Civilization on a Crash Course? Imperialism, Subimperialism and the Political-Ecological Breaking Point of the Modern/Colonial World-System

2016 ◽  
Vol 15 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 255-289 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leonardo E. Figueroa-Helland ◽  
Tim Lindgren ◽  
Tori Pfaeffle
Keyword(s):  
Emerging Economies ◽  
Ecological Footprint ◽  
Breaking Point ◽  
The Political ◽  
Planetary Boundaries ◽  
Internal Colonialism ◽  
The West ◽  
The North ◽  
Catch Up ◽  
Urban Civilization

Modern/colonial civilization has already breached several planetary boundaries and its ecological footprint is overwhelming the Earth’s carrying capacity. The ecological space for the growth of modern urban civilization is at its breaking point. We conduct two case studies, of Russia and Brazil, to show that the aspirations of semi-peripheral “emerging economies” to catch-up, clone and compete with the West within the hegemonic terms of an ecologically unsustainable and socially stratifying civilizational model requires their systematic practice of internal colonialism and regional subimperialism. Playing catch-up with the North and its unsustainable mode of political economy demands the present-day rehearsal, in accelerated, compressed and subimperial modes of the structurally violent practices that have underpinned the North’s “rise” to planetary dominance. Yet in striving to catch-up and join in the overconsumptive and exploitative lifestyle of economic cores, large “emerging economies” like thebricsare in an economic, political and military crash course against the hegemonically-entrenched Northern core powers they aspire to emulate, in what looks like an increasingly volatile scramble to grab whatever dwindling ecological space is left in a rapidly degraded planet.

Ritual under Change: Mongolian Influences on Horse Races and Mountain Divinity Worship in Tibet

Inner Asia ◽  
2002 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 361-373
Author(s):  
Elke Studer
Keyword(s):  
Seventeenth Century ◽  
Central Government ◽  
The Political ◽  
The South ◽  
The West ◽  
Horse Race ◽  
Autonomous Region ◽  
South Eastern ◽  
The North ◽  
History Of

AbstractThe article outlines the Mongolian influences on the biggest horse race festival in Nagchu prefecture in the Tibetan Autonomous Region (TAR).Since old times these horse races have been closely linked to the worship of the local mountain deity by the patrilineal nomadic clans of the South-Eastern Changthang, the North Tibetan plain. In the seventeenth century the West Mongol chieftain Güüshi Khan shaped the history of Tibet. To support his political claims, he enlarged the horse race festival's size and scale, and had his troops compete in the different horse race and archery competitions in Nagchu. Since then, the winners of the big race are celebrated side by side with the political achievements and claims of the central government in power.

The Xiongnu

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hyun Jin Kim
Keyword(s):  
Northern China ◽  
First Century ◽  
Aral Sea ◽  
The Political ◽  
Ruling Elite ◽  
The West ◽  
The North ◽  
First Empire ◽  
Western Eurasia ◽  
Asian People

The Xiongnu were an Inner Asian people who formed an empire, a state entity encompassing a multiethnic, multicultural, and polyglot population. The ruling elite of this empire were, for the most part, pastoralists. However, the empire also possessed a substantial agrarian base. In the late 3rd and early 2nd centuries bce, the Xiongnu created the first empire to unify much of Inner Asia. The Xiongnu Empire stretched from Manchuria in the east to the Aral Sea in the west, from the Baikal region in the north to the Ordos and Gansu regions of China in the south. In the 2nd century bce, the Xiongnu also subjected the Han Empire of China to tribute payments. However, late in that century, the Han broke the heqin policy of engagement with the Xiongnu and began a long struggle for supremacy with its northern foe. Political instability arising from protracted struggles over the imperial succession gradually undermined the Xiongnu Empire. In the middle of the first century ce, the state splintered into two halves: the Northern Xiongnu and the Southern Xiongnu. The Southern Xiongnu later conquered Northern China in the early 4th century ce, while the remnants of the Northern Xiongnu became the political and cultural forebears of the later Huns of western Eurasia.

scholarly journals Locating the ‘East’ in the Global South: question of self image in traditions and transitions

2015 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-16
Author(s):  
Muhammad Faisal Awan
Keyword(s):  
Emerging Economies ◽  
Development Process ◽  
Global South ◽  
The Political ◽  
Development Discourse ◽  
Post Colonial ◽  
The North ◽  
Self Image ◽  
Alternate Model ◽  
Gradual Expansion

