The psychic life of consumer power: Judith Butler, Ernest Dichter, the American marketing reception of Freud, and the rituals of consuming religion

2020 ◽  
pp. 205030322095287
Author(s):  
George Gonzalez

First, a close reading of Judith Butler’s The Psychic Life of Power underscores the ways in which Butler’s account of power liquidates issues of political economy and problematically ontologizes Freudianism as a kind of first philosophy of the subject. Second, drawing largely from secondary sources, the religious studies reader is introduced to the life and work of Ernest Dicther, the father of motivational research, an influential American mid-twentieth century psychoanalytic school of marketing that Freudianized marketing discourse and transformed it into the present day. Third, drawing from primary sources in Dichter’s published archive, a comparative reading of Butler and Dichter reveals strong points of confluence around the psychology and performativity of (consumer) ritual, concomitantly highlighting scholars’ hidden participation in the American religious history Kathryn Lofton figures according to the terms of ‘consuming religion’.

2016 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 2735
Author(s):  
Sefa Usta ◽  
Abdulvahap Akıncı

In the formation of a transparent and accountable public administration system and an understanding of administration, such institutions like the Ombudsman have important functions. The Ombudsman Institution, which undertakes an effective role in the solution of the problems experienced between the state and the citizen, has important responsibilities to institutionalize human rights and democratization, reduce the bad administration practices and most importantly, make the accountability mechanism the built-in in public administration. The Ombudsman Institution, which has been formed with different names in many countries in the world, has been established in Germany with the name of “the Defense Ombudsman,” and it carries out its activities under this framework.The main objective of the study is to examine the Ombudsman Institution as an extension of accountability mechanism in public administration and to asses “the Defense Ombudsman Institution”, which operates in Germany. Under the study prepared for this purpose, it is treated the concept of accountability in public administration with its general terms and examined the Ombudsman Institution, departing from the case of Germany. The study is terminated with an overview and a chapter of conclusion.In the study, it has been benefited from the scientific methods of descriptive analysis and critical review of the literature and set out from the secondary sources written about the subject and the primary sources like constitutional and legal regulations that are the basis of the Ombudsman Institution in Germany. ÖzetŞeffaf ve hesap verebilir bir kamu yönetimi sisteminin ve yönetim anlayışının oluşumunda Ombudsmanlık benzeri kurumlara önemli işlevler düşmektedir. Devlet ve vatandaş arasında yaşanan sorunların çözümü noktasında etkili bir rol üstlenen ombudsmanlık kurumuna, insan haklarının ve demokratikleşmenin kurumsallaşmasında, kötü yönetim uygulamalarının azaltılmasında ve en önemlisi kamu yönetiminde hesap verebilirlik mekanizmasının yerleşik hale gelmesinde önemli sorumluluklar düşmektedir. Dünyada birçok ülkede farklı adlarla oluşturulmuş olan Ombudsmanlık Kurumu, Almanya'da Savunma Ombudsmanlığı ismiyle kurulmuş ve faaliyetlerini yürütmektedir.Çalışmanın temel amacı, kamu yönetiminde hesap verebilirlik mekanizmasının bir uzantısı olarak Ombudsmanlık kurumunun incelenerek, Almanya'da faaliyet gösteren "Savunma Ombudsmanlığı Kurumu"nun değerlendirmeye tabi tutulmasıdır. Bu amaç doğrultusunda hazırlanan çalışma kapsamında, kamu yönetiminde hesap verebilirlik kavramı genel hatlarıyla ele alınmakta, Ombudsmanlık Kurumu Almanya örneğinden hareketle irdelenmektedir. Çalışma genel bir değerlendirme ve sonuç kısmıyla nihayetlendirilmektedir.Bu kapsamda hazırlanan çalışmada, betimsel analiz yönteminden ve eleştirel literatür taramasından yararlanılmış, konu ile ilgili yazılmış ikinci kaynaklardan ve Almanya'da Ombudsmanlık Kurumu'nun dayanağı olan anayasal ve yasal düzenlemeler gibi birincil kaynaklardan faydalanılmıştır.


