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Spanning various regions of Sub-Saharan Africa, the authors of this volume come together to explore the complex relationship between religion and democracy in contemporary Africa. As a result of the end of the Cold War and the fall of the Soviet Union, many African countries have come to the realization, however partial, that political and social change is inevitable in spite of government heavy-handedness and threats. It has also become evident that no political system that refuses to permit freedom of political expression and alternative systems of governance could continue to be sustained. It is in precisely this political climate that religious institutions have collaborated with other elements of civil society to call for political reforms, with the church often becoming the prominent voice against oppressive governments in countries such as Kenya and South Africa. It is the purpose of this book to assess how religion shapes political issues and to what extent religious forces influence the civil society. By acknowledging the role of the civil society, the essays recognize the resilience that comes out of Africa even when the sociopolitical situation seems unbearable

When the Nazis came to power and created a racial state in the 1930s, an urgent priority was to identify Jews who had converted to Christianity over the preceding centuries. With the help of church officials, a vast system of conversion and intermarriage records was created in Berlin, the country's premier Jewish city. Deborah Hertz's discovery of these records, the Judenkartei, was the first step on a long research journey that has led to this compelling book. Hertz begins the book in 1645, when the records begin, and traces generations of German Jewish families for the next two centuries. The book analyzes the statistics and explores letters, diaries, and other materials to understand in a far more nuanced way than ever before why Jews did or did not convert to Protestantism. Focusing on the stories of individual Jews in Berlin, particularly the charismatic salon woman Rahel Levin Varnhagen and her husband, Karl, a writer and diplomat, Hertz humanizes the stories, sets them in the context of Berlin's evolving society, and connects them to the broad sweep of European history

The conceptualization of land tenure in the precolonial Sudan : evidence and interpretation / Lidwien Kapteijns and Jay Spaulding -- New perspectives on the Diwan : state formation and the rise of Kanuri domination in the central Sudan (A.D. 1200-1600) / Augustin Holl -- By these means he is able to procure what he is most in need of : predatory accumulation and state formation in Bagirmi (1846-1877) / Stephen Reyna -- Building a state and struggling over land : the Taqali Kingdom, 1750-1884 / Janet Ewald -- Mud on the belly of the bull : land, power and state formation in eighteenth and nineteenth century Dar Fur / George Michael La Rue -- Land, agriculture, and social class formation in the Gibe Region, from the mid-nineteenth century to 1936 / Gulumu Gemeda -- Military elites in medieval Ethiopia / Merid Wolde Aregay -- The politics of the northern border : state control and the land tenure system in nineteenth century Ethiopia / Irma Taddia -- Landsale contracts as historical sources : methodology and analysis / Anders Bjorkelo -- The establishment of Gemjabét Kidandä Mehret Church in Däbrä Marqos, Gojjam Province / Donald Crummey and Daniel Ayana -- Waaqf-land in nineteenth century Wällo (Ethiopia) / Hussein Ahmad -- Land rights, commerce, and royal authority in Kano / Allan Christelow

Preliminary Material --Introduction /Joseph Drew --Federalism in Europe: History and Future Options /Maiken Umbach --From Dialectics to Political Theology: Rethinking Complexity in Federalism /Isabel David --The Democratic Principle as an Organisational Basis of the European Union /Xenophon Contiades --The European Union's Institutional System as the Basis for a New Form of Democracy /Fausto Capelli --Incorporating the Principle of Co-Equal Branches into the European Constitution: Lessons to be Learned from the United States /Mark K. Gyandoh --Institutional Redress of the Democratic Deficit: Redefinition with a Democracy-Efficiency Continuum /Joelle Anne Schmitz --Constituent Power and Polity Legitimacy in the European Context: A Theoretical Sketch /Zoran Oklopčić --Circumventing the State? The Demands of Stateless Nations, National Minorities, and the European Constitution /David Adam Landau and Lisa Vanhala --The Catholic Church and Poland's Accession to the European Union /Mirella Eberts --Inclusive Education as a Human Right and Slovakia's Accession to the European Union /Julia M. White --The US Must Merge with the EU /Tom Hudgens --Conclusion: Europe on the Road to Redefinition /Joseph Drew --Notes on Contributors.

This article examines the 1990s transition from socialism to capitalism in Poland through the lens of the changing market of underwear. Based on oral history interviews, archival research of bra production companies, as well as an analysis of contemporary press reports, I examine how the integration of the Polish economy into the global capitalist system post 1989 influenced its sexual culture. This article shows how the end of the public sector's monopoly on the production of underwear and the rise of the private sector introduced new form of bras that were codified as sexual by the media and manufacturers themselves. These new types of products mimicked Western European brands, distancing themselves from the socialist era underwear, and incorporated new technology designed to model and discipline female bodies. Through a deep analysis of a 1996 article on the bra business from The Electoral Gazette [Gazeta Wyborcza], the biggest daily newspaper in Poland, I show how the liberal media were ambivalent to such changes and portrayed it as differences between generations of women in the face of calls for stricter censorship from conservative politicians and the Catholic Church.

