bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Review of the 2014 Monitoring Process of the Council of Europe Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities
Authors: Cârstocea Andreea
Published: May 2019

In what concerns the situation of national minorities, 2014 was a complicated year, with the events in Ukraine, the increase in the occurrence of xenophobic discourses and attitudes throughout much of Europe, and the unfavourable economic context all conducing to a political environment in which the rights of national minorities were under pressure, in particular with regard to the Roma minority. Responding to this context, the Advisory Committee carried out an ad hoc visit to Ukraine and subsequently issued a Report outlining the main findings of the visit. The Opinions drafted by the Advisory Committee in 2014 reflect the fact that the Roma minority continued to lack sufficient access to basic services and meaningful opportunities for integration in their respective societies. In addition to the country-by-country monitoring activities, throughout 2014, the Advisory Committee continued its work in drafting a new thematic commentary, focusing on the personal scope of application of the Framework Convention.
The Activities of the OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities: January 2014 to December 2014
Authors: Ulasiuk Iryna , Hadirca Laurentiu , Romans William
Published: May 2019

This article provides a summary of activities of the osce High Commissioner on National Minorities during 2014. The basic philosophy behind the institution’s approach to conflict prevention remains unchanged: a society at peace with itself will more likely be at peace with its neighbours. To achieve this internal stability, respect for the rights of persons belonging to national minorities is essential. The year 2014 was challenging for the High Commissioner who, together with other osce Institutions and structures, faced the challenge of reacting to the rapidly evolving crisis situation in Ukraine. This topic dominated others in the institution’s work. Despite this, the High Commissioner continued to engage across the full breadth of her geographic and thematic portfolio. She personally undertook official country visits to twelve participating states, several more than once. During these visits, she promoted her unique approach to conflict prevention—the integration of society with respect for the rights of national minorities.
The Right to Restitution of Tenancy Rights in Croatia: In Search of Redress for Violations of Individual and Minority Rights of Ethnic Serbs
Authors: Đurić Petar
Published: May 2019

Cancellation and abolition of specially protected tenancy rights by Croatia in the 1991–1996 period severely affected the country’s ethnic Serbs, even to the point of their disappearance. Croatia’s discriminatory laws and actions during and after the war, combined with certain other factors, resulted in the vast majority of ethnic Serbs losing their tenancy rights. This has prevented many ethnic Serbs, who left Croatia during the war, from returning to their homes. Since 80% of all urban housing in prewar Croatia was under specially protected tenancy agreements, the loss of tenancy rights by ethnic Serbs has led to most dramatic demographic changes in the urban areas, with virtually all of Croatia’s towns that were majority Serbian before the war becoming majority Croatian. This has adversely impacted the exercise of a number of minority rights of ethnic Serbs. The loss of tenancy rights has thus negatively affected ethnic Serbs both individually and collectively. As such, the chapter explores the legal basis, under international human rights law, of the right to restitution of specially protected tenancy rights in Croatia as an adequate form of redress. It argues that this is a specific right derived from other rights, notably (i) the right to respect for home and the right to peaceful enjoyment of possessions; (ii) the right to non-discrimination; (iii) the right to housing and property restitution and the right to return home; and (iv) the right to preservation and development of a minority’s identity. The chapter also considers how the right to restitution of tenancy rights in Croatia could be implemented. It suggests that the current housing programme does not provide an effective redress and that several international legal and political mechanisms, along with the European Union in particular, have failed to implement this right thus far, although there may be a recently opened possibility to bring the matter before the Court of Justice of the European Union.
Integration of New and Old Minorities: Beyond a Janus-Faced Perspective
Authors: Medda-Windischer Roberta
Published: May 2019

﻿Diversity and integration issues are undoubtedly amongst the most salient ones on today’s political agenda. Most European states have been searching for models and policies to accommodate diversity claims and integrate not only old minority groups, but increasingly also new minority groups stemming from international mobility flows. This article addresses these issues by bridging two fields of research: minorities and migration. Studying the interaction between ‘old’ and ‘new’ minority groups is not an obvious task since, so far, these topics have been studied in isolation from one other. The article investigates the alleged dichotomy between old and new minorities, their similarities and differences, especially in terms of rights and claims, and the potential extension of the scope of application of international instruments for the protection of minorities, such as the Framework Convention for the Protection on National Minorities (FCNM), as to include new minorities too. In the final part, the article analyses the states’ responses to diversity with the aim to develop a common model for minority integration encompassing old and new minority groups.
Indigenous Peoples in Europe and Their International Protection vis-à-vis the Threat of Climate Change
Authors: Tomaselli Alexandra
Published: May 2019

