Africa in World Affairs

1963 ◽  
Vol 6 (01) ◽  
pp. 4-13
Author(s):  
John Karefa-Smart
Keyword(s):  
News Media ◽  
Rapid Development ◽  
Peace Corps ◽  
African Continent ◽  
Deep Roots ◽  
Universities And Colleges ◽  
The World ◽  
Long Time ◽  
To Come ◽  
Do So

As Professor Carter has already told you, it was only a few weeks ago, actually a few days ago, really, that I finally agreed to come to talk to you, so that I'm sure you will not expect an academic discourse from me. I have already tried to tell Professor McKay that I'm not an academician like he is. He asked me if I was going to read a paper before you, and I said, “No, far from it, I will not read a paper; I will read from a paper, but those will be only very cursory notes.” I recognize that I'm speaking to a group of experts on African affairs, and I myself am far from being an expert on African affairs. I'm only an African. I also recognize that as experts you come from various strongholds of learning in this country, and you may be quite prepared to weigh me in the balance. If you do so, I only want to remind you that we're meeting in Washington and that I have some very powerful supporters here because Washington is Harvard territory, and I come from Harvard! Africa for the last few years has gradually come closer and closer to the center of attraction for people who are interested in the world as a whole. It is because of this process of looking in on Africa that we have increasingly the kind of academic interest in the continent which has led to the rapid development of departments of African affairs and special projects of African studies in your universities and colleges, which has led to the excellent programs such as Dr. Jim Robinson's Operations Crossroads (most useful to us in Africa), which has led to President Kennedy's Peace Corps taking such deep roots so quickly on the African continent, which has led to an increasing amount of space in the journals and news media, of not only this country but of other western countries which deal with Africa. And this looking in on Africa is something which we as Africans of course are delighted about, because for a long time we have felt that we have been the forgotten continent.

Idiocy and Forlorn Features in Samuel Beckett’s Play “Waiting for Godot”

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 151
Author(s):  
Mohammad Owais Khan ◽  
Saudi Arabia
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
The World ◽  
Waiting For Godot ◽  
Long Time ◽  
To Come ◽  
Special Language

The aim of this paper is to express the idiocy and forlorn elements in Samuel Beckett’s play ‘Waiting for Godot’. To achieve the goals of the research, it is necessary to investigate deeply a blend of comic and pathos involved in the play. These elements are: first, the idiocy which basically depends on the special language of the play, the pitiful and deplorable elements and the use of irony and satire. The play was written in 1949, translated into many languages and it is still performed in many countries all around the world. Waiting for Godot is hailed as one of the masterpieces of the theatre of absurd. With the manifestation of this play on the horizon there came a revolution in the theatre of the twentieth century that was to continue for a long time to come and influence many writers thereafter. Beckett shades light on the sociological and moralistic perspective with the tinge of humour and pathos. His excellent imagination and literary skill create an unforgettable imprint in the minds of his readers. 

scholarly journals The Sciences During the New Common: A Missed Opportunity?

2021 ◽  
pp. 111-116
Author(s):  
Maurits Kaptein
Keyword(s):  
Everyday Life ◽  
Economic Consequences ◽  
Current Crisis ◽  
The Future ◽  
Long Time ◽  
To Come ◽  
Missed Opportunity ◽  
Do So

AbstractBy Wednesday, July 22, 2020, the coronavirus had killed over 611,000 people and infected over fourteen million globally. It devastated lives and will continue to do so for a long time to come; the economic consequences of the pandemic are only just starting to materialize. This makes it a challenging time to write about the new common. However, we need to start somewhere. At some point, we need to reflect on our own roles, the roles of our institutions, the importance of our economy, and the future fabric of everyday life. In this chapter, I will discuss one minor—and compared to the current crisis seemingly inconsequential—aspect of the new common: I will discuss my worry that we are on the verge of missing the opportunity to properly (re-)define the role of the sciences as we move from our old to our new common.

scholarly journals Mathematical Analysis of Confirmed Cases of Coronavirus in South Korea to Assess Difference in Impact on Genders and Assessing Trends for Adequacy of Measures Employed

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 2408-2411
Keyword(s):  
South Korea ◽  
Human Body ◽  
Mathematical Analysis ◽  
Polynomial Regression ◽  
Additional Measure ◽  
The World ◽  
Long Time ◽  
To Come

