TRANSFORMATIONS OF THĂNG LONG: SPACE AND TIME, POWER AND BELIEF

2013 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-24 ◽  
Author(s):  
John K. Whitmore

2010 saw the millennial celebration of Thăng Long/Hà Nội as capital of an independent Vietnam, and archaeology has tended to confirm this strong sense of continuity. Yet study of written texts shows us how political power, administrative style, and religious belief have shaped the city and how a cyclical pattern in this history has appeared twice and may be in its third time. In this pattern, each cycle saw the city begin as the provincial capital of an external power before becoming capital of an independent Vietnamese state. Then a local base draws power to itself and displaces Thăng Long, eventually dismantling it, before a new external power enters and begins the cycle anew. In this way the Tang and Ming dynasties of China and the French made the site their local administrative center. Lý Công Uẩn, Lê Lợi, and Hồ Chí Minh in succession drove them out and established Thăng Long/Hà Nội as their capital, bringing Buddhism, Confucianism, and Socialism to it. But first the Trần and Hồ, then the Mạc, Trịnh, and Nguyễn, shared power with, and eventually displaced, the Royal City. Will it happen again?

2017 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 126-143
Author(s):  
Ocean Howell

American urban historians have begun to understand that digital mapping provides a potentially powerful tool to describe political power. There are now important projects that map change in the American city along a number of dimensions, including zoning, suburbanization, commercial development, transportation infrastructure, and especially segregation. Most projects use their visual sources to illustrate the material consequences of the policies of powerful agencies and dominant planning ‘regimes.’ As useful as these projects are, they often inadvertently imbue their visualizations with an aura of inevitability, and thereby present political power as a kind of static substance–possess this and you can remake the city to serve your interests. A new project called ‘Imagined San Francisco’ is motivated by a desire to expand upon this approach, treating visual material not only to illustrate outcomes, but also to interrogate historical processes, and using maps, plans, drawings, and photographs not only to show what did happen, but also what might have happened. By enabling users to layer a series of historical urban plans–with a special emphasis on unrealized plans–‘Imagined San Francisco’ presents the city not only as a series of material changes, but also as a contingent process and a battleground for political power.


2017 ◽  
Vol 864 ◽  
pp. 224-228
Author(s):  
Seung Hyeon You ◽  
Jeong Hwan Lee ◽  
Sung Hoon Oh

This study has developed street lamp lighting device material that was turned on and off by self-power supply without additional power by using the rays of the sun. Lighting devices have been applied with polycarbonate materials that were outstanding with light transmissivity while using LED light and economic value. Lighting devices are easily installed in various places since external power is not necessary. In addition, it also serves as a function of preventing crime by acquiring intensity of illumination in crime-ridden district in the night. Lighting device can also serve as a function of improving fine view in the city by establishing eco-friendly circumstances including parks, areas around shopping district, and housing areas after being manufactured in the form of flowerpot where can grow plants in the future.


Author(s):  
S.Montgomery Ewegen

Abstract At the center of Plato’s Gorgias, the shameless and irascible Callicles offers an attack against philosophy (484c and following). During this attack, he describes philosophy as a pastime fit only for the young which, if practiced beyond the bloom of youth, threatens to render those who practice it politically inept and powerless. Moreover, when taken too far, philosophy provokes the city into stripping the philosopher of all of his rights and property, leaving him with no οὐσία at all (486c). Thus, according to Callicles, far from making one powerful within the city, philosophy ultimately renders one impotent and utterly without substance. In what follows I argue that the Socrates of the Gorgias agrees with this characterization of the philosopher as the one who lacks power and οὐσία. However, whereas Callicles sees such a condition as the most worthless and pitiable sort, Socrates sees it as the unique and singular posture from out of which true philosophical thinking, and true political power, are possible. As I will show, through the course of the Gorgias as a whole, Socrates offers a counter-discourse that presents the philosopher as a powerless person lacking οὐσία who is precisely thereby able to undertake a pursuit of the truth and the good. Phrased otherwise: Socrates takes ignorance understood as lack or powerlessness to be the very condition for the possibility of philosophy and true political power, while showing rhetoric understood as the pretense of wisdom to be an obstruction to these.


2017 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 160-165
Author(s):  
Kuanysh Gazizovich Akanov

The paper considers the history of approval of Orenburg city as the capital of Kirgiz (Kazakh) Autonomous Socialist Soviet Republic (KASSR) which was formed by the decree from 26 of August, 1920, as well as the history accession of the city and some district of province to Kazakhstan. The reasons of choice of Orenburg as administrative center of Kirgiz Republic and possible proposed alternatives are researched. The author analyses publications of Kazakhstan and Russian scientists on the indicated theme. Among the objective reasons of choice of Orenburg as the capital, the author names the following ones: the importance of Orenburg for Kirgiz Republic of that time, as a city with developed infrastructure and industry, as well as cultural and economic potential; the presence of sufficiently strong stratum workers,; attempt to make the city a central core of politics and become closer to Asian and Turkic people; regulation of territorial disputes about question of accessory of Orenburg; temporariness of the capital status of Orenburg to Kyrgyzia, in view of geographical distance of the city from the other regions of Autonomy and little representatives of title Kazakh ethnos. The author introduces for scientific use some documents of the State archive of the Orenburg Region in the process of research.