Indigenous peoples are among the most vulnerable sectors of society in the face of climate change because they generally have a profound and spiritual relationship with the(ir) land. Paradoxically, they are among those who have maintained and promoted a holistic management of the(ir) land and the environment, and have caused less climate change effects. The Inuit petition against the US at the Inter-American Commission of Human Rights has prompted the debate and an increased international attention on climate change effects and human (and indigenous) rights. However, the nexus between human rights and climate change raises several conceptual issues. Against this background, this article pursues a threefold goal. First, it aims to introduce the international debate, scholarly approaches, and conceptual and analytical questions that have arisen and still arise about the human rights-climate change nexus. Second, it tries to ascertain how the exploitation of non-renewable natural resources, such as fossil fuels (e.g. oil and gas), are contributing to climate change and how (some of) its adverse effects may—directly or indirectly—represent a threat for indigenous peoples and their rights in the Russian Federation and in Northern Europe (Denmark-Greenland, Finland, Norway, and Sweden). Third, it seeks to identify which indigenous international law instruments may offer (some) protection to these indigenous peoples against (few) climate change-related harms.
Participation, Citizenship and Transfrontier Exchanges – Engaging International Bodies in 2015
Authors: Stephan Sarah
Published: May 2019

This chapter shall focus broadly on the most relevant international developments with a thematic focus on participation, citizenship and transfrontier exchanges in 2015, covering the activities of those international bodies seized to promote relevant international standards and to monitor progress under the auspices the United Nations, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, the Council of Europe and the European Union respectively. The temporal scope of this chapter includes activities that either took place in or were first documented in 2015. The chapter aims to capture key developments and trends.
‘The Song Remains The Same?’ Constitutional Developments in Catalonia and Scotland in 2015
Authors: Cetrà Daniel , Harvey Malcolm
Published: May 2019

Scotland and Catalonia have long been seen as comparative cases: distinctive minority national identities with autonomist movements that have seen a measure of electoral or constitutional success. In 2014, both cases reached a critical juncture, with an official referendum in Scotland and a non-binding ‘participation process’ in Catalonia. Those events have been studied in detail elsewhere, but the focus of this article is on the aftermath – specifically, the political and constitutional developments in each case in the 12 months following their respective votes. In particular, we look at the plethora of actors involved in each case, the evolution of their attitudes and strategies and conclude that, irrespective of recent developments, the constitutional question will remain on the agenda in both Scotland and Catalonia for the foreseeable future.
Reviewing Minority Issues in the Middle of a Large-Scale Political Crisis: Analysis of Key Developments and Events during 2015 in Macedonia
Authors: Andeva Marina
Published: May 2019

This article addresses minority politics and rights protection in the Republic of Macedonia, through scrutiny of key developments and events during 2015. The main events relate to the existing political situation in the country, minority party politics and dynamics, and the implementation process of the Ohrid Framework Agreement (OFA). Although it has been more than a decade since the OFA, the Macedonian system is still fragile and subject to further modifications; experts often discuss the need for its ‘revision’ or ‘review’. The major focus of this article is put specifically on the OFA and the discussions on its review.
The Kin-state Policies of Hungary, Romania, and Serbia in 2015: An Increasingly Centred Approach on Extraterritorial Citizenship
Authors: Udrea Andreea
Published: May 2019

This article compares the kin-state policies of three countries: Hungary, Romania, and Serbia. It analyses the evolution of their legislation on kin-minorities focusing on the changes introduced in 2015. Even though the historical contexts greatly differ, all three countries became kin-states as a consequence of border changes: Hungary after the First World War, Romania after the Second World War, and Serbia following the disintegration of Yugoslavia. I show here that in spite of the normative prominence of the Act LXII of 2001 on Hungarians Living in Neighbouring Countries in Europe, recent changes in the legislation of the three countries indicate that facilitated access to extraterritorial citizenship rather than identity recognition and support for culture has come to define the nature of their current kin-state policies.
Ethnic Politics of the Hungarian Minorities in Slovakia, Romania, and Serbia in 2015
Authors: Leff Carol Skalnik , Armeanu Oana I.
Published: May 2019

In the post-communist period, the driving forces behind minority rights protection have been international—the incentives surrounding membership in the European Union and relations with Hungary—and domestic—the minority’s capacity to gain representation, and therefore leverage, in the political system. In this analysis of the current state of minority affairs, we focus largely on the domestic context—the politics of Hungarian minority representation in Romania, Slovakia, and Serbia—and the ramifications of relations with Hungary. In this overview, we will contextualize the key strategic situation in all three cases: the demographic challenge of inexorably declining minority populations. Given the size of their electorates, neither the half-million Slovak Hungarians nor the 1.2 million Romanian Hungarians can afford the kind of partisan split that could push all minority parties below the five percent electoral threshold. In Serbia, the Hungarian minority of around a quarter million benefits from the waiving of the electoral threshold. Nonetheless, they are a distinct minority even in Vojvodina, the region of their greatest concentration. We will also review ongoing controversies that have surrounded minority issues since the collapse of communism: language, education, and the issue of territorial and cultural autonomy.
Observing Minority Rights in the Administration of Justice and Public Administration: European Developments in 2016
Authors: Nagy Noemi
Published: May 2019

This article overviews the 2016 developments concerning the status and rights of European minorities with respect to administrative and judicial proceedings, with special focus on language rights. The longest section of the article is devoted to the activities of the Council of Europe, including the case-law of the European Court of Human Rights and the implementation of the European Charter for Regional and Minority Languages, as well as the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities. Furthermore, the relevant legal developments in the activities of the United Nations, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe and the European Union are presented.
Kosovo’s Uneasy Minority Politics in 2016
Authors: Zeqiri Adrian H.
Published: May 2019