Coronavirus or COVID-19 has shaken the world like nothing in the last 70 years or more. The approach so far appears to be focused more on preventing spread of cases rather than eradicating the pandemic. While South Korea’s efforts at preventing spread have produced commendable results, a mathematical analysis using polynomial regression indicates that more is needed than the presently employed measures to eradicate this pandemic or address the concern of fatalities on account of COVID-19. A vaccine could be that additional measure without which the pandemic may linger for a long time to come. Further, it is seen that though females appear to be more susceptible to falling prey to the pandemic, fatalities are greater among males indicating that gender may have a role in the manner in which the human body fights this pandemic

Washing Away the Sins of Debt: The Nineteenth-Century Eradication of the Debtors' Prison

2013 ◽  
Vol 55 (3) ◽  
pp. 701-724 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gustav Peebles
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
Moral Values ◽  
The State ◽  
Economic Practices ◽  
The World ◽  
History Of ◽  
To Come ◽  
Critical Discourses ◽  
Do So ◽  
Reform Debate

AbstractThis article seeks to come to terms with the extraordinarily swift demise of the debtors' prison in multiple countries during the nineteenth century. While focusing primarily on the reform debate in England, I argue that the debtors' prison quickly came to be seen as a barbaric aberration within the expanding commercial life of the nineteenth century. By turning to a copious pamphletic literature from the era of its demise, I show how pamphleteers and eye-witnesses described the debtors' prison in the idiom of ritual; it was seen as a dangerous sanctuary that radically inverted all capitalistic economic practices and moral values of the world outside its walls. Reformers claimed that, inside these shrines of debt, citizens were ritually guided and transformed from active members of society into “knaves” or “idlers,” or both. As such, the debtors' prison needed to be eradicated. To do so, reformers mobilized at least three critical discourses, all of which sought to mark the debtors' prison as a zone of barbarism that threatened the civility of the state and its citizenry. By focusing on the debtors' prison as a powerful and transformative ritual zone, the article provides a counterintuitive history of this institution that was so crucial to the regulation of credit and debt relations for centuries. In so doing, the article contributes to a broader literature on the spatiality of debt.

scholarly journals Chinese Traditional Governing Approach: An Analysis from Ancient to Mao Zedong Politics

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 441-452
Author(s):  
Maria Mukhtar ◽  
Tatheer Zahra Sherazi ◽  
Riaz Ahmad
Keyword(s):  
Political Culture ◽  
Historical Context ◽  
Mao Zedong ◽  
Deep Roots ◽  
Contemporary Politics ◽  
State And Society ◽  
Long Time ◽  
Ancient Times ◽  
To Come ◽  
Chinese Political Culture

The study focuses on the traditional Chinese political culture and it discusses a multitude of rhetorical practices in imperial China. Simultaneously, it investigates the societal norms which alter daily, to fit with the ever-changing global politics. For these purposes, the traditional philosophies are studied, and the most prominent school of thought Confucianism has been discussed thoroughly. This research is an analytical, descriptive study written in the historical context. While tracing back the nature of political culture, it has been found that it has deep roots in the state and society since the ancient times however, is still relevant for the contemporary politics of China. At the same motive, it can be concluded that current Chinese system seems probable to persevere for many a long time to come. This study is fragmented into three portions; first element makes imperial Chinese politics and its problem; the second portion brings governance and politics of cutting-edge China under the lens; and the final and third portion gives the comparison of each and the findings garnered from this study.

Simulare Necesse Est

2012 ◽  
Vol 43 (2) ◽  
pp. 270-285 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul Meerts
Keyword(s):  
World History ◽  
Role Play ◽  
Human History ◽  
Simulation Games ◽  
Training Tool ◽  
The World ◽  
The Hague ◽  
To Come ◽  
Simulation Exercises ◽  
Do So

Born in The Hague in 1946, the author has been interested in simulation and gaming since he was 12 years old. Simulations, particularly the role-play type, were then, and still are, fun for the author. He used them for recreation, to replay history and practice strategy and tactics, to enjoy politics and journalism, and to interact with friends and foes. He was inspired to use simulation exercises as a training tool for educational purposes all over the world. Could the history and the history-to-come of a human being, and his or her vision of the real and imaginary worlds, be described in stages like in world history? The author attempts to do so in this contribution to Simulation & Gaming. His life has always been intertwined with reality and fiction alike, and has passed through certain stages, so it might be of help to sketch it through the metaphor of human history. After all, the history and politics of humankind were his main motivations for creating simulation games to teach others, as well as himself.