Abstract According to the prevailing opinion, capitalism is a market economy governed by immutable laws and inequality is the result of competition between free and equal individuals on that market. This paper argues that capitalism, as developed in Western Europe in modern times, has more in common with organized crime than with a system of natural laws. It is rooted in the sale of church and common lands, the privatization of finance (especially public debt) and colonialism. However, its purpose is not the accumulation of wealth. It is merely a particular way of sustaining domination by a small group of people over the rest of the population. Domination in capitalism differs from earlier forms of domination in two ways: it is reproduced via the accumulation of wealth and it is not visible as such. Neither the purpose (domination) nor the functioning (systematic appropriation) is visible on the surface. Even Marx was led to believe that the economy is governed by laws which can be studied scientifically. The paper will argue against this belief by tracing the structures of domination to the reproduction of social inequality in capitalist societies.

In her influential monograph Roman Faith and Christian Faith: Pistis and Fides in the Early Roman Empire and Early Churches, Theresa Morgan has convincingly shown how closely the early Christian discourse on 'faith' was bound up with similar notions in the broader Greco-Roman world, particularly in relation to the system of patronage, with both humans and deities fulfilling the role of (trustworthy and trusted) patrons. Thus, she has shifted attention from πίστις/fides as a primarily 'theological' notion to an interpretation along more 'social' lines and situated it in realm of human and divine/human relations. She also analyses this in relation to the Gospel of Mark, showing how Mark also fits this general picture. This note builds on Morgan's work and will further develop one aspect of Mark's use of the language (and concept) of patronage and πίστις. This is its subversive character, which is present to a lesser extent in Morgan's work; by calling for πίστις directed to him on the part of the people that he encounters, Jesus also draws these people away from other allegiances and 'πίστις commitments', that is, intersubjective relationships based on trust and leading to personal allegiance.

The paper summarizes the findings of the historiographic and archaeological fieldwork focused on the preservation and development of the scientific heritage of the Russian scientists of the 19th — early 20th centuries in the area of the Syro-Palestinian region that most closely matches the concept of the "Holy Land". The author identifies three core directions of development in the Russian archaeology: field study of the traces of the Russian pilgrims, scientists, representatives of the government and the Orthodox Church; study of antiquities in some Russian areas; insights into the heritage of the 19th — early 20th centuries as historical sources with its further inclusion in the system of modern scientific knowledge. The paper describes the findings obtained to date (including the interim results of excavations in Jericho, the scientific interpretation of a number of artefacts from the collection of Antonin Kapustin, the first catalogues of archaeological sites in the Russian areas). The author focuses on expanding fieldwork, classifying and attributing antiquities, launching them in circulation at the level of modern science, creating a monograph on the history of the Russian studies in the 19th — early 20th centuries.

Third parties in the United States face a litany of obstacles to electoral success. Duverger's Law explains that single-member, plurality-based elections will favor a two party system. However, on rare occasion a third party candidate is able to do abnormally well, even winning elections on occasion. Evan McMullin presents a unique success story among third party campaigns. He is without the name recognition, strong financial backing, or political experience that most successful third party candidates have. Despite these challenges, he became the second most successful third party presidential candidate in the history of the state of Utah. Evan McMullin's success is hypothesized as a defection of active members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, due to a Republican Party candidate selection failure. This short term major party failure revealed cleavages between this religious voting bloc and the Republican Party at large. Based on this research, analysis of other voting blocs traditionally loyal to either major party could be examined, and other potential defections from the party in the future could be predicted.

AbstractThis paper discusses how Tanzimat Reforms (1839-1876) transformed the architectural landscape of Mardin at the end of the 19th century. Ottoman presence and authority in the urban landscape was symbolised by modern secular bureaucratic buildings such as the government palace, the government house, the town hall, the revenue office, the post office, prisons, banks, schools, hospitals and military barracks in this era. Tanzimat Reforms also had bearings on the vernacular architecture in Mardin. The granting of a modern system of equal citizenship in this era paved the way for the city's Christian communities to establish several new churches and renovate existing ones. Ottoman elites sent from the centre, or new bureaucrats appointed from among local Muslim, Christian and Jewish communities, influential noble families, tradesmen and artisans commissioned elaborate domestic buildings. While indigenous architectural types and decorative styles are observed mostly in the elite houses and religious architecture, official and municipal buildings, commissioned by the patronage of centrally appointed bureaucrats, display predominantly neoclassical arrangement, the favoured style of the government buildings of the Tanzimat and post-Tanzimat eras of Ottoman Empire.