2020 ◽  
pp. 32-45
Author(s):  
D.O. Egorov ◽  
◽  

The article analyzes the directions and intensity of rural population depopulation from the standpoint of its influence on the transformation of settlement in the Republic of Tatarstan from the 1970s to the present. Three periods of changes in the distribution of the rural population were identified: soviet (1970–1991), de-urbanization (1991–2000) and suburbanization (weakly expressed in the 2000s and clearly pronounced since the 2010s). The first period under consideration fell on the peak of the decline in the rural population, but the pole near the regional center depopulated less intensively than the distant periphery. The de-urbanization period did not have clear territorial trends in changes in the number of inhabitants. In the 2010s. There is a steady increase in the population in the areas of neighbors of the largest cities of the republic. A more detailed study showed that this increase is largely associated with the settlement of urban-type residential complexes. 1970 to 2019 the share of rural residents living in areas bordering the city of Kazan and Naberezhnye Chelny increased from 15.1 to 25%. Similar polarization processes are taking place at the municipal level. The period considered from 2002 to 2019 showed the process of increasing the share of the population of the administrative center from the total population of the district. In more than half of the cases, this process took place due to population growth in the centers of municipalities and the decline of the rest of the population. The population in other municipalities decreased in the administrative centers less intensively than outside them.


2016 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 183
Author(s):  
Camila Benatti

ResumoNo ano de 1917, a manifestação de um fenômeno religioso em Fátima (Portugal) acabou por gerar transformações profundas em sua paisagem. A partir da crença neste acontecimento, nasce num descampado um dos maiores centros de peregrinação mundial, o Santuário de Fátima. Abordando os fenômenos religiosos sob a perspectiva geográfica, este artigo tem como principal intuito analisar e compreender as percepções dos alunos do Colégio do Sagrado Coração de Maria da cidade de Fátima em relação à cidade e ao respectivo território religioso. Como proposta de análise remeteu-se a métodos qualitativos através da elaboração de mapas mentais. A partir desta análise foi possível identificar que embora haja a carência de alguns espaços e infraestruturas direcionados às necessidades dos residentes locais, estes revelam um forte sentimento de pertença em relação ao território em estudo. Este envolvimento é refletido no reconhecimento por parte destes jovens do valor simbólico e patrimonial da cidade de Fátima enquanto lugar sagrado e religioso.Palavras-chave: Santuário de Fátima; Lugar sagrado; Percepção do espaço; Mapas mentais. AbstractIn the year of 1917, the manifestation of a religious phenomenon took place in Fatima, which turned out to engender profound changes in its landscape. From the belief in this event emerged in an open field the Sanctuary of Fatima, one of the largest world centers of pilgrimage. Approaching the religious phenomena from a geographical perspective, this research has the main purpose of understand and analyze the perceptions of the students of the College of the Sacred Heart of Mary of the city of Fatima in relation to the city and its religious territory. As proposed analysis referred to qualitative methods through the development of mental maps. From this analysis we found that although there is a shortage of some spaces and infrastructure targeted to the needs of local residents, they reveal a strong sense of belonging towards the area under study. This involvement is reflected in the recognition on the part of these young people the symbolic and heritage value of the city of Fatima as religious and sacred place.Key words: Sanctuary of Fatima; Sacred place; Perception of space; Mental maps. ResumenEn 1917 , la manifestación de un fenómeno religioso en Fátima (Portugal ) ha generado profundos cambios en su paisaje. De la creencia en este evento , que nace en un campo uno de los mayores centros mundiales de peregrinación, el Santuario de Fátima. Dirigiéndose el fenómeno religioso desde el punto de vista geográfico, este artículo tiene el objetivo de analizar y comprender las percepciones de los estudiantes del Colegio del Sagrado Corazón de María de Fátima en relación con la ciudad y su territorio religioso. Como propuesta de análisis hace utilizado métodos cualitativos a través de la elaboración de mapas mentales. A partir de este análisis fue posible identificar que a pesar de que hay una escasez de algunos espacios e infraestructuras orientados a las necesidades de los residentes locales, estos revelan un fuerte sentido de pertenencia hacia la zona de estudio. Este compromiso se refleja en el reconocimiento por parte de estos jóvenes del valor simbólico de Fátima como un lugar religioso y sagrado.Palabras-Claves: Santuario de Fátima; Lugar sagrado; Percepciones del espacio; Mapas mentales.