Why Judaism Acquired a Systematic Theology

1999 ◽  
pp. 44-51
Author(s):  
Menachem Kellner
Keyword(s):  
Systematic Theology ◽  
The World ◽  
Islam And Christianity ◽  
To Come ◽  
Do So ◽  
A Share

This chapter argues that only an interpreter approaching the mishnah beginning ‘All Israelites have a share in the world to come…’ with the prior assumption that Judaism has a systematic theology like Islam or Christianity would read it as either a statement of dogma or a test of theological orthodoxy. It asserts that there is nothing inherent in monotheistic faith which demands that it find expression in systematic theology. The chapter contends that only if one assumes that such theology must underlie any monotheistic faith will one see the mishnah as an expression of systematic theology. But that very assumption is one which must come from outside Judaism. In other words, this chapter is based upon the presupposition that all monotheistic religions have systematic theologies. But the fact that both Islam and Christianity express themselves in that fashion does not mean that all monotheistic faiths do so, or ought to do so — as classical Judaism certainly did not.

scholarly journals Tribes, Government and History in Yemen

1997 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 105-109
Author(s):  
William C. Young
Keyword(s):  
Special Interest ◽  
Mutual Recognition ◽  
The State ◽  
Political Organization ◽  
The World ◽  
Long Time ◽  
Violent Conflicts ◽  
Do So

This book is complex and, at points, obscure. Yet it is also an exceptionallyrich collection of information about trihal identity and ethos in Yemen and, forscholars with a special interest in Yemeni society, can be a valuable resource.The author orients much of his material toward two main questions, neither ofwhich I formulated explicitly: How can tribal political organization and statelegal institutions co-exist, not only for brief moments but for over 1,000 years?and How have the names and boundaries of tribal territories been preserved withlittle change for such a long time?The answer to the first question is on p. 165: " ... the hijrah [in YemeniArabic: a protected space or person] provided the point around which both statesof the world turned: strong Imams fheads of state] and weak. It could do so because it meant different things to different people.” The first 150 pages of thebook, especially chapters 2 (“The Language of Honour”), 3 (“Tribes andCollective Action”) and 4 (“Estates of Society within the Tribal Peace”), lead upto and persuaded us to accept the conclusion that the mutual recognition by thestate and by the tribes of neutral zones and people in tribal territories facilitatedtrade, tribe-state communication, and contact between literate Islamic specialistsand illiterate farmers and stock-breeders. Even when the interests of the tribesand the state were directly opposed (for instance, in controlling roads and determiningrates of taxation), violent conflicts between tribe and state were keptpartly in check by tribal custom, just as they were when tribe clashed with tribe(see pp. 267, 268, 379-387) ...

Martin Arnold, The Dragon: Fear and Power. London: Reaktion, 2018, 328 pp., many b/w and color ill.

Mediaevistik ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
pp. 254-255
Author(s):  
Albrecht Classen
Keyword(s):  
Scientific Evidence ◽  
East Asian ◽  
Hard Core ◽  
Public Culture ◽  
Shared Interest ◽  
Art Works ◽  
The World ◽  
Long Time ◽  
To Come ◽  
Archetypal Images

The figure of the dragon represents a topic of shared interest among medievalists and modern readers young and old. The dragon is simply ‘in’ and has always appealed to public culture throughout time and also across the world. Many medieval heroic poems, many modern narratives, films, images, and other art works are deeply determined by the appearance of dragons, mostly fearsome, terrifying, alienating creatures, unless we turn to some East-Asian cultures. Dragons have been studied already for a long time, and Martin Arnold simply adds here another, well researched monograph on this topic, which covers it very broadly, although much more could be said, of course, about individual texts or art works not dealt with here. It is not easy to come to terms with dragons because they are so ubiquitous and yet refuse easy answers. They belong to the corpus of archetypal images, but there is no hard-core scientific evidence for their existence.

Living with Uncertainty after March 11, 2011

2012 ◽  
Vol 71 (2) ◽  
pp. 313-318 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jordan Sand
Keyword(s):  
Turning Point ◽  
Traumatic Events ◽  
Loss Of Life ◽  
Nuclear Disaster ◽  
Kanto Earthquake ◽  
The World ◽  
Long Time ◽  
Fukushima Daiichi ◽  
To Come ◽  
One Year

One year has passed since the earthquake and tsunami in Tōhoku. How should we as scholars approach, think about, and teach about the disaster? In generations hence, will 2011 be treated as a historical turning point on a par with 1945? Will it appear more significant than the Great Kantō Earthquake of 1923, despite the far greater loss of life in that event? We have a long process of analysis and contextualization ahead before the traumatic events of March 2011 have sedimented into history. Meanwhile, the nuclear disaster continues. When the Japanese government announced in December that complete decommissioning of the Fukushima Daiichi reactors would take forty years, it became clear that even in the most optimistic scenario the world would be living with this disaster for a long time to come.

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