This article examines changes in the degree of personal agency in young women, with post–compulsory education, in the last 50 years in a Southern European reality. It explores strategies of negotiation and resistance to social and cultural conditions, such as restrictive legislation, in a relatively traditional context. The arguments brought forward are positioned broadly within a discourse of individualization—on how women are more than ever devising their lives on their own free-will. There are various structural and cultural changes that had direct impact on the changes in females' personal agency. This article focuses on three of them—the influence of the church, restrictive legislation, and the expansion and extension of the educational system. The data drawn on for this article are taken from interviews conducted in Malta, with two generations of women who were in post–compulsory education in their youth, yet experienced their youth 50 years apart. The implications brought forward include a need for assessing how female agency operates in a relatively more traditional setting in a paradoxical manner. Their degree of female agency demonstrates complex strategies of accommodation and negotiation in line with socioeconomic and cultural conditions. ; peer-reviewed

The Bahamas has a structure of inequality built into its colonial heritage and post-colonial governance. Women are not considered equal to men. In fact, many women do not see the need for equality. Some branches of the Church encourage the idea that women are less equal than men interpreting it as divine Christian law. Much like the divine right of kings, there is no challenging the doctrine. As the gender equality referendum failed once again after a 15-year gap between the vote in 2002 and the vote in 2016, can one be surprised. The failure of the referendum seems to speak to a distrust of government and a contempt for the political system, particularly in the wake of the gambling referendum, that was really an opinion poll, but, a poll that government refused to heed. The failure was also based on xenophobia, homophobia and clannishness. Enlightened Sexism seems to be an appropriate description of the policies and laws as well as attitudes of a large portion of the Bahamian population that agreed that women should not have the same rights as men.

L'articolo intende analizzare uno degli ambiti di intervento giuridico-politico del pontificato di Innocenzo III ovvero il sistema di tassazione adottato in occasione delle crociate. Si dimostrerà come l'imposta ideata da Lotario di Segni, al di là delle circostanze particolari che l'hanno originata, costituisca un istituto che rimarrà nell'ordinamento giuridico canonico non solo come fonte di sostegno economico ma anche come vessillo di libertà ed indipendenza nei confronti di qualsiasi potere civile. ; The aim of this study is to analyze the system of taxation developed by the papal government at the time of the fourth crusade, which is one of the main aspects of the political and juridical policy enacted by pope Innocentius III. As will be shown, a special tax, designed by Lotario di Segni continued to be part of the canonical and juridical organization long after the extinction of the peculiar circumstances that originated it. This particular tax in fact, transcending its original purpose of securing economic support, ultimately became a symbol of freedom and independence of the church from any secular power. ; Ciencias Religiosas ; Derecho

Рассматриваются взаимоотношения между светским и религиозным сектором в Государстве Израиль. Целью работы является раскрытие проблематики секулярно-клерикальных взаимоотношений в политической системе общества; основная задача проиллюстрировать уникальность и самобытность изучаемого государства, обозначить наиболее актуальные точки конфронтации. Автором сделана попытка объяснить причины государственно-конфессиональных противостояний, имеющих в своих истоках исторически и социально обусловленные факторы. Вывод о невозможности четкого определения границ между светским теократическим характером власти в исследуемом государстве логически вытекает из содержания статьи. ; The article states the problem of the relationship between secular and religious sectors in the State of Israel. The purpose of this work is to reveal the clerical-secular relationship issues in the political system of the society, and to illustrate the uniqueness and originality of the state and identify the most relevant points of this conflict. The author tries to explain the reasons for tense stand-off between church and state having their origin in the historically and socially conditioned factors. The author comes to the conclusion that it is impossible to define clearly the boundaries between the secular or theocratic nature of power in the state under inquiry.

En los ordenamientos estatales, el principio de legalidad es fundamental para garantizar la seguridad jurídica de los ciudadanos y la certeza del Derecho. ¿Sucede lo mismo en el Derecho canónico? Como la Iglesia ha sido fundada por Jesucristo, su ordenamiento goza de unas peculiaridades que afectan necesariamente el tratamiento de las distintas figuras y principios jurídicos. La salus animarum informa todo el ordenamiento y, en consecuencia, el principio de legalidad canónico debe ser comprendido como un instrumento para la consecución del bien común eclesial y al servicio de la racionalidad de la norma. ; The principle of legality in the state legislation is fundamental in order to ensure the legal security of citizens and the law certainly. What happens in canon law? The Church has been founded by Jesucristo and, consequently, the different legal instruments and principles of the canonical order must be adjusted to peculiar characteristics. The canonical system is totally affected by the salus animarum and, for this reason, the canonical principle of legality must be understood as an instrument for the ecclesial common good and the rationality of norms. ; Derecho canónico