Suchergebnisse

This paper evaluates the dynamics of ethnicity and politics in the 2007 and 2012 gubernatorial elections in Jakarta. Previous research has mostly emphasised the negative impact of ethnicity on politics in the reformasi era, particularly through ethnic polarisation. By closely evaluating the major ethnic groups living in the mega-city, i.e. the Javanese, Betawi and Chinese, the author shows that the relationship between ethnicity and voting patterns is an intricate one that is not static, particularly if one evaluates a commonly overlooked but crucial factor - the time frame. The author argues that ethnicity continues to play a role in elections even though it is less significant than education and flood variables. The relationship between ethnicity and voting patterns is thus very dynamic, being related to the political context at the time of an election. The findings in this paper open up new questions on ethnicity and politics in a plural society like Indonesia. (JCSA/GIGA)

Religion in India has always been profoundly politicized, which is why it has remained of enduring importance, instead of 'withering away' as in the West. Though its presence is somewhat hidden in parties that profess a secular view, it is of vital importance, at the local village level, as a focus for the organization of political factions. More precisely, even if local political parties in Tamilnadu do not organizearoundreligion, theyusereligion and ritual events for their political purposes, in their struggles to dominate local politics. The fact that this politicization of religious ritual is implicit, not explicit, only testifies to the fact that power-relationships—and struggles—exist in all aspects of life (as Foucault often noted), including apparently 'innocent' rites such as religious possession.

The non-cooperation movement dominated Indian politics in 1920 and 1921, and any account of the Kisan Sabhas or Cultivators Associations during those years is likely to lay less stress on their importance than on that of the wider political campaign. Linked by the name of Gandhi, the peasant movement was caught up in the whole campaign of the nationalist leaders against the government. Yet the background to the upsurge of agrarian radicalism in the United Provinces and Bihar shows that it was strongest in districts with particular tenurial and agrarian problems. Moreover, in these localities the radical leadership was independent of outside agencies, its links with wider political movements were tenuous and ambivalent, and it was little subject to external influence and control.

Since the beginning of Thailand's protracted political crisis in 2005, the country has experienced a conservative political turn centered on the monarchy. One of the regions where this turn has been most pronounced has been in southern Thailand. Studies of the south have tended to focus on the border provinces, its Malay Muslim community, and a long-running separatist movement. The more populous parts of the upper south with a Thai-Buddhist majority have been largely overlooked. In recent decades the south's old Buddhist heartland has witnessed a high level of cultural and religious dynamism. This region has given birth to an influential new academic field of southern Thai studies and a distinctive southern Thai literature. These factors have contributed to the hardening of a southern Thai Buddhist identity. Politicians and activists from the south have played a prominent role in Thailand's on-going political crisis. This article explores the rise of conservative radicalism in southern Thailand's Buddhist heartland with reference to the roles of southern academics, writers, poets, activists, and politicians over the last half century. It offers a regional case study of the roots of Thailand's political crisis as well as the rise of Buddhist radicalism in Southeast Asia. (Crit Asian Stud/GIGA)

This article examines the use of North Korean defectors' accounts as a source of information for studying the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK). Information from defectors fills a vital knowledge gap and improves our understanding of North Korean politics, economics, and society. Witness accounts and interview data collected from people who were born in North Korea but have since left have been widely used by journalists, government agencies, international organizations, non-governmental organizations, and academics. There are, however, serious methodological issues in collecting, organizing, and interpreting information derived from defectors' accounts. Selection and demographic biases, power relations between researchers and interviewees, monetary incentives, and language barriers are among those issues. We propose focus group discussions and participatory observation as complementary methods of data collection to mitigate the shortfalls of relying on individual interviews. (Crit Asian Stud/GIGA)

Chutney, an Indian side dish made with zest, brings flavour to bland Indian dishes such as rice and dhal, while tickling delight to the senses. The term, used as a metaphor in Chutney Generations, the world's first exhibition tracing the complex Fiji Indian identity in a visible
expression, staged at the Liverpool Museum in Sydney, Australia, is applicable to Fiji Indian migrants across the globe that savours the product and lives the word. In the processes of migration and globalisation identities fuse, cultures, dreams, ideals, ideologies, histories and the present
merge and crush, in a way similar to the process of making chutney, where ingredients are blended to the point where there is no single identity; thus a new generation of humankind is created. This paper presents chutney as a paste of civilisation and a new concept to identity creation where
strongly felt inclinations to retain cultures, histories and identities are neutralized in the fusion of ideas, ideals and dreams. It also engages in the chutnification of the Australian-Fiji-Indian community across three physical spaces India, Fiji and Australia, recording their past, present
and aspirations of their future, through their lifestyles and treasured collections. Migration and globalisation have opened new possibilities for chutney, beyond the familiar ingredients and tastes. The community is complex and contradictory, being Indian, Fijian, Australian and global citizens,
all at the same time.

According to the author, the Taiwan Strait crisis of 1996 provides a good opportunity for students of Chinese politics to study the Beijing leadership's crisis management skills. After a look at the third Taiwan Strait crisis, he discusses the applicability of crisis theories to the third Taiwan Strait crisis and China's dilemma in crisis management. (DÜI-Sen)