The Structure of Greater Ashanti (1700–1824)

1967 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 65-85 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kwame Arhin
Keyword(s):  
Political Community ◽  
The Political ◽  
Religious Institutions ◽  
Southern Coast ◽  
Political Structure ◽  
Trade Routes ◽  
The North ◽  
European Trade ◽  
Open Trade

Between the years 1700 and 1820 the Ashantis of central Ghana fought a number of wars in nearly all the territories now comprising modern Ghana. Most interpretations of these wars have linked them with the European trade posts on the southern coast and the Muslim trade settlements in the north. The Ashanti wars were therefore either raids or attempts to open trade-routes to the trade-posts. These interpretations have been possible because writers have ignored the Ashanti expansionary movement before 1700, and have also been unable to interpret correctly the political significance of the institutions by which the Ashanti attempted to extend their rule into some of the conquered territories, and to integrate them into what the Ashanti conceived as ‘Greater Ashanti’—a political community incorporating the conquered Akan states under the rule of the Golden Stool, the supreme stool of Ashanti.When, then, the pre-1700 Ashanti tradition and the introduction of Ashanti judicial, political and politico-religious institutions into some of the conquered territories are carefully considered, it becomes clear, in the writer's view, that the so-called Ashanti ‘empire’ should be divided into three categories of states: provinces, ‘protectorates’ and tributaries, on the basis of their political distance from Ashanti. The provinces—like the Ashantis mainly Akan-speaking peoples—were considered and treated as part of a Greater Ashanti ‘political structure’. The ‘protectorates’ were treated as allies or protected peoples according as economic or political circumstance dictated. The tributaries formed the economic and manpower base of the Ashanti expansion. But it must be noted that these relationships were fluid, and fluctuated with Ashanti military and political fortunes. Finally, the Ashanti political experiment was halted by the British and was therefore inconclusive. The student can, therefore, hardly reach rigid conclusions.Lastly it appears that, pre-literate in areas where the history student is faced with an absence of the historian's usual materials, the analysis of institutions is probably one of the most fruitful approaches.

The Politics of Producerism

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Catherine McNicol Stock
Keyword(s):  
Economic System ◽  
Local Politics ◽  
Political Community ◽  
The Political ◽  
Late Nineteenth Century ◽  
Rural People ◽  
Men And Women ◽  
The North ◽  
Late Nineteenth ◽  
North And South

Since colonial times, farmers and other rural men and women have organized to protect their livelihoods and communities from the powerful interests of centralized governments, big banks, and large corporations. In protests movements spanning from Shays Rebellion in Massachusetts to the Farmers Holiday Association in Iowa, rural people agitated for control over local politics and for reforms to the political and economic system that would protect their interests. The Populist Party of the late nineteenth century is among the most important of these groups, as farmers in the north and south came together to create a new kind of political community.

Kings, Titles & Quarters: A Conjectural History of Ilesha Part II: Institutional Growth

1980 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
pp. 225-257 ◽  
Author(s):  
J.D.Y. Peel
Keyword(s):  
Raw Material ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Structure ◽  
The North ◽  
History Of ◽  
Conjectural History ◽  
Physical Expansion

The foundation for the argument that follows is the demonstration in Part I of this essay of Ilesha's steady physical expansion over at least three hundred years, as manifested in the establishment of new quarters. Behind this lay Ilesha's success in exploiting the geo-political possibilities of her situation midway between Oyo and Benin, twenty-five miles back from the savanna/forest divide and so safe from Oyo's cavalry. Other aspects of Ilesha's growth as a capital were her loose hegemony, periodically reasserted, over the smaller neighboring kingdoms to the north and east; her effective continuous domination of other communities (including some earlier centers of the Ijesha Kingdom) within a 20 to 30 mile radius; and her establishment of further rural out-settlements in this area, many of them, as has been mentioned, ruled by members of her royal lineage. In what follows, we will be less concerned with the interlocking means by which this increase was brought about - slaves taken from communities defeated in war and incorporated, revenues from the trade drawn to the markets and routes which Ilesha was able to dominate, free immigrants attracted from other towns - than with how this growth was managed and affected the structure of the community. Our evidence takes two principle forms; itan told about many of the Owa, such as formed the raw material for the Itan Ilesa of Abiola, Babafemi, and Ataiyero; and the system of chiefly titles, each with distinctive attributes and traditions, which defines the political structure of the community.

