The destruction of Hazor: Israelite history and the construction of history in Israel

2019 ◽  
Vol 44 (2) ◽  
pp. 262-278
Author(s):  
Brendon C Benz

The present study presents an alternative model of pre-monarchic Israel’s political organization in tandem with an investigation into the role of place in the preservation of memory that explains how and why the tradition of Hazor’s demise was included in the Bible. Corresponding to the type of decentralized political organization attested in the Amarna letters, the core narratives in Judges depict Israel as a confederation of independent entities whose concerns revolved around local affairs. As the identity of Israel evolved over time, the memories of the most significant of these affairs were retained, often with the aid of material remains in the familiar landscape. The apparent injunction against building over Hazor’s 13th century palace ruins during Israel’s subsequent occupation and the inclusion of Hazor’s destruction from competing perspectives in the Bible suggest that it was an important event in Israel’s history, even if the entirety of Israel was not involved.

Author(s):  
Himanshu Jha

This chapter introduces the book by presenting the case for institutional change. It starts by explaining what institutions are and subsequently argues how RTI is a valid case of institutional change. It poses the core research puzzle and the guiding research questions. It engages with the existing alternate scholarly explanations, point to the gaps, and suggests an alternate explanation. It proposes an endogenous model of institutional change that builds on gradual and incremental ideational shifts over time to finally reach a ‘tipping point’. In this chapter the entire book plan is laid out by indicating that this volume, spread over six chapters, deals with two distinct yet interrelated layers of the ideational and policy moves within the state apparatus and related institutions. The socio-political processes within both state and society and the role of global norms are part of these phases/layers.


Author(s):  
Andrea Padovani

AbstractThe well known ordo legendi diffused by Cinus among later commentators was a framework structured as a sequence of various steps and moments: divisio textus, positio casus, collectio notabilium, oppositiones and quaestiones. Some of them appear early in the didactic experience of Ioannes Bassianus and, more extensively, in the lecturae held, during the 13th century, by jurists, theologians and artistae as well: to be sure, with relevant differences mainly concerning the meaning of the employed terms. The decay of the glossa as a tool to explain the Corpus Iuris of Justinian in the schools and the diffusion of new styles in approaching the legal texts, made the expositio ordinis a frequent, somehow basic element of the lectura and of the commentum. From the times of Odofredus it occurs mainly when the lex meets heavy problems of interpretation: but not always in the complete sequence of the above mentioned moments. Contraria and quaestiones mark in any case the core of the exposition, according to the scholastic role of medieval dialectics. Different in their respective purposes, they nevertheless share the same logical procedure. From this point of view, an interesting and still inexplicable convergence of methods (and related terminology) can be observed in the age of Cinus between lawyers and artistae, both teaching at the University of Bologna.


2017 ◽  
Vol 39 ◽  
pp. 43
Author(s):  
Ricardo Borges da Cunha ◽  
César Augusto Ávila Martins