This article provides an overview of major developments that marked 2016 concerning ethnic issues in Kosovo. Particular attention is given to the actions of Srpska Lista (Serb List), Kosovo’s largest Serb party, as well as to the planned Association/Community of Serb-Majority Municipalities. There is also discussion of interethnic tensions and violence and of the controversy surrounding the lead poisoning of Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian residents of UN Interim Administration in Kosovo (UNMIK) camps in Mitrovica. The article finishes with a summary of the year’s positive developments and reflections on the potential for the future. It is concluded that despite major obstacles, incremental progress is being made in interethnic relations and, particularly, in the integration of Serbs into the Kosovar state.
Speaking of Rights: Indigenous Linguistic Rights in the Arctic
Authors: Chuffart Romain
Published: May 2019

This paper discusses and compares the evolution of language policies, laws and rights for indigenous peoples and minorities living in six of the eight Arctic states. It focuses on language rights of indigenous peoples living in the Fennoscandian Arctic (Sami people of Norway, Sweden, and Finland), in the American Arctic (Alaska) and in the Canadian Arctic (Nunavut, Northwest Territories, and Yukon). This paper also focuses on linguistic rights in Greenland. The aim of this study is to add to the discussion about how the use of indigenous languages in the public sphere (education, the judicial system, and interactions with the government) helps indigenous-language speakers who live in the Arctic to preserve their ways of life and their cultural identities. This paper posits that asymmetrical management is key to fulfilling indigenous linguistic rights. Devolution of language planning and policy implementation to the relevant local authorities often makes sense from a state viewpoint and, although it is not enough, it can be beneficial to indigenous speakers.
The European Court of Human Rights and the Protection of Arctic Indigenous Peoples Rights
Authors: Lundmark Mikael
Published: May 2019

Based on an ongoing case in Sweden, where Girjas Sami village sued the Swedish state for violation of property rights, this article examines the European Court of Human Rights’ potential influence in the Arctic region’s legal system when it comes to protection of property of Arctic indigenous peoples. This article shows that notwithstanding the historical background of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, the case law of the Court provides a solid foundation to advocate that the Court can take a more active role in protecting the rights of Arctic indigenous peoples. What is different in the case of indigenous peoples is that their rights pre-exist that of a modern state, and this does not correlate with the structure of the Convention, which seemingly leads to less protection under the Convention for indigenous peoples. This puts a higher level of responsibility both upon the applicants, as well as on the Court to scrutinize, and apply, the case law of the Court in line with the Convention and the adopted principle of interpretation.
Extractive Industries and Public Participation in Russia: The Case of the Oil Industry in Izhemskii District, Komi Republic
Authors: Britcyna Ekaterina , Nystén-Haarala Soili , Pappila Minna
Published: May 2019

This article focuses on the participatory rights of local people living in the areas of extensive oil industry operations in the Izhemskii district of the Komi Republic in Russia. The district has long been suffering from oil leaks and resulting negative environmental impacts. Lukoil-Komi bought the business directly after the Soviet era and inherited the ecological threats related to old and rusty pipelines. Lukoil-Komi has promised to put things in order, but a great deal remains to be done.

This article scrutinizes how statutory law and private governance interact in protecting the participatory rights of local people living in the vicinity of oil production in Komi. First, we evaluate what participatory rights Russian legislation guarantees to local people when oil production arrives in a new area or when new wells are being explored or opened. Second, we elaborate how the major oil company in the region – Lukoil-Komi – fulfills its corporate social responsibility (CSR) in the area of participatory rights and how local people feel about their possibility to exercise their participatory rights. As participatory rights, we discuss both procedural justice with public hearings and distributive justice in the form of benefit-sharing between the company and local community. The wider perspective on participation is due to Russian CSR practices. In Russia, companies tend to earn their Social License to Operate (SLO) through benefit-sharing, often within private governance. This practice is based on the social partnership agreements between authorities and companies. These contracts have path-dependent features resembling earlier Soviet solutions. The same can be claimed to apply to a wider SLO with more focus on local communities. We argue that Lukoil-Komi has not yet been able to achieve an SLO (local acceptance) due to the lack of participatory rights and continuing environmental problems. Most local people are not willing to trade a clean environment and participatory rights for the social benefits the company offers. However, the social partnership agreement concluded between Lukoil-Komi and a local NGO, Izvatas, could be a step forward in achieving a local SLO.
International Law and Corporate Social Responsibility: The Potential of OECD’s MNE Guidelines for Advancing Social Benefits in the Context of Natural Resource Exploitation in the Arctic, with Particular Regard to Greenland
Authors: Buhmann Karin
Published: May 2019