2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 87-100
Author(s):  
Aishath Muneeza ◽  
Shahbaz Nadwi

India is the home country for many Muslims and effective management of zakah is essential to the country. In this era of technology, it is imperative to use technology with zakat to ensure that the classical zakat administration approaches are upgraded to the uruf or customary practices of the society. The objective of this paper is to find out the potential of using technology in upgrading zakat administration in India. This is a qualitative approach where the primary sources such as zakat administration laws in India and secondary sources such as journal articles and published reports on the subject are analysed to derive conclusions. The findings of this paper suggest that the innovations such as rice ATMs, mobile applications, applications made with blockchain technology, artificial intelligence and big data can also play a vital role in the effective management of zakat in India. It is anticipated that the outcome of this research will assist the zakat administrators in India to adopt technology in this regard.   Keywords: Artificial intelligence, big Data, fintech, rice ATM, zakat


2014 ◽  
Vol 26 (3) ◽  
pp. 246-286 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Bergunder

Religious studies cannot agree on a common definition of its subject matter. To break the impasse, important insights from recent discussions about post-foundational political theory might be of some help. However, they can only be of benefit in conversations about “religion” when the previous debate on the subject matter of religious studies is framed slightly differently. This is done in the first part of the article. It is, then, shown on closer inspection of past discussions on “religion” that a consensus-capable, contemporary, everyday understanding of “religion,” here called Religion 2, is assumed, though it remains unexplained and unreflected upon. The second part of the article shows how Religion 2 can be newly conceptualized through the lens of Ernesto Laclau’s political theory, combined with concepts from Judith Butler and Michel Foucault, and how Religion 2 can be established as the historical subject matter of religious studies. Though concrete historical reconstructions of Religion 2 always remain contested, I argue that this does not prevent it from being generally accepted as the subject matter of religious studies. The third part discusses the previous findings in the light of postcolonial concerns about potential Eurocentrism in the concept of “religion.” It is argued that Religion 2 has to be understood in a fully global perspective, and, as a consequence, more research on the global religious history of the 19th and 20th centuries is urgently needed.


2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 175-194

This study is an exploration of critical dystopia within a postmodern context. Literary and historical viewpoints associate dystopia with the failed utopia of twentieth-century totalitarianism manifested in regimes of extreme coercion, inequality, and slavery. Raffaella Baccolini and Tom Moylan, of whose perspective this study makes use, theorize that critical dystopia provides a potential for change through rejecting the traditional dystopian ending marked by the subjugation of the individual. Problematizing critical dystopia further, the study proposes that the critical orientation of this sub-genre originates mainly from the “local narrative” of a subject whose agency generates from his position in the “threshold” between those in and under control, combined with the “counter-conducts” he uses to acquire knowledge, memory, and awakened consciousness. As a full agent, the subject resists the “utopian” “metanarrative” of an oppressive system/structure and offers possibilities of meaning in a process of “différance” which entails a potential for change. This proposition is clarified through the close reading of Ahmed Khaled Towfik’s Utopia (2011; first published in Arabic in 2008). The novel is discussed as a critical dystopian text in which Gaber, the subject in the “threshold,” opposes the totalitarian regime of Utopia in his “local narrative.”


Author(s):  
Robert A. Segal

‘Myth and religion’ explores how twentieth-century theories from religious studies have sought to reconcile myth with science by reconciling religion with science. One tactic has been to re-characterize the subject matter of religion and therefore of myth. Another has been to elevate seemingly secular phenomena to religious ones. As part of this elevation, myth is no longer confined to explicitly religious ancient tales. Plays, books, and films are like myths because they reveal the existence of another, often earlier world alongside the everyday one—a world of extraordinary figures and events akin to those found in traditional myths.


polemica ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 18 (3) ◽  
pp. 033-053
Author(s):  
Virgínia Maria Canônico Lopes ◽  
Marcelo Leles Romarco de Oliveira

Resumo: Este estudo analisou o Decreto nº 9.406 de 12 de junho de 2018, para tecer um ensaio crítico sobre a abordagem legislativa acerca das normas minerárias no Brasil, após as mudanças políticas ocorridas em 2016. Neste caso, referenciado pela expectativa de um Novo Marco Legal para a Mineração no Brasil, o estudo permeia a discussão sobre a justiça ambiental, em meio ao processo político e à condução política das questões minerárias. Metodologia: foi realizada uma análise bibliográfica e documental. Documentos em arquivos oficiais, como o próprio decreto em evidência, foram tratados como fontes primárias de pesquisa. As fontes secundárias foram os estudos sobre o tema, reunidos em obras literárias. Concluiu-se que a condução política do projeto mineral no governo brasileiro, à luz da justiça ambiental, ficou relegada ao segundo plano.Palavras-chave: Mineração. Governo. Justiça Ambiental.Abstract: This study analyzed Decree No. 9,406 of June 12, 2018 to provide a critical essay on the legislative approach to mining standards in Brazil, following the political changes in 2016. In this case, referenced by the expectation of a New Legal Framework for Mining in Brazil, the study permeates the discussion on environmental justice in the midst of the political process and political conduct of mining issues. Methodologically, a bibliographic and documentary analysis was carried out. Documents in official archives, such as the decree itself, were treated as primary sources of research. The secondary sources were the studies on the subject collected in literary works. The political conduct of the mineral project in the Brazilian government in the light of environmental justice is relegated to the background.Keywords: Mining. Government. Environmental Justice.