A afirmação dos processos eleitorais como uma das formas de organização política é objeto de investigação de várias ciências. No concerto das ciências, o Direito, a Sociologia e as Ciências Políticas destacam-se nas análises das eleições. As eleições como resultado de disputas entre determinados projetos, tem a função de eleger representantes para conduzir as instituições políticas. A perspectiva esta coadunada com o entendimento que as eleições são um dos momentos de manifestação de poder com diferentes graus de visibilidade, numa dada formação social com determinados regramentos e em cada conjuntura. O processo que articula determinados agentes pode ser compreendido em etapas e em seu conjunto. O artigo busca trilhar alguns dos caminhos da Geografia Eleitoral compreendida na Geografia Política, como um campo de análise geográfica das eleições, conhecendo sua evolução, apontando possibilidades e desafios. Metodologicamente, o texto realiza uma revisão de algumas das diferentes metodologias da Geografia Eleitoral, que são baseadas sobretudo na apresentação dos resultados eleitorais ao longo tempo e que tendem encerrar sua abordagem ao final de cada pleito. O texto advoga que a adoção de um modelo sistêmico, como uma alternativa para a compreensão de um pleito, integra os resultados das urnas e as suas consequências para vida política.ABSTRACTThis paper aims at introducing not only some of the directions of Electoral Geography in the light of Political Geography, as a field of geographical analysis of elections, but also its evolution, possibilities and challenges. Meaning is found in electoral processes as one of the forms of political organization which has become the object of investigation of sciences, such as Law, Sociology and Political Sciences. Elections, as the result of dispute among certain projects, play the role of choosing representatives to lead political institutions. This perspective agrees with the fact that elections represent a moment of power manifestation at different levels of visibility, with certain rules in each situation. Regarding methodology, this text reviews some proposals of Electoral Geography which are mostly based on the presentation of electoral results over time and tend to end their process at the end of each dispute. Among the selected authors, it is clear the growth of the geographical field with the quantitative methods, but the approaches did not connect the electoral process with the politics practiced in the perimeter involved leaving a gap to be completed. The text defends the use of the systemic model so as to understand the dispute as a moment of political life with integration among the phase that precedes elections, its results and its consequences for democracy.


2014 ◽  
Vol 108 (2) ◽  
pp. 337-354 ◽  
Author(s):  
DAVID STASAVAGE

Do strong property rights institutions always help, or might they sometimes actually hinder development? Since Max Weber and before, scholars have claimed that the presence of politically autonomous cities, controlled by merchant oligarchies guaranteeing property rights, helped lead to Europe's rise. Yet others suggest that autonomous cities were a hindrance to growth because rule by merchant guilds resulted in restrictions that stifled innovation and trade. I present new evidence and a new interpretation that reconcile the two views of city autonomy. I show that politically autonomous cities initially had higher population growth rates than nonautonomous cities, but over time this situation reversed itself. My evidence also suggests why autonomous cities eventually disappeared as a form of political organization. Instead of military weakness, it may have been their political institutions that condemned them to become obsolete.


2007 ◽  
Vol 48 (3) ◽  
pp. 349-373 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. CAMERON MONROE

ABSTRACTThe Kingdom of Dahomey has played a central role in our understanding of political organization in West Africa in the era of the trans-Atlantic slave trade. Research has focused on two major questions: whether or not Dahomey possessed revolutionary qualities that allowed it to maintain order in this turbulent era, and the role of militarism in fostering stability. Mounting archaeological evidence from the Republic of Bénin can contribute to our understanding of Dahomean political dynamics over time. Spatial patterns in royal palace construction, materialized regionally and architecturally, are examined in this essay. These data suggest that Dahomey achieved real administrative advances in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, including the expansion of regional control and the successful integration of a complex administrative hierarchy.1


2002 ◽  
Vol 96 (4) ◽  
pp. 821-822
Author(s):  
Howard Margolis

Dennis Chong proposes an account of how to forge a merger between rational choice and sociological explanations of the role of norms, values, and symbols in politics. The core idea is that norms and values (not just self-interest) are indeed essential for understanding political choice (as a sociologist would expect), but that norms and values have to develop. Those in place today change over time. And rational choice enters in guiding that evolution.


2021 ◽  
Vol 25 (3) ◽  
pp. 483-494
Author(s):  
Michał Kumorek

Time has a very important function in considering the identity of a person. It is the factor that brings identity into question. The core of the problem is the question of whether the person is the same as he or she was at another time. The problem of personal identity was one of the most important issues in Paul Ricoeurs philosophy. He considers this problem in the context of time and notes that traditional models of identity as sameness and as selfhood have been entangled in various aporias. He, therefore, proposes two new models of identity that are related in different ways to temporality: character and promise. Character is a model that changes over time through the acquisition or loss of various traits. The promise, on the other hand, is a model that resists the pressure of time attempts to keep a given word. In this way, these two different models create the framework for Ricoeur's concept of narrative identity. In this concept, time enables the development of action in a story. It allows the action to turn around, but it also allows the human being to look at the story of his or her life. Character and promise are models that allow the human being to look at his or her life as a certain temporal entity that is constantly threatened by unforeseen accidents and events but also constantly absorbs them and, through to time, gives the possibility of retrospection leading to synthesis. This synthesis allows us to look at a single life as a whole, belonging to the same person endowed with the character and challenge of keeping a promise.


