Suchergebnisse

A cautionary examination of America's ongoing risk of fascism.

Citizen Lobbyists explores how U.S. citizens participate in local government. Although many commentators have lamented the apathy of the American citizenry, Brian Adams focuses on what makes ordinary Americans become involved in and attempt to influence public policy issues that concern them. It connects theory and empirical data in a new and revealing way, providing both a thorough review of the relevant scholarly discussions and a detailed case study of citizen engagement in the politics of Santa Ana, a mid-sized Southern California city. After interviewing more than fifty residents, Adams found that they can be best described as "lobbyists" who identify issues of personal importance and then lobby their local government bodies. Through his research, he discovered that public meetings and social networks emerged as essential elements in citizens' efforts to influence local policy. By testing theory against reality, this work fills a void in our understanding of the actual participatory practices of "civically engaged" citizens

This study examines law enforcement within the context of Sung society. Professor McKnight shows that the group of criminals who were the core of the habitual criminal group in Sung China were young unattached males with few lifeskills. What became of the criminal after capture and conviction is also an important aspect of this study, which addresses basic questions in Chinese punishment. This work is the first comprehensive study of law enforcement in traditional China. The depth and rigour to which the subject is treated would make it most appropriate for scholars in legal history and East Asian studies

Abstract
Sunni Muslims in Kachchh, Gujarat commemorate the Islamic month of Muharram with a variety of practices, including street processions, drumming, musical stage performances, dancing, and dhamāl (piercing the body with skewers and daggers). This article focuses on osāṇī (<ḥusainī), a song genre that is only performed during Muharram and serves as the musical foundation of the osāṇī circle dance. Osāṇī dance is noteworthy for its incorporation of a stylized form of hāth kā mātam, the chest-beating typically associated with Shiʿa Muslims' lamentation for the Karbala martyrs, which is generally avoided and criticized by Sunnis in other areas of South Asia. Drawing attention to the affectively mixed quality of osāṇī performances, I underscore the role of maza (enjoyment, fun) in the religious life of Muslim Kachchh, thus offering a counterbalance to the focus on valorized affects that has characterized recent influential studies of self-formation and embodied religious devotion in Muslim societies. Finally, the article traces the impact of Islamic reformism, which has prompted many Sunnis associated with the Ahl-e Sunnat wa Jamaʿat ("Barelvī") movement to refrain from participating in osāṇī and other forms of Muharram commemoration over the past few decades.