San Ranieri of Pisa: The Power and Limitations of Sanctity in Twelfth-Century Italy

1994 ◽  
Vol 45 (4) ◽  
pp. 588-599 ◽  
Author(s):  
Colin Morris

Studies of medieval society in recent years have laid increasing stress on the effectiveness of the power of the saints. They enriched their churches, defended their possessions, created great centres at once of pilgrimage and commerce and provided for the healing of the sick and the care of the poor. The cults of the saints formed a model for secular government. Kings appeared before their people as walking reliccollections and exercised the power of healing, and patron saints (like St Mark at Venice and St Denis in France) helped to define the identity of the political communities over whose well-being they were thought to preside. Often such saints, even those whose cults were rapidly developing in the eleventh and twelfth centuries, were figures from the New Testament or from the ages of conversion: St James at Compostella, Mary Magdalen at Vézelay, and Benedict at Fleury. On occasions, however, a charismatic figure in contemporary society emerged as the centre of a healing cult and a focus for widespread devotion.

Author(s):  
Alan L. Mittleman

This chapter moves into the political and economic aspects of human nature. Given scarcity and interdependence, what sense has Judaism made of the material well-being necessary for human flourishing? What are Jewish attitudes toward prosperity, market relations, labor, and leisure? What has Judaism had to say about the political dimensions of human nature? If all humans are made in the image of God, what does that original equality imply for political order, authority, and justice? In what kinds of systems can human beings best flourish? It argues that Jewish tradition shows that we act in conformity with our nature when we elevate, improve, and sanctify it. As co-creators of the world with God, we are not just the sport of our biochemistry. We are persons who can select and choose among the traits that comprise our very own natures, cultivating some and weeding out others.


2017 ◽  
Vol 168 (1) ◽  
pp. 14-20 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Elsasser

Monetary valuation of ecosystem services: a critical view of some critiques (essay) Diverse objections against the monetary valuation of ecosystem services are being raised in transdisciplinary discussions as well as in the scientific literature. The monetary valuation is said to overlook nature's intrinsic values, to infringe ethical norms, to narrow down perspectives to economic welfare alone, or even to nothing but material well-being, to stimulate the commercialisation of nature – conversely, others criticize that it fails exactly in this respect –, to favour social inequality, and to rely upon undependable methods. This essay questions the cogency of these criticisms and highlights some prejudices and misconceptions, often rooted in an erroneous understanding of the function of environmental valuations in the political decision process.


1970 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 79-100
Author(s):  
Martin Harun

Abstract: Solidarity, a modern word and concept, has old roots in the concept of koinonia (fellowship) as it is understood in the New Testament. David G. Horrell even maintains that what we now call solidarity, functions as a meta norm in Paul’s ethics, since phenomena of solidarity are clearly present in the central elements of Paul’s community building. Reference is made to the two basic rituals, Baptism and the Lord’s Supper, which build unity in diversity; to the most frequently used form of address, adelphoi/brothers, which asks for familial treatment of one another; also to the special way in which Paul often tries to restore unity in the middle of conflicts; and especially to his metaphor of the Church as the one body of Christ with many different parts that need and support one another. When speaking about the collections as a sign of the Greek community’s solidarity with the poor community in Jerusalem, Paul refers to Christ’s solidarity as the source of solidarity within and among communities. Keywords: Solidarity, fellowship, David Horrell, Paul, Ethics, baptism, the Lord’s Supper, brothers, Body of Christ, Christ’s solidarity. Abstrak: Solidaritas, sebuah kata dan paham modern, memiliki akar yang lama, antara lain dalam paham koinonia (persekutuan), sebagaimana digunakan dalam Alkitab Perjanjian Baru. David G. Horrell mempertahankan bahwa apa yang sekarang kita sebut solidaritas, merupakan norma dasar (meta norm) dalam etika Paulus, sebab fenomen-fenomen solidaritas tampak dalam unsur-unsur sentral pembinaan jemaatnya, antara lain dalam kedua ritual paling dasar, baptisan dan perjamuan Tuhan, yang membina kesatuan dalam perbedaan. Solidaritas juga muncul dalam sebutan paling frekuen, saudara-saudara (adelphoi), yang menuntut suatu etos kekeluargaan. Solidaritas juga tampak dalam banyak seruan Paulus untuk memulihkan kesatuan apabila ia berhadapan dengan perpecahan, dan teristimewa dalam menggambarkan jemaat sebagai satu tubuh Kristus dengan banyak anggota yang berbeda dan saling membutuhkan serta memberi. Dalam konteks kolekte-kolekte sebagai tanda solidaritas antarjemaat, Paulus secara eksplisit menunjuk kepada solidaritas Kristus dengan kita sebagai dasar terdalam dari solidaritas antarumat. Kata-kata kunci: Solidaritas, persekutuan, David Horrell, Paulus, etika, baptisan, Perjamuan Tuhan, saudara-saudara, Tubuh Kristus, solidaritas Kristus.