This article takes point of departure in the case of Greenland to examine how public authorities in Arctic societies may deploy the ideas inherent in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) to engage multinational corporations or national companies in contributing to addressing societal needs. Drawing on the emergent international law regime on CSR, it discusses the role of OECD’s Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises to encourage companies explicitly or implicitly to contribute to societal needs. The discussion points to similarities between social and environmental impact assessment and the risk-based due diligence approach recommended by OECD’s Guidelines. It also points to similarities between Impact Benefit Agreements and the Guidelines’ recommendations for companies’ contributions to host societies through employment of local labour and transfer of skills. This focus fits closely with public policy objectives expressed by Greenland’s Self-Government in regard to mining and underscores the pertinence for Greenland to consider acceding to the Guidelines.
Two new species of the mirine plant bug genus Cheilocapsus Kirkaldy (Heteroptera: Miridae: Mirinae) from Japanese Ryukyus and Taiwan
Authors: Yasunaga Tomohide
Published: May 2019

The fauna of the Asian mirine plant bug genus Cheilocapsus
Kirkaldy, 1902 (Mirinae: Mirini) in the Japanese Ryukyu islands and Taiwan is updated, based mainly on new morphological features. Four species are now recognized, with descriptions of two new species, Cheilocapsus maius sp. n. (from Taiwan) and C. martius sp. n. (Ishigaki and Iriomote Islands of the Ryukyus). An annotated checklist including all known congeners and a key to the four species are provided. The phylogenetic relationship between Cheilocapsus and Pantilius Curtis is argued on the basis of their detailed structures and zoogeographical distribution pattern.
Identity, Community and Belonging in gcc States
Authors: Lowi Miriam R.
Published: May 2019

Studies of identity and belonging in Gulf monarchies tend to privilege tribal or religious affiliation, if not the protective role of the ruler as paterfamilias. I focus instead on the ubiquitous foreigner and explore ways in which s/he contributes to the definition of national community in contemporary gcc states. Building upon and moving beyond the scholarly literature on imported labor in the Gulf, I suggest that the different ‘categories’ of foreigners impact identity and the consolidation of a community of privilege, in keeping with the national project of ruling families. Furthermore, I argue that the ‘European,’ the non-gcc Arab, and the predominantly Asian (and increasingly African) laborer play similar, but also distinct roles in the delineation of national community: while they are differentially incorporated in ways that protect the ‘nation’ and appease the citizen-subject, varying degrees of marginality reflect Gulf society’s perceptions or aspirations of the difference between itself and ‘the other(s).’
Capitalization without Labor-Hiring: The Family Farm as a New Type of Agricultural Management in Pingzhen of Southern Anhui (无雇佣化的资本化：对新型农业经营主体家庭农场性质再认识——以皖南萍镇粮食家庭农场为例)
Authors: Yu (余练) Lian
Published: May 2019

Unlike capitalist farms or traditional peasant household organizations or commodified agriculture with the proletarianization of the peasantry as examined in classic studies, the so-called “family farm” 家庭农场 proposed by the CPC in its “No. 1 Document” is a characteristically Chinese concept that needs further examination and clarification. Based on long-term fieldwork, this study of family farms for grain production in Pingzhen in southern Anhui demonstrates that the rise of these family farms is a result of both policy implementation and response to the pressure of capital bankruptcy, but it is also rooted in the endogenous efforts of middle-stratum, managerial farmers. With the size of 100 to 200 mu and rare use of hired laborers, the family farm operates by relying on family members. Yet its high level of capitalization (as seen in the use of machinery and other forms of modern input) and hence high level of labor productivity permits its prevalence over small farmers as well as large capitalized farms. But the family farm is more than an economic unit; it also performs multiple social functions. Its development, therefore, has to be moderate, adaptive, and incremental.

从经典作家笔下的资本主义农场到农民家庭组织，再到商品化条件下农民的无产化，中央一号文件所提出的家庭农场是一个颇具中国特色的概念，因此对其性质需要进一步厘清。根据在皖南萍镇粮食家庭农场所做的长期调查，笔者发现家庭农场的形成既有政策和外力的推动，也有中农和职业农民内生性力量的承接。在当前核心家庭为主的家庭人口结构背景下，一二百亩的家庭农场，雇工比例极低。无长工、少短工，依靠家庭劳动力，成为家庭农场在劳动力方面的主要特征。家庭农场在保证土地生产率的同时，通过使用机械、扩大规模，增加了土地总产出，同时增加了自身收益。但家庭农场土地获得需要较高租金，固定资本投入也多，另外对种子、农药和化肥等生产要素投入积极。高资本和高劳动生产率构成家庭农场击败小农、中农和资本型农场的根本。不过，在社会效益上，小农和中农具有多方面功能，家庭农场的发展只能是适度的、局部的，只能循序渐进。
Land Issues in Shanxi Province before the War of Resistance against Japan (抗战前山西土地问题新探)
Authors: Zhao (赵牟云) Mouyun
Published: May 2019

Using Gini coefficients of land distribution, the proportion of small landowners, and the size of landholdings of large landowners in rural Shanxi before the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression, this article shows that, overall, land was not concentrated but rather fragmented among all classes and that small landowners (mainly owner-cultivator peasants and semi-owner-cultivator peasants) predominated. In addition, the data presented here indicate that tenancy relations were also relatively unproblematic. Most of the tensions and contradictions in rural Shanxi were between the government and the common people, who bore the dual burden of state oppression and heavy taxation. The intense population-to-land pressure also contributed to Shanxi’s rural poverty.

