violence

Women with an intellectual disability are under-represented in domestic violence research, yet they are one of the most vulnerable groups who are at risk of violence and abuse. This article aims to contribute to the domestic violence field by reporting on a narrative dialogic performative study, which utilised a feminist poststructural perspective to explore significant relationships and the concept of belonging in the lives of women with a mild intellectual disability. Four in-depth narrative interviews were conducted. The study found that the women shared similar stories of devaluation and rejection in childhood and hence the women’s search for belonging contributed to their vulnerability to exploitation and abuse in domestic violence relationships. The paper argues that gendered discourses and constructions of intellectual disability regulate domestic violence as a personal problem or way of life for women with intellectual disabilities.     

“钓鱼岛问题”引发的爱国主义新思考

钓鱼岛问题的实质是中日美的关系问题,是三国实力的又一次较量与试探。钓鱼岛问题的最终解决还是要依靠国家的综合实力和国际影响力。所以,新时期爱国主义应坚持强大国家的方向不动摇,温和、理性并以实际行动爱国,实现中华民族的伟大复兴和中国的崛起,用强大的实力来爱护祖国和人民,同时也为国际和平再添一份贡献。     

智库建设的困境摆脱与国家软实力提升

智库是国家软实力的重要体现。改革开放以来,国家软实力的提升为智库建设的机制创新创造了有利条件。但在新时期新的历史条件下,由于体制内官方智库的非自主性、体制外智库发展的滞后性、智库设置和定位的模糊化、智库建设和发展的保障不足等仍影响着国家软实力的提升。不断加强官方智库建设,高度重视半官方智库建设,加大民间智库的扶持力度,引导大学附属型智库的积极发展,建立各类智库的互动合作机制,是我国进一步提升国家软实力的必由之路。     

现代新儒家与中华民族精神内涵

现代新儒家对中华民族精神内涵的认识是不尽相同的,但中华民族精神蕴含在中华儒家文化之中是其理论共识。儒家的＂和谐＂与＂理性＂、＂内圣外王＂之道、人文精神、＂极高明而道中庸＂及＂心性之学＂等,都是中华民族精神固有的内涵。现代新儒家致力于从儒家文化视角来解读中华民族精神,是有失公正性的,不加分析地全盘肯定儒家文化及其蕴含的民族精神,也是不符合历史辩证法的。现代新儒家力图从深层的精神内核来认识儒家文化和中华民族精神,是中华民族自我认识过程的深化和发展,也是继续研究中华民族精神不可或缺的重要文化资源。     

立足“大信息”学科特色 培育高素质国防生

国防生教育是我国国防教育的重要组成部分,依托普通高等教育培养军队干部,是新世纪新阶段加强军队建设的重大战略决策.作为国防建设的后备人才,国防生素质高低对国防建设产生了重要影响.在地方高校中,国防生的综合素质、社会适应能力、竞争能力,关键取决于学校的人才培养模式.以南京邮电大学的国防生教育为例,探讨了地方高校中培养高素质国防生的路径,对于提升信息化“科技强军”,促进地方高校国防教育的科学化与现代化具有参考意义.     

中俄普通高校国防教育比较研究

俄罗斯在普通高校国防教育的法律保障、机构设置、教育内容和形式以及人才培养等方面都取得了一定的成效。借鉴俄罗斯的经验对提升我国全民国防意识和国防素养将具有重大意义。     

The powerful relational language of ‘family’: togetherness,belonging and personhood

This article examines the notion of ‘family’ to consider how it may be understood in people's everyday lives. Certain recurrent and powerful motifs are apparent, notably themes of togetherness and belonging, in the context of a unit that the person can be ‘part of’. At the same time, there may be important variations in the meanings given to individuality and family, evoking differing understandings of the self and personhood. I consider these ideas further through globally relevant but variable cultural themes of autonomy and relationality, suggesting the term ‘social person’ as a heuristic device to distinguish the sense of ‘close‐knit selves’ that may be involved in some understandings of personhood. I argue that this version of personhood may be powerfully expressed through ‘family’ meanings, with a significance which can be at least provisionally mapped along lines of inequality and disadvantage within and between societies around the world. These forms of connectedness may be hard to grasp through those theoretical and methodological frameworks which emphasize the (relational) individual. I argue that, in affluent English speaking societies, ¹ there may be little alternative to the language of ‘family’ for expressing such forms of relationality and connection.     

Teaching culture beyond nationalist boundaries: national identities,stereotyping, and culture in language education

The authors take a critical language pedagogy approach to examining a 2011 controversy over disparaging comments towards Mexicans made by commentators of the British Broadcasting Corporation’s automotive show Top Gear. In particular, they focus on the characterization of groups and individuals according to their nationality and examine the ubiquity of nationalism and its ability to shape our conception of culture and in turn our understandings of others as members of ‘X national culture.’ The fact that humor is often a justification for national stereotyping and that these stereotypes are also connected to racist discourse are also explored. In the second part of the article, the implications of the stereotyping debate for language classrooms are considered. The authors argue that the controversy itself can be used as a tool for critical engagement that helps students deconstruct the underlying nationalist paradigm in L2 classrooms and build greater intercultural awareness.

Español: Los autores examinan, desde una perspectiva de la pedagogía crítica del lenguaje, la controversia que surgió en el 2011 debido a los comentarios nocivos hechos hacia los mexicanos por los locutores del show automotriz del BBC, Top Gear. En particular, se enfocan en la caracterización de los grupos e individuos de acuerdo a su nacionalidad, y examinan la ubiquidad del nacionalismo y su capacidad para darle forma a nuestra conceptualización de la cultura y, a su vez, nuestra forma de ver a otros como miembros de una ‘cultural nacional X’. Los autores también exploran el hecho de que a menudo se utiliza el humor como una justificación para los estereotipos nacionales, y que estos estereotipos también están conectados al discurso racista. En la segunda parte del artículo, se consideran las implicaciones para la enseñanza de idiomas del debate sobre los estereotipos. Argumentan los autores que la controversia en sí se puede utilizar como una herramienta para promover una postura crítica que ayude a los alumnos a deconstruir el paradigma subyacente del nacionalismo en el salón de lenguas extranjeras y fomente la conciencia intercultural.