This paper attempts to explore the socio-political and economic dimensions of increasingly becoming popular rise of the Global South. It is argued that the slogan of the rise of Global South which seemingly implies that the Global South in its pursuit of development as an ideal will end up being different than the North is questionable. Scholars have long debated on the nature and spirit of development in South and explain the rising South either in terms of gradual expansion of Westernization or in terms of emerging indigenous alternate model of development or alternate modernity. This distinction in describing the emerging economies rely primarily on the specific use of notion of capital as somewhat Western and the culture it produces as Western culture or either in the sense of internalizing the spirit of capital yet maintaining distinctive identity (other than the Western) which tends to reflect in the vocabulary of the Global South. This is to argue here that the spirit of capital is neither West nor East. And similarly it is neither North nor South. It is only the question of when and how the forces underlying capitalism will emerge in particular geography. The development discourse emerged primarily after the WWII put all post-colonial nations pursuing development instead of questioning it. There may have been changes in the vocabulary of development in the Global South to adjust in local cultures and perhaps also in the structure. There may have been call for alternate modernity. Notwithstanding the spirit remains the same. It is in this backdrop locating or understanding the very notion of the East not as a homogenous civilization but rather a pool of civilizations intending to express power of traditions in transitions becomes important. The purpose of this paper is to understand the withering traditions of East in the Global South development process dominated by the spirit of Capitalism. It is asked in environmental debate that can capitalism go green, in the political and cultural realm I would try to explore can capitalism go East in the Global South; can traditions survive in transitions? If not then Why?

Walter Pohl, The Avars: A Steppe Empire in Central Europe, 567–822. Ithaca, NY, and London: Cornell University Press, 2018, xxiii, 636 pp., 4 maps.

Mediaevistik ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
pp. 381-382
Author(s):  
Albrecht Classen
Keyword(s):  
English Translation ◽  
The Political ◽  
Early Medieval ◽  
The West ◽  
New Approach ◽  
Cornell University ◽  
The North ◽  
Medieval Europe ◽  
Nomadic People ◽  
Military Structure

Even though this is not a new publication, Pohl’s study on the Avars deserves particular attention, now in its first English translation. While not identified on the cover page, Pohl’s book was superbly translated into English by Will Sayers, who is briefly mentioned in the preface. Pohl had published his book originally in German in 1988, and it appeared in its third edition in 2015. Only in the last few decades has our awareness and understanding of the Avars grown and changed, particularly because intensive archaeological evidence has vastly changed our concept of that Steppe people who lived in the Carpathian Basin long before the Magyars settled there. Consequently, Pohl has made great efforts to reflect on the new insights and rewrote the respective sections of this book. In short, although here we hold in our hands ‘only’ the English translation of the third edition, The Avars represents, after all, a new approach and a thorough update of the current research on that people that had significant influence on the Byzantines, the Germanic peoples to the west and southwest, and to the north and east. They were the first to introduce into Europe the stirrup, but they left practically no written sources. They were Nomadic people, and yet not simply barbarians, as later chroniclers liked to call them. Hence, Pohl’s study on this early medieval people sheds important light on the political and military structure of early medieval Europe in an area where the Byzantine sphere of interest ended and where the Carolingians endeavored to place their stakes.

Romania since the Revolution

1990 ◽  
Vol 25 (4) ◽  
pp. 484-496 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark Almond
Keyword(s):  
The Political ◽  
Political Debate ◽  
The West ◽  
Coup D'etat ◽  
The North ◽  
Communist Revolution ◽  
Party Members ◽  
National Salvation ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Revolution

THE VIOLENCE WHICH MARKED THE OVERTHROW OF Nicolae Ceaugescu's regime at Christmas 1989, and the recurrent disorders, especially in Bucharest, which have punctuated developments over the last nine months, have made Romania's experience of anti-Communist revolution strikingly different from that of its neighbours to the north and to the west. Whatever the political and social tensions emerging in Hungary, Czechoslovakia and Poland (and whatever may be the GDR's legacy to a reunified Germany), it is unlikely that the charge of neo-communism will be central to their political debate. It is precisely that charge levelled against the government party (National Salvation Front/FSN) and against the person of Ion Ilescu by various opposition groups, and former prominent dissidents under Ceaugescu, which remains the most emotive issue in Romanian politics. The question of whether the revolution which overthrew Nicolae Ceauyescu and led to the dissolution of the Romanian Communist Party (RCP) was the result of a popular uprising or a coup d'état planned by Party members has haunted Romanian politics through the first nine months of the post-Ceauqescu period.