Tal Atchana

1936 ◽  
Vol 56 (2) ◽  
pp. 125-132 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leonard Woolley
Keyword(s):  
Near East ◽  
Poor Country ◽  
British Museum ◽  
Southern Coast ◽  
Trade Routes ◽  
The North ◽  
Minoan Crete ◽  
Material Evidence ◽  
Asian Mainland ◽  
Inter Communication

In the spring of 1935 I was commissioned by the Trustees of the British Museum to examine the possibilities of excavation in North Syria. The object which I had in view was the discovery of any links that might exist between the civilisation of Minoan Crete and that of the Asian mainland, and to a large extent therefore the search was conditioned by the geographical nature of the country. If such connexion existed it would require trade-routes, and it was only along those that material evidence of inter-communication could be found; therefore the first requisite was a harbour as a terminus for the oversea traffic and easy communications between the harbour and the interior, i.e., communications not merely with the immediate hinterland, but also with the known cultural centres of the Near East. By the latter consideration the southern coast sites were ruled out; Palestine was never other than a poor country; South Syria was not likely to be profitable, for, in spite of its importance, Damascus is difficult of access from the sea, and from it the caravan route to Mesopotamia has to make the big detour round the north end of the Syrian desert.

Religion and the Construction of a Christian Roman Polity

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 76-113
Author(s):  
Francesco Rotiroti
Keyword(s):  
Theoretical Framework ◽  
Political Community ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Dimension ◽  
Roman World ◽  
Recent Scholarship ◽  
Theories Of Religion ◽  
Ancient Christianity

This article seeks to define a theoretical framework for the study of the relation between religion and the political community in the Roman world and to analyze a particular case in point. The first part reviews two prominent theories of religion developed in the last fifty years through the combined efforts of anthropologists and classicists, arguing for their complementary contribution to the understanding of religion's political dimension. It also provides an overview of the approaches of recent scholarship to the relation between religion and the Roman polity, contextualizing the efforts of this article toward a theoretical reframing of the political and institutional elements of ancient Christianity. The second part focuses on the religious legislation of the Theodosian Code, with particular emphasis on the laws against the heretics and their performance in the construction of the political community. With their characteristic language of exclusion, these laws signal the persisting overlap between the borders of the political community and the borders of religion, in a manner that one would expect from pre-Christian civic religions. Nevertheless, the political essence of religion did also adapt to the ecumenical dimension of the empire. Indeed, the religious norms of the Code appear to structure a community whose borders tend to be identical to the borders of the whole inhabited world, within which there is no longer room for alternative affiliations; the only possible identity outside this community is that of the insane, not belonging to any political entity and thus unable to possess any right.

Exploring the Diversity of Religion

2010 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 46-66
Author(s):  
Arkotong Longkumer
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Identity ◽  
Nation Building ◽  
Religious Movement ◽  
The Political ◽  
Alternative Route ◽  
British Colonialism ◽  
The North

This article considers the importance of “religion” and “identity” in the process of fieldwork in the North Cachar Hills, Assam, India. The political sensitivities in the region provided a difficult context in which to do fieldwork. This is chiefly because of the various armed insurrections, which have arisen as a consequence of the complicated remnants of British colonialism (1834–1947), and the subsequent post-independence challenge of nation building in India. This article raises important methodological questions concerning fieldwork and the relational grounding of the fieldworker relative to the inside/outside positions. It reflects on these issues by discussing the Heraka, a Zeme Naga religious movement. Their ambiguity and “in-between” character accommodates both the “neo-Hindu” version of a nation or Hindutva (Hinduness) and the larger Naga (primarily Christian) assertion of their own cultural and religious autonomy. The Heraka provides an alternative route into ideas of nationhood, religious belonging and cultural identity.

Political orientation and moral foundations

2019 ◽  
Vol 118 (11) ◽  
pp. 365-371
Author(s):  
J Dorasamy ◽  
Mr Jirushlan Dorasamy
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
North America ◽  
American Studies ◽  
Political Orientation ◽  
The Political ◽  
Moral Foundations ◽  
Open Approach ◽  
Online Questionnaire ◽  
Moral Foundation ◽  
The North

Studies, especially in the North America, have shown a relationship between political orientation and moralfoundation. This study investigated whether moral judgements differ from the political orientation of participantsin South Africa moral judgment and the extent to which moral foundations are influenced by politicalorientation.Further, the study investigated the possibility of similar patterns with the North AmericanConservative-Liberal spectrum and the moral foundation. There were 300participants, 78 males and 222 females,who completed an online questionnaire relating to moral foundation and political orientation. The results partiallysupported the hypothesis relating to Liberal and Conservative orientation in South Africa. Further, this studypartially predicted the Liberal-Conservative orientation with patterns in the moral foundation, whilst showingsimilar findings to the North American studies. A growing rate of a neutral/moderate society is evidenced in SouthAfrica and abroad, thereby showing the emergence of a more open approach to both a political and generalstance.”””

