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The authors analyse the 2010 mayoral election in the city of Medan, North Sumatra. Medan is an ethnically and religiously diverse city and the authors treat the elections here as a case study of inter-communal dynamics in local elections in plural regions of Indonesia. The first round of the vote was contested by 10 pairs of candidates and occurred in a climate of cross-ethnic alliance building and appeals that, the authors argue, are typical of broader Indonesian patterns. The second round confronted voters with a choice between a Muslim candidate and an ethnic Chinese candidate who was also a Buddhist. There was a sudden switch in the tone and themes of the contest. A concerted campaign was launched to convince Muslim voters to support the Muslim candidate, with politicians and religious leaders alike suggesting that it was a religious obligation to do so. The campaign proved effective and the Muslim candidate, a member of the province's established political elite, won by a large margin. The article focuses on the campaign teams' strategies, analysing their electoral calculations and the techniques used to appeal to a multi-ethnic constituency. It also considers the role played in the poll by Medan's rich array of ethnic associations. The authors conclude by pointing to lessons of the Medan case for wider patterns of ethnic coalition building in Indonesia. They also describe this election as an example of the 'identity switching' that can take place when political actors choose from multiple and overlapping identity categories in changing political contexts.

Religions are creeping back into the social, political, and economic spheres previously occupied by secular institutions and ideologies. Disillusioned with industrial progress and cut off from opportunity and wealth, many are looking to Buddhism, Judaism, Islam, and Christianity to restore a sense of purpose not found in daily life. Since the 1970s, the Catholic Church has sought a "holy alliance" among the world's religions to recentralize religious ideas and practice in modern society. Holy Wars or Holy Alliances explores the nation-state's current crisis to better understand its origins and future development. Focusing on the Catholic Church, Manlio Graziano looks at how Catholicism has coordinated world religions in joint actions. Through its material, financial, and institutional strength, the Church has gained power and increased its profile in international politics. Challenging the ideas that modernity is tied to progress and religion necessarily means decline, Graziano documents the "return" or the "revenge" of God in all facets of secular life. He shows that tolerance, pluralism, democracy, and science have not triumphed as claimed in modern times. To fully grasp the destabilizing dynamics at work in our world today, Graziano argues, we must appreciate the nature of the religious struggles and political holy wars now unfolding across the international stage.

The Rohingya are one of the most persecuted minorities in the world. Military campaigns conducted by Myanmar against the Rohingya have led to numerous deaths, widespread cases of sexual violence, the destruction of hundreds of villages, and the deportation of more than 700,000 people to Bangladesh. These events have triggered proceedings at the International Criminal Court (ICC). The ICC has arguably failed to address the religious dimensions of crimes and facts in some of its previous jurisprudence appropriately. The entanglement of law and religion at the ICC may lead to an impoverished ratio decidendi and disregard for the victims' claims. We hence argue that, by disentangling law and religion in the proceedings related to the Rohingya, the ICC may be able to enhance the consideration of both elements. This approach should result in (1) appropriate fact-finding related to the Rohingya's identity on ethnic and religious grounds as well as religious dimensions of mass atrocities; (2) attribution of criminal responsibility for serious violations of human rights, including rights related to the Rohingya's religious identity, which constitute international crimes; and (3) reparations for victims to redress harm inflicted on them. ; peerReviewed

Manado's Muslim minority mindset stops social, political, and religious activities. Although Islam is the second-largest religion after Protestantism, this mindset can be seen by the impression that Manado is a 'Christian City' known as the "Tower of a Thousand Churches." This article describes the strategy of minority religious leaders (Islam) in tolerating the perspective of Maqasid al-Syari'ah. The research data was collected through observation and in-depth interviews with religious leaders from the Islamic boarding school Kiai, IAIN Manado lecturers, and Muslim youth. The research findings show that first, the values of religious tolerance in Manado have developed in the form of slogans, such as "Torang Samua Basudara," " Torang Samua Ciptaan Tuhan, "and "Si Tou Timou Tumou Tou," second, the strategy of Islamic religious leaders in maintaining tolerance through (1) mutual respect for beliefs, (2) fighting for religious teachers and places of worship (mushola) in public schools, (3) creating dialogue forums between religious communities, (4) enlivening Islamic syi'ar, such as majlis taklim, the graduation ceremony for students from all over North Sulawesi, and (5) halal certification. This finding has implications for the Maqasidi type for religious minority leaders in tolerance to protect Muslims' faith.

