The Dark Goddess and the Nation: The Political Uses of Religious Symbolism

2013 ◽  
pp. 11-19
Keyword(s):  
The Political ◽  
Religious Symbolism ◽  
Dark Goddess

scholarly journals Political ecologies of wood and wax: sandalwood and beeswax as symbols and shapers of customary authority in the Oecusse enclave, Timor

2011 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura S. Meitzner Yoder
Keyword(s):  
Political Ecology ◽  
Agricultural Land ◽  
Forest Products ◽  
The Political ◽  
Religious Symbolism ◽  
Local Protection ◽  
Timor Leste ◽  
History Of ◽  
Labor Requirements ◽  
Political Ecologies

The enclave of Oecusse-Ambeno, Timor Leste, was formed in part through struggles over controlling trade in sandalwood and beeswax, two forest products that continue to influence political and ritual allegiances, and the political history of Oecusse. These products are interwoven with the region's contacts with outsiders, influencing local political hierarchies and roles of kings, village heads, and ritual authorities. While wood and wax are recognized to be of Timorese origin, local myths posit that their use and value was unrecognized before the arrival of Chinese traders and Portuguese missionaries. Several narratives of the origins of trade in sandalwood, and the kings' annual beeswax candle tributes, illustrate the enduring connections among local authorities, forest resource control, religious symbolism, and ritual obligations surrounding harvests of sandalwood and beeswax. Customary practices contribute to forest conservation through local protection of beeswax-producing forests, and by circumscribing the harvest. While both beehives and sandalwood impede intensive agricultural land uses, farmers welcome beeswax as a profitable product that supports ritual. But they resent sandalwood's growth in their fields since it involves more regulation and increased labor requirements. The two products' different ecologies of disturbance and incidence contributed over time to distinct ownership norms and forms of control by customary authorities. This is the "political ecology of wood and wax" in Oecusse.Key words: Oecusse, Timor Leste/East Timor, sandalwood, beeswax, customary authority, colonialism.

The Political Strategy of Aurobindo Ghosh: The Utilization of Hindu Religious Symbolism and the Problem of Political Mobilization in Bengal

1980 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 353-376 ◽  
Author(s):  
Barbara Southard
Keyword(s):  
Political Mobilization ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Strategy ◽  
British India ◽  
Political Movement ◽  
Political Leaders ◽  
Religious Symbolism ◽  
The Government

The nationalist rhetoric of Aurobindo Ghosh and other leaders of the political movement protesting the decision of the Government of British India to partition Bengal province in 1905 contained frequent allusions to Hindu myths and symbols. Militant political leaders primarily drew upon Śakta symbolism, especially the imagery of the Hindu cult of Kālī worship, and they adopted philosophical justifications of nationalism which were based on modernist, Neo-Hindu interpretation of Śaṁkara's Vedānta philosophy. The nation was described as an incarnation of the goddess Kālī, and nationalists were considered her devotees.

scholarly journals Religion, Politics and Civilizational Dynamics in the Modern World

2021 ◽  
Vol 65 (4) ◽  
pp. 123-131
Author(s):  
E. Rashkovskii
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Civil Society ◽  
International Relations ◽  
Modern World ◽  
The Political ◽  
Mutual Understanding ◽  
Religious Institutions ◽  
Political Field ◽  
Political Dynamics ◽  
Religious Symbolism

Received 11.01.2020. The paper attempts to interpret civilizational as well as political dynamics of the modern world in terms of contents and pivotal meanings in the religious sphere as such. According to the author, it is impossible to imagine all the complex of human identities, antagonisms, sympathies, and mutual understanding without taking into account specific features of religious symbolism. Thanks to these kinds of features religious sphere constantly interacting with different fields of law, politics, and international relations. As for the political field, the religious sphere is viewed in intrinsic triple connections: Religious Institutions – Statehood – Civil Society. This kind of approach tends to balance the principles of cultural heritage, secular state as well as of human rights and dignity.

Introduction: Poland’s Wars of Symbols

2019 ◽  
Vol 33 (2) ◽  
pp. 423-434 ◽  
Author(s):  
Simon Lewis ◽  
Magdalena Waligórska
Keyword(s):  
Special Section ◽  
Political Conflict ◽  
The Political ◽  
East Central ◽  
Central European ◽  
Religious Symbolism ◽  
Central European Region ◽  
Political Events ◽  
National Symbols ◽  
East Central European

This introduction to the special section on Poland’s wars of symbols analyzes the symbolic contestation that has characterized the country in recent years, studying a range of phenomena including nation, gender, memory, and religious symbolism within the overall framework of political conflict. In doing so, it offers a multidisciplinary view on political fractures that have resonated throughout Europe and the “West.” Overall, the four case studies in this section study ways in which national symbols, topoi, and narratives have been deployed as tools in drawing and redrawing boundaries within society, polarizing and mobilizing the political camps as well as contesting and resisting power. These studies enable us to situate recent political events in a historical perspective, mapping the rise of populism in Poland against the background of legacies specific to the East-Central European region.

The Social Origins and Provenance of the English Bishops during the Reign of Edward II

1959 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
pp. 51-79
Author(s):  
K. Edwards
Keyword(s):  
Middle Ages ◽  
Social Background ◽  
Early Career ◽  
The Political ◽  
Social Origins ◽  
Political Activities ◽  
Edward Ii ◽  
The Social ◽  
Complete Study ◽  
History Of

During the last twenty or twenty-five years medieval historians have been much interested in the composition of the English episcopate. A number of studies of it have been published on periods ranging from the eleventh to the fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries. A further paper might well seem superfluous. My reason for offering one is that most previous writers have concentrated on analysing the professional circles from which the bishops were drawn, and suggesting the influences which their early careers as royal clerks, university masters and students, secular or regular clergy, may have had on their later work as bishops. They have shown comparatively little interest in their social background and provenance, except for those bishops who belonged to magnate families. Some years ago, when working on the political activities of Edward II's bishops, it seemed to me that social origins, family connexions and provenance might in a number of cases have had at least as much influence on a bishop's attitude to politics as his early career. I there fore collected information about the origins and provenance of these bishops. I now think that a rather more careful and complete study of this subject might throw further light not only on the political history of the reign, but on other problems connected with the character and work of the English episcopate. There is a general impression that in England in the later middle ages the bishops' ties with their dioceses were becoming less close, and that they were normally spending less time in diocesan work than their predecessors in the thirteenth century.

Democrazy—Dem Go Craze, O: Monitoring the 1999 Nigerian Elections

1999 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 29-33
Author(s):  
Darren Kew
Keyword(s):  
Transition Program ◽  
The Political ◽  
High Stakes ◽  
Political Class ◽  
Soccer Match ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Military

In many respects, the least important part of the 1999 elections were the elections themselves. From the beginning of General Abdusalam Abubakar’s transition program in mid-1998, most Nigerians who were not part of the wealthy “political class” of elites—which is to say, most Nigerians— adopted their usual politically savvy perspective of siddon look (sit and look). They waited with cautious optimism to see what sort of new arrangement the military would allow the civilian politicians to struggle over, and what in turn the civilians would offer the public. No one had any illusions that anything but high-stakes bargaining within the military and the political class would determine the structures of power in the civilian government. Elections would influence this process to the extent that the crowd influences a soccer match.

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