This paper is a brief political and ethnographic commentary on the 'issues of weakness' in the current political leadership of Kalmykia. In the Republic of Kalmykia, southwest Russia, ideas about national leaders have been subject to change, depending on the political regime in Russia. Whereas in the Soviet period good leaders, both historical and contemporary, were thought to be skilful managers who did not necessarily have the power to change the course of history, in the post-Soviet period proper national leaders are considered to be those who are endowed with the power to influence history. According to the author, this change in the concept of leadership became possible owing to certain political developments in post-Soviet Kalmykia that allowed alternative ideas to contest some tenets of the Soviet historiography, such ideas remaining largely intact. The tension in Kalmyk historiography between old Soviet and new ideas is unresolved, a situation which is symptomatic of wider tensions and transformations occurring in Kalmyk society itself.
The generic status of Anna Funder's Stasiland (2002) is uncertain, but it is clear from the opening pages that the author conceptualizes her project as an act of memory: it is an attempt to document a past that ended abruptly in 1989 with the dissolution of the German Democratic Republic and which, she perceives, many are eager to forget. As an Australian writer revisiting German history, she thus attempts to recuperate a past that does not 'belong' to her. But how can one remember a past that is not one's own? Can we presume to speak on another nation's behalf, to imagine another country's traumatic history? And how might 'creative nonfiction' perform cultural memory in this way? This article examines Stasiland's status as an example of Alison Landsberg's notion of 'prosthetic memory' (2004), which fosters an affective connection to a mediated foreign past. I argue that in Stasiland, Funder deploys a range of literary strategies to make the past both comprehensible and memorable for her foreign readers, creating a community of memory across borders
In August 2006, bluetongue (BT) was notified in The Netherlands on several animal holdings. This was the onset of a rapidly spreading BT-epidemic in north-western Europe (latitude >51 degrees N) that affected cattle and sheep holdings in The Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, France and Luxembourg. The outbreaks were caused by bluetongue virus (BTV) scrotype 8, which had not been identified in the European Union before. Bluetongue virus can be introduced into a free area by movement of infected ruminants, infected midges or by infected semen and embryos. In this study, information on animal movements or transfer of ruminant germ plasms (semen and embryos) into the Area of First Infection (AFI), which occurred before and during the onset of the epidemic, were investigated in order to establish the conditions for the introduction of this virus. All inbound transfers of domestic or wild ruminants, non-susceptible mammal species and ruminant germ plasms into the AFI during the high-risk period (HRP), registered by the Trade Control and Expert System (TRACES) of the EC, were obtained. Imports originating from countries with a known or suspected history of BTV-incidence of any scrotype were identified. The list of countries with a reported history of BTV incidence was obtained from the OIE Handistatus II for the period from 1996 until 2004. No ruminants were imported from a Member State (MS) with a known history of BTV-8 or from any other country with a known or suspected history of BTV incidence of any serotype. Of all non-susceptible mammal species only 233 horses were transported directly into the AFI during the HRP. No importations of semen or embryos into the AFI were registered in TRACES during the period of interest. An obvious source for the introduction of BTV-8, such as import of infected ruminants, could not be identified and the exact origin and route of the introduction of BTV-8 thus far remains unknown. However, the absence of legal import of ruminants from outside the EU into the AFI and the absence of BTV-8 in southern Europe suggest that, the introduction of the BTV-8 infection into the north-western part of Europe took place via another route. Specifically, in relation to this, the potential for Culicoides to be imported along with or independently of the import of animals, plants or other 'materials', and the effectiveness of measures to reduce such a possibility, merit further study. (C) 2008 Published by Elsevier B.V
In France, as in the Anglo-Saxon world, social history has undergone a sea change in recent years with the growth of interest in issues of culture and representation, with the result that historians have come to ask rather different questions about cities and their social fabric. The change was not, of course, achieved overnight: since the 1930s the Annalistes have been opening up new approaches to the analysis of power and status, while in the development of micro-history Emmanuel Le Roy Ladurie's Montaillou occupies an honoured place. In this the lingering influence of a Marxist model has played an important part. For decades Marxist theory provided the key which opened up issues of social power and class division, the methodology which led to a widespread study of urban structures and social dominance. And though in some hands it might be criticized for leading to an over-arching concern