Author(s):  
Babayo Sule ◽  
Umar Adamu ◽  
Usman Sambo

The 2019 General Election is another milestone and a watershed in the efforts of Nigeria towards democratisation. It has been the six consecutive times that General Elections are successfully conducted in the Fourth Republic which has been unprecedented in the history of the country. This work investigated the major issues, challenges, successes and lessons learnt from the Election. It is notable that elections in Nigeria for over fifty (50) years remain a war-like affair and the phenomenon seem to be continuous despite the long experience of democratic practice in the current Republic. The research used both primary and secondary sources of data analysis. The primary sources consist of participant observation, data from the electoral body; the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and reports from observers and civil societies that directly participated in the exercise. The secondary sources include books, journals, internet and other existing literature on the subject matter of study. The data obtained were analysed and discussed using a qualitative approach method where themes and sub-themes were identified and discussed analytically. The research discovered that the 2019 General Election was heralded with several issues, various challenges and some level of success and that there are lessons that are learnt from the process for future General Elections’ conduct in the country. The work recommends among other suggestions that for a better General Election in future in the country, some observed avoidable mistakes must be taken care of immediately and that the success part should be strengthened to ensure effectiveness.


2017 ◽  
Vol 34 (7) ◽  
pp. 24-28
Author(s):  
Julia Rachel Tryon

Purpose The aim of this paper is to describe the Rosarium Project which is currently curating nonfiction materials about the genus Rosa written at the turn of the twentieth century and published in popular American periodicals. This is achieved by encoding the texts following the guidelines set forth by the Text Encoding Initiative Consortium (TEI). Design/methodology/approach This paper explains what text encoding is and why following the guidelines set forth by the TEI Consortium was the best choice for the Rosarium Project. It then goes on to outline the workflow and choices made by the principal researcher which are needed to move the project steadily forward. Findings The principal researcher on the Rosarium Project has found that encoding with the TEI was easy to learn and fun to do, as well as intellectually stimulating. Librarians should find text-encoding projects of their own specialist subjects equally doable. Originality/value The Rosarium Project is unique, in that it is curating early twentieth century articles on the subject of roses that appeared in popular magazines. These materials are hidden away in online repositories and libraries worldwide. This project is of value, in that it provides primary sources to researchers in areas of popular culture, horticulture and garden history and also acts as an example of what librarians can contribute to the Digital Humanities.


1986 ◽  
Vol 12 (5) ◽  
pp. 247-255 ◽  
Author(s):  
Clive Price ◽  
Rosemary A. Burley

An evaluative study of a selection of primary and sec ondary information sources of potential use for current aware ness in the field of occupational diseases is presented. This study identifies the more important English language primary sources of occupational diseases research information. Re search studies in the field of occupational diseases, however, are scattered widely in the medical literature. This study com pares the usefulness of a variety of secondary sources as current awareness tools for bringing together this widely scattered information. Several secondary sources are useful but, despite considerable overlap between these sources, no single source provides comprehensive coverage of the subject field. Scanning of a number of primary sources together with several secondary sources is recommended as the best means of keeping abreast of the latest research information in this subject area.


2005 ◽  
Vol 46 (2) ◽  
pp. 311-313
Author(s):  
Ananda Lal

There are few dependable books in English on political theatre in India. Professor Bhatia's collection of essays, therefore, fills a long-felt need. She introduces the subject contextually, followed by four chapters chronologically examining key areas (British censorship of nationalistic drama, Indianizations of Shakespeare as an anticolonial statement, the Indian People's Theatre Association as a mass phenomenon in the mid-twentieth century, and Utpal Dutt's reinterpretation of Raj history in his play The Great Rebellion 1857), and concludes with a short epilogue on contemporary activist theatre by women. Most valuably for theatre historians, she places in the public domain many primary sources previously untapped in English, and unearths much secondary material that has escaped academic attention. Not least of all, she writes articulately and readably.


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