通过对山西部分农村地权分配基尼系数的测算和小土地所有者比例及大地户占地情况的统计，可知在抗战前的山西农村，土地在总体上是比较分散的分配在各个阶层的，以自耕农和半自耕农为代表的小土地所有制占据主导地位，在此基础上的租佃关系比较缓和。乡村社会的矛盾和冲突更多地体现在官民之间，即农民负担过重，受压榨太甚。此外，紧张的人地关系亦是造成农村普遍贫困的一个重要因素。
The Policy of Targeted Elimination of Poverty and Its Faulty Implementation: Findings from County A of Guangdong Province (精准扶贫中的政策执行偏差——基于广东省A 县的扶贫经验)
Authors: Liu (刘万群) Wanqun , Lin (林辉煌) Huihuang
Published: May 2019

A nationwide campaign for poverty-elimination has been underway for years. This article examines the task of “double implementation” 双到 of poverty-alleviation policies in County A, and discusses the obvious faults in the process and the complicated factors behind such faults, including the constraints of objective conditions, the mandatory requirements for poverty elimination as a political task, the malfunctioning of mechanisms for correcting mistakes, and local government’s redefinition of policy objectives, etc. All these factors work together to make the work of poverty-elimination deviate from its original objectives, as well as to make the mechanism of “inter-government complicity” function to legitimate such deviation.

近年来，一场大规模的扶贫运动在全国轰轰烈烈的开展起来。本文以A县前两轮扶贫“双到”工作为例，指出扶贫政策在实践中存在着明显的执行偏差。通过考察扶贫政策的具体执行过程，发现扶贫政策执行偏差的生成机制复杂而多元，包括客观条件限制、硬性扶贫政治任务约束、纠偏机制失灵、地方政府的政策目标替代等。这些因素之间相互交叠、彼此嵌套，使得扶贫工作逐步偏离原初的政策目标，并通过“政府间的共谋”的机制得以“合法化”。
Mutual Accommodation in the Church-State Relationship in China?
Authors: Hao Zhidong , Liu Yan
Published: May 2019

The campaign of church demolitions and cross removals in Zhejiang from 2013 to 2016 has revealed some uneasiness in the religion-state relationship in China. The party-state has had a policy of “mutual accommodation” since the 1990s, and the official churches are good examples of such accommodation. But the demolition of Sanjiang Church shows the limits of the policy. In this case study, we argue that mutual accommodation between the two sides is still possible but constrained by two factors: the broad political and policy structure, and the individuals involved in the interaction between church and state. This case study helps to shed some light on an issue that has a far-reaching effect on sociopolitical change in China.
The Politics of Cross Demolition
Authors: Ying Fuk-tsang
Published: May 2019

From March to December 2014, various Wenzhou churches were affected by the unprecedented destruction wrought during the initial execution of the cross-demolition campaign. Subsequently, this campaign extended from Wenzhou to cities like Ningbo, Taizhou, Lishui, and Hangzhou before returning to Wenzhou in July 2015. This article centers on Wenzhou, where authorities removed at least four hundred crosses from churches. It investigates whether the reasons offered for demolishing illegal buildings justify cross demolition, examines the role of the religious factor in the overall campaign, and determines whether the Zhejiang provincial leader attempted to tackle religion-related problems under the guise of demolishing illegal buildings. This article places the cross-demolition campaign in the context of church-state relations and analyzes it from a religio-political perspective.
The Construction of Chinese Muslim Identities in Transnational Spaces
Authors: Wang Yuting
Published: May 2019

Since the beginning of the reform and opening up in China nearly four decades ago, China’s Muslim minorities have restored connections with the global Muslim ummah (community) through religious pilgrimages, business activities, and educational and cultural exchanges. Whether attracted by better economic prospects or for religious purposes, an increasing number of Chinese Muslims have found ways out of China, taking sojourns or eventually settling down in diverse locations across the globe. Drawing on the author’s field research in China, the United States, and the United Arab Emirates, combined with a review of key studies on Chinese Muslims in Southeast Asia, this paper traces the shape of Chinese Muslim transnational networks and examines the construction of “Chinese Muslim” identity in the diaspora. By locating the study of contemporary Chinese Muslims within the broader scholarship on transnational religion, this paper deepens our understanding of the impact of globalization on ethnoreligious minorities.
China and Transregional Halal Circuits
Authors: Brose Michael
Published: May 2019

Demand for halal food items is rising in China, and domestic producers are striving to meet it. But while the growth of China’s domestic halal market mirrors increasing demand around the world, it is difficult for Chinese producers to tap into the global market, due not least to the lack of internationally recognized halal certification processes. This problem was the focus of a recent halal trade fair and conference in Xi’an that featured Muslim religious leaders and halal industry specialists from Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, and Brunei, but not from China. The event was organized and supported by local government and business authorities, who worked with an international Muslim marketing firm that will assist local halal producers to obtain recognized halal certification. This paper examines the Xi’an conference and trade fair as an example of the commercialization and branding of halal in China and explores the ramifications of this process for Muslims in China and for China’s desire to participate in the growing transnational halal economy.
Processes of Modernisation: Scandinavian Experiences
Authors: Skirbekk Gunnar
Published: May 2019

