Recalling Victory, Recounting Greatness: Second World War Remembrance in Xi Jinping's China

The recent surge in public remembrance of the Second World War in China has been substantially undergirded by a centrally planned and systematically implemented discursive shift which has remained overlooked in the literature. This study examines the revised official narrative by drawing on three cases from China's school curriculum, museums and formal diplomacy. It finds that the once dominant trope of “national victimization” no longer represents the main thrust in the Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) rhetoric on the Second World War. Under Xi Jinping, this has been replaced by a self-assertive and aspirational narrative of “national victory” and “national greatness,” designed to enhance Beijing's legitimacy and advance its domestic and foreign policy objectives. By emphasizing national unity and CCP–KMT cooperation, the new narrative offers an inclusive and unifying interpretation of China's war effort in which the victory in 1945 has come to rival the 1949 revolution as the critical turning point towards “national rejuvenation.” The increasingly Sino-centric and centrally controlled narrative holds implicit warnings to those challenging Beijing's claim to greatness.

Changes in Couples' Earnings Following Parenthood and Trends in Family Earnings Inequality

The growing economic similarity of spouses has contributed to rising income inequality across households. Explanations have typically centered on assortative mating, but recent work has argued that changes in women's employment and spouses' division of paid work have played a more important role. We expand this work to consider the critical turning point of parenthood in shaping couples' division of employment and earnings. Drawing on three U.S. nationally representative surveys, we examine the role of parenthood in spouses' earnings correlations between 1968 and 2015. We examine the extent to which changes in spouses' earnings correlations are due to (1) changes upon entry into marriage (assortative mating), (2) changes between marriage and parenthood, (3) changes following parenthood, and (4) changes in women's employment. Our findings show that increases in the correlation between spouses' earnings prior to 1990 came largely from changes between marriage and first birth, but increases after 1990 came almost entirely from changes following parenthood. In both instances, changes in women's employment are key to increasing earnings correlations. Changes in assortative mating played little role in either period. An assessment of the aggregate-level implications points to the growing significance of earnings similarity after parenthood for rising income inequality across families.

Democracy and Political Marketing in Nigeria: 2015, The Critical Turning Point

Nigeria’s current democratic dispensation which started in 1999 entered its sixteenth year with the general elections held between March 28 and April 11, 2015. This study takes a retrospective look at Nigeria’s democratic journey since independence, with particular emphasis on the 2015 Presidential elections won by the opposition All Progressive Congress’ (APC) candidate, General Mohammadu Buhari. The processes leading to the 2015 general elections; its results and reactions to the results and the electoral process are reviewed from the political marketing perspective. Survey, observation and review of relevant literature formed the body of data for the study. The study submits that market-oriented strategy is starting to evolve in Nigeria and also that the country has reached a critical juncture in her democratic journey and she cannot afford to slide back.

Blockchain Governance—A New Way of Organizing Collaborations?

The recent emergence of blockchains may be considered a critical turning point in organizing collaborations. We outline the historical background and the fundamental features of blockchains and present an analysis with a focus on their role as governance mechanisms. Specifically, we argue that blockchains offer a way to enforce agreements and achieve cooperation and coordination that is distinct from both traditional contractual and relational governance as well as from other information technology solutions. We also examine the scope of blockchains as efficient governance mechanisms and highlight the tacitness of the transaction as a key boundary condition. We then discuss how blockchain governance interacts with traditional governance mechanisms in both substitutive and complementary ways. We pay particular attention to blockchains’ social implications as well as their inherent challenges and limitations. Our analysis culminates in a research agenda that explores how blockchains may change the way to organize collaborations, including issues of what different types of blockchains may emerge, who is involved and impacted by blockchain governance, why actors may want blockchains, when and where blockchains can be more (versus less) effective, and how blockchains influence a number of important organizational outcomes.

The History of Scholarship on Ancient Israelite Religion: A Brief Sketch

In order to study the broad topic of divinity, it is essential to survey the history of scholarship, especially to understand the foundation of views inherited by modern scholars. The Enlightenment is chosen as a starting point due to the growth of the critical study of the Bible during these times. Germanic scholarship of the Hebrew Bible in nineteenth century is articulated as a critical turning point. Subsequent developments include the emergence of sociological methods, the “history of religion” comparative approach, and the “myth-and-ritual” school of thought. Newly discovered archaeological remains caused yet another shift, with scholars now debating whether ancient Israel’s religion was in fact as unique as confessional traditions taught. More recently, varying methodological approaches have exploded on the scene including epigraphy, socio-historical linguistics, revisionist historical hermeneutics, feminist approaches, intertextuality, and iconographic studies together with the maturing of the fields of archaeology and sociology.

Defending Trinity College Dublin, Easter 1916.

Understandably, the centenary of the Dublin Rising of Easter 1916, a critical turning point in modern Irish history, has generated literally shelves of new interpretations and commemorative volumes: some overtly celebratory; others more soberly reflective; yet others again offering quite fresh perspectives. Rory Sweetman’s Defending Trinity College Dublin, Easter 1916 falls clearly into the third category, in many respects as a footnote to the mayhem, albeit an intriguing one. Focusing on an attempted rebel attack on the College on the first night of the Rising, and the defence that was mounted, the author strongly argues that what transpired has long been misinterpreted, when not completely ignored by Irish historians. In consequence, the efforts of a small group of primarily New Zealand soldiers have been consigned to the dustbin of history. He argues strongly that the contingent’s contribution was critical to saving the College from almost certain destruction in later fighting, thereby ensuring it survived to become the respected institution it remains.

Journalism and fake news in the Covid-19 era. Perspectives for media education in Italy

In this article, drawing from the data collected by the AGCOM during the pandemic crisis, we argue that the emergence of COVID 19 has made more evident the new relationships between the informative cybercascades, the significant need of news during a crisis, the presence of disinformation online, and the relevant consequences on collective narrations, often producing a generalized panic. We also argue that infotainment can be considered a critical turning point in the relationship between true and false in the news because of its fusion of facts, drama, and emotional narrative frames so that it is no longer possible to separate reality from media reconstruction of it. We finally argue that Media Education can help individuals unpack the complexities of this fusion and engage ‘civically’ so that, by combining critical thinking and social action, they can contribute to reconnect (news)media to vital issues such as credibility, freedom of expression, pluralism, democracy, and social change