Suchergebnisse

During the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries, Rabbi Joseph Karo composed two major Jewish codes of law: the Beit Yosef, and its abridged version, Sulchan 'Aruch. Though several centuries of legal discussion and scholarship have passed since their publication, these double codes of law were never superseded. This codification project defined the axial place of law in Jewish tradition. I argue that it responded to changes in legal processes and the enforcement of law that simultaneously transformed early modern Europe and the Ottoman world. Transcontinentally connected changes in political institutions—the formation of a centralized Islamic empire in the Ottoman case, and the formation of centralized states in Europe—dramatically redefined the role of law and legal codification in the forging of state power and community identities. The resultant belief among Sephardi rabbis, including Karo, that changes in Jewish legal tradition were now needed, prompted a redefinition of Jewish legal culture, whereby law (a gradually centralized conception of it) began to be seen as the foundation of Jewish religious heritage and ethnic identity. Despite the absence of state backing, early modern transformations in Jewish law were thus part of comparable changes taking place in the European and Islamic legal worlds.

The theoretical framework of this study rests on the assumption that historical narrative can 'establish the identity of its authors and listeners' (Rüsen 1993: 5); it is grounded on the new status of history as a 'resource for solving the problems of the national emancipation and identity, and for legitimizing the political élites''power struggles' in the modern public space (Grekova et al. 1997: 15). I use theoretical concepts in my analysis of the ways through which historical narratives (forming the structure of the educational content of the obligatory history textbooks) construct the national community, articulating its relation with 'the surrounding world'. This analysis examines the process of re‐writing the history textbooks1 (as a legitimizing resource of the changing political élites during the periods 1917–1946; 1946–1955; 1963–1984‐1989; 1990–1993‐1996) in order to discern the value‐normative scale of the historical narrative's chain of events, which builds and carries the national identity. Our study deals with the obligatory history textbook in its capacity of official pedagogic discourse that is charged also with the expectations to provide historical resources for solving the crisis of the national identity, caused by the changed direction of Bulgarian historical time as a result of the flow of world history (Bundzhulov et al 1995).

This indispensable work traces impeachment from its bloody origins in medieval England, to its adoption in the Constitution, and through 250 years of American experience culminating in the two impeachments of Donald Trump. Frank O. Bowman III tells the stories, human and political, of nobles, commoners, colonists, judges, legislators, cabinet officers, and Presidents who have faced impeachment. He demonstrates that the practice was designed to be a flexible tool, informed by history, and adaptable to the needs of any age. The first edition was read by Democrats and Republicans and cited extensively by the advocates in both Trump impeachments. In this second edition, Bowman expands the first edition's deep historical and constitutional analysis. He also draws on his involvement in both Trump impeachments as a congressional consultant and frequent commentator, to assess Trump's aberrant presidency, his impeachments, and whether impeachment remains a useful tool against an overreaching president.

AbstractThis article provides a brief outline of the impact of Turkish Freemasonry on the development of modern Turkey since the eighteenth century. It draws a short and incomplete history from a qualitative viewpoint, including influential topics, approaches, and camps. As European influences were historically strong in shaping Freemasonry on the Bosphorus, the text makes Turkish Freemasonry a case of Turkish‐European exchange and an example of specific currents of modernization, individualization, and liberalization—with all their pros and cons—within Islamic societies. The relevant questions are where and in which frameworks such currents may have been effective, where they perhaps produced the opposite of what they intended, and to what extent they could contribute to mitigating today's torn political climate to all participants' benefit. The article is based on interactions with representatives of Turkey's Freemasonry, mainly of the liberal and progressive strands, making it more a narrative‐oriented account of an evolving greater picture than an array of detailed empirical‐scientific evidence on single pillars. The goal is to illustrate the complexity of "semi‐secular" socio‐religious dynamics in a Muslim context and to put the past into some relation to the present.

This is a report about the Institute of Modern History of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, with supplementary notes on Peita and the Central Institute of Nationalities, all of which I visited while in China between 15 December 1975 and 13 January 1976.

"Rewriting German History offers striking new insights into key debates about the recent German past. Bringing together cutting-edge research and current discussions, this volume examines developments in the writing of the German past since the Second World War and suggests new directions for scholarship in the twenty-first century. Subjects covered include the peculiarities of Nazi Germany, the comparison between Hitler and Mussolini, eugenics and racial theory, genocide and defeat, memory and heroism, prostitution and women's rights, the Anglo-German relationship and the politics of culture in modern Germany"--