We may ask what is typical of processes of modernisation in Scandinavia? What does Scandinavia have, in this respect, that no one else has? As I see it, what is unique to modernisation processes in Scandinavia, from the eighteenth century and throughout the nineteenth, is a contentious interplay between state officials and popular movements; between enlightened state officials and successful popular movements. Prussia, too, had enlightened state officials; but, in the German realm, popular movements did not turn out to be successful in this respect.
Talking of Reforms that Failed: Some Ideas about Alexander’s “Secret Committee”
Authors: Mikeshin Mikhail I.
Published: May 2019

To decode what Russian reformers meant when borrowing their wording from the West, one should try to immerse oneself into their context. The paper considers an example of Alexander I’s reforms at the very beginning of the nineteenth century. The political struggle and ideas of the Vorontsov brothers’ “Senatorial party” and the “Secret Committee” are studied in two ways. A straightforward “European” interpretation of concepts they all used is found to be misleading. Given the main principle of the Russian political system, autocracy, the Senatorial party understood “despotism” as “ministerial despotism” and fought not for reforms, but for access to the autocrat.
Cultural Transfer: The Case of Mikhail Chulkov’s The Comely Cook
Authors: Levitt Marcus C.
Published: May 2019

Scholars have traditionally sought the sources of Mikhail Chulkov’s The Comely Cook, or the Adventures of a Depraved Woman [Prigozhaia povarikha, ili pokhozhdeniia razvratnoi zhenshchiny] of 1770 in Western European novels. In contrast, this article examines Chulkov’s work as a complex example of cultural transfer that took place on several levels: among languages and national traditions; between poetry and prose; on the somewhat indeterminate level of genre; between oral and print, verbal and visual media; and between high and low, popular and highbrow cultural registers.
Introduction
Authors: Evans Alfred , Bindman Eleanor
Published: May 2019

This article serves as an introduction to this special issue on recent developments in civil society organization and strategies in Russia. Despite the widespread assumption that the increased restrictions placed on NGO activity by the state in recent years have hampered their ability to operate, we argue that civil society in Russia continues to show signs of vitality. This is demonstrated by the fact that protests by ordinary Russians have grown and have often led to the formation of new groups and movements which have had some success in campaigning on specific issues. As the articles in this special issue highlight, one of the key tools affecting whether or not such movements can be successful in achieving their aims is that of framing. When organizations are able to frame the issue they are campaigning on in such a way as to resonate with ordinary people and avoid directly challenging the balance of power within Russia’s political system, they tend to enjoy more success than those groups which tend to take a more confrontational stance and thus face greater pushback and sanction from the authorities. This serves to highlight that NGOs and other civil society groups in Russia employ a range of different strategies and enjoy very different relationships with the authorities as a result.
Framing the Epidemic: NGOs and the Fight Against HIV/AIDS in Russia
Authors: Pape Ulla
Published: May 2019

With more than one million people living with HIV, Russia is facing the biggest HIV epidemic in Europe and is one of the few countries in the world where infection rates are increasing. The response to the epidemic is shaped by the way Russian state actors and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) view the issue of HIV and how they define policy priorities.

In order to understand the factors that underlie HIV policies in Russia, this contribution analyses the framing of HIV. It thereby makes use of framing theory. Based on document analysis and interviews with NGO experts, the article differentiates between four main framings in Russia: the framing of HIV as a medical issue, as a security threat, as a moral problem or as a human rights concern.

In Russia, the moral framing of HIV has become dominant over the past decade. The epidemic is increasingly viewed as the result of harmful influences from the West which need to be overcome. As a result, Russia has departed from evidence-based approaches to HIV. Instead, it solely focuses on strengthening so-called “traditional values”, e.g. by engaging in healthy lifestyle promotion. The moral framing of HIV has also impacted the mobilization potential of Russian NGOs, as it favour those organizations that relate to the dominant framing of HIV and support government priorities.
Mass Mobilization in China and Russia: From Unexpected Victories to Unintended Consequences
Authors: Plantan Elizabeth
Published: May 2019

Despite the increasingly authoritarian atmosphere in Russia and China, mass protests in both countries are pervasive, including protest motivated by environmental grievances. Existing scholarship often focuses on the sources, spread, or volume of mass mobilization, but few examine how civil society actors themselves evaluate the tactic. How does the state respond to environmentally-motivated mass mobilization? In light of the state’s response, how have activists altered their approach to mass mobilization over time? Using case studies and interviews, I find that Russian and Chinese environmental groups approach mass mobilization in distinct ways. Over time, Russian activists have increasingly turned to mass tactics, including coordinated regional protest. Meanwhile, Chinese ENGOs have reduced their formal involvement in such campaigns, limiting visible horizontal linkages between environmental groups. These approaches are shaped by the different historical legacies of mass mobilization in either country, which also shape state perceptions of the threat posed by environmental activism.
The Countercultural Gnostic: Turning the World Upside Down and Inside Out
Authors: DeConick April D.
Published: May 2019

