Becoming cosmopolitan: encountering difference in a city of mobile labour

ABSTRACT

Many who move countries today do so for work, and labour mobility – both temporary and permanent – is the mechanism by which countless people (both movers and stayers) come into contact with cultural difference. The domain of mobile labour is thus an important context through which to consider the transformative possibilities of encounters with racial and cultural difference. Situated within debates on everyday multi-culture and vernacular cosmopolitanisms, this essay considers the question of intercultural encounter at work in relation to the layered histories of race and variegated citizenships of mobile labour in Singapore. Exploring the micro-nature of cosmopolitan practices, the paper considers under what labour conditions might an outward-looking cosmopolitan sensibility and a convivial openness to otherness emerge among migrant workers, as against a set of survival-based intercultural capacities. I reflect specifically upon two cases of ‘incongruous encounter’ in workplaces reliant on precariously employed migrant labour: a mainland Chinese man and a Filipina woman who, because of Singapore’s racialised system of work visas, find themselves working in South Asian restaurants in Singapore’s Little India. They both engage ‘cosmopolitan practices’, yet their sensibilities differ sharply. Their stories highlight how, in a place like Singapore, the ‘encounter’ needs to be understood within a regime of mobile labour, situated racial hierarchies, and a highly stratified system of work visas. I further suggest that situational factors such as the nature of work including its spatial and temporal qualities, the mixture of co-workers, and recognition relations with superiors all mattered in framing the affective atmospheres of encounter. In a context of forced encounter, I argue that learnt capacities to function and interact across difference should not necessarily be romanticised as a cosmopolitan sensibility.     

康德法哲学视野下的公民权利

康德以先验哲学的方式对传统自然法进行批判性的改造,提出公民权利的合理性与普遍有效性问题。文章旨在考察康德的公民权利思想,在先验法哲学的视域下,通过分析公民权利问题的提出、演进来尝试对公民权利做整体性的理解,进而反思公民权利的基础在于纯粹理性的实践性所确立的理性的法则与人性的法则。     

Emotions and cosmopolitan sociability: Barriers and opportunities for intercultural encounters amongst new Chinese migrants in New Zealand

Emotions matter, particularly in experiences of migration. This article explores how emotions are involved in everyday intercultural encounters and the role of emotions in generating cosmopolitan sociability in the context of migration. The article is based upon qualitative research with 80 Chinese 1st and 1.5 generation migrants in New Zealand. We focus on ‘contact zones’ as social spaces where migrants have uneven opportunities to encounter cultural others and where ‘emotional dissonance’ can emerge through unsuccessful intercultural exchanges. In order to generate a sense of comfort and familiarity in such conflicted spaces, migrants need to invest in ‘emotional labour’ to engage in more cosmopolitan sociability as an attempt to transform ‘contact zone’ to ‘comfort zone’. Through this article we argue that emotions can both promote and encourage, but also undermine and limit the capacity to perform cosmopolitan sociability and build intercultural relations.     

管治的起源、概念及其在全球层次的延伸

“管治”原意指控制、指导或操纵 ,但近十年来 ,其内涵脱离“统治”的概念 ,得到了新的发展 ,更着重于政府、私营机构和市民之间的横向协调作用 ;总结各种定义 ,“管治”的基本内容主要包括自组织调节方式、多样化的行为者、互动过程、国家的“元治”角色等基本方面 ;此外 ,“管治”还有一个特别重要的属于全球化和跨国组织的领域 ,即“全球管治” ,其作用的发挥首先在于如何实现全球自组织模式的问题     

现代化进程中的高等教育──兼论深圳高等教育发展的未来选择

本文从知识经济和可持续发展两个角度探讨了现代化进程中高等教育的若干重要问题;强调高等教育的发展要以“发展的”现代化观念为参照,深圳必须把高等教育的发展纳入城市整体发展来运思;最后,还阐述了高等教育的精神文化功能对城市发展的价值。     

歌德笔下的拿破仑形象

晚年的歌德明确表达了对拿破仑的敬仰和崇拜,塑造出一个“乌托邦化”的拿破仑形象,其原因首先在于拿破仑对歌德有着“知遇之恩”;其次在于拿破仑是个天才,而歌德恰恰推崇天才;再次在于歌德将拿破仑当作批判德国现实、建构德国未来的一面镜子;最后在于歌德是一个世界主义者,反对民族仇恨,呼吁用世界性的眼光看待世界。透过歌德塑造拿破仑形象的四种动机,我们清晰地看到了他身上“庸人”和“天才”的双重性。     

Understanding the social and cultural bases of Brexit*

We use data from a large scale and nationally representative survey to evaluate two narratives about the social bases of Brexit. The first narrative sees Brexit as a revolt of the economically left-behinds. The second narrative attributes Brexit to the resurgence of an English nationalism. There is some, albeit not always consistent, evidence that people in relative poverty or those living in areas that have seen greater Chinese import penetration are slightly more pro-Leave. People living in economically deprived neighborhoods are not more pro-Brexit. Using the Weberian class–status distinction, it is social status, not social class, which stratifies Brexit support. Individuals for whom being British is important are more pro-Leave. But those who see themselves as British rather than English, and those reporting omnivorous cultural consumption are less supportive of Brexit. Overall, there is empirical support for both narratives. But the weight of the evidence suggests a strong cultural dimension in Brexit support.     

刘湛恩与国民外交

刘湛恩是抗战期间为国牺牲的唯一的大学校长。他参与创建了中国太平洋国际学会、上海国际友谊社等多个民间国际组织,接待了包括孟禄、泰戈尔、范朋克、莫列德等在内的诸多外国友人,更多次出席国际会议,是1920—1930年代上海国际交流领域的弄潮儿、国民外交的重要推动者之一。抗战全面爆发后,刘湛恩坚持留守上海,一方面继续领导沪江大学,一方面不遗余力地开展抗战的国际宣传,坚决拒任伪“中华民国维新政府”教育部长之职。导致刘湛恩被敌伪暗杀的原因之一正是他在国民外交尤其是关于抗战的国际宣传方面的重要作为和重大影响。     

民族化与世界化相互变奏:现代中国文学的制导性传统(上)

现代中国文学的建构与演化,与日益开放的国际环境紧密相联.以文学民族性为基石、以民族化为动态规律和以文学世界性为前提、以世界化为运作机制,民族化与世界化相互变奏,成为现代中国文学的制导性传统.