scholarly journals The Use of Charity as a Means of Political Legitimation in Umayyad al-Andalus

2017 ◽  
Vol 60 (3) ◽  
pp. 233-262
Author(s):  
Ana María Carballeira Debasa

The principal aim of this study is to examine the use of charity as a factor of political legitimation by the ruling elite of al-Andalus in the Umayyad period. Accordingly, it explores the degree to which charity was an instrument in the hands of the authorities, and the manner in which this strategy was decisive in the process of consolidating power. In a broader sense, this analysis enables us to deepen our knowledge of the political elite in al-Andalus and to elucidate how charitable attitudes reflected a particular conception of power.

2009 ◽  
Vol 41 (2) ◽  
pp. 225-246 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arang Keshavarzian

The prevailing perception within the academy, policy circles, and the media inside and outside Iran has been that the members of bazaars are a unified social class engaged in a symbiotic relationship with the political elite of the Islamic republic and the conservative faction in particular. This approach is largely built on the perspective that there is a historic predilection for bāzārīs and clerics to cooperate (“mosque–bazaar alliance”), and thus ideological compatibility and familial ties between the clergy and bāzārīs have continued and developed into an alliance under the current regime headed by segments of the clergy. For instance, one of the leading experts on 20th-century Iran, Nikki Keddie, comments that, despite Mohammad Khatami's reformist agenda, “the ruling elite, who represent an alliance between the commercial bazaar bourgeoisie and conservative clerics, resist giving up their economic privileges as they do their political ones.”


2013 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 329-350 ◽  
Author(s):  
RICHARD GRABOWSKI

AbstractThe political elite require resources in order to survive politically. Given the conditions existing in most developing nations, this implies following an inward-oriented development strategy promoting a large-scale, capital-intensive industrial sector. This strategy impoverishes agriculture and implies that the leaders of the industrial sector will make up a critical component of the coalition providing political support to the political elite. Reform allowing for outward-oriented growth will be extremely difficult. Dramatically increasing agricultural productivity provides a means to provide political legitimacy for the ruling elite as well as the political leverage to bring about reform.


1996 ◽  
Vol 44 (1) ◽  
pp. 4-23 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Lane

On the basis of personal interviews with 116 members of the political élite of the USSR in its terminal period, conclusions are drawn about influence on political power and reasons for the breakdown of the political system. Unlike democratic transitions grounded on negotiation, the collapse of the USSR was a consequence of a fragmented and highly divided political élite lacking in political and moral cohesion. The driving forces of political change came from within the Party leadership which believed the system to be fundamentally flawed whereas other groups in the ruling élite considered it to be essentially sound. In the absence of a firm political base for radical reform, foreign Western leaders are shown to have been sought as allies for change. In turn their perceived influence exacerbated élite dissension.


2009 ◽  
Vol 54 (S17) ◽  
pp. 115-142 ◽  
Author(s):  
NurŞen Gürboğa

SummaryThis study examines the forms of state domination over mine labour and the struggles of coalminers at the Zonguldak coalfield during World War II. It is focused on the everyday experiences of compulsory workers as reflected in petitions by those workers and the surveillance materials of the single-party regime at the time. Its aim is to reveal how, under an authoritarian regime, compulsory workers created a political agency. The compulsory labour system was one of the most coercive devices with which the state controlled mine labour between 1940 and 1947, but the compulsory workers negotiated with the political elite for their living and working conditions, and did so within a political sphere which had been devised by the ruling elite as a governmental strategy for managing and shaping the population. By subverting the political discourse of the ruling elite, the miners contributed not just to the development of workers’ rights, but also helped reveal the merits of a democratic society.


Author(s):  
Pavel L. Karabushenko ◽  
Sergei A. Vorontsov ◽  
Alexander V. Ponedelkov ◽  
Irena V. Lebedeva