2003 ◽  
Vol 62 (4) ◽  
pp. 1171-1193 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anirudh Krishna

The role of caste in indian politics is undergoing considerable change. Caste and patron-client links have been regarded traditionally as the building blocks of political organization in India (Brass 1994; Manor 1997; Migdal 1988; Kothari 1988; Weiner 1967), and vertical and horizontal mobilizations by patrons and caste leaders, respectively, have been important influences on political outcomes (Rudolph and Rudolph 1967). There are indications, however, that the influence of patronage and caste might have declined considerably in recent years:[National-level] survey data reveal some important facts that run counter to the conventional wisdom on voter behavior. … In 1996, 75 percent of the sample said they were not guided by anyone in their voting decision. … Of the 25 percent who sought advice, only 7 percent sought it from caste and community leaders … that is, less than 2 percent of the electorate got direct advice on how to vote from caste and community leaders. … The most important survey data show the change over time. In 1971, 51 percent of the respondents agreed that it was “important to vote the way your caste/community does” (30 percent disagreed), but in 1996 the percentages were reversed: 51 percent disagreed with that statement (29 percent agreed). … In 1998, “caste and community” was seen as an issue by only 5.5 percent of the respondents in one poll … and [it] ranked last of nine issues in another. All the evidence points to the fact that these respondents are correct: members of particular castes … can be found voting for every party. … It is less and less true that knowing the caste of a voter lets you reliably predict the party he or she will vote for.(Oldenburg 1999, 13–15, emphasis in original)


2019 ◽  
pp. 287-300
Author(s):  
Joanna Kubaszczyk

The paper reflects on the specificity of the translation of texts belonging to the religious and theolog- ical literature. Religious and theological texts have been translated for millennia, many of them — originating in the sphere of Judeo-Christianity — lie at the core of Western culture. Their trans- lation, especially the translation of the Bible, was accompanied by theoretical reflection (see, for example, Jerome of Stridonium, Martin Luther or Eugene Nida), which permanently influenced the way of thinking about translation in general. The present study answers the question of how the translation of religious and theological texts differs from the translation of other texts and what the translator must or should take into account, translating religious and theological texts. The paper discusses, among others, the role of the word in Christianity, spiritual preparation, openness to the Holy Spirit, tradition and inculturation.


2002 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 155-173
Author(s):  
Judi Long

AbstractMissiology and feminist theology are becoming recognized as significant voices in contemporary Christian theology, both seeking to add other dimensions to the traditional elements of theology. Missiology seeks to bring mission back into the mainstream of Christian life and thought. While there is no one feminist theology but rather a diverse range of feminist theologies, these all seek to have the perspectives of women taken seriously in all aspects of theology. Both feminist theologies and missiology have areas that the other can critique. However, most importantly, they also have areas that can be enriched by engagement with each other. Missiology like much theology, has tended to be written by men, and focuses largely on the activities and priorities of men. It can benefit from the recognition of the role of women in mission both as missionaries, and as the missionised. Women have played a crucial role in mission that is only recently being recognized and affirmed. Feminist theologies have not tended to address issues of mission with the exception of the criticism of patriarchal missionary methods and their impact upon women. Missiology challenges feminist theologies to take seriously the core truths of the gospel and how these relate to world in which we live. The creative interaction between feminist theologies and missiology will have implications for our whole understanding of God, for our view of the Bible, and for how the gospel relates to a postmodern society. Both missiology and feminist theologies have challenges to bring to traditional theology. As they engage with each other, new and exciting aspects of both feminist theologies and missiology emerge that can be developed and explored.


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