with the urban economy and the growth of the industrial city, the same Marxist perspective also encouraged studies of such questions as the identity of urban elites, the extent of social mobility within cities and the development of suburbs. More recently French historians have been among the most innovative in exploring the culture of urban life in a variety of different contexts, whether – and here I shall simply cite representative examples – by the study of individual professions (Christophe Charle), of dress and public appearance (Daniel Roche), or of the appropriation of urban space (Bernard Lepetit). The three books under review here all, in their different ways, contribute to our understanding of that urban culture and of the changes which it has undergone. Yannec Le Marec takes up Charle's arguments through a micro-history of the professional development of lawyers and doctors in the south Breton city of Nantes during the nineteenth century. Natacha Coquery, looking at the eighteenth century, explains the representation of social power implicit in the transfer of sumptuous Paris hôtels from private use to that of government ministries and their fast-multiplying staff. And Claude Petitfrère presents an edited collection of papers, emanating from a conference organized by the highly influential Centre d'histoire de la ville moderne et contemporaine in his own university at Tours, which illuminates across time and place the ways in which an urban patriciate was first constructed, then reproduced and represented to contemporaries. Taken together the three volumes go far to illustrate current developments in historiography and offer an overview of the present state of urban social history in France.
Purpose – The article points to the important role of the economic crisis of 1979-1982 in the process of the collapse of the political and economic system imposed on Poland after 1944. Research method – The paper written on the basis of the economic history method, makes an extensive use of the available literature on the subject, the published documents of state authorities, archives, statistics and legal acts. Results – The Author proves that the end of the seventies, which is generally considered the best period in the economy of the People's Republic of Poland, brought about a crisis and a recession lasting four years. Their causes lay in the erroneous economic policy of the Edward Gierek's team and in the deformations of the economy management system stemming from older times. The crisis of 1979-1982 showed that the centrally planned economy system in Poland had exhausted its possibilities and even external capital injections were not able to compensate for the low efficiency and the wastafulness in "the real socialism". Originality /value – The article is a contribution to the still lively, often fueled by contradictory arguments, discussion on the fall of the Polish People's Republic.
Concerned about their jobs in the Rabelj lead and zinc mine, the miners of Log pod Mangartom wrote to the Government of the People's Republic of Slovenia in February 1947 urging it to intercede on their behalf with the (Italian) administration of the mine to secure their employment. The author examines the miners' letter to the Government of the People's Republic of Slovenia through the prism of a community and its members living in a border area (amidst specific social and historical moments and their short-term intersection), by taking into account events of long duration that are manifested in the collective (social) memory of the inhabitants of Log pod Mangartom. Individuals and the community to which they belonged are not perceived as passive observers of the «great» history. Rather, the author's main intention is to demonstrate how individuals (and the community) used their life strategies, ways of life and traditions to oppose, change, adapt and subject themselves to each political change, and particularly to the new political and economic conditions established after the dissolution of the Allied Military Government and the annexation of the former Zone A (in the upper Posočje area) to Yugoslavia.
An overview is presented of the role of Islam in Turkish history. An attempt is made to link some of the characteristics of the secularization movement which emerged after the establishment of the Turkish Republic (1923-) to policies of the Ottoman state which appeared at a much earlier time. The Turkish secularization movement was checked by the resurgence of Islam in the late 1940s. Beginning with 1973, a political party identifying itself with Islam appeared in the Turkish Parliament & thereafter has figured in two governmental coalitions. This party, the National Salvation Party, owes more to the Turkish Republican inheritance than it would like to admit. Its successful integration of ideas of economic growth with Islamic doctrines derives from its taking for granted & depending upon some of the social institutions established during the Republic. Among these are the ideas of a unified nation, & the mechanism of a nation-wide market & educational system. By comparison, the Islamic religious orders provided a much less workable organizational base for a synthesis between Islam & "modernism." Speculation centers on whether the absence of an indigenous Islamic capitalism may have been partly due to the absence in Islamic societies of such an organizational basis which the protestant communities provided for emerging capitalism. AA.