Because the gnostic heresy is a social construction imposed by the early Catholics on religious people they identified as transgressors of Christianity, scholars are entertaining the idea that ancient gnostics were actually alternative Christians. While gnostics may have been made into heretics by the early Catholics, this does not erase the fact that gnostics were operating in the margins of the conventional religions with a countercultural perspective that upset and overturned everything from traditional theology, cosmogony, cosmology, anthropology, hermeneutics, scripture, religious practices, and lifestyle choices. Making the gnostic into a Christian only imposes another grand narrative on the early Christians, one which domesticates gnostic movements. Granted, the textual evidence for the interface of the gnostic and the Christian is present, but so is the interface of the gnostic and the Greek, the gnostic and the Jew, the gnostic and the Persian, and the gnostic and the Egyptian. And the interface looks to have all the signs of transgression, not conformity. Understanding the gnostic as a spiritual orientation toward a transcendent God beyond the biblical God helps us handle this kind of diversity and transgression. As such, it survives in the artifacts that gnostics and their opponents have left behind, artifacts that help orient religious seekers to make sense of their own moments of ecstasy and revelation.
The Apocalypse of Paul (nhc v,2): Cosmology, Anthropology, and Ethics
Authors: Roig Lanzillotta Lautaro
Published: May 2019

The cosmology behind the Apocalypse of Paul is interesting in many respects. To begin with it shows a peculiar ten-heaven structure instead of eight heavens as one might normally expect in a Gnostic text; it structures the cosmos into three clear, separate regions; and it omits any reference to the first two heavens. At the same time, Apocalypse of Paul’s cosmology is especially fascinating, on the one hand for the close connection with the text’s anthropology, which conceives of man in the light of the cosmological framework, and, on the other, for its description of Paul’s ascension as an ethical progress. Most interesting for the present context, however, is that this description includes rather transgressive elements, such as the presentation of the Biblical god as the Demiurge and a polemical view of the apostles. The latter are not only said to be stationed in the archontic region together with the Demiurge, but also to be surpassed by Paul, who is the only individual entitled to enter the divine region. After providing a thorough analysis of Apocalypse of Paul’s cosmology, the present paper provides an overview of the anthropological, theological, and ethical implications of its worldview.
Gnostic Self-Deification: The Case of Simon of Samaria
Authors: Litwa M. David
Published: May 2019

This essay argues that gnostic deification can be redescribed as self-deification. Self-deification, it is argued, is realized in three “moments”: (1) the intuition of one’s own divine core, (2) deeply reflexive practices of self-knowledge, and (3) identification with a higher divine self. These three moments are contextualized with the help of ancient philosophy and several gnostic texts. Finally, a case study on Simon of Samaria illustrates how the three moments of self-deification play out.
Children of the Light: Gnostic Fiction and Gnostic Practice in Vladimir Sorokin’s Ice Trilogy
Authors: Nelson Victoria
Published: May 2019

This paper offers a close reading of the contemporary Russian writer Vladimir Sorokin’s Ice trilogy and explores its deep roots in early gnostic spiritual movements of late antiquity, Russian esoteric philosophy and literature, and Western popular culture. Reflecting sources as varied as the Apocryphon of John, the Disney movie Escape to Witch Mountain, Russian New Age paganism, and esoteric Soviet science, these three interconnected novellas are based on the real-life “Tunguska event,” the great fireball that appeared over the Tunguska region of Siberia in 1908, flattening more than 800 square miles of forest. Famous in ufo circles as the “Russian Roswell” and long a magnet for esoteric speculation, in Sorokin’s hands this probable meteor strike becomes the springboard for a contemporary gnostic fantasy in which a giant chunk of ice carries the spirits of 23,000 gnostic demiurges to earth, where they inhabit human bodies that they despise and seek only to reunite and return to their source. More than a simple postmodern parable of the seventy-year Soviet regime and post-Soviet societal excesses, Sorokin’s damning portrait of his “children of the Light” illuminates the deeper and darker currents of human nature, ethics, and spirituality.
Symbolic Loss, Memory, and Modernization in the Reception of Gnosticism
Authors: Dillon Matthew J.
Published: May 2019

Social scientist of religion Peter Homans has demonstrated that symbolic loss, cultural memory, and modernization are tightly intertwined. As a consequence of modernization, Western culture has lost a shared relationship to the symbols of its Christian past, leading to religious mourning. This article demonstrates that the category gnosticism opened up an imaginative possibility for individuals to reinterpret the cultural memory of the Christian past and achieve rapprochement with the tradition. The argument proceeds through case studies of psychologist Carl Jung, visionary artist Laurence Caruana, and public speaker Jonathan Talat Phillips. Each case exhibits how symbolic loss of the Christian tradition throws the individual into a period of inner turmoil. When each of them read ancient gnostic texts, they do so to reinterpret the symbols of Christianity, specifically Christ, in ways that respond to forces of modernization. The article concludes that popular and religious interpretations of the ancient gnostics should be recognized as attempts by those who lost Christianity in the West to re-envision its cultural memory and reimagine Christianity in the present.
Land in the Construction of Translocal Chinese Community: The Ideal-type of Land Attachment and Its Demonstration in the Case of Quemoy (土地在跨域華人社群中的地位：對土地依附之理念型及其在金門個案中的表現)
Authors: Liu (劉名峰) Ming-Feng
Published: May 2019