Some Literary References to the History of the Gurjara-Pratihāras Mahendrapāla and Mahipāla

1964 ◽  
Vol 96 (1) ◽  
pp. 14-17
Author(s):  
M. L. Nigham
Keyword(s):  
Political Life ◽  
The Political ◽  
Archaeological Remains ◽  
The South ◽  
The West ◽  
Political Condition ◽  
Indian History ◽  
Northern India ◽  
The North ◽  
History Of

The Gurjara-Pratihāras were the last Hindu power of early Indian history who strove to unify the whole of Āryāvarta under one parasol, and the dynasty produced a brilliant galaxy of monarchs such as Nāgabhaṭa, Mihira-Bhoja, Mahendrapāla and Mahipāla who, apart from their military genius, were great patrons of learning and art. The archaeological remains of this dynasty have been brought to light from Pihova (Pṛthūdaka) in the north to Deogarh and Gwalior in the south, and from Kathiawar in the west to Bihar and Bengal in the east. Rājaśēkhara, the great Sanskrit poet-dramatist, was the spiritual preceptor (upādhyaya) of Mahendrapāla alias Nirbhayanarendra. He continued to grace the Pratihāra court till the reign of Mahipāla, the son and successor of Mahendrapāla, in whose presence the play Bālabhārata was staged. Besides the Bālabhārata, three other dramas, Bālarāmāyaṇa, Karpūramañjarī and Viddhaśālabhañjikā, and Kāvyamīmāṃsā, an elaborate work on poetics, were written by the same author. Being closely associated with the political life of the court, Rājaśēkhara's dramas, although based on conventional themes of love, give us glimpses of the political condition of northern India at that time.

Land Reform in Chile

1963 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 177-211
Author(s):  
James Becket
Keyword(s):  
Land Reform ◽  
Political Power ◽  
Central Valley ◽  
Core Region ◽  
The Political ◽  
The West ◽  
The Core ◽  
The North ◽  
The World ◽  
North And South

Of all the generalizations about Chile, those dealing with geography are the most accurate. Geographical facts have given shape and character to Chilean life and Chilean problems. Nature gave the heart of Chile patches of excellent soil and a climate kind to man. But this central valley is isolated, bounded on the north by desert, the east by towering mountains, the west by a cold and tempestuous ocean, and the south by the end of the world. Ownership of the land has been the keystone of Chilean history, and the fertile land is in the core region of the nation. There, in Mediterranean Chile, live three-quarters of the nation's population, there resides the political power in a unitary republic in which the president appoints provincial governors and there are no provincial assemblies, there are owned and managed the enterprises of north and south.

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.

Mafias on the Move

2011 ◽  
Author(s):  
Federico Varese
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
New York ◽  
Organized Crime ◽  
The United States ◽  
The West ◽  
Market Expansion ◽  
The North ◽  
Economic Transformations ◽  
At Will

Organized crime is spreading like a global virus as mobs take advantage of open borders to establish local franchises at will. That at least is the fear, inspired by stories of Russian mobsters in New York, Chinese triads in London, and Italian mafias throughout the West. As this book explains, the truth is more complicated. The author has spent years researching mafia groups in Italy, Russia, the United States, and China, and argues that mafiosi often find themselves abroad against their will, rather than through a strategic plan to colonize new territories. Once there, they do not always succeed in establishing themselves. The book spells out the conditions that lead to their long-term success, namely sudden market expansion that is neither exploited by local rivals nor blocked by authorities. Ultimately the inability of the state to govern economic transformations gives mafias their opportunity. In a series of matched comparisons, the book charts the attempts of the Calabrese 'Ndrangheta to move to the north of Italy, and shows how the Sicilian mafia expanded to early twentieth-century New York, but failed around the same time to find a niche in Argentina. The book explains why the Russian mafia failed to penetrate Rome but succeeded in Hungary. A pioneering chapter on China examines the challenges that triads from Taiwan and Hong Kong find in branching out to the mainland. This book is both a compelling read and a sober assessment of the risks posed by globalization and immigration for the spread of mafias.

Rola Avarského Kaganátu Pri Vzniku Slovenčiny

2018 ◽  
Vol 69 (2) ◽  
pp. 199-236
Author(s):  
Martin Braxatoris ◽  
Michal Ondrejčík
Keyword(s):  
Slavic Language ◽  
The West ◽  
The North ◽  
Danube Region ◽  
The Absolute ◽  
North Edge ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Slovak Language

Abstract The paper proposes a basis of theory with the aim of clarifying the casual nature of the relationship between the West Slavic and non-West Slavic Proto-Slavic base of the Slovak language. The paper links the absolute chronology of the Proto-Slavic language changes to historical and archaeological information about Slavs and Avars. The theory connects the ancient West Slavic core of the Proto-Slavic base of the Slovak language with Sclaveni, and non-West Slavic core with Antes, which are connected to the later population in the middle Danube region. It presumes emergence and further expansion of the Slavic koiné, originally based on the non-West Slavic dialects, with subsequent influence on language of the western Slavic tribes settled in the north edge of the Avar Khaganate. The paper also contains a periodization of particular language changes related to the situation in the Khaganate of that time.

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