"This book is an elaboration of a syllabus for a course in the history of education published in 1919 by Teachers College, Columbia University, entitled Democracy and nationalism in education."--Pref. ; France: -- The social factors that have conditioned western education since the French Revolution -- The French Revolution : its educational promise and achievement -- Napoleon and the imperial French university -- The Restoration monarchy and educational conservatism -- The upper-middle-class monarchy and the establishment of a state system of primary schools -- The second republic and the second empire and the revival of church influence in education -- The third republic and further developments of national education -- Prussia: -- The regeneration of Prussia and the organization of an efficient national system of education -- Midcentury political developments and their effects on public education -- Prussia and the German empire -- England: -- The old order and the industrial revolution -- Benevolent aristocracy and early state intervention in education -- Political democracy and the achievement of a national system of education -- The new liberalism and the Fisher Act -- The United States: -- The new federal state and the passing of an old political order -- Sectionalism and democracy -- Material growth and cultural unification -- The development of a national consciousness in education. ; Mode of access: Internet.
There is ample evidence that Kosovo has no legitimacy in the normal sense of a sovereign state, and that, if it was to be recognized as such, it would further erode the credibility of the international system. Kosovo does not meet any historical standards for sovereignty. For Kosovo to be recognized as a legitimate sovereign state, the international community must violate the sovereignty of another recognized state, the Republic of Serbia. One should also take to consideration that Kosovo is already a territory run as a criminal enterprise, with links into jihadist movements. Already Kosovo is becoming like Afghanistan under the Taliban. And like the Taliban destruction of the ancient Buddhas of Bamiyan, the Albanian Islamist process of destruction of the Christian Churches will be complete if Kosovo is granted independence. The chaos of changing borders— such as we are seeing today in the Balkans, and elsewhere — is fertile ground for criminality. Europe is a major target for the global jihadist movements, and not only those under the al-Qaida label, but also those fi nanced and logistically made viable by the Iranian Government. Western fears have been strengthened by intelligence derived by European countries on the existence of a strong Islamist network in Kosovo and Bosnia. The "al-Qaida" phenomenon owes its success to the fi nancial links with what we are calling the Albanian mafi a, just as the Albanian criminals owe their success to the logistics and networks of al-Qaida. As far as Islamists are concerned, their goal is consolidation of their control over parts of the Balkans, specifi cally the so-called "Green transversal" belt which links the Adriatic Coast through Albania, FYR of Macedonia, the Serbian Kosovo and Metohija region, the southern Serbia/northern Montenegro Rashka (Sanjak) region, through the Gorazde Corridor into Bosnia, not only as a terrorist corridor but also to facilitate a clear highway for narco-traffi cking and weapons shipments. Signifi cantly, the Serbian Government within the union of Serbia & Montenegro, had, until the recent Serbian elections, attempted to ignore the growing incitement to a new outbreak of violence and unrest on the part of the Muslim community of southern Serbia (Rashka) and Kosovo because it did not wish to be seen to be drawing attention to the growing Muslim agitation. Finally, Kosovo Liberation Army still, and is able to access much of its narcotic product, because of its close interrelationship with jihadist movements worldwide and foreign state sponsors. There is no ground for optimism in the future. The wars to break up Yugoslavia are still unfi nalized. And in many of the new wars we will see savagery abound as groups "re-discover" old identities, and seek to capitalize on the permissive climate of change and chaos. However, it not just Balkans that is endangered. Deeply placed sources within the Islamist community in Kosovo have identifi ed the source and type of the explosives used in the jihadist terrorist bombings in London on July 7, 2005, and the Madrid commuter railway bombings of March 11, 2004.