Вышедшая в октябре 2015 г. книга скандально известного германского журналиста Удо Ульфкотте была призвана наглядно объяснить, почему Германия принимает так много мигрантов и к чему политика ныне правящей в ФРГ политической элиты может привести эту страну и весь Евросоюз в будущем. По мнению автора книги, современные мигранты представляют собой угрозу национальной безопасности, поскольку несут с собой разрушение привычной среды, традиций, устоев. Именно в этой непродуманной политике «открытых дверей» германские элиты демонстрируют свою профессиональную некомпетентность и непонимание происходящих глобальных процессов современности. Политические элиты коллективного Запада вступили в очередную историческую эпоху своего кризиса, который всё больше приобретает системный характер. В последнее время экспертами отмечается, что мир явно вступает в эпоху кардинального пересмотра существующих ценностей и норм. И эта «революция смыслов» начинается именно с анализа правящих элитарных сообществ, их роли в текущих политических событиях и в целях планируемых действий. В настоящей работе даётся анализ одной из таких экспертных оценок, предупреждающих власти о надвигающемся на них системном кризисе качества их профессиональной компетенции. Published in October 2015, the book by the infamous German journalist Udo Ulfkotte was intended to clearly explain why Germany accepts so many migrants and where the policy of the current ruling political elite in Germany can lead this country and the entire European Union in the future. According to the author of the book, modern migrants pose a threat to the national security, since they bring with them the destruction of the familiar environment, traditions, and foundations. It is in this unproven policy of "open doors" that the German elites demonstrate their professional incompetence and lack of understanding of the ongoing global processes of modernity. The political elites of the collective West have entered another historical era of their crisis which is becoming more and more systemic. In recent years experts have noted that the world is clearly entering the era of a fundamental review of existing values and norms. And this "revolution of meanings" begins precisely with the analysis of the ruling elite communities, their role in current political events and for the purposes of planned actions. This paper analyzes one of these expert assessments that warn the authorities about the impending systemic crisis in the quality of their professional competence.


Society ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 420-428
Author(s):  
Ruth Agnesia Sembiring ◽  
Mishbahul Khoiri

This research focuses on the relation of elite H. Andiwarto with sub-elite and village community in maintaining Masra family dynasty for village head position. Masra family dynasty has run for a long time. For 150 years, Masra family descendants occupy the village head position. The survival of Masra family dynasty in the Gapurana Village Government is studied in the relation of H. Andiwarto, who is Masra descendant with sub-elite and village community to maintain Masra family descendant dynasty as a village head. This research used a qualitative method with descriptive research type. The elite theory proposed by Suzanne Keller was used to analyze the relation of elite, sub-elite, and the community. This theory has 4 (four) indicators: the governing elite, the ruling elite, the not ruling elite, and the community. Based on these indicators and the results of this research, the relation built by H. Andiwarto in maintaining Masra family dynasti consists of three relations: relation with the political elite, relation with economic elite, and relation with the social elite. The political elite’s relationship is vital in maintaining the Masra family descendant dynasty. In contrast, the relation between the economic elite and the social elite supports relations for keeping the legitimacy of the village community towards Masra descendants.


nauka.me ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 8
Author(s):  
Alena Ermolaeva

The article considers the characteristics of the effectiveness of the political elite, which is expressed in the degree of openness of the elite rotation, its qualitative and quantitative renewal; the level of achievement of short-term and long-term goals; external and internal consolidation; political, economic and social stability; the legitimacy and legality of the ruling elite. Based on this it was argued that the political elite must be effective, otherwise it will completely lose its elite status. The degree of effectiveness of political elites in modern Russia was also analysed, as a result of which the conclusion was made that the modern Russian elite is effective only within the framework of the existing regime, but if it changes, the elite turns out to be ineffective, since the consolidation is based on the national leader with whose departure the system can undergo significant metamorphosis.


wisdom ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 90-97
Author(s):  
Mykhailo KELMAN ◽  
Myroslava KRISTINYAK ◽  
Iryna ANDRUSIAK ◽  
Sergii PANCHENKO ◽  
Rostyslav Kelman

Different policy actors have different influences on the process. Most do not directly participate in political life: a particular layer of people called the political elite is more likely to get involved in it. From a philosophical point of view, the political elite is mainly defined as a minority of society, a somewhat independent, relatively privileged group (or a set of groups) that has the appropriate psychological, social and political qualities and is directly involved in the formation and implementation of political decisions related to the use of state power or influence on it. The main goal of the article is to characterise the negative influence of the ruling elite on the formation of political activity in the context of revealing its possibilities of destructuring the essence of the philosophy of law itself. The methodology was based on the main historical and theoretical research methods that made it possible to achieve the set goal. As a result of the study, the main elements of the negative influence of the ruling elite were characterised, its place in the philosophy of law was determined and which destructuring consequences it has.


1967 ◽  
Vol 2 (4) ◽  
pp. 509-524 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. J. O. Dudley

In the debate on the Native Authority (Amendment) Law of 1955, the late Premier of the North, Sir Ahmadu Bello, Sardauna of Sokoto, replying to the demand that ‘it is high time in the development of local government systems in this Region that obsolete and undemocratic ways of appointing Emirs’ Councils should close’, commented that ‘the right traditions that we have gone away from are the cutting off of the hands of thieves, and that has caused a lot of thieving in this country. Why should we not be cutting (off) the hands of thieves in order to reduce thieving? That is logical and it is lawful in our tradition and custom here.’ This could be read as a defence against social change, a recrudescence of ‘barbarism’ after the inroads of pax Britannica, and a plea for the retention of the status quo and the entrenched privilege of the political elite.


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