Jewish religious communities in Kuban and Terek regions at the second half of the XIX - the beginning of the XX centuries

2020 ◽  
Vol 2020 (10) ◽  
pp. 165-178
Author(s):  
Ekaterina Norkina
Keyword(s):  
Religious Communities ◽  
Religious Institutions ◽  
Political Structure ◽  
Small Communities ◽  
Religious Buildings ◽  
History Of

The article is devoted to the history of the formation and features of the functioning of Jewish religious institutions outside the Pale of Settlement in the second half of the XIXth — early XXth centuries. The study is based on the materials of the Kuban and Terek regions, which had a somewhat different administrative and political structure from most other regions. Historically, the peculiarities of these areas influenced the policy of the authorities in towards the Jews, which influenced the activities of rabbis and synagogues. Despite the fact that the activities of rabbis and synagogues were constantly interrupted due to a number of external circumstances, members of local Jewish societies actively engaged in dialogue with the authorities and sought to revive religious buildings to life. Even small communities of Kuban and Terek tried to support their religious institutions and preserve the traditions of Judaism.

ОЦЕНКА ПЕРСПЕКТИВ ПОЛИТИЧЕСКОГО БУДУЩЕГО РОССИЙСКОЙ МОЛОДЕЖЬЮ

2020 ◽  
Vol 14 (4) ◽  
pp. 28
Author(s):  
O. V. Lagutin ◽  
E. O. Negrov
Keyword(s):  
Russian Federation ◽  
Political Process ◽  
The Political ◽  
Youth Organizations ◽  
Significant Group ◽  
North West ◽  
Youth Leaders ◽  
The North ◽  
Rfbr Grant ◽  
The Russian Federation

The article deals with the assessment of the prospects of the political future by representatives of Russian youth. The text of the article has been prepared within the framework of the project “Potential of Youth Political Leadership in The Course of Political Socialization and Circulation of Elites in the Russia Regions in the 2010s (using the example of South-Western Siberia and the North-West of the Russian Federation), RFBR grant No. 18-011-01184. The relevance of the research is in combining a fundamental review of the main directions of research of the role of youth participation in the social and political process and the involvement of a specific empirical study conducted in the spring of 2019, which allows highlighting various aspects of the situation. The empirical part of the study is based on the study “Ideas of Youth about Possibilities of Youth Leaders and Youth Organizations in Russia”, which was conducted in spring 2019 in four constituent entities of the Russian Federation — Altai Territory, Leningrad and Novosibirsk Regions and St. Petersburg. The method of research was a personal standardized interview, the sample size was 1000 respondents (250 in each of the regions), representatives of young people aged 14 to 30 permanently reside in the territory of the studied subjects of the federation. Based on factor and cluster analyzes, the main models of expectations of the political future are presented. The article should be of interest to researchers, both professionally involved, and simply interested in the topic of the influence of the real political process on such a significant group of the population as youth.

The Famous Forty and Their Companions: North Yemen's First-Generation Modernists and Educational Emigrants

2005 ◽  
Vol 59 (1) ◽  
pp. 81-97 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert D. Burrowes
Keyword(s):  
First Generation ◽  
The Political ◽  
Major Conclusion ◽  
Political Structure ◽  
Cultural System ◽  
The Impact

This article is a study of the several hundred North Yemenis who went out from isolated Yemen for education between 1947 and 1959. It focuses on their backgrounds, what and where they studied, the impact on them of this experience, what they did when they returned and, finally, the impact they have had on the Yemen most hoped to change. The major conclusion is that their impact has been modest and that this is best explained by Yemen's socio-cultural system and the political structure it supports.

Introduction

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
András Sajó ◽  
Renáta Uitz
Keyword(s):  
Social Dynamics ◽  
Legal Order ◽  
Political Community ◽  
The Political ◽  
Abuse Of Power ◽  
Practical Applications

This book examines the implications of constitutionalism for the constitutional legal order and the political community which is meant to live by it. The book demonstrates what is at stake in the debate on constitutionalism through numerous examples of political anomalies and abuse of power. It presents stories of constitutional success and failure to give a sense of the current threats, arguing that constitutions are not mere practical applications of political philosophies or opportunistic political deals. The book considers foundational issues related to constitutions and constitutionalism as reflected in influential ideas, political practices, and social dynamics behind the scenes.

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