From shanzhai chic to Gangnam style: seven practices of cultural-economic mediation in China and Korea

ABSTRACT

This paper examines the social construction of ‘fashionability’ – namely, what is ‘desirable’ and ‘fashionable’ – with reference to the concept ‘cultural mediators’ that foregrounds agency, negotiation and the contested practices of market actors in cultural production. It zeroes in on the cultural mediators’ attitudes and positions in the two markets by drawing on 25 in-depth interviews with industry veterans. It shows that the mediators in South Korea and China increasingly occupy hybrid occupational roles and social positions across industries and sectors yet achieve limited success in countering the status quo of Western fashion through mediation. The analysis contributes to the literature with a categorisation of seven mediation practices that shape the valuation of fashion products (i.e. ‘fashionability’) in two ways. Empirically, this categorisation illuminates how cultural mediators make reference habitually to the broader social and cultural contexts to co-construct cultural-aesthetic objects. Theoretically, it advances a cultural-economic approach to the understanding of cultural mediation and challenges the reductionist viewpoint of actor–network theory through the notion of a matrix of cultural-economic agency.     

Valuing and Desiring Purposes of Education to Transcend Miseducative Measurement Practices

Abstract

The separating and isolating tendencies of measuring practices can lead educators to lose sight of the aims and purposes of education. These end purposes can be used to guide and ensure that the activities of educators are educational, and therefore, Biesta recommends there is a need for educators to reconnect with them. This article. explores this notion of a ‘reconnection’ and argues that if educators are to challenge any potentially miseducative measuring practices, then this reconnection must require educators to value and desire particular end purposes. Desires are recognised to be existential in character and are identified as being necessary for initiating actions. It is argued here that this aspect of desires is important for understanding the significance of a ‘reconnection’ because without it the purposes of education may remain only as abstract philosophical ideals. To make a difference and to challenge the isolating and miseducative tendencies of some measuring practices, educators must come to value particular purposes of education, and in addition, they must exercise the courage to enact them. This can be made possible because educators strongly care for and desire the actualisation of the purposes to which they are connected.     

The interest of Bavarian primary school pupils in geographical topics and methods – selected results of an empirical survey

Interest is a central learning prerequisite for teaching. The article deals with a survey among 1600 primary school pupils in forms 2, 3 and 4 (ages 7–10) in the German federal state of Bavaria who were interviewed on their interest in geographical topics and working methods. They were given a questionnaire including 40 items to indicate their individual interest on a five-point Likert scale. The results show that the subscale ‘natural disaster' generates the highest interest, followed by ‘phenomena of geoscience' and ‘people and peoples'. The interest in all three subscales decreases with increasing age. Furthermore, several gender-specific differences occur. Among the working methods, experimenting, films and computers hold the first three places whilst again showing significant differences concerning age group as well as gender.     

Learning through South–South development: Cuban-African partnerships in sport and physical education

Since the 1990s, Cuba has offered scholarships to students from low-resource countries to attend the Escuela Internacional de Educación Física y Deporte (EIEFD) for a six-year degree in sport, physical education, and coaching. Drawing on the experiences of EIEFD graduates from four Southern African countries (Zambia, South Africa, Mozambique, and Lesotho) the authors discuss the meanings that this South–South cooperation through education holds for international students and for the self-sufficiency of sport and physical-education systems within partner countries. The authors also show that upon returning home, many EIEFD graduates are left to negotiate insular job markets and inconsistent domestic commitments to public sport and physical education. The implications for South–South development through international education, and the place of sport and physical education therein, are discussed.     

