Masculine identity confers advantages over the feminine ‘other’, but works differently and in a twofold way. ‘Man’ as the generic representation of ‘the human’ is only apparently de-gendered or gender-neutral. It is in fact gendered masculine and defined within heteronormativity and homophobia. However, there are also overtly gendered roles for men, though these are characteristically represented in selective and flattering ways. Men therefore have little need for an ‘identity politics’ to work against an oppressive norm. Rather they are positioned against each other within competitive hierarchies, which are co-defined with the values and structures of militarism and capitalism.

A growing number of Chinese environmental groups constitute not only an effective force in tackling environmental issues, but also a genuine civil society that is transforming state-society relations in China. This paper will consider how the environmental movement now taking shape among south-western China's environmental NGOs creates new civic freedoms and deals with existing constraints under the current Chinese political system. While this empowerment of local citizens will have a broadly positive influence on the protection of China's environment, precedent from other transitioning countries shows that environmental movements can be inextricably linked to important new freedoms for the public as well as jarring political change.

By adopting a longue durée approach this paper aims to move the debate on Italy's foreign policy under the leadership of Silvio Berlusconi beyond the presentism and personalization currently dominating it. It argues firstly that the equation of Italian foreign policy with Berlusconi – irresistible as it may be – does not ultimately hold, and secondly that Berlusconi's ‘new course’ in foreign policy has to be put in a broader context. A more historically informed reading of the subject can on the one hand confer meaning and substance to what otherwise could appear to be a supremely ephemeral foreign policy, and on the other help illuminate its current trajectory and future implications. Far from being the product of ‘one man alone’ and his surreal quirks, the recent change in Italy's foreign policy results from a particular dialectic interplay between structural and contingent developments, which have come to intersect at this particular time.

Some studies suggest that market-based economic development with state policies based on the rule of law are essential in stabilizing democracy and protecting civil and political rights. This article explores a possible association between weak civil and political rights, democratic instability and the delay in a state-regulated market development under the rule of law in Turkey. Despite its experience with democratic institutions since the 1950s, Turkey can be characterized as an ‘illiberal’ democracy because of its poor record on human rights. The lack of a relatively autonomous and competitive market economy may be explained by clientelist and inegalitarian forms of state intervention. These in turn contribute to the perpetuation of low income levels, a clientelist rent-seeking political and economic culture and unstable and illiberal democracy.