Author(s):  
Azeem Gul ◽  
Rizwana Karim Abbasi ◽  
Syed Arslan Haider

The strategic rivalry between Saudi Arabia and Iran has been worsened for the last two decades. This historical sectarian divisions led by Saudi Arabia and Iran has now morphed into a struggle for regional influence between Shia political power led by Iran and Sunni political power led by Saudi Arabia. Against this backdrop, the study examines the contours of the Middle Eastern security in the context of Saudi and Iran strategic rivalry in various conflicts such as crisis in Syria, Yemen, and situation in Iraq including proxy wars and Iran’s nuclear program. The study finds out that the security situation of the Middle East would have been much better if Saudi and Iran would have cooperated on various issues such as Yemen and Syrian crisis. In addition, the internal vulnerabilities of the Middle East with Iran and Saudi strategic antagonism provided opportunities to the external power intervention that further has intensified the conflicts in the region. The study concludes that the solution of the Middle Eastern problem would lie in building cooperation between Iran and Saudi Arabia relations and in this respect the current rapprochement between the two states is a positive development for Middle Eastern security.


Author(s):  
Michael A. Gomez

This prologue provides an overview of the history of early and medieval West Africa. During this period, the rise of Islam, the relationship of women to political power, the growth and influence of the domestically enslaved, and the invention and evolution of empire were all unfolding. In contrast to notions of an early Africa timeless and unchanging in its social and cultural categories and conventions, here was a western Savannah and Sahel that from the third/ninth through the tenth/sixteenth centuries witnessed political innovation as well as the evolution of such mutually constitutive categories as race, slavery, ethnicity, caste, and gendered notions of power. By the period's end, these categories assume significations not unlike their more contemporary connotations. All of these transformations were engaged with the apparatus of the state and its progression from the city-state to the empire. The transition consistently featured minimalist notions of governance replicated by successive dynasties, providing a continuity of structure as a mechanism of legitimization. Replication had its limits, however, and would ultimately prove inadequate in addressing unforeseen challenges.


Author(s):  
Chris Myers Asch ◽  
George Derek Musgrove

This chapter shows how, in the decades after the War of 1812, slavery and the slave trade in the city invited domestic and international criticism as the movement to abolish slavery focused its efforts on the District. As abolitionism became a national force in American politics in the 1830s, the national battle over slavery was waged in large part in and about the nation’s capital, and local abolitionists, black and white, actively challenged slavery within the city itself. Washington became the national battleground over slavery not only because it was the seat of government but also because of the city’s political impotence. Because Congress had veto power over any legislation passed by the city’s local council, national leaders could (and did) use Washington as a pawn in their political power struggles. Escalating political and racial tensions erupted in an 1835 race riot that concludes the chapter.


Author(s):  
Edmund Thomas

From ancient Egypt to the present day, the colossal size of buildings has been considered to reflect political power. For Herodotus, architecture was an expression of dominion; the Periclean monuments of Athens seemed visibly to encourage the Athenians to reclaim their Aegeanwide political ascendancy, since, as Isocrates remarked, ‘democracy had so adorned the city with temples and sacred images that even today visitors think it is worthy to rule not only the Greeks, but also all other peoples’. The Circus Maximus, rebuilt by Trajan, was ‘a seat worthy of the nation that conquered the world’. The correspondence between Trajan and the younger Pliny, his appointed legate in Bithynia, reveals the ideological purpose of provincial architecture. Pliny pointed out such meanings, although Trajan himself modestly affected to address only practicalities. For instance, Pliny remarks that a proposed canal near Nicomedia was ‘worthy of your greatness and your concern’. Architecture was as important in constructing imperial ideology as an emperor’s portraits or the legends and images on his coins; it legitimated his regime by promoting a particular ideal that commanded respect. It is generally agreed that buildings continued to play this role under Hadrian. The preceding discussion of Antonine buildings in the province of Asia now provides grounds to modify the view that, during the middle of the century, festivals or shows replaced public buildings as the major indicator of imperial ideology. One should, of course, be wary of using modern labels like ‘message’, ‘persuasion’, ‘propaganda’, or ‘ideology’ to describe the purpose of ancient forms. But in the present context the term ‘ideology’ seems particularly appropriate. As J. B. Thompson defines the concept, it highlights: . . . the ways in which meaning is mobilized in the service of individuals and groups, that is, the ways in which the meaning constructed and conveyed by symbolic forms serves, in particular circumstances, to establish and sustain structured social relations from which some individuals and groups benefit more than others, and which some individuals and groups have an interest in preserving while others may seek to contest. . . .


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