Cross-sector collaboration in upper secondary school vocational education: experiences from two industrial towns in Sweden and Norway

This study explores industry–education collaboration on vocational education and training (VET) in upper secondary schools in Sweden and Norway, with particular attention to the initiatives, organisation and operational management, and aspects of robustness and lock-in effects. The case studies include two upper secondary schools situated in manufacturing based towns, which are similar in size and industrial structure, and have the dual system of education. Pupils come from these towns and other places in the surrounding region. The research design is based on a mixed-method approach, including interviews and other sources of information from schools and industry. This covered organisational and operational levels, corporate motives and arrangements, industrial composition, labour market conditions, and other regional and national characteristics. The results demonstrated how shared goals of improving the reputation and quality of VET and meeting industries’ needs for skills formed in two distinct organisational models. These findings raise concerns about the robustness of these collaborations, since how changes occur in companies’ economic situations may affect their ability and motivation to participate in VET training. The authors conclude that the arrangements have had success but may create a lock-in-situation regarding the companies’ ability to restructure and develop new skills for new sectors.     

St Francis of Assisi and Islam: A Theological Perspective on a Christian-Muslim Encounter

In 1219 an encounter took place between a Christian from Italy, Francis of Assisi, and the Muslim Sultan of Egypt, al-Malik al-Kāmil. This meeting took place at Damietta in northern Egypt during the progress of the Fifth Crusade. Over a period of perhaps three weeks, religious dialogue took place between Francis and al-Kāmil, after which time the Sultan had Francis escorted safely back to the Christian camp. It is possible to discern from the writings of Francis after his return from Egypt that the meeting had had a deep religious impact upon him, realised in the latter years of his life. It can be said that both Francis and al-Kāmil experienced through their encounter what the Christian theologian Bernard Lonergan has spoken of as a conversion into a new horizon. The historical encounter between Francis and the Sultan witnesses to the fact that through religious conversion, it is possible for members of different religious faiths to arrive at a common vision of universal peace and reconciliation.     

“Et sachiez qu’il se repenti fort quant yl y envoia” (Jean de Joinville,Vie de saint Louis). Par-delà la désillusion mongole. Mœurs et légendes “tartares” au temps du roi Saint Louis

The passage that John of Joinville, faithful companion of Louis IX, devotes to the Mongols in his chronicle of the Seventh Crusade, known as “La Vie de Saint Louis”, cross-conceives two structures under the sign of hope: historical facts and legends on the one hand, and Christian sensibilities on the other, giving way to a set of “ethnological” observations about what are presented as “barbarian” customs. The text gives a faithful reflection on sentiments which agitated the Crusaders and their King: hope and disillusion. But Joinville's testimony goes far beyond that: it is first and foremost a testimony of love upon which history could be re-written.     

新型胍类化合物的催化合成

将稀土双胺化合物｛（CH2 SiMe2）[（2,6-iPr2C6 H3）N]2｝SmN（SiMe3）2（THF）应用于胍类化合物的催化合成,在较低催化剂载入量（3％ mol）和温和的反应条件（室温,6小时）下实现对脂肪仲胺、芳香胺、杂环胺等的胍化,得到一系列新型胍类化合物,化合物的结构经红外、核磁氢谱和碳谱表征。     

Gay–straight alliance (GSA) members’ engagement with sex education in Canadian high schools

This paper offers an examination of gay–straight alliance (GSA) members’ engagement with sex education, sexual health, and prejudice and discrimination in Canadian public high schools. It explores how five students’ (four straight and one gay-identifying) participation in GSAs served as a springboard for learning about and challenging stereotypes; prejudice; and discrimination directed at lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, and queer/questioning (LGBTQ) people. Queer theory provided the theoretical underpinnings of the study, offering a lens through which to examine the heteronormative underpinnings of education, and a means to interpret how homophobic discourses circulate in school and society. Empirical data were obtained via observational notes from visits to nine GSAs and semi-structured interviews with the five GSA members. Findings suggest that straight allies can use their heterosexual privilege to address LGBTQ issues with their peers. Through GSA involvement, participants learned to interrogate and combat stereotypes about LGBTQ people and HIV-related myths, as well as to engage in queer discussion and political action.