This paper aims at illustrating that it is a critical moment for the translocal community of Quemoy for the reason that the price of land in their hometown has risen dramatically in the age of globalization. Land is like the Achilles heel for the construction of translocal community of overseas Quemoy immigrants. When land is well protected, the diasporic solidarity grows energetically, and nourishes the translocal community; when it is badly damaged, the translocal affections might wither, and lead their community to an end. After explaining the reason why the land stands as such an important role for the people of Quemoy at home and abroad, this paper will establish an ideal-type to explore the way people perceive their attachment to the land. This ideal-type of land attachment is constructed by two axes, which are Erich Fromm’s “to be” and “to have,” in conjunction with the “individual-community” metaphoric contrast. To be and to have being two essential forms of human bonding, the “individual-community” contrast refers to the civilizing process, and the tension of human bond with an “object.” Accordingly, land is represented as inspiring nostalgia, as a public sphere, as capital for speculation, and as communal property; these are the four ideal-types of attachment. This paper concludes that the form of land attachment has become more and more diversified since the end of martial law in Quemoy, and the study of the configuration of land attachment will provide an insight into the development of its translocal community.

《大學》中提到：「有德斯有人，有人斯有土，有土斯有財」。土地在華人社會中扮演著重要的角色，更是宗族中的經濟生養與社群凝聚的關鍵。在後冷戰的時期裡，土地價值在全球或多或少都出現了價格飆漲的現象，金門也不例外，甚至由於鄰近中國而更加激烈。有鑑於此，土地的商品化是否會衝擊跨域華人的社群凝聚，也就成為一個重要的課題。藉由金門的個案，本文首先指出追求土地的最高商品價格，並不是人們處理土地時的唯一邏輯，土地在商品化之外，還有其它的產權形式；其次，為能系統地理解土地之產權形式，本文透過了Erich Fromm所提出來之「存有—佔有」的對比，來掌握人與物之間的情感關係，並藉由Karl Polanyi所提到的雙重運動，發展出一組能夠表現現代經濟之緊張的二元架構，即「市場經濟—道德經濟」的隱喻。如此一來，也就能夠發展出四種「土地之情感依附的理念型」，即鄉愁、族產、剬共空間，與商品，據此說明現代人面對土地之情感依附的模式；再者，本文進一步指出，由於金門社會濃厚的宗族色彩，相對傳統的土地觀念卻在戰地政務解除之後，面對全球化的新自由主義及中國的經濟崛起，而呈現了「高強度的混雜現代性」，這不僅使得金門社會對於土地的情感更加複雜，也直接地影響了跨域的金門社群之認同的建構。本文指出，誠然土地會因為市場經濟的運作，而在商品化過程中消解了跨域金門社群內部的連帶，但土地仍可能組合了其它形式的理念型，像是剬共空間、鄉愁，及族產，而生成跨域金門人社群的凝聚，並從中建構社群身份的認同。 (This article is in English.)
Journeys between Europe and China: My Three-Decade Quest for Chinese Overseas History
Authors: Li Minghuan
Published: May 2019

This is a factual story of an academic journey of three-decades told by the author about how she thrived in her research on Chinese Overseas in Europe. The author was among few academics from prc who went to study in Amsterdam in the mid-1980s. Ill-prepared and bewildered, she received help from Chinese Overseas. The experience marked the beginning of her life-long academic interest in Chinese Overseas. She was trained as a historian at Xiamen University specializing in Chinese in Indonesia for her ma, and she completed her doctoral degree in sociology at the University of Amsterdam specializing in Chinese migrants in Europe. She spent years conducting field work to study Chinese communities in different European countries. She became a Professor at Xiamen University, China, and published many papers and books on Chinese in Europe.
Tan Kah Kee’s Heritage: Rethinking the Cultural Meaning of Jimei School Village and Ao Yuan in Xiamen
Authors: Chiang Bo-Wei
Published: May 2019

Tan Kah Kee, an overseas Chinese, was not only a political leader but also an educator in Modern China and Southeast Asia. He devoted his life to Chinese education and social enlightenment, and founded Jimei School and Amoy (Xiamen) University during the 1920s-30s. As an overseas Chinese with strong national and local identity, he advocated a new type of education as a strategy for social improvement. He also created a hybrid architectural style known as yangzhuang wanmao (western dress with a Chinese round hat) which can be described as a British colonial building with Minan (southern Fujian) influence. This paper discusses the tangible and intangible cultural heritage left by Tan Kah Kee, using the examples of Jimei School Village founded by Tan and the space of the Ao Yuan burial site in his hometown. First, I will introduce the background of his growth and the process of his immigration overseas. Then, I will analyze the establishment of Jimei School Village and the construction of the campus. In addition, the “view of museology” exhibited by Tan Kah Kee’s cemetery, Ao Yuan, was used to analyze the educational enlightenment that he pursued throughout his life. Finally, through the discussion of Tan’s cultural heritage, I analyze the contribution of his modernity project and its deficiency.