Author(s):  
Arindam Laha ◽  
Pravat Kumar Kuri

The outreach of micro-finance programme is considered to be a means enhance the economic well-being among the member means to enhance households through poverty alleviation. A wide cross-country variation in the outreach of micro-finance programme to the poor households is observed in the world. Despite the significant growth of micro-finance institutions and its active borrowers, the penetration of micro-finance lending services to the poor households in India is observed to be limited. In addition, there is a wide inter-state disparity in the achievement of micro-finance outreach in India especially among the poor households. A composite index has been constructed using the penetration, availability and usage indicators of micro-finance outreach to examine the interstate variations in the level of its achievement. Subsequently, attempt has been made to analyse the role of micro-finance in alleviating poverty across the states of India. The result shows that out of 27 states and Union Territories, only in seven states (Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Goa, Himachal Pradesh, Tripura, and Karnataka) outreach of micro-finance programme has made a significant impact on the reduction of poverty.


2020 ◽  
Vol 54 (2) ◽  
pp. 245-279 ◽  
Author(s):  
Melis G. Laebens ◽  
Aykut Öztürk

Although theories of partisanship were developed for the democratic context, partisanship can be important in electoral autocracies as well. We use survey data to analyze partisanship in an electoral autocracy, Turkey, and find that partisanship is pervasive, strong, and consequential. Using the Partisan Identity Scale to measure partisanship, we show that, like in democracies, partisanship strength is associated with political attitudes and action. Unlike in democracies, however, the ruling party’s superior ability to mobilize supporters through clientelistic linkages makes the association between partisanship and political action weaker for ruling party partisans. We find that partisan identities are tightly connected to the perception that other parties may threaten one’s well-being, and that such fears are widespread on both sides of the political divide. We interpret our findings in light of the autocratization process Turkey went through. Our contribution highlights the potential of integrating regime dynamics in studies of partisanship.


2020 ◽  
Vol 37 (1) ◽  
pp. 138-158
Author(s):  
James A. Harris

AbstractMy point of departure in this essay is Smith’s definition of government. “Civil government,” he writes, “so far as it is instituted for the security of property, is in reality instituted for the defence of the rich against the poor, or of those who have some property against those who have none at all.” First I unpack Smith’s definition of government as the protection of the rich against the poor. I argue that, on Smith’s view, this is always part of what government is for. I then turn to the question of what, according to Smith, our governors can do to protect the wealth of the rich from the resentment of the poor. I consider, and reject, the idea that Smith might conceive of education as a means of alleviating the resentment of the poor at their poverty. I then describe how, in his lectures on jurisprudence, Smith refines and develops Hume’s taxonomy of the opinions upon which all government rests. The sense of allegiance to government, according to Smith, is shaped by instinctive deference to natural forms of authority as well as by rational, Whiggish considerations of utility. I argue that it is the principle of authority that provides the feelings of loyalty upon which government chiefly rests. It follows, I suggest, that to the extent that Smith looked to government to protect the property of the rich against the poor, and thereby to maintain the peace and stability of society at large, he cannot have sought to lessen the hold on ordinary people of natural sentiments of deference. In addition, I consider the implications of Smith’s theory of government for the question of his general attitude toward poverty. I argue against the view that Smith has recognizably “liberal,” progressive views of how the poor should be treated. Instead, I locate Smith in the political culture of the Whiggism of his day.