Karl Marx found in religion the consequence of "Entausserung" or alienation created by the capitalist mode of production. For Max Weber, religion is an impetus for social change, while for Marx it is a force trying desperately to preserve the status quo. Refuting Adam Smith, Marx established that division of labour alienated the proletariat from their "essence". Capitalism later developed a laissez-faire individualism that created fatal cleavage in the human consciousness. Marx revised the Hegelian idea of "Entausserung" that was earlier refuted by Feuerbach for being metaphysical. A minute observation of the language and imagery, Marx uses about religion, reveals comprehensive morphological, semantic and stylistic resonance of Feuerbach although Marx criticized Feuerbach as his theory ignored economic and social perspectives. This paper tries to analyse the language of different texts of Marx to decipher how he gradually relates his theory of alienation to his unique theory of religion in a dialectic complex process and finally establishes religion, not as an illusion, but to be an intrinsic part of the "superstructure". Instead of simple abolition of religion, Marx demands extinction of that very vulnerable human psyche that receives religious "reflex of the real world" in "Capital: A Critique of Political Economy, Volume I". A close scrutiny the text of "Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts" reveals that while discussing the different types of alienation, Marx, initially uses religion simply as an allegory, with gradual and conscious change of emphasis. Here Marx does not put religion in a direct causal relationship to alienation of labour; he just uses religion as an analogy, just to make his point clear. Significantly, Marx almost echoes the logical and linguistic pattern of Feuerbachian proposition. If we again compare minutely the language and imagery Marx uses, we find interesting and comprehensive morphological, semantic and stylistic resonance of Feuerbach. While discussing alienation from the ...

Karl Marx found in religion the consequence of "Entausserung" or alienation created by the capitalist mode of production. For Max Weber, religion is an impetus for social change, while for Marx it is a force trying desperately to preserve the status quo. Refuting Adam Smith, Marx established that division of labour alienated the proletariat from their "essence". Capitalism later developed a laissez-faire individualism that created fatal cleavage in the human consciousness. Marx revised the Hegelian idea of "Entausserung" that was earlier refuted by Feuerbach for being metaphysical. A minute observation of the language and imagery, Marx uses about religion, reveals comprehensive morphological, semantic and stylistic resonance of Feuerbach although Marx criticized Feuerbach as his theory ignored economic and social perspectives. This paper tries to analyse the language of different texts of Marx to decipher how he gradually relates his theory of alienation to his unique theory of religion in a dialectic complex process and finally establishes religion, not as an illusion, but to be an intrinsic part of the "superstructure". Instead of simple abolition of religion, Marx demands extinction of that very vulnerable human psyche that receives religious "reflex of the real world" in "Capital: A Critique of Political Economy, Volume I". A close scrutiny the text of "Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts" reveals that while discussing the different types of alienation, Marx, initially uses religion simply as an allegory, with gradual and conscious change of emphasis. Here Marx does not put religion in a direct causal relationship to alienation of labour; he just uses religion as an analogy, just to make his point clear. Significantly, Marx almost echoes the logical and linguistic pattern of Feuerbachian proposition. If we again compare minutely the language and imagery Marx uses, we find interesting and comprehensive morphological, semantic and stylistic resonance of Feuerbach. While discussing alienation from the ...

The welfare regime in Turkey has been undergoing a radical transformation since the early 2000s. Welfare provisions, especially poverty alleviation schemes, are increasingly framed as gifts, and select civil society organisations have assumed the state's welfare provision functions through non-transparent public funding. Waqf, the Islamic institution of endowment, has played an important role in this transformation. It provides both the institutional frame of operations and the religious imaginary signification that interpellates subjects to take part as givers and receivers of gifts. This material exchange of care and money through newly configured gift-relations between the providers and beneficiaries constitutes not only a realm of politics but also a site of ethical negotiations with embodied consequences. This book is based on an extensive ethnographic study conducted between 2008-2009 among the charitable organizations of Kayseri, a central Anatolian city with booming industry and a majority conservative political orientation. A stronghold of the Justice and Development Party (AKP), which has been in power in Turkey since 2002, the city has showcased the tenets of the welfare transformation that is to come, even in the early stages of AKP rule. With a focus on the daily practices within the field of beneficence, the book investigates the gift circuits that bring together central state institutions, municipalities, local notables and business people, religious groups, volunteers and employers of charitable organisations, and the urban poor. In these gift circuits, objects, money, services, prayers, recognition, and political and social influence flow in various directions through formal and informal routes. The book illustrates the growing significance of these particular forms of gift-giving in the field of poverty alleviation and welfare provision in Turkey and their role in the drastic political transformation of the country.

After François Hollande's victory, a number of questions arise, in particular as to the match between France of the polls and sociological France. For example, some believe that the Left's victory has reverted to long-term developments, which would be favourable to the losing camp. "Right France vote on the left" said Jean-Marc Lech on 7 May on France Inter. But what is the sociological logic behind? (.). ; Au lendemain de la victoire de François Hollande, plusieurs interrogations se font jour notamment celle de l'adéquation entre la France des urnes et la France sociologique. Ainsi certains considèrent que la victoire de la gauche s'est faite à rebours des évolutions de long terme qui, elles, seraient favorables au camp perdant. " France de droite vote à gauche " a ainsi déclaré Jean-Marc Lech le 7 mai sur France Inter. Mais de quelles logiques sociologiques parle-t-on ? (.).