Modern Traditionalism: Consanguineous Marriage in Qatar

Consanguineous marriage, or matrimony between biological relatives, is commonplace and on the rise in Qatar, an ethnically heterogeneous Middle Eastern country. Previous studies have demonstrated that modernization often reduces traditional forms of marriage, such as arranged and consanguineous matrimony. Qatar's rapid modernization, however, has coincided with increased rates of endogamy. In this article, the authors examine the social processes that shape normative consanguineous marriage formation and progression in Qatar. On the basis of in‐depth interviews (n = 35) with men and women engaged or married to a cousin, they detail the categorical schemas that lead to consanguineous matrimony: reservation, joking, filtering, engagement, and courtship. In describing these social exchanges, the authors illustrate 2 key features embedded within them: (a) their distinct tempo and (b) how participants frame their experiences using discourses of romantic love. Reflecting larger cultural practices and attitudes in Qatar, the authors found an amalgam of contemporary and conventional that they label modern traditionalism.     

Culture, state and varieties of capitalism: a comparative study of life insurance markets in Hong Kong and Taiwan

This article examines the interplay between local culture, the state, and economic actors' agency in producing variation across markets. I adopt a political-cultural approach to examining why life insurance has been far more popular in Taiwan than Hong Kong, despite the presence of a cultural taboo on the topic of premature death in both societies. Based on interview data and documentary references, the findings reveal that as an independent state, the Taiwanese government heavily protected domestic insurance firms during their emergence. These domestic firms adopted a market-share approach by re-defining the concept of life insurance to accommodate the local cultural taboo. The colonial Hong Kong government, on the other hand, adopted laissez-faire policies that essentially favoured foreign insurance firms. When faced with the tension between local adaptation and the profitability of the business, these foreign firms chose the latter. Their reluctance to accommodate local cultures, however, resulted in a smaller market. I argue that state actions mediate who the dominant economic players are and that the nature of the dominant players affects the extent of localization. Specifically, the presence of competitive domestic players alongside transnational corporations is more likely to produce varieties of capitalism.     

Commodification of place,consumption of identity: The sociolinguistic construction of a ‘global village’ in rural China1

This paper seeks to contribute to the understanding of place as it relates to globalization and mobility by examining the sociolinguistic construction of a tourism site. A former residential neighborhood, West Street in Yangshuo County, China, was gradually transformed into a so‐called ‘global village’ for domestic tourists partly through appropriating English as one semiotic resource. Positioning this place in the global‐national‐local nexus, this study shows that the promotion of West Street as a ‘global village’ is not only driven by globalization or westernization, but more importantly capitalizes on English as a stylistic resource that indexes the modernist aspirations of the Chinese people. This commodified sense of place is nevertheless negotiated by tourists as they activate and (re‐)work the social meaning of place through their discursive practices. This highlights how place is a social construct, constantly transformed in the process of socio‐historical change, and also mediated by people's conceptualization, imagination and experience. 本文从社会语言学角度考察一处旅游景点的建构,旨在增进在全球化和流动时代背景下对‘地域’ (place) 的理解。位于中国阳朔县的西街,通过把英语作为一种符号资源,从一个历史居民街区转变成为所谓的‘地球村’。本研究从全球‐国家‐地方三位连结的框架审视该地域,说明‘地球村’不仅仅是全球化带动下的地方经济发展策略,更重要的是借用了在英语作为一种语言风格资源在中国社会中的作用。然而,这种构建的地域涵义也同时被游客通过不同方式激活和改写。本文提出,地域是社会构建的产物,其涵义随着社会历史的变革,人们对地域的理解,想象和体验,而不断改变。[Chinese]     

落后国家现代化问题的当代反思

马克思主义理论家和西方学者都对落后国家的现代化问题进行过专门的理论研究,形成了两种不同的现代化理论。对这两种理论进行反思,不但能让人们正确理解两种现代化理论的实质,而且能启发人们在全球化背景下和金融危机时期如何把握自身现代化的发展方向。     

现代日本人类学的转型和发展

本文首先对日本人类学的早期发展,特别是对日本的殖民主义人类学做了考察。在此基础上,围绕战后日本人类学的反思和转型,介绍和讨论了日本现代人类学的海外调查与异文化研究、对异文化与自文化研究的反思、移民与越境的人类学以及现代日本人类学的中国研究等,并对全球化背景下日本人类学的学术转型、问题意识和学科建设等问题做了梳理。现代日本人类学的研究在一定程度上与欧美人类学的海外社会研究形成呼应,并对周边国家人类学的发展产生了一定的影响。     

An emerging transnational industrial relations? Exploring the prospects for cross‐border labour bargaining

Global union federations (GUFs) and multinational enterprises (MNEs) have been concluding “international framework agreements” (IFAs) to protect their interests amidst the globalizing economic landscape. By modelling the underlying bargaining processes, the authors show that IFAs can be expected when both sides exhibit risk aversion, although the agreement will favour the less risk‐averse side. Since globalization has created fewer vulnerabilities for MNEs than for GUFs, IFAs have so far typically delivered only minimal benefits for labour. But this should change in the future if strengthened transnational union capacities and abilities to threaten MNEs with reputational costs bring greater equalization of attitudes towards risk.     

Identity processes in the global era: the case of young immigrants living in Italy

The paper explores processes of identity construction in young people of foreign origin living in Italy. The aim was to understand how youth construct their selves in the global era, characterized by an increase in the possibility of choosing but also in the perception of uncertainty; how they perceive this uncertainty, whether as a chance to construct multifaceted and continually changing identities or as a source of insecurity and loss for their identity. Drawing on 46 in-depth interviews, the research reveals that young people of foreign origin are continually shaping their identities mixing different cultural repertories related to their – or their parents’ – homeland, to the host country, global cultures and youth cultures. Several patterns of identity emerge and they are linked to different perception of uncertainty. A typology of these patterns was developed: young people construct flexible identities or hyphenated identities, or move from a fixed identity to an undefined identity. These types of identity are respectively associated with the perception of uncertainty as a resource, as a constraint, finally with a strategy of reducing or eliminating uncertainty.     

经济全球化背景下中国竞争法的重构

经济全球化时代,经济竞争的变化是:从国内竞争到国际竞争和全球竞争;从单一竞争到复合竞争;从孤立的企业竞争到国家参与、协调和管理企业竞争;从无规则竞争到规则竞争。竞争法也在域外效力、价值与功能定位、实施原则、规制对象等方面发生了相应变化。为此,中国应当在适用范围、价值与功能定位、实施原则、规制对象等方面对竞争法进行重构,以适应竞争全球化和竞争法变迁的挑战。     

美学的跨文化研究：从文化自觉到审美共识

美学的跨文化研究的提出本身就是当代语境中的一种跨文化现象.只有在跨文化的当代性视野之中,才能理清美学的跨文化研究的理论前提、研究路向与学术理想.全球化及其文化自觉构成了跨文化的当代语境,也构成了美学的跨文化研究的基本理论前提.美学对自身作为地方性知识的文化自觉及其在全球化语境中的互动认知是美学的跨文化研究的基本路向.在此路向中,美学的跨文化研究把探寻一种多元普遍的审美共识确立为自己的学术理想.     

构建和谐社会的基础:人的素质的全面重塑

构建社会主义和谐社会需要具备人与自然和谐所需的可持续发展、生态伦理、人类利益等素质,人与社会和谐所需的社会秩序、和谐思维、创新、科学人文融通等素质,人与自身和谐所需的物质需求有限、精神修养等素质。全球化发展导致的交往普遍化,为人的素质的全面形成提供了历史机遇。