2018 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. e000582 ◽  
Author(s):  
Neeraj Sood ◽  
Zachary Wagner

Life-saving technology used to treat catastrophic illnesses such as heart disease and cancer is often out of reach for the poor. As life expectancy increases in poor countries and the burden from chronic illnesses continues to rise, so will the unmet need for expensive tertiary care. Understanding how best to increase access to and reduce the financial burden of expensive tertiary care is a crucial task for the global health community in the coming decades. In 2010, Karnataka, a state in India, rolled out the Vajpayee Arogyashree scheme (VAS), a social health insurance scheme focused on increasing access to tertiary care for households below the poverty line. VAS was rolled out in a way that allowed for robust evaluation of its causal effects and several studies have examined various impacts of the scheme on poor households. In this analysis article, we summarise the key findings and assess how these findings can be used to inform other social health insurance schemes. First, the evidence suggests that VAS led to a substantial reduction in mortality driven by increased tertiary care utilisation as well as use of better quality facilities and earlier diagnosis. Second, VAS significantly reduced the financial burden of receiving tertiary care. Third, these benefits of social health insurance were achieved at a reasonable cost to society and taxpayers. Several unique features of VAS led to its success at improving health and financial well-being including effective outreach via health camps, targeting expensive conditions with high disease burden, easy enrolment process, cashless treatment, bundled payment for hospital services, participation of both public and private hospitals and prior authorisation to improve appropriateness of care.


1966 ◽  
Vol 60 (4) ◽  
pp. 943-951 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew Holden

If an important part of the political scientist's mission is to anticipate and explain “the critical problems that generate turbulence” in that part of the world which attracts his attention, then, in the study of administration, bureaucratic “imperialism” must be of compelling interest. If systematic data directly assembled for the purpose are lacking, and if there are some signal problems of theory which have been little investigated, there is still enough evidence from studies of other political problems that it seems worthwhile to set out some trial-run ideas in the hope that they will elicit further discussion.Bureaucractic imperialism seems pre-eminently a matter of inter-agency conflict in which two or more agencies try to assert permanent control over the same jurisdiction, or in which one agency actually seeks to take over another agency as well as the jurisdiction of that agency. We are thus primarily concerned with the politics of allocation and shall, except incidentally, bypass some other interesting aspects of inter-agency politics such as cooperation between agencies sharing missions, competition for favorable “one-time-only” decisions which do not involve jurisdictional reallocation, or the critical problems of the “holding company” administrative organization and its internal politics. For the moment, our concern with the politics of allocation leads to a focus on what would appear to be the likely behaviors of those decisionmakers who have both inclination and opportunity to look after the institutional well-being of agencies.


2021 ◽  
pp. 147821032110372
Author(s):  
Celeste Duff

Globally, mindfulness is an emerging and innovative trend in education. Specifically, in school-based education, there has been growing excitement surrounding the implementation of mindfulness. Although policy, political and economic shifts and powers may seem quite far removed from the realities of children and mindfulness, the political economy does indeed saturate and shape children’s lives in multiple ways. The purpose of this review is to chart some of the economic and political contexts and highlight some of the shifts that may speak to the emerging trend of mindfulness in education. This critical review addresses the themes and shifts in economies and educational policy, highlights links between neuroscience-based discourses, mindfulness, social-emotional learning and emotional well-being in education.


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