"This volume brings together reflections on citizenship, political violence, race, ethnicity and gender, by some of the most critical voices of our times. Detailed and wide-ranging individual reflections, take the writings of prominent Ugandan political theorist Mahmood Mamdani as a touchstone for thinking about the world from Africa. Contributors apply this theory to argue that we cannot make sense of the political contentions of difference, identity and citizenship today without understanding the legacies of colonial rule on our world. Chapters examine the persistence of the past, and how we must reckon with its tragedies, its injustices, and its utopias in order to chart a new politics; the politics of possible futures that are more inclusive and more egalitarian, and that can think of difference in more equitable ways. In a time when the call to decolonize knowledge, and politics rings loud and clear, this is both a timely and a crucial intervention"--
"This book critically reflects on the responses to the COVID-19 pandemic in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) by exploring the impact and possible future outcomes in a region already struggling with the effects of a decade of uprisings, failed or difficult political transitions, state collapses, civil war and international conflict. International scholars offer a comprehensive treatment of today's major societal issues and provide a unique, broadly comparative view on public policy responses in the MENA region. Addressing the implications and public policy responses to the crisis they bring a critical perspective to the emerging challenges of evidence-based policy making; the locus of authority in transnational issues; the nature of governance, and the role of government and implications for civil society. Tackling the psychology, sociology, education, law, and public policy issues related to the social and economic implications of the COVID 19 pandemic, this book will be of interest to scholars and students alike"--
Following the positive impact of microfinance on poverty reduction, women empowerment, and microenterprise development in some countries in Asia and Africa, a huge amount of time has been devoted by researchers to understanding how this concept can be used as a catalyst for transforming and sustaining the economies of developing and emerging countries. Though there are a few books on the role of microfinance in reducing poverty in developing countries across world, there is no specific book that explores the role of microfinance in transforming and sustaining economies of developing and emerging countries. Transforming Economies Through Microfinance in Developing Nations seeks to explore how the provision of microfinance to individuals and groups can contribute to the economic transformation and sustainability of the economies of developing and emerging countries. Covering key topics such as climate change, entrepreneurship, and rural development, this reference work is ideal for government officials, entrepreneurs, policymakers, researchers, academicians, practitioners, scholars, instructors, and students.
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This book explores the processes through which particular places take shape in the imaginaries, perceptions and narratives of people who do not inhabit them, or who have inhabited them only recently. The ways in which we imagine the elsewhere are the product of stories collectively constructed and reproduced by a multiplicity of actors and through a variety of communicative tools and practices. These narratives shape our perceptions of others, the way we relate to them, and the politics that regulate cohabitation on Earth. In this book, the elsewhere becomes a device for exploring some of the ways in which human beings interact with each other, establish distinctions and alliances, trace borders, and enact change in the epoch of the Anthropocene. Through four phenomenologies of the elsewhere (Europe, Africa, the transnational space, climate change), the author reflects on the opportunity to decentralize one's own gaze, in time and space, in order to imagine other ways of worldmaking.
This open access book draws a theoretically productive triangle between urban studies, theories of cosmopolitanism, and migration studies in a global context. It provides a unique, encompassing and situated view on the various relations between cosmopolitanism and urbanity in the contemporary world. Drawing on a variety of cities in Latin America, Europe, Asia, Africa and North America, it overcomes the Eurocentric bias that has marked debate on cosmopolitanism from its inception. The contributions highlight the crucial role of migrants as actors of urban change and targets of urban policies, thus reconciling empirical and normative approaches to cosmopolitanism. By addressing issues such as cosmopolitanism and urban geographies of power, locations and temporalities of subaltern cosmopolites, political meanings and effects of cosmopolitan practices and discourses in urban contexts, it revisits contemporary debates on superdiversity, urban stratification and local incorporation, and assess the role of migration and mobility in globalization and social change.
This open access book draws a theoretically productive triangle between urban studies, theories of cosmopolitanism, and migration studies in a global context. It provides a unique, encompassing and situated view on the various relations between cosmopolitanism and urbanity in the contemporary world. Drawing on a variety of cities in Latin America, Europe, Asia, Africa and North America, it overcomes the Eurocentric bias that has marked debate on cosmopolitanism from its inception. The contributions highlight the crucial role of migrants as actors of urban change and targets of urban policies, thus reconciling empirical and normative approaches to cosmopolitanism. By addressing issues such as cosmopolitanism and urban geographies of power, locations and temporalities of subaltern cosmopolites, political meanings and effects of cosmopolitan practices and discourses in urban contexts, it revisits contemporary debates on superdiversity, urban stratification and local incorporation, and assess the role of migration and mobility in globalization and social change.
